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!

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

Round & Hexagon Wedding Cake

Have you ever made a cake and stepped back and thought "Oh no... that's not good." That's how I felt about this cake when I first made it. It was REALLY tall and I wasn't sure that I liked the combination of shapes... but then... I delivered the cake and helped the florist add the flowers and BAM! It was GORGEOUS! The off-white color with the edible pearl shimmer worked beautifully with the deep purple flowers. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and I used a few edible pearls here and there in the design. Here's a close up shot:

The flavors were Banana Cream Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Strawberry Cheesecake Cake, and Emerald City Cake. Quite the variety! Yum!

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 & 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 :)

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 :)

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).

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!

Swirls & Quilted Ute Red

Here in Utah, there are lots of University of Utah fans and Isabelle wanted to use Ute Red in her wedding cake. The cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and then I used buttercream for the swirls and dots. The middle tier is quilted with red dragees in the corners of the diamonds. Hmm.... I think that's all there is to explain :)

The top and bottom tiers were Tuxedo Cake and the middle tier was Strawberry Not So Short Cake. Yum!

Maroon & Brown Shimmer Cake

I was asked to make a display cake for an awesome venue that I partner with (The Gathering Place at Gardner Village) because they were doing a wedding show. I've been to their main reception hall and it's warm and rustic so I wanted to bring in those tones with this display cake. The whole cake is covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. This top tier is quilted and I placed little impressions in the corners so that it looks more like a cushion or pillow or fabric. Then, I placed little edible dragees in the center of the corners. I added a beaded border made out of MMF to top off this tier. The second tier has an edible brown ribbon with a brooch studded with more dragees. I layered fondant around the tier a few times to give it the look of fabric as well. The third tier is a hexagon and I covered it in white fondant. Then, I used a sponge and food coloring to sponge on a brown tone. I let it dry and then sponged on another layer of brown dye.

Lastly for this tier, I used a damask stencil up against the dried fondant and essentially spray painted edible shimmer onto the cake so that it only showed up in the light. It's such a soft pattern that's barely noticeable but it's one of my favorite touches on the cake. I added a very small pearl border around this tier as well. The fourth tier repeated the design of the second tier with a maroon background and the "fabric" fondant border and a larger edible bow & brooch. The last tier was similar to the top tier. For this one though, I did a little something different.

I have done the quilted pattern on many cakes but I wanted to make it unique for this display. Rather than quilting the whole base, I centered the pattern on each side and only quilted a triangle shape onto the cake. Again, this was such a subtle touch but I love it. This final tier had a pearl border as well. I sprayed the whole cake down with the same edible shimmer that the damask pattern was sprayed with and made the whole cake pop a little more.

The ladies at the Gathering Place said it was a big hit and it looked like it belonged in their wedding set up at the wedding expo. It was home :)

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!"

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!

Fuchsia & Black Wedding Cake

Kirsten & Jason were such a fun couple! When they told me they want a black and fuchsia wedding cake, I thought "Yeah, I'm in!" Then, they came to a tasting that was really just a great time (it was like I was hanging out with friends while getting a sugar high). We ended on this design which I loved and then they said they wanted to add a special detail at the top. They wanted me to cut a hole in the top in order to put a small flashlight so that they could shine a light through a crystal topper. It was a first for me but I loved the end product.

The whole cake is covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The top tier was sprayed with edible pearl shimmer after I imprinted the diamond pattern. The black dots are actually edible dragees (basically like tiny little jawbreakers). The middle tier was a custom made ribbon with a jeweled broach and a special monogram that they brought to me. I thought it gave the cake a really elegant look. Lastly, the bottom pattern was stenciled on with a designer stencil and fuchsia buttercream.

The cakes they ordered were Brownie Lovers (chocolate cake layered with actual brownies and chocolate ganache), Spices & Cake (spice cake layered with cheesecake cream filling and buttercream), and Banana Cream Pie Cake (banana flavored cake layered with banana cream filling and fresh bananas).

They came back later to get the flashlight and said that the cake was a huge hit. I was so glad to hear that because we really worked hard to get the perfect cake for this beautiful couple. Thank you, Kirsten & Jason, for being awesome clients to work with on this awesome wedding cake!

Christmas Cake Ornaments!!

Just in case you didn't know, I LOVE Christmas. Last year, I saw some cupcakes that someone had made that looked like Christmas ornaments and so I waited all year to make these. That was a bit more dramatic than it needed to be but I have been wanting to make these for a while. Rather than doing cupcakes, I decided to make full sized, round cake truffle ornaments. I made around 30 of them (phew!). Half were chocolate cake and half were spice cake covered in buttercream and then covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. They were accented with MMF decorations including the top gold hook, and then sprayed with edible pearl shimmer. I didn't have the pan that most people use to make these so I hand-shaped them... can you tell they aren't completely round? Ah! I hate that. Here's an up close shot of four of my favorites.

These were deceivingly time consuming. Because I hand-shaped them, I had to shape, cool, and then reshape them just to get them round enough for my liking. Then, I had to frost, cool, reshape, refrost, cool, cover, cool, decorate, cool, spray with shimmer, and top with hooks. In the end, totally worth it! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Sun, Moon, & Stars Cake

I'm always excited to make cakes for Bill because he's so trusting and supportive. Bill wanted a small but meaningful cake for his wife, Jody, this year. She loves sun, moon, and star decor so he wanted to incorporate that into her cake and basically said, "go for it and do what you think will look best." Bill loves the Brownie Lovers cake (chocolate cake layered with brownies and rich chocolate ganache) so he ordered that again. I think they both got what they wanted in this case :) The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and then accented with buttercream stenciling, marshmallow fondant accents, and edible silver dragees.

It's always funny to me how the small and simple cakes end up taking me more time that huge wedding cakes. What's up with that? I had to redo the fondant job twice and the stenciling about three times. Ugh! Those darn little cakes! hehe.

Last Minute Wedding Cake

Taylor called and said that she was having trouble with her wedding cake person. That wouldn't have been so unusual except that it was three days before her wedding! She asked if there was any way to make a last minute wedding cake and I was down for the challenge. Her wedding colors were red, yellow, and pink, and had seen a few cakes I've done that she liked. The top tier was Rainbow Bright Cake (vanilla cake layered with sprinkles and buttercream and dyed pink, yellow, and red) because the Groom loves Rainbow Chip cake. The middle tier was Carrot Cake (traditional carrot cake layered with cream cheese frosting) and the bottom tier was Cookies & Cake (vanilla cake layered with crushed Oreos).

It was a bit challenging to incorporate the three wedding colors into the cake but we agreed on the pink floral pattern with the red and yellow border. The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and the monogram was as well. It was cute to see that their initials spelled out "ART" :)

Pink and Brown Floral Wedding Cake

Mishon needed a wedding cake and saw one that I made a few months ago. She wanted something similar but still unique and personalized for her wedding and wedding colors. The top tier was Brownie Lovers Cake (chocolate cake layered with rich chocolate ganache and a layer of brownies), the middle tier was Mint Chocolate Chip Cake (vanilla cake layered with mint buttercream and chocolate chips), and the bottom was Cookies & Cake (vanilla cake layered with chopped Oreos and buttercream).

This 6-8-10 inch cake is covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and the floral pattern you see is buttercream dyed brown to match the wedding colors. The top picture is a bit dark so I wanted to show a closer picture of the floral detail and the ribbon color. I've said it before and I'll say it again, sometimes the more simple cakes are the most difficult to execute. This cake involved some trials and tribulations but with support, I made it through :) Mishon loved the cake so that's all that matters!

Brown and Baby Blue Floral Wedding Cake

Lindy got married yesterday and needed a pretty big cake to celebrate the occasion with her friends and family. Originally, she wanted a cake that was very simple with zombies crawling up the side, awesome right? Then she and her future-husband realized that might not go over so well with the older generation of family members and so thoughtfully opted against the semi-bloody cake. Instead, she wanted a cake with some floral design on it but not too much so that it was overwhelmingly busy. Here is the final result.

This cake was very challenging. Four tiers tall and a 30 minute delivery time makes for a lot of planning up front. The top tier was Cookies & Cake (vanilla cake layered with crushed oreos and buttercream), second tier was Tall Vanilla Latte Cake (vanilla cake layered with coffee cream filling and coffee buttercream), third tier was Ruby Red Velvet Cake (red velvet cake layered with cream cheese frosting), and the bottom tier was Spices & Cake (spice cake layered with cheesecake filling and cream cheese frosting). That is quite a variety! :)

The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The floral pattern on the cake was done using brown buttercream and a few unique cake stencils. I hand-piped the blue accents on to the brown buttercream and around the design. Finally, I added a baby blue border to each tier to add just another little touch of color to match Lindy's wedding decor. In order to transport the cake safely, the bottom two tiers were together and the top two tiers were together for the drive. The wedding site was at a beautiful location up in a canyon here in Salt Lake. It rained and snowed pretty hard all the way up there but we made it and the cake made it in one piece (well, technically two pieces :) Here's an up-close picture of the top tier's design. I hope you likey!