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.

Lions, Shepherds and 70 years of marriage

Some of you have read our Blog Post entitled "Style" last year.  This one was certain to be titled "Grace" but I couldn't pass up the Lion and Shepherd thing.  Sounds like the opening to a dirty joke "So this lion walks into a bar..." so I had to use it.

Webster defines Grace in many ways, and shy of the "saying Grace before dinner" definition, Jessica and Peter were a shining example of two people who (whether it be by nature or nurture) embodied this beautiful concept.

Grace : the quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful

It started with the groom's cake.  The couple was having a champagne bar at the wedding (something for their guests to indulge in during the cocktail hour) so there was an underlying theme of champagne to the event.  When Peter saw a champagne themed cake that we had done for a 40th birthday, he knew that would make the perfect groom's cake.  Typically, I'd do the champagne bottles with important dates in the groom's life.  But rather than have it be all about him, the couple decided it would be a great place to honor their parents.  

Jessica and Peter went on to explain that between their parents, there was over 70 years of marriage.  Who does that kind of math?  Who thinks to give that kind of credit? Hmmm....Grace.

Now came the fun.  We would come up with custom labels for the chocolate champagne bottles.  His parent's with a Shepherd (his last name being Shepard) and her parents with a Lion (last name Lyon)  We would make the vintage the year of their weddings, and have the top bottle represent the new Mr. and Mrs. Shepard (an inaugural vintage).

That being done, let's move onto another of Webster's definitions of Grace

Grace: ease and suppleness of movement or bearing

This one was allllll Jessica.  When we designed the wedding cake, we couldn't help but pull a bit of detail from her wedding dress.  I drew two options, one that really imitated the gown, and one that just included the beautiful silver lace applique on her bodice.  She had the good sense to choose the former.  We incorporated the monogram from their invitations, the silver ribbon chair ties, and of all things, these little beaded-bobble napkin rings that added this perfect touch of effervescence (like champagne bubbles, but not champagne bubbles) to the table settings.  That whole design scheme, rather than "theme" thing that I love to encourage. 

For the dress detail, Jessica's planner (the awesome Sarah Trotter of Lasting Impressions) provided me with a photo of her dress (shown on a model).  It was a beautiful dress... Very chic, very unusual. But when we returned to the reception on the wedding night and saw Jessica in the dress, it had transformed.  She didn't walk in that dress, she levitated.  I don't know what it was...probably the G-word, but to see Jessica in that dress made the shot from the magazine look flat and lifeless.

I have brides tell me all the time when I see the magazine photo of the dress "I don't look as good as the model in it".   But to see my bride's in their gowns, it always amazes me how no model can capture what it is to be a bride.  They glow, they beam, they are the embodiment of, you got it...Grace.

Grace :disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency; i.e.a gracious host

I do a lot of weddings. I have a lot of great clients. The best clients are always those who understand that a wedding is a chance to be a gracious host to your guests. The couples who plan their wedding as though they are planning an albeit brief, vacation for their friends and family. They use it as a chance to entertain.

Jessica and Peter got this.

So when I suggested that we try out a new concept that we had been wanting to try as a combination late-night-snack, reception entertainment, favour.  They were the first couple to take the risk, and try it out.  We decided to do a gourmet popcorn table during the dance.  Everything from Habenero and S'mores (with mini graham crackers and marshmallows, baby!!!) to White Cheddar and Peanut Butter Cup, you name it, it was deliciously there.  And, displayed in champagne buckets! 

When we came back to set up the table during dinner, several guests came down to the bathroom and saw the table in process.  The overwhelming reaction was "they did this for me".  One after another, they all came out with that same idea...that the bride and groom must have known that they loved popcorn, and created the table in their honor.  It was hilarious.  My personal favorite was an uncle who could only say "Good Gravy" when he saw it.  Best. Phrase. Ever.

 Grace: Mercy, Pardon : a temporary exemption : reprieve

Like I mentioned earlier, we had a rare opportunity to come back to this reception to set up the popcorn table.  It was an incredibly busy wedding day for us.  And to get all of our wedding cakes and dessert tables, etc. delivered and rendez vous back at this reception to set up the popcorn was a relief.  That is, until we walked in the door of the now empty reception area (dinner was served on the third floor) to the waving arms of the bartender.  Who showed us....in slow motion (or at least that's how it happened in my mind) that one of the chocolate champagne bottles had taken a nose dive off the side of the cake...during the cocktail hour.  Let's just say.  I've been decorating cakes for 17 years, and never have I seen anything like this happen to one of our cakes.  People always ask "have you ever dropped a cake?"  The answer is no (knock on wood).  But the way I felt when he showed me the blank space where the bottle was supposed to be, I can't imagine I could possibly feel worse if I had dropped the thing.  I hope to never find out.  I looked over at Jenna, who looked like someone had just punched her in the gut.  The two of us were stunned, and devastated.  This isn't melodrama (see the Decorator's notes below) this is that unmistakable feeling that you get when something went horribly wrong and you are powerless.  Can't undo it...stuck.

We did the only thing we could do, set up the popcorn and tried to work out what we had done wrong.  Did we position the dowels under the bottles wrong?  Was the Coconut Creme cake flavor too light to hold the weight?  Did we angle the bottles too sharply?  While working in silence, the Bride and Groom appeared.  They had come downstairs for a moment during dinner and saw us.  I wanted to run.  I wanted to hide.  I wanted to..."Robin!!!"  Too late....they saw me.  I turned to begin profusely apologising, but before I could open my mouth, they were raving about how lovely both cakes were and how much people loved them....how much they loved them.  I mentioned the champagne bottle that had lept to its death during cocktails, to which they replied "I'm sure one of the guests messed with it" and "Our parents had already seen it, we already had photos taken with it" and other reassuring sentiments.   And all the Who's down in Whoville sang...and this Evil Cake Genius saw what she knew was there all along...Grace.

Many thanks to the Fabulous Betsy Wall Photography for these beautiful photos!

DECORATORS NOTES:

We realize that many of our readers are fellow cake decorators, so we've started a new section of our blog for all of you.  This section will be used to share tips on certain designs, sources for products used in the posts, and other insights that only us Cakey Types would truly appreciate. 

 

 The wedding Cake:

Jessica and Peter's wedding cake was a joy to decorate.  We used lots of techniques that were new to us, and loved the results.  The lace was one of our custom lace stencils.  We copied the actual lace from Jessica's beautiful gown to create a stencil, stenciled it in grey royal icing, then air brushed it silver before removing the stencil.  You can order her stencil in our Evil Cake Genius store HERE

The Cake Stand:

Found this at a local floral supply place.  Actually, didn't find it...I walked in and one of the employees there said "Robin!! We've been waiting to show you this"...and it was mine.  Fortunately for you other decorators out there, it is now available on this web site http://www.save-on-crafts.com/crystalcake.html in square, and is soooooo much cheaper than I paid for mine.  PS, if anyone at this site would like to thank me for the referrals, I'll gladly take one of everything on your site.  Love, love, love it!!!  Gimme, gimme.

 

The Groom's Cake:

This baby still haunts me.  We actually did a birthday cake with the exact same layout and chocolate bottles about 6 months before this wedding, with no trouble at all... I always say that delivering each cake is like putting your kid on the school bus (to which my husband once pointed out "yeah, if the teacher cut them up and ate them".  Anyway, it's always tempting to not share stories of failure, but I've always been one to fully disclose.  I hope my sharing my trauma will help the next decorator to know that those bottles are heavy, and apparently doweling them might not suffice if they are angled too sharply.  The labels on the Champagne bottles were Screen Printed in royal icing onto fondant.  I haven't released these for sale yet, but we have just added several screens and a full screen printing tutorial to our Evil Cake Genius site We are adding more and more of them as people get familiar with the process and realize how awesome they are to use (not so fun to make, but awesome to use, that's why we're making them for you!)

Maggie and Jake at Home

When I met with Maggie and Jake, they had most of their wedding plans completed. The dress, the invitations, the reception site, all in neat and tidy order.

Makes sense, these two met in the military. The Navy, to be exact. On a ship, even. I'm always surprised when one of my Navy clients was actually serving at sea. In my experience, it has been a lot like finding a lawyer who actually tries cases. The bulk of them don't. Much to my simplified view of the world's dismay.

For me, it's easy. I could explain my profession in one sentence to any 2 year old, and they'd get it. That's how I like it. I make cake. Lawyers try cases in front of riveted juries, and sailors, well, they sail. Don't burst my balloon and tell me that there probably isn't a sail on a modern Naval vessel, just leave me to my happy, simplified world view, thank you very much. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of beautiful, soft spoken (although, she claims that she can literally "swear like a sailor" when need be) Maggie in a navy uniform, so be patient with me.

Maggie had a cake in her head. Typically, I design the cakes, and my clients and I work out each tier as I sketch it. I got the distinct impression that this girl knew what she wanted, and happily every time I'd sketch another detail, she would shake her head in approval, confirming that I was getting it right.

The inspiration was their invitations. Based on a Spanish tile pattern, the invitations were bold, and beautiful. I never would have put the color combination together myself, but, as many of you know, my color sense is definitely my Achilles heel. So, I trust my brides and so far, I've never been led astray. We matched the invitation pattern, the striking colors, and even added text from a verse that would be read at their wedding ceremony. Maggie had the topper already ordered, and even got me the glass beads to string the stand. It was an easy one.

A few weeks before the wedding, though, their reception venue fell through. I've seen this kind of thing happen before, and it can be traumatic and heart breaking. Maggie and Jake took it all in stride, and opted to have the reception at their home.

I arrived at their house on the day of the wedding after the ceremony, while the couple was still out with the photographer at the church. There were cousins and aunts abound, helping us with the doors, setting up the tables, putting out the hors d'oeuvres. And it brought me back. Seventeen years back. To my own wedding.

When the Captain and I got hitched, it was straight out of college. We didn't have a huge budget, but we did have great families and friends. His brother, Jim (also the best man) cooked for 125 guests. My Mom and Dad hand made topiary trees for the centerpieces. Two work friends tended bar, and my future mother in law laid out the programs. Magic Phil (my father in law) even worked out a trade for a limo to carry my new husband and me to our reception. We later found out that it was a funeral limo, typically used to carry grieving widows, which explained why the driver was so very happy to have us in his car. At the end of the night, we had forgotten one detail. The clean up!!! But before the issue even hit me, I watched in amazement, as my siblings and friends spontaneously picked up brooms and bused dishes at 1:00 in the morning. It was done without anyone asking. Without anyone thinking. Just out of love. And it is the best wedding gift that we could have asked for.

But I'm rambling again.

Maggie and Jake's at home reception had that same vibe. Everyone there because they loved them. Everyone contributing to the celebration. It was comforting. Joyous. Simple in all the glory of its definition.

We were there when Maggie and Jake came home from the church. He picked her up, and carried her across the thresh hold. And they were home. And I felt a little jealous. Because they get to live at their reception site. Every day they wake up and have coffee and cereal in fuzzy slippers in the kitchen where their family prepped their wedding feast. They eat dinner at the table that held their wedding cake, and they'll always have that echo (if you'll let me get philosophical) of the joy of that day right under their feet.

Added bonus...their puppy Gandalf could attend as well. Can you ask for anything more?

Film History

I'd like to spend this blog recounting classic film history, from Citizen Kane to Raging Bull...Orson Welles to Alfred Hitchcock...but I'll spare you my limited Film History 101 knowledge of the topic.

 You're welcome.

When I heard that Courtney and Josh had chosen the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown as their reception venue, I was immediately struck with visions of a cake that embodied the magic of old Hollywood.  They had already begun their planning, and the save the dates, etc. had the perfect amount of Hollywood "feel" to them, without crossing over into a theme party.

So when it came time to design the wedding cake, it was obvious that this wouldn't turn into a film-reel-shaped cake with frosting popcorn bursting out from every seam.  It would honor the less kitschy, side of the movies. 

You don't have to study film history, to have your own film-history.  The movies influence our lives.  Whether it be something as profound and moving as "Schindler's List" or as ridiculous as "National Lampoon's Family Vacation" (bet that's the first time those two movies have been mentioned in the same sentence) the movies become part of our collective history.  Every family has that one movie that they can recite start to finish.  I remember bringing my, then boyfriend, "The Captain" home to meet my family, and the horror on my father's face that "the boy" had not yet seen "Young Frankenstein".  I laughed, and shrugged it off, but must admit, that when we watched the movie together for the first time, I then studied his reaction to it.  After all, you're not going to "get" my bizarre family if you don't roll around laughing at things like "Abby-Normal" and "Seda-give".  Thankfully, he got it.
I remember the shock I felt when I found out that my two Evil Cake Minions had never seen "The Shawshank Redemption" and the utter horror when discovering that they had no idea what "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles" was.  With our lack of joint "Movie-history" I'm surprised they ever understood a single word I said.  We have since made a list of Movies necessary to speak "Robin"...it's on the fridge at the shop.

Now, back to Courtney and Josh.  Their venue was more than a renovated movie theater, it was a landmark.  The Varsity started out as a Cabaret theater, featuring Vaudeville style acts.  It's diminutive size earned its nickname "The Dinky" which then spilled over to the neighborhood "Dinkytown".  In the late 1930's, it was renovated into a movie house, with its distinctive marquee and Art Deco design. 

Photos courtesy of Placeography.org

By the time I went to the U of MN, it had deteriorated into a venue for seedy bands (although, Greenday actually played there once).  Finally, the Loring Pasta bar bought it and renovated it into its current form. 

The one constant in all that time, being its impressive marquee.  And that's exactly what Courtney and Josh chose to inspire their wedding cake.  But first, they needed invitations.  How about a modern twist on the marquee design in the invitations?

After that, the cake design was a snap.  We'd make the cake replicate the marquee, complete with the movie title "From Mississippi With Love".  The couple lives in Mississippi, and the wedding would be held in Minneapolis, so what better film title? 

So, for this school principal and her pilot husband, they got their Hollywood ending.  And the cake lady got hers too.  This gracious note accompanied their photos. 

"Our cake was absolutely perfect, and we can't thank you enough for our second-favorite moment, after saying "I do," of course!"

Fade...roll credits...