Rosenberg Wedding Cake

Ivory wedding cake with black scrolls and bead border. Four tiers: 6, 8, 10, 12" and two sheet cakes 11x15". Real red roses on top. Vanilla white cake with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream. Since I used fresh flowers on this cake, I first set down 6" doilies, and piped a mound of buttercream. I placed the cut flowers into the mound and the vertical flowers I used flower spikes to insert them into the cake.

 I baked the cakes on Thursday. There were a total of 10 cakes since each tier on the large cake had two 2" cakes to make them an exact 4 inches in height once stacked. That was a total of 7.5 hours bake time. I leveled and filled them on Friday. Made buttercream Friday and frosted and piped the scrolls and borders on that day. Nine and a half hours for the work on Friday. I trimmed and placed the flowers Saturday morning at the reception site. I assembled the tiered cake completely at home and delivered it that way. Very nerve-wrecking! But I was confident since I used my cut pillars for support that the cake was level and I inserted a total of 4 skewers, sharpened to pierce through the layers of cake boards, that I wouldn't come apart. It was extremely heavy, probably close to 50 pounds of cake on my lap! I got to use my new silver hammered cake stand also.

The cake tasted great too (as I was a guest to the wedding, I actually got to have a slice, which is rare). The best part of the day was hearing the bride, Angela across the room "Oh my gosh, I LOVE the cake!" I didn't send her any pictures of the cake before the wedding, her reaction was priceless and made me tear up!

 Final set up. The globs of buttercream and doilies on the cake aren't the most attractive but I didn't want to stick potentially pesticide ridden flowers directly onto the frosting.

 My final cake sketch.

The florist told me to put the roses in hot water overnight to get the blooms to open. I didn't mind having flowers in vases to wake up to the next morning either ;)

The final set up at the reception.

Sheet cake 2

Sheet cake 1

I was also in charge of setting up/styling their table. 

Their first cut.

Just little old me, serving up cake!

NBX: Allie's Wedding Cake

My little sister got married this past week and I of course volunteered to make her cake. She searched the internet for a style she liked and came across this Nightmare Before Christmas themed cake and decided that it was the one. We have always said that would be her wedding cake theme because it is her favorite movie of all time (she played it so much I'm not sure the VHS still works). I didn't have a stand like the one shown, she didn't want names on it, just the stars, and the cake topper shown was, gulp, a $189 collector's item. So I tweaked it a bit and came up with a few designs stacking the cake, using a different cake topper, adding the stars differently. She like them but still wanted the layers to be separate so she suggested pillars of some sort. I found the globe pillars on Wilton's website, made up a final sketch for her and we both loved it. A design that she liked and it wasn't out of my skill level.

The final sketch:

There was a lot of shopping and planning ahead involved. My sister lives 2 hours away, so this meant I would be baking the cakes at my house, driving to her house and frosting/assembling them there to avoid melting and damage. I packed a huge box with all the tools I needed. I started baking cakes on Sunday night, then started the decorating Monday night and the wedding was Tuesday afternoon. The bottom and top tiers are Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge, middle tier is DH Classic White, all leveled and torted with DH Vanilla frosting. Cake pans were 3" high 12" 8" and 6" tiers. I used Wilton Sugar Sheets in black and dusted them with a mixture of matte purple and silver color dust using a dry paint brush. I measured and cut these into strips and affixed to the frosting. Next I cut the pillars to size with the globes and left the tiers separate to store in the fridge. I kept the bottom 2 wrapped on their plates with a small trash bag and the top tier (since it needed to stay the freshest to be preserved for their anniversary) in a cake keeper. I started this as soon as the baked cakes were cooled and rewrapped each layer until we got into the restaurant. The stars were all cut from white fondant 1/8" thick and threaded with floral wire. I left a few white and dusted a few with purple and silver color dust, or purple sparkling sugar. The cake topper was part of a collector's set but very inexpensive at just $15. Jack came in 9 pieces and Sally in 4 and these things were only a few inches high, kind of a pain to put together. The stars and cake topper were attached on site after the cake was assembled. I'm really loving the outcome, and congrats again to my sister!

The lovely couple and their cake.

"Nichole"

A hobby I recently got into after making my first cake for my friend's wedding: cake baking and decorating! I somewhat served as her wedding planner/coordinator and cake baker. Since then requests have been coming in from her friends and family for birthday cakes and such. A few friends back home in KC are considering using me for their weddings next year. I even had another coworker ask me to make hers for her wedding. And so I did.

This is titled "Nichole" after the bride. Both cakes are marbled Classic White and Dark Chocolate Fudge with Creamy White/Vanilla Frosting by Duncan Hines. The ribbons were purchased by the bride, cut and hem-glued together by me. The sugar flowers were also purchased by the bride, from a company called fancyflours. I spray painted them with Wilton edible food coloring spray. The large cake measured 12" tall before the cake topper (also found by bride and ordered online). The pans used were Wilton 12", 10", 8", and 6" rounds. The smaller cake measured 6" tall and used Wilton pans 8" and 6". Each layer sits on a cardboard base and there are 2 skewers in the large and 1 skewer in the small cakes for support. The top layer of the large cake's cardboard base is wrapped in foil for preserving and I left a note with the instructions on how to cut the cake for serving and how to store the top layer for the 1st anniversary. The bride called just after her ceremony once she saw the cakes and said they were better than she had expected and more than perfect. I'm just so happy I could add this to my portfolio and possibly get a little side business started from it.

"Cleo"

Mmm...wedding cake.

"Cleo" was made for my friend Cleopatra's wedding. This was the first cake I've ever made. Pans used were Wilton 10", 8" and 6". Duncan Hines Vanilla cake mix with Vanilla Frosting. The cake measured 10" tall. The cake topper was from WM by Wilton. Stairs were purchased from the bakery department at a local grocery store for $10. Faux flowers on the stairs and the cake from WM floral department. Ribbons and pearl strands from WM. There are also sugar pearls and silver sprinkles on each layer. I served as wedding planner/coordinator and cake baker for this wedding. It was fun and worth it. We priced different things throughout the week for a Saturday wedding and all of the planning started on a Monday. Since it was a DIY wedding with a very tight budget, I knew there was no way she could afford to spend $300 on a cake from Dillon's, nor did we have the time with a 3 week order notice. So I volunteered to bake it since I watch so many cake baking and decorating shows on TV. Who says it wastes your brain? I think I did a pretty darn good job.