Sunday Sweets: Casual Elegance
September 16, 2012 I kind of love the new vintage-style everything these days. From retro packaging to sweet fifties dresses to this rockin' orange rotary phone, I am eating the nostalgia-laced goodness UP.
It's no surprise that vintage-style wedding cakes are in vogue as well, but I thought it'd be more fun (not to mention colorful) to look at non-wedding vintage Sweets. Like this:
;)
By Nikki at Tikkido
I can't tell you exactly what makes each Sweet "vintage" in my mind, but in this case I think it's that awesome ric-rac trim and soft red and teal color scheme. Can't you just picture it on a soda shop counter? One with sparkly vinyl bar stools and table-top juke boxes?
Or how about these hand-painted birds n' berries?
;)
This reminds me of some paintings we had in my house when I was growing up. They were all wanna-be Bob Ross types, with lots of trees (happy ones, of course) and misty mountains and stuff. The difference, of course, is that I actually want this cake in my house.
What is it about pale pinks and sea foam greens that makes me think of Victorian parlors and delicate china teacups?
;)
No, wait, don't tell me; I don't want to spoil the magic.
(Can you believe those roses are NOT porcelain? So perfect!)
Now this one reminds me of the embroidered napkins my grandmother kept for special occasions:
;)
Sub'd by Erika S. By Sweet Treats Cakes and Cupcakes; Photo by Jennifer Sando.
How appropriate that the technique used to make the flowers is called "brush embroidery!"
Also, this cake is further evidence that everything gets 67% more awesome when draped with tiny flag bunting. (TINY FLAG BUNTING!!)
Another retro goody making a comeback in craft circles is bakers' twine. They make it now in all different colors, and it's the epitome of eye candy. So how perfect that this baker made an edible version!
;)
Submitted by Stephanie H. and made by Sweetapolita
I like how the twine is paired with more modern flowers and cake shapes, too - it's a perfect mix of old and new!
My first apartment had an avocado-green fridge, and I wondered then (as I still do today) how ANYONE ever thought that was a good color choice. I still consider it an unforgivable insult to home appliances everywhere, but I'll admit this cake is going a long way towards redeeming the color:
;)
By bubolinkata, a Bulgarian hobby baker
See that bud in the middle? The one that's a bright pop of hot pink? That one's my favorite. It looks so amazing with the green! And while that lace trim is inedible, the bottom tier is completely hand-painted! Incredible!
Here are some more hand-painted birds, only this time in a style that reminds me of old Golden Books than Bob Ross:
;)
By Renay Z.
And how nice of the baker to use my favorite colors, too. :)
In fact, here's another beauty demonstrating the superiority of the orange & blue color combination:
By EmmmyLizzzy
Look at that lace and swirl pattern! It's breath-taking! Mom's doilies had NOTHING on this. (Also, my mother still uses doilies, and for no discernible reason. The last time John and I visited, we were plucking them off every horizontal surface in the house. Is there such a thing as a doily intervention? If so, and you know my mom, WE NEED TO TALK.)
I love art, and I'm always drawn to the simple, graphic shapes of vintage children's book art. I think that's why I'm digging this cake so much:
;)
Submitted by Tracy J. and made by Blue Cupcake by Julie
It's like a page from a kids' book, come to life! (And I am seriously loving the way the text is arranged. What a fun way to use standard letter stencils!)
I'm not sure this post has had enough ruffles in it yet. Here, lemme fix that real quick:
;)
I'm in love. With a cake. Throw a few orange flowers on it, Deborah, and I may propose.
And finally, the ultimate vintage-styled beauty for Disney lovers and buttercream purists alike:
;)
By Chocmocakes
It's the Golden Afternoon of Sweets!!
Isn't it nice to be reminded you don't always need gumpaste or fondant to make gorgeous flowers? And lest you think the baker plucked that frame off her wall; she made the frame from gumpaste, and the Alice art is an edible image. LOVE.
Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com!
Reader Comments (34)
Oh those are so pretty and sweet, they make me feel happy inside :D
Mmmmmmmm...
Happyhappyhappy.
I pretty much want all of these cakes just to look at. Although I might have to try a piece out of the back of the buttercream Alice one.
So beautiful! Especially the buttercream flowers - gorgeous!
When I first looked at Alice I thought she was Wendy from Peter Pan.
The first cake is mine! I made it for my daughter's 1st birthday! http://tikkido.com/node/503 is the link to the party. The funny thing is, it's a remake of the very first cake I ever made, which is TOTALLY worth of a sad, regular cake wrecks feature. :-)
The blue and orange cake is gorgeous. Waaaant...
As for cake number one...finally someone figured out the correct way to use red rick-rack on a cake! Circling a tier with cute little cherries? Yes, yes yes! Running down the side of a life-sized wedding dress on a cake replica of a bride? No, no, no!
Cake Wrecks should do a "Who wore it best?" post. Ha ha!
Um... I don't see a rockin' orange rotary phone.
I has a sad.
The birds and berries in the second photo remind me of a wallpaper pattern that was in my grandparents' house.
So, I'm scrolling downt the cakes this afternoon and suddenly exclaim to my BF (whose was beside me watching football), "Look, there's a Sweetapolita cake!" Then I read the credits and realized that I totally forgot that I had submitted it, heh. Which made for some more excited exclamations. Thanks for posting. Rosie's cakes are soooo lovely!
How could they do such a nice job with the twine and then have one of the courses on the top tier going the opposite direction of all the rest?
If your mother still has doilies: Steal them, take them all! ;)
Google "doily lamp" for ideas. Some are rather horrific, but there are some really pretty designs too...
all of these cakes are super amazing!!! And as a die hard Gator girl, one who bleeds orange and blue, I totally have to agree about the "superiority of the orange & blue color combination", not only is that cake so very lovely but it also sports two of my three favorite colors!! My third is pink :)
Cake #6- Someone in my family has/had wallpaper exactly like the painted tier. I'm now going to be racking my brain for the rest of the day to remember which relative.
Otherwise, this post was just a wonderful, content sigh.
Unbearably beautiful!
Yes, redwork embroidery! How perfect for a cake! I love all things vintage, and these are all gorgeous!
I can tell you why those colors make you think of tearooms WITHOUT ruining it for you. Just look up images of the French patisserie and tea room, La Duree. Soft green and pink and gold are their colors. :) Those colors seem tailor-made for baked goods. Not that I don't enjoy the hot pink and zebra striped patisserie on my Parisian street....
I'm so thrilled to have my cake featured on your Sunday Sweets post.
Mine is the painted birds cake with the gumpaste eyelet lace. I was so excited I just about caused my husband to wreck the car when I saw this on my iPhone.
Thanks so much!
Renay Zamora
Sweetface Cakes
www.SweetfaceCakes.com
That apple tree cake reminids me of the book 'Apple Pigs' one of the all time BEST ever children's books, and disastrously now out of print. :(
lovely!
You have upped the awesome factor today by leaps and bounds....such refreshing cakes. And if you look closely at the apple tree cake, it looks like the large apple on the front is an applique -- absolutley incredible! (And, yes, the lettering is soooooo neat!)
@Chakolate: to see the orange rotatry phone, click on the blue words "rotary phone" -- it's a link that will take you to the page where the phone is...it's down a little on the page.
Also...I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed that orange accented tea diver.......!
Thanks for featuring my bird cake. Always a massive honour! xxx
My mind cannot comprehend good cakes anymore.
I'm not sure I've ever commented here, but so many thing about this post spoke to me!
1.) I *make* doilies and I have no idea what to do with them! Ha!
2.) In the '70s I bought a mobile home, and the *whole kitchen and bathroom* were avocado green! Bleh! and
3.) That first cake reminds me so much of a dress my mom made for me in the late '50s when I was about 7 that it's not even funny! So, yeah, *definitely* vintage!
Thank you so much for a wonderful site! And I also love Epbot. I never knew I liked steampunk (not even sure I knew what it was!) until I went to that site! So thanks! ¯(ツ)/¯
When we bought our first house, all the appliances were green, with black counters and dark stained cabinets. The bathroom was the worst gold/yellow ever. The sink/tub/toilet /tiles and even the walls were this gross color. It almost glowed at night. Oh, and the rug was gold/yellow shag. This was in the late 80's! When I finally got all those colors out of the house (took ten years), we sold it.
all of them are wonderful. can't pick one i like the best.
The apple tree cake reminds me of The Giving Tree even though the child on the cake is a girl.
Those orange and blue cakes are lovely. It's a nice change from all the badly-done Gators cakes I see at the local grocery stores. You wouldn't think it's such a lovely combination when surrounded by blobby green alligators that look more like roadkill dinosaurs.
G'day Lydia, saw your comment about "Apple Pigs" and since I enjoy trying to find things (when it's a challenge), I had a look around... Not an easy book to get a hold of! Cheapest I could track down were a couple of listings on Amazon UK for around AUD$65 plus shipping, which is probably way more than you would want to spend, but here you go anyways ;)
http://www.amazon.co.uk//gp/offer-listing/0001837079/sr=/qid=/?condition=used&tag=bf-ns-author-lp-21
As for the cakes... I can't decide! Favourite from this post has to be either the green Bulgarian or the lifelike birdies.. How can anyone not appreciate these are works of art :)
My partner just started some decorating classes, and I couldn't believe this ((( http://imgur.com/mUPuz ))) was something she made after only a few weeks! Maybe she'll have something on here soon too :)
My first apartment had an avocado-green fridge
Doesn't EVERYBODY have an avocado-green fridge in their first apartment?
The cake with the painted birds and berries looks like it should be on grandma's dishes or maybe printed on bed sheets.
I'm in love with the rick-rack cake. So sweet!!
This would be the same mom who dresses in Steampunk and goes to Cons with you? I say she can have her doilies!
@Team Mom - I never thought of it that way, but you're right! Jen's mom rocks in lots of ways (so that's where Jen gets it from ;) ). We have a few well-placed doilies in our home - made by my husband's grandma, and NOT on "every horizontal surface of our home", so I think that's okay. Jen, maybe you can suggest your mom scale back on the doilies instead of making her quit cold turkey.
So hard to pick favorites from this post, they're all so pretty. The first cake is gorgeous - the ric rac is fun, and I LOOOOVE the three-dimensional flowers, stems, and leaves - so very, very pretty and delicate. My other favorite is the light blue and orange beauty with the lace work. I can't imagine setting a knife to any of these works of art...
doilies hide dust. yup.