Chattanooga Cake Ace Contest on Feb 20th!

OK, so I hinted about this a few posts back, but I am ready to make this official....

I have entered a cake competition on February the 20th (next Sunday!!!) and one of the judges will be none other than Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes!!

The Chattanooga Times Free Press is hosting A Formal Affair, a bridal show and during the show they are also sponsoring the "Chattanooga Cake Ace" contest.  The theme is simple... A Chattanooga themed groom's cake.  Ok, so maybe TOO simple.  I have SO many ideas, and I just can't seem to narrow them all down!  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.   GAH!

The best part is that all the participating bakers (I think 9 have entered) are all supposed to get some face time with Duff! 

I will be a crazy weekend, what with setting up our booth on Saturday and then the bridal show and contest on Sunday.  Even though it's still a week away, wish me luck!

Premier Bridal Show in Chattanooga

This weekend Chad and I setup a booth at the Premier Bridal Show in Chattanooga Tennessee.  For 5 hours this 10x10 booth was our home away from home.  The show promoters said there were over 500 registered brides, but we had a steady stream of people ALL day long!

I was happier with our booth than ever before.  With my brother's help we added the 2 new pink scrolly signs and I had posters made of my new logo hanging on each side of the booth.

In previous years, I have brought in crate after crate of full-sized cupcakes.  This year I did much smaller samples in souffle cups.  It was a nice two-bite sample and each one was lidded.  It was nice that everything was sealed and much more sanitary.  And I didn't spend half my time there with rubber gloves on refreshing the cupcake stand!

With every bridal show I do I learn something new each time, which will be nice when I do the next one... in 2 weeks!  Whew!

"No" New Year's Resolution

Earlier this week, my friend Kathia at Pink Little Cake blogged about a staying up late to do a last-minute order for a customer and how hard it was for her to say "No".  My comment was that bakers as a whole have a hard time saying No.  Is it our compulsion to make for and feed others, or is it as simple as not wanting to lose a paying customer?

It reminded me that I haven't shared my New Year's resolution with you all.  It's to learn better how to say "No" when I know I should. 

Case in point:  February is a horribly jam-packed month for us.  Two bridal shows (1 / 2) and a cake competition to be judged by none other than Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes (but that's another post), and a special tasting at the Chattanoogan, not to mention the scarce few orders I felt I could take to bring in some revenue for the month..  And then I get a call from my good friend Tara at The Car Barn.  She is so excited and tells me that ABC's Extreme Home Makeover is coming to Chattanooga and she wants me to do a big elaborate cake for the fundraiser.  It broke my heart to tell her No, but I had already committed my time to these other people and projects.

I spent the next few days worrying about disappointing a friend and colleague, and about losing some potentially great exposure, but in the end I know that my customers, my husband, and my sanity will thank me for it!

So the question of the day for the other bakers that stop by is, Do you have a hard time saying No?

PS: If you're in the Chattanooga area, stop by the Chattanooga Convention Center this Sunday (Feb 6) and say "Hi".  We'll even give you some cake!

Kaeley Mermaid Cake

OK, first things first!  The winner of The Money Cake cake stand system is Alev!!  You certainly can't say you haven't won anything now!  Alev, I'll get your stand in the mail within a day or two!  Thanks to everyone who participated... you're all winners in my book!!

Now onto today's cake.  Being in the wedding cake business, I have had the opportunity to meet lots great vendors.  The moment I met Amanda with Divine Designs, we were fast friends.  And a few weeks ago when her daughter Kaeley said she wanted a mermaid cake, I knew I had to do it!

For this cake I used the Cricut Cake for my letters, and I used a new mold I got for the mermaids.  They turned out SO pretty!  I also used a mold for some of the other sea creatures, and I hand made the coral and seaweed.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you back on Friday!!

Georgia Bulldogs Groom's Cake

Guys like sports, so it goes without saying that I do a lot of sports team cakes for my grooms.  And since I do a lot of wedding cakes in Georgia, Georgia Bulldog cakes are all the rage!  And since every couple has different needs, I try to offer something that can fit any couple's wedding budget.

This oval cake is a great option.  Simple buttercream cake with fondant ribbon edge on top and bottom and a "G" topper cut from black modeling chocolate.  Even a simple design can make a big impact!

Thanks for stopping by and check back in on Tuesday to see who won the Money Cake System Giveaway!  You still have until Friday 5:00pm EST to register!

Going Green with Wedding Cakes

In blog posts past, I have written about how much fresh flowers can affect the final vision of the cake.  So I decided to do a little "before and after" shot to show you what a huge impact they can have.  This could also serve as a example of how proper lighting can affect your pictures, but I digress (Grrrrr....).

The florals for this cake were provided by Helen Humphrey from Humphrey's Flowers.  She made the topper using two different types of orchids and fiddlehead ferns, which I just adore.  To put the fiddleheads in the cake, I simply snipped the ends and inserted a toothpick and then inserted the toothpick into the cake.

Our cranberry splash of color is just satin ribbon.  Remember my ribbon tip: wrap ribbon around a buttercream cake twice and it will keep the buttercream from seeping through and making the ribbon look greasy.

Swirly Sweet Sixteen Cake

I made this cake for a sweet sixteen party in Dalton, GA.  I have done this birthday girl's cakes now for several years.  Her Mom gets a local artist, Paula Gregg, to make a topper for the cake.

I then get to make a cake to accompany the cake!  It's always a fun challenge to create something that complements her artwork.

I took a picture at the venue with the topper installed, but the picture came out completely blurry :(

Have a great weekend and don't forget to register for the Money Cake giveaway.

Notre Dame Groom's Cake

 

This past weekend, I delivered this groom's cake to The Chattanoogan Hotel.  This is the mascot of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish.  I don't know if this fella has a name, but he's far too cute to be mean, right?

I made the logo by taking a graphic from the web and converting to a Cricut Cut file using my Sure Cuts a Lot software.  I broke the logo into 4 parts: navy, yellow, green, and white.  For the navy layers, I cut the entire image, one big blue Irishman (about a foot high).  Then each of the colors got cut and placed on top of the navy layer, just  like a great big jigsaw puzzle.  It made it look like the navy was outlining all the other pieces.

This was by far my largest and most elaborate Cricut project to date.  If you're attempting something like this, my advise is to put all the pieces together and get them just like you want them and then go back and "glue" them down with piping gel or tylose.

Peacock Feathers Wedding

Now that's what I call a cake!  This 5-tiered tower of butter cream went to the beautiful Read House in Chattanooga, TN.  The bride wanted to go for a "very natural, but fancy" look.

We achieved this look by using green gumpaste orchids, natural river birch branches, and real peacock feathers that the bride had brought in from India!

And the color on the cake?  That's espresso flavored buttercream - SO yummy!  And I finished the cake with some dark brown ribbon to accentuate that coffee colored buttercream!

Have a great weekend and don't forget to sign up for our Money Cake giveaway (previous post)!!

Product Review & Giveaway - The Money Cake System

Too many months ago, I had the good fortune of meeting Ellie Gallegos-Lee via e-mail.  She is the owner and creator of the Money Cake system.  I had initially asked to use one of her images on one of my postings for The Pink Book.  She was so nice and we exchanged several e-mails which resulted in her sending me one of her Money Cake systems absolutely free.  I felt honored, and I told her I would review her product and blog about it so all you decorators would know more about her product.  Again, that was too many months ago.  2011, however, is a new year!

IF you have ever wanted to surprise someone by hiding something, like money, inside a cake, then the Money Cake is the product for you.  At its simplest, The Money Cake consists of an 11.5" plastic cake stand with a hollow base, and a "feeder" tube with a roll of plastic sheeting to deliver the surprise.

The plastic sheeting makes it easy to insert dollar bills and  there are several different sizes of spouts (1.5, 2.5, and 3 inches).  Just set your cake on the cake plate and use a knife to clear out the hole for the feeding spout.  Insert the proper sized spout into the cake from the bottom of the cake plate and feed the "goodie" sheet up through the cake once it has been iced and decorated.

I don't do so many birthday cakes anymore, and when I do, they're generally larger (2 tiers or more) so I have not found an occasion to use The Money Cake.  I do like the design of the stand, it appears to be made very solidly and is quite stylish.  My cake layers are larger than the average layer (around 5 inches) and this is the only problem I can find with the Money Cake - it just wouldn't work on my cakes without me doing some reworking of the layers.

And now for the good part! I am going to pass on the Money Cake system to one of my readers!  Leave a comment on this post stating how you could use this system and a way to contact you.  One entry per person, and entries will be accepted from now until Friday, January 28th at 5:00pm EST.  From all entries a winner will be selected randomly.  Good Luck!

UPDATE: This Giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to Alev on winning the Money Cake!