Bridal Show at the Sheraton Carlsbad

  This weekend I had the opportunity to attend my first bridal show. I didn't know what to expect so I set my expectations very low, not wanting to disappoint or discourage myself. Well that turned out to be a smart idea because the show exceeded all expectations. It was relatively smaller than other bridal expos in the area which proved to be an advantage as it was easy to meet and talk to people one on one. My booth was stationed in the "caterers lounge" near the entrance of the show which sent us a lot of traffic. I decided to include five cake designs highlighting the different styles of wedding; modern, contemporary, natural, classic, and whimsical.

 I wasn't sure how many samples to include so I went with 250 mini cupcakes in four different flavors; red velvet, banana peanut butter, mint chocolate chip, and lemon coconut.

Here are a few close-ups of each cake:

The Contemporary, with an oyster topper and Tahitian pearls in varying colors.

The Classic, all white with bows, lace applique, and parrot tulips and peony topper.

The Whimsy, inspired by Monet's Les Nuages (The Clouds) with a water lily topper. The cake was hand painted with food gel coloring.

The Natural, Dan (my husband) found the tree branch while hiking and I built a cake stand out of it. The cake is also inspired by artist Astrid Preston who grew up near an apple orchard and who also did a residency at Lux where I work. The apples are real and the leaves and blossoms are gumpaste.

And the Modern, inspired by a friend's dress and all black and white cake with striking red parrot tulip toppers.

This was a great experience which I could not have done without the help of my loving, encouraging, and supportive husband, branch finder, delivery driver, muscle, and salesman. We were a great team and I am so thankful for all his hard work, help, and time he gave to me.

Classy Yellow Engagement Cake

Yellow and white have had quite a historical love affair over these past centuries. In the earliest of times they were paired textures of brocade and lace or in damask wallpaper.

Later in the mid-century modern era we found yellow and white in Eames furniture and Wasily Kandinski paintings.

Today it reappears in fabric prints, clothing, furniture decor, and of course cakes.

This week's cake was a lemon coconut cake with french vanilla cream frosting. The outer adornment was festooned in canary yellow fondant, white gumpaste flowers and ribbons. 

Bows are fun to make and they add a nice elegant touch to any cake. I recently learned that while most bows are made from fondant, its best to use gumpaste if using other adornments in the same white color to color match. The flowers are white tiger tulips with yellow stamens, and each bloom was cut using flower cutters and their shape and detail created from a flower veiner and dried on large soup spoons.