It's been a long time

I know it's been a long time since I blogged, but hey, I was getting married {insert big smile here}.  

In a previous post I mentioned loving table displays!  You may have heard of Amy Atlas, some people see her as the Queen B of dessert tables and she really does do amazing work.  Dessert displays are just like what they sound like - a dessert buffet but in today's modern world people are dressing up their displays and matching their desserts with their party's theme. 

Zebra Patterned Dessert Bar, photo courtesy of Amy Atlas

If you know me, then you know that I'm a huge dork who gets excited about desserts and paper... yup, paper!   I used to work for a printing company and now I traffic production in an art department for a craft company.  I even have a favorite line of paper!  What is that you say, line of paper... yup line of paper.  The Curious Collection is amazing!!! {See, I'm a huge dork...}.  So, with that being said, I can honestly tell you that dessert displays are exciting because they combine two things that I love!

Over the past couple months I've been thinking up different ways to extend my future business.  I've thought about a store front, maybe a little boutique shop, maybe a cake supplies store... it's still a work in progress, but I have decided to incorporate paper and it's uses with desserts into my blog.  My company's name is Cake and Company and paper is really good company!

It's easy to take your simple homemade cupcake, like the one below and dress it up!

All it takes, is either a decorating tip or some fun with paper.  I'll be posting a few tips and DIY projects in the future so that you can also do it at home!  So keep your eyes out for future posts!  In the meantime, here a few images from our wedding.  I baked the cupcakes for our wedding tower the night before the wedding, I know I am crazy but I wanted my family to taste my treats.

Close up of our wedding cupcakes. Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photography

Our cake topper and a larger shot of our cupcake tower.  Photo courtesy of Soul Mates Photography

To tie our cupcakes into our wedding theme, I had paper printed with our fern design on it.  I then used a cupcake wrapper die to die-cut the wrappers.  For the cake on top of the cake, I decided to go with fondant covered Styrofoam cake dummies.  I didn't want to fondant a cake in Maui, because I have never worked in that type of climate before with fondant.  So, to save my bridal sanity and frustration I took the simple way out and covered the dummies in California.  Yes, I put the cake dummies in my carry-on luggage...  I then die-cut a fern flourish out of green paper (I can just see the disappointed look in Kerry Vincent's eyes) to decorate the cake.  Tyler and I are each others penguins, so I surprised him with our penguin cake toppers. 

See the use of paper with desserts is amazing!


Here is one last photo of me and Tyler from our wedding

To see more of our wedding photos, check out soulmatesphotoblog.com

 Until next time, happy baking and paper cutting!
~Danielle

Where credits are due:
Amy Atlas Events ~ http://www.amyatlas.com/
Soul Mates Photography ~ http://www.soulmatesphoto.com/
Cupcake wrapper die ~ http://www.sizzix.com/product/1924
Florals for the cake display, Teresa Sena Designs ~ http://www.whiteorchidwedding.com/about/ohana/theresa.php
Penguin Cake Toppers, The Pink Koala on Etsy ~ http://www.etsy.com/shop/thepinkkoala?ref=seller_info

Wedding Cake for Katherine and Kevin

This is the largest wedding cake I have done to date and I was pretty proud of myself (no tears!).  The bottom tier is chocolate and the other two tiers are vanilla buttermilk.  Each tier has three layers of cake, so for the filling I did chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting (per request of the bride).  I pulled the piping pattern from the bride's dress.  The dress was so gorgeous! 

My favorite applique on her dress were these two mirroring flowers.  I pulled this detail into the top tier of the cake.  I didn't know if the bride and groom were going to have a cake topper, so I used these two flowers to symbolize Katherine and Kevin.  

I got a text message from the bride's sister during the reception letting me know that the cake was delicious and the bride's mother emailed me the next day to let me know that the bride thought the cake was "amazing."  Just starting out, it's so nice to hear comments like that.  So thank you to the family!  Congratulations to Katherine and Kevin!  I wish you two the best! 


Until next time, happy baking!
~Danielle

Weddings and mochi!

Some of you may know that I am getting married in a little over three months and I have been in wedding mode for almost a year.  Yes, I was that 5 year old girl who used to play wedding and had her wedding planned out by the time I was 12.  I love event planning and all the crafty things that come with it!  Ty is a little worried that I am going to be depressed when the wedding(s) are over.  Yes, I said, weddings, more on that later.  But I don't think I am going to be depressed at all.  I'm the first of my close girlfriends to get married, which means that there are many more weddings to come!

Our wedding was planned, finalized and designed back in November, but that doesn't keep me from looking at wedding blogs every day!  Ty reads foodgawker every day and the other night, he stumbled upon weddinggawker and it literally felt like Christmas morning!  Needless to say, I have spent many many hours in the past couple of days on that site.  I love our wedding and all the details reflect who Ty and I are as a couple.  But if I had to do it again, I think I would definitely pull in a few of these Japanese elements that I found on weddinggawker and Martha!

Kimono inspired wedding gown, cherry blossom dessert spread with mochi, cherry blossom cupcakes

Martha Stewart did such a great job using mochi ice cream.  She accomplished the flower detailing on the mochi, by creating a cherry blossom stencil, laying it over the mochi and then using a sifter to lightly sprinkle powered sugar over the mochi ball.  Then they placed the ball in the center of a cherry blossom cut out of paper. 

I love mochi, especially mochi ice cream and I wish I could serve it at my wedding.  Unfortunately, both the weddings are taking place outdoors, so I don't know how I am going to get around the melting factor. 


Mochi for those of you who do not know what it is, is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice that has been pounded into paste and then molded into a shape.  It comes in different flavors, it can be stuffed and it can be used in any meal of the day.  Mochi in soup is sooo good!  But my favorite is mochi ice cream, little balls of ice cream wrapped inside mochi.   Mikawaya, a Los Angeles based Japanese dessert company is said to be the creators of mochi ice cream in 1994. 


I love the fact Martha included mochi in this past month's wedding magazine.  This is an idea that I will be filing away, so that one day when I have my own dessert studio, I will remember to do something like this.  Or I could just use these ideas for my birthday this summer... there was also this party dress in that Kimono link... hmmm...

Until next time!
~Danielle

Wedding Cake for Veronique and Jared

So, I had the honor of creating a wedding cake for Veronique and Jared.  Jared just happens to be the little brother to our "go to" aka the couple that happens to be our best friend unit.  I couldn't have been more excited when Veronique asked if I could do their wedding cake.  If I could snap my fingers and make things magically happen, I would totally be in the event and wedding planning/cake baking and decorating business.  I love it all!  And not just my wedding stuff, I just love all the details and the personal touches that go into each couple's special event.  


Veronique and Jared wanted something simplistic and modern.  Their catering was going to serve dessert, so they didn't need a large cake.  So I decided on a two-tiered 8" and 6" wedding cake.  I have to say I was a little lost on what to create, until I saw the picture of her dress.  You will not be able to see it on the pictures that follow, but at her empire waist line and the hemming line where the mermaid tail flares, there is a layered ribbon technique used.  I decided to pull this detail from her dress and use it on their wedding cake.  Veronique had purple orchids dyed blue and I decided to use that blue in the ribbon detail.  Here are images of the cake

I am pretty happy with how it turned out!  We were asked to stay for dinner and I was really excited to see the bride and groom cut into and enjoy my creation.  Here are few pictures of the bride and groom

Taking the famous pre-cake cutting pose

They were very nice to each other, no smearing cake onto each others faces

VJ being a good wife and feeding cake to Jared

 

 

 

 

 

Veronique liked the cake so much that she went back immediately for another slice!  That made my night!  Here I am with the bride

And lastly, a picture of inside the cake.  Chocolate, vanilla, chocolate layers oh my!

Thank you Veronique and Jared for letting me do your wedding cake!  And thank you for letting Tyler and I be apart of your special day!  You two make the most darling couple and I know there are only good things to come for you two... one in July! 


Until next time, happy baking!
~Danielle

My First Wedding Cake

Back in May I announced on my facebook page to all my friends that I wanted to pursue cake decorating. At the time I had already done birthday, homecoming and graduation cakes for friends, but I was very nervous when a college friend asked me to do his wedding cake. A wedding is such a momentous event, I didn't want anything to go wrong. My finance reassured me that I was talented and that I could do a wedding cake (he really is a wonderful man!). So, I decided to take on my first wedding cake.

The bride, Sara wanted something very simple and classic. After emailing ideas and images back and forth, we decided on a three-tiered vanilla buttermilk cake with a simple dot pattern. The bride graciously forwarded a few professional images of the cake (hooray, no blurry images!), so here is the cake!



I love the added touches that the florist gave the cake.


The cake toppers are so cute!


And here is a picture of the beautiful bride, Sara and her husband, Tyler.


Photography by Peardon-Carrillo Wedding Photography



To Sara and Tyler, may your marriage be filled with happiness, laughter and love! Congratulations again!

~Danielle