Surprised by Love

"Like the bumptious meadow vole, the heart in its striving course is very often surprised by the sudden arrival of the Great Horned Owl of Love" -R.N.Allen
And so it happened. At least that's how Michael described it.

In my line of work, you talk about love a lot. How'd you meet? How'd you fall in love? How'd you know they were the one?

But Michael's take on love was summed up perfectly by this painting by R.N. Allen. Turns out, he was unsuspectingly blindsided by love. "Does that make Nicole the Great Horned Owl?" I asked. Well if the shoe(talon) fits...

When I met with Michael and Nicole, I could only take one more wedding cake for the weekend of their wedding. I had two couples to meet for that one spot, but it didn't take long for me to decide that I wanted these two to fill out that weekend.

When they came in, they brought a copy of their invitation. It was illustrated (by Michael's sister) with a bear and an owl. The bear and owl captured the spirit of their relationship from the get-go. And here's how it went.

Michael and Nicole had taken a trip up to the North Shore early in their dating. They were in a gallery, looking for some pieces by a family friend, when they were both drawn to one particular artist's work. That's where Rick Allen comes in. It was his prints, The Great Horned Owl of Love, and Burntwood Black, that captured the hearts of this couple. So much so, that they bought both pieces, and they remain in their home as souvenirs of the beginning of their relationship.
Not all of us are this lucky. While we all have our love's origins, they aren't always so incredibly helpful in designing a wedding cake. If that were the case, my wedding cake may have taken the form of my 19 year old ass in a pair of jeans (no, literally, just my ass) as my dear husband first took notice of me as I was bent over my roommate's fish tank in my dorm room. See, not terribly cake-able.

But back to a significantly more classy couple...

Michael related to the calm, lumbering bear in the Burntwood Black Painting, while Nicole was clearly the cunning owl. With a few tweaks to the design, the two paintings would combine to make one spectacular cake. We expanded the tree to the silhouette of the tree on their wedding invitations, and upon Nicole's request, made the owl a bit less menacing (after all, love had already done its swooping). Michael suggested keeping the "Surprised by Love" text on the bottom tier, but also thought to add their names in the woodcut pattern on the sides as an hommage to the artist's tendency to hide his own name in his work. We couldn't help but to keep our poor unsuspecting Vol somewhere on the cake, so we stashed him on the right side of one of the tiers...he deserves to see this happpy ending.

But one problem loomed over us. What kind of cake stand would be worthy of such an awesome cake design. I immediately gravitated toward wrought iron, and while our dear Magic Phil, certainly could deliver on this, it turned out, that Nicole's dad is a welder, and was creating wrought iron candle holders for all the reception tables. I quickly volunteered him for the task of creating the cake stand. Not only would it match the candle holders, but it would make a great keepsake for the couple if it were made by the bride's father.

Armed with the prints, I recognized the need for some professional help (no, not that kind) on this job. So, I brought in my trustey TK. Honestly, a cake decorator is only as good as their friends who will work for cake. TK fits this profile, he's a good friend, with incredible graphic design skills, and a voracious appetite for all things cakey. Good thing, too, because this project would take a lot of time. He built me a tree from the ground up, and created the couple's names in wood-block, he even got rid of the owl's crazy eyes. Armed with his artistic edits, we created the cake out of a mixture of frosting screen printing, airbrushing, and Jenna's mad fondant mitering skills.
We delivered the cake on a Sunday. A cake-decorator's only day off. Typically, I take these Sunday deliveries with my butt-loving husband in order to give the Gateaux girls a day off, but this cake was so cool that Jenna couldn't help herself, and volunteered for the shift. When we arrived, the wrought iron cake stand was waiting for us. Nicole's Dad hit it out of the park! Keepsake, schmeepsake, I wanted to steal it, but who am I to piss off a Bear and a Great Horned Owl?


Michael and Nicole were gracious and dare I say ecstatic about their cake. When I asked Michael to email me some photos of the cake for the Blog, this is his explanation of the cake cutting photo. "I had a very very hard time bringing myself to cut the cake. I feel like I spent minutes agonizing over where to cut into it before finally willing myself to cut into it on the back of the bottom tier, where I would notice it the least. Once I started cutting Nicole had to press down because I was so torn. It was wonderful, and absolutely delicious, but I never thought cutting the wedding cake would be that nerve wracking." Did I mention how much I love this guy?

As I was leaving the reception, Michael called me aside and handed me an envelope. Here's what was in it.
I carry it in my wallet. Never know when you're going to get pulled over for drawing naked people.

Style

"Fashion fades, only style remains the same."
Coco Chanel

"Never trust a cake lady who can walk in heels."
Evil Cake Genius

I've never understood Fashion. Take it from the other cake girls, the Cake Lady ALWAYS loses the Project Runway pool at Gateaux. ALWAYS. I guess, when you spend your days working in long sleeve thermal t's and yoga pants, you have other priorities besides fashion.

That's why I love that quote from good old Coco. You see, even the most astute fashion minds, the icons of the industry understand that there is something inherently deeper than what is currently in vogue. Something that transcends yoga pants and bad hair days, and the Cake Lady has it (or at least she borrows it from her clients from time to time). The Cake Lady has style.

That's why, when I first spoke to Laura-Leigh's mom Christine, I knew we'd be perfect together. Turns out, Laura-Leigh, and Christine have that rare gift of possessing both fashion sense and style. And these fortunate few are the architects of some of the most chic and timeless cakes that we do.

Christine described the event decor as "Not French Country, more Paris Flea Market". I instantly conjured up visions of Belle Epoque Metropolitain Paris...black wrought iron and stone, the height of style...the kind that Coco speaks of, the kind that never fades. And Christine and Laura-Leigh delivered.

The color palette of soft champagne, black and Ivory set the stage for a timeless beauty. With the added drama of textural floral, linens, and candlelight, we had ample fuel for the cake-fire.



The definitive elements for the cake were the textures in the floral and an incredible motif from the wedding invitations. Coupled with a french lattice pattern imprinted on the cake and tiny little Fleur de Lis (Paris, after all...not Flea Market, leave off the first word of that phrase, and you have a whole different meaning). And what better to top this not-so-moveable of a feast? How about a vintage bride and groom cake topper. Bride and groom cake toppers are the epitome of that Coco Chanel quote. You see, whether or not they are currently fashionable, the truly well done ones, the vintage, bisque porcelain-beauties, are always in style. Especially when it belonged to the bride's grandmother.



A more timeless event, I can't remember. And once again, my clients made me look so much more chic than I'll ever be. So, thank you Christine and Laura-Leigh...maybe next year, you'll teach me to walk in heels!

Once again, the Fabulous Olive Juice Studios provided us with some absolutely incredible photos of this truly elegant affair.

Decorator's Notes

Laura Leigh's cake was a joy to decorate.  We really had the opportunity to play around with texture on the tiers. 

Quilted Tiers

We imprinted the quilted tiers with a quatre foil shaped cookie cutter.  I couldn't find one on the market, so I made my own using this kit http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product/make-your-own-cookie-cutters-kit

Textured Tiers

These tiers were fun to make.  We simply dumped out our drawer of flower cutters and mixed and matched different sizes of 5 petal cutters to layer together to cover the tiers.

Baroque Patterned Tier

This baroque pattern was too intricate to replicate using a stencil, so we shot a silk screen for it.   We screen printed a thin sheet of fondant with black royal icing, and then cut out around the pattern.  We wet the back of the fondant, and attached it to the fondant-covered tier.  You can buy this exact screen on our Evil Cake Genius site HERE

Mr. B.

Okay, anyone who knows the Evil Cake Genius knows that her one weakness is the doggies. Bring me within 20 feet of a fur ball, and I turn into a babbling, cooing, cuddling mess. Hand me a baby, and I freak out. Those things are terrifying. And kids, ooh, don't get me started. They're little Petri dishes, just crawling with germs. But give me a slobbering, butt sniffing dog, and I'll roll around on the floor with it for hours. My own dog, Speck, is truly what makes me human. She brings out all the best in me, and has turned my husband and I from a "couple" into a "family".

That's why I fell in love with Melanie, Andy, and Mr. B.

When Melanie and Andy came in for their cake appointment, they were a dream to work with. The wedding reception would be held at the fabulous Graves 601 Hotel, and they really just let me run with it. We sketched up a couple of designs, but the one that I really adored, was based on this incredible lit wall that is part of the Graves' ballroom decor.


I've always wanted to imitate that wall, but not quite literally. With the couple's color scheme of metallic taupe, silver, and navy blue, I recalled a table setting that I had torn out of Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine several year's earlier. The table was set with a Mosaic "runner" of polished rock tiles. I didn't expect them to get it. After all, we went from a cake, to a wall, to a tile table runner...but they got it...and loved it. We added two enormous gumpaste orchids to the design to echo the veritable "orchid forest" of centerpieces that Wisteria Design did for the reception, and we had a knockout cake!

Only, something was missing. It wasn't until they saw another cake in my album that was topped with one of our hand-made frosting doggies, that it came to them. Mr. B.! He must be represented, after all, he was the missing piece of their puzzle.

And the story goes like this.

Melanie and Andy's relationship was on a break. She offered to help his parents out with something up at their cabin one weekend, and Andy was there. They went to a mutual friend's bonfire that night, and out of the woods, walked Mr. B. He was a stray. Covered in wood ticks, and pitiful, but so sweet. The friends said that he had been trying to sleep in everyone's garages, and they were planning to take him to the pound the next day. Melanie took one look at that sweet boy, turned to Andy, and said "I will stay with you forever if you take him home" Andy replied "Get him in the car now!" and they have been a family ever since. I'll pause for you to collect yourselves now...

We contacted Andy's mom (official doggy day care provider) to get some photos of Mr. B. She informed us that mere photos wouldn't do him justice, put him in the car, and brought him in for a face-to-face. And she was right. From his one floppy ear, to his charming disposition, you really have to meet him to see just how great he is.

We took a full photo shoot, and I spent the afternoon sculpting him out of Chocolate paste. Jenna made him a frosting bow tie, and he was ready for his close up.

Melanie and Andy's wedding was beautiful. We set up the cake, a beautiful dessert display, and thankfully, Kelly Brown Weddings was there to capture the evening for us.





We're certain that Mr. B. is happy with his new family. And, as per Gateaux policy, the full price of his frosting likeness was donated to the ASPCA.

Clyde, Tino-San, and the answer to "That Question"

I know it's been way too long since we've blogged. But sometimes, things get so overly busy in cakeland, that blogging, like sleep, becomes a luxury. My apologies, I'll make up for my absence from the blogosphere, by writing a novel this entry...and no one deserves a novel more than Erica and Josh...and Clyde...and Tino-San.

Last weekend, we had the honor of bringing a cake to LA for an event that I cannot disclose at this time. Patience cake fans, all in good time. We were lucky enough to have a client who flew us out with the cake on their corporate jet...another Gateaux first. While in flight, after playing with the automatic shades, taking photos of us acting like important people, and a few resounding choruses of "Like a G6", the pilot invited people up to the cockpit to have a look around. Of course, my husband, the Goo, was instantly on his feet. When he returned, looking like a kid who just earned his Junior Pilot's wings, he recounted his visit. "What did you ask them?" I asked. "I asked them what the number one question they get asked is" he replied. And much to my surprise, both pilot and copilot immediately chimed in with "Have you ever crashed?"

I was surprised that people ask this, but then, I realized what the number one question I get asked is. Hands down..."Have you ever dropped a cake?" What is this morbid curiousity that people have with disaster (whether it be in the air, or of the lesser serious, except to yours truly, pastry variety)?

Well, for all of you looking for a little drama, here's your answer. No, they had never crashed a plane, and No, I've never (knocking on wood while typing is not easy) dropped a cake. But, the closest cake disaster I've had in years happened this September, and it involved Clyde and Tino-San.

Let's start with the bride and groom...Erica and Josh. Fabulous couple. Amazing taste, an incredible knack for planning, and style...good lord, style. They are my favorite type of couple. They planned their wedding from the ground up, and made everything happen, from hand-painting signs on old dock planks from Erica's Grandpa's Cabin, to growing the dahlias for the bouquets and centerpieces, to finding the perfect wrought iron marshmallow toasting sticks, they didn't miss a loving detail. The wedding would be held at The Enchanted Barn, in Wisconsin. We worked with them to create the invitations, programs, place cards...all with a whimsey turn-of-the-century carnival feel.

Then, we incorporated those designs into Erica's dream cake, and topped the cake with a seven inch replica of Clyde. No, not their dog, not a beloved uncle, Clyde is a Dahlia. You see, Erica's family grows Dahlias. Not your ordinary Dahlias, award winning, Dahlia Society Dahlias. And Clyde would be grown, and primed specifically for Erica's bouquet. Actually, the giant bloom (around 12" in diameter) would be Erica's Bouquet.

Two weeks before the wedding, we began the process of creating Clyde. We studied the photos, counted petals, mangled gum paste cutters into the 6 different petal shapes and sizes, and came up with the perfect combination of orange gum paste, and petal dust to bring that mammoth to life. We created him one row of petals per day, for 6 days, so that the lower petals could dry and not be crushed by the subsequent rows. We finished him just in time for the state fair, and visited Erica at the Dahlia exhibit to check our work (via photo, of course) against some real Clydes.

When the day of the wedding came, we packed up my brand new delivery vehicle with the cakes, and finally our beloved frosting Clyde. Now, some background. I always deliver in an SUV. And this was our first delivery in my new Nissan Murano. He's a Japanese car, with an Italian name, so we called him Tino-San. One of the selling points about Tino-San was that his cargo cover over the back area had extensions on the back side of it that attach to the head rests of the back seats, keeping all the cargo shaded during delivery. Not until we were loading the car, did we realize, that those handy extensions don't reach the head rests of the front seats, and with the back seats folded flat, they are just hanging down behind the cargo cover, and in the way if you want to load anything beyond two feet of the hatch. We flipped the extensions, and their handy head rest clips up onto the top of the extended cargo cover, and decided to deal with the issue later.

Just as I was about to leave, I opened the hatch, checked on my precious cargo, and just as I was closing the hatch, it happened. The extensions, and their clips slid backward off the cargo cover and smashed poor Clyde. How did I know? The cargo cover was blocking my view of him. If the shattering sound wasn't enough, maybe it was the airborn shards of orange petals that shot up into the air when it hit that gave me all the information I needed to feel like someone just punched me in the stomach.

It felt like walking through jello to get to the side door of Tino-San to see what I was facing. And all the prayers to the Cake gods that spilled from my shaking lips on the way were for naught. He was pulverized. The entire back half of him, smashed, gone. Five days of work, and no backup...gone.

I called the Goo, I called Jenna (both on their way to another delivery) I kept Julia heading to Wisconsin with the S'mores buffet in her car. When they arrived, I had the orange gumpaste out, and felt like that surgeon on the hospital shows...you know the one...who keeps shocking the dead guy until someone kindly takes the paddles from him and advises that he "Let it go". Lucky for Clyde, that voice of reason doesn't exist at Gateaux. Jenna cranked out petals like a mad woman, and fortunately, the inner most portion of the broken petals remained intact, giving us a shelf to lay the new petals on. They held up in perfect position. With anything but surgeon-like steadiness, I replaced the 17 broken petals, packed clyde into my front seat, and began the drive to the Enchanted barn in my new Nissan Murano with a new feature...a cargo cover covered in packing tape to hold up the offending extensions.

When we arrived at the barn, we saw Erica, still wearing a t-shirt and jogging shorts, but with her veil and makeup done, she was already an incredible sight. She informed us that Clyde died. Did Julia tell her, I was thoroughly confused, and began to explain that I resurrected him, when I realized that it was her bouquet Clyde that she was referring to. I explained that frosting Clyde had an equally rough morning, and with her unfailing grace, she was completely unfazed. As for her bouquet, an equally stunning Red Dahlia took Clyde's place.

We set up the cake, with even Julia amazed that Clyde had been in a wreck...she didn't notice any signs of the breakage. Josh, the groom sent me a photo that next day entitled "Clyde looked pretty darn good" and, while they are the type of couple who would have done that to make me feel better even if Clyde looked hideous, he was right. I couldn't see any signs of damage.

I left Julia to set up the S'mores buffet, and had to get back to Minneapolis for another set up. Thankfully, one with far less drama.

So there you have it. Our biggest (knock on wood, again) cake disaster, narrowly averted. I'm sure there will be others, as it's the nature of the business. But keep this in mind next time you see a cake being set up. Do you really want to know if the pilot that is flying your plane has ever crashed? Maybe that's best left unasked.

By the way, Erica and Josh did such an amazing job planning their wedding that it won the Minneapolis St. Paul Bridal Guide Diamond award for "Wedding of the Year". Last I heard, they were planning to buy an old barn and renovate it for weddings. I will be the first in line to recommend their business to potential brides. And may I suggest the name "Clyde Farms"?

 

Sometimes it's just too easy.

Sometimes, it is just that...too easy. When I met with Paige and Nolan, I had this photo of a cake that I had just found online, that I had to recreate. It was done by the Cake Girls in Chicago, and it just knocked me over with sheer cakestacy. The cake was a grey fondant background, with blush pink flowers in perfect lines on the sides. Paige and Nolan were planning their wedding in grey, black and blush pink. We're halfway there. Unfortunately, it's the second half of the way there (hoping that the clients have the same taste as you in cake design, convincing them that grey food is okay to serve (people have hang-ups about grey fondant...which I find funny, because they seem to have no problem eating cakes shaped like books, tree trunks, suitcases, even beloved pets, but grey fondant tends to freak people out!?!) and most importantly, not breaking the Gateaux Cardinal Rule...Each cake must be original, designed specifically for the client and their event. Now, once again, I remind you that I'm a cake lady, not an English major, so forgive that last monstrosity of a sentence, and we can all move on.

Paige and Nolan loved the cake that I showed them. They weren't afraid of grey fondant, and best of all, they brought me a copy of their beautiful invitation for added inspiration. The invitations had embossed brocade edges...matte black on high-gloss black. Ultra chic...ultra cake-able!!

So we sketched up several options morphing the cake idea with the invitation pattern. One after another, they kept coming, each prettier than the last design, until I was staring at a table full of cake sketches. Too easy.

For those of you who haven't been in for a consult with us, I'll fill you in. We send our lovely couples home with the black and white sketches, then when they come in to pick up their cake samples on sample day, we give them a stack of colored sketches from which to choose their final design. What often happens in the meantime, is that I fall in love with one of the designs. But, it is out of my hands at that point. After all, as much as the cakes are mine, mine, mine...they ultimately aren't mine at all. They are, as much as I cringe to admit it...not...mine...

That's why when it came to Paige and Nolan, it was, once again, too easy. They called back with their design choice, which happened to be my favorite!!

We got their invitation vendor to release the invitation art and monogram, and happily went about creating the cake. We created 72-plus flowers for the tiers, then saddled Julia with the task of centering each flower with a rhinestone, circled with eight edible silver dragees (I didn't say "too easy" for her, but for me it was a breeze!) We screenprinted the brocade pattern in grey royal icing over a black fondant band...never tried that before...worked like a charm. And delivered the cake to the Graves Hotel, where the bridal party was rehearsing the wedding right before the ceremony began.


We got to see the bride's reaction as we stacked the cake. That's when I realized that it really was her cake, not mine. But with such a gracious and grateful bride, even that was easy....too.

Thanks to JM Photography for these beautiful images!

Erin's Wedding, and the two Kays

I did a 60th birthday cake for a brilliant woman (Hi Maria) a couple of years ago. She is a professor at Mankato, and was leaving for Africa right after the party to finish her latest paper. The subject, I'm sure I will over-simplify...but it intrigued me to the core...the dual personalities of women. Not that freaky Cybil-type stuff, but something that every woman is familiar with in her daily life, just maybe she's not aware of it. Maria is studying how women change their outward persona depending on the situational demands they face during any given day. Business woman, vs. Mother, vs. Wife...all incredibly different. She simplified it for me by pointing out that to listen to me on a phone call with a client is very different from hearing me talk to one of my friends. Women tend to take on different behavior, speech patterns, etc. depending on the situation.

Fast forward to six months ago. I find an appointment on the books for a bride named Erin..(with Jenna's Mom, Kay). Those of you who have worked with us know Jenna. She is my right-hand woman...the organized, hard worker who actually gets work done despite my constant distractions.

Erin is Kay's best friend. I've met Kay several times. She is the consummate Mom. I call her Mrs. Weasley because of her fabulous red-hair, and penchant for worrying about her six kids (she sends out mass texts when severe weather enters the area). Not sometimes....ALWAYS.

I met with Erin and Kay, and Erin's son Alex, on a Monday. Jenna's day off. I was ready for a nice little chat and some cake sketching with Mrs. Weasley. What I got, however, was a sociological experience, that my college-professor client Maria would be proud of. You see, Mrs. Weasley, when with her friends, is a riot. I've never laughed so hard at a cake appointment in my life. Those two women had me laughing, blushing, practically crying. Poor Alex, just rolled his eyes from time to time, as though this were par for the course when these two joined forces.

By the time they left, we had three completely different cake sketches, and an appointment for them to come back to discuss invitations. Not necessarily because I had some amazing ideas for her invitations, but more like I just wanted to hang out with them again.

By the time they returned for the invitation meeting, now with Erin's sister in tow (more fuel for the revelry) Erin had decided to do the skyline cake that we designed. Her reception would be at the top of the IDS building, so we decided that we could use the view as our inspiration. We decided to carry that theme over to the invitations, adding a silhouette of the church where the reception was to be held to the Minneapolis skyline. Any other significant landmarks? Alex had an answer for that. Turns out they were holding out on me. Erin's family owns the Rollergardens. Yep, you know it, the St. Louis Park Landmark Roller Rink, with...a giant dinosaur on its roof! Well, turns out they had to move the dino inside, after years of it being stolen as a SLP High Homecoming prank, but nonetheless, DINOSAUR.

I set Alex out to do some recon. He is an incredibly talented photographer. He got me photos of the church, the Rollergardens, and yes, the Dinosaur. We got the photos to my husband/graphic design consultant, the Goo, who created a landscape logo for the invitations. The Rollergarden silhouette featured on the RSVP card, where the options to attend were either "All skate" or "Wipeout".

Best thing about the invitations, was finding one in my mailbox. My husband and I decided to "All Skate" and had a fabulous time. We got to enjoy seeing the guests react to our light-up skyline cake, and even had a slice ourselves.


Alex took a skyline photo of Minneapolis, that they enlarged to poster size, cut into place card size pieces, and put back together on a large board. Coolest place card I've ever seen. The Goo and I got to sit at a table with Jenna and the other Weasley kids, and I got to see Jenna's mom play the role of Jenna's mom again. With a few moments of Erin's friend peppered in for good measure. Both are lovely women.