Black & White Damask with Lime Green Flowers

Anika was having a very elegant wedding and wanted a damask patterned wedding cake. We originally played around with the idea of having lime green design on a white cake but then determined that black and white was the way to go with accents of lime green and white flowers. The cake was 24-Carrot Cake, Coconut Macaroon, and White Almond Wedding Cake (flavor list at www.SaltCakeCity.com). It was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and then the design on the cake was all buttercream.

This cake was huge! It doesn't look like it from the picture but wow! When we carried this in, we were SO nervous about dropping it. The reception was held in the backyard of this beautiful estate and in order to get the cake into the wedding gazebo, we went through the driveway, down the side of the main house, down a steep heel, over a bridge (not over a river and through the hills though), and into the gazebo. Phew! This cake was HEAVY! In any case, the wedding reception was absolutely beautiful and just as I put the finishing touches on the cake, the beautiful bride and groom came in. They were so happy with the outcome and therefore, so was I  :)

Pink Ruffle Cake with Mini Cakes

Cynthia wanted this pink ruffled cake that she had seen on the internet. I had been wanting to do this cake design as well so I was thrilled to get her order. This cake was around 6 inches tall and it was Neopolitan Dynamite Cake (layered chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla cake) covered in light pink buttercream, no fondant here. To go with the main cake, she wanted little mini cakes that were also Neopolitan Dynamite flavored. These tiny little things were so much fun to make (okay, they were difficult and frustrating too but in the end, I felt so rewarded :) These were covered in deep brown  marshmallow fondant and I piped initials and "4" on the top in honor of the little birthday girl. I love how simple, yet elegant both of these design were and how they complimented each other well. 

Bumblebee Birthday Cake

Ashley wanted a showpiece birthday cake for her daughter's 5th birthday. She was having a bumblebee themed cake (which is appropriate since we're in the beehive state :) This three tiered cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and decorated with tiny edible MMF bumblebees. The cake was S'mores Cake, Lemonberry Cake, and Turtle Power Cake (Check out my flavor list at SaltCakeCity.com).

I made the little bees by forming oval yellow balls with fondant. I cut out tiny white little circles for wings and then let them dry and harden over night. I painted black lines on the yellow bodies with a paintbrush and black food coloring. I let that dry a bit, then shoved the little wings in the sides of the body. I curled thin flower wire and then inserted one end into the bees. It was so simple for such a nice detailed touch.

Black Draping & Red Roses Wedding Cake

 Summer wanted an elegant white wedding cake with black marshmallow fondant draping, red sugar roses, and small gold dragees placed around the cake. The cake was Ruby Red Velvet Cake and Emerald City Cake (pistachio flavored cake layered with pistachio cream filling and pistachio pieces). It was covered in buttercream (no fondant on the cake except the draping). Getting the perfect sides to a buttercream cake takes lots of time and love :) I then accented the cake with edible rolled roses that are lined with edible gold shimmer. You can see that details a little better here. It was much more noticeable in person, I promise. Then, I placed gold dragees around the cake in no particular pattern.

I loved how this cake turned out! The fondant draping looks just how I wanted. Phew! :)

Stingray and Shark Birthday Cake

Lisa wanted an underwater themed birthday cake for her son's 4th birthday at the aquarium. Well, actually, she wanted a shark and stingray cake :) She said that Ayden loved all kinds of sharks and stingrays and that I should focus on those. I had never made a stingray out of fondant but was up for the job. In order to get the color variation I wanted, I covered the whole cake in blue fondant then hand-painted dark blue and green onto the fondant. I added in some fondant crabs, starfish, sea anemones, coral, and most importantly the stingray and two types of sharks. I wanted Ayden on the cake somewhere too so I made him out of fondant and had him scuba diving on the top. The top tier was Rainbow Bright cake and the bottom tier was After Dinner Mint cake. I loved making all of the little details on this cake. It was one of those themes where I couldn't really go wrong (well, technically that crab is floating in mid air but other than that, I couldn't go wrong :)

Black & White Shimmered Damask Wedding Cake

Jarom and Hillary wanted a very elegant wedding cake to match their wedding theme and venue. They got married at Chateau Faire, which is a beautiful and cozy wedding venue with a cottage feel to it. To keep to the black, white, and red theme, we did an all white wedding cake with touches of black and deep red roses. The whole cake was shimmered with edible pearl shimmer. The middle tier was quilted with a special cushion pattern to give it a little more detail and then small black dragees were placed in the corners. The bottom tier was all shimmered with a three piece damask pattern on each side.

The cake was Lemon Supreme Cake, Vanilla Latte Cake, and Brownie Lovers Cake (Check out more information on my website, www.SaltCakeCity.com under flavors). Yum!

Thank you so much to Hillary and Suzanne. This cake order was so much fun to complete and they were just such wonderful people. I've worked with both of them on several cakes now and look forward to a long cake future together :)

New York Rangers Hat Cake

Hillary wanted to surprise Jarom, her new hubby, with a groom's cake at the wedding. Suzanne, the bride's mom, knew it should be hockey related and even Rangers related but at first, we weren't sure what to do. We toiled around with a few ideas, like doing a rink or a jersey but then it hit them both. He loves his New York Rangers hat and wears it everyday. They knew it would be the perfect groom's cake. The cake was Emerald City flavored (pistachio flavored cake with pistachio cream filling and buttercream) and covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. I hand-painted all of the patches that were on the hat (the NHL logo, and the two Rangers logos). I shaped the bill of the hat with a real hat bill and then added the grooves to make it look more realistic.

 When I delivered the cake, both Hillary and Suzanne LOVED it! They couldn't get over how realistic it was and therefore, I was very happy. I didn't get to see Jarom's reaction but Suzanne said that he didn't even want to cut into it. The happy couple took it home, stuck it in the fridge, went on a honeymoon, came back, and ate it then! She said it was still so moist and delicious! It's the magic of fondant :) Congrats to both of you! (Wedding cake picture to come next)

Musical Themed Graduation Cake

Ron wanted a music themed graduation cake for Kiley. She got accepted into ASU and wanted to celebrate her future adventures as well. The cake was Brownie Lovers cake and we used light blue and yellow, which are the colors from her high school in Taylorsville. The cap was rice kripsies covered in buttercream and marshmallow fondant and the cap top was all fondant. To make all of the musical notes, I cut them all out of fondant and then stuck a thin wire in the bottoms. I let them dry overnight and then they stood up for the cake occasion. I love the color combo here and also enjoyed making another themed graduation cake. Yay!

Pride & Prejudice Cake

 Yes, you read that correctly. This is a Pride and Prejudice cake based on different elements of the book by Jane Austen. Since Grace and her family were in town for Stephanie's wedding (see the post right before this one), she wanted to order this cake special for her mother's birthday. She knew she wanted something to do with reading but I'll be honest, when she said "Pride and Prejudice" I drew a total blank. Luckily my sisters-in-law love that book and were totally helpful in getting this order together. They told me to add little pieces such as the letter, the music piece, the ink and quill, a top hat and bonnet... so they pretty much told me exactly what to do to make this cake great! haha (Thanks, Ladies!) The cake was chocolate with chocolate buttercream. Here are some up close shots of the cake:

This first up close picture shows the letter (with the "wax" stamped seal) and the brooch of a woman's profile. These are all made out of sugar. The brooch was the most fun piece of all because I got my man-friend involved as well. He's quite the artist so when I asked him to paint on a woman's profile like a brooch, he was excited to get it right. He painted the profile with black food coloring and a paintbrush and it literally took him a few minutes. I was so pleased with the end piece. I added a tiny fondant bow,a beaded black border, smaller silver dragee border, and an even smaller gray border to give it some depth and dimension.

 The pattern of the book was a beautiful stencil I found at a local craft store that looked "antiquey" to me. I added the patterned side piece with a frill cutter and then made grooves in the sides of the book to make it look like pages. The quill and ink bottle are also all sugar, as well as the candle.

This Waltz music sheet was really fun to make as well. I first cut out a flat piece of fondant. I drew on actual music (I found some waltz on the internet and just added those notes to the piece). Then, I laid the fondant over a few strips of plastic wrap so that it would dry and harden with a little bit of a wave to it. I added just a touch of ivory coloring to make it look a bit worn and old.

I absolutely loved making this cake! Each piece was so detailed and unique! Grace later told me that her mother loved it so much that they shipped each sugar piece over to her house so that she could keep them as mementos. I was so happy to hear just how much they enjoyed the cake!

Pink & Orange Topsy Turvy Wedding Cake

Before I get started, here is a featured spot on this wedding: http://blog.thebrideandgroom.com/utah-wedding-planning/utah-wedding-vendors/stephanie-richiespring-wedding-at-la-caillefeatured-utah-wedding/

You know how you love your kids equally but some just behave better than others? That's how I feel about my cakes. I love them all but some just cooperate and flow beautifully while others give me trouble into the night. This cake, made for Stephanie's colorful and bright wedding, was so much fun to make. It really was a great night of marshmallow fondant that cooperated, just pearls that stayed together, and sugar flowers that popped off of the cake. I really couldn't be more happy with how this cake cake together, was made, and was completed. So let's start from the top.

 Stephanie & her mom, Grace, were so excited for this cake. That was a great start! I knew that they wanted something fun, colorful, and unique. They knew they wanted a topsy cake and wanted to use orange and pink. We went back and forth on a quite a few designs before ending with this one. Stephanie and her parents came to a cake tasting where they brought tons of inspirations. They had tulle from the bride's amazing custom made dress (from Modest Couture,

http://www.modestcouturebyelizabeth.com/), teapots, colors, teacups, and lots of excitement! It was a great night! At the tasting they decided on Ruby Red Velvet cake (layered with cream cheese frosting) and Coconut Cream Pie Cake (coconut cake layered with coconut flakes and coconut cream filling). I actually made quite a few cupcakes for the tasting as well since we supplemented the cake with cute cupcakes. They took those home and later told me that they ate them all for all meals of the day :)

 The cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and accented with fondant sugar flowers, sugar pearls, and topped with a sugar teacup filled with flowers. When I delivered this cake to La Caille, I couldn't believe just how perfect the venue was for this wedding. Please do check out the blog post that featured this wedding because you HAVE to see Stephanie's wedding dress and the room that was decorated so beautifully.

I cannot say enough about Grace & Stephanie. They were tremendously gracious and trusting of their vision and their planning of this wedding was executed so perfectly. I love when weddings are about the bride and groom and this wedding definitely was. Everything was thoughtfully planned to reflect the personalities involved here. Congratulations to the couple and I can't wait to work with you again! :)

Buzz Lightyear Themed Cake

Nikki wanted a Buzz Lightyear themed birthday cake for Kaiden's 2nd birthday. Due to copyright laws, I can't recreate Buzz so we decided that I'd create a cake around Buzz's theme and then she could place a little Buzz toy on the cake (I know, the laws are silly!). The Brownie Lovers cake was topped with a rice krispie planet. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and accented with edible shimmer, pearls, and dragees.

Black Swirls & Blue Border Wedding

Whitney wanted a big wedding cake to match the color scheme and feel of the wedding. She had seen a cake that she loved and wanted something similar. This 5-tiered cake  was covered in marshmallow fondant and then I hand-piped the swirls onto the cake. The border on the bottom was edged to give it more detail and then an aqua fondant band went around the cake as well. The cake flavor was Cookies & Cake, vanilla cake layered with crushed Oreos and buttercream.

This cake was a lot of hard work but lots of fun. Because the design isn't completely set, I get to sit and just pipe freely until my heart's content. Yay!

I have to say that Whitney's mother, Michelle, was awesome during the whole process. It's great to get to work with people who care about the same things I care about and who trust my abilities. I got to do Whitney's sister's wedding a few weeks ago as well and just appreciate the kindness of this family.

Gears of War cake

Emily wanted a Gears of War cake for her son's birthday. I didn't know what it was (all you nerds out there, I'm ashamed, okay! I'm ashamed! haha) so I did some research and found this logo. I knew it would be a challenge to recreate in all edible form but I was up for the challenge. Essentially I made a round cake, then added rice krispies to form the spokes around the cake. Each one was different so I had to cut, shave, form, and cover in buttercream a few times before I was happy with the shape.

I covered this "Can I Have Smores Cake" (chocolate cake layered with graham crackers, chocolate chips, and marshmallow fluff) with marshmallow fondant differently than I usually do. I covered the top in all red then I rolled out a long and wide piece of fondant to cover the sides of the cake. This made a more crisp edge. For the skull, I blew up a picture of the actual logo and then used it as a stencil to cut out the exact skeleton face. I placed it on the black inside circle and then used water and a paintbrush with black food coloring to give the face some shadow. I was so happy with the outcome and my brother (who apparently has the games and books) was really happy with it :)

Green, green, green, wedding cake

Jenny saw a cake that she loved and wanted something similar for her wedding. The cake is all light yellow-green with a darker green crimped border. The top and bottom tiers were quilted with tiny pearls in the corners. The florist provided these beautiful flowers. The long pieces were so cool! (Yeah, I don't know what those are called... haha).

Jenny chose White Almond Wedding Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake Cake, and Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant. The venue at Wadley Farms was beautiful! It looked like a cute little cottage in the middle of nowhere! It was raining that day but the venue was so rustic and warm inside. Absolutely beautiful! :)

Poker Groom's Cake

Regan wanted to surprise her future husband with a poker themed groom's cake. I made a similar cake for the TV spot I did on KUTV and so we recreated it with a better hand :) The cake was Mocha Java flavored (Chocolate cake layered with coffee buttercream... yum!) and covered in homemade marshmallow fondant.

I love the simplicity of this cake. The cards are really just rectangles, the chips are just circles, and the side pieces are fondant discs with spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds cut with aspic cutters. To make the chips, I cut out circles, then used a circle cutter even small to indent a circle inside of the chip. I cut out tiny white squares and placed them around the edges to make it look more realistic.

Thank you to my brothers for all of their help and "research" in getting the cards and chips as accurate as possible :)

Ladies that Luncheon (or Ladies that Cake :)

WOW! That's not me patting myself on the back, I promise :) I believe it stands for Women of Worship. Carol wanted a unique cake for her women's church group gathering. She specifically wanted "girlie" and "pink" and more "girlie." We decided that a purse, hatbox, and present box would be perfect. I accented the cake with some edible sugar pearls, sugar brooch, sugar flower, and sugar bow. The whole cake is edible, including the "tissue paper" in the present and hat box. 

I had so much fun making this zebra printed purse. First, I made the sugar flower with a pearl center and the brooch that's all sugar pearls and let those set up for a few days. I didn't want this whole cake to be black and white because Carol was pretty specific in her need for PINK! Haha. I shaped out the purse, frosted it, then covered it in marshmallow fondant. I added a flap over the top and used a quilting tool to add seams to the purse. I cut out zebra stripes freehand because it's way more fun that way. I added a purse strap, the flower, and brooch and Ta-Da!

 I used a cool stencil design I found a while back for this present box and topped it off with a fondant bow. The lid was made out of rice krispies and then I propped it up just a bit to add the edible tissue paper.

 The hatbox was extra tall (to fit a hat, of course) and topped off with a rice-krispie hatbox lid. I draped the sugar pearls around the box to give it a little more detail.

I believe the flavors were Banana Cream Pie, Mocha Java, and Brownie Lovers. Yum! I would've stayed to eat all three flavors, especially because the ladies were so much fun! They were shocked that this was their cake! They were setting up for the ladies weekend and stopped to come huddle around the cake. They took pictures of the cake and with the cake. Haha... they were awesome! Thank you ladies!!

Hot Pink & Damask Wedding

Lisa wanted an elegant but still fun and girlie wedding cake. Her wedding colors were hot pink, black, and white and she wanted to add some bling in there too. After getting a better idea of what she wanted, we came up with this design together. We used a full black damask pattern on the bottom tier to match her damask wedding scheme as well. The middle tier had pink and white pinstripes with an edible black border. We added some jewels around the monogram for extra bling and then used pink dragees in the corners of the diamond pattern on the top tier. I created small pink, hot pink, and white sugar flowers to make up a flower bunch on the top of the cake.

The wedding was held at a relative's beautiful home. The whole backyard was set up beautifully to match the color and damask scheme. It was stunning! I was so happy that the cake fit in perfectly to the wedding landscape. Congratulations, Lisa & Jared!!

Oh, her flavors were White Raspberry Kiss and Turtle Power Cake (you can check out the flavor descriptions at www.SaltCakeCity.com).

Mini Mario Cake

Recently, I've been making a lot more mini-cakes, which I think are ADORABLE! Look how tiny and cute this is!!! It's a 4-inch round top with a 6-inch round bottom. It's all covered in marshmallow fondant and all of the Mario bits and pieces are MMF as well. It was a Chocolate Chip No-Cookie Cake (vanilla cake layered with chocolate chips and buttercream). I loved making each little detail for Leo's birthday because it took me back to my childhood as well. Enjoy the throwback and the mini! :)

P.S. I'd like to add this to my nerd cake collection... Ah, I have to represent!

White & Black Separated Cake

Chanelle wanted a really unique but also traditional wedding cake. We spent a lot of time figuring out which details to include and exclude for this wedding cake in order to get it perfect for her. We kept it traditional by using the columns to separate the cakes but threw in a more modern design with the floral designs and using a black and white color theme. The top two tiers were hand-piped designs, the third tier down was a floral designer stencil and the bottom tier was quilted with black dragees at the corners. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant. Half of the cake was Chocolate cake with strawberry filling and the other half was White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry cake.

I have to admit a major fault here. Chanelle wanted the whole cake to be shimmered, which I think is so lovely because it shines beautifully. So I completed each tier, then sprayed the whole cake with edible pearl shimmer. I had a total panic attack when I realized that the shimmer on the black piping turned the black into silver. AH! I spent the next few hours hand painting all of the piping back into black. I felt so silly afterward!

So I try to assemble most of my cakes, if possible, before I get to the venue. There's really nothing more nerve racking than assembling a cake with a crowd of wedding guests surrounding me. Makes my hands shake!! Haha. This cake, however had to be assembled on site. I brought all of the back up supplies just in case I had a cake-tastrophy on the way over. Luckily, it was smooth sailing all the way. I loved the lighting behind the cake table as well. I placed the bride and groom on the top, added the cute purple flowers and took off just in time for the wedding to start. Yay!

It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Come inside!

It's fun inside! (Yes, I'm singing the song!) Shona has the BEST parties! She threw her best friend a birthday party last year and went big with it (It was the double sided cake, half-death, half-Hawaiian themed... all hilarious). So when her grand-baby turned 1, she wanted to do it in style. Payton loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so we did the whole Clubhouse in cake form.

Although the picture doesn't make it look very big, this cake was quite the feat, . The cake was Samoa Says Cake and Chunky Monkey cake (You can see descriptions and pictures of cake flavors on my website, www.SaltCakeCity.com). The hand, tower to the hand, and shoe were sculpted out of rice krispies. The Mickey Mouse head was styrofoam painted black. I know, I know. That should've been edible too. The issue was that mickey's head was just too darn heavy! My practice Mickey head split in half due to the sheer weight so could you imagine if that would've happened at the party. The babies would've cried for hours! Haha...

Anyway, the whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and all of the accents, were marshmallow fondant as well. I made a matching smash cake for Payton to destroy at the party as well. So much fun!!