Monday 11 April 2011

Celebratory March




The First weekend in March was a very special one - not because I had some stunning cakes to create- but it was my Wedding anniversary too!
I sent cakes all over that weekend.
The first to leave was a Two tier cake headed up to Mt Mee. 
 
This cake had Sugar Grape and vine detail- with the addition of a Willow Tree 'Promise' topper once at the venue.
The weather in the week leading up to the weekend was pretty dismal- allot of rain about (once again) and getting sugar to dry was in the capable hands of my trusty Dry Air Con :)

I also sent another cake up to Glengariff that weekend.
This one was a Palette royal icing finish cake- with sugar roses and leaves covering the top and circling the base of the top tier. 


The roses were eventually finished with lightly dusted lilac centres.  

My Biased love of all things monochromatic meant that I forgot to get a good picture of the cake actually finished- whoops! But the very light dusting was pretty indeed!

Sometimes (well actually allot) I worry whether a cake design will work or not. When designing cakes I can visualise what I want them to look like- and then when it comes to the crunch of actually putting them together- often doubt likes to creep in- making me second guess my original idea.

This next cake gave me that exact pitted feeling. I had done this same design in all White before- and whilst I could visualise how striking having bold colour would be- I was dancing around like a scaredy cat when it came time to "actually" dust up the flowers LOL!
So I took a deep breath- and went for it!

And it turned out WICKED!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved this so very much that I think I may even like it "more" than the all white version :-O

I think that the colour actually made the "playfulness" of the rolled roses stand out- whilst still being stylish and elegant!
Yep I L.O.V.E it!

It seems that touches of colour were definitely on the agenda that weekend.
This classy two tier cake with to tier 1/2 turned too had its roses dusted a pinky purple colour. 

I had a Chocolate Creation for an engagement that weekend too.
Strangely enough the first time I ever recreated this cake design  was in march a few years back- and once again it pops up in the same month.

This cake is a double stacked cake inside- with fresh white flowers spilling over the top.  


On the Sunday morning I headed over to the Landing to set up a pretty Rose Sparkle cupcake tower.
I also bumped into Linda from the Party Girls- who had chair sashes the EXACT same colour as the cake ribbon! What a match!



 The final cake for Sunday was for Baby Tommy's Christening.
A cute Single tier White chocolate Bailey's cake complete with a Bunny figurine and name blocks- adorable!

This was a freestyle design- which is great to be able to do- but so nerve wracking too! Suffice to say it was very well received :)

 This past month has been a beautiful blur of fantastic cakes! I cannot wait to share more with you......... but for those of you too impatient to wait- please feel free to check out my Facebook page and Twitter!

Have a fantastic Week ahead.. I once again have some uber cool cakes to create thanks to my awesome clients ordering them :)

Thanks for reading
SJ

Sunday 3 April 2011

Farewell February..............


 
Seriously- it is April already- 2011 is 1/3 way through :)

The Last week in February was a fabulous eclectic mix of cakes once again.
I had the pleasure of Making Casey and Catherine's Engagement cake.I always relish the opportunity to make a couples engagement- as quite often I don't get the chance to help out. Usually engagement cakes have such short lead times that I am unable to fit a cake into my already full schedule :(
So when I do get the chance I LOVE it to pieces!


The Fabulous Sharon ( the couples Mum/MIL) came and organised the cake for the newly engaged couple. To say she was just lovely is an understatement. So happy, vibrant and enthusiastic to make the celebration as joyful as possible.
As Casey and Catherine had Cherry blossom invitations- we carried that theme through to the top tier of a cupcake tower.  


Keeping the rest of the cupcakes simple and pretty! 


 I was lucky enough to have not one but Two engagement cakes for that weekend.
The next was a PINK Mad hatter! 


It was all about Love with this colour scheme :)



The fun cakes didn't stop here though.
I had a three tier Luggage stack wedding cake.
Keeping the cake predominantly neutral- with a hint of the wedding colour in the tags.


Karen from Bliss Floral- provided  a gorgeous topper of mini gerberas and roses to finish the cake off. 



Just this week I received a beautiful thank you email from Collen and Dave:

"Hi Sarah-Jane
 
Somewhat late but just wanted to drop a note to say thank you very much for the cake you made for our wedding day - almost traditional in style but with a fun twist!.  You did a great job and it reflected us perfectly.  It has got lots of positive comments both on the day and when people see the photos. 
 
Thanks again
Colleen & Dave"
 
So very lovely to hear back from my clients!

I also had another client in common with Karen.

Michelle and Damien were married on the last Friday in February.
They chose a three tier cake with a heart piping detail on the middle tier.  

 
 They had sourced a silver intertwining heart cake topper to match in with the piping detail.

After having ALL of my display cakes destroyed in the January rainy weather- I began replacing some of them.
Trying to replace 15 or so display cakes is a very time consuming process. With regular orders taking priority- it seems to be a LONG process getting to replacing them.

With a Photo shoot and open day at The Landing coming up- it never hurts to have a deadline to set things in motion :)

I took a twist on my popular Mummy cake- reinventing a three tier Extended height design that once graced the shelves.  

 

Sadly though this cake was melted (again!!!) in the rain last week- seriously- if electricity wasn't so expensive I would air condition my consult room in a heart beat- and given that the space in my cake storage room is limited at the best of times- the display cakes take a back seat when it comes to keeping them temperature controlled.

I also redid the black and ivory spot cake- replacing the flat bow with a tied black bow.  

 
This too has since succumbed to the damp weather- and is awaiting replacement.... bring on winter and the cool dry weather :)

Lastly I made a Cupcake tower for the Landing's open evening.
Latte is such a hot colour at the moment- so I made Vanilla Latte cupcakes with a gorgeous white blossom-
  
topped off with a Latte coloured fondant top tier- and personalised couple!
Too cute!


This cupcake tower held 30 cupcakes- put together with the top tier and you have a fabulous display for an intimate wedding!

Well- the next blog will be all about March- some sensational cakes to share with you all soon!
Thanks for reading
SJ