Now, for something completely different...

I know you've all come to know us as a beacon of class and style in the Cake Business. So here's a quick reality check. I was just looking through some shots of our recent weddings for the next cake to post when I came upon this little number from a couple of weeks ago. You see, when it comes to cakes, we're quite good at taking on the design scheme, taste, and style of our clients. Happily, our clients tend to be incredibly stylish and tasteful ladies and gentlemen. Their Brothers, however...

It all started about two years ago. We were working on a wedding cake for Samantha and Andy. It was a beautiful fall color scheme with incredible burnt orange, burgundy and deep gold dogwood and branches. A true stunner. As it happens from time to time, a family member's birthday falls on the wedding day. This time it was Sam's brother Eric. We kicked around a few options for a birthday cake to surprise him at the reception. He happened to not only be a South Park fan, but also was named Eric. A Cartman cake was only natural. But not just any Cartman cake...Cartman dressed as his Big Wheel riding, "respect my authoritay" quoting obnoxious little self. We sent the bride to a local gift shop in search of anything with a sound chip so that our Cakey Cartman could talk. She came back with a bottle opener that we quickly frosted into the cake. When you pushed the button inside Cartman's mitten, he said a variety of phrases.

Fast forward two years. We get a phone call from Robin, Sam's mom. Turns out Eric is getting married now. Unfortunately for us, he's tying the knot in Las Vegas, so we can't make the wedding cake. But, Cartman must attend! So we whipped him up a tuxedo, packed him in a nice sturdy box, and he got to fly first class. No sound chip this time, might cause suspicion at airport security.

We got a lovely email that next week with a picture of our boy in Vegas. He made the trip without a scratch.

This isn't the kind of thing we're known for. As a matter of fact, we don't even do cakes this small unless accompanied by a wedding cake. But the picture that Robin sent me jumped out at me when I was perusing all of the wedding elegance that we have yet to post, and it made me smile. So I thought I'd pass it along. The more I think about it, in terms of class and style, I think this one makes the "A List".

Cake Buffet, Two Ways

Cake Buffet...I challenge anyone to utter these two beautiful words together without following up with an Mmmmm.

Now there are two distictly different philosophies when it comes to cake, especially cake(s) en mass. Some believe you should hit them with the yummy factor immediately...come out swinging, make the the cakes look so unbearably delicious that the guests start making their plan of attack for dessert before the salad has been set in front of them. This was the method chosen by Jenny and Mike.

Let's just start out by saying that these two were awesome to work with. I had made Jenny's sister's wedding cake a couple of years earlier, and as I've found is usually the case with sisters, they had two very different styles in mind for the cake. Her sisters cake was a study in Mod. A sleek metallic charcoal beauty covered in varying circle cut outs for a fabulous look. Most importantly, it was delicious...and that's why Jenny and Mike called us when it came time to plan their own wedding.

We kicked around several options for a tiered cake that would look as delicious as it tasted. Several white chocolate techniques came into play, and we were about to sketch something, when Mike saw a picture in our album that changed everything. It was a table filled with gourmet cakes, each decorated to indicate what bliss lied beneath the frosting. So, instead of sketching a tiered wedding cake, we started sketching a dozen or so smaller cakes to display in a self-serve buffet at their wedding. We had everything from Turtle cake to our signature Cream Cheese Nirvana, Pumpkin Walnut, Banana Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Almond Raspberry Creme, and don't forget Key Lime Cheesecake. We finished the display off with a two tier Brownie cake wrapped in textured white chocolate bands and topped with fresh orchids.


Class dismissed. Mike and Jenny get an A plus on Gateaux's "Method One" cake buffet.

Cake Buffet, Two Ways, Part II

So, just a week later, enter Ali and Marcus. They're having a formal evening wedding at the Carlson Rotunda. Color scheme: Black and White. Cake: Something unconventional, but chic.

Ali suggests a table with several smaller decorated cakes rather than a traditional tiered cake. But they still need to fit the decor, and brown and ivory chocolate, nuts, caramel and raspberries aren't going to work. So, Cake Buffet Method Two was born.

While just as inviting as Cake Buffet Method One, this option starts the guests out wondering if those little porcelain-like beauties are even real cakes. Then, once the caterers slice and serve them as dessert, bets are settled, and of course they were real...real damn good! I'd like to take the moment to apologize to my 3rd grade grammar teacher Mrs. Rhymer (her real name)and the many Sunday School teachers (who really did try) for that poorly worded, somewhat foul-mouthed attempt at a pun.

The best part about these two was their incredible faith and trust in the staff over here at Gateaux Inc. Like I tend to do, I decided rather last minute, that their cake designs needed a little kick. So I emailed Ali a few pictures of some new ribbon bows that I had recently created for another wedding. I couldn't help but think that they would be beautiful in black fondant. So I sketched up some new designs incorporating those onto some of the cakes, as well as keeping the giant frosting roses and monogram panels that we designed for some of the other tiers. I emailed them all to Ali who got back to me saying that I should pick whichever I think would be best, and just make it beautiful. Who does that? Certainly not me when I was a bride, or now, with anything, ever. But she did, and it was amazing to have that freedom.

So thanks to Ali and Marcus, for inventing Cake Buffet Method Two, and then letting us run with it!

Catherine and Vincent

When I met with Catherine and Vincent, they immediately told me that "It's all about the taste". Now, anyone who knows us at Gateaux, knows that we can certainly wow with the looks of our cakes (that's what people tend to come to us for) but little do they know that it's the taste of our cakes that seals the deal!

These two were so very much about the taste, that they really didn't have much interest in designing the cake at our first meeting. So, we set them up for our next sample day, and casually flipped through our many albums of past cakes while discussing which cake flavors they should try.

If we successfully wowed them with our cake, the design would be classic. They were both drawn to our lace cakes, and Catherine was wearing a lace dress, so that most likely would be the basis for our design. We'd have to discuss specifics later, because she didn't have pictures of the dress yet.

Then, it happened...as Vincent casually flipped through our books, something caught his eye. I should have known. You see, usually fellow doggie freaks tend to recognize one another, but these two slipped under my caninephile radar. Vincent was looking at a most beautiful wedding cake in our book. A classic, elegant design topped with fresh orchids. But peeking out from behind those orchids was a miniature frosting pooch.

I quickly found out that these two were proud dog-parents to two Shi tzu's named Cosmo and Chili...

and the possibility of immortalizing them in frosting may just be the thing that made this couple realize that it is all about the flavor, but you can have an awesome looking cake too!

As it turns out, Catherine and Vincent chose a cake filled with Passion Fruit Bavarian Creme and Vanilla Mousse. I went to see her dress (a beautiful Melissa Sweet gown)

and realized that I was in for more than your typical lace pattern. As a matter of fact, my original plan of how I would reproduce the pattern on the cake only lasted until I had covered about a five inch area of the bottom tier with it. I took a step back, and did what makes my employees all simultaneously groan/grumble and moan...I scraped the design right off the side of the fresh fondant, and started experimenting with alternative techniques. Sure enough, once we all put our heads together, we came up with the perfect method(s).

This little number actually involved painting, piping, clay extruder work, and of course, my favorite, tweezer work! In toll, it took four of us a thirteen hour workday to complete the intricate pattern, a total of 52 hours of woman-power. That doesn't count baking, or the afternoon spent creating little fondant Cosmo and Chili.


So here's a riddle for you. How do you know you're on the right career path? Easy, when you can work a 13 hour day, and come back excited to do it all over again. I'll never tire of this. It's such a great feeling when a couple that you really enjoy chooses to include you in the plans for their wedding. Even better when they love the result. Add in the fact that I spent a full afternoon this year sculpting frosting dogs (as part of my JOB) and you'll not find a luckier girl in the world.

So here's to you, Catherine and Vincent, who have proven to all of us that you can, indeed have your beautiful cake and eat it too.

Bari and David

Bari and David were married at her parent's home on the lake. There's nothing that terrifies a cake lady more than an outdoor reception in August, but we just couldn't say no. You see, Bari had such lovely details planned already that I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to be a part of such a beautiful affair.

We based the cake design on their sweet little letterpress invitations. A topiary motif made up of tiny little graphic flowers was too much to resist.

Add Bari's idea to keep the circle motif in tact across the four tier cake, a few frosting bird panels, and tiny frosting bees and we had the perfect design.


When time came to order favours, Bari chose our hand molded truffles. We had just the perfect little green and white striped ribbon for the boxes.

When the wedding day arrived, we were ecstatic to find that Mother nature had decided to be merciful. Seventy degrees and sunny with a cool lake breeze kept the cake and truffles in perfect condition. Those two must be doing something right!

Much thanks to Shelly Mossman www.photomoss.com for the beautiful photos of the cake, truffles and programs.

Foodie Scientists who Juggle

Our clients never fail to surprise me...

My first contact about Dana and Idris' wedding was with Dana's fabulous parents via conference call. They were doing the preliminary planning for their out of town daughter and her future husband. Their daughter and her fiance were both scientists, both "foodies" and the cake, above all, had to be delicious.

We set up samples for Dana's parents, and then a design session during Dana's next trip home. At the appointment I learned that there would be a "double happiness" character on the wedding invitations to honor the groom's heritage. I also saw pictures of Dana's beautiful wedding dress. What struck me instantly, was that the embroidery on the gown looked incredibly, like molecule models. No wonder why our scientist-bride was drawn to it!

By the time we put together the dress embroidery, double happiness, and fabulous color scheme of deep orange and red, we had a beautiful cake.

They narrowed the cake flavors down to our Fiore de Cecilia cake and our Brownie cake (only substitute dark chocolate ganache for the fudge filling) we exchanged email links between our exploding kitty cake and Dana's good friend's exploding sink/jello plume (scientists like to blow things up, just like cake ladies) and we were all set.

Now, I knew these people were fun. But when I got to the wedding to set up the cake, I got to see something I've never seen in my 13 years of cake deliveries...juggling groomsmen! How fun is that(mind you, only fun because it was in a completely different room than the cake)? They were warming up while waiting for photos to begin, but would move outside for the real show later that night. I've seen bored, fidgety, nervous, even slightly "alcohol enhanced...happy" groomsmen in my time, but never a room full of juggling groomsmen. Needless to say, I enjoyed a bit of their antics once the cake was set up. I would have loved to stay for the show, but alas, all good cake ladies are but a puff of powdered sugar in the air by the time the guests arrive. By then, we're at home juggling the remote control, a bowl of popcorn and a food obsessed Westie...now that's my kind of trick!

Rhys and Raj

Rhys was one of those brides who thoroughly enjoyed the process of her wedding from planning to the actual wedding day. Every phone call or email from her was just plain fun. It was great to be able to debut our latest "Magic Phil" creation on her wedding.
You see, Rhys originally contemplated having a wedding cake shaped like an elephant in honor of her groom's heritage. Once we sat down and saw all of the beautiful elements she was incorporating into her wedding, there were simply too many to pass up, so the elephant cake fell by the wayside. Instead, I found this awesome gold elephant plant stand, and ordered it in especially for the occasion.

The stand was fabulous, but too tall to put on a table. Enter "Magic Phil" who happened to have a beautiful piece of walnut wood that he had no plans to use. He built us the base for the elephant (the steamer trunk hardware was his addition) and a custom fitted round cake plate that attached to the elephant (now named Lakshmi, for an elephant that Rhys rode in India).

We just loved the reaction photos that Studio 306 sent from the wedding. As cake people, we're gone before the guest's arrive, so we rarely see the guests enjoying our creations. I'm always amazed at the incredible artistry in all of Studio 306's work. They're amazing!