Have a peek at a couple of the cakes we did this weekend.  A onesie for a baby shower, and a mermaid for a very sweet 8 year old.  I did a rainbow unicorn for young Teresa a few years ago, and I’m told she requested that I make this year’s cake as well.  She chose rainbow cake again.  The mermaid is all edible and the cute little fish was made by my very talented young assistant - my 11 year old.  Great touch!  Enjoy!

So I got a call from a lovely young lady who wanted a special cake for her boyfriend. He loves technology, especially computers.  She was getting him a new Alienware Aurora ALX and wanted a cake to go with it but not real sure at first what the possibilities would be.  You know what happens next around here, “well, how about a cake to look like it?” She was all over the idea, and was very helpful with researching which computer and color, model, etc.  The client gave me creative freedom to just get it done, and I love that. Thanks so much for ordering Tashera!  It was a pleasure, and I’m so glad you loved it so much!  Enjoy!

You may or may not know me well enough by now to know that I typically go for all edible with my cakes.  This cake was an exception, the keyboard and monitor are not edible; they have foam core guts.  The tower is red velvet cake though, and delicious!  Not sure what the scale would be, but the tower was about 10″ high and the monitor screen was 6×8.  Those little keys were all cut and placed by hand, so there is a little human variation in size and shape there ;).  I had fun making this one!  Bring on the next cake!

The photos are awesome, but part of this post is sad.  I still don’t know the whole story, I may never, but one of these cakes was taken down very early in the reception for fear of it falling.  As you can see, there is not an indication of a fear for that when I left it.  As gorgeous as it is, not a good memory for the client or the artist.

That sort of thing happens sometimes.  Rarely, but it does happen.  Cake is cake to some, to others it is a major focal point.  Those are my clients.  The ones who want the major focal point.  So in a nutshell, it stinks pretty bad when something happens like a leaning or falling cake.  I’m not one to stay at every reception, I don’t belong there so I don’t stay.  I have to wonder sometimes if I should stay, perhaps I may now and then after this particular mishap.  It would seem to be the only way to really know how things go along.  I thought about not posting this part of the cake story, but it is a story that can happen to anyone.  And there are multiple ways for it to be handled.  Each story is different, so there is no one way to remedy the situation.  The best I can do is to make my clients happy in the end.  Hopefully, they are, even if I’m not.  It is afterall…all about the bride.

On to the photos!

Coming up next post…some more awesome cakes, without the drama!  Well, at least not this kind of drama.  It’s been super busy here at She Takes The Cake, some new adventures, some new limits.  But as always, some great cakes for awesome clients.  Thanks so much!!

It’s another busy, busy week here at She Takes The Cake and I’m deep in cake mode without much time to write, so I thought I’d post the video clip from my visit to Bridge Street on 9WSYR here in Syracuse NY for those of you who might not have seen it.

It’s full of some great 4th of July ideas for desserts for your family and neighborhood picnics!  Enjoy!  And be safe this weekend! (you know…don’t over do it with the cake)

Here’s the link!

http://www.9wsyr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?navcatid=1127

Yes, I know that should be “dear”, but I’m a sucker for bad puns.  I’m also a sucker for brides who let me know they loved their cake.  Check out this amazing email I received today from a fabulous couple from ‘08.

Hey Jen!
One year ago today you made us the cakes of our dreams. I never really had the chance to properly thank you for what an amazing job you did with both the wedding cake and the grooms cake. You just took my vision and ran with it, and that’s what I loved about you. You are a true artist! I followed your instructions closely on how to preserve the top tier so that one year later it tastes just as great as it did the day we got married and you were right on. Tonight we enjoyed that delicious cake one more time, and it was just as moist as it was on our wedding day. Not one ounce of it had dried out or hardened. It was truly amazing! Thanks again for your artistic inspirations, and fantastic baking abilities! Attached are pictures of both cakes in case you forgot what they looked like. Our wedding was on June 7, 2008 at Orchard Vali in LaFayette, NY. Thanks again for making my cake dreams come true!!

Jenn and John’s cakes were a major challenge, the wedding cake was something I hadn’t attempted before and really put my carving abilities to the test.  The groom’s cake was a surprise for John and I still can remember the look on his face - and that of the whole bridal party.  It really made all the hours and hours of carving and sculpting worth every second.

Happy Anniversary to Jenn and John!  Thank YOU for letting me be part of your memories in this way!  And thanks so much for letting me know how much you still enjoy your cake.

The cakes:

I had the privilege of delivering this fabulous cake tonight for a popcorn fanatic.  Didn’t get to meet the guest of honor, but I enjoyed every minute of this order; from original sketch and concept with Mara, his daughter, to delivering to The Palace Theatre on James Street, where I got to meet Paul and his staff as well.  I have lots of photos for you this time, several views of the cake, and then a shot of the gorgeous flowers which were very creatively set up by Frank Brice on Teall Ave, and also a shot of the short table tops with 45’s and retro candy.  This cake had a lot going on as you’ll see, and it was received really well.  I sure hope the birthday boy loves it too!  I think a photo will be sent when Mara has a chance, I’ll be sure to add it if it arrives.  On to the cake!!

Full front view first, then various shots.

Today’s Birthday Girl made my day!  When Melanie and her mom and little brother came in to pick up her cake, she had a surprise waiting for her.  Debbie, mom, had ordered it and gave me total freedom to do whatever I wanted for this little cake for Mel’s sweet sixteen.  I was feeling a little paisley today.  Even Debbie didn’t know I chose to do a purse cake so I decided to be a little bit playful at pick up time.

They came into the showroom, Mel leading the way, and we made small talk for a little while.  After about 5 or 10 minutes she finally asked “where is my cake?”  I said “it’s here”.  “Where?”  “Over there”, I said.  Again, she asked “where?”  I had to go to it at the table, point to it and say “here”.  Her reaction was so wonderful!  Exactly the type of reaction cake designers hope for!  While the rest of us chatted about the cake, Mel continued to poke and touch it to be sure.

Thanks Melanie, I’m so glad you loved it!!!  And thanks for permission to share the photo on my blog, I think my readers will get a real kick out of it too!  Hope you had a great birthday, glad I was part of it!  Below are a few more photos of this fondant covered, hand painted purse cake with a sweet little 16 in bling.

Have one on us Emma!

Thank you so much for ordering this fantastic and challenging cake from us for your birthday.  Your reaction was amazing, I’m so glad you love it! We do lots of birthday cakes for Colgate students, but this one was a real treat.  No early am drop off at the mailroom, not this time.  This was a late evening delivery at a fabulous tapas joint that we are super happy now that we know about it.  La Iguana in Hamilton, NY.  I think the owners will be seeing lots of us, the menu looks great. The place looked real cute with the pinata and balloons, and I can just imagine you and your friends with these sombreros on!

Thanks again Emma…Cheers!

PS. Aren’t you glad I refrained from titling my post “holy crap that’s a big cake!”?

That’s what my husband says to buddies when they ask if I’m a great baker.  Of course he always gets an elbow from me if he forgets to add that I can in fact bake a pretty tasty cake.  Funny how most people expect either or, not both great taste and cool looks with cake.  Shame.  Anyway, here is an artist’s palate cake for a young woman in Syracuse.  Ordered by her mother out of state, not uncommon for us, and to be delivered to the fabulous Genesee Grand Hotel.  Thanks Janelle for the referral.  Enjoy! And Happy Birthday Sam! ~the flavor…vanilla with chocolate fudge filling.

Why, yes, yes it is a carrot cake! After leaving for a mini vacation after delivery I thought it was time I dig up the photos I took of Chris and Amy’s cake…you know, the one with all those fabulous carrots in it! Their farm is amazing, fresh green everywhere - my husband is eager to get more info about their harvest sharing programs; you can get the info here.

So, out of the 14 or so pounds of carrots that Amy brought to me for her cake, we ended up with just under 13 after trimming the ends and used just over 10 of it for the cake. This cake consisted of 10 batches of cake, made with as many organic ingredients as possible - almost all of them! I am in love with cream cheese icing I made with organic cream cheese and fresh butter from Hillcrest Dairy in Moravia NY, made with cream from cows not treated with rBST; so salty and creamy. I was excited to see that Wegman’s (the Dewitt location) carried it in their ever expanding organic and special diet section. With a little fresh lemon juice and organic sugar, and some vanilla bean…it was delicious!

I assembled the baked layers, I think 7 or 8 in all (I don’t recall!) with the dreamy cream cheese icing in between each, then carved to my little heart’s content. Somewhere, out there, was a very happy Bugs Bunny I’m sure. Then I finished it off with the fondant we make here in the studio - this was the one element that we did not attempt to create with organic ingredients. (is there organic gelatin or glycerin out there??) A little pleating, some creative folding, and hand painting resulted in a very satisfying carrot. At 39″ long before the stem was added, and over 50lbs, this big guy made quite an impression on the few folks in the tent when we delivered. The “dirt” was crumbs of organic cookies and graham style crackers (Paul Newman’s Own brand). The leafy green was celery stalk if you can believe that?! We needed something fresh and green and big enough and low and behold my husband ran down to Dawn Hotaling’s fresh produce stand (Plantation Farms I believe is the name) on State Hwy 26 and Route 42 just at the edge of South Otselic and picked up the perfect size bunch!

One last look for you…I hope you enjoyed the suspense of these cake photos. I’m glad you hung in there with me until I could blog them. Our busy summer is finally starting to come to an end and with school just around the corner we were blessed to squeeze in an unexpected trip to St. Clair Shores MI to see some family that lives there and more that were visiting from AZ. Couldn’t pass that up! We’ve had our fill of the great New York State Fair as well, and are now anxiously awaiting the first day of school next week! With that first day with a new teacher right around the corner as well, we’ll be moving on from carrots to apples soon I’m sure. Mom always said to eat your fruits and veggies…

Thanks again Amy and Chris for finding me and asking me to do your cake, definitely a favorite for the year! See you soon!