Wonderful Day for a Give Away!

Hello, cake lovers!

It's been a wonderful, exhausting day.  As usual, when I've had a big project come to an end, I'm just about out of words.  All I have is pictures, and hopefully they will speak for me. 

I apologize for the less than stellar photography.  I left in a rush in the wee hours this morning and forgot my super double plus awesome camera.  These are brought to you courtesy of my phone.

17 roses, 9 calla lilies and a bunch of little buds and green leaves

The view from up top!

Top and bottom tiers: Lightly Lemon with vanilla butter cream
Middle tier: Buttery Yellow with vanilla butter cream

And just for kicks (and because the top tier of this gorgeous garden cake wasn't touched by anyone by my carefully gloved hand) - I'm going to do a fast and furious give away of the top tier. 

Like it?  Leave me a comment!  This post and tomorrow's post will leave room for entries, so if you want it, comment away! 

Arranging and Maybe Giving Away...

It's one thing to make a pretty flower. 

It's another thing altogether to put it next to other flowers in a way that doesn't look like a Victorian nightmare.

My preference is always simple.  I like uncomplicated florals that hold up the beauty of one or two blooms, with plenty of room for air and light. 

My concept for the cake I'm working on now is to do something like this on top (plus a splash of green here and there):

Then at the base of the tiers, I want to group a few flowers together, a little like this:

I realize I'm a baker, not a florist, and I have an untrained eye.  All I know is what I like and what looks beautiful to me.  I'm usually a pretty harsh critic of my own work.  So I figure if I like it, that's a pretty good sign I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of the right track. 

Speaking of flowers...it might be time for another promo here at Bake Lore.  Anyone in the mood to win some handmade sugar flowers of their very own?

Almond Bliss

I love naming things.  I've always named my cars, instruments...and children too I suppose:).  But I hit a roadblock with my almond cake. 

So I went to the internet, made an appeal to my facebook friends (WHAT?  You haven't found Bake Lore on facebook yet?  Ok, go HERE, now.  Once again, I will wait.)

And thanks to their helpful suggestions, I've decided to call it Almond Bliss.  I love almond flavored confections, especially around the holidays, but a hint of almond also makes for a perfect bridal taste.

I made this cake last night.  It was ordered for flavor not beauty, so I thought I'd try to find a good every day cake look for it.  Yes, I added some sugar flowers, but this is me.  I can hardly move without making a sugar flower or two. 

Almond Bliss has already graced the table of at least one wedding reception.  I'm struggling to remember how many I've made - but this summer it will be back in action, making wedding guests happy and hopefully sending them back here for more.

New Rose

I am sorely tempted to sit around my house, dwelling on my disappointment.  I'm missing a bridal show I had hoped to do today. 

I find it difficult to mope, however, when I am having so much fun. 

Besides the peacock feathers I showed you yesterday, which improve with every new attempt, I thought I'd try some new gum paste cutters I got some time ago and see if they lent themselves well to making a peony.

I failed in that endeavor. 

However, in place of the peony I expected, a gorgeous rose appeared!  It's not the usual tight little bloom I'm used to producing.  This is some other wild variety, but I love it.  It's big, it's full and it bears those peacock colors beautifully.

There's so much more you can do to add color and life to a sugar flower with a paintbrush.  Most often, I add the color to the gum paste and work it in well before I start forming petals, but this time, I left it white, and added layers of purple, blue and green as it dried.  The result is like holding a water color painting in your hand.  I love the effect. 

Usually, my roses look like this:

But the new rose I stumbled upon is somehow messier and less formal, like a medieval maiden.  I like them both, and they'll each serve to make a totally different kind of cake just what it should be. 

Compliments of Bake Lore!

The day, the hour and the moment have arrived! 

Today is the Linton Festival of Homes and my house, now affectionately known as "The Gray Lady" (her many upgrades for this home show have allowed her to shed "The Gray Beast" and move up in the world!), is ga-ga-gorgeous, inside and out.

And who would miss such an opportunity to promote a cake business?  Not moi!

After they see the Christmas spread in the rest of my house, the ticket holders will get to stop in the kitchen for a free sample of Bake Lore cake. 

Buttery Yellow Cake with Vanilla Butter Cream and
a whole mess of hand made sugar flowers

festive, little holly berries

Hint Home Show Goers:
Doncha want to see these gorgeous things on your OWN cake???

My cahd, dahhhhhling...

I hope this turns into some new opportunities for Bake Lore.  Here's hoping those business cards go far and wide.  Ok...so, I'm off to put my feet up.  It's been a LONG week, y'all.

Portrait of a Cake Build

Piping something for the purple hydrangea to hang onto

Do it yourself floral arranging!

Almost there!

 

Cake Euphoria!  Oh the bliss!

My favorite shot.  I just love the straight
back and the stairstep of the florals.

The reason the effort is so, so worth it:)



Deep Greens and Blues are the Colors I Choose...

Or in this case...purples and blues.

Hello everyone!  I've been HARD at work lately.  I told you I'm starting to have a genuine gum paste garden on my back porch, and let me tell you, I like the look of it!

I'm working on a really big wedding cake for the first week of July, and it will have every color of the rainbow represented in flowers - literally - every color. 

So far, I've got the blue and the purple looking pretty good - irises, small hydrangeas, calla lilies, roses and a variety of little filler buds not pictured here. 

I'm half way through green, then I move on to yellow, orange and red.  I'll keep ya posted.