The Secret Ingredient

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough" -Mark Twain

I've been decorating wedding cakes for 18 years.  I've seen trends in design and flavor come and go, some I wish would have stayed a little longer, others (like rosewater infused cakes, which give me a pounding headache when they're baking and in my opinion taste like you're eating some one's grandmother...just sayin') I'm glad have passed.

Every once in a while, completely independent of current trend, I have a string of cakes that have a uniting theme.  This is what happened this late summer and fall at Gateaux.

Let's start with Cassie and Andrew.

They had a beautiful wedding planned, and their invitation had one of the most beautiful Damask patterns I'd ever seen.  That invitation, coupled with their striking color scheme of white and charcoal with a punch of purple in the floral, made designing their cake a breeze.

Once the sketches were complete, I brought out my flavor list and handed it to them.  Typically, the groom is all over this part of the appointment.  He has done his duty of not squirming in his seat too much while the ladies in the room are discussing the finer points of Brocade fabrics, the difference between Charcoal and Gunmetal grey, their preference of Cymbidium over Cattaleya orchids, etc. and now he gets to talk in terms he can truly understand...dessert.

Andrew, however, handed the menu to Cassie and leaned back as though his part of the meeting was over.  I was puzzled.  After all, he was quite involved in the design of the cake.  This was his chance to, well, eat!!  I asked him why he wasn't as excited as he should be about choosing his cake flavor, and he answered those blasphemous four words that no cake decorator should ever hear... "I...don't...like...cake." 

Once I regained consciousness, I investigated further.  I've seen this syndrome before.  Surely, he was a pie man.  I've had those before.  Actually, it was a guy who only liked Pumpkin Pie, who inspired our Pumpkin Walnut cake flavor, which is to this day my personal favorite of all of our cakes. 

Alas, Andrew was not a pie man.  He wasn't a sweets man at all.  "Surely, there must be something you like?" I asked.  And he replied, "Whiskey".

Game on Andrew, Game on.

I do samples once a month.  Since we never freeze a cake, we bake up all the flavors that my potential clients have requested, and everyone comes in on sample day to pick up a box of cake slices to take home and share with their family.  This gave me about three weeks to figure out how to put my cakey money where my mouth was, and create a "Whiskey Sour" wedding cake flavor.  I didn't stop there, I also promised a purple velvet cake to compliment the frosting orchids on the tiers.  Typical me.

We played around with a lot of options that next baking day.  And recalling my headaches during the "great rosewater trend of 2010" I refrained from putting whiskey in the batter.  Instead, we made a limoncello flavored batter with a kick of lemon zest, and filled it with a Mousse that was positively drunk with whiskey.  To my surprise, it was not only acceptable, but delicious!  As a matter of fact, Cassie and Andrew chose to split their wedding cake between the Whiskey Sour cake and the Purple Velvet cake filled with the Whiskey Mousse!

When we set up the cake, the bridal party was milling around between photos.  It was such fun to see the reaction of the bridesmaids when they saw the cake, and the reaction of the groomsmen when Andrew told them that this otherwise beautiful, elegant cake had one badass secret ingredient....besides love.

I love the photo of Cassie hesitating to cut her cake, and the photo of  "I don't like cake Andrew" (yep, that's your new code name around here) taking the matter into his own hands.

Now, we move forward a month to Erin.  Erin wanted to surprise her groom with a wedding cake.  Not a groom's cake, a wedding cake.  Her planner, the lovely Sarah at Lasting Impressions, called us in for the task, because this was no ordinary wedding cake.  Erin wanted it shaped like a giant bottle of Jameson Whiskey.

And we're off again...

When I met with Erin and her mom, I must admit, that I wasn't expecting a sweet little young thing to walk into my shop.  I guess I have a misconception of what a girl who wants a whiskey bottle wedding cake should look like.  I expected someone a little older, a lot tougher, and possibly covered with tattoos.  Again...just sayin'.

So I interrogated her.

Turns out, the couple had been studying abroad and travelled quite a lot together.  While in Australia, his parents paid them a visit, and brought with them bottles of Jameson Whiskey.  Now we're onto something.  The fact that the Whiskey reminding them of their travels together made a lot of sense.  I quickly changed the design to a whiskey barrel. 

We could create a life-size whiskey barrel with a life-size chocolate bottle of Jameson on top.  The barrel would be branded with postmarks of the places they had travelled together (almost as if it had tagged along for the ride).  Once we added this concept, the stories began.  From how he fell asleep on an anthill while camping in Australia, to the earthquake they had survived in New Zealand.  We added little touches to the cake to tell their story, and I was ready to talk flavors.

More ready than they knew....I had the Whiskey Sour cake up my sleeve!  They sampled the cakes, and chose three flavors.  The Almond cake, The Tuxedo cake with Fudge Filling, and my favorite, Pumpkin Walnut.  The lesson, you can't tell a cake/book by it's cover/frosting.

We were setting up a S'mores buffet in another room when Erin and Mike entered their cocktail hour and she surprised him with the cake.  I have never heard such a reaction.  The guests roared and cheered like someone just hit a home run.  I had no idea what was going on in that room until the photographer came into our staging area to let me know that that raucous cheering was during the cake reveal and cutting.  And boy, did she ever capture it on film!

So there you have it...a tale of two Whiskey cakes.  I don't think we'll be seeing an upswing in the trend, but do very much enjoy the two that I had the pleasure of working with this past year.  So here's to you Cassie and Andrew, Erin and Mike

"May the winds of fortune sail you,
May you sail a gentle sea.
May it always be the other guy
who says this drink's on me."

Decorator's Notes

Cassie and Andrew's cake was one of my favorite, and at the same time most challenging Damask Cakes.  Her invitations were quite intricate, and I didn't want to compromise on the cake.  So, I brought in a graphic artist to help me sort through and turn the damask pattern into something that would stencil well.  Fortunately for anyone who wants to reproduce this look, I have added the three stencils that we created for this cake to our Evil Cake Genius shopping site.



The separators for this cake were custom cut Styrofoam dummies, covered in Swarovski Crystals.  While we refuse to do dummy cakes (what fun is it when people say "that isn't a cake" and you can't reply "you bet your sweet xxx it is!" we do use styro for separators when they are going to be covered entirely in crystal.  Best not to tempt any busy caterer to serve a slice of Austrian Crystal to some unsuspecting guest.

The solid grey tier was imprinted with a quatrefoil pattern.  I couldn't find the imprinter I was looking for anywhere, so I resorted to making my own cookie cutter and used it as an imprinter for that tier.  You can buy sets to make your own cookie cutters here http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/9625--make-your-own-cookie-cutter-kit.html?gclid=CPGfuczI7rYCFSNqMgodaVAAqA

The chocolate Jameson Bottle was hand-molded, and the label was screen printed fondant.  The barrel cake weighed 140 pounds, and is responsible for my first-ever Cake Injury!  We were not prepared for quite how heavy it would be and needed to move it in and out of refrigeration to decorate it.  Before the fondant was even placed on the cake, it took three of us to maneuver the beast in and out of the fridge.  By the time the cake was covered in fondant, we had pulled down a rolling table from storage, and built ramps to wheel the table up to the refrigerator shelf height and then back down to the table height.  Unfortunately, it was too late for the Evil Cake Genius.  I pulled a Pectoral muscle somewhere in the pre-ramp stage of decorating.  If you've ever pulled that particular muscle, you can attest to the fact that it is the slowest of all injuries to heal, and there's nothing to do but wait...and make up a better, more heroic story to tell everyone who asks why you're wincing every time you turn your head more than ten degrees.  I prefer the "lifting a car off of a small child, or fought off a half dozen Ninjas story.

Many thanks to my friend Lindsay at "A Wish and a Whisk" cakes in California for helping me figure out how to structure the beast without it imploding under its own weight into a cakey black hole.  Next time, you're coming to help me move the thing around Lindsay!



Telling Tales

I love making cakes that tell a story.  Sometimes, it's literal...you've seen our book cakes, if not, go to our Babies post just below this one to see a good example. (Coincidentally, Miss Charlotte was born yesterday! Welcome Miss Charlie, we're sorry there is a foot of snow on the ground to greet you on your April Birthday.)  Other times we take a more subtle approach, and set up almost a "still life" in cake to share a couple's story (See Samanthony and the Beach for a great example).

When I first heard about Marlene and Bobby's wedding, I knew nothing about them besides the fact that they had chic modern invitations designed by their coordinators Amy Zaroff Events, and that their wedding would be held at the fabulous Graves 601 Hotel.  So, no ruffles and frills in store for this cake.  I planned to work the honeycomb pattern from the invitations on their cake and create a graphic, unique design that would blend with their choice of venue, and their style, nothing more...Then I met them.

Marlene and Bobby are not your typical couple.  They met at college, and that is where the "typical" ends.  As a matter of fact, they admitted outright that when they met they didn't particularly like each other.  To quote the cake (we'll get there, trust me) "Marlene thought Bobby was pompous and Bobby ignored Marlene, since she was just a Freshman".

First impressions aren't everything...as a matter of fact, I've heard from several of my clients that they really weren't fond of their eventual spouse when they first met.  It was getting to know them, and learning that they had so much in common that changed the tune of their stubborn hearts.

That must be it!  So, I delved further.  Bobby is in politics.  So that's my answer!  They met in Student Government (according to the cake...Patience, people, we'll get to it!!) so they must be two politically driven passionate people! ...and they are!!! He is passionately Republican and She is an equally outspoken....rrrrrrrrtrtttttttttt....hold everything...Democrat.

Turns out, the differences were numerous.  He was a small town boy, she was a city girl, he's Christian, she's Jewish.  Not even geography was on their side.  Bobby graduated shortly after they began dating and moved from New York to Minneapolis, while Marlene spent that Summer in Madrid, and then went back to New York to finish two more years of school followed by a year in London.

Sounds doomed.

Now, let the Evil Cake Genius interject for a moment.  You see, when the Captain and I decided to tie the knot, we went through the pre marital counseling required by the church in which we were married.  The Pastor, Harry, was excited to share a compatibility test that was created at the neighboring U of MN.  He had administered this survey to other soon-to-be-wed couples and found it very useful in identifying the few inevitable personality/compatibility clashes that every couple must face.  We took our tests separately, and the next week, he shared our highly scientific results. 

Truth be told, he had "never seen a couple so incompatible".  Seeing as we already put a deposit down on the reception venue, the three of us decided to ignore the esteemed University's opinion and rely on the possibility that the Captain, is simply the "Yin" to my "Yan". 

Happily, seventeen years later, I can report that despite the warnings from our Alma Mater, the Captain and I are still not only married, but actually like each other.  My East Coast abruptness somehow balances his California chill.  My embellished stories are balanced by his quiet voice of reason, and I wouldn't have it any other way.   And that whole "I married my best friend" bull, you can keep it.  I have a best friend.  Her name is Sherrie.  And I have a husband, who I live with, fight with, laugh with, cry with, and love. Never trust a couple who "doesn't fight".  They're either lying to you, or they have the most boring relationship on the planet.  Yeah, I said it.

Back to our couple.

With my personal experience and passion for "opposites" attracting, I was thrilled when I saw that Marlene and Bobby had already shared their less-than-typical courtship with their guests.  The designer over at Amy Zaroff  Events, had cleverly put their story together, complete with campy 1950's graphics and created a save the date card that told all!  Even better, they were fully on board with telling their tale again on the wedding cake.  This time, we'd add the story of Bobby's elaborate and thoughtful proposal, as well as their very own happy ending.

We took the graphics from the Save the Date, created the new graphics for the proposal and top tier panels, and ran with it.  All that was left of my original design was a few fondant hexagons on the ledges, which seemed a little lackluster, until we added parts of the story to those as well.

What resulted, was one of my all time favorite cakes.  Not only in look, but in spirit.  It's the truth...the whole truth...presented in the best way possible.  In Cake.  Marlene and Bobby chose to embrace their differences as part of their story.  They even had political booster buttons as their place cards, seating each guest at a table identified, not by a number, but by a political ticket from US election history. 

If this is enough reading for you, I fully understand.  Feel free to cut bait now, and go grab a snack, or watch some television, maybe even read some actual literature.  I won't be offended.  But I must warn you, that the story doesn't end here.

Like all good political opponents, Marlene decided to uncover a secret part of Bobby's past and make it public at their reception (which, I might add, was a mere eight weeks before the 2012 election).  And I was thrilled to see that she refrained from using one of the 24 hour news channels, a tabloid, or a newspaper to do the deed.  She used...a cake.

Now, if you read the wedding cake, you know that Bobby moved to Minneapolis and set up house long before Marlene moved here.  So, when Marlene returned from London to her new home with Bobby, she was a little shocked to see that he had decorated the bathroom of their place entirely in Spider Man accoutrements.  He had it all, shower curtain, shower curtain rings, soap dispenser, tooth brush holder, and most importantly, when she asked "Is there a matching garbage can?" the answer was "Yes".  With a sigh of relief, she did exactly what any future wife would do under the circumstances.  She loaded that charming Spidey garbage can with the other Super Hero accessories, and escorted them to the neighborhood's Avengers Head Quarters, conveniently located inside the dumpster behind their building.

This story is a job for the second type of tale-telling cake that I mentioned (what seems like a year ago) in the opening paragraph of the blog.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  A cake sculpture is worth at least as many, plus it tastes better than any of the words I've had the pleasure of eating in my life (see above, I'm East Coast, aaaand Italian, I've eaten my share of words).

So, we whipped up this Super Hero expose, Gateaux style.  With a little embellishment, and  a lot of humor.  Marlene was completely on board, loving the addition of crumpled frosting Kleenex and Q-tips.  She emailed us links to the full array of Spiderman Bathroom Décor that she banished from the apartment, and like any good informant, kept the lid on the "scoop" until just the right moment(the reception).

We set up the wedding cake, watched the couple enter their ceremony, then rushed in for a stealthy Groom's Cake set up during the ceremony.  We wondered what his reaction to his public Super Hero "outing" would be, but alas, we are cake ladies.  We dissolve into a mere puff of powdered sugar by the time the reception is underway.  Thankfully, their fabulous photographer Erin Johnson caught a few shots of the newlyweds with the cake.  Marlene was also sure to let us know how well it was received once they returned from honeymoon.  She even included a great shot of her with Bobby reenacting the Great Bathroom Scene for posterity.  (Notice the finger prints on the cake from some anonymous/curious guest...yes, that's a cake!!)

So, our foray into political journalism came to its well-deserved end.  And back to the Lair of the Evil Cake Genius, we went.  Thanks Marlene, and Spider-Bobby for the reminder that the best love stories are the weird ones.  We wish you spirited election years, and love, and fights, and all that goes with a great marriage.  Congratulations, Mazel Tov, and Tingling Spidey-Senses for years to come.

Decorator's Notes:

Marlene and Bobby's wedding cake was made with custom screens so that an entire side of a tier could be screen printed in Royal Icing in one swipe.  I can't imagine the amount of time it would have taken to hand letter those tiers...I'd still be working on it now.  We sell many screens on our Shop Gateaux Store https://apps.facebook.com/ecwid-shop/store/331154735494

The Spidey cake was such fun to make.  We actually ordered a set of the Spiderman Shower Curtain Rings and cast a mold off of it to make ours out of chocolate.  We use a ton of this stuff.  I wish I had a wholesale source for it, but you can find it at http://amazingmoldputty.com

The hand towel was textured by stabbing it repeatedly with a small star tip.  It's not easy on the hands, but makes a great terry cloth texture.

We molded the base of the soap dispenser out of colored white chocolate.  Sometimes you just have to look around a bit to find the right mold.  This one was molded in a quart carton from whipping cream. 

Inspired?  Check out our Evil Cake Genius site for great stencils, screens and cutters.  We're adding new items weekly, so check back often!

Babies

Don't take this wrong, but babies freak me out.  I'm the youngest of four, my husband, The Captain, is the youngest of four, so neither of us have ever lived in a house with one of these mysterious creatures.  I have a darling niece/God Daughter, Kendra who has two adorable little girls of her own now, but she and I sadly, have never lived in the same city.  On my husband's side, we have ten, count 'em ten nieces and nephews.  Most of them do live in the same area as we do, but we were never asked to babysit (possibly due to the constant look of terror on both of our faces whenever we were in the vicinity of an infant). 

Lots of people misinterpret this as us "not liking kids".  That's not necessarily true.  Despite their tendency to behave uncannily like drunk adults (think about it...they fall over easily, are overly emotional, and are prone to throwing up) and the fact that they are perpetually sticky, I don't dislike them.  I'm just terrified of them.  And I've been six feet away from a pride of lions while they killed and devoured an Impala in less than three minutes.  Lions, Black Mambas, African Jumping Spiders...nothing.  Eight members of a TV Crew following me around waiting for me to screw up for three weeks...I got this.  Negotiating the Khan El-Khalili market in Cairo armed with only a dozen words of Egyptian Arabic...no problem.  Swimming on a sand bar full of Stingrays who rub up against your legs like cats...I'll talk baby talk to them and pet their velvety bellies.   Put me in a locked room with a crying kid, and I'll claw my way through the drywall to escape the horror.

Needless to say, I have a lot of respect for my wedding clients who return to me when they have decided to take the baby plunge.  Some responsible, patient, loving folk have to raise the next generation of cake fans, and we know that it isn't going to be me that (Wo)man's up to the task.

This past weekend, we had a rare occurrence at the shop.  No weddings...two baby showers.  Let's start with Ann and Tyler.  Since we made their fabulous "Parrot Head" wedding cake, they have had a darling little girl.  Now that they are expecting their second, they decided that it would be fun for us to make them a "Gender Reveal" shower cake.  For those of you living under a Pinterest-free rock, a gender reveal cake is tinted either pink or blue so that when the parents cut the cake at their shower, the gender of the baby is revealed.  Tyler and Ann dropped off the sealed ultra sound with us a few days before the party so we were the first to know.  Very flattering...I thought, as I opened the sealed envelope, expecting to see that oddly sweet "alien-looking" profile that we've all seen before.  Instead, I got a bottom up view with a little arrow that said "It's a boy!"  I'm no ultra sound tech...but the way this kid was flashing me, I didn't need any clarification.  Modesty, little Tyler!!!

Fortunately for my innocent little eyes, Erica and Josh already knew they were having a girl when they asked me to make baby Charlotte's shower cake.   If you haven't followed the blog for long, check out their beautiful wedding cake etc. here.  As if my car crushing their prize gum paste Dahlia wedding cake topper wasn't enough, they chose a different way to stress me out with the shower cake.  "We want you to surprise us!!"

Before

After

Nothing (shy of a crying child) stresses out the Evil Cake Genius more than surprises.  Carte Blanche is, needless to say, not my color.  Playing along, I agreed, but asked for a tiny bit of guidance, and here's what I got.  Erica sent me a link to a baby shower that was duck-themed in a beautiful yellow and grey color scheme.  She also mentioned that she loved the "Little Golden Books" and those beat up old vintage building blocks, and that while they loved our tiered cakes, it might be fun to make a trompe l'oeil cake for the shower.  Josh, unbeknownst to Erica, had let us in on her love for her own baby blankie (at least what's left of it).  He even provided us with these "Before and After" photos of the blankie for reference.

He also mentioned that it would be great to see big brother Wilson (their bulldog) represented on the cake. 

So, for over a month, I stressed out.  Planned, changed plans, designed, redesigned, and finally came up with a design that would look like a stack of nursery rhyme books next to an open book.  We could have one of the books be "The Pokey Little Puppy" and have a mini Wilson head sticking out from the pages of the book.  The open book would be a classic, but nondescript fairy tale with a title page that read "Welcome Baby Charlotte".  I had the perfect vintage Fairy Tale book at my house, and once I paged through it, and found that every illustration had something either disturbing, racially insensitive, or downright weird, I moved to "Plan B".  That involved several trips to used book stores, where I found out that my vintage Fairy Tale book was no exception (check them out sometime, they are downright bizarre) and endless hours searching online for the perfect illustrations. 

Finally, at around two o'clock in the morning, two weeks before the shower, I was searching online, when I realized that I could use one of my books.  I had a stack of books that were favorites from my childhood, and figured that "Miss Susie" the squirrel who lives in a dollhouse, might have some great illustrations in it.  I walked out of my office, through the living room on my way to the basement and stopped directly in front of two framed prints on my living room wall.  They were a gift from The Captain, many years ago.  Two beautifully illustrated pages from my favorite version of "The Velveteen Rabbit" just on the pages where he becomes REAL.

I had just read the passage about becoming real a few months earlier while we waited for the vet to bring back our Child, Speck, from the back room where they gave her her latest vaccinations.  Speck is 14 years old.  She is the joy of our lives...a feisty pain in the ass, naughty Westie, who we adore with all of our hearts.  The vet had commented that her hair was thinning around her collar as it happens with older dogs.  I told her that the hair had been "loved off" and as any techno-spoiled girl would, I found the passage to back my reference on my phone while The Captain and I waited for Speck to get her shots.

“What is REAL?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day... "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Rocking Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Rocking Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Rocking Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand... once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.”

I ran back to my office, and sketched the fastest, most unreadable sketch of my career.  We would swap the stack of books for a present with a Chocolate Paste Velveteen Rabbit coming out of the box.  Instead of frosting tissue paper, we'd make a frosting version of Erica's blankie ("before" version") and, since we adore Erica and Josh, and planned on getting them a shower gift anyway, I ordered a copy of the original book and the plush bunny before sighing with relief and going up to bed. 

The following weeks were filled with moments of doubt that my design was possibly "self serving" or that maybe for some reason, Erica and Josh were the two people on the planet who for some reason hate "The Velveteen Rabbit".  You know, the usual, neurotic crap that The Evil Cake Genius puts her twisted mind through.

Happily, when we delivered the cake, Erica and Josh were delighted.  Erica instantly recognized her blankie, and she seemed to have the same trouble that I did reminding herself that she couldn't cuddle the frosting bunny.

Decorator's Notes

Twinkle Twinkle Cake

We hand-carved the fat little star shape for Tyler and Ann's Baby Reveal cake.  Blue cake turns a horrible green color when it bakes (on the outside of the cake only) so it was nice to carve all of that away. 

The Striped bow was screen printed in blue royal icing using our Striped Ribbon and Message Medallion Screen Set available at our Evil Cake Genius site HERE

The Letters for the song verse were cut out using a combination of upper and lower case letters from the cutter sets available at our Evil Cake Genius site HERE the question mark was created by warping the number 2 from this set.

Charlotte's Cake

Charlotte's bunny was molded out of Chocolate paste.  We were happy to have the real toy bunny at our side during the process for reference, and cuddles.

The bow on the box lid was screen printed with the same striped ribbon screen as the bow on the Twinkle cake.  It is part of our Striped Ribbon and Message Medallion Screen Set available on our Evil Cake Genius site HERE

The two pages of the book were painted with liqui-gel food colors diluted with vodka, then screen printed in black royal icing.  We can't sell the Velveteen Rabbit screen because of Copyright, but the "Welcome Baby Charlotte' screen inspired the "Welcome Baby Plaque and Medallion/Cookie Screen" set on our Evil Cake Genius site HERE

 

 

Repeat Business, Keeping Cake in the Family

Making wedding cakes is a tough business.  Aside from the long hours, Carpal Tunnel-ridden hands, Dish-Pan-hands, constant temptation to EAT EVERYTHING around you, and Chronic bouts of  Catastrophic Cake-tastrophy nightmares keeping you from getting a good night's sleep from late April until November, and mopping...all that mopping, it is a tricky business model to boot.  You see, we love our clients.  Our clients love us.  We have a fabulous working relationship and build customer loyalty that any Fortune 500 Company would kill for.  Then, they get married, we make them an awesome cake, aaaaaand, we're done.

A lot of bakeries would see their clients again for birthday cakes, and baby shower cakes, etc. after the wedding, but we're a small bakery that does big cakes.  So we can only take three cakes per weekend.  So, unless you plan to have a small gathering of 100 or so guests every year at your birthday party, we're probably not going to be doing the cake. 

When I started Gateaux, 17 years ago, I was aware of this little business glitch.  And, while I wasn't rooting for the divorce rates to skyrocket to bring me back some of my favorite couples (I guess they'd be singles) as repeat clients, it did worry me a bit.

After the first couple of years in business, I learned that I was (don't tell my husband this) pleasantly wrong.  While I didn't have repeat clients in the traditional sense, I did have repeat clients in an even better way.  I discovered that if you do your job well and have fun with your clients in the process, they often drag their siblings, friends, even coworkers back to you as soon as they hear of another engagement.  Repeat.  Business.

Some of you may remember Marissa and Robb and their Tale of Three Cities Cake from 2011.  Turns out that Robb has a sister who planned to marry in 2012.  I was thrilled when Jacey's wedding planners Amy Zaroff Events contacted me to let me know that Jacey wanted to use us for her wedding cake as well.  Thrilled, and a little worried.  You see, when you're wired for anxiety the way the Evil Cake Genius is, you can turn a flattering situation into a scary one really quickly.  The problem...not sibling rivalry...in fact, Jacey and her brother and his new wife couldn't be further from the notion of it.  But, Cake Rivalry...that is a very real thing. 

I loved Marissa and Robb's cake.  It is easily one of my top five in the past few years.  So, all I could think about was how I was running the risk of disappointing Robb's sister.  And while I'm at it, how about their entire side of the guest list, who saw her brother's awesome cake only a year earlier.  Let's face it, I set the bar pretty high with that cake.

To compliment things more, when Jacey came in for her design session, her parents came along.   Her dad  mentioned that he would be contacting me for an 80th birthday cake for his mother.  The party would be at his house mid summer.  I thought nothing of it, and continued working with Jacey and her crew to design a wedding cake that unbeknownst to them, had to meet a specific level of awesomeness in the Cake Lady's warped mind.  And thanks to a great design session...a bride with impeccable taste, good coordinators, and a Mother of the Bride who has incredible style (it was her suggestion that we make spherical tiers) we succeeded.  The silhouette was exquisite, we added fondant "fabric rosettes" with an ombre effect to the separators, and even tied in the Sheet Music from the song that the Groom would perform at the ceremony.  Beautiful, elegant, meaningful, and most important (to me), just as awesome as the cake we made for her brother! And all was right in the Evil Cake Geniuses twisted head.

Until...

Two weeks later, I had my meeting with the father of the Bride, Scott about his mother's 80th birthday party.  I figured, something simple, a nice little gathering, maybe a lovely cake with some pretty flowers on it.  But Scott had an idea.  I good idea.  An idea that he had no idea would send me right back down that Cake Rivalry road. 

His mother loves Ice Cream.  As a matter of fact, his parents owned a string of Ice Cream Parlor restaurants in the Twin Cities for a number of years.  So Scott thought it fitting to make his mother's cake look like a giant Ice Cream Sundae.  I'm in!  I love the idea!  I need to make this incredible...people are expecting great things, I can do this, I can outdo them all, I can make the cake of the century...I have to make the cake of the century, I can't let Jacey and Robb's Grandma down, she's seen Robb's cake, she's seen Jacey's sketches, I...must...make....the best cake ever created...win, win, win!! Weee are the championnns my friennnd....and weeee'llll keeee

Scary, isn't it?

So Scott and I sketched a cake that I honestly had no idea how to make.  But I had a couple of months, so I'd figure it out.  When he left, he returned about a half hour later with one of the old Ice Cream Sundae photos that hung on the wall of their restaurants...and, brace yourself for sweetness...a photo of his mom so I could see the wonderful woman who would be receiving this cake.

No pressure.

Fortunately, many of you know that I have a retired Engineer on my side.  My father in law, Magic Phil, really earned his moniker on this one.  He built me support structure that allowed me to create that perfect Sundae glass shape.  We delivered the cake to the party (exquisitely executed party, might I add) and began our obsession with whether or not Jacey's wedding cake could stand up to such an awesome birthday cake.  It's a truly vicious cycle, the workings of an Evil Cake Genius' brain.

And it did.  Jacey's cake was beautiful.  It lived up to its two predecessors without a doubt.   It has joined the ranks of my favorite all-time cakes.  Which is good, because these guys are one of my all time favorite families.  Until, of course....they order another cake, and I descend right back into cake...madness.

Decorator's Notes

The fondant of Jacey's cake matched the color of her incredible Vera Wang gown.  It was created by mixing Gold Sparkle Luster dust with Nu Silver Luster dust.  A color, we (for sheer lack of creativity) call "Gilver". 

The rounded "topiary" shape of the cake tiers were hand carved.  To the best of my knowledge, there isn't a cake pan that makes this unique shape.

The detailing on the tiers were custom cut stencils, and the sheet music pattern was a custom mesh stencil that we created based off of the actual sheet music from the song that the Groom (Aaron) sang to her during the ceremony (what an awesome guy!)

We've added the sheet music stencil to our Evil Cake Genius Site so other decorators can create this intricate look with Evil Speed too.  Click HERE to see.
The flower topper on this cake was done using the Sheet Music Stencil and our Vintage Vow Flower Tutorial

We were thrilled to find their beautiful antique gold cake stand at Home Decorator's Accessories They have some great stands!

How do people come up with this stuff?

When designing wedding cakes, my appointments usually have three phases.  Phase one, "Show and Tell", is where I have my clients open up their folders of Magazine Pages, iPads, and Pinterest Pages to give me an idea of the overall look of their wedding.  This is the most important part of the appointment.  It's during this time, that whether or not the client knows it, I design their wedding cake. 

Phase two, is what I like to consider the "put your money where your mouth is" part of the appointment.  It's when I pull out my albums of Gateaux wedding cakes, to show the client that I can actually do some of the stuff that I'm about to pitch to them.  I bet if you asked most people who met with me, they'd tell you that they thought this part of the appointment was where they got to pick their cake, but in all honesty, it's not.  You see, the Evil Cake Genius has an incredibly short attention span.  While I adore the cakes that we've made in the past, I have absolutely no desire to ever repeat a design.  After all, I've already done that.  Why would I want to do it again? 

Nonetheless, I enjoy the chance to show off my cakes. 

Gateaux's portfolio is split into four albums.  One traditional album, one preppy album, a modern album, and one that I lovingly call "The Weirdo Book".  Most brides and grooms don't have any reason to look through this book, aside from the fact that it's just damn fun to look through.  Let's be honest, the majority of my wedding clients aren't going to end up with a cake topped with two frosting otters holding hands, or the "Fab Five" walking across their bottom tier.  But even the most conservative of clients can appreciate these cakes for the creativity and artistry that goes into creating them.

When looking through this particular album with Cate, Adam, Cate's mom (recent client, responsible for this adorable cake) Kimberly, and Adam's mom, Pam, Pam asked me a question that I hear a lot after people look through  "The Weirdo Book"..."I'm just not that creative...How do people come up with this stuff?" 

She was about to find out.  First hand.

Kate and Adam were getting married at the beautiful Semple Mansion in Minneapolis.  The look would be Old Hollywood - a nod to that golden age of Art Deco decor and Nouveau thinking in America...the Jazz Age.  It made sense, they both worked in film, they even met on a set.  That being said, they weren't about to go theme party with it.

I'm a big fan of having a design scheme, rather than a theme to draw from.  So this was an easy one for me.  I had, on a recent trip to New York, finally gone to the top of the Empire State Building.   Funny, I had been there nearly a dozen times, over a span of twenty years, but I had never taken that pilgrimage until that most recent trip.  I shared that with Adam and Cate, and they agreed that that was the kind of graphic inspiration we should use for their cake.

Onto Phase Three - Free for All.  It's like stream of consciousness with multiple players.  There is no wrong answer, just throw out a bunch of ideas...we'll use some, we'll not use others, but together, we always end up with the perfect wedding cake.  Together.

I ran back to my office and grabbed a few Art Deco patterns that I had been saving for...well, I guess for these two.  We quickly sketched up the bottom and middle tiers of the cake using a Deco Fountain pattern and a great monogram panel, but when it came to the top tier, I drew a bit of a blank.  Then Cate suggested that we use the silhouette of the Empire state building on the top tier.  Adam agreed, and we added a stylized Deco Empire state to the top tier.  I recommended that we have the spire of the building extend beyond the top of the cake as a cake topper - "and you can have King Kong and Faye Wray hanging off the spire".  Great idea, Adam!...Cate...Kimberly...?  Nope, that idea came leaping out of Pam's head.  There was a brief pause.  One of those awkward silences.  She shifted in her chair and looked a little unsure.  Had she taken it too far?

As the cake lady, I knew it was genius the second she said it.  It tied in the Empire State design to the underlying Hollywood and film idea.  After all, they met on a film set!  But, it isn't my wedding cake.  Cate and Adam stopped, looked at each other, we all paused for a moment, and...Nope, not too far...just far enough!! We would replace the traditional bride and groom with Kong (decked in a tuxedo jacket, of course) and his bride.  Fortunately, Adam and Cate have a very talented friend who brought their vision of Kong and his bride to Art Deco perfection. 

And that... Pam, is how people come up with that stuff.  You are now an honorary Cake Lady.

We finished our sketch, and worked up an invitation design that would compliment the look and give their guests a little sneak preview of the wedding decor.  The Bride and Groom even had a little fun with the RSVP options - another little touch of film and humor.

I'm not actually sure if Cate and Adam's cake ended up in our "Weirdo Book".  After all, the cake is one of my favorite examples of a clean, elegant, graphic wedding cake.  It's fun to see people do a double take when they recognize the cake topper.  I think at heart, a lot of us are Weirdos.  Love makes you happy, sometimes even a little goofy.  I love when we can incorporate a little whimsy and humor into a wedding cake.  It's not like you're rolling the thing down the aisle at the church.  The reception is the party to celebrate that love that makes us a little goofy.  So enjoy yourselves, share a little inside joke with your guests, and most importantly, have fun.  Kong would want you to.

Decorator's Notes

The Cake

Cate and Adam's cake was frosted in buttercream and panelled in sheets of fondant to give it crisp perfect corners.  The black and white Art Deco embellishments were all screen printed in royal icing onto sheets of fondant.  We cut out the Deco patterns and attached them to the cake tiers. We weren't sure if the bottom tier's corner patterns would wrap around the corners of the cake without the royal icing cracking, so we planned to cut those in half vertically and attach them separately to each side of the cake.  On Jenna's suggestion, we tried doing one corner with the pattern in tact to see if it were possible to bend the pattern over the corner without the royal cracking if we worked quickly enough.  Fortunately, it worked!

We wanted Kong and the top spire of the Empire state building to be set back on the top tier so that it could be centered, like a cake topper.  In advance, we screen printed the top portion of the Emprire State building onto Mexican Paste (1 Part Gum Paste, to 1 Part Fondant) cut it out, and allowed it to dry with a pick sticking out of the bottom of it.  Once we decorated the cake with the fondant Empire State, we cut off the top of the pattern flush with the cake and replaced it with the set back Mexican Paste topper. 

The screens for this cake design are now for sale on our Evil Cake Genius site HERE - without King Kong, however...those were just for our Cate and Adam.

We'll even customize the Middle tier's in case your client's last name doesn't begin with an "H" ;)

The Cake Stand

We wanted a cake stand that had an Art Deco feel to it without distracting from the cake.  So we had our very own "Magic Phil" cut us three 1" thick squares of particle board.  One 14", one 16" and one 18".  He glued them together and painted them high gloss black.  It has become a very useful stand in our collection, and is quite easy to DIY.