This was a very long and busy weekend for me. My assistants and I worked an average of 12 hours a day. Of all the cakes we made, my favorite was a beautiful and very delicate pink and white birthday cake. Perfect for a young lady’s 15th (quinceanera) birthday celebration, the cake was custom designed for the occasion. The client spared no expense in throwing this huge party. The floral arrangements, party favors and overall decor were simply amazing. The ballroom was gorgeous! Everything sparkled under the huge chandeliers. I couldn’t help but notice some of the details, like the rhinestone studded champagne glasses. I caught a glimpse of the birthday girl’s sexy strappy heels studded with pink ‘bling’. How I wished I owned a pair of those myself (even if only to admire in my closet!). They were quite stunning. along with her magnificent gown and just about everything else. This is what it must feel like to be Cinderella at the ball (minus the midnight part, stepmother, etc., you get the picture).

Given how much I love the color pink, this cake earns the title of this week’s  ‘glam cake’.  I wish I would have taken a photograph of the cake in it’s entirety since this one only shows most of the tiers. This was one very lucky girl!

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I came across this photo, courtesy of poppytalkhandmade.com. As everything in my world revolves around cake in one form or another, I couldn’t help but immediately be drawn to this photo. The cakes are so beautifully designed and color coordinated. Well, it turns out they are all made of paper! Yes, paper. Even the curly ques that look like expertly made chocolate carvings are all made of paper. I thought this was a very clever and brilliantly deceiving display.  Front & Company is a unique and very trendy consignment shop in Vancouver, BC.

My compliments to the designer and those involved in it’s execution. Kudos to the photographer with a keen eye who instinctively stopped to photograph the window. Click on the image to see the cakes in more detail.

poppytalk.blogspot.com

www.frontandcompany.ca

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The last thing I want to do after spending a day in the kitchen is to go home to work in my own (yes, this is embarssing to admit, but true).  Last week I was baking dinner and suddenly caught a glimpse of my son standing next to me, oven mitts on, and demanding to be held up high enough to see into the oven.  I had no idea he even knew what drawer I kept these in.

As we made dinner together, my little man and I, I wondered about his future career choices.  Most kids play with Playdough.  Mine prefers playing with fondant.   He loves dark chocolate at a time when most children find it too bitter.  Most importantly, he is quite a connoisseur of cake.  I’d venture to say he’s a bit of a cake snob.  He has been known to snub a cake or two at his friend’s birthday parties – the typical supermarket sheetcake variety.  I wonder if he’ll still want to stir the pasta boiling on the stove when he’s 15.  So far, he does a great job of it now at age 3 (always supervised, of course).   I couldn’t help but share the photo I took of him that night. Here’s a pic of my little Cake Man Max, a rare glimpse into my personal life.

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Here is one of my favorite cakes from last weekend.  I had the honor of making a cake for a charming couple, Matt and Nicole. Nicole told me that she had made just about all of the decisions regarding the wedding decor. In return, Matt had free reign over the design of the wedding cake. Given his passion for comic book super heros, Matt chose a design that would showcase his interests. He special ordered some of his favorite Batman characters in just the right size to adorn the four tier cake. This was definitely a different kind of wedding cake, and it quickly became the highlight of the evening, but only until the bride arrived. Nicole was absolutely stunning! I was fortunate enough to see them both before the ceremony, a rare opportunity for me. Not very visible in the photos is the red and silver glitter that added that little something extra to the Gotham City skyline.

Photos courtesy of Lidia Miller Photography.

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So this is what I do on my first Sunday off in awhile.  I think about cakes.  Alot.  All day, in fact.   One would wonder what all the fuss is about.  There’s not much to it.  Flour, sugar, eggs.  In reality it’s far more detailed than that.  It’s an art form onto itself.  For me, it’s more of an obsession.   Earlier in the day, I worked on a personal project.  It involved icing.  I can’t get away from it.  It calls me, even when I should be thinking and doing other things, like laundry, or returning phone calls from friends I haven’t called in months because I am too busy making cakes.

 

 

I have spent ten hours working on this blog post today.  Six hours into my research, we had a momentary power outage.  I watched in horror as my computer screen faded to black and the familiar hum of my computer was silenced.  Luckily, my blog post drafts are set to auto save, something I hadn’t a clue about  (thank you, my fabulous IT guy) and very little was lost.  I hope you enjoy seeing these images as much as I have enjoyed researching them.

Today’s post is inspired by royalty.  And cake.  Royal wedding cakes.  I am, by nature, a very curious person.  I have always wondered what kind of cakes are served at royal weddings.  Please note that not every royal wedding cake is depicted here.  This is just a small, but very interesting collection. Some royal couples have more than one celebration and more than one cake. In those cases,  I have tried to include as many as I could find.

Many of the cakes are not what we would expect.  Some are partially fake.  Surprisingly,  in some cases, the cakes do not appear to be spectacular.  In fact, they’re down right unattractive.  Either way, preparing a cake of massive proportions  is no easy task. Much time, thought and preparation goes into preparing a royal wedding cake. The pastry chefs and artisans that are so carefully chosen to craft one of these edible masterpieces, were, and continue to be, among the most talented in the world.

Here’s a small ‘royal wedding cake’ journey through time.

1858:  Princess Victoria ‘Vicky’ (Queen Victoria’s oldest child) and Crown Prince Frederick William ‘Fritz’ of Prussia

1863:  King Edward VII and Princess Alexandra of Great Britain

1871:  Princess Louise (sixth child of Queen Victoria) and John Campbell ‘Lorne’, Marquis of Lorne

1923: Prince Albert, later King George VI of England and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

1934:  Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princes Marina of Greece

1947: Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten

Close up of the bottom tier

1955:  King Hussein and Queen Dina

1956:  Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly

1956:  Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly (image of entire cake)

1963:  Princess Alexandra and Angus Ogilvy

1964:  King Constantine II and Princess Anne-Marie

1981:  Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (one of 23 wedding cakes).  A 27 year-old slice of the cake pictured here sold at auction in 2008 for approximately $2000.

1986:  Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson

1993:  King Abdullah and Queen Rania (there were two different receptions, hence two cakes)

1993: King Abdullah and Queen Rania (this is the other cake)

1995:  Prince Pavlos of Greece and Marie-Chantal Miller (the cake was made by our very own Colette Peters). The main cake was eight tiers tall and was accompanied by 300 additional cakes, one per table. The cake design was inspired by a china pattern from the Royal Collection.

1995: Prince Pavlos of Greece and Marie-Chantal Miller (Replica of cake by Colette Peters)

1998:  Charles De Bourbon-Siciles and Camilla Crociani

1999:  Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones

2000: King Letsie III of Lesotho and Karabo Motsoeneng

2001:  Prince Haakon and Mette-Marit Tjessem-Hoiby

2002:  Prince Willem-Alexander and Maxima Zorreguieta

2004: Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson

2004: Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson (close up of the cake)

2004: Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson (cake topper)

2004:  Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz

2004:  Prince Hamzah and Princess Noor

2004:  Prince Hamzah and Princess Noor (close up)

2004:  John Philip Elkann and Donna Lavinia (a reproduction of the famous Lingotto on the “Via Niza”, in Turim, which was once a huge Fiat car factory, a company owned by the groom).  I wonder what this weighs.  If you’re wondering, that’s a unicorn on the top.

2007:  Alberto Matta and Princess Xenia Galitzine

2009: Duke and Duchess of Vendome

Images and information courtesy of:

www.imageshack.us, www.theroyalforums.com, www.gettyimages.com, www.photobucket.com, www.corbis.com, www.colettescakes.com

 

 

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The Sweet Charity event hosted by Albert Uster and held at the beautiful Mandarin Oriental in Washington, DC last week was a huge success.  This year’s show was even better than last year’s, with larger number of participants as well as guests.   The event helped raise money for The Heart of America Foundation’s® Books From The Heart℠ program, which supports and promotes literacy and community service.  The Books From The Heart℠ program provides much needed books for elementary school children as well as school libraries.  As the mother of a young son who won’t go to sleep without being read a book or two (and sometimes more),  I can appreciate the work they do and am proud to support their cause any way I can.

More than 60 area chefs and culinary entrepreneurs showcased their tasty treats, both sweet and savory.  I only wish I had had an opportunity to visit with some of the other vendors and get a little sample of everything.  I was impressed with some of the things I did get to taste, thanks to the culinary students that volunteered to help at the event.  They were happy to assist during the set up and tear down, and were on track to bring us small plates of food so that we’d be able to taste some of the fine goodies on hand.   An event as large as this can be a bit overwhelming to some, but for me, it’s exciting and entertaining, social creature that I am.

My cancan dancer cake was a huge hit.  I was happy to have finally finished working on that sugar piece.  It was my first time making a figure like that.  I had never painted a face like hers before, and if I do say so myself, I think she looked gorgeous!  It inspired me to work on two more challenging designs which I will be showcasing in two upcoming events (can’t reveal yet since I’ve been sworn to secrecy for now) .

Here are some photos of the event:

I always enjoy chatting with two of the nicest sugar artists in the area, Norm Davis and Zane Beg of ‘The Sweet Life’.

Our Signature Carrot Cake with Dark Rum Italian Meringue Buttercream.  I adorned the samples with chocolate hearts from Albert Uster.  The cakes were a HUGE hit!

Fashion Show Model

Fashion Show Model

Fashion Show Model

Reminds me a little of the ‘hand’ in the Addams Family series.

More beautiful people.

Front Row Royalty!

Fashion Show Model

Chocolate, chocolate everywhere.

I loved the display by June B Sweet.

I’d like to give some much deserved kudos to the following people:

Albert Uster’s great staff and commitment to excellence

The Heart of America Foundation for their work and perseverance

All the culinary students from different schools who volunteered their time

My friend Lidia Miller who is a photographer, not a baker (although she can cover a cake with fondant better than some bakers I know).  She graciously volunteered to help me that evening so that my two assistants could have the night off.  Thank you, Lidia!

Sherene from Beyond Imaginations for the lovely display props

And to Jenn for hours of help stuffing cake and icing into tiny little cups

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