5-Tier Black and White Damask Cake

Brittany had always dreamed of having a large wedding cake even though she technically didn't need that many servings of cake. She also thought a black and white damask pattern would be a beautiful design for the cake along with some fresh, deep red roses to top it all off. The cake was massive, especially with the 6 or 7 inch tall base on which it sits and so I think Brittany and I both agreed that we needed to keep the design heavy on some tiers and not on others.

I get a lot of questions about how to do stenciling. In order to do the stenciling on this cake, I did a lot of praying :) That's the key! haha. Actually, I had the cakes covered in homemade marshmallow fondant, then I used black buttercream as my "paint." I held the stencil up against one side. I used a paint brush to "paint" the black buttercream all over the stencil, being extra careful to not let the buttercream seep out of the edges of the stencil. I used a straightedge to scrape the side of the stencil in order to gather the excess and to give it a smooth look. This is when the praying comes in. I gently pulled the stencil away from the cake and hoped for the best. I have to say, I was VERY anxious when I applied the first stencil but wouldn't you know it, it came off beautiful, no smudges, no errors, no problems to fix. Yay! One down, 26 stencil jobs to go (there were four sides for four tiers and then the middle tier had three separate stencils for each side). Phew! In the end, I was so happy with the outcome that I actually carried the cake to my man-friend for him to see if (yes, I usually just ask him to come see it but I was OVERLY excited that I wanted to carry it to him!).

Now on to the flavors. The couple chose Ruby Red Velvet Cake (Red velvet cake layered with cream cheese frosting) and White Raspberry Kiss Cake (white chocolate cake layered with raspberry cream filling and rich white chocolate ganache). I love how The Gathering Place at Gardner Village set up the cake table against this beautiful backdrop with the great lighting here making the cake a focal point at the reception.

I wrote this next part for the last post I made about Brittany and Spencer's golf groom's cake and wanted to add it here because I was so pleased with the venue...

"I have a take a second and talk about Brittany & Spencer's venue, The Gathering Place at Gardner Village in West Jordan. I have visited the location several times in the past but never at night when it was set up for a wedding. Oh my gosh. I walked in with the wedding cake and it was absolutely magical! As you walk in the giant doors, you see a breathtaking fire place that sets up the feel of rustic and warm venue. The ceremony was held right next door to the reception site which was so convenient for the wedding guests. I walked into the main reception area that was decorated with the bride and groom's wedding colors and I was totally wowed. I've delivered quite a few wedding cakes in my time and this venue was one that I left saying, "wow, I would totally get married there!" The room was large but not overly large so that guests would feel lost. It had a cozy and warm feel, especially with the white, black, and deep red color scheme. I wanted to stick around after delivering the cake because it was so inviting! I just have to say, well done, Charlotte & Shauna! The Gathering Place is truly amazing!"

Golfing Groom's Cake

Brittany wanted to get Spencer a fun groom's cake for their wedding and wanted to incorporate his love of golf. She had seen a cake online that had a golfer with a golf cart and thought that would be fun. The cake was Brownie Lovers which is chocolate cake layered with a rich chocolate ganache and a layer of chewy brownies. It was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and all of the cake was edible, including the golfer, the cart, and the bag.

In order to make the golf cart, I had to make the wheels, seating area, and roof in separate pieces. I let them dry and harden and then assembled them a few days before the wedding (this way, if it fell apart, I still had a few days to make another). Luckily, it went together beautifully and even made the delivery drive. I tried to keep the side pattern elegant and simple considering how much detail there was on top. Plus, the main wedding cake is coming in my next blog and you will see that the main cake was quite a cake and so I didn't want to take away from that one too much.

So when we got there, my best friend, Rosie (who I call my "cake muscle") brought in the cake. We set everything up and as we about to leave she said ,"Where's the golf ball?" I looked at the groom's cake and there was no golf ball! Fondant Spencer was holding a club and looking down at the grass but there was no ball! I freaked out for a second (especially since I literally saw the bride walk passed me in her beautiful gown as she entered the main ceremony next door). Then I remember that I put three extra golf balls in the fondant golf bag behind Spencer. I have to thank my dad for that. Every time we go golfing, he always stresses to bring many extra golf balls... thank you for the tip, Dad! It saved me here! :) I pulled one off of the golf bag, set it in front of the club and called it a day.

I have a take a second and talk about Brittany & Spencer's venue, The Gathering Place at Gardner Village in West Jordan. I have visited the location several times in the past but never at night when it was set up for a wedding. Oh my gosh. I walked in with the wedding cake and it was absolutely magical! As you walk in the giant doors, you see a breathtaking fire place that sets up the feel of rustic and warm venue. The ceremony was held right next door to the reception site which was so convenient for the wedding guests. I walked into the main reception area that was decorated with the bride and groom's wedding colors and I was totally wowed. I've delivered quite a few wedding cakes in my time and this venue was one that I left saying, "wow, I would totally get married there!" The room was large but not overly large so that guests would feel lost. It had a cozy and warm feel, especially with the white, black, and deep red color scheme. I wanted to stick around after delivering the cake because it was so inviting! I just have to say, well done, Charlotte & Shauna! The Gathering Place is truly amazing!

To visit their website, check out www.gardnervillage.com.

More to come on Brittany and Spencer's wedding! :)

Blue & Silver Stripes Cake

Heather & Craig needed a simple but elegant cake for their marriage at The Castle in Layton. When I met them at the tasting, I thought they were SO kind and just an all around fun couple so I was thrilled to make this cake from them. Heather had seen a similar cake I made for a previous wedding and wanted to incorporate her wedding colors. They were having a winter wedding but were firmly against having a Christmas theme or a snowflake theme so we kept it simple with silver and blue.

The cake tiers were 6-inches tall a piece so it was a very heavy and very tall cake. The top tier was Strawberry Cheesecake Cake (strawberry cake layered with cheesecake filling and buttercream), the middle tier was Rocky Mountain Road Cake (chocolate cake layered with mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips, and chocolate buttercream... we left the chopped almonds out) and the bottom tier was White Raspberry Kiss Cake (white chocolate cake layered with raspberry filling and white chocolate ganache). Wow, that was a mouthful!

Now for the details. The cake was covered in marshmallow fondant. I used the paneling method in which I roll out fondant in the size of each side of the tiers. Then, I essentially put the MMF on the cake just like a contractor would with drywall except I use buttercream :) I then cut out stripes of gray and blue and placed them on the cake so that they overlap. Lastly, I painted the gray stripes with edible silver luster dust to give it more shine. Ah, so much fun!!!

I ran into Heather last week at the "What a Woman Wants Expo" and she said she loved the cake :) From that order, I actually became one of the preferred vendors at The Castle and she was so happy that her wedding cake was the catalyst for the connection (I was thrilled too :) Thank you both for the trust and support in making your wedding cake!

Cake in the Hat?

Reena needed a small but fun cake for Sawyer's second birthday. She wanted to do a themed birthday cake and was thinking the Cat in the Hat would be fun. We came up with this design together and I actually think the real cake came out better than the sketch! The whole cake was Truffled Chocolate Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate cream filling and mini chocolate chips along with chocolate buttercream) and it was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The bow and the #2 at the top were also MMF so that Sawyer could really eat the whole thing.

To make the top cake, I layered stripes of white and red fondant over each other to make it look like fabric. Then, I used black food coloring and a paintbrush to paint on the infamous black lines from the book. When I delivered the cake, Reena loved it! It was just such a cute, whimsical cake :)

Brown & Burgundy Wedding Cake

Elise was getting married and wanted a brown, burgundy, and white wedding cake to match her decor. She wanted something elegant but still fun at the same time. The top tier was Brownie Lovers (chocolate cake layered with actual brownies and chocolate ganache), the middle tier was English Toffee Cake (sweet yellow cake layered with chocolate buttercream and toffee chunks) and the bottom tier was Spices & Cake (spice cake layered with cheesecake filling and buttercream).

The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and the bow on the top was also MMF. The floral pattern was stenciled on using a designer stencil and buttercream. I've recently had many people ask how I do stenciling on a cake. It's been a learning process and I have to say, I've learned a lot in making mistakes first. The first time I did a stencil, it worked beautiful so I thought to myself, "Yay! That's so easy!" Then I went through a rough patch where I would stencil, it wouldn't come out to my liking. For example, if the cake is white and I'm using brown buttercream to stencil, the brown can bleed or get smudged and unfortunately, it's not like I can just "erase" the errors. Essentially, I had to take the fondant off, recover the whole cake, and try the stencil again. With this technique, it's quite noticeable when there's an error and on my cakes, that's not okay for me. On this cake, I took my time to make sure my buttercream job was perfect, then made sure my fondant job was good to go before attempting the stencil. If the buttercream or fondant aren't done correctly, the stenciling will just not work right. I really think that's half the battle (G.I. Joe... knowing is half the battle.... :)

Anyway, when I went to deliver the cake, they had this amazing cake table set up under a gazebo with a great table and lighting. I thought it was such a beautiful set up and the bride and groom were there taking pictures (they looked beautiful). Thank you both for allowing me to make such a fun cake! Congratulations!

Small Road of Life Birthday Cake

Jennifer wanted a special birthday cake for her dad this year. She was actually at a surprise retirement party for Dr. Edna Rogers a while back and loved the idea of doing a road of life cake. Because this cake wasn't too big, we wanted to put different milestones and special personalized details of his life onto the cake. Bob served a mission in Germany, "collects" and rescues cats, vacations in Palm Springs, loves his cabin, enjoys photography, and is a member of a Duck club (not shooting but rather watching ducks).

The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and I used a number of techniques for the decorations. The ducks were hand cut out of white fondant and then I painted on the green and brown colors. The cats were also a combination of fondant shapes and hand-painting to get the right details on the cats. For the Palm Springs post card, I first cut the postcard. I added a layer of gray-ish colored mountains made of fondant and then painted a blue sky behind it. I added lettering on top of the colors and mountain as well as palm trees and coconuts cut from fondant. Although you can't see all of the details here, I had a lot of fun making each piece to personalize the cake even further.

The top tier was Mom's Apple Pie Cake ( Moist apple spice cake with baked apples layered with cheesecake cream filling) and the bottom tier was After Dinner Mint Cake (Minty chocolate cake layered with mint chocolate ganache and mini-chocolate chips). I love making this type of design because it really doesn't mean much to the passer by but those that attended the party and who know Bob really enjoy seeing all of the details of his life. Jennifer and her family loved the cake (YAY!) and Bob's 80th birthday bash was a hit!