When you get an email from Anne Chertoff asking you if you want to contribute to the Vera Wang app, you jump on the chance and respond immediately with an emphatic Yes! Yes! Yes! Unless, of course, you’re me, in which case you think the email is just some mass marketing form letter and ignore it completely. Then, luckily, Anne Chertoff persists and emails you again to say she hasn’t received anything back from you, at which point you realize this is real and then you respond with Yes! Yes! Oh, if you’ll still have me, yes! And that’s the true story of how I came to make two cakes for Vera Wang’s new itunes app.

Eric Hildebrand, the stylist on the project, collaborated with Anne Chertoff, the Project Manager, and the Vera Wang art director to conceptualize several vignettes that would feature a Vera Wang dress, flatware, china, stemware, and a cake.

Eric sent over photos of the dresses and collages of the concept and asked me to present sketches. The most challenging part for me was creating a design that was true to my style but also worked with Vera Wang’s classic, sophisticated designs.

The first scenario was The Modernist and featured the Fiona dress in white with orange accents and parrot tulips.

The Modernist cake sketch originally featured three square tiers (I ended up adding a fourth tier but I can’t remember why) because I thought squares more contemporary than round. I incorporated the pleating from the dress and pops of orange found in the invitation around the plaque and dots on the pleats and edible parrot tulips.

In the end, the art director nixed the orange dots in the sketch so the pleats were plain white, and my lovingly hand-crafted gumpaste parrot tulips were replaced with real tulips.

Johnny Miller was the photographer on the project. You’ve definitely seen Johnny’s work before in Martha Stewart’s magazines and books, and while he obviously has a gift for bringing food to life through photographs, it is his personal work that really moves me. His photos are artistic and emotional, and the subjects seem so real (even when they’re not). There’s a rawness to his work that makes it accessible and not pretentious. I’m proud to say I’ve had my work photographed by him.

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The Romanticist scenario featured the Hanna dress, shades of mauve, and platinum.   

The cake I sketched was three tiers of ivory with a cluster of sugar roses and platinum scroll work.

I ended up with a fourth tier on this cake too. My sugar roses were beautiful, but were again replaced with real roses. (I still have them though and might need to photograph them in the future.) I do love this photo.

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Special thanks to Anne and Eric for being so easy and wonderful to work with, and to Johnny Miller for capturing my work so beautifully.

Project Manager: Anne Chertoff
Stylist: Eric Hildebrand
Photography: Johnny Miller

Cloth covered floral wire is used in cake design for wiring large petals on gumpaste flowers and for arranging edible flowers and leaves on cakes. If you’ve ever been utterly baffled by the way wire is sized, here’s a good way to remember it. Picture a very small ring, about a quarter the size of a wedding band. Now imagine sticking cloth-covered floral wire through it. You would obviously be able to fit more smaller wires through it than larger wires. That’s what the wire gauge indicates: the number of wires that would fit in a small ring. So, a wire gauge of 26, for example,  indicates that you would be able to fit 26 wires in the ring. A smaller gauge wire, like 18, is a bigger wire, because you would only be able to fit 18 of them through that same ring. The bigger the gauge, the more you can fit in the ring, so the smaller the wire. And the smaller the gauge, the fewer you can fit in the ring, so the bigger the wire. I hope that helps.

Floral wire can generally be found in gauge 16 – 32. I find that use 18 – 24 most frequently. I I always sort of grabbed at wires randomly, until I purchased one of Scott Clark Woolley’s flowermaking DVDs. In it, he outlines the various size wires and their uses. I find it very helpful, so I’m sharing it here.

16, 18: heavy flowers with many petals such as roses, ranunculus, peonies

20, 22: stem work

24: medium flowers, single-cut larger flowers

26: small flowers (individual hydrangea petals, jasmine), petals (such as rose petals)

28: small petals, leaves

30, 32: fine work, such as baby’s breath and small leaves

Happy caking!

My baby turned three last week. Three! It took her a long time to decide on the design for her birthday cake. At first she wanted Strega Nona, one of her favorite books, but that was a while ago. As her birthday came closer, she vacillated between Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake (with some random other cakes like owls, Dora the Explorer, and monkeys thrown in the mix) until she finally settled on Hello Kitty. The flavors were an easy decision: vanilla with raspberry. (But not for preschool. For preschool she wanted banana cupcakes with blueberry buttercream.)

I cut a chevron template out of paper (I’ll be doing a DIY on this soon) and used it to cut the pink fondant chevron I appliqued to the bottom tier. For the plaque on the top tier, I cut a pink round out of fondant and hand-cut the lettering and number. Hello Kitty was made of gumpaste, except for her clothes which were fondant. And for Hello Kitty’s mini cake I molded gumpaste by pressing it into two well-cornstarched round cutters and allowing it to dry overnight.

Happy Birthday Mia. I love you so much.

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This idea was inspired by a post I saw on Such Pretty Things. I forget what I was searching for when I stumbled across it, but I immediately thought the hearts would be just lovely in an ombré. (Until about a year ago and a half ago, I thought ombré was some kind of silken fabric. Silly me. Merriam-Webster defines it as “having colors or tones that shade into each other —used especially of fabrics in which the color is graduated from light to dark”.) This DIY originally appeared on The Wedding Chicks.

I should preface this post by warning readers about the dangers of consuming raw and/or undercooked eggs. I provided a safer alternative to egg whites that I termed “liquid meringue”, a mix of meringue powder and water. Feel free to weigh in on the safety of these ingredients.

Also, this DIY was created for both non-professionals and professionals alike, so I tried to use easy-to-find ingredients. Although I don’t necessarily recommend Wilton’s meringue powder to professionals, it is the most widely available to home bakers.

What you’ll need

Two cups sugar (or more, depending on the number of colors you want), divided

4 teaspoons (or more) egg white or liquid meringue (1 teaspoons of meringue powder mixed with 1 tablespoon warm water)

Paste food coloring (found at local crafts store)

Large cutting board, baking sheet, or other flat surface, lined with silpat or parchment paper

and

Baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper

Ateco aspic cutters or small cookie cutters

Additional:

Small and medium bowls, spatulas, rolling pin, measuring spoons, measuring cups, ziplock bags, butter knife

Optional:

3 x 4-inch treat bags, colored ribbon, cake to decorate

Step 1.

Place ½ cup sugar in medium bowl. Add a small amount of paste food coloring (we used a combination of Wilton’s Rose and Violet), and mix thoroughly. This will be your darkest color. (Hint: A little goes a long way and will darken once liquid is added in next step.) Add more if needed until desired color is achieved.

Add 1 teaspoon egg white or meringue liquid and mix thoroughly until the mixture resembles wet sand. Be careful not to add too much liquid or you will dissolve the sugar.

Step 2.

Empty contents onto silpat or parchment lined cutting board or baking sheet. Spread with hand or spatula and pat down, then roll over mixture with rolling pin to compress. Ideally, the flattened mixture should be as compact as possible and level, about ¼”. Press heart cutter into mixture and lift up. Place hearts on lined baking sheet. If cutter will not release heart, gently tap with the back of a butter knife. Repeat 10-20 times or as many as desired. If hearts will not hold their shape, add more egg white or meringue liquid in small increments and mix thoroughly. If sugar builds up in cutter, rinse with warm water and pat dry before continuing.

Pour remaining colored sugar back into bowl and proceed to Step 3.

Step 3.

Add ½ cup sugar to colored sugar  from Step 2 to lighten. Mix thoroughly. Add 1 teaspoon egg white or liquid meringue. If desired color is not achieved, continue adding additional ½ cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon egg white or liquid meringue and mixing thoroughly until desired color is achieved.

Repeat Step 2.

Continue with Steps 2 and 3 until desired shades and number of sugar hearts are achieved. We recommend at least three to five shades. Leftover sugar can be stored in ziplock bags for future use.

Step 4.
Heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat hearts in oven for 10 minutes. Allow to harden overnight. Sugar hearts will be the consistency of sugar cubes.

Design Options:
Place 10-20 sugar hearts in treat bag. Staple ribbon to bags. Tie ribbon. Can be given as gifts or used as favors.

 
For cake: Attach sugar heats to cake using royal icing. Begin with darkest color on smallest tier. Continue  with lighter colors.
  

Special thanks to Brooke Allison of Brooke Allison Photo, a genuine talent and all around funny gal.

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We are pleased to announce that Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes will be guest teaching at our Hamden, CT cake studio this spring. Jacqueline is a world-renowned sugar flower artist who has travelled as far as Australia to share her techniques. In addition to her technical skills, Jacqueline demonstrates a restrained and refined use of color (as opposed to using color with reckless abandon like I do) that I greatly admire. She is gifted not only as an artist but also as a teacher (I took a class with her two years ago), and is now coming to share her gift with us.

To register for one of Jacqueline’s classes, please visit our website: www.ericaobrien.com

The fine print: Note that full payment is required on registration, and refunds for withdrawals will be honored only if your space can be filled prior to the class. Students are responsible for providing their own transportation and accommodations. We are not responsible for any transport or accommodation costs should you be unable to attend class.

OPEN PEONY and PARROT TULIP

Thursday March 22 – Friday March 23, 2012

10am – 6pm both days. Light lunch (with vegetarian option) provided.

Class fee:   $600

In this two day hands-on floral workshop, students learn to make two of Petalsweet’s signature flowers: the beautiful, over-sized Open Peony (with stamens) and the fun and  fabulous Parrot Tulip. Corresponding buds and leaves will also be covered where  appropriate. Students will use modeling techniques to make flower centers, and then use cutters, veiners and specific techniques to create buds, leaves, and the many wired petals needed to form their large blooms. Once all of the components are dry, students will also learn Jacqueline’s signature coloring and dusting techniques, as well as taping, assembling, and finishing touches to complete their flowers. Class limited to 10 students (8 minimum). Tools and supplies will be provided for use in class. Cutters will be available for sale at the end of the workshop.

Images courtesy Petalsweet Cakes.

THE SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA and GARDENIA

Saturday March 24 – Sunday March 25, 2012

10am – 6pm both days. Light lunch (with vegetarian option) provided.

Class fee: $600

In this two day floral workshop, students learn to make two beautiful Petalsweet favorites: the Southern Magnolia and the Gardenia! Corresponding buds and both flowers’ gorgeous, dark and glossy leaves will be covered as well. During the course, students will use cutters and creamy white paste to create the petals needed for their fabulous Gardenias. In addition, students will also use modeling techniques to create a Magnolia center, and then make numerous, large petals to finish their oversized flower. As time allows, Jacqueline will also share her techniques for making dainty pulled filler flowers. Once all of the components are dry, students will also learn dusting and coloring techniques, as well as taping and assembly to finish their flowers. Class limited to 10 students (8 student minimum). Tools and supplies will be provided for use in class. Cutters will be available for sale at the end of the workshop.

We hope to see you in class!

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Since I’ve set out to open my own shop, I’ve gotten a lot of emails from people curious about how to go about starting a cake design business. I am referring, of course, to the real-deal-legit-business-in-a-commercial-space cake design business, not the one run out of your kitchen like I did for many years. (What? You thought you were the only one baking in your home? Don’t worry…everyone starts out of their home kitchen.) Since many of the rules, laws, standards, and codes that apply to commercial kitchens differ from state to state, I can’t give specific advice. I can, however, share my own personal experience opening up shop (well, it’s almost open) in Hamden, CT.

First, you should know that I do not come from entrepreneurs. My mother was a teacher and my father a social worker. Both earned a predictable and steady salary and retired with sizable pensions. My mom ingrained in me from a young age the importance of having health insurance and saving for retirement, so the thought of opening my own business–with unpredictable income, no retirement plan, and no company-supplied health insurance–essentially scares the shit out of me. I probably would not be doing this were it not for two people. Brian Smith of Ample Hills Creamery has been hugely inspiring to me. He is married to one of my best friends, Jackie, and for years we both talked about opening up our own respective shops. I didn’t realize he was serious, since no one I had ever known actually started their own business. I just thought it was something we both dreamed about. Then he actually went out and did it, and he’s wildly successful. That was the first indication that maybe it was something I too could actually do. I also would not be here without my sister, Jessica. We are sharing the kitchen at my new space (the front will be divided between my consultation space and her soup and salad retail area). She is just as scared as me, but we encourage and support each other, and it all seems okay.

We signed our lease on December 15th and expect to be open February 15th. Here is a brief (and in no way comprehensive) outline of the process, which is still very much in progress.

1. Write a business plan. I know this is something you don’t want to hear and don’t want to do. I didn’t want to do it either, but I’m so glad I did. Writing a business plan helps you focus on your goals and form a business philosophy, anticipate potential pitfalls, analyze the competition, and take inventory of your finances. It’s not fun, but in the end it is vitally important. I needed some ass-kicking to get started, so I took an online business plan course that was structured and gave assignments with deadlines (I need deadlines) so that I got the bulk of my plan written. I still needed help with the financial section (See Step 2).

2. Meet with advisors. Your local SBA and SBDC have advisors who can help you write your business plan, obtain financing, create a marketing plan, etc. Most of their services are free of charge. The SBDCs also offer inexpensive and worthwhile classes in everything from promoting your business using social media to Quickbooks.

3. Obtain licensing. A few of the local agencies in your city or town you’ll need to get to know could include the buildings department, health department, water department, water pollution authority, zoning department, and fire marshall, to name a few. You might also need a city-issued business license (in Long Beach I did; in CT I don’t).

4. Contact your state. The state might require additional licensing (in Connecticut the Department of Consumer Protection oversees bakeries. This is in addition to the local health department). Also contact your state taxation or franchise board. If you want to incorporate, it is done at the state level. You might also need a food handler’s license.

5. Obtain a federal Tax ID. Easily done online.

6. Obtain financing. Do this before you sign a lease. The SBA provides low-interest rate loans to small businesses. Many startups have recently opted to fundraise instead of taking business loans using websites like kickstarter.com

7. Find the right location. A pre-existing space that needs only some renovation is the most cost effective. My sister and I, because of our unique needs, could not find a space that worked for us, so we are doing a complete buildout.

8. Get contractors who are reliable, punctual, licensed, and insured. Get at least three bids for each job. Your contractors (plumber, electrician) will pull the appropriate permits and schedule inspections of their work. Other inspections, such as the health department inspection, you might need to schedule on your own.

9. Signage. Most cities regulate the maximum size of your sign and other design elements. Work with a sign company familiar with the regulations that can guide you through it.

10. Prepare to work your ass off. If you’re not willing to put the blood, sweat, and tears in to get your space off the ground,  you’re either super rich or you might want to reconsider. This is your baby. Treat it as such. Be there every step of the way so you know what is going on and know that it’s done right and to your specifications.

Here are some photos of our progress.

Pendant lights in the front window are up:

Dry wall is up, taped, and mudded on Jessica’s side:

All the brick is exposed on my side. Walls and pendants are up. We still need to install the floor:

I painted the hutch I bought at a thrift store. I’ll be using it display my cakes and stands:

We have almost all of our kitchen equipment, but it’s not all installed:

My consultation space still needs floors and paint, but I just had to see how some of the furniture would look:

The tin ceiling is completely exposed, primed, and painted. I love it:

 View from my studio to the front door:

I wish you the best of luck.

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If you already use Pinterest, you probably love it. If not, try it, and you’re sure to become addicted. Pinterest is a curated collection of searchable images, meaning that the images are selected by users. Pinterest users are just like you and me, and their searches are our searches, so when you search “wedding flowers” on Pinterest, your results will return only photos of wedding flowers Pinterest users deemed worthy of pinning (rather than the photos of, say, random Equadorian rose wholesalers you get with a Google images search). Users create “boards” (think of them as pin boards used to hold photos with a push pin) to organize their pins. Although some people use Pinterest as another social media outlet, recommending other users to follow, tallying up the number of followers they have, etc., I use it as my own personal inspiration board. I used to have my “Images for Inspiration” folder on my desktop–you know the drill: right click, save image as, etc.–but now I just use Pinterest. And I get inspiration not just for cakes: I have boards  for my living room, my studio, even my mudroom.

Below are two images I found on Pinterest that I just had to turn into cake. The first cake is a loose interpretation of the image. (I plan to revisit the sunset rose in the near future.) The second is pretty much a reproduction in sugar. All the decor on each cake is made of gumpaste and is edible–right down to the pine cones. And, just for fun, I’ve included a little Pin It button above each image. Enjoy.

Pinspiration # 1: Sunset Rose. (Original Source: Xanga.com)

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 Pinspiration # 2: Winter Bouquet. (Original Source: Cava Weddings)

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Some of my worst cake disasters have resulted in my most poignant cake design lessons. I won’t be posting any photos here–they’re too embarrassing– just sharing what I’ve learned in the hopes of saving you the same pain. Sorry in advance if this causes you to cringe.

1. Little Marissa was about to turn one, and her mom, a neighbor in the apartment building I lived in, asked me to make her birthday cake. This was about 15 years ago, long before my move to California, way before owning my own shop even hinted at reality, and pre-fondant. I made the cake, carefully iced it with my made-from-scratch French buttercream, and put it in the fridge for the party the next day. Marissa loved her cake (Sesame Street-themed), as much as a one-year old could love a cake, and her mom carefully sliced and plated it. I took my first bite, and noticed after I’d swallowed that there was a garlic-y after taste. I didn’t remember eating anything with onions or garlic that day that would explain the taste in my mouth, but it was there, and it lingered. Another bite, same aftertaste. A third bite, same thing. I didn’t really get it, until I returned home, opened up my fridge, and was greeting with a waft of onion-filled air from the onion I had left unwrapped in the fridge. The butter had absorbed the onion odor, leaving a palpable taste on the tongue.

Lesson learned: Don’t store onions (or garlic, scallion, salami, etc.) in the same fridge with your buttercream.

2. I admit it: I’m thrifty. (You can read more about it here.) One time I decided that the trouble I’d had in the past with the less expensive fondant was due to my inexperience. I convinced myself that now, as a more seasoned cake artist, I had mastered fondant and could easily save money by avoiding the more expensive brand and returning to the less expensive one. Wrong. What should have been an easy fondant job turned into an eight-hour fiasco.

Lesson learned: Quality ingredients, although often more expensive, are priceless.

3. One of my best clients asked me to make a cake with pink gumpaste hydrangeas for the shower she was throwing for her sister. I had just switched to a new, less expensive brand of Tylose (see Lesson #2, above) and didn’t know that my new brand would yield different results. I made my gumpaste and carefully calculated the number of hydrangea petals I would need.  I allowed the petals, perfectly pink and beautiful, to dry for several days, and on the day of the shower I set about arranging them on the cake. Unfortunately, the new gumpaste was extremely hard and brittle, and all but a few of the hydrangea petals broke. I didn’t have time to make new ones, and luckily was able to compensate for the broken ones, but it reminded me of something every sugar artist knows: always, always make more than you need to allow for breakage. And just when you think you’ve made enough, make some more.

Lesson learned: Always make extra.

4. There were several lessons to be learned from this cake, but they deserve a post unto themselves. For now I’ll just say that I decided to try a new technique on the eve of a wedding. I pulled an all-nighter trying to correct it.

Lesson learned: Always do a dry run when testing new techniques, and never test them on someone’s wedding cake.

5. It was getting late, but I wanted to finish the pleats for a cake I was working on. I’d convinced myself that they needed to be perfect, but with each pass through the pasta roller the fondant became drier and harder to work with, the pleats increasingly flawed, and I more frustrated. It was 3am before I knew it, and I was getting delirious and near tears. Finally, almost at my breaking point, I decided to call it a night. The next day, after a good night’s sleep, I approached the pleats again. This time, I was able to finish them in a single pass through the pasta roller. And they were pretty darn near perfect.

Lesson learned: A clear head and a good night’s sleep are sometimes all that’s needed to execute a challenging design.

6. I’ve been designing cakes for about 15 years, but only started professionally about six years ago. By that time, I had a husband, a daughter, and one one the way. I’ve always felt hampered professionally by the demands of family, and always lamented that I’d be so much more successful if I were single. Last spring, my husband took the girls camping for the weekend. I was excited for some time alone to recapture my single days. I spent a good part of the weekend doing exactly what I planned to do–working on new techniques I’d been wanting to try–with great success. But there was something that felt lonely and empty. The house was too quiet, I missed my kids and husband, and there was no one to share my new creations with. Success suddenly seemed much less important.

Lesson learned: The greatest measure of success is happiness.

May you learn from all your mistakes.

What kind of cake do you create when Jill La Fleur sends you these inspiration boards for the Jose Villa Mexico workshop?

You create a cake with fondant billy balls, gumpaste butterflies, and hand-crafted sugar succulents.

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And if you’re really lucky, the team from Branco Prata takes the photos. Dying to see more of their work? You can see the complete Branco Prata gallery here. Special thanks to Sofia and Andre for their beautiful images.

I am infamous amongst family and friends for my thriftiness, but when it comes to cake design there are several things I won’t skimp on. I am sharing a few of them here. For the most part, this list evolved out of my cheapness in that I went for the cheap brand, found it didn’t work, and ended up spending more than I would have because I had to purchase the item twice. Benefit from my experience, save yourself time and money, and don’t cheap out on the following.

1. Fondant. Buy quality fondant. I like Satin Ice. Although Wilton is readily available and relatively inexpensive (for 40% off at Michael’s), it dries out quickly and is difficult to work with. By the time all is said and done, you’ll spend more re-buying than you would if you purchased a 20-pound bucket of Satin Ice. A good resource is bakerskitchen.net

2. Cream Cheese. When it comes to cream cheese, there’s only one option: Philadelphia. It’s the tangiest, cream cheesiest cream cheese there is. Don’t waste your money on anything else: I haven’t found another cream cheese that comes close. Costco sells Philly in large quantities. For baking and icing, always bring it to room temperature first.

3. New X-Acto blades. I find it ironic that something practically invented for cutting paper is so immediately dulled by it. X-Acto blades are cheap. Replace them after cutting paper and as soon as they seem dull. If your blades are not making smooth cuts but are instead shreadding or tearing your fondant, it’s time for a new blade.

4. Butter. European butters typically have higher fat than American butters. Higher fat means lower moisture, so your cakes rise higher, cookies crisp more evenly, and pastries bake flakier. (You can learn more than you’ve ever wanted to know about butter here.) Although most European butters have upwards of 13% butterfat, butters in the U.S. typically have 11%. The “European-style” Plugrá butter is a favorite of mine. Although it contains the standard 11% butterfat, it is made using ”a slow-churned process that creates less moisture content and a creamier texture”, but can be hard to find. If I’m limited to my local supermarket, I like Land-O-Lakes.

5. Acrylic (or polyethelene) rolling pins. The more expensive rolling pins tend to be heavier and denser yet narrower, making rolling fondant and gumpaste easier. Splurge here. Brands to try: PME. Brands to avoid: Ateco, Wilton.