Mickey Wedding & Pet Peeves

We will make this week's blog short and a little sour..... Is there something you see in your line of work that bugs the fool out of you? We all do I'm sure. In cake decorating we all start as beginners and I never judge those people. If you charge money, and sometimes a lot of money for a cake then it should be well executed. Piping should be neat and consistent. I'm not the best at piping so I use a small paint brush to even out and blend in my lines. Sometimes, I need to scrape things off and start again . One of the most popular borders are fondant pearls. If you will pay attention some decorators don't use the right product (it needs to be partially modeling chocolate or Fondarific so it will harden in the cooler) and stretch them out when unmoulding or applying them to the cake. It's a minor thing to most, but a pearl border that isn't rounded pearls is not clean work to me.

Last pet peeve is disintegrated dragees. Whether pearl, silver or gold those little balls cannot be applied and then put in the fridge. They break down and loose their sheen all together. This really does stink because you can't apply them ahead of time. I'll give you two things that I do. First, I put them on ahead of time when the icing is a little soft so that they will not just sit on top of the buttercream. If the cake gets room temperature and those dragees aren't pushed in a little, they will slide down the cake. Trust me, we stayed almost until a wedding started just gently pushing those things in before they all slide down. Did you catch that I just told you I do what I said you shouldn't? Well at the last minute, I take the bad dragees out and add fresh ones. Yes it takes more time, but I don't have to measure last minute or get a cake soft before adding the last minute. Oh! Get a gem/rhinestone setter for applying these and not leaving tweezer marks. They are just a little wad of wax on the end of a stick. It is easier to pick them up and apply them (but not removing, stick to tweezers for that). Yeah! I got those things out of my system!

Piped Lace Wedding Cake

I'm going to post a little quick entry today.  It's the first week of May and I have a BUNCH of cakes to work on!  We are getting a lot more requests for colored wedding cakes and I think that's great!  This a khaki color which isn't always the easiest color to achieve.  I sure wish I had one of the paint color mixing machines at Home Depot!

I used an Evil Cake Genius lace stencil and the piped an outline with a #1 tip.  I really like the look of the lace with that extra step.  The people at Evil Cake suggest putting a piece of tulle fabric  on the cake with the stencil.  I guess it's just to have a more realistic texture.  I personally don't think it's worth the effort, but that's just my taste.  My tip for the week is to add your edible pearls and silver dragees to your cake a few house before the cake is due.  If you put them on the day before they will break down and not be pretty.  OK, bonus tip!  Only make your pearl borders with Fondarific or modeling chocolate (or add 50% to your fondant).  The fat in those products will let you put the pearls in the freezer for just a couple of minutes and they will harden.  Then unmold them and they won't get all stretched out and disfigure.  When you see a really pretty cake with stretched pearls, it makes me a little sad that the decorator didn't know this tiny thing that makes a big difference.

Chattanooga Lace Wedding Cake!

Libby Swirl Birthday

Every baker is given pictures from their customers and asked to reproduce them and it happen most of the time.  It happens to the most famous cake people!  It's not a knock on your abilities, so don't take it that way.  Customers get on Pintrest and Google to start their wheels turning but get their hearts set on a certain design.  It stinks because if they are willing to give you some freedom they may get a better cake.  All cake designers are sitting on a pile of designs that really want to create.  Sometimes my job is trying to convince someone that I can take their ideas and customize it to fit the event even better.  Some cake designers just say "no, I won't reproduce another bakers work".  I don't get that since almost no design is an "original" and is certainly not copyrighted.  I do try hard to mention the person or company IF I KNOW IT, but often I don't and I don't have hours to research.  

Some customers will not let you change anything from the picture they provide you.  If you were to really push them to change the cake, you may lose the sale.  If you are a baker, my advice is to make sure you advise them, especially on the contract, that anytime two people make the same thing, they will not come out the same.  Even when I am supposed to make a cake that I've already made before it will come out different.  If you are a customer, be sure you understand that we are not "copy machines".  Your baker may not have the same abilities as your picture from a magazine.  It's not wrong to ask your baker to see a picture of a cake similar to the cake you are wanting.  If you want a stadium cake, you should look at other cakes that would require the use of blueprints and need to be to scale.  It's not apples to apples but it's better than blindly trusting.

   As you may have guessed, a customer asked me to make an exact copy of another bakers work.  I did just that but a made a "cleaner" and more finished version of the original.  This design is super simple so if you haven't tried it, Google a tutorial and give it a try!

Little World Traveler Birthday Cake

We make very few birthday cakes and those that we do make as never money makers so I am doing them as a favor, gift or for someone very special.  One of our sweetest brides ever adopted a little girl and asked us to make her a special cake.  It had to be driven two hours to Atlanta, GA by the Grandmother so it had to be sturdy. 

One of my requirements for birthday cakes these days is that I get lots of artistic freedom.  They gave me very little instructions other than maps with muted colors and the color palette you see.  I gave them a few ideas and off we went!   Of course we did fondant so it could travel well and we printed the maps with edible images.  Finding a "pretty and girly" map is not easy!  I was teaching my intern some of the basics like making pearl borders, fondant bows, and "fantasy" flowers.  We spent a long time but she learned a lot about taking a basic flower and using the ball tool, textures, and how to dry them so they all fit together later.  We also made the handle, latches and luggage tag by hand.  The "smash" cake was just a little 1/2 globe with the edible images cut out by continent so we could make it pretty, but not accurate :)  There is really nothing technically hard about decorating this cake, but that doesn't mean it's quick either.  I think we had two full days of artwork in this one cake, which is why I say they are not money makers they are really labors of love!  I was really paid by the sweet and wonderful reaction that I got from the family!  I'm so fortunate to be able to make cakes for wonderful people and have an impact on their lives.

Chevron Cake

We were asked to make a cake for a "Chapel talk" for GPS seniors.  The young lady that speaks at the service provides tea and snacks for all the attendees.  My clients had a very specific design that was very similar to a Charm City Cakes design.  We added a little something here and there, but I certainly give them credit for the design.

The bottom tier was six thick layers high.  The very dark teal was hard to make and probably the most challenging part of the project.  When making a super dark color, start with dark pre-colored fondant, never white.  Make sure to add some black.  If you can purchase some powdered color, it would help.  The amount of gel color you have to add makes your fondant very sticky and loose.  You will need to work powdered sugar in with the color to keep the fondant the right consistency.  For the chevron design, we made a stencil and traced the design with a scribe (a pin with a handle).  We used Nu-silver and painted on the design.  We did the same with the pink layer, but just painted the stripes with super pearl luster.

 

For the total silver baby tier, we painted it instead of airbrushed. To remove the brush strokes, just go over with a soft brush in a circular motion using a little more dust. For the silver dots we trimmed off the tip of a stiff paint brush so it was a dot stamp more or less.  We had to do more than stamp it, but it got the job done.  The peonies were purchased at Wholesale Sugar Flowers.  Last but not least, the pretty backdrop is from Ink and Elm.  I love their backdrops!

Mint Green and Lavender Wedding Cake

Last week you read about our Bender cake, well this is the wedding cake that went along with it.

I was so jazzed about the bride's choice of color's on this cake.  Our color palette here was a light mint green and lavender.

This was a great cake to remind me about how colors and icing can mess with you.  I had the perfect color of icing made up for the cake and even let the colored buttercream sit for a day for it to darken a tad.  Everything was just right... and then I iced the cake.  And the icing darkened... a lot actually.  I wound up giving the entire cake a heavy spray of pearl dust, which gave the cake a beautiful sheen and toned that color back down to where is should have been.

When will the Home Depot develop a color matching system for icing!?!

I did find another shot... thanks Jim!

Actually, one of the best features of this cake didn't make it into this photos, simply because they were made at the absolute zero hour.  I printed some dragonfly wings on wafer paper and used them to make little edible dragonflies.  They really were cute - if I get one of the shot s from the wedding, I'll come back and include it here.

Sugar Dress Pink Lace Cake

I have tried so many lace making products that I almost gave up.  When SugarVeil came out, I thought it was cool but all the mats were kind of tacky (just my opinion). It really did take a while for some better mats to be developed but they are expensive.  I have used SugarVeil in a piping bag so that I could pipe onto parchment with a complicated pattern underneath.  Once dried, I could pick it up and adhere it to the cake.   I can be a real chicken when piping black icing on a white cake!  The thing I don't like about SugarVeil is that it takes a while to dry and it dries out very quickly.  Keep your finished pieces wrapped well in cling wrap or it will be very brittle and fall apart. 

When I saw a video on Icing Inspirations about their new product, Dab, I bought six!  It looked so easy, is ready immediately and they said it stayed flexible.  I tried so many times but I could not get the STUFF to cooperate.  It is really hard on your hands! I still don't know how to make that product work.

Now I have found Sugar Dress.  It is easy to mix, I've even done it by hand. You can speed the process in the oven and it stays flexible for a long time. It is also very strong so when you take it out of the molds it stays in one piece.  It's a little pricey, but so are the two mentioned above.  You can find it on Amazon, so that is good for Amazon Prime members because free shipping!

The mat from this cake was purchased from All About Cake Art.  "Virginia" is the name of the mat and it's $48.50

They have some pretty ones.  I've also found several mats on Etsy that are much cheaper but don't always come in the sizes promised so read the reviews. 
https://www.etsy.com/shop/GLOBALPAFMOLDS
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RomanticCraft

Stencilled Buttercream Cake

There is a private girls school in Chattanooga, Girls Prepatory School or GPS, and we have been making the rounds there lately.  We were asked to make a cake for a "Chapel Talk" event.  A senior student is asked to give a talk, during chapel (seeing a theme?) and then host a little tea party kind of event.  We were given colors of Navy and pink and we came up with this cake.  What is funny about it to me, is that the design would have worked when I was in high school, many years ago.  Preppy has not gone out of style since the 80's.  Polo shirts, pearls, bows in your hair and monograms have always been in style in our town.  Is that just a Southern thing?   Perhaps, but I think we will check back in ten years from now and see if it's still "in".  Maybe moon boots and hoverboards will be in?

This was a very easy cake to make so I won't pretend otherwise, but I will give you a few helpful hints.  First, when you are using buttercream icing and then stenciling on top with more buttercream icing, cold is your best friend.  I made the oval plaque by applying the middle letter, chilling the plaque and repeating the process.  The boo boo here is that the top "F" is slightly thicker than the other two letters.  You "should" look at the thickness closely before removing the stencil otherwise you are stuck with the decoration or you have to start all over.  I guess my patience was short this day. :)
   

I did have a little problem with the bottom tier stencil, but this is a design that you can pipe a little to fix the blemishes.  Also, use Fondarific for your pearls.  It will chill up and hold the shape so the pearls don't get distorted when removing from the mold or applying to the cake.  Sometimes I will put the pearls on as I take them out and other times I have to wait so I will make a bunch, then chill and apply.  If you see a cake with distored pearls, the decorator either didn't use the right product or hurried the process too much.  You can use modeling chocolate also, but the Fondarific "wedding white" matches my all butter-buttercream perfectly.  I also add whitener and a drop of purple (to counter act the yellow) to the outside layer of buttercream to brighten it.  It's still not bright white.

Lastly, making the color navy is not as easy as you would think.  This is a great chart for coloring fondant, but I think it also applies to buttercream.  Please know that colored buttercream gets darker as it sits, so make it 24 hours in advance so you can see the final color.
 

Here is a coloring chart for royal icing, but again it's a good general chart

This is a good chart too, but no navy.  http://www.annaandblue.blogspot.com/2012/04/frost-by-numbers-how-to-make-frosting.html

And lastly, I found this to be so very interesting!  A chart on what happens to leftover colors when you add ivory or black.  Super good reading!  http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2012/04/my-ramblings-on-icing-color-and-some-easter-cookies/

I hope you get to make or receive a timeless cake this week! 

Items I used to create this cake: 

FMM Sugarcraft Ribbon Cutter & Stitcher
Fondarific Buttercream Wedding White Fondant
First Impressions Molds Silicone Mould - Pearls - 12 & 14 mm 

First Impressions Molds Silicone Mould - Pearls - 6, 8 & 10 mm
Designer Decorating Stencil, "Script Monogram" Size of Letters 2.25" 

1.25" Small Script Cake Stencil by Designer Stencils

Contemporary Lattice Cake Stencil Side by Designer Stencils

FULL DISCLOSURE:  As a member of the Amazon Affiliate program, I receive a small commission if you buy a product from the links on my blog.  I actually own the products I recommend and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Quatrefoil Wedding Cake

There are not a lot of really new cakes out there these days.   Occasionally I find cake goodies and I want to purchase them all!  This was the case when I found sugarartstudion.com.  Their pictures of gumpaste flowers make me want to make a flower half as pretty!  They are unbelievable!  Gumpaste spider chrysanthemums, really?... I mean really?!?  Just let those flowers inspire you and you will soon spend way too much money, unless of course you book the cake first and then buy the tools.  That's what we should do....

This little cake was made with the Ali quatrefoil cutter to make impressions on the bottom tier.  I really wish I could find a way to use these on buttercream cakes.  We were asked to make a simple display cake for one of our favorite venues, The Grandview on Lookout Mountain, Georgia.  They have a great cake room when you first come in the door of this beautiful old house.  The display cake is going to be there for all the brides that tour the facility as well as being there for a hopefully unneeded cake emergency.  That's one of the reasons I made the cake all white.  It should fit into anyone's decor, should any baker not arrive with the bride's cake.  

We used some garden roses from Cal-Java and the rest of the flowers came from wholesalesugarflowers.com.  I hope you like it and that we inspire you to give your favorite venue an emergency cake. 

Domed Wedding Cake with Lace Doilies

Sometimes we are lucky enough to have a bride that really has a vision. They know they want a cake to blend into all the reception decor as well as the venue. For this particular event the venue was the Tivoli Theater in Chattanooga, TN. There are dark red curtains, gold and silver fixtures and lots of pretty marble. The bride chose darker shades of orange and purple to accent her Fall wedding.

It is really a challenge to add a lot of color to a bridal cake while ensuring it doesn't look like a fancy birthday cake. A baker can add tons of tonal details and the cake rarely looks busy, but color really changes things.  The "easy" part of this cake was the bottom stencil and the drop strings. For the bottom tier we used the "princess lace" stencil from Designer Stencils. This is the largest design in the set.

My tip here is that we air brushed the gold while the stencil was still on and in place. We also cheated a little and used a little swag marker for all the drop strings. It keeps things so consistent and easy. The cake is all buttercream with a little fondant for accents.

There is a cake all over Pinterest that shows a beautiful cake with a domed top tier and the same lace doily design. When the bride presented me the picture, I thought "holy moly that is a lot of intricate piping!" and therefore a bunch of money. She was on a budget and I wanted to help. I got so lucky and found the the lace was all done with a SugarVeil mat and SugarVeil.

I found the same mat on Etsy for a lot less money that Sugar Veil was charging. It worked great! After I removed the lace, I dry brushed it with gold luster dust and immediately applied it to the dome. It really did cut down the work while still looking like we had done a lot of hand work. I was really happy with the final product and the Bride loved it too!

Art Deco / Gatsby Wedding Cake

This the other cake I made for the wedding photo shoot I was involved with a few weeks ago.  You see, when you have all these people together with their time invested, it really doesn't take that much more to get a second (or third) look and feel using mostly the same props.  The bride changes dresses and makeup, switch out the flowers, and voilà!  Different (looking) photo shoot!

One of the "looks" we were going for was a Great Gatsby / Art Deco wedding look.  I could have used the bird cage cake I made, but I had some extra time and I wanted to some great pictures of another cake for my portfolio as well.

I didn't really get to finish this cake like I wanted to, but I wasn't ashamed to bring it either.

I really liked the way the white stenciling over the gold tier turned out.  The tier being entirely gold was just too much!  Stenciling white over still left a very impactful statement. And I thought it went very well with Amanda's bridal bouquet, don't you?

My favorite part of this cake were the edible feathers we made!  What's that you say?  Edible Feathers??  Yep!  And they're actually easier than you would think to make them.

Drop back in next week and I'll have a tutorial ready for you on how you can make your own edible feathers.

Snowflake Winter Wedding

A snowflake theme always makes for an elegant winter wedding.  And it really sets that winter mood, even if you're in Georgia and it's 72 degrees!

Our bride wanted really delicate snowflakes, so I wound up piping almost all of them.  I used some octagon and hexagon cutters to make the tiniest impression on the buttercream.  I then used a #1 tip to freehand pipe a snowflake using the cutters shape to make sure that the final snowflake kept a (mostly) symmetrical shape.  I printed a page of snowflake clipart to use as inspiration.

I did make a dozen or so gumpaste snowflakes on wire that I added at the church's fellowship hall, and they did add a nice touch of dimension to the cake.

In one week we will be celebrating Christmas.  I hope you all have a very happy holiday.

Disney Inspired Princess Wedding

Have you tried stenciling on cakes?  What about on buttercream cakes?  Now, I'm talking about real-butter buttercream that firms up in the fridge.  I will sometimes put the cake in the freezer for a few minutes, but not too long or it will get condensation and that's a whole other problem. 

I have tried different systems for "attaching" the stencil, but they all seem to make bigger mark than if I just hold them gently with one had and apply some icing with the other.  Once you've got a little icing on, it pretty much holds the stencil in place.  Just be prepared to do some "clean up" with paint brush for bleed overs and such.  If you have a lot to stencil, you may need to put it back in the cooler  in between.  Also, plan to wash and dry your stencil each time.  I think stenciling is pretty and uniform looking and is relatively quick.  This stencil came from Designer Stencils.


There was a cake by Jim Smeal that my bride found this stencil/pattern on and fell in love.  I wish they let me recreate all the patterns he used  because I'm really over my buttercream diamond patterns! The couple was very into Disney and this has a  kind of glass carriage / tiara feel to it.  They also had me add several "hidden Mickey's" all over the cake and that was pretty fun.  The bride wanted a big border on the two blue tiers and since they were assorted size dots, it too ended up looking like a bunch of Mickey heads.  The couple also had a sweet Lenox China Minnie and Mickey topper that we added at the reception.  It was a little "cream" and I like the look of the white cake not mixed with a cream topper.  I SO wanted to put some flowers on this cake but it is pretty as is.  I'm just really just proud that I got to make a colored wedding cake this week!  Go daring brides, GO! 

Anemone Wedding Cake

There are times that I'd like to tell you exactly what I think of a cake but I don't because I'm afraid the bride may read it and get her feelings hurt. You never know who is reading these blogs! :)  In my experience your final cake design is usually a combination of the brides taste and your style as a decorator. Sometimes it's just someone else's design with some minor changes. That's the case here. I really like the original design, don't get me wrong. I wish I knew who did it because they deserve some major credit. What I don't like about this cake is the cream color and stark white contrasting flowers. It was much prettier in the original design where it was all white.

The base icing is the way my main icing comes out naturally. My "house" buttercream is a French buttercream and is made with whole eggs and butter that color the icing this light yellow color. When I first started making cakes, I thought I just had to deal with the color and most brides were fine with it because they did not want a Crisco icing. I've learned in the past few years to add a few drops of violet and it cancels out a lot of the yellow cast. Don't ask me how, it's just magic! I then add some white food coloring to the outer coats of icing. It gives the cakes a much whiter finish. I really dislike the yellow color now so maybe that's why I wasn't super happy with the final cake.

The design itself is super easy. I used a basic five petal gumpaste cutter to mark the flower outline all over the cake. If I freehand something like this, I start with one size and when I get back around the cake it's totally different. I used a #3 tip a piped the flowers a couple at a time since the cake was cold. You don't want them firming up before you have a chance to take the brush to it. You just take your brush and pull it inward. Easy squeezy! Of course the anemone flowers could have been easier, but I made it harder. I made all the pieces ahead of time, but didn't put two layers of petals together until the night before the event. They would not fit because they dried in different shapes. Luckily, I just had to recut the back set of petals. I also tried something with embroidery thread for the middles of the flowers but they looked like a fuzzy mess, so I went a different route. You should make your gumpaste flowers on the Monday before the wedding or earlier. You need to paint them way early to because you often break a few and they can get ruined with a bad paint job and you have to start over. Plan for the worst and hope for the best! When it's all done and I look back at a cake that I wish would have been different, I remember that the bride was happy and that was the ultimate goal.

Pearl Encrusted Wedding Cake

With this cake I think I may have beaten some sort of "most dragees on a cake" record.  This cake was designed using several inspiration photos the bride provided during our consultation.

I really liked the softness and texture that the various sized sugar pearls added to the design.  When it was finished it reminded me of a winter themed cake

Getting all those dragees on the cake was actually easier than I thought it would be.  I placed each tier on a smaller inverted cake pan, and then placed that smaller cake pan into a very large cake pan.  I would take a handful of mixed size dragees and apply them to the sides of the cake.  The ones that didn't catch would just collect in that larger cake pan for me to scoop up and use again!

One last thing that's not cake-related, but I wanted to ask for your help on...

Our friends Ayesha and Zach have been selected as finalists in the StiVectin "Power to Change" program.  If they win, they will use the grant money to overhaul an Airstream and make a mobile art station in Chattanooga, TN.  They have worked very hard on this project and it only takes a click to vote.  Just click the link below:

http://bit.ly/NCH2Yo

And then click the yellow "Vote for This" button.  Thanks for your help, and we'll see you back here next Tuesday!!

Peach Monogram Eyelet Wedding Cake

Are you other decorators out there getting lots of requests for peach and coral wedding cakes this season?  They must be popular colors, because almost every couple I meet with has one of those colors in their mind.

This couple wanted some touches of that peach color in their wedding cake, and they wanted that eyelet lace look also.  For this look, Fondarific made this cake possible.  It's my go-to fondant when I need to cut shapes out without worrying about it stretching or deforming.  But it still has to be pliable enough to wrap around a cake without cracking or getting elephant skin.

Any cake that also features mine and Chaddy's initials also holds a special place in my heart.  Sometimes I wish that I was doing cakes when Chad and I got married, but then again, how could I have ever chosen a design??

Super Bling Rhinestone Wedding Cake w/ Stand

2012 is continuing to bring in the bling, and I have to tell you, I really like it!  The more it sparkles, the bigger I smile!  I think there's just something about that sparkle, that brilliant jeweled fire that just catches a woman's eye and warms her heart!

With that being said, it's no wonder it's a popular design for wedding cakes.  In this cake we used rhinestones, as well as brooches and the topper that the bride provided to bring some extra pizazz and bling to this cake.  The rest of the cake we kept understated, with tone-on-tone bows, pearls, and fondant swags.

A few months ago I got a tremendous deal on some 24-row rhinestones from Bead & Trim.  I finally decide that they would malke for a beautiful cake stand!  So I called up my brother at My Woodworking Solutions and we set out to design a stand.  Luckily, he finished it just days before this cake was to be delivered .  I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but it really does sparkle!  It's like sitting your cake on top of a disco ball!  And it is designed really well also.  The stand as you see it is in 3 pieces; a top, the main middle bling piece, and the bottom.  Since the rhinestones are expensive this gives you the opportunity to use the stand with multiple (lower cost) tops and bottoms to get a variety of effects.  He came up with the idea and I really liked it!  I'm not sure if he offering this stand for sale, but if you're interested, hit him up on Etsy!

Pearl and Ribbon Flower Birthday Cake

There are a lot of cake people out there these days, but there are some that are stand out.  Sometimes it's for pure skill, like Mike McCarey from Mikes Amazing Cakes.  That man can make anything, and it's so clean!  Some artists stand out for their distinct style. Have you seen the Cotton and Crumbs cakes? They have a lot of pictures on flickr.com. All her cakes are very "romantic and soft" to me.  She does such a great job with her photography and backgrounds. 

We look at these people as pure inspiration to help us develop our own style, from cakes to print ads to photography.  It's a great undertaking and I don't think it can be done overnight.  Whatever you do, do you have a distinct style and feel to your work?  If it's important to you to project as certain style, then join me in this ongoing effort for 2012!

This little cake was a 6/9" for my friend Amanda who owns Divine Designs by Amanda.  She is an amazing floral designer as well as friend and mom to a super sweet girl.  She has a romantic but modern look/feel about her, that's my perception anyway so I wanted to make a cake that reflected that.   "Cotton and Crumbs" inspired the romantic part of this cake. 

The pearls were all made by using Fondarific that chills up well in the cooler so they keep their shape when you unmold them.  The flowers are super simple, just ruffle some gumpaste circles with a ball tool and dry in shallow drying cups.  There is a little half circle measure cup that comes with the new Purex laundry softener.  I used it to form a few "cups" in pieces of aluminum foil.  It's a good way to make as many drying cups as you need then throw them away when you are done.  I attached the circles together with a little tylose glue and poof you have a circle flower. 

Happy baking!

Glitter Monogram Wedding

This is one of those cakes where I curse at my lack of photography skills.  This cake was SO pretty and elegant, but the picture just don't do it justice.  Let's start with the bottom tier!

I have had lots of requests lately for pleated fabric look swags, and I am finally getting the hang of them.  The bow and brooch matched the bride's dress.  I really like it when I can incorporate elements from the dress into the cake.

The next tier up looks plain in the picture, but if you click and get a bigger look, you might be able to tell that the whole tier was done in a tone-on-tone hounds tooth pattern.  The bride was a big Alabama fan and we thought this would be a great way to present that element elegantly on her cake.  I used a stencil on the cake and the effect was really nice, but not so much in the pictures!

The next tier up is just fondant stripes.  Not much to see here ;-)

The top tier I was the most proud of.  The bride wanted a glitter monogram.  I again used a buttercream stencil to make the initial monogram and then with the stencil still on, I sprinkled on the glitter dust.  If you can tell in the close-up picture, the glitter did run a little, but the effect was really awesome.

Much more awesome than this picture would lead you to believe  huff! :(

Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity Cake

When I met with this couple, the groom was quite certain that he wanted his fraternity featured on his groom's cake.  He showed me a picture of this fraternity pin, and my mind started churning.  Chaddy started the process by finding a graphic and blowing it up to my particular proportions.  I used that to carve out the heart shape from a square cake.  We cut the letters and the insignia using the Cricut.  I had Chaddy roll the modeling chocolate super thin because I didn't want them to stick up too much from the black.

Original Inspiration pin

The surrounding pearls are very import to the fraternity.  There must be 20 pearls surrounding the heart and my Googling skills inform me that it represents the 12 founding members of the fraternity as well as the first 8 pledges.  I carved an indention around the cake before I covered it with fondant.  This gave the gigantic pearls a nice resting place and kept them where I wanted them.  I used a cookie dough scoop to scoop out Fonderific so that each pearl would be the same size. I rolled them out and gave them a good dusting of super pearl with the airbrush.

I decided to expand the pearl motif and cover the cake board with dragees.  It gave it a nice, finished look.

I hope you had a safe and fun Halloween and I hope you have a great week!!

UPDATE: As the fates would have it, I just found out that Sigma Phi Epsilon was founded 110 years ago TODAY!  Happy Birthday guys!!  You don't look a day over 80!! ;-)