Archives for

Hello Kitty and Her Little Cake

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Erica OBrien in 1st birthday, birthday cake, Featured, first birthday, wedding cakes connecticut, wedding cakes ct, wedding cakes new york, wedding cakes ny | 2 Comments

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.

Pin It 

Read More

Two Cakes

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Erica OBrien in autumn wedding cake, fall wedding cake, for the baker, for the bride, rose wedding cake, unique wedding cakes, vintage wedding cakes, wedding cake, wedding cake long beach, wedding cake los angeles, Wedding Paper Divas | Leave a comment

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.

Both were inspired by invitations found on Wedding Paper Divas, and photographed by Ashleigh Taylor of Ashleigh Taylor Photography.

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).

I used the same fondant cutout technique for the second cake (below), based on the Artistic Maple: Autumn Orange invitation.

Gratitude to Ashleigh Taylor, who knows just what I like in a photograph, and to Wedding Paper Divas, who always have plenty of inspiration to share.
Read More

Fall Inspired Cake

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Erica OBrien in autumn wedding cake, fall wedding cake, for the baker, for the bride, wedding cake long beach, wedding cake los angeles | 2 Comments

Last July, I went to a birthday party and saw a little girl wearing this adorable Gymboree dress:

Obviously, I was left with no choice but to make it into a cake: a fall cake with edible miniature fruits and matching mini loaf cakes, and accompanied by the gorgeous blooms of Honey and Poppies. (If you notice a slight change to the colors, you can thank Megan, my creative yet bossy co-conspirator from Honey and Poppies. She didn’t like the blue and made me change it.) This shoot was featured on The Wedding Chicks. Special thanks to April and Amanda from April Smith & Co. Photography for their skill with a camera.

Read More