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You Might Be a Cake Artist If…

It occurred to me only after I’d colored the fondant navy blue that perhaps, with one of my best friend’s weddings only days away, I should have worn gloves. How many people at the wedding–some of whom I hadn’t seen since high school–would assume I’d been furiously coloring fondant for a disco-themed birthday party? Or, the more likely scenario, how many would wonder if I’d contracted some pigment-changing contagious disease?

If this sound familiar, then this post is for you.

You Might Be a Cake Artist If…

~your two-year old calls Play-Doh “fondant”

~when people ask you whom, living or dead, you’d most like to invite to dinner, instead of Gandhi or Dr. Martin Luther King, you answer “Ron Ben-Israel”

~you thought 50 Shades of Grey was an ombré cake design

~you think nothing says “I love you” like a new flower cutter

~the staff at Jo-Ann fabrics knows you by name

~you get most of your news from The Food Network

~Cake Central is your Maxim Magazine

~your husband knows the difference between gumpaste, pastillage, Mexican paste, and modeling chocolate and can offer a thorough explanation of their uses, benefits, and pros and cons

And a few favorites from my facebook friends. To read the rest of their absolutely hilarious comments, go to my facebook post.

~manicure? What’s a manicure? {Nancy}

~you have suffered more cake related ailments than standard ones: ruffler’s fingers, ganacher’s shoulder, decorator’s ankle, stacker’s wrist and buttercreamer’s lung {Royal Bakery}

~you pipe shells on your toothbrush with toothpaste {Brigitta}

~you break a drawer pull and the first solution you think of is to make a new one out of gum paste {Tamatha}

And since no post would be complete without a few cake photos, here are just a few recent cakes that we’ve done.

Callan made over 300 hydrangeas for this buttercream cake. Photo by Darren Wagner.

I love working with chocolate fondant. It’s just dreamy.

And finally, sweet and classic.

Until next time, keep on caking, and wear that food coloring proudly!

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Cake Trios (and a Couple of Quintets)

I’ve noticed lately that one wedding cake is no longer sufficient. Here are some cake trios we’ve worked on recently (although not thatrecently, because my roses have gotten considerably better).

And who could forget this classic?

Does five count as a trio?

I think I spot a trend.

Photo credit (from top): Lane Dittoe, Braedon Flynn, Henry Chen, T & H Photography, and Ja Tecson.

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Mushroom Cake

Joy Thigpen is a creative director and stylist for events, interiors, editorials, and personal expression. (She also has a really cool logo.) She asked me to create a cake based on this photograph:

So I did:

Mushroom cake
Styling: Joy Thigpen
Production: Once Wed
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Two Cakes

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.
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Fall Inspired Cake

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.

cake with marzipan apples pears cumquats Chocolate fondant with fall fruit

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