Just Divine!

 It's no secret that I send cakes far and wide. If my clients are happy to transport the cakes (or have them transported), and also weigh up any risks involved,  then I am most willing to box them up and ship them onto their destination.

This week in April saw a gorgeous variation of the Four Mummy Design head off to Agnes Waters.

Pretty Pink sugar rose petals dotted across the cake- with the wrapped icing finish looking soft and feminine. 

 Every time I make one of these "Mummy" cakes it reminds me of how far I have come. This design was originally inspired over 6 years ago when I was invited to display cakes at a season launch for Bridal Couture. Roz La Klein had a gown in her collection that had all these layers of Fabric- which I thought could be a bit different and a bit contemporary in a cake- I honestly thought that it would never be chosen- admired yes- but having a couple brave enough to choose something this was well outside my greatest expectations.

To my surprise This cake has been admired and chosen on many occasions- with many couples adding their own twist on the design to truly make it their own.

The Next cake is yet again a slight variation on one I have had the pleasure of creating a few times now. I am not sure who to credit this original design to, as TBH it was in many cake magazines by various designers- but this one was my handy work- with pretty piped detail following the line of the draping down and around the cake.

 The sugar roses had soft lilac centers to match in with the wedding colour theme.

Using Invitation patterns or Bridal fabric is a fabulous was to incorporate your cakes detail into your theme.

This next cake was for Hillstone- and whilst it has a contemporary twist- it is a design that should last the test of time.

 The detailed pipe work on the walls of the tiers was inspired by the Bride's Gowns lace and embroidery patterning.

 Once at the venue Karen from Bliss Floral topped the cake with a sensation poesy of Roses Tulips and Freesias! Pretty Elegant and Classy all rolled into one :)

The YUM factor cake of the week would most definitely have to go to this Three tier chocolate ganache cake.

 Please excuse my mediocre photography with this one- in real life it looked totally Lickable! The combination of the smell of the Whipped dark chocolate ganache and the Sweet avalanche roses would have sent anyone in viewing distance into sensory overload!

Quite often when I meet with my clients they ask "What do other couples choose?"  There is no straight answer for this. Each couple chooses a design that fits their event, and because the clients before you may have chosen an all White traditional design- doesn't mean that your wicked chocolate creation or novelty cake design isn't right for you :)

I love it when clients go out on a limb and incorporate their personalities into a cake, and IF they like I can help them design a cake that keeps the individuality either subtle or bold!

The next couple chose a Mad Hatter design- with an elegant edge!

 Having the black and white theme made keeping this fun cake all about class allot easier.

The simple line designs and names across the top tier worked beautifully!

A Cute cartoon couple stood proudly on top :)

I must sound like a broken record when I harp on about how much I value my repeat clients- I really honestly do!

I have been blessed to make a few cakes for Pat and her girls and Grandchildren now. She is such a pleasure to deal with- that it was a no brainer to say YES YES YES- when she asked if I could make Emma's Baby shower cupcakes!

It was way back in 2007 when I made Emma's wedding cake- so it was my utmost pleasure to create some cute baby cupcakes for her!  

Please excuse the side on piccie- my bad LOL!

The next cake is a gorgeous fresh flowers stack cake for Parliament house.

Deep red Colombian roses filled in between the layers. 

Once again- with my limited photography skills- I was unable to pick up the lace stencil detail on the tiers. It was pretty though- trust me  :)

The next cake has been my phones wallpaper since I delivered it, because I Love it so much!

The cake was beautiful- the Bride was Beautiful inside and out- what more could you want from your job??

Pretty cut blossom. crystal and piping detail rained down from the top tier to the base- just like the bodice work on Caroline's Bridal gown. 

 The Wedding flowers were created by Sandee from Always Fabulous Flowers, and like Always they were simply fabulous!

Held in the Rosewood room at Hillstone- the entire room was the epitome of a Classic Elegant wedding. You could stare and admire the set up all day long.

The cake sat on one of my Silver ornate cake stands- which gave the four tier cake that extra edge of Grandeur.

A week of absolutely Fabulous cakes that made me smile! I hope you enjoyed them too!

Thanks for Reading

SJ

Slowly but Surely

Well it has certainly been a while..........and when I did get around to finding time to write this blog- the blogging dashboard was broken :(( But all seems to be working now- and I can get on with the job.

Well- way back in March I had a week that had me making some truly beautiful cakes. Challenging designs that were slightly different from my usual Wedding fare.

First up was a cake for a Thursday wedding. I have been blessed to have created Wedding cakes for each and every weekday- so an early start is no worries at all.

This cake was orgainised entirely over the phone/email.

An Elegant Black and white design with a touch of Bling.

I actually bumped into the Bride and her Bridesmaids in the hotel Lobby when I came to deliver the cake. They were all just about to head off to the ceremony :)
It is such a wonderful feeling to see a Bride on her wedding day- makes me smile really BIG :)

The Friday was a jam packed day! First off I had the Team from Ben and Jerrys Australia coming to Cake That! Headquarters to deliver 50 pints of Ice cream!! What for you ask????- well I had won the ice cream through one of their Facebook promo's. So my humble office of 1 was filled with delicious Ice cream. I never win anything :)

Suffice to say I did NOT eat all 50 tubs- but shared the wealth with the family and friends who are always there to help out and support everything that is Cake That!

So with a freezer stacked to the brim with Ice cream- I headed off on Friday Afternoon to deliver a Very Special 21st birthday cake.


Purple and Black themed- with a White disco Glitter 21 on top- Sparkly as!

As far as Saturday's go- this one was pretty hectic.
First up I had one of my past grooms coming to collect a Surprise 30th Birthday cake for his wife.
Now this is one very cool cake- organised by one very awesome husband. It is no Urban myth that some husband's are just really well orgainised- I get to see the best of them when they do fabulous surprised like this!
For a very long time Kathleen had been saying how she would love an elephant cake for her 30th Birthday. Those subtle hints paid off when Peter organised a gorgeous (IMO) cake for his wife's intimate birthday celebration.

The party was a small gathering- so there was no need for a mammoth cake. Despite its size it certainly had impact. Peter was open to my ideas of working around a Bollywood colour theme- incorporating the henna-like patterning in the feature 30 on the front. I brushed the cake from a pink/purple through to a pearl orange! LOVE LOVE LOVE!


Now the Elephant was one of those challenges you grab with both hands and simply go for it!
I had him standing on top with a mini Kathleen riding him- too cute for words :)



Riding in bare feet with painted toenails- I could have gone nuts with the details!
A very memorable start to the year for sure!

I had another Birthday cake also for that Saturday.
A Panda! Now this panda became one fat panda- but in a cute way.

Like he had munched a bit too much on delicious Bamboo- but he looked happy as!
This cake was also for a surprise for a birthday Lady who LOVED Panda's. Such a lovely job being able to make people smile with cake.

The cuteness didn't stop there- I had a Cupcake tower to set up and deliver to Brett's Wharf that afternoon.
So the wedding cake is meant to be all about the Newlyweds and a Symbolism of their love and commitment to one another.
However- on this cake a certain little family member may just have stolen the show.

As well as the gorgeous bride and groom perched on the top tier- was their two pet dogs!

So cute. One was a Kelpie?- the other was a Jack Russel- now his sugar mini me was adorable!


The couple let the cupcakes speak for themselves and had the top tier as the feature.


I received such lovely feedback from the couple- so wonderful to hear and such a pleasure to be apart of!

The last cake of the weekend was for a wedding at Custom's House.

This Three tier Chocolate creation with Fresh roses in the channels and top was elegant and irresistible all at the same time

Ordering roses that had the correct size heads was the make or beak of this design. With only a small channel around each tier meant that roses that were too large would mean that they wouldn't sit correctly- but once again my wholesaler came through and delivered me simply perfect blooms!

I recently received a lovely Thank You form Karly and Eugene in regards to their cake :

"Good afternoon Sarah-Jane, I just thought I'd send you a very belated thank you for creating the perfect cake for Eugene and I's wedding on 13th March 2011. It worked out exactly how I imagined it and it tasted sensational."

Thank you Karly! Hearing feedback form my clients is never to late :)

So that was was back when- it was still lovely and warm ;-P

Thanks for reading
SJ

Fast February..............

Honestly- where did that month go?

Here are a few faves from the first couple of weeks in February:
First up was a cupcake tower- that had a single Sunflower petal on each cupcake- later the florist placed fresh sunflowers on top :)

 

Next up was a classic style- with a Twist- literally!

 

Each tier was slightly twisted from the base- quilted centre tier and sugar roses for the top!  

 

Last year at the Brisbane High Tea Party I ran a competition for those who bought boxes of cupcakes across the weekend.

The lucky recipient won a tower of 30 cupcakes and matching top tier.

Themes to match in with her Birthday party- she chose a pale pink and green butterfly cupcake tower.

Pretty :)

Quite often I get asked if cakes can be made smaller/less tiers etc... Of course!

Below is a great example.

This cake is a two tier version of the Pure Glamour/four tier drape design

 

The last one for this blog was for a Birthday/Surprise Wedding!

 

Keeping in the Birthday theme- Disco Glitter hearts stars and numerals sprung from the top.

It was all about chocolate for this couple!
A chocolate Congratulatory plaque finished off the cake!

Congratulations Lyn and Craig! I hope that your guests were well and truly taken by surprise!

Thanks for reading
SJ

An Eccelctic Bunch

 The last weekend in September seem to come round in the blink of an eye. I really loose whole months during "wedding season"- as it is head down- bum up- all the way! hehehe!

The first cake for the Week is  a cake- that kind of looks like a giant delicious Lamington- iced in a soft and fluffy vanilla butter cream icing- and then coated in shavings of coconut- YUMMO!

This cake has 4 cakes inside- two double height tiers.


Fresh flowers were placed on top at the venue- fingers crossed I get to see how it all looked in the end.

The next cake was classy Ivory and black- decorated with fresh roses and ranunculas.

A palette royal icing finish over the cake made a fresh and textured finish to the cakes.

I had a cupcake  tower for the Indooroopilly Bowls club- this place is possibly the swishest bowls club I have been too. Brendan and his team from Styled events were creating a terrific space for the cocktail wedding when I was there setting up.

Sensational.

This tower of sugar rose petal cupcakes and small top cake looked allot prettier without the flash.

No rest for the wicked on Sunday either ;-P

This two tier chocolate ganache design- with Panache pink rose son top was collected and taken to Tugun.

Lashings of whipped chocolate ganache covered this cake- a chocolate lovers dream for sure.

The last but certainly not least feature cake for this blog is an Art Deco cake I made for Jeralee and Jacob.

The designs on the tiers came from the invite patterns for the Art deco inspired wedding. 

 

An Ivory and Navy design- with a hand cut top tier motif.

I was delighted to hear from Jeralee this week 

"Hi Sarah,

How are you? I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the amazing job you did with our wedding cake. It just blew me away! It was absolutely perfect! So many people loved how it looked and loved how it tasted even more! The white macadamia seemed to be the favourite of the night. I was just so happy with it and I thank you so much because for me it really helped to make a great day even better! Thank you!

Sincerely,
Jeralee Connor"

 Awwwwwwwwwwwwww- that is the kind of beautiful messages that inspire me to make wonderful cakes for my gorgeous clients!

It is my absolute pleasure to be chosen to make each couples wedding cake- such a significant part of the ceremonies apart of wedding- and to be able to make the couples dream cake is a true honour.

Well that is a wrap for September

So many glorious October cakes to come.

You can see more cakes and keep up to date with Cake that! on Facebook

I welcome everyone to join the page- share your thoughts and comments and leave reviews of your Cake That! cake!

Thanks for reading

SJ

New Toys!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you that know me will know that I am no stranger to online shopping- seriously I should know my postie by his first name, he delivers to our place that often heheh! So for quite a while now I have been umming and ahhing about getting a photo tent. To be honest I have a rather basic point and shoot digital camera- so I should possibly look  into getting a new camera too- but first things first.

Getting good light really helps to make pictures of cakes look as good as they do in real life- so when one of my friends suggested a Photo tent- I trawled the net and looked for a while- before finally purchasing one- OMG the BEST money I have ever spent! Rain hail or sunshine- this cool little addition to my ever growing cake room is just magic!

I swear I was mid cake when it arrived- but I HAD  to open it there and then! I still need to fine tune it and use the lights to their best ability- but for now- WOW- it makes the whole photographing of cakes that much easier.

This weekend was the first weekend  of the September school holidays- so busy!

I will begin with the first cake  to be photographed- notice my rush to try out the tent and not having ironed the backdrops.....heheheh impatience plus ;)  

 This three twisted tier design was sent to the Treasury Hotel Marquee. The top two tiers were Gluten free- including a Rum and Raisin and a Baileys tier. The Claret Red sugar roses and ribbon tied in with the wedding colours. A quirky Cake topper ( supplied by the clients) stood on top.

The next cake was a very hip black and white design. At the venue a set of antique cake toppers stood on the board- and fresh white roses were placed on top.

I love it just how it is too!

 Sometimes simplicity is the key with bold colours and designs.

This cake was delivered to Rydges at Southbank- and every time I go up to the Rooftop Terrace I just LOVE the view- Magnificent! The "Wheel of Brisbane" lit up in the background at night is just wonderful.

Speaking of great views- a hidden gem is Urban Hotel at Wickham Terrace. A few years back friends of mine had their wedding there- and it was great- and with recent contemporary swish renovations - the hotel is looking more than Funky!  

This reception was held in the aptly named Panorama room- which has very impressive city views indeed!

A Black and Ivory Themed wedding-  the cake was a variation of my wrap style display cake. A complete contrast to the black chair covers with Ivory sash bows- terrific!

The Lace stencils are definitely a popular choice lately- so much so I recently just HAD to buy a whole heap more LOL! 

For the second week in a row I was headed to Bretts wharf to deliver the next cake.

The next wonderful couple chose the Damask style- my oldest and dearest stencil- and used their latte/mocha and magenta colours to create this awesome cake!

 

The couples invites were this latte colour- with an embossed silver flourish/damask pattern over the paper- so the cake was an extension of this design. Classy and Elegant.

After Bretts Wharf it was over to the Pavilion at Albion for the next cake delivery.

Fresh roses cascaded down the front of this cake. The roses were perfectly prepped by the couples florist cousin Tammy. Thank you Tammy for making it so easy to work with you and for the fabulous fresh blooms for the cake! 

 Having the flowers correctly wired and taped is imperative for the elegant placement of the flowers. So often I arrive at venues only to find that either the supplied flowers are left unprepared (despite specific supply instructions) or that they are incorrectly prepared for placement onto a cake.

Now don't get me wrong there are many brilliant florists who I work with week in week out who I have the pleasure of receiving Stunningly prepared fresh blooms from- and whose gorgeous buds make a simple cake simply fantastic- but unless the flowers are prepped correctly- the fresh flower arrangements on a cake can often look less than professional.

So I truly appreciate the florists who take the time and care to individually wire and tape each flower head- so that I can - in turn- place them onto the cake and create a magnificent fresh flower design.

It wasn't all Fresh flowers that weekend- I actually had Twin cakes too :-p

Non Identical twins- but pretty close none the less.

I am often amazed when I get such similar cakes to make from completely different clients.

First stop was The Polo club with this Dusty pink version of a draped design.  

The sugar roses were in varying shades of pink- filigree piping covering the walls of the tiers and Swarovski Crystals in amongst the piping work.

Then I headed over to The Sebel to deliver a Lilac variation of the same design.  

 

The piping on this design flowed underneath the draping- instead of all over the tiers.  The Lilac variation was a slightly larger scale design than the pink version too.

Purple is such a popular wedding colour at the moment. My next cake was a cupcake tower for a wedding at the Marriott.

I was silly enough to leave the camera in the car- so I only got a shot of the top tier - complete with cartoon toppers- that I shot before I left in my new tent.

These toppers were only chosen less than 4 days prior to the wedding AHHHHHHHHHHH! My inability to use the word "no" (LOL) meant that I needed allot of CMC to speed up the drying time - But I surprised myself and got them done in time.  

 

The last drop off for the Saturday- and yes it was a VERY long day- was to UQ- where this last cake was delivered.

Deep red and Gold was t he colour theme for this wedding.

Tiny red blossoms in a quilt pattern on the base tier- with a piped flourish design through the centre of the middle tier- with more tiny blossoms sporadically mixed in- and then a hand cut "double happiness" emblem for the top.

At the venue the couple had a cake topper that sat on top.

After a massive day of deliveries on Saturday- I was left with only a sole cake for the Sunday.

This two tier chocolate creation was sent to Hillstone. Inside was a layered chocolate cake- with a Sour Cherry compote and Krisch ganache. A bit Black forest- esque- and allot of YUM!

So  that is a wrap for the middle of September.

This week has been trying- with the constant rain playing havoc with all delicate cake decorations. Not even the humidity and temperature control can keep up with all the wet.

Today being 10/10/10- I have a bundle of cakes to deliver- and I cannot sleep- as all I can think about is the weather and how the cakes will hold up. They say you cannot change the weather- it is nature after all- but for the many 1000's of  Couples getting married today it would have been nice if the sun had been shining on their special day.

At least I have my photo tent to light up the cakes in this gloomy weather :)

Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading

SJ