Sunday Sweets: Cake Nouveau
December 14, 2008 I love seeing online bakery galleries with consistently gorgeous, creative, and impeccably detailed cakes. Too often I'll find a great cake, only to visit the original site and discover it's the one stand-out in a gallery of otherwise lackluster specimens.
That said, I was thrilled when a reader tipped me off to Courtney Clark's work over at Cake Nouveau; every entry is so amazing, I couldn't pick just one favorite! So here are six samples, but I highly recommend you visit her site to see the rest of her work: it is well worth your time.
That scroll work is perfection, and I love the tiny roses peeking out.
As a self-proclaimed Disney Geek, I'm loving Courtney's interpretation of Snow White here. (There's also a Toy Story version on her site.)
Doing what I do, I've seen a lot of amazing purse cakes. I mean, a LOT. But this has got to be my all-time favorite:
Gorgeous.
I'm not really sure why this is called "rattlesnake", but for you non-bakers out there: look at the way the sides of this cake are shaped. See those cartoony curves? And how the bows look like actual fabric? That, my friends, is called talent. Sweet, sugar-coated talent.
Now, I know this next one is fairly simple, but I had to include it - I just HAD to:
It's orange and pink and perfect all over. Jen likes.
And lastly, an Alice in Wonderland theme:
That teapot is awesome. And a very merry un-birthday to you all!
Reader Comments (102)
How absolutely delightful!
Truly amazing. But I wonder why the gorgeous tiered cake is named "Rattlesnake." Am I missing something obvious?
And those bows! I wish I could wrap real ribbons like that. My favorite cake, though, has to be the handbag. That's Perfection.
As always, thank you Jen, for educating us on the the good, the bad the ugly and the stellar of the cake world.
having just taken a beginner's course in fondant decorations - I truly appreciate these creations! even the 'simple' one is great!
Thanks for your fab blog, Jen!
those are beautiful! the link to the Cake Nouveau website doesn't work...i'd love to see more!
How sweet. These are so beautiful, I love that they are themed without being tacky. I wonder if that purse cake costs more or less than the real thing!!!
WV- setam
You have the cakes? Setam down right here.
Those are all amazing! I hope this girl gets paid a lot for her talent because she is SO worth it!
These really are amazing cakes! Thanks for sharing some of the success stories too.
All of these are too pretty to eat! I would probably carry around that purse cake, it looks so good. I don't know if the resulting icing mess would be worth it though. Still these are all "wow" cakes.
I don't think I've EVER seen such talent! Amazing work!
Absolutely amazing! I thought the bows actually WERE fabric. These, my friends, are fondant finery.
Word verification: sockerr, what we want to do to people who wreck cakes, but not the woman who made these!
That Alice in Wonderland cake is the first cake that I've ever seen that made me say "Oh my god! When I get married I want THAT!"
wow. gorgeous!
All I can say is total awesomeness!!! Hope your holiday season is a blast so far.
I love Sunday Sweets almost more then the weekday wrecks. I really want that teapot cake!
Tasty beauty!
Ah, to have such talent.
About the "Rattlesnake" cake, if you look at without the bows, it kind of resembles a rattle tail.
I was just talking to my boyfriend about this really amazing cake place in the Kerrytown district here in Ann Arbor while I was looking at the Cake Nouveau website, but I couldn't remember the name of the place. Then I came across the "Kerrytown" cake on the site, and I realized that this was the place!
I'm so happy to see Cake Nouveau featured on Sunday Sweets. They definitely deserve to be featured!
Ugh, but all that nasty fondant! Yes, they are amazing works of art, but totally inedible in my book. Yuck!
I could never slice a single one of those cakes! They are genius!
Awesome! That teapot cake is wonderful.
~Amy B
Beautiful!
those are the beautiful sort of cakes that people ask less talented bakers to create and get cake wrecks in return!
I've also said a gorgeous handbag should be good enough to eat.
simply delish... all of them! impressive too.
Holy crap. That last one just about made me wet my pants. TMI? I might just get one to have around the house.
STUNNING!!! I love the Snow white one!
Gorgeous cakes. How can one bear eating them?
I have always loved orange and pink together--it's so unexpected!
My 32-yr.-old daughter would like the Alice cake; she's a huge fan of Lewis Carrol's Alice--it's a subtle theme in her life.
It took me a few minutes staring at the Rattlesnake cake, but I think I get it....see how the tiers resemble the rattle end of a rattlesnake's tail? Even down to the curve on each tier. She's made a beautiful interpretation of it. That cake is brilliant. And those bows! Amazing.
Rattlesnake...the way the bows are lined up, it reminds me of the "rattler" on a rattlesnake's tail.
These cakes are all gorgeous! I love this site!
the link didn't work for me so I googled it. Her cakes are gorgeous too bad her reviews on yelp are mediocre. Wish I had that kind of talent.
Wow...I don't even have words...those are some of the most amazingly beautiful cakes I've ever seen...wow.
Everybody, you've GOT to go have a look at the site. All of her cakes are amazing. Here's a working link:
http://www.cakenouveau.com/home.html
If I ever get married, I'm going to have to hold the wedding in Ann Arbor just so I can get my cake from this place.
OMG The Alice in Wonderland is WONDERful!They are all right out of the pages of a fairy tale. Love them, P.
Loving that purse!!
I've been to Cake Nouveau many a time and seen the beautiful cakes in action. They are truly magnificent.
Also, the cupcakes they have available there are to die for!
Snow White is my favorite! I love everything Disney. :) Great cakes!
Check out her MySpace page, too--she's dressed up as a cupcake! :)
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=134095269
I love them. There are even some that are deceptively simple looking. I'll start practicing. My Parents 50th in next August. Apparently, I've been voluntold to bring the cake.
wvotd fleco: to use brown sugar for sand on a beach themed cake.
How beautiful! I look forward to these Sunday spots just as much - if not more - than to the wrecks!
Maybe the rattlesnake is a snaking stack of rattles? It made me think of a little classic baby rattle with a bow on the handle.
That purse-cake is amazing. It's fantastic to look at and I'm in love with the detailing - she manages to make fondant look like fabric, leather, and metal all at the same time! - but it's still soft enough to look edible. Even appetizing. Hm, I need to stop reading this blog before breakfast...
A friend recently linked me to a flickr account for a student in London whose work was consistently amazing - The ribbons reminded me of those here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosey_sugar_palace/
Meh. They're pretty, but in my opinion a little fondant goes a long way. When I find myself trying to figure out where the actual cake layers are under the fondant, that's too far.
OTOH, considered as props, these are works of art.
Word verification: guete. That unfortunate foreign guy who accepts an invitation to a party and then discovers that nobody thought to warn him about the weird customs. Okay, I caught the garter. Now what am I supposed to do with it?
That Alice in Wonderland cake is horrid! It looks like she has a teapot for a torso!
So so so gorgeous! It makes my eyes happy to look at these works of art!
Ohhh, I love the teapot cake! And the one with the pretty curves. Thanks!
These are all WONDERFUL, but I loved the last one so much I actually feel swoony.
regarding the rattlesnake, not only to the tiers sort of resemble a snakes rattle, but the orange and black wrapped between the bottom two layers resembles the markings on a snake.
my jaw was literally dropped by the time i reached the alice in wonderland cake.
amazing! simply amazing cakes!
WOW!!!
WOW! Those are some jawdroppingly gorgeous cakes!
those are incredible! damn.