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Design Goals 2013: A Six-Month Update

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Erica OBrien in birthday cake, cake decorating, cake design, Celebration Cakes, Featured, ombre cake, Wedding Cakes | Leave a comment

Well, we’ve reached the 2013 halfway mark. Thought I’d review my list of 2013 Design Goals to see how far I’ve come (or, more likely, how far I have to go).

Here’s a list of my goals and my progress on each.

1. White-on-white.

Check! I actually achieved this one recently and will be sharing the entire cake shortly. Meanwhile, here’s a teaser shot.

2. Show my girly side. 

I guess this one is sort of subjective. I would argue that I have in fact shown my girly side. I did a super girly, lacey, pastely cake for Bride’s Magazine (the issue comes out in late August) , so that counts, right? I made a seriously pink-and-purple cake for a party last week, and although by “girly” I meant sort of classically feminine in an adult, women-who-take-lavender-scented-baths type way rather than a six-year old girl way, I’m counting it for this goal.


3. Use a lighter touch.

Nothing comes to mind here, so I guess it’s a no. Six more months to work on this one.

4. Use my lace molds. 

Check! Not only did I use my lace molds on Ava’s baptism cake, it’s so girly I could probably use this cake for Goal # 2! Double check!

Sugar roses by Erica OBrien Cake Design | CT 5. Sugar dahlia. 

Negative, but I did buy a new dahlia cutter (that I don’t think will work, but still).

6. Juliet rose.

Nah. Kind of forgot about this one until just now. Will have to remind myself to remember this goal.

7. Further explore what interests me as an artist.

Nope. Haven’t had time to “explore” anything.  I’ll try to work in some exploration time soon.

So, out of seven goals, I’ve achieved three, and I still have six months to go. I think perhaps I can do this! Thanks for checking in on me. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

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DIY Ombré Monogram

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Erica OBrien in DIY, Featured | 1 Comment

I love ombré. There. I said it. I’m not even the slightest bit sick of it even though it seems to be everywhere. But I’m particularly enchanted with  dip-dyed silk ombré, like this dress by Gypsy 05.

For my fourth DIY for Project Wedding, I wanted to create a cake inspired by the dip-dyed look, but because fondant is so sensitive to liquid, dipping it really wasn’t an option. Instead, we painted it using varied shades of food color. Here’s the how-to.

1. What you’ll need:

~approximately 1 ounce fondant

~square cookie cutter

~round cookie cutter

~letter cutters or (xacto knife if hand-cutting letters)

~flat, food-use only paintbrush

~two colors paste food coloring with increasing amounts of white food color added to achieve three shades of each (light, medium, dark) plus additional white food color. (Can also be done with several shades of a single color.)

~fondant board or mat

2. Roll fondant thinly on board. Be sure that fondant is not sticking before proceeding to Step 3.

3. Cut fondant into a square about 3″ x 3″.

4. Use round cutter on corners.

5. Mix food coloring.
6. Dip paintbrush in one of the darkest colors. Using a single stroke, paint on fondant. Repeat with medium and then lighter color, then white, followed by the light, medium, and dark shades of the other color. Fondant can be repainted only AFTER paint has completely dried. Avoid the temptation to repaint while wet.

7. Cut initials using letter cutters or by hand-cutting.

8. After paint has dried, moisten back of letters with water and adhere to fondant cutout.  Apply a small amount of water to fondant cutout and adhere to cake.

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Cake for The Knot Magazine

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Erica OBrien in brides magazine 50 most beautiful, Featured, ombre cake, vintage | 4 Comments

Last year, I wrote about a cake with pleated pinwheels that I proposed to Bride’s magazine. The cake was inspired by something I had seen in Martha Stewart, and in the sketch (and my imagination) it was beautiful, with shades of peach, ivory, buttercup and pink. Once I executed it in sugar, however, it was lackluster at best, and the Bride’s editors passed on it.

I couldn’t let the idea of the pinwheels go though, and when The Knot asked me to do a cake–and left the design and colors completely up to me–I decided to revisit them. This time, I proposed a cake with more vibrantly colored pinwheels in an ombré that would pop against a white cake, as seen in the sketch below.

The Knot editors liked my idea, and so I hand-delivered the final product last spring to their offices. This time, the design really worked, and so does the photo by Devon Jarvis (to whom I am extremely grateful for sending me this high res image):
 
 
The photo appeared in The Knot magazine’s Spring-Sumer 2012 New York edition.
 
I’ll end with this: If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time (or, for that matter, a short time) or if you know me personally at all, you know I never say this, but…I love this cake!
 
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