I was excited by the beautiful and unusual color combinations, it’s easy to design a cake with such a great inspiration piece.

For fun we added matching cupcakes which Rania displayed on these Tiffany Blue stands.

Rania definitely has an alternate career as a party stylist if she wants one but in fact she’s a nutritionist awaiting the publication of her first book, The 1:1:1 Diet (Rodale, 2013)

Check out her website: Essential Nutrition For You

She even had personalized labels made for the water bottles and chocolate bars. Invitation and label designs are by Katiedid Designs, find her Etsy shop on katiedidcards.com

I’m simply in love with these  photos from Studio Christy, professional photos make everything look better, don’t you agree?

Flavors include sugar cookie, gingerbread and chocolate peppermint, can you guess which is which?

I’m offering these for $24 per dozen thru December 24th.  Order via Paypal below, your order will be ready for pick up in 3 days (please contact me for orders larger than 4 dozen, I may need a few extra days notice).

Pick up at Clarke’s Restaurant, 455 2nd St., Lake Oswego, OR 97034 or contact me regarding delivery.

The Cake that looks like a Pie!

Perfect for Thanksgiving tables, I am offering this fun, showstopper cake centerpiece for $75, pick up at Clarke’s Restaurant.

The cake flavor is (no surprise) my seasonal Pumpkin Chai spice cake filled and frosted  in a salted caramel brown butter buttercream, yum!  A fondant crust adorns one end and a swirl of buttercream mimics the cream on top -

Serves 12-18 guests, approximately 11″ in length.

Please note -

Thanksgiving orders must be in by the 17th with pick up on the 21st between 10 am-8pm (I am not open on Thanksgiving, sorry).

Order now via Paypal or email me with any questions!

The cake was decorated with small and large white chocolate pearls in a variation of a classic Swiss Dot pattern and delivered to the Treasury Ballroom in Portland where I added fresh flowers (by DK Florals) in citrusy lime and cream tones.

Kelly and Matt chose White Chocolate and Dark Chocolate-Raspberry combinations for two of the tiers and Tuxedo,  alternating vanilla and chocolate cake with Bailey’s buttercream and chocolate ganache fillings, for the other two tiers.

Kelly was so sweet when she wrote how she loved the cake -

…everyone LOVED the cake. It was so beautiful and super delicious. It really was better than I had ever hoped for! Your design was exactly what I wanted and more! The funny thing is I thought we were going to have a ton of cake left over, but it was all gone! It was amazing!!! People are still telling me it’s the best cake they’ve every had at a wedding! They were eating 2, 3 pieces! I really can’t say enough what an amazing job you did! Thank you so much for making the cake of my dreams!

Monogram Cake Pop Tower

Saturday I delivered this cake pop tower to a wedding reception at a beautiful Portland residence overlooking the Columbia River.

This display was intended for the kids at the wedding, so it was only appropriate to have a few kids approve the flavors at the tasting. Those that made the cut were birthday cake, a type of funfetti flecked yellow cake, Chai Spice, and kid favorite cookies ‘n cream.   Bright colors of hot pink, lime and purple were chosen and the bride and groom’s initials were piped onto each pop.

A bride and groom cake pop couple adorn the top tier, too cute!

I used my newest cupcake/cake pop stand which is the perfect height for these upside-down pops.

More info on ordering cake pops here.

Perfect for wedding cupcakes or other celebrations, this stand is four tiers: 11″, 15″, 19″, and 23″  and holds up to 152 cupcakes.  Additional cupcakes can be displayed around the base of the stand on the table.

Colored ribbon can be added around each tier if desired.

The stand rents for $45 per 5 days with a $150 security deposit.

See more stands for rent here: Rentals

When I first met with Chris and Sada my first reaction was whoa, this couple is madly in love.  At our consult they laughed and were all over each other (in a good way : ) -  by the end of it I wanted to do whatever they asked, their enthusiasm was THAT infectious.  Chris had initially asked about cake balls/pops for their wedding reception, I think we were both surprised when we heard that Sada’s vision for this was BASEBALL sized cake balls.  I thought well, this will be absolutely unique if I can pull it off.

The other zany and fun request was that we put a ball and chain cake ball on the topper cake that was to sit at the top of the cake ball display tower.  Then, they wanted to put stick figure popsicle sticks of themselves on the cake as well.  Well, I envisioned actual stick figures so I can’t tell you how surprised I was to get to the reception and find these waiting for me…

Chris & Sada

I think this wedding was such a great example of doing something that is so uniquely you.  I love it when things turn out to so represent the couple with all their quirks, a great memory of a fabulous day.

Details, details… the cake ball flavors were raspberry brownie, lemon, and carrot cake.  Decorations were crispy white chocolate pearls, purple sparkling sugar, and scrolls.

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Not your typical baby shower cake.

Note to self:  Why oh why did you take the picture with a dark background? (smacking head sound)

A Basically Beautiful Cake in Fondant

Tip #1:  Basic can be beautiful.
Ok, this has been said before, probably because it is true.  You don’t have to spend a lot to get a beautiful wedding cake.  Share your budget with your baker, they have the experience to guide you to a solution.  There are always options – maybe that fondant cake can be rendered, with a few tweaks, into a lower cost buttercream cake, or perhaps you can have your dream cake in a smaller size and supplement servings with a kitchen cake or cupcakes purchased from your baker.  Keep in mind, however, that a cake with minimal decorations must be perfect to look good, ie. level and smooth, so hiring an experienced person is key, especially with a “simple” cake!

Tip #2:  Communication is the thing!
Find a baker you have a rapport with and listen. They know what they are good at, a wedding cake is not the occasion to push someone out of their comfort zone.  Don’t, for example, go to a baker who specializes in fondant and expect them to do a great job on the all-buttercream cake you want…or expect someone with little experience in carving cakes to be able to produce that groom’s cake in the shape of a helicopter.

A Simply Beautiful Buttercream Cake

Tip #3:  Be prepared with information;  Information is power!
Treat your cake consultation like the business meeting it is and come prepared with pictures of cakes that you like, color swatches, venue/coordination information, invitation designs, dress details – anything and everything that is relevant to the purpose of the meeting, which is to find the cake for your wedding. How and when will the cake be served? Will it be plated and served to guests as the dessert or served later in the evening (less cake needed), will it be placed on a buffet table for guests to help themselves?

Tip #4: Do not bring more people to the wedding cake tasting than necessary -
Yes it’s a fun occasion but you don’t need to invite your whole wedding party.  It’s a huge distraction from the task at hand. Seriously, I’ve  had a bride break down in tears from too many opinions.  Too many opinions makes decision-making harder, not easier.

Tip #5:  Consider your location
Yes an outdoor location is beautiful but not for your cake!  Even a fondant cake can start to melt and slide in very hot temps (95 F. plus), buttercream has an even lower melting point (if made with real butter that is).  Bugs love sweet things too   If possible it is a good idea to have an indoor location for the cake.  If not possible choose a shaded location and have the baker deliver as close to serving time as possible and plan on taking your pictures with the cake and cutting it soon after delivery if it’s a hot day.

Stay tuned for more tips!

Art Deco Wedding Cake

The entire cake was specialty flavor Tiramisu – an Italian sponge cake soaked in Illy espresso, Myer’s Dark Rum and Marsala, filled with a Mascarpone cheese custard and grated Callebaut chocolate.  For the kids and lactose-intolerant guests, Rachel ordered a dozen dairy-free cupcakes in lemon meringue.