A Very Modern Wedding Cake!

Ashley was a very brave bride who wanted something a little more modern than most wedding cakes I've done. Okay... a lot more modern than most of my wedding cakes :) This square cake was different heights for each tier and the cakes were not centered (on purpose, of course!). She showed me a pattern that she was using in the wedding of these black and white flowers and so I came up with a few sketches. I mimicked those black and white flowers in the design and then brought in 2 much larger flowers for pops of color.

The couple ordered Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Cup Cake, Tuxedo Cake, and Almond Joy Cake. It's all covered in marshmallow fondant and then I hand painted the black and white flowers. For the larger flowers, I used different sized round cutters, created petals by carving out pieces of the flower and then used a pattern tracing wheel to create the lines in each petal. When I painted the flowers (one in teal and one in red), the grooves of the pattern tracing wheel created deeper colors than the flower itself, which I loved! I made a rounded yellow center and then used round piping tips to create a pattern on the centers as well.

Thank you, Ashley, for trusting me with your vision!! :) I loved making this cake!

Animal Print Birthday Cake!

Zeth wanted a "super girlie" birthday cake for his wife. He knew it should be about shopping, purses, shoes and knew she wanted animal print, pink, and black. We came up with this design together. There are 4 separate cakes here and everything else is made out of sugar.

I made this high heel out of gumpaste and waited till it dried before painting on the leopard print. The box underneath was also cake with a hand-painted leopard design. The zebra print shopping bag in the back was so much fun because making tissue paper out of sugar is actually super easy! Roll out your fondant (marshmallow fondant in this cake) very thin. Cut into different size squares and rectangles. Bunch up some plastic wrap and place on a cookie sheet. Now, lay the squares and rectangles over the plastic wrap so that they are taking on the shape of the valleys and hills of the plastic. Let them dry over night and then you'll have  sugar tissue paper :)

This purse cake was covered in white marshmallow fondant and then I painted it black so that it would keep its shine. I dried the purse strap over a round piece of styrofoam until it was hardened and then it stood up on its own. I made the bow and flowers out of marshmallow fondant as well. I used a pattern tracing wheel to create the stitched look on the purse itself. So simple but gives it a really nice detail. The square cake behind it has a sugar bow and a stenciled buttercream design on the sides.

The cakes were 24-Carrot Cake, Brownie Lovers, Cookies & Cake, and White Raspberry Kiss Cake. Yum!

Purple Zebra and Flowers!

Here comes an adorable story! Wendy emailed me and said her birthday was coming up and wanted to get a cake from me since she had some of her friend's wedding cake a while back and loved the flavor (Tuxedo cake, one layer of chocolate and 2 layers of vanilla cake layered with chocolate and vanilla buttercream and mini chocolate chips). Her request was to have a purple cake, maybe zebra stripes with colorful flowers on it. We planned it all out and came up with this design:

 That same week, I got a request from Sean for a purple cake with a black design on it and pretty flowers on it. He requested Tuxedo cake too, same specifications of 1 layer of chocolate, 2 vanilla, and mini chocolate chips! I thought it was strange but made it anyway and we came up with this design:

Turns out, Sean is Wendy's boyfriend who wanted to surprise her with a cake for her birthday! Wendy ended up with 2 Tuxedo cakes both in purple with flowers on it. I was pretty impressed at how well Sean did with describing what Wendy wanted. When Wendy came to get the surprise cake that Sean ordered, I asked if she still wanted it since she had just picked up the other one. She laughed and said of course, more cake for her! :) haha.

Bring on the Damask!

Dam-mask? Da-Mask? However you pronounce it, damask was in last year for sure! I made this 5-tiered damask and quilted cake for Carolyn & Parker who had their wedding at the beautiful Castle venue in Layton. Because the venue really does feel regal, we had to make this cake a definite display piece for the wedding. They chose White Raspberry Kiss Cake, Brownie Lovers Cake, Chocolate Hazelnut Cake and Ruby Red Velvet Cake for their flavors. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and I use buttercream for the damask pattern.

 This beautiful 3-tiered cake was for Ann Marie's beautiful wedding. I remember it being an exceptionally hot that day and so setting the cake up outside was really nerve racking for me. The florist had created this beautiful cake topper and flowers for the cake which I loved! Brought in so much color! Ann Marie wanted a square cake but wanted rounded edges which proved to be quite interesting when trying to get the damask stencil to go around the whole bottom tier. Then, we twisted the tiers a little bit to give it a little more personality. The couple chose Rainbow Bright Cake, White Raspberry Kiss Cake, and Ruby Red Velvet Cake.

This last wedding cake was for Meri's wedding. She had seen a cake I did last year with the same design and said it was perfect so we recreated it for her wedding. The whole cake was marshmallow fondant and then I shimmered the stripes on the top tier and shimmered the middle and bottom tiers. I used buttercream again for the damask patterns on the bottom and then accented the cake with fresh roses. Meri chose Banana Nut Cake, White Almond Wedding Cake, and Lemonberry Cake. You can see my full flavor list at www.SaltCakeCity.com

Chanel No 1... in cake form

Katie was throwing an awesome 1st birthday bash for her daughter, Chloe. She had adorable pictures of Chloe in pink and black with a Chanel purse done up for the invitations so I modeled this cake after that idea. We have the perfume Chanel No. 1 bottle on the left  covered in marshmallow fondant and edible pearls. Then, I made a cute black and pink hat box with a Chanel purse on top that's covered in edible shimmer. The little pink purse in the front was little Chloe's smash cake. I had so much fun with this cake! Thank you, Katie, for always giving me such great cake designs!! :)

80s Themed Birthday Cake

Jenna wanted a fun birthday cake for her husband's big 3-0! She sent me her birthday invites which were 80s themed and sooooooo cool! We designed this cake around the theme and I think it turned out so great! The bottom tier was Pac-Man, the middle tier was a Rubik's cube and the top was a throw back to Mario, except it was Brian coming out of the pipe. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and I added an old-school boom box and two cassette tapes at the base (made out of fondant). Making Yoshi, his egg, and Brian as Mario were especially fun!

The cake was Brownie Lovers cake and Strawberry Not So Short Cake. Yum!

It's a Great Pumpkin Cake, Charlie Brown

Effey (who ordered the topsy turvy painting cake) ordered this Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown cake for several birthdays they were celebrating at the same time. This was one side of the cake so you can see the "Wecome Great Pumpkin!" sign and Charlie Brown & Lucy. The other sides had more characters and other happy birthday signs as well. It was Caramel Macchiato Cake covered in marshmallow fondant. As you might be able to tell, I'm getting closer to only 1 year behind in my posts! Yowza!

Steampunk Gramophone Cake

So Steph & Stacy, the twins, were turning 30 and wanted a very interesting cake for their birthday. I love their sister, Corrinne, and so when they were referred to me, I was down for the challenge. A Steampunk Gramophone Cake? I don't even know what half of those words mean! So I did quite a bit of research and then freaked out a little bit... and then designed this cake. This is an all edible sugar & cake creation. It was Ruby Red Velvet & Boston Cream Pie Cake all covered in marshmallow fondant and then decorated with more marshmallow fondant.

The gears on the bottom tier were hand cut and then I sprayed with edible silver & gold shimmer. I added a border around each side of the bottom box and then painted it with edible bronze shimmer. The brown background was hand painted with a mixture of brown edible food coloring and bronze shimmer.

For the gramophone, I created the shape of the top and then dried it around a cone. I made an extra cone just in case, because after all, this is all sugar! Lucky I did because on that day, I had two deliveries, a wedding cake and this one. I delivered the wedding cake first and on my first bump into that neighborhood, I heard a crack. Now, a little background, I usually crank the music when I deliver cakes so that I can't hear anything in the back (the slightest noise from a cake freaks me out). For this cake though, I knew the weight of that cone would be a problem so I kept the music down and sure enough, that first bump killed the gramophone. So the wedding cake was all delivered and set up and I was driving to the twin's house thinking "Well NOW what am I going to do?" Luckily, I brought my back up cone and my cake-emergency kit (It looks like a tackle box filled with all sorts of goodies in case of emergencies like this!). Parked outside of their house, I popped open the trunk and started fixing this cake. The weight of the cone was hard to prop up correctly but I made it work. The girls loved the cake and after the immense amount of stress & pressure it gave me, I loved it too :)

A Distinguished Gentleman's Birthday Cake

Joshlin was throwing a mustache themed distinguished gentleman's surprise birthday party for her hubby and wanted a very unique cake for the shindig. Everything in this picture is made of cake or sugar. We did a bottle of Brandy, a bowler hat, a folded shirt with his favorite "relax" logo and cuff links, a replica of his favorite watch, a bow tie and a gentleman's loafer shoe. Oh, and there's a mustache in front of the shirt box that you can barely see.

The cakes were Lemon Supreme Cake, Banana Cream Pie Cake, and Caramel Macchiato Cake (check out all of my flavors at www.SaltCakeCity.com). Everything was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and the box, Brandy, and shoe were all hand-painted. This cake was so cool to make because each piece was very different. Joshlin has since moved out of Utah and I was so sad to see her go! She came up with such fun cake ideas and challenges! More cakes for Joshlin to come on the blog :)

Black & White Damask Wedding Cake

So last year, I made quite a few black and white damask wedding cakes. This one was definitely different and it was REALLY heavy! The cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and then I used a designer stencil and buttercream to essentially "paint" the design onto the side of the cake. I know that sounds easy but if it doesn't come out perfect, I have to take down all the fondant and then re-fondant the whole tier (is re-fondant a word??). The tiers were separated by styrofoam blocks and then the florist provided the flowers. I always tell people who want to have a tier of flowers in between that however many they think they need for the design, double it! This cake was a perfect example! The florist gave me a full bucket of flowers and if you could see the back of the cake, you would see where we ran out! Yikes! Luckily I used some extra filler flowers that the florist had left over to fill in the gaps in the back. Even more lucky, the cake was against a wall :) haha.

Swirls & Quilting Wedding Cake

 I ended up really loving this simple white wedding cake once I put the beautiful red roses on there. It's funny to me how sometimes I think some cakes look naked without flowers on them! Anyway, the cake was Samoa Says Cake and Southern Butter Pecan Cake (check out my website for more flavors and descriptions, www.SaltCakeCity.com). It's all covered in marshmallow fondant and then I piped the swirl design on the middle tier.

Yellow & Gray Square Wedding Cake

This 4-tiered square cake was a twist (literally) on a Tiffany blue & black wedding cake I made a while back. The bride wanted something fun but still elegant. It was all covered in marshmallow fondant and then I added the white swirl pattern by piping it on there (painstakingly!). Yup, that takes a long time and kinda hurts! haha. Here's an up close photo of the piping.

The bride, Toni, chose Brownie Lovers cake, Just Peachy Cake, and Truffled Chocolate Cake. Yum! Here's a weird thought. I made this cake over a year ago but by just looking at it, I remembered the bride's name. Is that weird? I guess that's good, right? 

Sushi & Starbucks Meet at Last!

Laila wanted a REALLY unique cake for a co-worker... turns out, she wanted a sushi themed cake with a Starbucks cup.... yup. That's what we did :) The cake was Caramel Macchiato Cake (made with real Starbucks coffee, don't worry, I called Starbucks and asked if I could use their product in the cake and their logo on the cake. They were SO cool to say yes!). It was covered in buttercream and then I did a wood grain pattern on the cake using modeling tools and food coloring. I painted on darker spots of brown, lighter streaks of brown, and a few really dark spots in black. It was so much fun!

The sushi are all marshmallow fondant and so are the chop sticks, soy sauce, and cup. I hand-painted the Starbucks logo with white food coloring. Let's see, what else. I think that's it :) Haha. LOVED IT!

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  :)

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! :)

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 :)

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).

Dual Sports Birthday

Dominique was having a joint birthday party for Nick and Nico again this year. Last year, I made the boys a sports themed cake that was three tiers and had a baseball, basketball and football for each tier. This year, I went a different route because I wanted to keep it unique and fun for them. The basketball and baseball were made out of rice krispies covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The basketball net and the baseball field were the cakes. The cakes were Cookies & Cake (vanilla cake layered with crushed Oreos and buttercream). The cake doesn't look as big here but it was pretty big and heavy. I get such a work out with some of these cakes :) haha

Grandpa Fishing Cake

Patty wanted a special cake to celebrate her dad's 50th birthday. She thought it would be cute to have grandpa fishing off of a dock with his four grandkids. As you can tell, Grandpa's a huge dodgers fan so I added that to his shirt as well. :) The whole cake and all of the decorations were edible except the wires hooking the fishing poles to the fish. Behind grandpa and the kids were a bucket full of worms and a tackle box with hooks in it.

The cake was a Tuxedo cake (chocolate and vanilla cake layered with chocolate and vanilla buttercream) and White Raspberry Kiss Cake (white chocolate cake layered with raspberry cream filling and white chocolate ganache). It was covered in marshmallow fondant and the kids and grandpa were also fondant. Thank you for looking :)