Mini Cakes

My sister is getting married! And I simply cannot wait any longer to post about her cake. I'm so excited for it that the planning process has moved ahead very rapidly and very detailed (which is good considering I'm splitting the day of duties of MOH and cake decorator...) and I just have to share some of the exciting things we've been working on. My sister Cortney and her fiance Jack are quite the nerdy pair- in all of the best ways possible of course. In fact, she's reflecting their nerd love by having "bookish" elements sprinkled throughout the wedding that you can read about over on her blog. I was definitely on board for a scrabble cake, but we decided to go a slightly different route...

Another cool thing about my sister's wedding is that she is DIY-ing the heck out of it. She has a lot of projects in the works that aren't mine to spoil, but I will say that her wedding will be full of pretty fabrics, vintage finds and lots of personal touches. The cake will be no exception:

We know a few things for sure: 'the' cake will actually be many cakes, they will be mini, and they will be naked (yep, still talking about cake here). They're getting married June 2014 in Louisa, Va at Prospect Hill Plantation Inn which has gorgeous floral backdrops all on its own. We're not planning on adding many flowers, but the cake will probably be studded with a daisies and billy balls to bring out her wedding colors of yellow, gray and blue. I'm also hoping to incorporate some of her wedding ideas by using the fabric scraps to make a bunting decoration, and scouring antique stores to find the perfect step ladder to transform into a cake stand. You may remember that I recently became obsessed with the idea of using ladders to display desserts when I happened to cross this beauty. I'm planning on creating an entire dessert table of antique plates and platters with the step ladder being the center of attention. You can follow and see more of our ideas on the Pinterest board I made for them too.

It's been so fun really diving into this one and pulling out all of the stops. Because this cake is for my sister I can really go over the top and try some new things out. We're working hard and planning far ahead so it can all pay off when her day comes. Check back here to see how the progress is going!

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: