Belated St. Patrick's Day

A week late, I know--but in celebration of things that are green, at least (Palm Sunday--palms are green!! ...er...) and in the St. Patrick's Day spirit, here's a lovely piece by Bobbette and Belle:

Bobbette and Belle Artisanal Pastries

That's some crazy piping work.  Cheers to all!

Article boost

Seven Myths About Wedding Cakes, found here on CakeFu, an excellent article by Amelia Carbine about the often misguided "money-saving tricks" people are sometimes advised to employ when purchasing a wedding cake.

Go check out the article for full details on why not to: buy a fake tiered cake; assume buttercream is cheaper than fondant; choose real over sugarpaste flowers; hide your budget from the cake decorator; assume wedding cakes are always the most expensive; try to save money via a less experienced decorator.

The last point is particularly important; the pitfalls of trying to save money by getting unexperienced decorators or friends of the family to make your wedding cake is illustrated week-round by Cake Wrecks. 

Snow Day

Like many people in the North East, I found myself well and truly snowed in when a certain storm arrived on Friday.

That's right.....

Cake Nouveau

Nemo!! 

Waking up that morning, we campus-bound students discovered there was an awful lot of snow. 

Alan Dunn Sugarcraft
 

It was the kind of day that called for a lot of building...

My Little Cupcake

...and some downhill, wintery adventures....

McGreevy Cakes

Beautiful Birthday Cakes

La Forge à Gâteaux

And afterwards, soaked and chilly, it was time to head in to imbibe some toasty treats.  Hot cocoa with marshmellows is my personal favorite.

McGreevy Cakes

Certainly, a day for warm sweaters, snow ball fights, and snuggling up with all those special people (or special books, shoutout to all those fellow bookworms) in your life.


Cake Voodoo

Stay warm and stay safe coming out of this weekend's blizzard...and start stocking up on chocolate--it's almost That Day of the year...

Happy Christmas Eve with Ginas Cakes!

Well here we are, the night before Christmas, the time of frantic shopping, mad wrapping, and more than a little eggnog-indulgence (or at least, so it is at my house). 

Finish up the holiday countdown (or kick off the twelve days of Christmas, depending on your celebration tendencies), how about some adorable winter delights made by Gina Rouchy?

How about a Christmas Cupcake?

 

Or a pudding pot, if you're a more traditional type.

 



I wish there were enough snow right now to actually make a snowman, but this one will do just fine in the meanwhile.  I lovelovelove the piping on the scarf and hat.

Snowman Cake

 
Do I spy some vanilla wafer windows?  Lovely.

Christmas Gingerbread

 

Another brilliant bit of knit-frosting.  You have to squint a bit, but the sparkly script on top makes for a very festive touch.

Let It Snow Cake

Sleigh Cake

 

 

What's a sleigh without the most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph Rocks Cake

And lastly, one of the most adorable creche's I've ever seen.  Plus, look at the incredible detail around the sides!  

Bethlehem Cake

 



Happy Christmas everyone!  Best wishes for now into the New Year!

In a bit of a break from the winter theme....I think I've found my wedding cake:

 

So completely in love with this, I don't know where to start--although what looks like royal icing wings might be in close contention with the blue smoke design down the sides...or the lovely luminescent scales....or...okay, no, I'm just completely in love.  (Any Spirited Away fans out there?)

Also: if anyone knows the baker who made this, I would love to know!  I saw this on the site "I Waste So Much Time," which unfortunately did not cite its source. EDIT: Good news: the lovely peeps of Cake Wrecks featured this in this week's Sunday Sweets (02/17/2013), and tracked down the bakery.  Big huzzahs to The Butter End Cakery!

Happy Studying, fellow students!

Oh Tannenbaum...

....please be as adorable as these:

From Sweet Disposition Cakes

 

 

I think the white and gold one is my favorite, but I can't get over how lovely this design is!  I wish they'd post a tutorial--I'm guessing the leaves and decorations are some combination of gumpaste and/or fondant.  

Continuing the count-down to Christmas!

Well hello, December

Well, it happened...
Despite my best intentions for October and November, school work and life and intern-y things got the best of me.  Not to say it isn't crazy now, but how about some wintery cakes to tide everyone over during Finals season?

First, this lovely lovely painted delight, by Nevie-Pie Cakes:

I'm absolutely smitten with their hand-painted style--especially having struggled to achieve a similar effect on fondant, buttercream, or chocolate with marginal success.  And--birds and berries.  What could be better?

Maybe penguins.

Frolicking penguins, from Highland Bakery.  I know, I know, the adorableness of it all just hurts, doesn't it?
Keeping with the bird theme, there's also this glittery bit of elegance by Brooklyn Cake:

 



If you couldn't tell, I'm rather fond of the whole bird-on-branches-with-berries theme.

Short post for now, hopefully cookies to come!