Saturday, March 12, 2016

Seuss Inspired

A couple weeks ago I got a call from a former bridal client. She told me that her wedding cake was the best cake she had ever eaten and that she wanted to order the same cake again for her upcoming baby shower.

It is always fun to have brides come back to me when their lives move into the next stage. I have made baby shower cakes as well as cakes to celebrate baptisms and first birthdays. 

This baby shower was not going to be like any others I've done. It was going to be for 100 guests!

                                     

She asked me to make two cakes, the first in her favorite flavor of almond cake with an amaretto buttercream filling and icing.


         
            The second cake was to be red velvet with a cream cheese filling and vanilla buttercream.






It turns out that this former bride is expecting twins and the chosen theme for the baby shower was---





        
                                                  Dr. Suess's Thing 1 and Thing 2!!

(Not something I would choose if I were expecting twin girls but.....everyone has their own style!)




Coloring buttercream can be tricky. I chose the turquoise blue like the above photo but when I delivered the cake and saw the party colors I wished I had gone with a bluer blue. Oh, well.
                                    
                           


                                        
For the writing on the cake I decided to paint with food dye on a circle of fondant (sugar dough) for a more precise control over the results. I wanted to copy the lettering style of the Seuss drawings.



                                       
                                         

I simply placed the painted circle on top of the cake. I chose to make the two cakes in opposite colors instead of the same.




When I delivered the cakes I could see that the baby shower was quite the party. It was held at a big hotel in town, with tables fully decorated and a buffet with a light lunch. People were streaming into the hotel carrying gifts. The clients were very happy with the finished cakes.


It was curious to me how greenish the icing looks in this light (I was intending for the icing color to be like the napkins at left.) As a creative person with perfectionist tendencies, these little things bother me. But the cakes are what they are! I know they tasted delicious.



One other thing- Sarah's Lenten and Easter banner designs inspired me so I bought some fabric. 

          

I have been intending for years and years to make banners for our church. I have even bought a few supplies in the past but none ever actually became banners. The ideas and supplies are one thing, the getting to it, another. Now that I have announced my intention, maybe I will be compelled to follow through. 






4 comments:

  1. Oh, WOW. These are most amazing, Pam. Thanks for including the "making of" photos, so we can see how much goes into achieving the grand results. I really like the "leafy" edgings.
    I think the color isn't so far off. In the picture of the final setting, the cake on the right is quite close to the napkin color. Light does make a huge difference. There was so much color there, and probably activity, that it is unlikely that anyone noticed discrepancies of tone; so for the unsatisfied artist, it won't go against your reputation; especially since cakes are mostly for eating and I'm sure that was more than a success.
    Regarding banners: I also feel compelled to get materials made into the final form when I announce a project, so I am looking forward to seeing your banners. Holy Week is coming fast.

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  2. About the color, right- you can compare the last photos with the previous ones, especially the first of just the blue and white icing, those look exactly like the color on the napkin. There must have been some lighting or reflection that cast a yellow tone on the cakes. Still, after so much effort it is annoying to me when they aren't presented exactly as I planned. I need to get over that.

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  3. Mmm, those cakes look delicious. I bet they didn't last long.

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  4. Wow, I love those! So much fun!

    Another thing about color is that different dyes and pigments will reflect different lights differently. So the dye used in the napkins being different from the dye used on the cakes... in some lights they'll look the same, but vastly different in others. And it probably has a lot to do with what the camera could pick up to put in your photo, as well. AND to complicate it even more, people's eyes are not consistent in color perception, either. Only the Creator God can get it perfect.

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