I usually ask clients to bring photos of cakes they like to the consultation. Often, at first glance they seem to have nothing in common, and it’s my job to help the client gain focus. I love the challenge of finding the common elements that tie all the cakes together. Radhika, a bride I recently worked with, had a lot of ideas for her wedding cake, and brought in a lot of photos (below) for inspiration. (I recognize several of them as Sweet and Saucy Shop, the now-defunct I Dream of Cake, and my designs, but unfortunately I can’t credit all of them.) See if you can find the common thread:
Essentialy, I determined that Radhika likes cakes that incorporate modern, cleaner interpretations of more traditional designs. Then she threw me when she sent these images for inspiration: It helped that Radhika created her own sketch (seen here on the right) that included the clean, modern, graphic style I’m known for and the traditional Indian elements she wanted to use. The sketch was pretty, but it didn’t quite work for me.
The detail on the bottom tier was too small to balance out the bigger, bolder designs on the top two tiers. I suggested that the designs on the three tiers go either small-big-small or big-small-big, and she opted for the former. In my first sketch, I tried to balance the design a little more and use Radhika’s color scheme of turquoise, orange and fuchsia.
Something about the colors wasn’t quite working, so I turned to the online color palette generator that I love. From there I determined that Radhika should really replace the orange in her primary color scheme with yellow, and include the orange as a secondary accent color. A few screen shots from the site are seen to the right and below.
Once we finalized the color palette, we talked about changing the cake to four tiers. She really wanted a 3-D sugar paste flower, but it just wouldn’t work within the original three-tier design. She decided on a four-tier (thank you Sonia Sharma, Radhika’s event planner), and when I created the sketch I knew I was on to something:
The wedding and reception were held on May 14th at Rancho del Diablo Dormindo in Malibu, California. Here are some photographs of the cake.
I get lots of my supplies and tools at cake design stores, particularly online stores where products are often less expensive. But I also use a lot of tools that you won’t find in any cake design store. Here are four I can’t do without:
1. Vodka. I buy the cheapest vodka I can find in the largest quantity. Vodka evaporates much more quickly than water and therefore won’t dissolve the sugar in fondant the way water will. I mix vodka with luster dust to liquify it and use in my airbrush. I also use vodka rather than airbrush cleaner to clean my airbrush. Simply fill the color cup with vodka and spray until it runs clear. For cleanups on fondant-covered cakes, lightly moisten a paper towel with vodka and gently wipe away stray marks. 2. Non-slip shelf liner. An indespensible tool, non-slip liner is worth its weight in gold, although it’s very inexpensive. For about $5, you can buy a large roll at Target. I place it under my cakes and my commercial cooler to prevent them from sliding around during transport. It can also be used under a cutting or rolling board so that it won’t slip on the table surface.
3. Sandpaper. I use sandpaper to soften the edges on dummy cakes (where the side meets the top) so that my fondant won’t tear as easily. I also use it to smooth the seams on the sides of the dummies. Sanpaper works perfectly on dried sugar decorations. Rather than risk cracking them by applying the pressure of even the sharpest blade, I smooth rough edges on dried gumpaste and pastiallage pieces with sandpaper. The trick is to know what grit to use. The lower the grit the rougher the sandpaper and conversely, the higher the grit the smoother the sandpaper. 100-grit sandpaper is rougher than 200-grit sandpaper. “Grit” refers to the number of abrasive particles per inch of sandpaper (woodzone.com). An easy way to remember is to imagine a 1″ square. Think about how small and fine the particles would have to be to fit 300 into that square inch, and how much bigger (and rougher) the particles would be to fit 50 particles. I tend to use finer sandpaper on my sugar pieces (300 or 400) and slightly rougher sandpaper (150 or 200) on my cake dummies.
4. Easy Cutter. I use 1/4″ wooden dowels (be sure to buy them at a hardware store rather than a crafts shop) to support my cakes. To cut them, I use the Midwest Easy Cutter, a tool specifically designed for cutting small wood strips. It has a guide so that you can ensure your cuts are exactly 90 degrees. Some of the larger Jo-Ann Fabrics stores carry them in their woodcrafts department, or you can purchase them at the online art store, Dick Blick.
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Have a favorite cake design tool that’s not intended for cake? Please feel free to share it here.
Perhaps you’re familiar with Brides Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful Cakes issue. Perhaps, like me, you’ve studied it for hours on end, wondered at the cakes’ perfection, marveled at the design concepts, and perused the artists’ websites. Or maybe that’s just me.
It’s not that I didn’t dare to dream of someday being in it. It’s that it never even occurred to me to dare to dream it. Then I got an email from the editor of Brides, asking me to submit sketches for the issue, and a dream I didn’t even know I had was suddenly within reach.
The editor outlined the in-depth selection process in the email: Submit sketches–as many as you wish–that reflect new and unique techniques and designs. If the sketch is accepted for the semi-finals, the artist submits an 8″ by 8″ sugar tile sample to demonstrate the technique. After the sugar tiles are reviewed, the artists are notified whether their cake is accepted for the photo shoot for the magazine. Even at this stage there is no guarantee, the email warned: design execution issues, acts of nature, or damage in shipping can all render the final product unphotographable.
I got right to work.
I consulted my inspiration file, my mom, and my husband, and created four designs. Of course anything can be drawn on paper, but actually making it out of fondant can be a challenge, so I had to sketch designs I could actually execute. (I didn’t, but that’s another story.)
I submitted my sketches and waited. And waited. Finally, I got the email: they liked two of my designs. They wanted to see one exactly the way I drew it, and for the other they wanted to see two variations (one the way I sketched it and another that combined an element from a third sketch).
I created my sugar tiles and, after allowing ample drying time, shipped them off to New York. Some more waiting and then another email. They liked one of the sugar tiles, the one with the variation from another sketch, and wanted to shoot the cake for the issue. My cake design made it to the finals!
So, next week, I leave for New York with my cake and deliver it to their studio.
Meanwhile, here are two of my designs that didn’t make it. For each sketch, I created a board with a brief explanation of the design and inspiration.
Here, I used a ruffled shower curtain and pillow for inspiration. I liked the colors in the shower curtain (on the left) but wanted it pleated like the pillow (on the right). The sketch looked better in my imagination than in real life, and I wasn’t surprised they didn’t like it.
The next design, one of the two accepted to the semi-finals, was very Martha Stewart inspired, and I used her muted tones for the color palette (which is where I think I went wrong).
Here’s the sketch. Although at first glance you think “I’ve seen that before,” you’ve seen it out of paper and never out of fondant.
And the sugar tile. I think if I had it to do over again, I would make the cake white and the pleated pinwheels bright colors so they would pop.
Barring natural disasters or extreme bad luck, you will see my cake in the September issue of Brides. Even if my cake doesn’t make it to the magazine…Forget that. My cake better make it to the magazine, but I’ll let you know.
Honestly, when I wrote the post entitled “This Is Only a Test”, I meant it as a joke as well as a way to snag my mom and friend Megan, both of whom claim to be regular readers.
Never did I imagine how many readers would respond. (I didn’t even know I had readers!) I’ve always enjoyed writing, and of course you know how I feel about cake design. When I first started this blog, I didn’t know the direction it would take, but in addition to combining my interest in writing with my love for cake design, it’s evolved into a forum for me to share my experiences, muses, jokes, and dreams. It seems that readers not only recognize that but also appreciate it.
Thank you to those of you who reached out, shared your thoughts, and encouraged me to keep going. I know how busy life can get, and that you took the time to post a comment means so much to me.
So, thank you: Jennywenny (who always encourages me with her comments) Nellichen Peters Girl Cake Hero Paige Kate Beth Manoj Shannon faithy, the baker Emilyn anne sweeteatscakes Anonymous (all three of you) charla BLUE (my colleague and friend) Lori Nicole Julie Whipple Herbert Mica lulublue Oh, and Mom, Megan: You’re cold busted.
Every time I mention that I’m thinking of taking down my blog, the friend or family member to whom I mention it always seems to say the same thing: “Why? I love your blog!” And my response is always the same: “You do? I didn’t know anyone actually reads my blog.” To which they respond “I read it all the time!”
So, if you’re reading this (Megan, Mom, and recent students Nicole and Emilyn), leave a comment right now. Thanks.
This has been a test of Erica OBrien Cake Design. Had this been an actual blog post, it would have been accompanied by some cool pictures, clever anecdotes or witty cogitation.
I started decorating cakes in 1995 just for fun, and I was pretty good. I knew I would someday pursue cake design as a career, but it wasn’t until I moved to California in 2005 (and hated my teaching job so much I would come home crying every day) that I decided to make cake design a full-time pursuit. With that goal in mind, my first step was a fancy website with lots of quality pictures. There was only one problem: I didn’t have any quality pictures. The entire first ten years of my cake decorating career was documented with a point-and-shoot camera, and while some people manage to achieve a quality photo with even the crappiest point-and-shoot, I’m not one of them. So, I needed to get some photos of cakes I had designed.I contacted a few photographers to inquire about professional photos of my cakes, but at $250 per hour, it was not a viable option, especially since I knew I would want photos of all my cakes going forward. We took what amounted to four hours of professional photo time and invested it instead in a digital Cannon Rebel. Turns out I can’t take a good picture even with a quality camera, but as luck would have it my husband has a natural gift for it. (Several of his photos of my cakes have actually been published.)I planned to design a cake per week until I had built up my portfolio with enough good photos for a website, but between my teaching job and my daughter, it just seemed there was never time. I knew I would need something to motivate me.So.I put an ad on Craigslist offering wedding cakes–and here’s the zany part–in the “Free Stuff” section. I was pretty specific: the design would be up to me, the flavors up to the bride and groom. It had to be for a wedding. The cake would be completely free. I posted a few pictures of some of my earlier work and waited.
The email responses came in droves, and I saved them all so that when I someday went on Oprah I could share them with her audience. Unfortunately, this is Oprah’s last season, and all the emails were saved under an old AOL account, so they’re gone anyway. You’ll have to trust me to paraphrase some of them here.
Most of them had nothing to do with weddings: My son is turning seven next month. He likes geckos and camping. Can you make him a birthday cake?
Some of them were actually quite sad: My daughter is very ill. She was born with Cerebral Palsy. She is confined to a wheelchair. She loves Strawberry Shortcake. Can you make her 5th birthday cake?
A few of them were actually legitimate weddings, and I think I did about four or five free wedding cakes. Even at the time, I thought the people were nuts. (My first thought would be that anyone offering free wedding cakes is obviously trying to poison me and all my guests.) But for whatever reason, they trusted me to make their cake. Two of the photos were on my website for a long time, but I eventually became more skilled at my craft and wasn’t happy with the lopsidedness, so I replaced them with better quality cakes.
These are two of my free Craigslist cakes.
Marzipan Lemons and Limes:
Hand-cut Fondant Hibiscus Cake:
While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the free cakes route to someone looking to get into cake design, it certainly jump-started my career. I have no regrets about making them, and, I’d like to think, neither does anyone that got one.
This cake design was based on the Wedding Paper Divas’ Petal Clusters invitation. It comes in four colors: autumn orange, meadow, mustard, the one seen below, paradise. I’m telling you, I just can’t get enough of their invites.
Rhiannon Nicole, editor of the blog Hey Gorgeous, recently interviewed me for her Expert Files, a series in which she shares advice from expert (ahem) wedding professionals. I thought I’d share the interview here.
1. What are the most important things clients need to know when selecting their wedding cake?
Make sure you prioritize. If you’re a foodie and cake is very important to you, know that you will likely pay more for a cake from an artisan who makes everything from scratch than you would at a typical bakery. Wedding cakes can and should be delicious, but like many things, you get what you pay for. A cake made with butter instead of less-expensive shortening will taste better but will also cost more.
When it comes to design, select a baker whose style works for you. You wouldn’t commission a modern, abstract artist like Picasso to create a painting in the style of Monet. The same is true for cake design. Look at the designer’s portfolio to be sure his or her style meshes with your own. If not, you should probably move on.
Always request a tasting, and expect to schedule one several weeks in advance. Cake designers are busy people, particularly on weekends. The best days for a tasting are earlier in the week—Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday—before the wee
kend rush when the designer has a lot of time to sit down and chat with you. Be on time for your tasting. Appointments are usually scheduled back-to-back, and you don’t want to cut into your allotted time by showing up late.
Bring some design ideas to the table. They need not be other cakes that you like, although that helps give the cake artist a feel for your style. A good designer can use anything for inspiration: your wedding invitation, the print on a swatch of fabric, your grandmother’s lace doily, anything.
Don’t be limited by colors. If your wedding colors are peach and yellow, searching “peach and yellow wedding cakes” might be a good place to start, but don’t stop there. A cake design in eggplant and teal can easily be done in different colors.
Don’t be limited by colors. If your wedding colors are peach and yellow, searching “peach and yellow wedding cakes” might be a good place to start, but don’t stop there. A cake design in eggplant and teal can easily be done in different colors.
2. What are some common misconception about wedding cakes?
I‘d say the biggest misconception is that wedding cakes don’t taste good. Your cake should be as delicious as the best dessert in the finest restaurant. Here’s the problem: Many bakeries—but not all, and certainly not ours—use shorting instead of butter. Shortening is a lot cheaper and hs a higher melting point, so the heat of your hand won’t melt it if you’re piping a design, but neither will the heat of your mouth. If you’ve ever eaten a bakery product that gives you that greasy film on the roof of your mouth that you just want to scrape off, it’s not butter. Real butter has a lower melting point and is therefore melt-in-your-mouth delicious. We make all our cakes with real butter, and we make a French buttercream to fill them, so they’re absolutely scrumptious.
3. Name three big wedding cake faux pas.
a. Asking a family member or friend to make the cake. Wedding cakes are best left to professionals for many reasons. To decrease the chances of food-borne illness, you want a cake that’s been baked by someone properly trained in food handling in a commercial kitchen approved by your local Health Department. Also, transporting and assembling wedding cakes is tricky business, and it helps to have someone experienced. Lastly, you’ll have enough stress—and so will your sister, your mother, and your best friend—on your wedding day. Don’t add more by having one of them bake your cake.
b. Setting expectations too high. The best way to avoid disappointment is to be realistic about your budget and what kind of cake your money can buy you. Check prices in your local area before you get your heart set on a cake you can’t afford. c. Assuming guests won’t eat the cake. Although this might be true for some cakes, we find that even those who usually pass up the wedding cake can’t resist our cakes’ buttery goodness. You wouldn’t have a dinner party for eight guests and only prepare enough food for six. Don’t invite 100 guests and order a cake for 80—or you could end up with 20 angry (and hungry!) people at your wedding.
4. What is your favorite style, type and design of cake? Do you have a specialty?
My style is recognized for its clean lines and edible interpretations of graphic desings. I take a lot of cues from fabric, stationary, and other art forms. I’ve pioneered several techniques–such as the ruffle cake and painted appliques seen below–that define my style. I love cakes that offer a modern viewpoint while still maintaining the integrity of the traditional wedding cake.
5. Are there any helpful hints brides can benefit from if they are looking to save a bit of money on a fancy-looking creation?
Faux cakes—styrofoam dummies covered to look like real cakes—can be an economical option, and no one can tell the difference! Designers can decorate faux cakes in advance since no one will eat it (and fondant isn’t perishable), saving them precious time. Clients who get a sheet cake (intended only to be served not seen) save the designer the time-consuming process of filling and icing smooth a real cake, and save themselves some money in turn. Think about your venue and where the cake will be displayed. If the cake table will be against a wall, you might consider a design down the front of the cake only, since no one will see the back. The fewer details, the less time the designer spends on your cake, and the more money you save.
6. What is the difference between buttercream and fondant? Frosting and icing?
Buttercream is essentially eggs, butter and sugar and is spread on with an icing spatula. It is silky and creamy and compliments almost any cake well. Fondant was originally used to cover fruitcakes in England for shipment to the new world. A sugar paste made with powdered sugar, glucose, glycerine, and gelatin, it is rolled out like a dough and placed onto the cake. Fondant firms up when exposed to air, and forms a seal around the cake, keeping it fresher than buttercream would. A lot of people say that fondant doesn’t taste good, but I don’t actually mind the taste. What I object to is the gummy texture of the fondant against the crumb of the cake. However, it is impossible to get buttercream to look as smooth and pristine as fondant, so it is usually worth the tradeoff. Another consideration is that bakeries like ours that use real butter can never get a pure white buttercream because the yellow color of butter gives the buttercream an ivory appearance. Fondant, however, is available in a pure white. 7. What are some unique and appropriate flavours for spring and summer fetes? Fall and winter?
For spring and summer, I prefer lighter flavors and lots of fruit. To me, lemon cake with raspberry buttercream is the perfect combination for warmer months. I also make a lavender buttercream that sings of spring to me. For fall and winter, I like flavors that I associate with warmth—warm drinks like hot cider or tea. Our spiced carrot cake is popular during fall and winter, as is our chocolate hazelnut buttercream.
8. Explain a bit about the process of creating a typical wedding cake.
Oh, the process! Here’s just a glimpse of what you’re paying for when you commission a wedding cake: the designer’s experience and expertise, the cost of ingredients, labor to set up and clean up, torte, fill, ice, and smooth your cake—and that’s all exclusive of design! Cakes can take upwards of ten to forty hours to decorate. Some sugar flowers must be handcrafted petal by petal! One rose can take even an experienced artisan an hour to create, so a cascade of 60 gumpaste roses might take 60 hours to make. Also, we always provide a sketch of the cakes (a necessary but time consuming step) so we can ensure that we are creating the exact cake the client is envisioning. Finally, think about how much you would expect pay an artist to create an original painting for you When you purchase a custom cake, you are commissioning an edible piece of art.
9. What is the most memorable cake you have ever created and why?
I’d have to say my wedding cake, just because it was so close to my heart. I tried not to obsess too much about the design. I just sat down with my colored pencils and let the design flow naturally. It wasn’t my favorite design—then or now—but I felt like it represented the bright, fun, happy feel of my wedding. We had three cake flavor pairings: vanilla bean cake with blackberry buttercream, chocolate chip cake with vanilla bean buttercream, and chocolate cake with chocolate hazelnut ganache. Many of our guests said it was the best cake they’d ever had.
When I taught high school in New York City, the website ratemyteachers.com was wildly popular, and I checked my rating obsessively. I also read each and every comment, and there was one I will never forget. It read: “Good teacher, not as cool as she thinks she is.” Ouch. It stung. Bad. It probably hurt the most because there was some truth to it: I thought I was pretty cool. And, truth be told, I still do.
I’m happy to report that I’ve redeemed myself with this cake. I often share photos of my cakes on cakecentral.com, and someone posted the following comment about the pom pom cake below: “Omigosh. This cake is so cool that you must be cool, too. Yes, it’s that cool. ”
And this is the cake. I used 1″ and 1 1/2″ styrofoam balls, but you could easily make them out Rice Crispy treats. I watered down some pastillage until it formed a paste, and used it to cover the balls with white nonpareils . Although you can buy colored nonpareils, the colors are very limited. To achieve the custom colors needed to match the invitation, I mixed white airbrush color with purple for the lavender and with green and a hint of yellow for the light green. I actually thread the ribbon through each ball using a large needle and tied a small knot at the bottom of the ribbon to secure it.
When it comes to cake design, there’s no shortage of gizmos, gadgets, tools, and techniques. Here are five I’d like to try. If you’ve already had the pleasure, please let me and my readers know what you think by leaving a comment.
1. Fondant strip applicator by Ateco. Vertical fondant stripes are hard. Horizontal fondant stripes are even harder. This applicator claims to make the job much easier, but even watching this tutorial didn’t convince me. I generally like Ateco products, so I think I’ll have to try this one myself.
2. The Cricut Cake Cutter. Let’s face it: the Cricut can do a lot of things I can do but a whole lot better. From what I understand, it has its limitations, but as far as I’m concerned the design possibilities are endless. The Cricut debate may rage on, but when I see a cake as beautiful as this one by Elizabeth Hodes, it sure takes a lot of steam out of the argument.
3. Agbay cake leveler. I generally torte my cakes with a serrated edge knife, but this apparatus looks so daunting I figure it must do a good job.
4. Rubber stamps. My friend Andrea of Superfine Bakery is known for this cake. The beautiful dandelion embellishment was done with a rubber stamp. Like many tools originally used for other purposes (think stencils), there’s no limit to what you can create with rubber stamps. It’s a technique I’ve yet to use, but because they’re so accessible and inexpensive, this one is a must-try. I really like the ginko leaf stamp below by Nature Watch.
5. Scalpels. I use X-acto knives a lot for hand cutting, and used them a lot more during my applique phase, but Elisa Strauss, owner of Confetti Cakes and author of The Confetti Cakes Cookbook, uses scalpels. According to Elisa, whose father is a surgeon, “[s]calpels have the finest, sharpest blades you can find…They are disposable, so after a few uses you can throw them away.” I know once I use one, I’ll never go back to X-actos again. You can buy them here.
We would love to answer all of your questions! Feel free to contact Erica OBrien Cake Design. We’ll either email you directly or post your question on our blog.
Something about the colors wasn’t quite working, so I turned to the online color palette generator that I love. From there I determined that Radhika should really replace the orange in her primary color scheme with yellow, and include the orange as a secondary accent color. A few screen shots from the site are seen to the right and below.
While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the free cakes route to someone looking to get into cake design, it certainly jump-started my career. I have no regrets about making them, and, I’d like to think, neither does anyone that got one.
bstract artist like Picasso to create a painting in the style of Monet. The same is true for cake design. Look at the designer’s p
