Adorable Penguin Cake

I know we are gearing up for Christmas... and I really should be getting to my holiday baking.  But, I wanted to share my newest video, an adorable Penguin Cake!

I think he is just too cute!  My son agreed, he wanted to keep him forever and when we brought him to a family get-together several of the kids actually cried when we cut into the cake (my 5 year old son was one of them!).

My other favorite part of this cake is how quick and easy it is to make.  I seriously but this together in under 2 hours (not including baking the cakes), which is really fast compared to some of the other cakes I make!  If you want to make a cute 3D cake to impress at a gathering, this is sure to be it.  No complicated carving, and not a ton of intricate pieces to cut out.

I hope you will give it a try... if you do, head over to my Facebook page or Twitter and share a photo!  I'd love to see your creations :)

Happy Caking :)
~Renee

Ruffled Petal Cake Tutorial!

I am excited to share my latest video tutorial today!  This "Ruffled Petal Cake" I made over the summer was one of my favorite cakes... and I've received quite a few inquiries for a tutorial...

Finally, I have the video to share with you... Take a look below to see how I made this different and elegant cake!

Hope you enjoyed it!

Happy Caking :)

Gingerbread Cupcake Recipe!!

Happy Holidays!  Looking for a great recipe to bring to your holiday gatherings?  Today, I wanted to share my recipe for Gingerbread Cupcakes!  It's a delicious holiday treat (also, great for any time you want a gingerbread treat!!).

Ingredients:
-1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
-1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
-1 large egg (room temperature)
-1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
-1/4 tsp Salt
-1 tsp Cinnamon
-1 tsp Ground Ginger
-1/2 tsp Nutmeg
-1/4 tsp Allspice
-1/2 Cup Milk (room temperature)
-1/2 Cup Molasses
-1 tsp Vanilla

I topped my cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, with a little orange zest!  So yummy!  I'll have my cream cheese icing recipe coming soon!

Rimmed with sanding sugar and topped with mini gingerbread cookies, these cupcakes are a cute dessert for holiday gatherings, or a sweet gift!

Happy Holiday Caking!

Pleats & Brooches Cake!

Here is another of the cakes I did in September!  I was excited to work on this one, I had designed a cake with diagonal pleats some time ago and never had the opportunity to make it.  So, I was thrilled when my bride told me this was what she wanted!

I used a scribing tool to roughly mark out where I wanted the top line of the pleats to go.  I added a little tylose powder to the fondant I used to make the strips with, to stiffen it up and make it easier to work with.  Using my pasta attachment, I rolled strips of fondant to a #4.  I trimmed the fabric strips to roughly 1.5 inches, it didn't need to be exact because the bottom edge would be covered with the pleat below.  I moistened one side and folded the strip in half so the top edge was a nice rolled/finished edge and the bottom was the open seam.  Starting from the top, overlapping my scribed line, I layered the pleats!  When I got to the bottom border of the cake, I used an exacto blade to make everything nice and neat.

The brooches and topper were supplied by the bride.  I love the sparkle they added to this otherwise "simple" looking design.  It's hard to capture the sparkle of the "bling" in these photos!!

Thanks for looking!

Happy Caking :)

Cinderella Shoe Tutorial, Live on SugarEd Productions!!

Drum roll please.....

My much sought after isomalt Glass Slipper tutorial is now available!  After I posted pictures of the Cinderella Sweet 16 Cake I made back in March I was contacted many times about the instructions.  And, I promised a tutorial would be forth coming...

 Well, in the spring I was contacted by Sharon Zambito (yeah... I know, crazy cool, right?!) about a new online sugar arts school she was launching this summer.  She wanted to know if I was interested in being a contributor and would I put together my glass slipper tutorial for her.  Umm, YES!  Of course I would!!

 

It took me some time to fit it into my schedule, but I was able to get the instructions to Sharon over the summer... And guess what, SugarEd Productions is now open and my tutorial is featured on the homepage this week!  I am so excited, I literally squealed when I saw she posted the link on Facebook to my tutorial!! (hence my over-use of exclamation points in this post, lol)

SugarEd Productions, Online Sugar Arts School is a member only site chock full of awesome tutorials, recipes and videos.  There is also an inspirational member gallery and a great community developing on the forums.  I joined several weeks ago and I have been busy exploring the site in my free time (mostly between the hours of 2am and 3am, lol!).

New content is added weekly!

Here are just a few of the exceptional features waiting for you: 

• library of high definition video tutorials 
• photo tutorial library
• huge printable recipe bank  business, photography and decorating articles 
• member tutorials and recipes 
• member photo gallery 
• professional advice and message forums (chat with Sharon Zambito and other members)
• games, contests and other interactive activities 
• valuable resources 
• special SugarEd store discounts for members only 

 

And, as if the phenomenal instruction by Sharon isn't enough, she even has celebrity guest instructors!

I am loving the content, and I know you all will too!  If it's by Sharon Zambito, you know it will be superb, quality content!  I am absolutely stunned and amazed that she asked little old me to be a contributor.  I am SO excited to see my tutorial up, and glad to finally be able to share with all of you, who have patiently waited for me to get this together!

Go sign up for SugarEd Productions, Online Cake School to see my Glass Slipper Tutorial and many others!!

Happy Caking :)

Combed Buttercream Cake

I delivered this sweet and simple wedding cake over the weekend...

Simple combed Swiss Meringue Buttercream accented with fresh flowers!  I always get nervous when delivering "naked" cakes, because I won't know what the finished cake is going to look like until I'm at the venue... The florist did the flower arranging for me and I think this collaborative effort turned out beautifully!

 

Sometime simple can be so elegant... Thanks for looking!!

Happy Caking :)

Lace Applique Cake

Today, I have another cake from my photo shoot with Allure Bridals, to share!

For this "story" I was sent a photo of a pretty lace covered green bridesmaid dress.  I've been wanting to make a lace embellished cake for a while now, so I knew lace that would be the focus of my design!

 Now, I just had to find the right lace to use!  I ordered a few from cake supply stores, but they weren't "real" enough looking.  I considered doing a brushed embroidery lace design... but knew I didn't have the time.  So, that only left me with one options... to make my own lace mold.

 

Off to the fabric store to find some lace...  In my area of New Hampshire we don't have a lot of big fabric stores...  On one of my trips back to my home state of Connecticut I stopped in to a giant Joann-Fabrics and searched the entire store until I found a small display of lace appliques!  I finally found something I thought would work!!

To make the mold, I used a technique similar to one I saw in the Craftsy class Cake Design Made Simple: The Wedding Dress with Rachel Teufel.  But, I modified the process a little so I had more of a mold instead of just a lace press.... either way, it still meant hours of hand cutting around each applique!!

The inspiration dresses were more structured and less flowy... so I added a structured pleated band around one of the top tiers.  I was tempted to add a bow... because I think everything is pretty with a bow... But, thought it wouldn't fit with the look I was after.

Fresh flowers were added to the top when the photographed this cake... but I wasn't there for the 2nd day of this 2 day photo shoot, so I don't have pictures.  Rest assured, I will definitely share the finished photos when they are published!

 Thanks for checking out my work!  Take a look at the gorgeous table that my friend, Meena of 5th Avenue Weddings & Events created for this story!


I know... amazing, right?  If you need a fantastic and creative wedding coordinator, look her up!  She's in the New York area, but she travels!!

Happy Caking :)

Buttercream Swirls

So, this past weekend's cake was a simple buttercream cake:

It was pretty basic, with SMBC finish and swirls.  Fresh flowers, provided by the florist as embellishment...  My clients tend to come to me when they want fondant work.  I somewhat specialize in fondant design with clean, elegant lines (or, so I like to think, lol!).  So, it was refreshing to have this "easy" little order. 

But, you know what they say... the easy ones tend to give you the most trouble!  Back when I booked this cake in February/March, it was cold out.  When I was told it was going to be a buttercream cake in August, absolutely no fondant... I asked the big question, where will the cake be displayed?  Inside, out of the sun, it's pretty cool in there, they always put the cakes there... Okay, it was cold outside, I wasn't in a "summer heat" frame of mind at that point.

Cut to last week when I'm trying to make this "simple" cake and we were in a 100°F heat wave here in New England!  Eeeek!  Not good for Swiss Meringue Buttercream!  It was so difficult to get the cake smooth, difficult to pipe scroll work while fighting the icing melting in my "hot hands."  But I persevered and pulled it off!

Okay, time to deliver the cake!  This made me glad I had put so much thought into my summer cake deilveries!  I think I am going to make a video (during all that free time I have between the hours of 3am and 7am!) with my tips for summer cake deliveries!  But, my saving grace for this sweltering delivery was dry ice!  I packed the cake in a double thick, heavy duty cardboard box and put in some dry ice.  Cranked the AC and drove 2 hours to the venue in a refrigerated SUV, lol!  The cake made it there in one piece and even though the room was hot, the cake held up! 

*For those of you who are wondering about using SMBC in hot weather, I still do not recommend it!  The heat had begun to break on the day of this delivery, the reception was in the evening and the outside temp was going down.  The room was very warm, but still only in the lower 80's by the time I delivered the cake.  If it had been up in the 90's-100's, I would have asked the caterer to keep it refrigerated as long as possible.

So, there you have it... Happy Cakes by Renee does buttercream cakes too, no biggie!

I know this isn't a very exciting post, and I didn't have a ton of pictures of this cake... so, later this week I will share photos of another cake from my photo shoot with Allure Bridals!

Happy Caking :)

Purple Anemone & Scalloped Lattice Cake!

Last week, I had the honor of participating in something so exciting and fun!  I was invited by a friend, Meena of 5th Avenue Weddings & Events to participate in a photo shoot she was doing for Allure Bridals! 

.....What?! 

Yes, that's right.... I was asked to provide cakes, to be photographed and used in a new marketing campaign for the 2014 collection of a bridal gown company!  Right, smack, in the middle of wedding season!  But, I couldn't say, no!

At first, I thought I was just providing one cake... but nope... After committing to the project, we found out that they wanted to shoot 5 different "stories."  With just two weeks notice, there was not way I was going have time to design, order supplies and execute FIVE different cakes!  So, I said I could do 2 different detailed cakes... And, one plain white 3-tier cake that we could dress up for the other 3 stories....

Today, I'm excited to share the first of the cakes that were photographed!  The table, styled by Meena, for this story had beautiful purples to to with the bridesmaid dresses that were photographed.  I designed this cake, fairly simply, with a purple color palate.

The tiers were painted with super pearl, to look like satin.  The contrasting scalloped pattern is a matte white (textured with tulle), created with one of the new Onlays by Marvelous Molds- the "Scalloped Lattice" pattern.  I LOVE this new product, it makes decorating so easy and quick.... and with the little time I had to pull off these cakes, I needed fast and easy!

I did a petite trio of cakes for this set up... we were shooting at an abandoned mansion and set up on this beautiful sculpted table!

 

I used simple purple Anemones as accent... But, the beauty of this simple design is the differences in texture and with the delicate, lace-like scalloped pattern.

A photograph... of my cakes being photographed!  So surreal!!!

 I'll be posting photos of some of the other cakes I created soon!  For now....

Happy Caking :)

New Product: Marvelous Molds Onlays!

Hi Everyone!  I wanted to tell everyone about this new product from Marvelous Molds!  I was lucky enough to receive several of the new Onlays to try out.  Jackie from Cake Central reached out to me, to see if I would be interested in trying this brand new product from Marvelous Molds.  I had no idea, at the time, what exactly the product was... but I did know that I'm a huge fan of the company and anything they were coming up with was sure to be innovative and fun!  I was going to be short on time for their deadline, but of course I said I would make it work!  Sadly, my cake did not make the cut for the contest over on Cake Central... but I'm a big enough person to admit that the contestants chosen are way better than what I came up with.  I voted for my favorite!  I encourage you to go check out the gorgeous creations!

Anyway... back to what I think of the Silicone Onlays.  You've probably inferred already, that I'm a fan, lol! But, what I'm not sure I can convey to you is how wonderfully easy they are to use and how helpful this new tool is going to be in the future of cake decorating!  I'm sure we've all stenciled patterns on cake... you have to wrangle the stencil with one hand, while trying to scrape on some royal icing (or buttercream with the other).  Some inevitably squishes under the stencil and you have to go back and touch up... then completely wash and dry the stencil before continuing with the pattern.  Or maybe, just think for a minute, how many hours we have spent painstakingly hand cutting a repeating pattern!

Well, Marvelous Molds' Onlays make such fast and neat work of getting patterns on a cake.  Excitedly, I received the "Moroccan Lattice" Onlay, as part of my package.  This beautiful pattern is really on trend right now, and I've been interested in making a cake incorporating the design, for quite a while now.  I looked everywhere for a cutter, only recently have Marina Sousa's "Quatrefoil" cutters been available....  So, when I received my package I immediately knew I wanted to use that as the focal design on my cake.  I had so many ideas... but the one I felt I had time to pull off was a garden-y, vintage looking cake.

When it came time to use the Onlay, I was a little nervous, not having practiced too much with them... but they were incredibly easy to use!  And so, so quick!  I got the entire 8" round completed in 10-15 minutes, including rolling out the fondant!  For comparison, just 2 days later I spend an hour to hand cut, then another 45 minutes to place the "double wedding rings" pattern on a client order.  They even do have an Onlay for that pattern, too bad I would not have received it on time!

Basically, the new Marvelous Molds Onlays, are everything they claim to be.  They work just like in the instructional video on their website.  They are quick and easy to use and provide flawless, clean results.  Ranging in price from $12 (for some of the ribbons) to $29 (for the larger all over patterns) I think these are a great value for money.  They will save hours in decorating time, are strong and durable and have a variety of universal patterns, sure to be used over and over again.

I hope you will check them out... or at least head over to Cake Central to see the wonderful cakes created for the Marvelous Mold sponsored contest!  Leslie Bruckman's art deco cake is jaw dropping!

Happy Caking :)

DISCLAIMER: Marvelous Molds, kindly sent me the product to try, but did not ask me to blog about them.  All opinions are my own.

Cascading Flower Cake!

It was only a matter of time before I was asked to create my vision of this beautiful cake!  It is a pretty popular design, so I'm not sure of the original designer... but the picture the bride sent and my take are inspired by one of the beautiful creations by Sweet and Saucy Shop!

As a creative person, I generally prefer to come up with my own original designs... but I've secretly been dying to have a go at this cake design!

I love the simply look of it, the only embellishment is the giant flower. 

This cake can only look best with an extra tall cake... so I made my 10" and 8" rounds 6 inches tall!  The top tier is a 6" round, my standard 4 inches tall.

 I love the delicate, slightly ruffled petals that cascade down the front of the cake, and although Sweet and Saucy Shop has a really beautiful version in blue, right now I am loving white on white designs for weddings!

This cake was delivered, once again, to the picturesque Eolia Mansion at Harkness State Park in Waterford, CT.... I'm beginning to think I'll be moving in!  The grounds and the mansion are absolutely gorgeous and I love seeing this location as a backdrop for my cakes.... and the beautiful weddings that take place there!!!

Happy Caking :)