I had the pleasure of meeting Jessica and her mother Joanna during a few shows at the very beginning of wedding season last year.  Jessica had an idea of what she wanted but was worried that her decision was too dark and wouldn’t look quite right for a wedding cake that’s traditionally white.  After talking with her several times and encouraging her to pick exactly what she wanted…because after all, “tradition” is what you make it these days, she decided to follow her heart.  The cake itself is tradition but beyond that should be anything the bride wants!

Jessica wanted a square cake covered with chocolate fudge buttercream.  This was to feed over 250 people so it was going to be large.  She was worried it might not be the right color so she brought me a swatch of her bridesmaid dresses to match.  She did not want a light chocolate color, but a very dark chocolate.

Jessica and Troy were married in Clarksville with the reception following at the beautiful Clarksville Country Club.  I am always pleased to work with the country club and the staff is extremely friendly and helpful.  They had several events going on that day and the place was buzzing with excitement.

As I was setting up the florist, Sherry’s Florist and Gift Shoppe in Springfield came to set up her displays.  She was absolutely amazing and her work was beyond beautiful.  The table decorations were tall displays that looked like antique brass with large bowls on top filled with an incredible assortment of bright pink and orange flowers with unique greenery.  They were some of the most striking I have ever seen.  She dressed the cake table with a gorgeous chocolate brown beaded sheer cloth and more greenery and flowers.  It set the dark color off so well I could not have been happier with the look.

Jessica and Troy's table decor from Sherry's Florist and Gift Shoppe

Details around the cake from Sherry's Florist and Gift Shoppe

Jessica had chosen a five tier square cake design in alternating tiers of chocolate and chocolate chip cake filled with chocolate ganache.  It was covered with dark chocolate fudge buttercream and adorned with scrolls and Swiss dots, alternating tiers.  The cake was brought to life with handmade gumpaste roses, lillies, and blossoms in bright pink, orange, and lime green, with little touches of yellow. Jessica purchased an intial topper online, covered with clear, brown and bronze Swarovski crystals that was also very beautiful.

Jessica and Troy-five tiers of chocolate heaven with gumpaste flowers

The rain came  and tried to put a little damper on the couple’s spirits but it was no match for the sunshine the bride brought into the room.  After a honeymoon in Cancun they have been enjoying the sweet dreams their wedding day brought and enjoying their fabulous wedding video made by my friend Danielle at Turning Point Productions.

Jessica and Troy, may your life together always be as unique and beautiful as your wedding cake!

Amanda and Tim were such an incredible couple to work with!  I met with Amanda at Wedding 101 at The Factory in Franklin.  She was very sweet and had a good idea of what she wanted right away.  We met once to quote and the next time to finalize details and that’s all it took to make her wedding much sweeter!

Amanda and Tim were to be married at the Carnton Plantation with a reception following at the Rolling Hills Community Church in Franklin.  Both of these venues are so unique.  I adore the Carnton for outdoor weddings.  Though the history of the Widow of the South, as it was immortalized in Robert Hicks’ New York Times bestseller, was a place of bloody battle; there is a feeling of life all about the property.  The Rolling Hills Community Church is located in the WareHouse in Franklin and is a venue like no other.  It is extremely spacious and has several different rooms and halls that could be utilized for wedding guests.  It is very clean and airy, almost like a dressed up gym…or better yet as a high-end loft before it is cluttered with walls and furniture.

Amanda chose Allan Williams Photography from Thompson Station and she certainly made a great choice.  It was the first time I had worked with Allan and I was so thrilled for the opportunity.  Allan Williams shoots in a soft and romantic light, capturing the best possible look for the bride, the groom, the guests, and most importantly for me, the cake.  I was so thrilled to see my cake through his eyes I stared admiring the photos for an hour.  He was happy to share digital images with me that I will be in turn sharing with you in this post.  For more of Amanda and Tim’s incredible day through Allan’s talented lenses, check out his blog! 

Amanda also worked with Always in Bloom florists from The Factory in Franklin.  They did an amazing job not only on the topper for the cake, but the flowers throughout the wedding and reception.  Never have I been so thrilled to place a topper on a cake.  While I always love to use edible gumpaste flowers for my cakes, sometimes it’s because the topper that florists make don’t necessarily work well with the cake.  Sometimes they are extremely large, or have a huge bunch of stems they want stuck down into the cake, or they are poisonous flowers that should not be placed on something edible.  This one however, was simply exquisite.  It helps that my favorite flower is a peach rose and they were abundant in the topper.  This topper was created on a small flat pyrex type container that I simply had to slide onto the cake.  They provided plenty of extra flowers for under the glass cake stand and plenty of petals for me to utilize in any way I saw fit.  Kudos to Always in Bloom!  They are now ranked in my favorites!

Gorgeous topper by Always in Bloom as shared by Allan Williams Photography

Amanda’s cake stand was also truly unique.  We had talked during her meeting and her vision was to place a large piece of tempered glass onto four cubes of glass-like the blocks they use in some showers or windows in some hotels.  I mentioned that Hobby Lobby has 40% off coupons all the time and they sell large glass pieces.  Sometimes you have to ask for them, but they have several sizes for very reasonable prices, especially when using a coupon!  Amanda ended up buying 4 square votive holders and placing battery operated votives inside.  She positioned them the way she wanted, placed white lights and roses around them and then put the large piece of square glass over the top.  That became the most gorgeous cake stand for her romantic wedding cake.

Amanda chose a four tier square cake of alternating flavors of  traditional white with no filling and white chocolate with raspberry filling.  She wanted the entire cake to be covered with vanilla buttercream and piped with upward scrolls and tiny leaves.  I think you’ll agree that the results were beautiful. 

Scrollwork on Amanda and Tim's cake as shared by Allan Williams Photography

Amanda and Tim's cake as shared by Allan Williams Photography

Tim’s cake was to be all about golf, incorporating the Masters leader board featuring him and a few groomsmen beating the champs.  She wanted to include a green if I had room and maybe some chocolate golf balls around the edge.  Tim’s cake was a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge buttercream mixed with chocolate toffee pieces.  It was a really fun one to make.

Tim's Groom's cake complete with leader board, sand traps, putting green, flag and white chocolate golf balls.

I am so thrilled to have worked with this couple.  It was an honor to make their day just a little sweeter.

Amanda and Tim, may the first look you shared with one another on your wedding day be forever in your hearts!

I was SO excited when I learned that Bronwen Weber was going to teach a class nearby!  I couldn’t wait to learn tips and tricks from such an incredible instructor.   Bronwen is infamous in the cake industry for pushing things to the limit, for internal structures and supports once only seen in plumbing, and for her enthusiastic love of her job.  Bronwen has competed in eight Food Network Challenges, coming away with three gold medals, four silver, and one bronze and noted as the most medaled competitor on the show.  She also won one of the most coveted prizes in the cake industry, the Grand Prize in the Wedding Cake Division of the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show.  Bronwen started off producing cakes in a supermarket bakery which is sometimes scoffed at in the custom cake business, but it taught her speed and discipline like no other bakery job could.  She is currently the executive chef and general manager of Frosted Art Bakery and Studio in Dallas, TX.  When I learned she’d be sharing her skills at a hands-on class in Lebanon, I jumped at the chance to take it.

There are several kinds of classes in the cake industry, as I’m sure is the same in any trade.  Demos are when the artist is in front of a large group and completes a project, or several projects while explaining what they are doing.  These are very popular because they cost less and more people can be packed in to watch.  I am not a fan of just demos.  I like to get my hands on a project and feel for myself how to make the finished product.  That brings us to a hands-on class.  It means just that-you get your HANDS ON the project and complete it during class.  It’s typically a much smaller group, as everyone needs their work space, tools, and they are typically two days if the project is labor intensive.  These are also more expensive classes because the instructor will bring all materials needed to complete the project so everyone is working with the exact same mediums and tools.

Bronwen had an idea in her head years ago to make a structure that stood on two legs.  That was unheard of until then, as cakes need at least three legs to make then structurally sound-like a stool.  She and her incredibly talented husband, Francois, developed a way to make a cake on two legs and she’s been sharing the system for years.  The wonderful thing about it is that she tried several mediums that failed and we don’t have to.  We were taught how to do it right the first time and learned about all the things she tried that failed.

Bronwen’s class was to make a standing Santa cake and it was incredibly fun!  She would demo how to do the first step and then all 20 or so in the class would go back to our work stations to create.  Then we would move on to the next step.  It was one of the easiest classes I’ve ever taken, but would not have known where to even begin without her and I’m so thankful for that! 

At the very beginning, she asked each of us how much we thought we would charge for Santa, just by looking at him.  My initial thought was about $150.  I could see that there would have to be several steps and lots of time to make him look so great.  Halfway through she asked us all if the price went up.  Yep, it did.  At that time I decided he was more like $300 and by the end my price was up to $500.  This was a 2-day class and we all barely finished by the end!  I’m sure I can make him faster at my own speed now but it is still incredibly labor intensive and he uses a lot of modeling chocolate and fondant.  The support alone is very expensive. 

What I learned is that I can basically make any figure using this knowledge and when I get time (famous last words) I intend to make another custom structure using this same idea but in a VERY different way.  This particular cake will only feed about 10 people, so it’s definitely more about the art and awe than feeding a crowd.  My job is to convince people they need it!   One of my favorite things about the class is that in 20 Santas, they all looked similar but there were not a single two alike.  It was really fun to see the differences!

This is what we started with! Step 1-assemble the pieces!

Partially completed-ready to carve that belly!

Belly carved and crumbed, pants and arms ready!

Jacket on, boots on, some weird hand looking thing and ready for a face!

Face ready, beard piped on, hat made, belt on...Ready for final details!

Finished product-notice the little bag with teddy bear, the cupcake, the watch and me with Bronwen!

Bronwen, thank you so much for sharing your time and talent with me and 20 of my TN ICES friends!  That was a lesson I will never forget and a night of cake chat at dinner that was a real treat!

First off, I have never met a more enthusiastic bride than Mariam!  She was so incredibly happy and energetic right from the start that I knew she would be a pleasure to work with.  She loved every cake cake flavor but knew she wanted something just a little different to not only give her groom a flavor that he loved, but to create a unique combination for her guests.

Mariam and Scott’s reception was to take place in the Susie Gray Hall at the Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville.  The architecture and beauty of this place is so incredible, I loved delivering the cake!  Mariam had given me an invitation and wanted me to copy the delicate grape clusters and scrolling onto the cake.  They were inspired by the verse of John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches…” so there were delicate branches in the flower arrangements throughout the reception site.

As I mentioned, Mariam wanted the cake to be unique and Scott’s favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey so we brought the two together for a truly mouthwatering combination.  Mariam chose to make all three round tiers of her cake alternating layers of chocolate and banana, filled with chocolate hazlenut creme.  She chose traditional vanilla ivory buttercream to cover all.  She wanted a few deep burgundy gumpaste roses and white cymbidium orchids with burgundy accented throats to set off the delicately piped grape clusters on the cake. 

The final product was a beautiful custom design captured by David Molnar Photography in a way that I could not possibly duplicate.  David and Tammy have a fantastic way of capturing love digitally so click the  link above to see  Mariam and Scott’s day as told in their eyes.  The photos I am sharing of the day also are the credit of their work.  Thank you so much for sharing the wonderful images with me. 

Mariam and Scott by David Molnar Photography

Mariam and Scott by David Molnar Photography

Mariam and David, abide in Him and bear much fruit forever!

WHEW-there were a few weeks this summer when I didn’t think I would ever clean powdered sugar off the counter tops!  I love, love, love my job!  It’s even more fun when I’m able to create unique and interesting cakes for customers, family, and friends. 

Here are a few fun cakes…

Under the Sea baby shower cake

My favorite part of a Pooh themed cake-the hunny pot on a book for Alexis

Macy is being adopted from Ethiopia-hence the heart about where Ethiopia is! I was so thrilled to be a part of this celebration!

It's BUZZ!

Pretty shoebox!

Mousey's first birthday cake-made of cheese??! I LOVE this one!

That’s it…for your viewing pleasure.  It’s not always about the weddings…just the celebrations!

Have a great day!