Sushi Revisited

This week's cake was a great deal of fun, as I got to redesign an old favourite: SUSHI! 

Vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream was wrapped in a turqouise fondant finish with sushi maki and sushi nigiri cake truffles, a gumpaste fortune cookie and chopsticks. 

And here are some others from the last couple of years. Instead of a bento box or wood slab, I decided to make a turquoise platform with hand painted bamboo. While it's a different base, the sushi elements are still classic. Can't wait for the next.

-Danielle

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays from Sweet&Splendid! Thank you for another wonderful and successful year, and we look forward to serving you in 2013!

-Danielle

bombs away

A close friend with a penchant for Jägermeister is turning another year older, and it's only fitting I prepared a cake that truly captured his spirit and adoration of this fine beverage.

Vanilla cake and cookies and cream filling were carved and shaped into the iconic bottle and topped with a rice paper label.

Happy birthday, Paul!

diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades

This  request was for a gal who loves the finer things in life...

...and Kate Spade purses.

This vanilla cake was sculpted to look like a Kate Spade shopping tote. Gumpaste was used to fashion the tissue paper and the stargazer lily. Other details include an edible logo and a tag with a birthday greeting in the same font as used in the logo. Lastly, gems were affixed to the edge of the logo.


Happy birthday to the birthday girl!


-Danielle

greatest hits

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, and this week I finally got the opportunity. 

Vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream were sculpted to create this replica Gibson Casino guitar. The body was covered in yellow fondant and a wood grain was painted on. Black petal dust was then applied along the edges in a gradient. 

The neck and head were sculpted from the same cake and decorate with fondant and silver gumpaste details (and some bits of dried pasta). The strings were actually pulled taught and threaded like real strings through the body and through machine heads at the top. I haven't tried, but I don't think you could actually play it.

The birthday boy is a musician and as an added personal touch, a Billboard Top 10 chart was printed on rice paper and placed on the cake board. All the songs are his. And boy do they seem popular.


Happy birthday, and rock on.


-Danielle

a wine and cheese affair

This weekend's cake is something I've been waiting to try out. Lucky for me, a bride-to-be was having a bridal shower that fit the theme perfectly!

As you might have guessed from the picture, the shower was a wine and cheese soiree. To compliment the event I prepared a wheel of cheddar, a wrapped block of soft cheese (you can use your imagination, let's say... havarti? Sure.), some crackers and grapes. 

The cheese wheels were made from vanilla cake with a lemon-cream cheese buttercream. The grapes and crackers were made from fondant. And the cheese board is itself just a cake drum with patterned paper (I was so happy to have found it!). 

Even those with a lactose allergy can enjoy the wonderful spread. Congratulations to the bride to be!


-Danielle

Technic(ake)s

For the ultimate house music junkie:

A vanilla and cookie dough filled cake were decked out to look like a Technics turntable. The cake was pretty small (served 10) so to get all the detail in was quite a challenge! Gumpaste was used to sculpt the needle and dials and silver details were painted onto the record platform. 


Just call me DJ Kitchenaid. 


-Danielle

the big one

I love cupcakes. There isn't a flavour I've encountered that I haven't enjoyed (my attempt at a chocolate bacon cupcake, while bizarre, was still devoured mercilessly). My only complaint is that one is never enough. Except in this case.

This birthday cake was crafted to celebrate a 29th birthday. The birthday girl also celebrated some other big events, so these were reflected in the cake base too.

Chocolate mud cake (ganache filling, ganache coating) was carved and stacked to create this 20-serving cupcake. The cherry (my favourite part!) and sprinkles were made from gumpaste.

To emphasize the whimsical nature of the cake, the board was covered in a two-tone swirl of pastel blue and purple. A gumpaste diploma and engagement ring finished everything off.


Happy birthday and congratulations to the birthday girl! 


-Danielle

olivia's pig

Baby Olivia celebrated her second birthday and to deliciously mark the occasion a cake was prepared in the likeness of her favourite cartoon namesake. 

Olivia in her ball gown was carved from a three tiered chocolate and cream cheese cake and covered in fondant. Her eyes were sculpted with gumpaste and held in place with wooden dowels.


I can't think of a more perfect pairing! Happy birthday, Olivia(s)!

-Danielle

candi[e]d camera

For a very special 60th birthday, I created a camera cake! Modelled after the Canon Rebel T1i, this chocolate and caramel cake was carved to 1 : 0.5 scale. 

All of the details were sculpted or added with fondant and edible rice paper. 

Also included were edible photos, one representing each decade including major milestones.

An amazing project for an amazing person! Happy birthday, dad.


-Danielle 

miscellaneous december

I didn't want to interrupt this blog's holiday spirit so I held off on sharing all of the pictures from this month's cake inventory. Now that the season is winding down, here they are!


1) Based off the wedding cake pictured here , I prepared this small marble cake in the same style with white and dark chocolate pleats accented with chocolate roses. Happy birthday, Talia!

2) My friend Brandon is convinced the global economy should be backed by sterling. I believe the global economy should be backed by cake. We've reached a compromise, I think, with this 30th birthday cake. Happy birthday, B!

3) To celebrate the upcoming nuptials of a lucky couple who are tying the knot at a vacation destination, I made this pink beach-themed bridal shower cake. Opalescent shells and pearls were placed along the sandy beach (brown sugar) lining the cake, with piped buttercream coral and finished with a congratulatory greeting on the top. Congratulations, Tina and Alvin! And bon voyage!

4) The fourth iteration of cake sushi: the birthday girl loves dynamite rolls so I crafted a wooden sushi serving box out of chocolate cake and placed some dynamite maki and salmon, tuna and red snapper nigiri. Little extra features included a bamboo border, chopsticks and a personalized fortune cookie. I always love the opportunity to do something I love (sushi!) with the freedom to customize each cake. Happy birthday, Maddy!

5) This wedding cake was filled with alternating layers of red velvet and chocolate cake with cream cheese buttercream. The bride's and bridesmaids' bouquets had beautiful blue orchids and white roses so I accented the cake with edible flowers. Congratulations, Jackie and Barry!

6) This coconut cream birthday cake was fashioned to look like a Tiffany & Co jewellery box. The bow, tag and "22" charm were made from gumpaste. Happy birthday, Michelle!

It has been a busy end to 2011 and I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for sweet&splendid!


-Danielle

the finer things in the life

 

I've never been able to justify spending extravagant amounts of money on myself, although I have been able to justify receiving extravagant gifts - with ease. I hope the recipient of this cake feels the same way - at least about the latter part. This cake was prepared for a 40th birthday party for a woman who loves the finer things in life. 

The bottom tier is a 10" square chocolate and vanilla cake covered in teal fondant to look like a Tiffany & Co. box. The ribbon was sculpted out of gumpaste and dusted with heaps of pearl dust to give it a beautiful shimmer. 

The birthday girl's nickname is Diamond Girl and to incorporate that some hand-made sugar gems were as diamond jewelry. Side note: making these gems created a bigger mess than creating the rest of the cake. Boiled sugar is very, very splashy.

The purse was constructed of five layers of red velvet cake with cream cheese buttercream. Each symbol was hand painted with gold luster dust, and all the detailed pieces were made with gumpaste (the tag is engraved with "LOUIS VUITTON PARIS). This was an extensive but amazing project.

Happy birthday, diamond girl!


-Danielle

quack.

A plastic yellow duckie bathtime toy was recreated out of cake this week to celebrate a baby shower. If only I could have figured out how to make it squeak...

 

The body of the duck was carved from lemon buttercream sandwiched between three layers of vanilla pound cake. A ball of rice krispie treats was used to shape the head, and gumpaste was used for the beak.  All the other details were made from gumpaste or fondant.

 

To dress the cake up a little bit a pink layer of folded fondant was applied to the cake board and finished off with some fondant bubbles. In case the pink bow, flirty eyelashes and "it's a girl!" script hadn't given it away, the mommy-to-be is expecting a little girl.

Congratulations to the new mom (and dad)! 

-Danielle

don't drink and surf

It's been a busy few days but I got to make some really cool new edible designs. The better half's sister requested a surfboard cake for a family gathering and cupcakes for a wedding anniversary, and a friend's request  for a birthday cake in the shape of her dad's favourite bevvie.

1) The surfboard

Truly a fun design. I cut out a surfboard from a stack of 14" square vanilla pound cakes, covered in fondant and decorated with gumpaste frangipanis, pearls, and a fin; the hibiscus flowers were hand cut from coral fondant. For added texture I simply piled some brown sugar around the base of the cake.

2) The cupcakes

Brownie cupcakes were topped with vanilla flavoured lime green buttercream. Each cupcake was topped with a dark chocolate rose (modelling chocolate) as well.

3) The bottle

A simple request: a Johnnie Walker black label whisky bottle made of vanilla cake. This cake was deceptively large (to feed 30+) and was actually almost two feet long. The labels are made of printed rice paper and gold luster dust was painted along the trim. To customize it a little bit, the aged 12 years label was replaced with a 60, for the father's 60th birthday. Unlike the real thing, everyone can indulge in this treat!

That's it for this weekend! Until next time...

-Danielle

phalaenopsis

My mother and her twin sister (mom II) are avid gardners; unfortunately, a green thumb doesn't appear to be carried on the X chromosome. The one plant I was tasked with taking care of this summer, a gerbera daisy, has been reduced to sadness.

Sadness.

Thankfully sugar flowers don't require as much upkeep; like real flowers, the initial time invested to get them "growing" is taxing but once it's done, they take care of themselves. No watering required. That's why I decided to make a flower pot cake for my mom and aunt's birthday(s).

The cake itself was a chocolate cake with peanut butter-chocolate buttercream filling, their favourite combination. The orchids are made of gumpaste; each leaf was hand cut and painted with petal dust and then assembled with floral wire. 

Hanging from the stem of the orchid plant were two silver charms with their initials in them ("I" and "L"). Also hand cut because I foolishly lost my shape and letter cutters.

Happy birthday, moms! I hope you love your cake (because I'm counting on you to plant my garden next season...).

-Danielle

plumage

I once chased a peacock around a zoo for 10 minutes so it would show me its feathers; only after somebody pointed out to me that I was chasing a peahen did I give up my quest. How can one be so easily confused, given that peahens are brown? Well, I was 5. So there you have it.

This peacock is much more willing to showcase its feathers.

I sculpted a small peacock out of fondant and accented his head feathers using flower stamens; they are the only component of the cake (including the structural support to prevent the peacock from sinking into the cake - made with gumpaste!) that isn't 100% edible.

Then came the real fun - getting to make each indiviudal feather piece that comprises a peacock's plumage. Here I flattened different colours of fondant, accented with gold lustre paint and arranged into the signature showpiece that is the peacock's derriere. 

While delicious to the point I could maintain it as a staple of my diet, cake isn't exactly known for being healthy. The birthday girl leads a healthy lifestyle, so this cake marks my first departure from classic recipes towards those that are more health-conscious. For this cake I included whole grain (germ too!) flour, olive oil, organic cane sugar and egg whites, either wholly in place of or in combination with the enriched flour, butter, bleached beet sugar and whole eggs that typically constitute a cake. Still tasty, and without the added trans fat and diabetic coma.

 Happy birthday, Kelly!

-Danielle

no cavities!

These ain't your grandma's dentures.

One of my lab colleagues was recently accepted into dental school around the time of his birthday; while I'm sad to see him leave, I am happy to have created for him what is arguably my most unique cake yet! He tends to shy away from sweets (so dentistry is a natural fit for his career) but does enjoy banana chocolate chip cake.

I sculpted the dental tools (I think the technical terms are "mirror-on-a-stick" and "curved poking thingy") out of gumpaste and lustre dust. I'm happy they aren't as fear-inducing as the real thing.

Congratulations and happy birthday, Chris!

-Danielle