Back in May I wrote about two of the sketches I submitted to Bride’s Magazine for their Most Beautiful Cakes issue that were ultimately rejected. I was sworn to secrecy on my two other design submissions, but now that the issue is on newsstands, I’m free to share.
I love interior designer Jonathan Adler. His Nixon rug, left, is a favorite of mine, and I thought it could be fantastic on a cake. I wanted to juxtapose the edginess of the geometric print of the rug against something soft and romantic, like garden roses. Below right is the mood board I submitted.
My second concept was also based on interior design elements. I really like Ethan Allen’s starburst mirror (below), and thought it would work well against a neutral color.
Here’s the starburst mirror sketch:
The next step in the process once the design was accepted was to submit a sugar “tile”–a flat piece of fondant (I backed mine with foamcore board) approximately 8″ by 8″. Brides editor Maria McBride–yes, that’s her real name–wanted to see the Adler cake with both the garden rose and the starburst mirror.
For the Adler pattern, I commissioned a stencil which I airbrushed onto the fondant tile using a custom-mixed color. Below left, my sugar tile with the Adler pattern and starburst mirror (yes–it’s broken. I realized after I packed it that I hadn’t taken a picture and as I was taking it out of the box, I smashed it), and below right my rather un-gardeny garden rose, a work in progress.
Within a week or two of submitting my tile, and to my great surprise, I got an email from Ms. McBride saying that they wanted me to create the Adler cake with the starburst mirror for the BRIDES Most Beautiful Cakes shoot on May 10th in New York. There was still no guarantee my cake would make it into the magazine, since shipping disasters and design difficulties have been known to render even the most perfect of cake concepts unworthy of print. I wasn’t taking any chances: I booked my ticket to New York and delivered my cake personally. After waiting for what seemed an excruciatingly long time, Maria McBride emailed to say the Adler cake had been accepted for print. I’m proud to announce that our cake is now one of BRIDES Most Beautiful Cakes! Below, the cover and inside of the September, 2011 BRIDES Magazine.
And an individual shot of our Adler cake as seen on the BRIDES website:
Beautiful, you must be so proud
yay!!!
AAAAMamazing!!! Im sooo happy for you!!! yay!!!
This is so fabulous! And we need to work you into Ample Hills some how.
Wonderful!
Congratulations Erica! Your cake is just lovely! Enjoyed reading about your inspiration. A perfect combination of the geo print and star burst mirror! Love it!!
Terrific review! This is exactly the type of article that should be shared around the web. Sad on the search engines for not positioning this article higher!
I have a bride that is interested in a cake similar to this gorgeous creation of yours! Do you mind me asking…when you say commissioned a stencil….exactly what do you mean? Did you purchase this stencil or have someone make it for you? I’m curious as to where I can find one!
Thank you so much and congratulations on your feature in Bride’s!
Hi Cheryl,
First I paid a graphic designer to make a vector file in Illustrator (about $60). Then I sent the file to a stencil cutting company to render it for me (about $35). If your client wants a custom stencil design, I would work the cost into the price.
Good luck!