Cakes have bad days too...

I seem to be getting many orders for last minute cakes. Being a self taught decorator, I seem to fly by the seat of my pants. Running in all directions. Small business owners seem to do that when they are first starting out.

I took my first stab at making a small purse cake for a friends birthday. It wasn't working and I stabbed the cake.. literally.. It was a joke really.. It made me laugh so I took a picture of it. A couple of days later, I decided to try again. I was reading one of Margaret Braun's book the other day and she was talking about her introduction to cake decorating. She said "a voice in my head guides me with the following words: Fallo di Nuovo, Margherita, ma uno alla volta, e BENE. Which means: Do it again, Margaret, but one at a time and WELL.

My voice SCREAMS at me. You have 4 cakes to be working right now. Hurry up! get it done. Do it right, make it beautiful.. etc. etc. I am going to try and follow a few cake decorators words of wisdom: One at a time, and WELL. Yes.. Good advice... When I met Bronwen Webber, she said to me "Dana, don't stress... it's JUST CAKE. Ahh.... that helps me every day. Don't stress.. it is JUST cake. I tell that to my students often. There have been many days saved by that great advice. My students come to me and say "I remembered what you said, don't stress.. it's just cake.. and I didn't stress and things worked out".

So, to all of you, don't stress... Its just cake. And if you do start to stress, put a knife in that bad boy and show it who is boss! :)

It's all about SUGAR

I have been so excited to be able to share my skills in sugar. From beautiful sugar flowers, to pulling and blowing sugar, I am addicted!!! Tonight I taught a young teen the art and she had such a great time!! (so did I by the way) :). I love watching the sparkle in my students eyes, the smile on their faces as they create their first flowers and the excitement to learn more!!

Next month, it is all about the holidays!! We are going to make a really cool poinsettia out of pulled sugar, snow men and ribbons.

Pulled and blown sugar for me has been a soul warming experience. Yes the sugar is VERY hot, but I pride myself on never getting burned and showing my students how to do the same and enjoy the entire experience. One of my previous students, was scared to death and didn't want to take another pulled sugar class because of getting burned.. Well, I am happy to say she has returned to the sugar art and was very excited to learn my techniques. I am a person who is always cold. My side of the bed is piled HIGH with blankets. hehehe. I love working with the sugar especially on those cold days. Warms me right up.

For you gumpaste lovers out there we are going to make snow flakes, poinsettias, fall leaves, holly, and what ever else we decide we want to make that night (time permitting). Gumpaste flowers have been my relaxing joy. Therapy for me really. It is totally relaxing to kick back in front of the tv with a tv tray and make flowers. Keep these gems away from moisture and dust, and they will last for YEARS!!!

Parents, this is a great art that will entertain young teens who may be interested in this industry, great projects for science class (science?? why yes! lets get into the science on the ingredients!), art class (do you think your art teacher would be impressed that you made an artistic floral display out of something eatable?? Oh yes!!) and obviously baking classes at school as well.

Adults, here is something you can do that isn't going to cost a lot of money to get into, (well it could if you want all those fancy cutters!!). By taking a class, you get the knowledge on how to, as well as taking your accomplishments home. We start with basics. You can spend a bunch of money if you want to, but let me show you ways to save a bunch! Hey, we can all use a little help with that these days!! I like to start my students off with things they can purchase locally at their local craft store. Use those coupons!!! Show you where to purchase other supplies, and above all have a ton of fun!!!

I love throwing those special classes around the holidays that are easy for everyone. Below are are some pictures of some of the things that I have created in sugar. When you are ready, lets have some fun!!!!

May your life always be sweet,

Dana

danasflowers@comcast.net

Flowers and Cake November 2008

Two wedding cakes and one retirement celebration cake, and a really cool birthday cake this weekend (not to mention wedding flowers for two events).

I am looking forward to making some cute baby shower cupcakes tomorrow. I have been thinking about doing less flowers to concentrate more on cakes. After the honor of working on flowers and cakes this weekend and how beautiful the bouquets turned out, I question my judgement on steping back on flowers. I am very pleased on how they turned out. It warms my heart when a bride sees her flowers and cake for the first time and she says it is all she ever wanted.

Cheers,

Dana

This should give hope to anyone in the industry

We all have bad days with cake decorating.. This was mine:

What I LONG LONG Day, but it created a great story. Most of you received the picture of the 90^th birthday party cake I finished yesterday. (second picture listed) Well, a few errors on my part combined with the large hills in Seattle, tuned that cake into.. Well.. A picture is worth 1000 words right?? J

The base was Bavarian cream, and that is instable as it is. The cake also was carved into the side which created more instability… … Cringe Cringe….

It broke right where I carved into the side. yeah.. that was lovely… The top two kinda made it…. But wouldn’t have gone back together well. So we scraped it. I took the fondant piano keys off the original cake and put it together on the new cake. The new cake???!?!?!?

Did I ever tell you what an awesome, talented husband I have???? He grabbed the kids, went to the kitchen pulled out the spare cakes in the freezer and went to work filling and frosting the cakes. He transported them SEPERATED to me in Seattle. I stacked, decorated and presented the cake before anyone from the party got there. All the friends and family who saw the cakes all have said they like the cake that was presented the best.

I had called Valerie the lady who ordered it and told her what happened and that we would fix it. She had a ton of faith in me and knew it would be beautiful. When she arrived at the party, she gave me hug upon hug upon hug. Which was thoughtful… She said she was also going to bring me flowers.. What a sweetie… J

We do pretty good under pressure eh???? J Don’t want to do that again, but have two great pictures to add to the portfolio and one great story J

Dana

Mardi gras Cake

This cake was for a 30th surprise birthday party. The client came to me with a picture of what they wanted. I was able to duplicate it exactly and they were very happy with the results. I LOVE doing fun cakes like these!

Buttercream with pink accents

Fondant not your style? Try a simple buttercream frosted cake. On this cake we used a thick light pink ribbon around each layer and topped the cake with light pink gum paste roses. This cake will serve approximately 78 people serving all three layers. On the inside there is a delicious devils food chocolate cake with a milk chocolate ganache filling.

Simple Elegant is in!

Here is another simple elegant cake with classic bold colors of black, white and red. This cake is a fondant covered cake with a pulled sugar red rose on top. You can do the same design and change out the color of ribbon and rose!

This cake serves approximately 78 people serving all three layers.

Simple elegant fondant with royal icing dots

Simple Elegant fondant covered cake serves about 78 people serving all three layers.

My new fave!

It isn't often that I am able to work on cakes that I want to make, usually a bride shows me a cake she wants, and I make her dreams come true. Well, I needed to make some display cakes and this is one that I have had the idea for, but haven't had a reason to make. Funny that I made it now, because there is a bride that is interested in this idea, but using square cakes. I am looking forward to showing this to her. This apple blossom tree is made with gum paste flowers. The cake is a light sage green fondant. This is still a work in progress, more to do to it, but couldn't wait to share!

As always, enjoy!

Pulled Sugar Rose

This rose was fun to make. I started it at 11pm and ended it about 2am. I was working on other projects too, but this is my favorite!

VEGAS

This was such a fun cake to do! The original cake was done by a baker in Vegas. My bride was married in Vegas and was having her reception here. This is the cake she fell in love with and had problems finding someone that had the knowledge to duplicate it. The image on the front is an eatable image that I doctored up to say "Married" in...

Gumpaste Orchid

This orchid was also another cake decoration project. Gumpaste flowers are made in stages so it is hard (for me) to gauge how long it takes to complete one flower. It would also depend on how large and how detailed the flower is.

Gumpaste Blackberries

Since I grew up in the Northwest, this was one of my favorite projects. The blackberries were for a wedding cake I designed. They are so realistic looking, you could not tell them apart from the real thing. The leaves are also gumpaste. Remember that although gum paste is eatable, many people do not dare consume such a beautiful work of art. Keep it away from dust and moisture, they will last a lifetime. It is a great keepsake.

Gumpaste Flowers

I had my first experience with gumpaste a few years ago, and my project was a disaster. I knew nothing about this art and finally took a class. I can now make just about any flower, leaf or design imaginable. One of my entries in the Washington State Cake Decorating Competition was a bridal bouquet made out of all gumpaste flowers. I had to do a bridal bouquet, because I love weddings and creating that special bouquet for the bride. This is the entry that took BEST OF DIVISION in the WA State Cake Show. I get orders for my gumpaste flowers from all over the USA and Canada.

Sea Shell Theme Wedding Cake

This cake is to die for! It is one of my most requested cakes that I have done many versions of. The sea shells are made out of white chocolate. Each is hand painted with an eatable paint. The shells are so detailed, people think they are real shells on the cake. I have to say the picture doesn't do them justice. They are amazing. I have made these shells for other brides and cake decorators across the USA. They are that amazing. The chocolate was also flavored butter rum. There are approximately 2 lbs of chocolate on this cake. This cake served approximately 70+ people.

Margarita-Ville

Margarita-Ville was created for a friend for her 50th birthday party. Mexican food was being served, so we kept with the theme. This was inspired by a design found in a magazine that I expanded upon. The cake topper is a pulled sugar bow, with pulled sugar 50 sitting on top of the bow. Pulled sugar is really a lost art that not many people know how to do. I was fortunate enough to take a very short class to learn a couple of basics, and I was hooked. My instructor said I was a natural and that I would do well. Basically, go home and practice, practice, practice. I would love love love to get some detailed teaching. The best are in Switzerland, I could learn from one of the best who was taught there, but would have to travel to Canada for his lessons. I need to add that to my schedule!

The cake is a hand made fondant flavored butter rum. Inside this masterpiece is a chocolate devils food cake with chocolate ganache as the filling. Limes are made out of fondant and hand painted with an eatable paint. Just the decorating portion of this cake took about 10+ hours to complete.