When Decorators Need to Practice Their Roses
October 1, 2008 When there's a new kid in the bakery, these designs help speed up the on-the-job training:
The "Rose Bush".
(I'm told there's a cake under there...)
The "Rosy Age".
I had to stare at this one for several long seconds before I realized the roses are supposed to spell out the number 20. The cool thing is, though, this cake has a built-in clock: see where the light pink roses meet the darker ones on the 2? That's when the first decorator's shift ended.
(Gotta love that candle placement, too.)
And of course, the "Haven't-Learned-to-Write-with-Icing-Yet".
No room for an inscription = no complaints about messy handwriting! Not to mention there's no chance of spelling errors, random quotation marking, or becoming famous on the 'net for all the wrong reasons.
The best part? The people who ordered the first and last cakes didn't even ask for that many roses. So Kim C. & Jill S., thanks for showing us just how specific we need to be when ordering baked goods. Now we know.
(Everybody together now: "And knowing is half the battle!")
Reader Comments (122)
Actually considering my family always fights over the roses those cakes would great for us, even if they are rather tacky.
Wow...
Go Joe! *in response to the last sentence of post*
Actually I like the roses...I think it's really pretty...and perfect for those of us who always fight to get the piece with the icing flower
The upside of these cakes: Calling out "I get the rose" won't be an issue! There's enough for everyone!
Holy arbors, Batman! Those are some impressive sets of roses.
And bless you for getting in a GI Joe reference first thing in the morning.
Is that a "finger" swipe on the first cake?
Okay... I love icing, don't get me wrong. But icing without a cake? Not so much...
And knowing is half the battle!
Thanks, Sgt. Slaughter! LOL If my kids saw a cake with that many roses, they'd pass out from the ecstasy.
LOL! They aren't as God awful as some of the cakes I've seen on here, but I would be in a sugar coma if I tried to eat a piece of that!!!
As a mom of 4 kids that always fight over the roses (leaving me with none... sniff, sniff...) these cakes of floral abundance look like a dream come true!
G.I. Joe!
ajnabi said...
"Thanks, Sgt. Slaughter! LOL If my kids saw a cake with that many roses, they'd pass out from the ecstasy."
Heck, I'd be the one passing out from ecstasy! That would be after I ate all the roses.
Seriously, I do kind of like the first cake...would use different colors tho.
Love this blog!!
That's like my dream cake! After all isn't cake just a frosting delivery system...
I think I'm going into a sugar coma just from looking at these!
the roses are fine and all, but i'm pretty sure my blood sugar levels went up just by looking at all of that frosting (and i like the corner piece of cake, but wow.. that's a lot of... FROSTING).
What's with the really blue roses on the first cake? They aren't natural.
You're right on the second cake, not only did the color change, but so did the style of the rose! And second on the candle placement!
i think i just went into a sugar coma just from looking at those cakes -er- wrecks
Everything's coming up roses....and roses...and roses.
I'm one of those people who actually do not want a piece with a rose on it...tough luck in this case, huh.
"and knowing is half the battle"...been my motto for a long time!
I have to laugh at how many people here are cake-philosophy brethren to my husband. He always wants the piece with the flowers and/or the border (i.e. corners). And his ideal cake has a one to one frosting to cake ratio. He really believes that cake is just a means to get the frosting to your mouth (just like muffins are a butter delivery system).
OMG! I'm drooling here. Those are like my fantasy cakes! Oh the lovely sugary floralness of it all!
As everyone else has said, the people in my family fight over the roses....however that is overdoing it!!!
The 20 cake only used 19 roses...
boy oh boy. Those are dream cakes. The more sugary crisco buttercream the better. yum yum yum. I'd eat that first one in one sitting.
That's why i'm unhealthy you see.
I _totally_ made a cake similar to these back when I was learning roses. (granted, it wasn't for sale...) My office LOVED me when I brought in my practice pieces.
(former Wilton instructor)
I love the last one! I like the colors and all the frosting!!
Thal
Those cakes boggle my mind. I mean, just because one is practicing making roses doesn't mean one has to use all of those damn flowers; just throw it back in the pastry bag. And for the color difference on the "2", the decorator should have done just that and evened out the color a bit. I'm a cook, not a baker, and I can see that. *facepalm*
Been a fan of your blog a while. Thanks for making my day today! :D
My husband always calls dibs on the roses, even when it's not his birthday cake, which I think is very rude (is there a protocol for that sort of thing?).
Wow, that first one looks sort of like the lamp that the last owners of my house left behind, except all the roses on the lamp were pink.
As someone who will stab old ladies and children with my cake fork to make sure I get a piece with a rose, these look fabulous to me!!
i dont feel good. i hate frosting. i cant imagine getting a cake with all that frosting all over it. im sure it would make me sick. YUCK!
Wow! That gives new meaning to "stop and smell the roses" !!!
I have to say the first one is beautiful . .too pretty to eat. I love roses and we too fight over them. Usually we only get cakes with roses for birthdays, so the person with the birthday gets first dubs on the roses, then of course, being mom, I dish up the rest and I always save myself a rose piece.
I may be no botanist, but it seems to me that one bush does not usually produce three different colors of roses...and that's once you get past the concept that there may or may not be a cake underneath all that frosting.
Like you, it took me a little while to figure out that all those roses on the second cake made up the number 20. I think the drastic difference in color may have slowed me down...or perhaps it was just the placement of all the candles into a little ghetto. Not ghetto? Planned Living Community?
Does anyone else see the number 211 written in those roses rather than 20?
I think it's hilarious that there are only 19 roses spelling out the number 20. I mean, if you're going to write a big number with roses, wouldn't it be cool to have the same number of roses? :)
mmmmmm now i know what to ask for on my b-day cake. Lots of roses! and i want them all. Frosting is king. Imagine what color your mouth would be after eating all those roses in the first cake!
Is it just me, or can you see the cake through some of the leaves at the left middle of the first cake? I see golden brown yellow cake through that meeting of leaves...
Does the age cake actually say "Billy" in the lower right corner? Did a BOY get that cake?!?!?!
Lord Help Us....
I think I'm going into a sugar coma...
G.I. Jooooooooe!!!
If only they could have fit one more rose on the "20" cake...!
What is on the second cake in the lower left hand corner? Is it a name?
Am I the only person on earth who actually prefers cake to frosting? All those roses, perfect, dystrophic, garish, or whathaveyou, will all end up in a sad pile at the edge of the plate.
-Nancy
I dont hate the last one.. it kinds makes me think of a funeral you know the casket piece that just covers everything ...the first one i was looking closely at, and you know i dont think they put a layer of icing on the cake before the roses. It looks like naked cake under all those.. now that might have taken some talent (of some sort) to cover the entire cake with minimal empty spots *shudder!
Why, on the first cake, is there no frosting UNDER the roses? Seems a little crazy to put so much time into the roses and not choose to actually frost the thing!
Thanks for the G.I. Joe reference this morning! Your blog always makes my day brighter :-)
oops in my last post about the first one... i meant to add that it looked like they just squirted chocolate icing where the roses met. why else would the icing come up over some of them?
I actually like these, except the two-toned pink 20 cake. But I wouldn't want to eat any of that frosting goodness.
Aww the big 20 just shy of 20 roses :(
Well I've sent you my own "flower wreck" but I don't think my kids would have a problem w/ all of the flowers. As a matter of fact my SG would be in heaven!
The top one is "pretty" but I think as I've gotten older, the sight of so much frosting makes me want to gag.