I considered entitling this post “Two Cakes I Love”, but thought better of it for fear of sounding boastful. I am extremely critical of my work (and, I like to think, quite humble), so it’s rare for me to say I love one of my cakes, let alone two. Truth be told, however, I love both of these cakes. There. I said it.
For the first cake, based on the Floral Ring invite (below), I cut fondant into the same shapes found on the invitation (roses, leaves, and a large circle for the monogram) and dried them overnight. I used a black food coloring pen to outline each shape, to draw the veins on the leaves, and to write the initials on the monogram. The roses are colored with a mix of food coloring paste and powder. I also added some detail directly onto the cake using food coloring pens. The cutouts are adhered to the cake using edible glue (a mix of gum tragacanth and water).
When I took my first cake design class in 1996, I was taught that wedding cake tiers must increase in diameter by 4″ increments. A 6″ cake must sit atop a 10″ cake on top of a 14″ cake, etc. Of course, being the consummate rule follower, I adhered strictly to these guidelines, straying only occasionally into 3″ increments (6″ on 9″ on 12″), but never, EVER, less than 3″. Frankly, it never occurred to me that it could be done any other way. Height? A standard 4″. Always. And wedding cake color? Duh.
That all changed for me in 2005 when I discovered the work of April Reed. She was new to the scene from what I could tell, but her work was so different, so avantgarde, and she was so clearly NOT a rule follower, that I was smitten (and, I’ll admit, jealous) immediately. I had never even seen cakes that increased by only 1-inch in diameter, like this one:
I had never even considered that cakes could have varying heights, like this one:
Or this one:
Or this one:
A black cake? The thought never entered my mind.
And a cake covered in truffles? Really?
I remember staring at her website for hours, drooling over her designs, and lusting over her creativity. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed. In 2009, Abby Larson, editor of the popular wedding blog Style Me Pretty, called April Reed the “queen of all things gorgeous” and credited her for being “the cake designer that has inspired SO many trends, SO many different cake styles.” According to Ms. Larson, April Reed “literally redefined what a wedding cake should look like.” I completely agree. In a very short time, April Reed was tremendously influential. I’m sure you can see the influence she had on me here:
And here:
Not to mention here:
And, of course, here:
I recently described what April Reed had done for the cake industry to Monica Majors, my friend and colleague of Paper Cut Industries, and how she had broken every rule. Monica wondered whether Ms. Reed simply hadn’t been taught the “correct” way to size cake tiers or whether she was intentionally defying convention. It’s an interesting question, and one I would love to ask her. Unfortunately, when I went to her website, as I often do, I was disappointed to find that it had been taken down.
Whether her style was derived from a lack of professional training or a keen design sensibility makes no difference. Ultimately, April Reed changed the game, and had an enormous influence on me and countless others. Thank you, Ms. Reed, from the bottom of my heart, for your ingenuity, inspiration, and fearless disregard for convention. Wherever you are, I hope that you are well.
I’ve been going a little (okay, a lot) crazy with cake bunting lately. I first saw it on Etsy, when Charla, my friend and colleague, requested it for her daughter Brooklyn’s second birthday party cake. It seems that now there’s been a proliferation of cake bunting on Etsy, but this artist remains my favorite. This one is particularly cute:
I also stumbled across this fiesta bunting one day on Eat Drink Pretty.
Anyway, when I saw that cake bunting I loved it–loved it!–and decided to make my own. The only difference is that I make mine out of fondant. I use two lollipop sticks and tie the ribbon to each. Fondant does not like to stick to ribbon, so now when I make cake bunting I actually back each fondant piece with a smaller piece of fondant, wet them both with water or egg white so they adhere, and sandwich the ribbon in between. Here are some of my recent cakes with fondant bunting.
We just scheduled our first Tier I: Introduction to Cake Design class for 2011. The class will begin on Saturday, January 8 and runs four consecutive weeks {1/8/11, 1/15/11, 1/22/11, and 1/29/11} from 11am to 2pm. For more information, or to register for one of our classes, please visit our website: http://ericaobrien.com/classes.html. Our classes make great gifts, so please let us know if you need a gift certificate.
We would love to answer all of your questions! Feel free to contact Erica OBrien Cake Design. We’ll either email you directly or post your question on our blog.
Ready to step up from my old Rebel. Want to stick with Cannon. Obviously not a pro photog. What's my next camera? Recommendations?04:33:36 PM June 09, 2013from web
I used the same fondant cutout technique for the second cake (below), based on the Artistic Maple: Autumn Orange invitation.
Not to mention here:
