Sunday Sweets: Simply Stunning
September 25, 2011 I think it was Martha Stewart who once said, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
Oh, whoops - actually that was Leonardo DaVinci.
Either way, I bet Leo and Martha would both give sincere fist-bumps of approval to the bakers of these simple yet stunning wedding cakes:
;)
Submitted by Rachel G., found here, baker unknown.
Speaking of Martha, she's probably going to be hunting down the baker so she can feature this divine cake on the cover of her next magazine. That's a very Good Thing!
;)
Sub'd by Danny C., made by Choux Designer Cakes & Pastries
Fully-blossomed roses, fondant "fabric" and seed-pearl piping all scream demurely whisper "simple sophistication!"
;)
Sub'd by Lynne P., made by Sweet Perfection
Layers of flowers, polka dots, lace edging, quilt stitching, and paisley might sound like a whole lot of crazy on a single cake, but in monochrome, they make it a masterpiece.
;)
This cake is so modern and chic, I somehow want to eat it, wear it and decorate my house with it at the same time!
;)
Sub'd by K.I., made by Bee's Cake Design
Of course, simple does not = easy! Those painted flowers use a technique called "brush embroidery," for example, which obviously requires waaaay more effort than buying pre-made flowers, sticking them on a cake, and pretending you made them yourself. Which I would never do. Very often. Again.
Hey, not everyone is born with a flair for fondant flower-forming! But this next baker was:
;)
Sub'd by Rebecca S. and made by her friend Jenny, amateur cake prodigy
And would you believe Jenny was only 14 years old when she made this? Fourteen!
;)
I know, right?!
;)
By Design Cakes
This explosion of roses set against such a basic backdrop is so striking. And the single petal drifted off to the side? Perfection.
Of course there are other options if you prefer your cakes flower-free. Like diamonds!
;)
Sub'd by K.L., made by The Cake Company
I'm not sure if those are jewels or simply silver dragees (totally had Google that word, and was a little concerned about typing in "edible silver balls"), but either way that's some beautiful bling.
;)
Made by the amazing Rylan T. of Art and Appetite
This four-tiered cake with cleverly chosen designs that symbolize true devotion (turtle doves), peace (olive branch), and perfection, light, and life (fleur de lis) may not quite qualify as simple - but stunning? You betcha!
;)
By Lorinda Seto
Such an exacting design leaves zero room for imperfections, and I can't spot a single one! I love the alternating damask pattern,and how the color scheme manages to look playful and grown up at the same time. Just gorgeous.
That's all for today! Thanks for reading, and just so you know: "You're simply the best!"
(See, that was Martha Stewart.
No?
Oh, you're right; it was Tina Turner.
Same diff.)
Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.
Tour Update: Our book tour RSVP pages are now live! Just click your city name here to let us know if you're coming. This lets us know how many prizes to bring, and also helps our bakers plan the right amount of cake.
Speaking of which: hey, pro bakers! We're still looking for a cake provider in each of the following cities: Richmond, Baltimore, Montreal, St.Loius, Memphis, New Orleans and Orlando.
We promise to make it worth your while, so if you're interested, please shoot us an e-mail!
Reader Comments (56)
I heard the best alternative phrase for dragees recently on an episode of Doctor Who. The good doctor called them "edible ball bearings". I love that imagery. :)
Lovely and very chic, less is more.
Also is it me or is no4 leaning ?
Wow. Those are some GORGEOUS daisies!
The cake with the olive branches and doves is lovely, but the fleur-de-lis are all upside down.
Sigh...still no "Detroitish, MI" on your tour page. I so would love to come see you guys.
But, until I can, I'm going to keep enjoying posts like this one - that last one, the yellow damask one, is just amazing. Well, they all are, but that one is my particular favorite of this Sweet. Thanks! :D
I am completely digging the look on the grooms face in that picture.
What you meant to say was "Jenny, amateur cake prodigy," right?
Can't wait to see what happens when a bargain basement bride shows one of these to a wreckorator.
"It's easy! it's all white!"
I'll have to hide this from my 15 year old. I mean, I know I have no talent, but she still has hope. If she sees Jenny's cake, I'm afraid she'll decide to go to medical school.
BTW, we are searching for a bakery for a Sweet Sixteen cake and Sunday Sweets has given us somewhat unreasonable expectations. Anything short of perfection is seen as a potential wreck.
I may just pick up some Twinkies and call it a day.
Beautiful cakes! Those flowers by Jenny are amazing!! Though I'm dreading the "missed marks" edition of these...:(
OMG those are too pretty to eat :D
I wish I could get married again to have one of these beautiful cakes to eat! On a side note, I am having trouble leaving a reply on the RSVP for Concord. It's one adult and one very excited 9 year old girl.
I love the cakes, sadly all I can think of on the last one is the story "The Yellow Wallpaper."
I see a trend: no writing. Maybe when we order cakes and they ask us what we want written on them we should say- oh, wait, that doesn't work, either. Nevermind.
(trudges slowly back to drawing board)
@diddleymaz - I was going to ask the same question. At first I thought the photo was crooked, but I do think it's the cake. However, it's still beautiful :)
I love the one with the silver dragees. Unfortunately, that cake would not be available in California. Our lawmakers, in their desire to protect us from ourselves, have outlawed silver dragees. Not. Available. Anywhere. In. The. State. Makes me crazy mad, especially since they can add so much to decorations for cookies and gingerbread houses. If you can get dragees, and don't mind shipping them, let's talk. Even online sites won't ship to CA.
the 'edible silver balls" could be something that I call coke balls, they are zoo good!
gorgeous, all. i especially love that last butter/white cake. it is a smart use of the motif -- it's reinterpreted so that the layers clearly relate but aren't just copies. cool and restrained. it's a good thing.
The cake with the inverted fleur de lis - I'm guessing those little round thingies are turtle dove eggs? Because the alternative is so NOT peaceful.
I love that ivory cake with the paisley, but the roses really took my breath away. And way to go, fourteen-year-old cake prodigy! Especially considering how many horrifically mangled "ribbon" cakes we've seen on this website...
Those are all incredibly stunning, esp the yellow damask! I also love ALL of the ones from the blog which had the first one. Absolutely STUNNING.
That's an awesome pic of the bride, groom, and decorator. Total love for that on so many levels.
I'm guessing dragees as opposed to sugar jewels, because of the smooth silver shine. I've had cause to research ways to get that perfect shiny-silver finish on handmade things in the past (like, 3' long claws) and all of my experimentation and research found that the reason dragees are so shiny is because they're tumble-polished. You can make shiny jewels at home pretty easily with sugar/isomalt and a mold. You can make metallic-tone jewels with edible paints (Albert Uster's silver is quite lovely). But as far as I know, you can't hand-make dragee-reflective-shiny.
Or if someone knows how, PLEASE TELL ME.
PS Still avoiding Austin, eh? Feh. Weird Al came to Austin and I made him cake...I'd make you one too if you come back and don't almost die on the way!
Beautiful cakes, ALL of them!
Bravo for Jenny. As she matures I hope someone teaches her how to use an iron so she can press all the wrinkles out of the ribbon she uses on her cakes... but who needs dressmaker skills when you can decorate a cake like that, right?
I am having a hard time believing that the flowers on the cake made by the 14 year old are hand made. In every other picture you can tell they are hand made, these look like silk flowers to me. She still did a lovely job on the cake, but I think the flowers are store bought.
While I LOVE the "inverted" fluer de lis cake, the fact that they are upside down would ruin it for me. They aren't nearly as beautiful upside down.
In this case, though, I think the yellow damask one is my very favorite.
And Jenny? Get that girl to Charm City Cakes! (I love Duff)
Geez, all those cakes are sooo beautiful I don't see how they can bear to cut into them.
If a fleur-de-lis means life, I dread to think what an upside-down one means or why you'd want it on a wedding cake.
Those cakes are beautiful! I love that shade of yellow on the last one. It is hard to find just the right shade golden yellow like that, and that baker hit it on the nose.
On a side note, I'm sad to see you aren't making your way to anywhere Pacific Northwest(ish), or, to be more specific, Seattle(ish). You have a lot of fans up here too! I will for sure be getting a copy of your book and maybe give a few as gifts for Christmas. I can't wait!
Those are amazing! Thanks for sharing them.
I would Loooooove to see Martha give a fist-bump!
Where are the Canadian book tour stops?!?!
[Editor's note- Montreal and Toronto. If you click on the RSVP, you can see the address of the stores. - john]
I can see Jenny holding a giant check for $10,000 in the not so distant future. Amazing work for such a young girl.
Wait, you're a Dr. Who fan right? 10th Dr: Edible Ball Bearings!
I also find the upside down fleur de lis to be disturbing. I would be quite upset to find those on a wedding cake. What a shame - the rest of the cake was pretty.
Well, since the fleur-de-lis can also symbolize purity and chastity, upside down may be perfectly appropriate for a wedding...night. {eyebrow waggle} (cue Barry White music)
Thanks for posting my cake, Cake Wrecks! I really love the cake done by Design Cakes! Love the effect of the vibrant red flowers with the natural movement of branches! I'm sooooo inspired by this design!
Oh and by the way, the fleur de lis was inverted because I liked it that way. I've seen many fleur de lis cakes and I thought why not give it a change. The cake wasn't done for a wedding (although it would work) so there is no symbolism behind it. At the same time, I didn't know there was a deep meaning behind the fleur de lis (I thought it was just an architectural thing). =)
Dragees are now SUPER expensive as they actually are made with silver, which, like gold, is edible in small quantities. I wouldn't advise noshing on a Krugerand, however. We can, thankfully, still get them in Texas. However, I use them quite sparingly and only for people I really like!
The lacy cake is stunning! I love that style with the hanging down edging! Maybe I'm missing something though, I don't see any paisley in that cake!
Love the cakes - but even more, the comments about dragees. This site rocks. Where else could you get up-to-the-moment, accurate state-by-state info on where you can buy them - and where they are outlawed? I'd take any of these cakes in a heartbeat. My own wedding cake was so simple, but then again, so was life 30 yrs ago. Sigh.
Actually, the fleur-de-lys is a hotly debated symbol. In some heraldry it is displayed exactly as above, with various meanings attached. Perhaps the people who commissioned the cake had a reason to have it that way?
I thought this website was supposed to be about cakes gone wrong. Why are these posted? They're gorgeous. I don't see anything wrong or funny about them at all.
[Editor's note- Hi Jason. Sunday is the day when we take a moment to appreciate truly beautiful cakes. Think of it as a balance to the rest of the week. -john]
I'm curious as to how these artworks come about.
Does a bride-to-be go to a baker and say, "I want a white cake to feed about 250 with just one big flower smashed into the side of it - but real pretty-like, y'know?"
or, does the baker have a beautiful image in mind, make the cake and photograph it and then sit down with a pot of coffee and a fork?
or, something else? Please, let me know.
@Regina It's more like your first scenario...a bride/groom/whoever is getting the cake contacts the bakery of their choice and sets up a consultation/tasting. When the tasting takes place the baker gives them whatever cake and filling samples they requested for them to try and they discuss the wedding or event. They talk about everything from flavor, to reception location, to colors, the invitations, etc...and any ideas the client already has for what they want the cake to look like. Then the baker/decorator comes up with some sketches of ideas and over time, e-mails, and phone calls, both parties agree on a design and then it is made for the special day. Or at least that is how it went at the last bakery I worked at...I haven't seen the process at my current job yet.
Granted hers was circular not square, but man, the receiver of this http://www.cakewrecks.com/storage/thumbnails/10710906-13749106-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1313726053701 cake should take the pic of Jenny's cake to her baker and say, "SEE??? A 14 yr old could do it!!"
Just sayin'.
Thank you for featuring my cake this week on Sunday Sweets - you've made my day :-)
What an honour!
Cheers,
Eva
I really like the fleur de lis cake. The fact that the fleur is upside down makes it very unique to me. This says: I don't play by the rules, yet at the same time the artist adds the traditional elements of a traditional wedding cake. Color, flowers, birds. I feel its the twist needed to give people that second look. Stunning, absolutely stunning!
I really like the fleur de lis cake. The fact that the fleur is upside down makes it very unique to me. This says: I don't play by the rules, yet at the same time the artist adds the traditional elements of a traditional wedding cake. Color, flowers, birds. I feel its the twist needed to give people that second look. Stunning, absolutely stunning!
Wow I honestly am amazed by that Jenny. At 14 she created that gorgeous cake? Heck can she make cakes for me too? Lol gorgeous work on all of those.
I think the 14 year old did a very good job, but those are silk flowers. I don't really like those on cakes.
Oh to be the one available to bring you the St.Loius [sic] cake!
Love the quilted cake.
I am the submitter of the cake by Jenny, the 14 year old. Yes, those are silk flowers (my choice), yes I have emailed Jen to correct the mistake! I think Jenny did a fabulous job on the whole cake, though, very professionally done, especially for a 14 year old! And, she only charged me $120 for this and the grooms cake ; ) You can't beat that!