Thursday, June 25, 2009

the cake

All of the hours that went into the cake, were worth the final result...

The Bride and Groom loved it! Set in the woods, the tiny edible mushrooms, ferns, berries and bugs, fit right in. The day was enchanting, and held a subtle glow of magic. 

There is something very special about art you can eat, and I look forward to exploring this new medium for other events.
I carefully hand sculpted each decoration out of fondant, an edible dough made from marshmallow and icing sugar. I let them dry for several days, allowing them to harden a bit before adding the colour.


Using a brush, I then glazed each piece with food dye (of the gel variety). Because these tiny sculptures had to travel, I made special boxes for them from biodegradable foamboard, and packed them very carefully.

After the cake was baked, and iced, I rolled out 1/2 inch slabs of fondant (which I had already coloured a soft green), and laid it over each tear of the cake. I do recommend trying this before hand, as it did take a few tries to get it right.

Then came the fun part... placing the decorations, and adding the final touches.




this photo is courtesy of Victoria Skofteby Photography
a photographer with a gift for translating a vision, and capturing the essence of a moment. A most talented woman, with creative flare, and infectious enthusiasm. I highly recommend checking out her site!





Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Summer!


With Markets, traveling, house guests, commissions, orders and wedding projects (my cousins), finding time to blog has been increasingly difficult.... I love summer, but it always seems tricky to fit in all the fun that whorls about me in fits and frenzies.

I have been charged with the task of making the wedding cake for my cousins woodland wedding.  It is a something I am new to, and exploring edible mediums has proved to be quite a delight!  I am having so much fun making forest floor treasures, I want to do little else!  

The Bride has not seen the final creations, so I am going to keep them under wraps for now, but here are a few shots of my first try at fondant... a sticky, gooey, sugary dough, used to cover and decorate cakes.