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?

Sneek Peek

As you may have guessed from the more-than-month-long gap between posts, I have been resting a bit.

Not to worry, cake lovers, everyone needs a moment to pause and catch one's breath before digging into a remarkably busy bridal calendar. 

I have lots of weddings, showers and anniversaries booked - which is NOT to say that I'm full up.  I'm not!  If you are interested in a tasting or are ready to place an order, I'm here for you:). 

This post is just a sneek peek into the first of several lovely cakes I have planned for the coming weeks.  It's going to grace the table at an art reception in Indianapolis, and I can't wait to see it all put together. 

Here are some of the sugar flowers I've been working on...

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.

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.