Sunday Sweets: Winter Wonderland

Wow - when I asked you guys to help me find the best Winter Sweets out there, I clearly underestimated how seriously you take your CW duties. Excellent work, evil henchmen/women/children!

Due to the overload of submissions, I had to be pretty selective in choosing which ones to feature. A lot of you sent in some really adorable cupcakes, but I stuck with cakes to whittle down the choices. I also looked for ones that fit the theme best - and, of course, I only picked my personal favorites. (But that goes without saying, right?) So, without further ado, here are the best Winter Wonderland cakes the 'net (and you readers) has to offer. Enjoy!

Tonia (and many others) submitted this beauty from Dahlia's Custom Cakes:

Gorgeous.

Hagar R. found this sweet ice-skating fairy from a baker in Israel:

She's sitting on rock candy! The baker's name is Yud, of Yud Creative Pastry (fyi: the site is written in Hebrew).

Alex R-F found this wedding cake from Let Them Eat Cake:

I used to do paper-cuttings as a hobby, and this reminds me of all that intricate design work.

Diana T. found this little guy who, believe it or not, was NOT made by a pro:

The hat! The flowers! The FLIPPER SPATS!!! [swoons]

As you can see from the text, this was the baker's final project for her Wilton class. Now, I've taken all the Wilton classes, folks, and I can tell you they do NOT teach you this level of skill! So, Themie from Deviant Art, I tip my hat to you.

Sherry found one for you minimalists out there:

Simply exquisite. It's by Nicky of Small Things Iced, where she also has some drop-dead-gorgeous cupcakes.

Since I still have lots more Winter lovelies to share, I'll be continuing the Winter Wonderland theme through next Sunday. Check back then for more iced goodness, and stay tuned for your next Sweets assignment!

Sunday Sweets: Cake Nouveau

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!