Woodgrain Buttercream Wedding

One of the most often heard comments I get during bridal consultations is "I don't want fondant."  The problem is that most of the inspiration photos they bring me are fondant.  There's the odd occasion where I have to tell them no, but more often than not I can come up with some way of replicating the design in buttercream.

When I met with this couple they brought an inspiration cake that was buttercream with lots of lines in it.  It was supposed to be wood grain, but I didn't think it was woodgrain enough.  I discussed it with the couple and we decided to make it wavier, with some knotholes so that no one would wonder.  It was a design I had only done in fondant before.

Here's a closeup of the final effect.  Pretty convincing, huh?  I started with my standard buttercream recipe.  Once it was nice and chilled, I started by cutting in my knotholes with a small sharp knife.  Once they were finished, then I started cutting in the lines around the knot holes first and then moved outward.  Nothing fancy, just happy little lines.

In these photos, I used some silk flowers I keep around the bakery, but the cake received fresh flowers when we delivered it to the venue, which was DeBarge Vineyards.  It was a lovely venue and this rustic wedding cake fit in well sitting on a wine barrel with the vineyards in the background.