Mama Mia Spaghetti themed Cake & Cupcakes!

Kristie has amazing parties and when she asked me to do little Mia's birthday cake, I knew it was going to be an amazing design! I think my favorite part of this was that she came up with this design herself and sketched it out for me! So cool! :)

The cakes were covered in marshmallow fondant and then I used styrofoam rounds for the black separators. The cupcakes were cream cheese frosting piped out so that they look like noodles topped with ferrero rocher candies and whoppers and then covered in strawberry sauce. I love, love, LOVED making such a unique cake :) Thanks, Kristie!

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

Very Merry Unbirthday!

Breanna was throwing Londyn a very merry 1st unbirthday and wanted a fun cake to match the theme of the party. The top tier was Londyn's smash cake and it was all buttercream with a marshmallow fondant rim and card. The bottom two tiers were covered in marshmallow fondant with edible keys and watches covered edible gold shimmer. I piped on a buttercream pearl swagged border on the bottom tier and topped off the cake with a peacock feather. The cake was so much fun to make. All of the details took quite a long time to make but were totally worth it in the end. The cake was Lemonberry & Candy Bar Cake (check out 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!! :)

Painter's Topsy Turvy Birthday Cake

Effey wanted a unique birthday cake for YiaYia's 80th birthday cake! She wanted to incorporate her painting and the color scheme from their birthday invitations. To make it even more interesting, we did a topsy turvy cake. The whole cake is covered in marshmallow fondant and it was Caramel Crunch Cake (check out my full flavor list at www.SaltCakeCity.com). The paint on the top of the cake was all buttercream and the painting was done using food coloring as water color. The paintbrushes are marshmallow fondant as well. Yum!

Red, White, & Purple Wedding Cake!

Okay, so I know the color looks blue here... but I promise, it was much more purple. It's weird how my purple never shows up correctly. Anywho... The cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and then I piped the swirl design in the middle tier (wow, I just said that in my last post!). It was English Toffee Cake & Rainbow Bright Cake. Yum! :)

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.

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!

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. 

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 :)

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! :)

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! :)

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 :)

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! :)

Quilted Shimmer Cake

Sylvia wanted a simple and elegant cake for Krystal's birthday. She wanted to incorporate gold and shimmer into the cake with a quilted design. This woman knew exactly what she wanted and I love that! I added a bow to give it a little more detail and then added edible pearls for the corners of the diamonds.

The cake was Lemonberry (lemon cake layered with raspberry cream filling and buttercream) and then it was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant with a MMF bow as well. I sprayed the cake with edible pearl shimmer and then the bow and sign with edible gold shimmer. I actually don't use a quilting mat or a diamond cutter to make the pattern but instead, I measure the circumference of the cake and then use a needle to poke the spots where the lines should meet. Then I take a straightedge and carefully press it into the side of the soft fondant. The hard part about this method is that if I miss it by even a fraction of an inch, I have to take it off and start again. On the other hand, this way, I'm able to adjust the size of the diamonds to fit each cake. Ah, so much fun! :)

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!