A Tale of Two Shoes....

There are a lot of shoe box cake tutorials out there, so I won't bore you with another.  I do want to give you a few helpful hints I learned on the first, wait...actually second shoe I have ever made.  How have we gone this long and never made a shoe cake?  Just lucky?  Nah....just kidding it was fun.  I was instructed by the buyer that I could change the shoe a little (thank goodness) and add a red sole to the shoe bottom.  Oh those pretty, sexy shoes!

My first attempt - Everything was way too thick!  Don't do this!!

 The first thing I did was to buy a shoe kit from Jennifer Dontz.  I guess that is pretty lazy or spoiled of me but it sure did make things a bit easier.  Really, the styrofoam form was the biggest help, but I'm sure it could be done with a posterboard form or something else the shoe tutorials advise.  The shoe in my inspiration  picture had a black sole and a cream insole.  Now I had to add a third layer to this and still make it look delicate.  My first attempt was bad, just bad (see below!).  It was too thick and looked silly when you look at it from the side.  I decided to get my pasta machine out to get things nice and thin.  I rolled all three layers of gumpaste (50/50 mix) as thin as I could on the cream and red, but a little thicker on the black.  I put the three layers together and gave it a little roll and cut out the sole.  I did go back and paint the little bit of red showing on the sides so it would look more seamless. Easy squeezy!

This is WAY too thick and not delicate at all.  The pasta roller helped!

The ankle strap in the inspiration picture was crazy!  It was sticking way up it the air!  I really could not make it happen and I hate that.  I told the customer up front that I probably could not duplicate the crazy straps so the pressure wasn't crazy like if he expected it.  I tried putting a wire in the straps, but thin wire was too wimpy and thick wire was too bulky for the look of the straps I needed.  In the end, my straps were just gumpaste with no wires.  I used some rhinestones from the scrap booking department that already had glue dots.  Handy!  No one was going to eat the shoe so why not?

To hold the straps in a gravity defying position, I poked two sets of skewers in either side of the styrofoam mold.  Then I took a long piece of scotch tape and wrapped around each set of skewers.  This gave the straps something to rest on while drying.  I let the shoe set up for a couple days before the straps and then for another six days with the straps installed.

For traveling with the shoe, I got a 10x10 box, cut the top off and put a 10" square cake board in the box for stability.  Since I use grippy/shelf liner under everything, I added a good piece on the cake board.  I left the shoe on the form and put it on the cake board/shelf liner and anchored it down by gently hammering (with my baby hammer) with 2" pieces of strong floral wire (Wal-Mart type).  I didn't want to ruin my expensive piece of styrofoam ;)

 A very sweet friend of ours gave us a glorious recommendation to his good friend.  Unfortunately he doesn't realize that we really only make wedding cakes.  I just felt like I had to make this shoe box cake.   We were given a picture to follow very closely.  I wish I knew the original cake artist.  If you do, please let me know so that I can credit them.

My First Shoe Box Cake

A very sweet friend of ours gave us a glorious recommendation to his good friend.  Unfortunately he didn't realize that we really only make wedding cakes.  But still I just felt like I had to make this shoe box cake.   We were given a picture to follow very closely.  I wish I knew the original cake artist.  If you do, please let me know so that I can credit her.

I know that prices can vary greatly by zip code and baker so I don't talk about it much.  For this cake, I charged $250, which is my minimum order price.  After I told him the price, the customer said he called the original cake artist and she wanted $850 for the cake and that a local bakery had quoted $150.  He said the $850 lady was "crazy" for wanting that much.  His words, not mine.  Even later he told me that he didn't think the $150 baker would be able to replicate it with great detail.  After looking at her previous work he didn't have confidence in her abilities.  So the extra $100 I was charging was for an "insurance policy" that he would not be disappointed.  As we all know, you get what you pay for!

I baked  three layers of 9 x 13" and cut a couple of inches off to make it more shoe boxy.  It was white/chocolate/white cake with raspberry buttercream.  Yum!  The whole cake was paneled with modeling chocolate.

For the signature on the side of the box, my client wanted the birthday girl's name in a very similar style of the original shoes.  I couldn't find a suitable Louboutin font online, but Chaddy did use an app to recreate it to the best of our abilities.  The app is called Adobe Ideas, and is a free app.

The font with the signature was so small there was no way I could pipe it and I didn't want to mix mediums, so we wound up printing out an edible image to cover the entire side of the box.  We did a lot of test swatches on paper to find a color that was an exact match to the box color.  BUT!  It darkened over night!  So let that be a lesson to us all!  Luckily, since I covered the entire side of the box with the image, you could hardly even tell!

Stop back in next week and I'm going to talk a little more about that sexy shoe and what went into the making of it!!

Texture on Buttercream Cakes

Almost all my customers say "I don't want fondant!" and they mean it, so I've worked hard at coming up with buttercream alternatives. Since we make a bunch of all white wedding cakes, texture seems to be a huge trend that I'm seeing.  Brides don't want very busy or piped cakes, but they do want some design.  They are bringing me pictures of rough iced cakes, stenciled cakes, combed cakes, and sugared cakes.  I want to go over a few options they you may want to consider when designing a cake for any occasion.
I've blogged about stencils before, so please give it a read.  It's a great option in all one color for texture or two different colors for more detail.  It's also a good idea to add pearls or extra piping on the stenciled design.

Buttercream ruffles are very trendy and you don't have to do the entire cake.  Just a few rows will give you lots of  femininity and texture.

Diamonds and lines are are classic and easy.  Use a bench scraper and blow torch or super hot water and melt the design into the cake.  Sanding sugar or pearl dragees are great on buttercream for sparkle and opulence.  Covering a cake in this material also keeps you from having to get a cake perfectly smooth.  If you a beginner, give it a shot.  Just keep in mind, it gets everywhere!

Lastly, buttercream combs are a great way to add a side design and it's super easy!  Wilton and many others sell all kinds of different designs.  Just get your cake level, basically smoothed and chilled.  Add another thick layer of buttercream and quickly run your comb through it and poof! You have a design.

Tell me about any great ideas you have for buttercream texture!

Happy caking!

Best Way to Sample at Bridal Shows

I posted a couple of weeks ago about my latest showing at the Chattanooga Bridal Show.  One of the comments on that post was about how I provide cake samples to the attendees of the bridal shows.

Now I've seen samples done several different ways.  The most common method I have seen is a sheet cake that is cut into small portions and handed out.  I don't like this method because not only is it messy, but it takes someone (maybe you) away from interacting with your customers.  There's not a lot of room in a 10 x 10 booth for employees - I would say no more than 3.  You don't want one of those people cutting cake.

 Then there's mini-cupcakes and cupcakes.  I have never tried mini cupcakes, just because I hate making them so much!! :-)  But I did try full-sized cupcakes at my first couple of bridal shows and it was a total disaster,  Some people thought it was too much cake and wouldn't even take a sample.  Some people were so enthralled by the cupcakes that they just wanted to know how many they could get and take home to kids, nieces, etc. And the people that did want cupcakes also wanted something to carry them in.  So I bought cups and lids.  That just increased my costs!

What I have found that works best for ME is using the Solo 2 ounce condiment cup with lid.  I will cut a small circle our of a sheet cake to fir in the cup and I still have room for icing and a filling, if necessary.  Then the lids go on.  I also put a small label on the lid with my business name, website, and phone number. The cup size offers the client a nice 2-bite sample; the lid allows the the client to pop it in their goodie bag to take home, and the label reminds them about who made that awesome cake later on.  The best part is that I make them up a couple of days before and just set them out in the booth.  They stack nicely and it allows people to take one and run if they want to.  And I'm available to talk flavors or otherwise discuss cake with my potential clients.

For those that have done bridal shows, how do you provide samples?

Lions Football Grooms Cake

Football field cakes can be a great way to showcase a groom's interests and it's much more economical than a sculpted football helmet or stadium cake.  For this cake we used a combination of edible images and Cricut cut-outs as the main decorations.  The cake stand was awesome, and was made by the grooom's mother if I remember correctly.  We delivered this groom's cake to Trevitt Hall in Dalton, GA.

But I just fell in love with these chocolate covered strawberry "footballs".  I have seen them before, but this was my first time making them.

They are your basic chocolate-dipped strawberries, but with a twist (or a spiral!).  Once the chocolate firmed up, I used royal icing to pipe the lines and the laces on the "footballs".  I think you will agree that it is a pretty convincing effect!  And the word from the wedding party was that they were very delicious!

Any of you have any other ingenious disguises for chocolate covered strawberries?

Bridal Show Booths Revisited

 

This weekend Chad and I participated in the Pink Bridal Show.  It was sort of a last minute decision; I didn't have any cakes booked for the weekend and I really do think they help promote not only customer relations, but vendor relations as well.  Here are some tips I have learned from my previous shows.  I may have touched on some of these topics before, but it bears repeating.

If the event allows you to setup your booth the day before, then you should do it.  The actual day of the show is very tiring, you'll need to start the day with all the energy you can muster.  Setting up the day before also allows you a "second chance" if you accidentally forget something.

Don't be afraid to rearrange your booth.  The show promoter will generally give you an 8-foot table with 2 chairs and a small sign with your business name on it.  If you want different tables, let the promoter know or bring your own.  Look at other vendors' booths, see what they are doing.  Don't copy them, but use them as inspiration.  In the photo above I have used none of the items that am with my booth.  I ditched the sign, the chairs, and replaced the 8-foot table with 2 6-foot tables and 4 highboy tables.

Don't sit in your booth.  The reason I ditch my chairs is that I want to be on my feet and energetic when potential customers walk by.  I'm very interested in their business and I want to look that way.  If you're sitting, customers will walk by without engaging you or when you start to get up they will say "No, don't get up, we're just looking".  Don't believe me?  Find a booth where someone is sitting behind a table and watch the action.  Odds are the only thing you will see going through it are tumbleweeds.  Or better yet, go by a booth where people are packed in like sardines.  I bet they're not sitting.

The aftermath of standing all day and booth teardown is that you will be tired.  Give yourself some time the following day to recoup.  But you want to be near your phone too.  These brides have spent all day searching for the perfect vendor.  They are excited and they want to iron out details.  Monday morning they will start calling.  Make sure you are there to answer the phone!

The last thing I'll mention is that while you are in that booth, make sure to have your patience pants on.  You might get the same question 100 times in that 5-6 hour span, make sure you answer with last as eagerly and energetically as the first.  Remember why you're in the room... Brides are there to find information, but it's also a job interview for you as a vendor.  Your cakes can taste delicious, look amazing, but if you give the customer an eye roll over a "silly" question the customer may just decide to pick your competition over you. 

So stay positive and have an awesome week!!

Wrigley Field Marquee Cake

I made this cake recently for our good friend John.  He is the host of our weekly trivia tournament, and an all-around super great guy. When we found out his birthday was coming up, one of the guys on another trivia team told us what a big fan John was of the Chicago Cubs.  Paul was the one that suggested the Wrigley Field marquee.  Chaddy and I aren't sports people at all, but once I saw the marquee, I knew we could knock it out of the park!  That's a sports saying, right?!? :-)

Chaddy went to work on the graphics, and determined really quickly that it would fit just right on a 12x18 cake.  He then cut the letters out with the Cricut, found a font and printed out the "LCD panel", and printed out a life-sized template.  I used the template to carve the top of the marquee, and to place the letters on the cake.  I extruded a small square rope for the edges of the marquee.  I made small pin holes in my template to help me place the letters and the lines.

After that, I thought the cake still needed a little something, so I put a small Cubs ribbon as a cake border (also an edible image).

And for the record, John was really stoked about his cake!

Marvelous Molds Contest

Recently, we were asked by Cake Central if we would be a part of a special contest.  We would be shipped some new cake decorating supplies and we would use those to make a cake.  It sounded like fun so we said "YES!"  A day or so later I got a box in the mail from Marvelous Molds.  Now, I really like Marvelous Mold products, I have ordered lots of molds from them in the past.

Watch a short 2 minute video about the new onlays


They sent us a few products from their newest product line; silicone onlays.  Onlays are part stencil, part cutter, part impression mat.  Roll a thin sheet of fondant over the onlay and the silicone ribs cut the fondant into its separate shapes.  Pick out the pieces you don't want on the cake and place the flexible silicone mat against the side of the cake and the pieces stick right on.  The best part about these onlays?  They are all based on Pi, so they line up perfectly on any even-sized diameter cake.

I received a zebra and a harlequin mat.  I was a little disappointed, as those are simpler designs that I can already do well without using the onlays, but I think I made the best of it!  Here's a picture of the cake I made from Cake Central's website:

If you haven't already voted, I would love it if you could stop over at CakeCentral and vote on my cake.  There are several great designs and designers, including the fabulous Erica OBrien!!  The cake with the most votes will be featured in an upcoming issue of Cake Central Magazine!

Full Disclosure:  Marvelous Molds did provide me with a few of their new silicone onlays free of charge as part of the contest, but their exposure here was not part of the agreement and my opinions, as always, are my own.

Guest Blogger: Beata from My Sweet Passion Cakes

Even though I have made it my mission to help out cake decorators just getting their start, it can still be a daunting task to find help online.  I frequent more than one cake forum and lots of times I see a a basic question turn into a heated debate over some minute detail that has nothing to do with the poster's question.

But sometimes the planets align perfectly and two people thousands of miles apart connect to make something special.  That's how I met Beata Khoo from My Sweet Passion Cakes in Brighton, UK.  She posted a question on CakesDecor asking for assistance on how to make a cake like a dragon sculpture she had a picture of.  It seemed like a daunting and ambitious task, but I answered and what unfolded was a really satisfying month-long collaboration.  Even though Beata says she's just a hobbyist, she took instruction well and learned to work with modeling chocolate and make her own structure, something she had not done before.  I was so impressed with the work that Beata did that I asked her if she would like to write up a post about her experience making this awesome cake.  And now without further ado, here's Beata!

My name is Beata Khoo and I started to decorate cakes about a year ago. I have always loved to bake cakes, but never really decorated any cakes.  I was always so busy in y everyday life and never had the time, until last year someone gave me the most gorgeous cupcakes. And I thought -this is what I can do... and rest is history ;) I am hooked! All I want to do is bake and decorate cakes.

I have been doing a few cakes since then but I really crave a challenge to see how much more I can do. Then one day this lady calls and asks me if i can do this Amazing Dragon.  I really wanted to do it too, but I wasn't sure where to start, so I decided to write into Cake Central and CakesDecor.  I also wrote a private message to Liz Marek on Facebook, hoping someone will have some idea on how to make it.

Unfortunately i didn't get anywhere with Cake Central, but very lucky on CakesDecor.  Jenniffer from Cup a Dee Cakes wrote to me and gave me advice how to build the structure and the best way to use modelling chocolate. On top of that Liz Marek gave same idea and was kind enough to answer my message. In that moment I felt so happy that there was someone giving me guidance and I knew that I could do it ;)

And this is the way I did it...

1. First I bought a wooden board and copper tubing. Drilled seven holes (size of the copper tubes) in the base, not too close to one another.

2. Then I made modeling chocolate white and colored it. (I have never worked with chocolate before and thanks to Jenniffer - I love it now)

3. I applied the chocolate on to the copper and created his skin with scissors

4. Next, I made the heads, which was a little tricky, but with a lots of determination they came out lovely. After finishing modeling, I put them in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.

5. The body of the dragon i made it with a chocolate cake and the wings I made with rice crispy treats.

6.Then I wanted to paint the MC so again I was asking Jenniffer and Liz Marek, then I thought best to try on little test MC before I painted the dragon.  I tried mixing petal dust with vodka and then vegetable oil. Vegetable oil looked the best so my decision was made. I painted my dragon with petal dust and vegetable oil, it took 2 days to dry but it looked fantastic!

So before i put it together - I covered my wooden base to look like wood and then put my heads together and held it all together with dark modelling chocolate. I then created the body and wings and painted them last. Hope you like the way I finished it off with the Enchantica book and message on each side of the dragon. Most of all I would like to thank Jenniffer and Liz Marek for all their help.

Didn't Beata's cake turn out great!?

Beata can pass out all the thanks she wants, but in the end, she was the only person in that kitchen doing all the work.  And she she did an exceptional job, didn't she?!?  I was super glad to provide her with some assistance; I was excited every morning to get online and see what progress she had made.  It's this type to collaboration that the Internet was invented for.  Please stop by Beata's Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/mysweetpassion, LIKE her page, and let her know what great job she did!  Lastly, I want to thank Beata for guest blogging here today!

For more pictures please visit www.facebook.com/mysweetpassion

Cake Stencils are Awesome!

I love "Designer Stencils" a bunch. My current favorite is the mod flower because it gives the cake a sophisticated texture which seems to be a hot button with my brides. There is a display cake in my shop with this stencil and I swear that is why it keeps being picked. Here are a couple of my  "pearls of  wisdom" on stencils. First, you can absolutely use them on buttercream IF you use butter based icing that you can get cold/hard in the fridge. Sometimes I even but the tier in the freezer for 15 minutes so that it's super cold. Just go straight to the work when you take it out of the cold so that it doesn't get a layer of condensation because then the icing won't stick. I have bought some stencil holding "kit" but it was just two book clamps and some stretchy gauze. I found that it did more harm than good, so I don't use it. I sometimes use a corsage pin through the hanging hole and hold the other end with my fingers. Using a small angled spatula, I put on a clump of buttercream and spread it down the stencil. Once you get icing on the end your hand is holding you won't have to keep holding it down. I then used a plastic, cheap, dough scraper and take of most of the icing. You have to be consistent with the "thickness" or "depth" of the stencil icing or you will have really high sections and some barely there at all. That looks bad so it's a good habit to chose how you like the depth and be consistent. While the stencil is still attached, I airbrush the entire stencil with luster dust. Remove the stencil from one side first, scrape off the leftover airbrushed icing to throw away, wash and dry the stencil for the next section. Sometimes you are going to have some areas that "bleed" under the stencil. Just clean them up with a stiff paint brush (and soft to blend) after you have chilled the cake back up.

My next tip is to stencil the tiers before you stack them. If you want the design at the top of the cake you can raise the cake by placing cake boards/drums under the cake until you get the perfect height. That's a good reason to keep cardboard singles for just the right height. Don't forget to use shelf liner/grip so the doesn't slip when you are stenciling. When doing the cake pictured, I saved the bottom tier until last and then I had to trim the "extra" off the bottom so that it could be flush. I think the hardest part of this cake was the caulking the tiers so that there was no borders. I took out some of the stenciling, but I couldn't help it. The very best idea is to talk the customer into a ribbon border (fondant or real). It gives you lots of material to hide the union of the tiers.

Closeup of Stencil...  It adds so much detail and texture!

Just remember that every cake is going to have a backside. Seams won't match up perfectly. Just blend and love on it so that it's not so apparent. That's all you can do, so don't worry about it. It's just cake :)

Don't forget about the height. Lots of stencils are only 4" tall and I make 5" tall or taller cakes. Luckily some stencils are taller, so focus on those to buy if you make tall tiers too! If you really want to use a skinny stencil, allow for the width of your ribbon border and measure. Cut the cake shorter so that the stencil isn't a weird band looking thing, unless that's the look you are going for :)

One note about the cake featured above.  When I got to the venue, the "florist" left me a bucket of flowers the looked like the trash at the bottom of the boxes. Real Junk! I had to make it work but I don't have to be happy about it. The poppies were squished and mostly closed. The blue things were prickly! Sorry, had to get that jewel off my chest.

Do you have any tips on cake stenciling? Please share them with us in the comments so we can all be better decorators!