Lace Wedding Cake "Dress"

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to watch one of my oldest friends tie the knot with her high school sweetheart. I was even more fortunate to be able to create her wedding cake and be a small part of her big day! A lot of preparation and heart went into this one- from the tasting we did last fall, to the making the playlist I jammed out to while baking it. The bride Molly had a specific vision for her wedding that she wanted the cake to compliment, and we ended up designing it around the beautiful lace details on her dress. The result was a very elegant and traditional tiered cake with a little twist. You can check out my pinterest page for Molly and Michael to see what I used for inspiration. Here was the original sketch:

The venue for Molly's wedding was the gorgeous Oak Ridge Estates in Arrington, Va. The event coordinators along with the catering staff were wonderful to work with and a big help to me when setting up the cake on the day of the wedding. The room it was sitting in was so beautiful it made the cake look that much better. Molly had provided a vintage style mirror for the cake to sit on, and the flowers were given to me for the table by the venue manager.

The topper was also provided by the bride and groom, and has been in Michael's family for over 65 years of happy marriages.

The first and third tiers are dark chocolate cake with raspberry mousse filling. They're covered with an ivory tinted Italian buttercream frosting and detailed with delicate fondant lace. 

The middle tier is lemon lavender cake also filled with raspberry mousse. This one is covered in fondant, and ruched to look like the sash on Molly's wedding dress. 

A close up of the lace details.

 Me with the bride and groom after I had changed into guest-mode.

Nothing but the best wishes for these two, and couldn't have been happier to be included in their big day.

Spring Wedding Cake Tasting

Last September I did a cake tasting with one of my oldest and dearest friends for her Memorial Day weekend 2013 wedding. It's safe to say that Molly and I go way back. Like Britney-Spears-talent-show-dance-routine back. It's not every day that you get to reconnect with a friend like her, and to do it over wedding cake samples and sketches was exciting to say the very least. We sat down at her Mom's kitchen table in Charlottesville, Va this past fall to discuss these beauties:

Clockwise from left: raspberry lemonade cake with citrus cream cheese filling, dark chocolate cake with raspberry ganache filling, and lavender cake with raspberry mousse filling. Molly and Michael love chocolate and raspberry, so they knew they wanted chocolate in their cake, but also other seasonal flavors to give their guests a variety. We ended up with a delicious flavor combination that will accomplish both! For the design she wanted to have the cake compliment her wedding gown, so we settled on a design that incorporates delicate lace detailing as well as a ruched banded middle cake layer. 

Without Molly, I never would have made it through glitter eye shadow, glasses, or calculus. I can't even express how excited I am that she chose me to make her wedding cake, and I can't wait to be there now when she gets married! At the risk of extreme embarrassment, here's a picture of us circa 1999:

And to redeem myself a little, 2008:

October Birthday Cakes

 When I started my office "day job", I found a whole new cake market that has been so good to me for the past few months. Last week I even had two birthday cakes in one week- a first for my little business! I'm also loving to get to practice birthday cakes more frequently, because it is a different skill set from wedding cakes and it's a new challenge. The first of the week was a pink lemonade 1/4 sheet cake with citrus cream cheese frosting. I decorated with lots of little gumpaste flowers and yellow sugar. There's a Mamita somewhere with very happy taste buds:

The second was southern red velvet with cream cheese frosting, decorated with stucco texture and a chopped chocolate wave for Randi:

Here's to staying busy!

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

This cupcake is refreshing even in the heat of summer, and it is the perfect way to toast the end of it. The cake is raspberry-lemon, dense and slightly sweet with a tart punch. The frosting is sweet and fluffy in contrast, cream cheese infused with citrus. Topped with fresh lemon slices, yellow dusting sugar and punched with a striped straw, these cupcakes look and taste like summer party show stoppers.

This cake is also a post to introduce my new seasonal menu. Click on the Menu tab above to check it out! The seasonal menu was created to highlight local, seasonal produce and to incorporate flavors and spices that change with the weather. Most of my cake flavors will be available year round, but these three or four extra will be available in their seasons only to deliver the freshest product possible.