Know what’s better than a DIY? An easy DIY, and we have two of ‘em. The best part is, you probably already have most of the materials in your home.
Our Necco wafer cake takes the classic Necco wafer candy to a whole new {trendy and sophisticated} level. For the full project, see our DIY tutorial on Project Wedding.
Our fruit gem cake is perfect for spring. You’ll find the full project instructions on Project Wedding.
Photos 1, 3, 4: Val McCormick
Photo 2: Brooke Allison Photo
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Although I’d like to think it’s because I’m just spectacularly talented that I’ve been doing so much print work lately, I know the real reason is my proximity to New York (where many magazine publishers are located) combined with my willingness to deliver a cake for a shoot with very little notice. Most recently I did a shoot with BRIDES Magazine entitled Luxe for Less. The idea was to show two different yet similar cake designs, one of which was more expensive than the other, and provide visuals to explain what caused one cake to be more pricey than the other.
I pitched three concepts. The first was a berries and herbs design that I conceptualized for a different BRIDES shoot last year. They didn’t like it then and I guess they don’t like it now, because it didn’t get selected.
The second concept featured (very poorly drawn) hexagons, which I’m convinced are very trendy right now although I can find no evidence of this. Perhaps it was the ridiculously disproportionate top tier on the Luxe cake (the cake on the right in the sketch below), but they passed on this one too.
For my final design, I chose a gold quatrefoil pattern and paired it with pink sugar flowers. The BRIDES editors made a minor adjustments to the color palette (from gold to yellow), and this one was the keeper.
The cake was featured in the April/May 2013 issue.
I also asked Brooke Sforzato photogaph the cakes for me. Here you can vividly see the quatrefoil outline cutouts (made using two custom cutters, both the same shape but in different sizes) and pink sugar ranunculus and hydrangea in the Luxe version.
The quatrefoil in the Less version was made using a single custom cutter, creating a solid cutout, and was paired with pink sugar hydrangea.
These two cakes are among my favorite. Thank you Callan, my wonderful assistant, for all your hard work. And Brooke, you’re a fabulous photographer and friend.
Read MoreThis is my maternal grandmother, Miriam Klusner. She was Mimi to most people that knew her, but Mama to me and my sister.
Mama grew up in Brooklyn, where she met and married my grandfather, Albert. In the 1950s, they moved from Brooklyn to Bayside, Queens, with my father and uncle. At that time, Queens was the country, at least compared to Brooklyn, and in the back of their tiny house, at the far end of the yard, she planted blueberry bushes. As a girl, I loved picking blueberries in her backyard, and they have been my favorite fruit ever since.
Mama was a great cook and an even better baker. (I’m pretty sure my mean sweet tooth comes directly from her.) I wish she were here today so she could eat one of my cakes. I know she’d be so proud.
Although it’s always exciting to design a new cake for an editorial photo shoot, this one has a special place in my heart. Brooke Allison and Stefanie Kapra, who conceptualized and photographed the shoot, called it Something Blue(berry). They incorporated buttons, birds, and books, rustic decor, and lots of blue elements. Thanks to Brooke and Stef for asking me to create the cake, which includes antiqued fondant birds and, of course, lots and lots of fondant blueberries.
It all started with a pillow I saw on Etsy.
It became this cake:
Photo: Ashleigh Taylor Photography
I liked the design so much I did it again:
Photo: Jose Villa
I almost did another one for The Cake Blog’s Twelve Cakes of Christmas based on this Crate and Barrel pillow (but then I changed my mind):
And then, inspired by this heart wreath by Lasting Memories (and the multi-colored ruffles in the Crate and Barrel pillow above), I decided to make one for Valentine’s Day.
As it turns out, making a ruffle out of fondant is almost exactly like making one out of felt (just without the straight pins).
Want to know how we do it? Check out our DIY tutorial on Project Wedding.
Enjoy!
Read MoreWhen I was pregnant, I didn’t want to know the baby’s gender. My husband did, arguing that if we painted the baby’s room a gender-neutral color, as soon as the baby was born I’d want to repaint. (He knows me well, and also doesn’t like painting.) Anyway, the nurse practitioner settled the argument by telling me the baby was a girl (she forgot I didn’t want to know), and so Mia’s room was painted two shades of purple.
For her first birthday, I designed her cake to match her room, all without any input from her, and I loved it. This would mark the last time I alone designed her cake.
I’ve always loved purple, especially as a kid, so I assumed that my kids would love purple too. But by age two, Mia had begun, to my dismay, to show a strong preference for pink. For her second birthday cake, however, she requested The Very Hungry Caterpillar. She didn’t have a particular design in mind, just a theme, but she knew just what she wanted.
By age three there was no denying it: Mia had firmly rejected my beloved purple in favor of pink. For her third birthday, she requested a Hello Kitty cake with lots and lots of pink. (The little Hello Kitty was my idea, as were the chevron, but Mia gave final design approval.)
Mia is still deeply entrenched in the pink phase, but has also added a love of all things rainbow. For her fourth birthday cake, she provided a lot of direction, a sketch, a design concept revision, and a revised sketch. Mia wanted a rainbow, popcorn, flying pigs, and flying cows.
I love you, my Mia, more than anything. Keep on being your spunky, pink-loving self for ever and ever. You will always be my sweet precious girl, and I will always make your cakes just how you want them.
Read MoreWhether you’re a bride, a cake-curious baker, or a cake design professional, there is a lot to know about fondant. There are many things I wish someone had told me when I first started so that I didn’t have to learn the hard way, and apparently I’m not the only one. I asked my facebook friends for their input, and they had lots to say. Here are my top ten (with lots of help from my facebook family).
1. Fondant can be refrigerated. I had one of those I’m-never-making-another-cake-again cakes several years ago on a blazing hot day in Malibu, CA. After that, I started refrigerating my cakes. You can read more about it here (it’s tip #4). I’ve heard that some cake artists use humidity controlled fridges, but I’ve yet to find any. I do try to keep my cake fridge at the warmest setting to minimize the difference between the fridge temp and the air temp, thereby limiting the amount of condensation (or “sweating”) that forms when the cake comes out of the fridge. Sweet Cakes by Rebecca notes that condensation can help be prevented by boxing the cake and wrapping the box in saran wrap.
2. Keep colored fondant out of direct light. Any kind of light. Even electric light can fade your fondant. Jasmine Clouser Couture Cakery had this to say: “Coloring fondant lavender is tricky. If you put it in the sun at all it will turn blue. Keep your cake and decorations in a dark place or covered it if there is any lavender or purple. When the cake is out at the reception keep it out of the sun. Using precolored fondant is better than using gel when it come to purple.” Excellent advice. I would add pinks to list too.
3. Fondant won’t make an imperfect cake look perfect. They say that to truly understand digital photography, you have to first understand film. The same is true of cake: to truly understand fondant, you must have a basic understanding of buttercream cakes. Skillfully covered fondant cakes are deceptive: the fondant looks so impeccably smooth, many people assume that (1) it’s easy and (2) fondant is all that’s needed to get that perfect finish. But fondant won’t make a bumpy, lumpy, lopsided cake look any better (and might even make it look worse). It is absolutely critical to have a smoothly iced cake with a level top and plumb (straight up and down) sides underneath fondant. Take the time to learn this skill if you haven’t already, and your fondant cakes will look a lot better.
4. Fondant is not ideal for all designs. Fondant’s gummy property makes it great as an icing, but terrible for certain design work. Because it won’t hold it’s shape, vertical or horizontal lines, sugar flowers, and the like are very difficult to execute with fondant. At the shop we use three methods. We either add tylose to fondant to stiffen it, make a 50/50 mixture of fondant and gumpaste, or ditch the fondant altogether and use gumpaste.
5. Fondant tastes better than you might think. Many of my brides who say they’ve heard fondant tastes horrible are usually pleasantly surprised by the taste. I always share with them that my objection to fondant is not necessarily the taste, but rather the gummy texture of the fondant with the crumb of the cake. However, since fondant firms up a bit, it is easy for guests who really don’t like it to peel it off, and for me, you can’t beat that perfectly smooth look of fondant, so it’s a trade off that’s well worth it.
6. It’s (sometimes) easier to cover a large cake than a smaller one. Many people are intimidated by larger cakes, but when the sides of the cake are smaller in proportion to the diameter of the cake, it’s actually easier. Think about spreading a flat sheet on a mattress. The sheet lies flat and a little hangs smoothly over the sides. Now imagine taking that same bed sheet and trying to smoothly cover a broom stick. It would be virtually impossible due to all the draping. In this analogy, the bed sheet, with it’s large surface area and relatively short sides, is the larger cake while the broom stick, with its very tall sides and relatively small surface area, is the smaller cake. Basically, a cake that is taller than it is wide is more challenging to cover than a cake that is wider than it is tall.
7. Fondant will be affected by temperature and humidity. When fondant is cold it tends to stiffen. When it’s warm it gets soft and droopy. When it’s humid, sticky. The best way to combat the changes? A temperature controlled room definitely helps, and shortening or cornstarch can decrease the stickiness, but a lot of it comes with practice. Unfortunately with this one there’s no easy way of avoiding it. Just remember that if your normally cooperative fondant turns to into a big droopy mess, it’s probably the weather and not you. Try not to get too frustrated, take brakes if needed, and remember that it’s all part of the process.
8. Water and fondant don’t mix. You must be absolutely vigilant when working with fondant not to get any water on it. Water droplets will dissolve the sugar in the fondant, leaving small pock marks on an otherwise perfectly smooth surface. I always box my cakes for transport, just in case, and I always instruct brides getting fresh flowers on their cake to communicate to their florist that the flowers must be absolutely dry before being place on the cake.
9. It’s expensive, and you get what you pay for. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the cheaper, more commercially available fondant. It’s harder to work with, is more elastic (in the worst way), and has a shorter working time because it dries so quickly. Satin Ice is the industry standard, but there are also other brands that are excellent. Kristin Sabol Kirkpatrick shared on facebook that “not all fondants are created equal! Just because someone swears by a certain brand, doesn’t mean it is the best choice for you!” Some fondants (like Carma Massa Ticino Tropic) are actually formulated for humid climates. The specialty fondants are definitely pricier, but if you calculate all the sleep you’ll lose over fondant that sweats, cracks, or bulges, it’s well worth the investment.
10. I really like this tip from Oven Couture ~ Smallish Confection Perfection: Buy pre-colored fondant! You can spend a long time (and risk drying out) trying to get white fondant black, or you can just spend a little more and buy it. I vote buy it.
And of course, a cake! A ruffled heart cake inspired by Valentine’s Day.
I hope these tips are helpful to you. Feel free to share any I’ve left out! We always love to hear from you. Best of luck!
Read MoreWe’ve scheduled two classes so far for 2013. Our Tier I: Introduction to Cake Design class begins next Sunday, January 20th. Although this class is a beginner-level class, it’s also perfect for students who have some cake design experience and want to brush up on their skills. We find a lot of our students have already taken the Wilton class (as an instructor of mine once said, “Everyone starts with Wilton.”) but want a more professional-level understanding of cake artistry.
Tier I meets four consecutive Sundays from 10am to 1pm. All materials and supplies are included, and students receive their own piping kit and gel color kit. Cost: $399. Register here.
We also wanted to accommodate people who couldn’t commit to four consecutive weeks, or those who live too far to make the trip weekly. Our Fondant Intensive is designed for students who already have a background in cake design but want to improve their fondant skills. Students learn the tools, tips, and techniques used by professionals to give their cakes a flawless finish and learn ruffles, bows, single-cut flowers, and more.
The Fondant Intensive meets on Sunday, March 3rd, from 10am to 4pm. Register here.
And since no blog post is complete without a few cake photos, I thought I’d share a few recent ones.
Baby shower cake inspired by the mom-to-be’s baby shower invitation:
Cake for Bride’s Magazine featuring sugar raspberries, sugar succulents, and sugar poppies.
Cake covered in rice paper that we cut with a craft punch and accented with some orange sugar ranunculus:
Please feel free to contact us with any questions about our classes. Hope to see you there!
Read MoreEvery year I make two New Year’s resolutions: one that is more humanitarian (one year I resolved to be more considerate of pedestrians while driving) and one that is completely frivolous and self-absorbed (always wear matching pajamas). This year, I’m adding some professional design goals. Some of them are newer goals; others have been on my list forever, but I figured if I write down them I’ll be more likely to realize them. I’ll be checking them off my list (hopefully) throughout the year, and will keep you posted about the status of each. Here are my 2013 design goals.
1. White-on-white cake. Nothing is more classic than a white-on-white wedding cake, yet for me it’s a real challenge. As much as I try to restrain myself, virtually every cake I make seems to have a pop of color. I have been designing cakes for over 15 years, and of the hundreds of cakes I’ve made, the two white cakes below are literally the only white-on-white cakes I’ve ever done. (For some reason, I find winter-themed cakes a little easier to execute in white.) So, my first goal for 2013 will be to create a cake, all white with no other colors, that is not winter-themed and is just splendid.
2. Show my girly side. A designer friend of mine once called one of my designs “masculine”. I was horrified. Yes, the cake featured bold geometrics in blues and greens, but masculine? I had never thought of my cakes as gender-specific, and definitely not masculine, but when I thought about it, they weren’t particularly feminine either, and not at all girly. I do appreciate girly things, but for some reason my cakes rarely reflect that side. This year, I want to lean towards more feminine, girly designs.
3. Use a lighter touch. I really like cakes that look airy and light, but I always find my cakes are heavy handed. This year, I plan to work with colors, designs, and materials that give my cakes a sense of weightlessness.
4. Use my lace molds. I purchased these fabulous jewelry findings at Jo-Ann Fabrics forever ago and used my food-grade silicone to create fondant molds from them. They’re pretty fabulous–lacy and girly (just perfect for Design Goal #2)–and I’ve been meaning to get around to creating a cake with them. This year, I’m gonna do it.
5. Sugar dahlia. The one below, to be precise: It’s the cafe au lait dahlia, and it’s my absolute favorite. I’ve been playing with dahlias for a while now, and am ready to perfect my design. This is the year.
6. And while we’re at it, the Juliet Rose. I’ve seen several pretty good Juliet roses made of sugar, but never a great one. In 2013, I will make one. Part of the challenge is finding a good one to use as a model. The other part is finding the time to do it. With kids, a growing business, and a beat-up old house we’re restoring, time is my biggest challenge and really comes at a premium. Luckily my family is really supportive. The Juliet rose, with it’s multiple components, will take several attempts and lots of time to figure out, but I’ll do it.
Have a fabulous 2013.
This project was inspired by the romantic designs of Paloma’s Nest. Their handcrafted ceramic keepsakes are both beautiful and functional: ringbearer bowls, cufflinks, frames, and more for weddings, holidays, and baby with a fabulous hipster aesthetic.
I love the idea of an edible version that can be saved forever. Get creative with your message and write something that has special meaning to both of you.
What you’ll need (clockwise from left): Fondant rolling board, rolling pin, round cookie cutter, fondant in the color of your choice, small round piping tip, elastic ribbon, cornstarch (to prevent sticking), metal alphabet punches in the typeface of your choice. I used 1/4″ metal stamps that I purchased on etsy. The size of the stamps you use will be determined by the size of your keepsake and your message. (A lengthy message will require smaller lettering.) Be sure to practice with the letter punches and measure the spacing before you begin. (Hint: If you have trouble getting your letters to line up, try wrapping them with tape and pressing complete words rather than individual letters.)
1. Sprinkle a small amount of cornstarch on board to prevent sticking.
2. Roll out fondant thin, about 1/16th of an inch. Roll as evenly as possible. Be sure that fondant is not sticking before proceeding to next step.
3. Place cookie cutter on rolled fondant and cut out circle.
4. Remove excess fondant.
5. Your keepsake is now ready to decorate.
6. Insert small round piping tip (we used a tip 2) into fondant about 1/4″ from the edge. Press to make small round cutout.
7. Repeat previous step about 1/4″ away so that you now have two small holes punched out.
8. Select the letters you’ll need for your message.
9. Begin with first letter punch, ensuring that you press evenly. Remember that you’ll probably want to practice a few times on another piece of fondant. If you are having trouble lining letters up, wrap the punches with tape to keep them together. Allow keepsake to dry thoroughly, up to one week.
10. Allow your keepsake to dry completely (at least 48-72 hours) before proceeding to the next step.
11. Take a length of elastic ribbon and fold in half. Hold from behind keepsake and insert ends. Pull so that folded section forms a loop.
12. Insert ends through loop and pull.
12. Use a dab of royal icing to secure keepsake to cake. Tie elastic ribbon around cake. We also added a gold fondant ring around our keepsake for a little extra zing.
Creating your own edible keepsake? We would love to see what you come up with! Please email photos to erica@ericaobrien.com.
Lastly, I can’t thank Brooke Allison Sforza of Brooke Allison Photo enough for these beautiful pictures. Thanks Brooke, as always.
Read MoreCarrie Sellman of The Cake Blog does an annual (this being its second year, so I guess it’s officially annual) series called The 12 Cakes of Christmas in which she features 12 different Christmas cakes from 12 different artists. This year, she asked me to create a cake for the series.
Now, there are two directions in which one can go when creating a Christmas-themed cake: the literal route or the interpretive one, and although I like to stray a bit from the beaten path with most of my designs, I went straight-up mainstream with this cake. I was inspired by a few images I found on (where else?) Pinterest, and decided to go for it: American mistletoe, winterberries, kraft hang tags, and gold string. The only difference is that mine were all edible.
Inspiration: American mistletoe and winterberries
Vintage bottles with hang tags:
My original plan was to go around the base of each tier with the mistletoe, but it began looking very ancient-Greek-Olympic-headpiece, which is fine if you’re doing an ancient-Greek-Olympic-headpiece-themed cake. I, however, was making a Christmas-themed cake, so I scrapped the original design and changed it to more of a mistletoe spray at the front of each tier.
Brooke Sforza of Brooke Allison Photo was kind enough to spend an entire rainy afternoon photographing my cake, graciously ooh-ing and ahh-ing the whole time. I can’t say enough good things about her.
I made the hang tags out of fondant and impressed the letters using metal alphabet stamps. I then shaded them with a bit of brown petal dust. The gold string was also fondant.
Callan, my most talented assistant, made all the berries. She also assembled the sprays by attaching the wired berries and leaves to heavy gauge wire using florist’s tape.
Special thanks to Carrie Sellman for inviting me to contribute. And to Brooke Allison, without whom I’d have far fewer photos of my cakes.
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