I don't know about you, but I absolutely love planning birthday parties! Especially themed parties! And of course, my favorite part is designing the cake! I love to hear all the ooh's and ahh's as people gather around the cake....followed by the "mmmm's" of course! A cleverly decorated cake is the perfect centerpiece to any party theme. I just had to share with you this ninja lego cake I created recently for a client's birthday. I can only imagine what it looked like in it's party setting; complete with table skirts, plates, balloons, and other fun decorations!
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Icings, ahh that sweet fluffy goodness on top of a moist slice of cake! There are actually many different types of icings, but today let's talk about the most common icings that we use.
Buttercream - Good old fashioned buttercream! Everyone loves it! It's light and sweet and full of flavor and goes well with any type of cake. If you are having a chocolate cake we add a little cocoa and you have Chocolate Buttercream! If you want a flavored icing we can add a little flavor of our choosing and create that custom icing for you. Maybe you want an amaretto buttercream or almond buttercream! Just one minor ingredient change and your icing is customized just for you! Buttercream is our standard go to icing. It's thick enough that it holds well on a cake, but still thin enough that you can pipe beautiful designs on the cake. As far as decorating goes, you have so many options. Your only limit with buttercream decoration is sculpted or 3D cakes and images. Another thing to remember for your outside events, the main ingredient in buttercream is...butter! So if the weather is particularly warm buttercream will droop, get soggy, or even melt. Cream Cheese - A little lighter than your traditional buttercream and not as sweet, but more smooth. A cream cheese icing is great for cakes like Red Velvet or a Banana Foster. It gives cakes full of flavor a little sweet touch to it. Fondant - A marshmellow based icing that is doughy. While in an air tight container it is soft. It is then rolled out and placed over the entire cake. As it dries it gets firm. Depending on your flavor palette, you may or may not like fondant and it's typical a texture thing for guests who don't enjoy fondant. The good news about fondant is that what buttercream is the glue that holds fondant onto a cake. So, for those that don't care for fondant there is a lovely layer of buttercream underneath. They can peel it right off and enjoy their cake! Fondant is good for cakes with many sculpted shapes or elements to the cake. Or maybe the cake itself is sculpted. Since fondant is a firm icing, it must be used on some types of cakes. While fondant does hold up a little better in the outdoor elements, it will crack or discolor in direct sunlight or heat. And also, there is buttercream underneath. If you have questions about what type of icing you should use for your cake, we can always discuss that at our consultation. Or, just give me a call! One important question to ask a baker is "How many wedding cakes do you take per weekend?" And that number will vary between bakers depending on their skill set, specialty, and staff size. And that number may even vary for the baker herself. Here is my short answer...4. On a standard weekend I will take 4 weddings. Why 4? Because through experience that is about the maximum amount of weddings I can comfortably take without feeling like I'm having to substitute quality for quantity. I want to be able I can give each tier the attention and detail it deserves. However, this number will also vary based on the cakes themselves. If I have several very large cakes or cakes with a lot of detail, such as sugar flowers or fondant then I will often limit those weekends to 3 weddings because those cakes will take longer to decorate. Or, on the flip side if all my weddings are small with less time consuming designs then I can sometimes take on 5 weddings comfortably. Don't feel uncomfortable asking your bakers about this. It's always best to get a good understanding of how your baker runs her kitchen! In celebration of Halloween, I thought it would be appropriate to write about one of my favorite Halloween themed wedding cakes! Themed weddings usually go one of two ways...fun and unique or tacky. I made this cake a few years ago and I LOVED the way they decorated their wedding. I really wish I could have taken pictures of all their decor to show you because it really was amazing. But, since I didn't, let's just talk about the cake.
This wedding was a small, intimate affair at their home. The wedding colors were black and white with a pop of red. For the cake, they chose a simple smooth cake with a black silk and lace ribbon border. Black lace was the main fabric of choice for their celebration, so it was the perfect way to tie it onto the cake. Add little rhinestone center for a little shimmer and some red carnations for that pop. The main decor throughout was black lace, candles, pop of reds, and skeletons (but not gross or overly done). They tied that into their cake table with a fun and quirky cake topper. And holding their cake servers were two skeleton hands. And the black toasting goblets gave it an extra dramatic effect. If you're planning a Halloween or other holiday/themed wedding, let's talk. We can come up with some creative and fun cake designs for your wedding! Happy Halloween!! I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this cake! I just love everything about it! Alyssa and David married at Pecan Springs Ranch on a gorgeous fall day. This indoor/outdoor venue was the perfect setting for their celebration. With the setting being very natural...acres of trees, wildflowers, and a flowing creek it was only fitting that they choose a cake just as organic as the scenery.
Alyssa chose a design I like to call my horizontal textured design. I love this pattern because it's classic and versatile. By making minor changes in adornments, this cake can transform into multiple looks and themes. To tie the design in with her theme she circled each tier of her cake with some fresh greenery. And for a pop of color, a little lavender. Not only did the cake look divine, but that lavender made it smell heavenly. And the taste was even better! Her melt-in-your mouth French Vanilla cake with Cream Cheese filling is a light and flavorful dessert to kick off the rest of the celebration! I just realized it's been a few weeks since my last post. Goodness how time gets away from me. I recently attended the Wedding MBA in Las Vegas! At this 3 day convention I learned so much about different resources to improve our business, better communicate with brides, and various new products too! But I had the most fun learning about upcoming trends and thought I would pass them onto you. Have you considered any of these for your wedding cake?
Ahhh...custom cakes! We've all been at the bakeries and flipped through their book of cake selections, find the one that fits our theme (usually titled something like A17), mark it on the order form along with a little check next to chocolate or vanilla, write out a short message (or not), and pick up the cake a few days later. But now that's not a custom cake. So, what is!
A custom cake is a lot more fun! It's just that...custom! Meaning anything you dream up can be created into an edible work of art...within reason, of course. What is involved in a custom cake? Let me share with you how we work with clients to help them create a one of a kind cake! First things first...flavor! The yummy part! We offer a large variety of flavors and fillings. And, you can custom build your own taste. We don't pre-choose fillings to go with the flavors...that's the custom part. If you want a vanilla cake with raspberry filling then go for it, or maybe a lemon, or maybe go crazy and choose an Italian Cream cake with a Bailey's Chocolate Mousse filling. FYI...done it several times and it's unique and fabulous! Definitely not something to be expected. Once we've got your flavor decided then we can start building. We start with your guest count and the size of cake you had in mind. Followed by shape. Then, we create! We discuss theme, colors, etc. If you are having a Cinco De Mayo party then let's run with it and design a cake with that inspiration. Maybe you like bling, then let's bedazzle the cake. Are you planning an event that is covered in vintage lace...we can create a cake with a beautiful sugar lace that is tasty as well as gorgeous. Custom cakes are those special, one of a kind cakes, that are made specifically for you and your event. Personalized with your ideas in mind. Let's have fun and create together! It's almost time for the Austin Bridal Extravaganza. If you haven't attended a show yet, make sure you attend this Sunday. The show will be at the Austin Convention Center from noon to 5:00 pm.
The Austin Bridal Extravaganza is a great way to meet vendors for your wedding, sample their product, learn about their pricing/business, and compare vendors side by side. Here are a few tips to successfully attend the Bridal Extravaganza.
Budget...ewww...that dirty word that nobody wants to think about. Especially when planning the most beautiful day of your life! Most brides want all the bells and whistles and extravagant details...but unfortunately, those come with a price.
One of the first questions asked at our consultations is "what is your cake budget?" I would say a solid 90% of the time I'm met with a deer in the headlight look followed by, "we just want something nice, but not break the bank." Ok...great...what does that mean? Most couples do not talk about a budget in advance and let me say this...you are sabotaging your consultations. A itemized budget should be the very first thing you and groom-to-be do prior to sending one email or calling a single vendor. Why? Because they can't help you otherwise. When couples visit us without a budget we have no way to gauge or direct them as far at their expectations for their wedding. Rather we go through the motions. We find out exactly what they want...their dream wedding cake. Go over their dream flavor and size...which may or may not be realistic for their needs or pocketbook. Then comes the quote. Dun dun dun. Sticker shock overwhelms the couple to which they "need to think about it" go home disappointed and I never hear from them again. Let's back up now. Same couple walks in and gives me their realistic budget. I say realistic because, of course we would love to pay $200 for an elegant Peach Chiffon cake that serves 150 guests, but well...our ingredients cost more than that. So, the couples comes in with their budget. We discuss their dream flavors, dream design, and size. We match it with their budget. If it all fits...excellent! If we are a bit over budget, we can talk and discuss and I can give the couple ways to change their cake and still make it beautiful and something they would love without spending more then they have allotted to spend. Now...we are working together to get the couple what they want for what they can afford! It's a win win for everybody! And if I may give one more suggestion; when making your budget add an "overage" item. Make it small, just a few hundred dollars give or take. This is an item in your budget for something that you just love, but underestimated the cost. This way if you really really love something, but it is over your budget a little you have an extra cushion in your budget to afford that extra special thing (or two or three if they are smaller items). This also allows money in your budget for those last minute, "oops...forgot I needed that!" I love lace on a wedding cake! It's soft and elegant and very versatile. Not to mention timeless! Lace fits many wedding themes from traditional to vintage to shabby chic. The lace is made from a thin strip of sugar and can be customized. And it's quite tasty too! There are many different patterns and colors and the sugar strip can even be cut down to cover as much or as little of the cake as you would like. You can even adorn cupcakes with cake lace if you are choosing cupcakes over a traditional stacked cake. Cake lace can be put on both fondant and buttercream, although I personally love a buttercream cake! Just another way you can create a wedding cake unique and personal to you!
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AuthorKayla grew up in the wedding industry and has grown to love all things wedding. Please enjoy reading her thoughts and experiences as she continues to walk in family tradition. Archives
July 2020
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