Sunday Sweets: Precious Metals
October 6, 2013 Did you hear the buzz? Metallics are like, so in. They are hot for fall, y'all. And like most trendy trends, metallics are already making their way from the runways to the serving trays:
;)
(Via this site, baker not listed. Anyone know?)
Yep, all the cool cakes are doing it.
Here comes a flashy little number now:
;)
(By Consumed by Cake)
Spread the word: Shiny is the new black. Or white ... or something.
What I mean is, it's this season's must-serve.
It's in vogue, in your mouth.
;)
(By Hey There Cupcake)
So go for the gold!
Or at least something equally shiny.
Because even though these cakes runneth over with molten metals, they go beyond traditional gold and silver:
;)
(By Minette Rushing Custom Cakes)
For instance, this fashion-forward confection looks divine in an elegant rose gold.
And this beauty isn't afraid to rock an antiqued bronze!
;)
(By Alice in Weddingland)
Tres fierce!
And let's not forget copper!
(By Pretty Please Bakeshop, photo by Casey Fatchett Photography)
Now that's a pretty penny indeed!
(And inspired by a penny floor - so cool!)
This style icon is glittering and gorgeous:
;)
(By Cake Art Studio)
... and sure to get you noticed.
(I especially love the transparent flower petals!)
Yes, today's high-wattage cakes obey nobody's rules, and even fearlessly flaunt several trends at once:
;)
(By Charm City Cakes)
Chevrons? Check.
Stripes? Check.
And polka-dots?
Check check!
(Or dot dot?)
But a gilded cake doesn't need to be all-up-in-yo-face, yo.
They can be romantic and reflective, too:
;)
(By Erica OBrien)
Reflective?! *snort* Get it?!
Ahem. Anyway ... the future is shiny, and the future is here.
;)
(By Sweet Tiers)
And it's so, so pretty! Will we ever be satisfied with shimmer-less cakes again?
I just hope the trend continues for a long time, because I want a cake like this at my silver anniversary:
;)
(By Bobbette and Belle)
(The 25th one, in case you were about to google).
Perfect, right?
Lucky for us metallics are classic, so I don't think they're going anywhere. So let's eat, drink, and be shiny!
;)
(By Layers Cake)
Happy Sunday, everyone! Stay shiny!
Have a Sweet you want us to see? Send it to sundaysweets(at)cakewrecks(dot)com!
Reader Comments (40)
Silver is the best metallic I believe
TBH, I'm not sure I could bring myself to eat one of those cakes. They are gorgeous, yes, but I'd be worried about that shimmer gilding my digestive tract in a not-so-positive way....
I just cannot wait to see the wrecks spawned by this trend. They should be absolutely horrendous.
Sooo pretty they make me swoon :D
Cake #7 ( i think with the transparent flowers) is beautiful.... the rest, though well done, are not attractive to me. :)
again, as per usual, these are all amazing! h/e, the cake from cake art studio (gold with the dots and semi-transparent flowers) stands out as being particularly impressive, as does the simple but elegant design from erica o'brien - i love that she's balanced the bold graphic with the softness of the sugar flowers. surprised no one gilded the lily (get it?) and used gold or silver dragees, but know how difficult those can be just to find... gorgeous all, thanks as always...
What is that curved piece running up the side of the Silver Anniversary cake (#11)? It looks like a flying buttress, sort of. Is it functional ... is it, maybe, holding the cake steady?
Trend schmend. If Silver is what you want.
Well, this is the first Sunday Sweets that made me go "ewww." Guess I'm just not into metallics. But I agree with Lady Kal, the wrecks from this trend will be amazing(ly bad).
While I also worry about what goes in coming out... I've got to say, oooh the mesh! on that last cake, just WOW. And the penny cake would look poi-fect on Jen's penny table, yes?
In a word, "no."
In two words, "Hell, no."
In three words, well, the first is "no," the last is "way," and the middle is very naughty indeed.
Shel Silverstein's Big and Little Olaf had a line about this, regarding eating.
So how much of this metallic is edible?
Does it mean I'm a complete geek if these cakes remind me of Firefly? "Shiny!"
My favorite is cake #2 with the cascade of dots down the side. I want that for my birthday. My second favorite is the romantic cake with the flowers. That was so beautiful. Although, the others were very impressive. I wondered what the occasion was for the fashion forward cake.
Bob: The curved thing is a mirror behind the cake. I had to look at it for a few minutes.
I think the bronze one is fantastic. I, too, would be worried about eating these, though.
Am I the only one who was hoping for a cake with Dalekanium?
our wedding cake had metallic silver, though apparently it could only be done on fondant. It was all edible, but seriously, it was fondant so you couldn't have gotten me to eat that stuff anyway. I just peeled it off when the time came.
Metal (silver and gold) is usually harmless to consume, it just passes through your system undigested. I've had chocolate bars with gold flakes. They don't taste like anything.
The cakes are lovely, but what really has me drooling are all of the lovely cake plates, especially the procelien and glass. Gone are the days (I hope) of the plastic stand surrounded by plastic lace that were used when my mother used to make wedding cakes.
So pretty. Shiny!
Everyone knows shiny things taste better!
Here's my question: I EAT cake. While these are lovely to look at, what do they actually TASTE like? Because it's been my experience that fondant is essentially inedible. Metallic fondant? Yeesh.
Was anyone else relieved that the "penny" cake did not, in fact, have real pennies on it?
@Karen: I can't attest to the actual cakes, but as for fondant (in general), my own personal opinion is that it tastes kind of like a sweetish, edible (barely) Play-Doh. Some people must like it, unless it's just used because it's pretty and workable. To each his/her own!
I like the rose gold one - so pretty - and the fierce bronze one. As lovely as these are, I somehow don't see them becoming a real "thing"...
I freely admit that the cakes are nicely done, but they leave me cold. I don't like fondant cakes as a general rule and the metal ones even more so. Pennies on my food? No thank you. Ick.
The crafting on these cakes is stunning, but I must agree that most don't look too appetizing, or even very edible. The last cake appears to have spangles wrapped around it, that you would buy from a fabric store. Still, beautiful cakes, and a fun narrative; thanks, Lindsey!
Beautifully executed. I agree with the queries about edibility. Certainly real silver and real gold (in very very very small quantities) won't do you a lot of harm (although silver can turn you a very strange colour). However I really worry about what is actually used to produced these 'edible' metalics, and particularly what their effect might be when ingested in the largeish quantities that would result from some of these cakes. Have been so very tempted, because they are *soooo* pretty but won't use them myself.
I find the rose-gold ones pretty, but all the others leave me cold.
BTW, what is the black insecty looking thing on the top layer of cake #3? Very surprised that this was not picked up when it is a professional image.
I have never really cared for metallic on cakes (can count on one hand how many I may have "ooohed" over). I find they looked very dated, very quickly. But I can most definitely still appreciate the talent and artistry of the decorators!
I like the second to last one, with the buttress/mirror/frame(?) thing.
I'm glad people commented on the eating, though, because that's the most important part! I don't know if I'd want to eat all that shiny stuff. I'd just want to look at it and coo, 'Shiny...oooooooooooh.'
While a couple are stunning, I just don't see the appeal in eating one. As for the penny cake, I'll leave my pennies on my floor where they belong. (Best investment in flooring I have ever made!)
Such gorgeous cakes!!!!
Wow, such negativity - easy does it, all. These cakes are made with fondant, and most people don't eat fondant, so peel it off and eat the cake. I doubt you'll ingest much metallic decoration with that method (can an "Epcot" be called on a Sunday Sweets post? Can we get a ruling here?).
Take a look at that "penny cake". It doesn't have actual pennies on it - the round discs were burnished to look like pennies. That's just how good this decorator is!
Lindsey, thanks for sharing these beautiful cakes with us. My favorites are the Flashy #2, the Antiqued Bronze, and the Silver Anniversary. So, so pretty.
@Denine - you are onto something! Seeing the wrecks which spring from this trend will, indeed, be something to behold! Those wreckerators have work to be done!
Firefly lives!
Really gorgeous cakes! But, I can't find metallic things very appetizing. My teeth hurt just thinking about biting into something metal, even though these don't contain any actual metals. I'm probably just scarred for life from biting into some aluminum foil as a kid. I'm having phantom pains in my teeth right now just thinking about eating a slice of gold cake.
They all really do look amazing though! :)
Trends can be stupid and these don't look appetizing at all....Who knows what else they use to produce the metallic look, imagine all those little bits in your tummy. Urgh. I'll rather eat a normal "boring" cake
It's edible silver leaf, has no taste and doesn't do anything to your fillings (what a thought if it did, yikes!) I have used it on two cakes and I think it looks good. In order to keep on top of all the trends you have to put your taste aside some what and keep up. I think all the cakes are good and show talent and wouldn't dream of being critical as everyone was probably produced to a client specification and involves a lot of skill.
A few of these are nice, but most of them just look tacky. When it comes to glitz, I think less is more.
i agree with Lady Kal. they say that some of the metallic stuff they put on cakes is edible, but i wouldn't eat it.
Double-plus bonus points for the obscure Firefly reference!! And I love most of these shiny cakes.