Summer Wedding Cake Tasting

Last week I did a cake tasting with a sweet couple who I am SO excited to be making their wedding cake this August, Hannah and John. Their wedding is going to be an intimate affair and will take place in Oak Island, NC. I will be delivering the cake to their venue personally and so far we have a great start on their flavors and concept. I had fun coming up with the flavors for this one and they really challenged me with some of their new ideas. What we ended up with were four stellar combinations we all loved!

John is a self-proclaimed 'vanilla guy' so we started out with a vanilla bean cake filled with the same Italian buttercream that I frost the outside of a wedding cake with. A summer wedding calls for fresh berries somewhere on the list so I did a vanilla bean pound cake filled with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries as well for them. Hannah's request was some combination of lemon and almond, which I re-created into a lemon pound cake with almond cream cheese filling. For their last taste, they let John's sugar loving mom choose a white chocolate cake filled with creamy milk chocolate ganache.

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All of the cakes were a hit and we ended up going with a tier of each to make up their three tier wedding cake. As for design, Hannah knew she wanted to go for a traditional white cake with pearl beading border. With a plain white cake, we talked about a few different options they had to make it interesting but keep it white. I covered one of their taste cakes in fondant and did a textured design on another one so they could see both elements. We ended up adding a delicate filagree band on the middle tier for embellishment and we're going to use fresh flowers leftover from their centerpieces to accent. It should be a classy and elegant centerpiece to their reception which I would expect no less from these two. Stay tuned for more details as their cake comes together.

Red Ruffle Wedding Cake

Recently this white ruffle dummy cake that I made a while ago just started looking so white to me. When I made it originally I contemplated making the flowers different colors but decided the white on white design looked elegant as it was. But enough of that, it's cold outside now and the design needed a splash of warm color. I hand painted the edges red and took pictures in stages to show how the balance of red and white came through. Some of my favorites are from when I was only about halfway through, because the remaining white ruffles really pop. 

I used gel food coloring and a small straight edge paint brush. A design like this would definitely be much cleaner if I had colored the flowers from the get-go isntead and dipped the edges of the ruffles before adhering them to the cake.

The result is a pretty startling difference and completely transformed the feel of the design. It's a perfect example of how you can add color to a traditional wedding cake and end up with a very original - but still elegant - cake design.

Dog Treat Wedding Favors

This week I've been recipe testing for a different kind of wedding favor - one that appeals to a dog loving couple's furry friends. We found a hit with some homemade banana peanut butter dog bones. They are suitable for most breeds of dogs and made with very few ingredients to be easy on their canine stomachs. Best of all they can be packaged up in any way and set out with a cute sign for your guests to take home to their pets at the end of the night.

I opted for a thinner, drier biscuit so they would be easier to break up for smaller dogs (like my Scotties) but the size and shape can be adjusted to fit the needs of any pup.

 Someone kept a very watchful eye over the baking process once the peanut butter made an appearance...

I'd say the overall feedback was pretty positive.

Check out some other options for wedding favors here: 

Mason Jar Cupcakes, Cake Truffles 

Happy New Year!

In 2013 I made one of the biggest (and in hindsight, best) decisions to move to New York and begin pastry school at the Culinary Instistute of America. Attending school slowed down the volume of actual cakes I created this year, but I was of course working hard to expand my skill set in school and it gave me the opportunity to focus more on this site and marketing myself in social media. I've been really happy with the results of using tools like Instagram and Pinterest to post pictures of my cakes that link back to my website and thought I"d share a list of superlatives for 2013:

Most Re-Pins on Pinterest: This Country Wedding Cake from July 2012

Most Likes on Pinterest: Lemon Lime Topper from Mark and Cassie's 2012 wedding

Most Popular Post: Valentine's Day Cake Truffles from this year

Most Likes on Instagram: White Ruffle Wedding Cake from Summer 2013.

Other popular contenders:

Blackberry Mojito Cupcakes

Piping Practice

Vineyard Vines Birthday Cake

The Naked Cake

Also in 2013, I've doubled my posting, tripled my traffic and so far booked five weddings for 2014 and counting. I'm looking forward to finishing up school next year and being able to focus even more on my clients and expanding my business. Please keep re-posting, re-pinning and following my work in 2014!

FEED Projects: Beyond the Bag

Today I wanted to take a brief break from cake to bring awareness to a cause near and dear to my heart, childhood health and hunger. This may seem a little out of the ordinary coming from someone who literally eats dessert for a living, but the opportunities afforded to me in my career are exactly what have brought this important issue to light for me.  After working in a 5 Star 5 Diamond restaurant in the middle of a food dessert for the past four months, it definitely got me thinking about the amount of waste that occurs in my industry and how many people there are in the U.S. who live without affordable access to a fully stocked grocery store. I live 25 minutes by car away from the nearest store that participates in WIC, food stamps and other government welfare programs. The nearest state funded food bank is a 45 minute drive away.

I think about food probably 75% of my thoughts throughout the day, but I have never worried about when and how I would get my next meal. I have a car, job and my health, but right now I live around a lot of people who don't have any of the three. It makes eating, period a difficulty. It makes eating healthy nearly impossible. The kids who were born into these circumstances go to school hungry and can't focus or learn. We all depend on them for a better future, but they depend on us for even the most basic of needs. Because all kids in the U.S. are legally supposed to attend school, school feeding is the most effective way to tackle the problem.

My goal this winter season was to be as local as possible and support a charity that does more than pump money into an endless system, but actually provides a positive, tangible result from my donation. The upsetting thing that I found was that there wasn't a local foundation (focused on children) that was organized and established sufficiently in the community. That's an ongoing project for the future. This year I'm starting small and taking a baby step by supporting this excellent foundation started by Laura Bush, FEED Projects.

Photo source: feedprojects.com

What I loved about this organization is that in return for your donation they send you a bag (designed by Laura) that becomes an advertisement for their cause as you carry it around. With your purchase they provide you with the number of how many school lunches you are providing and where your money is going. I bought products that all benefited the United States school system and gave them as Christmas presents to my family members. You can also choose to support other countries such as Guatemala, India, Kenya or Haiti. The small but mighty organization works with larger partners as well like the UN World Food Programme and UNICEF. Here's some food for thought from the FEED Projects website:

• Hunger is No. 1 on the list of the world's top 10 health risks*
• 1 in 7 people go to bed hungry every night*
• Hunger and malnutrition kill more people than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined*
• 65% of the world's hungry live in only 7 countries around the world*

* World Food Programme's Facts Blast; November 2010

The bags I got in return for my donation:

 A wine bag- pushing it, maybe. Loving it, definitely.

For my book nerd sister, this one also partners with Room to Read, an organization dedicated to improving childhood literacy. In addition to school meals, this donation also sends books.

 This was the original bag designed for the foundation and its purchase provides ten school meals.

You might also see FEED products in retail stores like Gap, Target and Whole Foods but as with any donation through a secondary source, double check what percentage of your purchase actually makes it to the foundation if that is important to you. 

Bûche de Noël: The S'mores Cake

This cake evolved from the cupcake version that I made this fall to mimic the one and only fireside s'more.  If you remember, I'm somewhat obsessed with homemade marshmallows and how delicious they are, so any chance to use them in a cake- I'm game. While those cupcakes were a sticky, gooey s'mores masterpiece, the cake version is much friendlier to that glamorous holiday party attire you'll soon be donning.

The s'mores cake version is the same graham cracker pound cake with the flavors of vanilla, honey and cinnamon layered with homemade vanilla bean marshmallows and a bittersweet chocolate ganache. The entire cake is frosted using Italian meringue and toasted to give it the festive look of a Bûche de noël. A few chocolate dipped mallows sit on top to give it some height.

I love the rustic look of toasted meringue and brought in pine cones and rosemary to finish the holiday centerpiece look. Red berries or holly wold also look really nice with this cake, although you have to be careful when bringing inedible plants around food. Unlike a traditional roulade Bûche de noël, this version is sure to appeal to the everyone at your holiday party, even the younger crowd. Who doesn't love s'mores? 

Mason Jar Cupcakes

Everything tastes better when eaten out of a jar, right? It's definitely true, I think, when it comes to cupcakes. No messy wrapper? Check. No frosting caught in the corners of your mouth? Check. All the deliciousness and presentation of a cupcake but given to you in a neat little mason jar.

 In this mason jar is my pumpkin spice cupcake made with fresh pumpkin puree, topped with maple cream cheese frosting and a roasted pumpkin seed brittle. They would be a great addition to any Halloween or holiday party as a favor for guests on the way out of the door, or an innovative way to serve dessert that guests can eat mess-free while standing.

I can dress up the jars however you'd like with fabric, burlap, colorful paper or ribbon. They can even be customized with a logo, sticker or monogram and date. A spoon attached to the side with twine would make for an even more convenient way to enjoy.

I love this idea as a wedding favor too. If you decide to forgo the traditional wedding cake, but want something sweet for your guests to take home, these little jars are it. If you want a mini dessert display in lieu of a traditional tiered cake, again, these are for you. They can be layered with any combination of frosting, filling and cake in any size jar. Easily transported and refrigerated, these babies are sure to impress anyone. Not to mention the guests get to keep the jar as a souvenir.

Grab a spoon and dig in! Get your pumpkin fix in other posts from this season here and here.