AhMu Open House

One year ago, give or take a week, I did the wedding cake for one of Courtney's best mission friends. Alex and Cole This fall, I got a call from the Alex's uncle.  He said that he and his wife had "been to a lot of weddings, and had a lot of bad wedding cake, but they really liked Alex's cake."  That made my day!  

Their son got married at Thanksgiving time, in Florida, but they wanted to have an open house for the bride and groom here, in Kansas City, and wanted a cake.  They were very concerned that the cake be simple, and not outdo the cake that the couple had for their wedding day.  They just wanted a plain cake with a ribbon border, like Alex's, but they had a topper that they would put on top. That meant I needed to make a supported cardboard platform for the topper to sit on. 

The wedding colors were light pink and navy, so they wanted the ribbon to be light pink, but trusted me to find something that would work.

When looking at ribbon, I saw some very delicate, light pink ribbon, but it seemed that they would not stand out against the white cake, so I went with a slightly darker rose pink, in a sheer, with a narrower satin ribbon to accent it.

Back of the cake, where the ribbon attaches with white pins.

When I went to deliver the cake, the father of the groom, who ordered the cake, said, "This is exactly what we wanted!"  How's that to make your day??!

I don't always get to talk to the customers when I drop off the cake, so I was very delighted to hear that feedback!

The finished cake, all delivered.  The pink in this picture is a little more accurate than the one above, and you can see that it matches the pink runner it is sitting on.

The topper says "For Time and all Eternity"

I forgot to snap a picture when I dropped off the cake, but I noticed that the dad was snapping a few on his phone, so I texted him later and asked if I could get a copy.  He immediately texted me back with the above picture, and said that they had loved the cake, and it tasted great!

Ian and Katie

My baby brother got married!!!

I made this cake cross-country, and it was a labor of love, but the result was well worth it!

Because of the timeline, I started making petals for the gum paste sunflowers in March.  It took a TON of petals for all of the flowers I made.  Here's the timeline:

March-Started petals and make a few sample flowers, until I got what I wanted

May-Ordered supplies online, and had them shipped to my brother's house.  Mom broke her leg, and had surgery, so I took what I had and worked on more in Maryland, leaving all the flowers there until the wedding.

June-Flew to Maryland two weeks early, to start baking the cake.  Baked and assembled everything at my parents' house, stacking the cake in two parts; top two tiers, and bottom two tiers. Drove to Southern Maryland, and left the cake in an air conditioned boat house at the wedding site. Assembled and drove the cake up the hill just before the ceremony.  Left it in the building next to the reception site during the ceremony, then my husband and cousin lifted the whole thing and carried it right outside, just before the reception.

BEAUTIFUL venue overlooking the St. Mary's River in MD

I ended up making two trips to Maryland (unplanned), so I was able to take some of the flowers with me a month or so ahead of time, and I also took my supplies, to make more and leave them there until the time of the wedding.

All three of us kids had the same flavor wedding cake: white chocolate and milk chocolate pound cake with white chocolate buttercream frosting.  Because this was an outdoor wedding, however, I covered the cake with fondant, to make it more stable.  It ended up being a fortuitous choice, as the top two tiers tipped over in the car during transport, and all that happened was a dent, that I was able to push back in to place.  A couple of the flowers broke as well, but I had replacements.  

Some of the hundreds of petals, a finished flower, and the finished cake

During the reception, one of the flowers kept drooping, so the caterer helped me get some toothpicks, and prop it back up.

The cake display.  The hall in the background is an auditorium on the campus.  That's where the cake sat during the ceremony.  I didn't get a picture of the boat house.

I love it when the photographer makes my cakes look even better.  This photographer was Corrine Kensington.  She is based in Maryland, so for all of you MD friends, keep her in mind!




You can see a couple of broken petals in this one, from the mishap during delivery; but I think it looks just fine.  Imperfections are a part of nature, too.

Alex and Cole

This couple decided to get married in January, in sub-zero temperatures, but it was a beautiful day nonetheless.  

The cake itself was a simple white cake, with white frosting, and the bride supplied the ribbon for the border, and the cake pedestal.  The flowers on top were silk, and were arranged by the bride's aunt and me.  

I promise that the cake was not leaning!  It is the angle of the picture, or something.

Marissa and Joe

Another Albrechtsen wedding, so, of course, I HAD to go over the top!  And a groom's cake to boot!

Marissa is the daughter who is the same age as Courtney, and they are best friends.  Courtney was one of the bridesmaids.

Marissa's theme was peacock.  What gorgeous, rich colors, purple and teal!  I wanted to learn peonies, so I used a Craftsy course to learn how to make them, and then used them on the cake, along with feathers.  

Here is the inspiration picture that Marissa selected (along with Courtney).  But four tiers is never enough for one of "my" girls!

http://weheartit.com/entry/99587799

I still would like to improve my piping skills, but practice makes perfect!

I found the perfect "F" for Fryer, for the topper in a clearance bin at the cake decorating store.  Serendipity!

The groom is in nursing school, so I had the funnest groom's cake in mind.  The groom's parents are both nurses as well, and his mom wanted to know if I could ship one of these to Washington State.  Lol

I have no idea how many "pills" I cut out, but it was a ton.

It took several "bottles" to get one that didn't collapse.

Miles and Natasha

It is always so fun to see friends who have come through trials, triumph! 

This couple has had their share of troubles, but now, they have each other, and I couldn't be happier for them.  

I used a new tool for this cake; Marvelous Molds.  They are silicone mats with a design on them.  You just press the rolled out fondant on to the mat, remove the negative spaces, wet the back, and apply it to the cake, using the mat.  Voila!

Ok, it's not as easy as it sounds, but it is pretty slick, once you get the hang of it.  I found that using meringue buttercream worked better, because I was able to get the frosting hard in the fridge before applying the fondant; that kept the mold from leaving marks on the cake.

Marvelous Molds silicone mat

The cake, before delivery

I love it when the florist makes my pretty cake look amazing!  But this cute, happy couple outshine the cake altogether! 

The finished cake.  Beautiful colors!

Draper open house

I was SO excited about doing this cake.  The mother of the groom brought me a picture months before the event.  The couple was getting married in Miami, in August, and not doing an open house here until September, and the mother of the groom had pretty much free reign for it.

I was so happy to have a client who wanted color on their wedding cake!

The bride had chosen a beautiful combination of oranges and purple for her colors, and the cake in the picture incorporated all of them.  

I am still learning to mix colors and get the shades I need.  To top that, I only had an image on my computer to go from.  For that reason, the colors did not seem exactly right to me, but I went with them anyway.  It turned out, they were a perfect match!  I really loved how the cake was displayed in front of a mirror, and loved that the orange flowers and lamp shades tied together the flowers on the cake.

The cake was a hit!  I have had comments and calls from people all week.  That always feels good!

Devin and Blythe

No time to rest after Will and Mal's reception!  I went straight home and finished up the cake for Devin and Blythe.  Two totally different cakes that weekend, for two totally different brides; each uniquely beautiful.

Devin and Blythe had their reception in downtown KCMO.  It was, by far, the coolest venue I have ever delivered a cake to!  The building was built in 1906.  They have preserved most of the original walls, fixtures, etc.  All of the hardwood floors are pieced together and uneven, just like they have probably always been.  The first two floors are filled with artist's studios and galleries, along with a hair salon, and a massage spa.  Above those, on the top floor, is a large room for special events, like wedding receptions.  3 walls of the room are windows overlooking downtown, and the city skyline.  All of the walls have exposed brick.

To deliver the cake, I had to drive down the alley between 2 buildings, to a loading dock in the rear.  The events coordinator came down, and opened a large garage-style door to the freight elevator, which appeared to be original to the building.  I carried the cake on, she closed the two roll-down doors, and up we went!

The theme for this reception was a vintage shabby chic.  Their colors were purple and sage green. 

Here are some pictures of the venue.  They don't do it justice at all, but I wanted to share the reason why I was so excited for this one!

So, what kind of cake do you do for a wedding like this?  Well, here it is...

I love the succulents, and the wedding coordinator had a really pretty stand that we set the cake on.  The circles on the sides were cut with my Cricut machine.  (I should clarify here, that Courtney rolled out and cut most of them for me.  I really kept her busy as well!)

The cake was lemon poppy seed, with a lemon curd filling.  The frosting was made from a recipe for crusting cream cheese frosting.  It was a little more difficult to smooth than I am used to, but after some struggling, I got it fairly well smooth.  Looking at the cake after it was done, I think that imperfection really lent itself to the vintage feel, so, again, win-win!

After this reception, I went home and CRASHED!!!  No more cakes scheduled until September, so I plan to use the time learning new techniques on Craftsy.  I will post my class creations as I finish them.

Will and Mal

Whew!  This was, by far, my most challenging wedding cake yet, but I think I rose to the challenge.  I have known Mallorie since she was probably 3 or 4, so, again, this had that extra excitement of being someone I know, and am so happy for!

In addition to being a challenging design, they also ordered 200 cupcakes to give as a gift for each guest  For that reason, I hired my daughter, Courtney, as an apprentice.  Boy, did she get a crash course in cake decorating.  Not only did she bake, and frost the cupcakes, she helped cut and shape the 50 or so petals on the cake. 

To top all of that off, I accepted another wedding cake for the next day, rationalizing that it was far simpler, and wouldn't be a big deal (Ha, ha!)

Mallorie's cake was like one giant rose, and had fresh roses sprinkled on and around it by the florist.  She requested white cake, colored pink, for the entire cake, and all of the cupcakes.  Her colors were pink, navy blue, and silver, so it was very appropriate, I think.

 This is the picture Mallorie gave me, and said only that she wanted the edges silver, instead of gold, and that she wanted it to look like the picture. (No pressure, or anything!)

Here's the finished product!

At the reception

This is right after the florist put the flowers on

Another view

I learned a really big lesson with this cake; when working with fondant and/or gumpaste, always let the cake come to room temperature before delivering!

It was so humid that day, that the cold cake got a lot of condensation.  That caused a few of the petals to "wilt," but I think it really gave them a little more of a natural look, so win-win.  But I won't risk it next time.

Like I said, the cake was not the only thing I made for this wedding.  Courtney and I made 200 cupcakes.  Ever wonder what 200 cupcakes looks like? (probably not, but here they are...)

Fortunately, I did not have to package all of them.  We made the cupcakes with a sand colored swirl, graham cracker "sand," and a sprinkling of pearls.  Then, the day of the wedding, we met up at the reception site with the mother of the bride, and the bridesmaids, and set up an assembly line to finish them up.

To explain the cupcakes, you have to know how Will proposed.  They were on a service trip to Trinidad with other students from the University of Wyoming.  They kept a traveling journal, which they took turns writing in, and would then hide it for the other one to find.  Will and Mal took a walk on the beach one night, where Mal saw "Dig Here" written in the sand.  She dug, and found the journal, wrapped in plastic.  She opened it to read, and the entry said, "Keep Digging."  When she dug deeper in the sand, there was her ring, and Will got down on one knee...

Here is their story, re-created on a cupcake.

Each cupcake got a flag, and a ring, and then went in an upside down cup and lid, with a "thank you" sticker on the front.  

Congratulations, Will and Mal!

Read my next blog entry for the rest of my weekend cake fun!

Rebecca and Claude

I've always said that the most fun cakes are the ones I do for friends and family.  I have known this bride since we both had toddlers (who are now 19!).  I watched Rebecca struggle through single motherhood.  Yesterday, it all paid off; she married the love of her life, and a really great guy.  Lots of happy tears from all of us.

Their colors were black and white.  I knew that humidity might be a factor in a June wedding in Kansas, so I decided to go with gum paste swirls, instead of buttercream.  I cut all of the swirls on the Cricut machine ahead of time, and kept them in the freezer.  Here they are laying out to dry before being put on the cake.

These are the two top tiers assembled and ready for delivery.  A toothpick sticking out of the bottom marks the front.

Adding the finishing touches at the venue, 3 hours before the ceremony.

The cake table all decorated and ready to go.  It always surprises me how small such a big cake can look on the display table!

The finished product!  If you look very carefully, you can see a small fingerprint on the second tier from the bottom, dead center in the front.  Some small child couldn't wait for a piece of cake.  I didn't notice it when I took this picture, but saw it just before the bride and groom cut the cake.

Wedding dress cupcake cake

This marks another first in my cake career.  This cupcake cake was done for a bridal shower of yet another cute girl I have known since she was a child.  They are simple rosette cupcakes, laid out in the shape of a wedding dress.  I stuck them down with double sided tape.  The jewelry was supplied by the bride's mother, and added at the shower.

Cassie and Devon's Cake(s)

 Wedding cake for our best friend's daughter. We just HAD to do a groom's cake with it due to the fact that they are both HUGE Smallville fans. The bottom two tiers of the wedding cake are "dummies" (styrofoam.) to add height.  Monogram cut with Cricut.

Grooms cake was a surprise for him. The logo was cut by hand from a stencil to fit it exactly to the cake.  Superman figure is a toy borrowed from their friend.

Dahlin Cakes

I put this entry all together for a reason.  It is so fun when you find a customer that keeps coming back!  The Dahlin family is that kind of customer.

These cakes marked the first time I did a wedding cake for a bride, and then got to do her baby shower cake a few years later.  I also did her sister's baby shower cake in between those two.

The wedding cake and "boy" cake were for Ashley.  The flowers on the wedding cake were done by the wedding florist (same one I've worked with on many cakes now); the shower cake was inspired by her invitations, and I even re-created the invitation in a plaque on the cake, using my Cricut.

The baby shower cake for Felicia marked another first; the first 3-D cake I've done, and the first time using the "choo-choo train" cake pan.  It turned out to be easier than I thought.

Another reason I love doing cakes for the Dahlins' is that they LOVE red velvet cake, and I finally found a red velvet cake that is moist!