Sunday Sweets: Jen Gets Girly
August 10, 2014 I don't have a specific theme for you today, unless maybe "cakes that made Jen squee like a little girl" is a theme.
Oh, it is?
EXCELLENT.
;)
(By Scrum Diddly)
Whoah. That bottom layer is done in a "billow weave," and this is one of the best examples I've seen. (Here's a tutorial, if you want to learn.) Also love the off-center flowers & color choices; just a gorgeous composition over all.
Speaking of composition, how great is this cheery asymmetrical number?
;)
Such a simple change, but stacking the tiers like this makes an otherwise traditional design so much more fresh and modern!
Now, just so you know, I'm a sucker for balloons. And bright pastels. And pink bicycles with little gift-wrapped presents on them.
;)
(By My Cake School, click for tutorial)
Squeee!
This is another one with a tutorial, so if you can pipe with royal icing candy melts, I bet you can make this yourself! You know, perhaps as a gift. For your favorite cake blogger. [winkwinknudgenudge]
One thing I love about Sweets is that I'm always learning new techniques. That said, I have no idea how this heart was made:
;)
(By Magical Edible Art by Nadia)
That intricate geometric pattern taunts me, you guys. I MUST KNOW ITS SECRETS. Someone explain in the comments, please!
If you look closely at this next one, you'll see little creases that almost look like sheer fabric wrapped around the tiers:
;)
(By For The Love Of Cake)
Such a great texture! And don't get me started on that incredible floral swag. So delicate. So perfect.
I am all abuzz for these sweet bee cookies:
;)
(By Sweet Art Sweets)
SO CUTE. And here's a first: you can actually purchase them on Etsy!
Take an unexpected color combo, throw in some soft petal ruffles, top it off with STUNNING hibiscus flowers, and you get magic:
;)
(By Cake Central member micialuna)
Perfection.
Will I ever get tired of tiny bunting & delicate floral swags?
;)
(By Sarah Edwards Cakes, featured on Marry Me Ink.)
(click for a fun pin-up inspired photo shoot)
NUH-UH.
And I'll never get enough of sweet vintage-inspired designs like this, either:
;)
(By Mina Bakalova)
Mint green and pink paired with wood planks and a skeleton key? Who would dream up a combo like that?
I'll tell you: a GENIUS, that's who.
And finally, the cake that launched a thousand Jen squeals:
;)
(By Corrie Cakes)
The colors! The teeny flowers & butterflies! THE HAND-PAINTED FAWN!!
I never thought I'd advocate hanging cake photographs as art, but this should be a wall-sized mural somewhere. It's just so... happy.
Hope today's post made your Sunday a little sweeter, everyone! Happy weekend!
Be sure to check out our Sunday Sweets Directory if you want to see which bakers in your area have been featured here on Sweets!
*****
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Reader Comments (48)
I NEED that fawn as a plush! And the heart as a pillow! AND THE PURPLE FLOWER SWAG AS A HAIRCLIP.
Jen, I have worked out your evil plan. You post fantabulous cakes on a Sunday to inspire cake purchasers, who will then be devastated by the wrecks produced, and THEREBY ENSURE THE CONTINUITY OF CAKEWRECKS! 'Tis a plan brilliant in its simplicity. I can see these cakes inspiring wrecks that will take wreckiness to whole new levels: delicate creases to mimic chiffon? "I have a trowel, I can do that." Beautiful hand painted fawn? "I had a paint by numbers set when I was a kid, sure I can do it." You want billow weave? "I weaved pot holders on a loom, how hard can it be?" I can't wait to see...
Personally, I love the heart one with the intricate pattern. I am in awe of all of these cakes.
I am almost certain the deer cake is modeled after a vintage birth announcement. I think I have one just like it in my baby album. Oi, that makes me vintage.
The fourth one down with the intricate pattern makes me think of origami. FONDANT ORIGAMI! Mystery solved!
[Welll....why not? Anything's possible, right? Especially here!] Mmmmarvelous beauties, all! =^~.~^=
Allow me to squee alongside you.
I *think* the heart might have been done with a leaf tip?
Jen, I think everything you do is perfection (just like Sunday Sweets, but 24/7) but the bike-and-balloon cake ISN'T royal icing. The bike is done with chocolate candy melts and the balloons are candy melts or buttercream.
No idea about the smocked heart though.
It is no secret that I come here M-F for the laughs, but I love Sunday Sweets, too. I love being awed by the seemingly magical mastery of the medium of frosting each week, and I am moved by the sheer beauty and wonder of these creations made by these incredible artists/artisans. I particularly like mint-and-wood cake by Mina Bakalova, and clicked on the link (it’s her facebook page). That cake is there, along with many others. The caption for the cake is “Irina and Celebrate!” or something similar, depending upon which translation device you use. The baker is from Bulgaria, and while I am clueless about what’s written on her page, the beauty of her work speaks clearly. Thanks, Jen, for constantly reminding us that while laughter is universal, beauty is too.
One of the best Sunday Sweets I have seen. Cannot choose a favorite, although #1 really got my attention with the beautiful color scheme!
While you stare at the heart, I'll be staring at the flowers. They have to be some of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen on a cake.
To (slightly) misquote the Bard:
“O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful! And yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all cake pans.”
I think the geometric heart is done using the smocking techniques used on fabric.
The flowers also look to be a fabric technique done with sugarpaste. Google Kanzashi flowers and it looks like this.
Squee!
These are works of art.
The heart is probably a fondant press.
The heart is made using a texture sheet or impression mat. Can get some fabulous results with a bit of practice.
Squee! Double Squee! Best.Theme.Ever! Swoon.
*Sarah, I have that same birth announcement in my baby book! I'm vintage too, yay!
The lovely heart is made with a "fondant smocking" technique. There are a few tutorials out there, this one seems to have deeper grooves in the fondant than many I have seen. Here's a link to one: http://love-a-cupcake.blogspot.ca/2009_05_01_archive.html
On the lovely bicycle cake you forgot to also be a sucker for the puffy white clouds. Beautiful cake, it reminds me of a poster for a British beer called Fat Tire. I know, sounds weird, but it is a pretty picture of an old fashioned "fat tire" bicycle leaned up against a tree in a sunny green park as if someone had just stopped for a picnic. Perfect.
And the hibiscus cake - I don't even like apple green color, but that cake just rocks with gorgeousness!
So, Happy Girly Jen Day! Be sure to mark it on your calendar.
That last one reminds me of the art in the old school Little Golden Books! Just classic beautiful!!
Yay! Thanks so much for including my pink bicycle cake! You made my day. Love all of these happy cakes! ;0)
Yep, the heart is done with a "smocking" technique. The fondant is "gathered" using dowels and then the "gathers" are pinched in places evenly across the pleats. A small "stitch" is piped across each pinch to make it look "smocked."
Love your blog!!
That last one looks just like one of the announcement cards my mom saved about my birth. :)
Yes, those are kanzashi flowers. How do I know? I spent an hour searching what that was! I am incorporating these into a cupcake design right now for my sister's baby shower.
The flowers around the amazing Heart are versions of a paper folding technique called Quilling. Never seen it reproduced on a cake. Amazing!
these are astounding works of art. Cutting into them is just about unthinkable...
The last two are my favorites ... that mint green with the gorgeous flowers that look SO real, and the wooden planks and lace detail are amazing.
The birth announcement cake with the fawn is so lovely and has that vintage feel about it. I agree with Sarah that it looks like birth announcements that were popular back in the day.
The heart and flowers cake is also beautiful. I'm lucky to get a cake coated with some frosting. What these decorators have done is simply awe-inspiring.
Happy sigh.
BEST Sunday Sweets! I loved every single one.
Hands down my favorite Sunday Sweets edition. I want each and every one of them on a shelf where I can look anthem as long as I want! Today's my 50th birthday and I like to think Jen posted these just for me! Lovely lovely lovely. Squeeeeing with you all! My oh my...thank Heaven for the ability to see and appreciate color and beauty!
The fifth cake, the white with purple flower swag, the one with "little creases that almost look like sheer fabric wrapped around the tiers"? Sorry, but it looks more like a stack of toilet paper to me.
Joining in the rest of you in SQUEEING at each of these! I love them all!
My favorite this week... Every single one! So beautiful!
I only wish there were a fondant that tasted as good as it looks. You may as well be covering a piece of styrofoam since a lot of people(me included) won't eat them.
[Editor's note- Hi Sandy! You have to try some of the professional fondant. It's amazing. Satin Ice is our favorite but there are several. Have a good night! -john (thoJ)]
That gorgeous asymmetrical gold and white wedding cake is just RIPE for wrecking. Think of all the things that could go wrong in the right hands! I wish I knew someone getting married so they could give this picture to a less than stellar decorator and have her do her worst!
Because someone said that the deer cake was based on a vintage birth announcement, I had to look that up and now I really can't stop the squeeing! So adorable! Must. Not. Try. To. Have. Another. Baby.
Maybe I can take my mind off it by studying that heart fondant technique!
What a wonderful pick-me-up on a crummy day. These are the most splendid collection of Sunday Sweets yet. The colors are so wonderfully original in thst hibiscus cake (the orchids are amazing, too.) Thanks for the gorgeousness.
So, maybe I'm wrong, but the one with hibiscus flowers; are there digitalis flowers on it also? And aren't they poisonous?
It looks to me like the heart is made with tips cut off fondant Daisey flowers... Did I explain that right?
MUST HAVE LAVENDER ROSES.....! This would have been so cool as a wedding cake (I originally wanted lavender and orange roses for my wedding) ("Purple and Orange?" ....old school BG). I love lavender....sigh.
Oh NOOOoooooo! I have to post a correction. My husband now tells me that Fat Tire beer is AMERICAN made and brewed in Ft. Collins, CO. I am so embarrassed for giving credit to the Brits for a beer they didn't brew. Ok, so I first tried Fat Tire at a Scottish bar in Rice Village in Houston, TX. So sue me for thinking it was imported. :-P
It's still a lovely poster and a beautimous cake. :-) My apologies to New Belgium Brewing Co.
Must have been reading M-F CakeWrecks too much if, when I looked at #4 with the Pink Heart design, I immediately thought "Lots of 'gina cakes squashed up close together"?
Thats not a purple swag ,thats mauve.
They are crazy and beautiful at the same time...isn't it to pitty to eat these masterworks?! :)
"sqee"?
My favorite Sunday Sweets post by far! They are all just gorgeous!
The pink heart cake by Magical Edubke Art by Nadia is smocking. She is a cake friend of mine. I'm sure she will be thrilled her cake was featured. She followed a YouTube tutorial I know that much. She is so gracious, I'm sure if you contacted her on her FB page, she would most gladly give you the info
I'm glad the Fat Tire beer citation was corrected. I live in Fort Collins, across the street from the owner, actually. It's great beer, but we have something like a dozen breweries here now, all amazing.
I am so excited! You linked my billowing tutorial under the first photo! I've loved your blog for so long, I randomly checked the link to see the tutorial and noticed it's mine! I'm so flattered right now :D Thanks so much!
The fawn was created by Walt Disney Studios for the animated movie Bambi