Sleek Ruffles & Stripes
February 27th, 2013 by Carrie Sellman | 4 Comments

Today’s featured cake is one of those cakes.  You know the ones that I’m talking about.  The cakes where your where heart takes a little leap and you know instantly.  I am in love!  Maybe it’s the clean lines.  Maybe it’s the bold colors.  Maybe it’s the sleek sophistication.  But this cake has stolen my heart and I know you’re going to fall for it too!  It comes to us from Jessica Harris, of the Jessicakes Blog, and sports her signature graphic style.  Black and white stripes, so crisp and neat, perfectly accented with a petite pink bow.  And then there’s the fabulous ruffles!  Jessica is turning the ruffle trend upside down with this design.  Well, I guess technically she’s turning the ruffle trend on its side.  But you get the idea!  In shades of pink, these ruffles are both vertical and totally modern.  It’s a new day for ruffles and things are looking fabulous!  Join me in swooning over this Sleek Ruffles & Stripes Cake!

 

Pink & Black Ruffles by Jessica Harris  |  TheCakeBlog.com

Jessica Harris, of the Jessicakes Blog gives us the scoop on her design:

“I love clean, simple and graphic designs! I also love cakes that can stand on their own as single tiers. I enjoy giving my sweet friends small cakes for their birthdays, but a lot of designs need another tier to look complete. So, in my quest for single tier style designs, I came up with this horizontal stripe cake design last summer. I love it on it’s own…especially with that sweet accent bow I can personalize for any party! Now a lot of people might see this design and think, “SIMPLE!? – yeah right!!”, but it can be!! I actually put all the stripes on in one piece, like a sticker, using my wax paper transfer technique so the stripes go on clean and straight!! It only takes me about 45 min. to do the whole thing!!”

Pink & Black Ruffles by Jessica Harris  |  TheCakeBlog.com

Jessica Harris tells us about her sleek ruffles:

“Now that I perfected my sweet little striped cake, I decided I wanted to come up with some additional designs that would work with it for larger parties. I love ruffles…they are SO feminine and so stylish right now.  But, since the stripes are more bold and graphic, I didn’t think a frilly, thin edged ruffle would be as great as a stylized ruffle design.  I created a template for the ruffles and ended up cutting out about 24 that would fit around the cake. I alternated the colors between a lighter pink and darker pink. It’s subtle, but I like that…almost as if they’re reflecting light differently and not completely different colors. I’ve done this ruffle cake twice now and I found the easiest way to put the dragees on is before I put them on the cake! So, after I cut the ruffles out of modeling chocolate, I score my stitching line and place my dragees with a little sugar water. I let them sit out for about an hour, then pick them up and put them on the cake about 1″ apart from each other. It worked beautifully and was SO much faster and easier than trying to put the dragees on after the ruffles were on the cake! I’m a mama to three little ones, so I’m all about fast and simple techniques to make beautiful cakes!!”

Pink & Black Ruffles by Jessica Harris  |  TheCakeBlog.com

If you’ve fallen head over heals for this beauty, you’ll be thrilled to hear that you can now learn how to make it.  Jessica is teaching a class online at Craftsy and sharing all of her insider tips, tricks and techniques!  Not only is she sharing instructions and templates for these stripes and ruffles, but she’s also teaching fundamentals like covering cakes in buttercream, fondant and ganache.  Learn how to get smooth finishes, sharp corners and easily apply detailed patterns with her wax paper method.  You can find her new class, which just launched today, here:

Clean & Simple Cake Design with Jessica Harris

I know what’s on my to-do list this afternoon… learning from my sweet friend Jessica!  A big thank you to Jessica Harris for sharing her incredibly Sleek Ruffles & Stripes cake with us today.  It’s spectacular!

VENDORS & CREDITS
Cake:  Jessicakes

Best of 2012 : Number 10
January 3rd, 2013 by Carrie Sellman | 9 Comments

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  Filled with friends and family, laughter and delicious treats.  2013 is here and I’m quite excited about the upcoming year here on The Cake Blog!  Much has changed over the last year for this blog….  so many talented individuals have shared their cakes, parties and recipes with us!  I was personally blessed with incredible opportunities to share my own work on a bigger stage.  It’s been a year full of new challenges, new ventures and a new city.  And with each and every post comes new readers and new friends!  You all are what keeps me blogging… your kind comments, emails and likes!  I could not be more grateful for your readership and friendship.  Thank you for being a part of this inspiring community!

Before we jump right in to new posts for 2013, I think it’s only appropriate to pause and take a quick look back at the last year.  I’ve sifted through the 200+ posts from 2012 to find the posts you loved the most.  Based on your pageviews, Facebook likes and Pinterest pins…. we’re counting down your Top 10 Favorite Posts of 2012!  Starting today with the10th most popular post!

 

Based on your views, likes and pins…..The 10th most popular post of 2012 is…. this Up, Up and Away Baby Shower!  Featuring thoughtful DIY touches and a gorgeous hot air balloon created by the talented Jessica Harris of Jessicakes!

Jump back and see the entire hot air balloon inspired party HERE!

We’ll continue on counting down the most popular posts of 2012.  With #9 coming tomorrow!  Until then… Happy New Year!  Cheers to a fabulous 2013!

7th Cake of Christmas
December 14th, 2012 by Carrie Sellman | 12 Comments

The holiday inspiration continues with our newest cake series, The 12 Cakes of Christmas!  We’re celebrating twelve days of beautifully festive cakes, created especially to inspire you to holiday greatness!  Twelve talented bakers were asked to create innovative and elegant cake designs appropriate for both Christmas parties and winter weddings.  And along the way, we get an up close look at what inspires this talented group.  It’s 12 bakers baking…. it’s The 12 Cakes of Christmas! 

The seventh cake in our series comes to us from Jessica Harris, of the Jessicakes Blog.  You probably remember Jessica from previous features on our site (like this fashion fairytale cake or this ruffled china cake).  And I’m positive you’ll recognize Jessica’s hot air balloon cake!  It was pinned, and repinned and pinned again!  And rightfully so…  it’s beyond gorgeous.  Jessica is well loved for both her bold graphic style as well as her willingness to share techniques, tips and tutorials on her blog.  And I’m thrilled that she’s back today with another wow-worthy design!  Inspired by the true meaning of Christmas and shimmering with gold… It’s The 7th Cake of Christmas!

Jessica builds on her faith and the traditional Star of Christmas to create a scene glittering with brilliance.  Upon the dark night sky, a radiant star shines down from above.  Luminous rays, glowing with gold, glisten down.  The season of Christmas is upon us.  And Jessica captures that feeling, that Christmas joy… the true spirit of the season.  With beauty and elegance.  It’s simply stunning and will make you beam!

Jessica of Jessicakes tells us about her inspiration:

“When Carrie emailed to ask me to be apart of her 12 Cakes of Christmas I was thrilled!  I love love love Christmas!  There are so many wonderful things about Christmas!  As a mom, there is something so special about blessing my kiddos with fun gifts or seeing their faces light up when they walk out Christmas morning in their cute PJ’s with big eyes and smiles to see that Santa left them something!  I love spending cozy evenings together with my family to eat yummy food, play games and exchange gifts.  But, my inspiration for all of that, for the entire Christmas holiday, is firstly celebrating the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  For God to send His only Son into the world to live among us, then to die for us, is the most beautiful gift and the inspiration for every moment of my life.”

Jessica of Jessicakes shares more about her inspiration:

“So, my cake was inspired by the Star of Christmas…for He is the Light of the World!  Set against a black background, His light is brilliant.  As it shines down upon us, we become His little cities on a hill (the dragees) that are meant to reflect His love, His glory and His grace!  I pray this holiday season, as we all celebrate Christmas, that we will remember Jesus as the Star of Christmas and that we would reach out to others and shine His love, forgiveness, kindness and generosity into their lives.  Merry Christmas!”

Oh Christmas joy!  Oh gorgeous Christmas cake!!  Let’s enjoy one more look at this glorious star…

A special thank you to Jessica of Jessicakes for inspiring us with her brilliant Star of Christmas!

Only five cakes left in our series, The 12 Cakes of Christmas!  You can catch cakes one through six HERE.  And remember that there’s only a few days left of enter our current KitchenAid Mixer Giveaway… who doesn’t want a new stand mixer for Christmas?  And a new blender for your best friend?  Enter HERE now!

And just in case you missed the announcement…. there is a Wild Card Spot Open in our series!!  The 12th Cake of Christmas is open and up for grabs!  A fun little competition open to any and all bakers who choose to submit a design.  So to all of the talented bakers who read and follow along…. now’s your chance!  Submit your merriest design to be considered.  Your cake may become The 12 Cake of Christmas!!  Email your photos or links to me at carrie@thecakeblog.com by Wednesday Dec 19th.

VENDORS & CREDITS
Cake:  Jessicakes
Photography :  Jessica Harris
Inspiration Invitation : Tiny Prints

Scooby-Doo! Birthday
May 8th, 2012 by Carrie Sellman | 15 Comments

Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?  We need some help from you now… we have a mystery on our hands!  An awesome birthday adventure awaits Scooby-Doo and the gang of kids at this adorably creative party hosted by Summer Stone.  (You may remember Summer from the Fashion Fairytale Party we featured last August, and her Eggsactly Perfect baking article from last November).  Today, Summer is back to inspire us once again with another incredible party and cake!  From the hand painted backdrops to the sandwich cupcakes and adorable Scooby cake, this party is fan-tastic!  Not to mention the mystery of the missing birthday presents.  Zoinks!  Check out this rad Scooby-Doo Birthday Party!

Scooby Doo Birthday Party

Incredibly fun, right?  Summer not only made these sandwich cupcakes and a majority of the other desserts, but she painted these canvases herself!   And wait until you see the cake…

Scooby Doo Birthday Party

A Scooby-Doo inspired cake that is sleek, modern and perfectly executed!  That’s the best kind of character cake in my book!

Scooby Doo Birthday Cake

Scooby Doo Birthday Party

Scooby Doo Birthday Party

Summer shares the party scoop with us:

“This party was loads of fun. When the kids came in they were informed that they were in training to become part of Mystery Inc.. They started by creating monsters out of sticker sets to familiarize themselves with the types of villains they may be dealing with. We then had a lunch of sub sandwiches, chips and fruits (just like Scooby and Shaggy would like). In the mean time, my daughter hid all of the presents the guests had brought and we announced we had a mystery on our hands and they needed to help solve it. We then had a shooting gallery made of felt monsters that the kids shot with Nerf guns armed with Velcro ended darts. When each guest shot three monsters they then received a Mystery Inc. t-shirt which my mother and I had made. After that the boys and girls were divided up to look for clues hidden throughout the house with their magnifying glasses. For this, they were given Scooby Snacks. Once all the clues were found, my mom read them to the guests so that they could piece together the mystery.

Next, the cake was cut. We also served sugar cookies, whoopie pies, sub sandwich cupcakes, candy, candied popcorn and caramel apple pops. The caramel apple pops were made of one green apple Laffy Taffy and two Kraft caramels smashed together and then rolled into a ball and then dipped in candy melts as you would a cake pop.

After cake, we set a trap for the villain in the form of a large present placed in the living room. When our villain, my 7-year old daughter dressed as a leprechaun, came out we threw a sheet on her and removed her mask to unlock the mystery of the stolen presents. She revealed where the presents were hidden and Asher opened the gifts. Before they left, the kids had their picture taken in/behind the Mystery Machine my husband cut out and painted

The guests went home with Scooby Doo hand soap, Scooby gummies, crayons and a little Scooby and the Gang coloring book as well as their t-shirts and a magnifying glass.

I made the cake and the sweets except for the cookies which my mom baked and my step-daughter and I decorated. I painted the posters of the Gang and my husband made the Mystery Machine. My mother-in-law, my mom and I made the felt monsters. And finally, my dear friend Jessica Harris photographed the party for me.”

VENDORS & CREDITS:
Cake, Desserts, Paintings & Party Styling:  Summer Stone
Photography: Jessica Harris

Up, Up and Away Baby Shower
January 17th, 2012 by Carrie Sellman | 24 Comments

Hold on to your hats because today’s adorable baby shower is sure to blow you away!  Up, Up and Away, that is!  When I first received a note from Jessica Harris about this event… I knew it would be good!  We’ve had the pleasure to ooh and awe over Jessica’s cakes in the past (see them here).  She is an incredible cake designer who also happens to be part of a family of artistic women!  So what happens when a talented graphic designer (Kim Harris), cake designer (Jessica Harris) and photographer (Jamie Zanotti) come together to welcome a new baby girl into the family?  An amazingly sweet and thoughtful event full of charming DIY touches.  Based on the baby’s hot air balloon nursery, prepare to be swept away by this Up, Up and Away Baby Shower!
Up, Up and Away Baby Shower

Kim Harris, creator of the invitation and graphics, was kind enough to share some of her thoughts with us about this adorable shower.

“Jamie and I decided on the theme for the baby shower based on what Ashley (the mom-to-be) wanted to do in the nursery, hot air balloons.  Since this was her first girl we wanted everything to be soft and vintage and girly, thus the reason for all the pink!  With a little vintage blue added in here and there!”

Up, Up and Away Baby Shower

More from Kim…

“I knew I wanted to have hanging hot air balloon decorations that had a strong impact but I couldn’t find anything online that wasn’t expensive.  I was looking through Ashley’s nursery inspiration board and she had saved these tissue paper lanterns from Martha Stewart.  I decided I would make the hot air balloon decorations based on a different version of these, using pages from a book instead of tissue paper, which I thought would look a little more vintage.  I used paper lanterns for the base of the balloons, scrap book paper for the hot air balloon basket and bakers twine to tie it all together.  Cheap, fun, cute and easy!”

Up, Up and Away Baby Shower Cake

Up, Up and Away Baby Shower

Okay, can we pause for a second and talk about this cake?  I absolutely love the striped details around the bottom and the detail work on the hot air balloons is perfect!  Staggered in height and intermixed with clouds, these hot air balloons are oh-so-charming!

Up, Up and Away Baby Shower

The pink and white striped ‘tablecloth’ is actually a twin-sized sheet, found on sale at Target.  Such a clever way to save money without skimping on the pretty!

Up, Up and Away Baby Shower

A few last thoughts from Kim:

“This shower was truly DIY – we did everything ourselves, from the cloud cookie favors to the suckers and sucker stand to the invitations and signage and food.  The beautiful cake by Jess was truly the cherry on top that tied everything together.  What a talented family we have!!”

I could not agree more!  A huge thank you to all three of these talented ladies for sharing this delightful Up, Up and Away Baby Shower with us today!  It’s absolutely dreamy!  You can get the full scoop on Jessica’s hot air balloon cake on the Jessicakes Blog.     

Vendors & Credits:
Cake:  Jessica Harris of Jessicakes
Invitation & Graphics:  Kim Harris
Photography:  Jamie Zanotti

Maddie’s Fashion Fairytale
August 29th, 2011 by Carrie Sellman | 19 Comments

Ooh la la! Today’s party is pure girly fun and fashion-tastic!  The catwalks of Paris are brought to life as the birthday girl and her guests play dress up and strike a pose!  From their little black t-shirt dresses to signature lip gloss created from luster dust, this party is a little fashionista’s dream come true.  And the pink and black dessert table with its adorable cake is certainly up our alley!  Created by Summer Stone for her daughter’s 7th birthday, we’re head over heels for Maddie’s Fashion Fairytale!
Paris Fashion Birthday Party
A few thoughts from Summer about this posh fashion party:

“My daughter Maddie loves the movie ‘A Barbie Fashion Fairytale’, so this year we decided her birthday would be in Parisian Fashonista style. For color, pink and black were an easy bridge between Paris and Barbie. We built wooden Eiffel Tower puzzles and spray painted them black to stand in as icons of Paris. To bring in the fashion world we placed small decorative dress forms throughout and made dress form mannequins out of foam core board covered in muslin which were dressed up in black dresses.”

Paris Fashion Birthday Party
More from Summer about the desserts:

“For the dessert table, my sweet friend Jessica Harris of jessicakesblog brought to fruition a gorgeous pink and black cake I had sent her a design sketch for. I finished off the dessert table with dark chocolate whoopie pies filled with pink filling, soft sugar cookies with pink buttercream, pink and black cake vanilla cake pops and strawberry whoppers. The table was also decorated with hat and shoe-style boxes with pink and black fashion decor.”

Paris Fashion Birthday Party Cake

This cake is absolutely adorable!  I love both the design (created by Summer) and the execution by Jessica.  They are both talented cake designers and agreed to trade cakes for their daughter’s birthdays, freeing up time for other baking and party decorating.  What a great idea, right?  Looks like they make a great team!  I love the bottom tier… a scalloped band of stripes with a thin fondant rope border!  Talk about tricky!  Good thing Jessica put up a tutorial on her blog showing how she pulled this one off!  You can find it HERE.

As if the lovely dessert table wasn’t enough, there were oodles of activities for the girls to enjoy.  Here’s the scoop from Summer:

“During the party, the girls sported little black dresses which were custom made by my mother-in-law, Claudia Stone, from men’s, large black T-shirts. The girls wore their dresses as they walked up and down the runway (which Maddie’s two grandfathers built). The girls also decorated dresses to place on paper dolls which were then put on display throughout the party; and they made their own signature lip gloss using luster dust and disco dust, from my cake decorating supplies, to customize the color and sparkle.”

Paris Fashion Birthday Party

Paris Fashion Birthday Party
A few last thoughts from Summer:

“Finally, the girls were given goodie bags which were decorated with Barbie silhouettes, Eiffel Towers and the individual girl’s name. The images were cut from iron-on transfer sheets using a Silhouette digital cutting machine. The bags contained a notepad denoted as their “Fashion Journal”, a pen and jewelry inside a black and pink box tied with pink satin ribbon. They also took home their dresses, cookies and their custom lip gloss they had made.

This party was so much fun. The girls loved walking up and down the runway over and over again and it was a joy to see them shine.”

A huge thank you to Summer for sharing her daughter’s Fashion Fairytale Birthday with us!

Vendors & Credits:
Party Styling & Decor:  Summer Stone
Cake:  Jessica Harris of Jessicakes
Photography:  Sara Shearer Photography

From Plate to Cake
July 8th, 2011 by Carrie Sellman | 12 Comments

We talk a lot about inspiration here at Half Baked.  Our site is meant to inspire you!  And time and time again we see that a great cake can be inspired by just about anything… an invitation, a pillow, jewelry…you name it!  Today’s cake was inspired by a collection of ladylike stoneware plates from Anthropologie.   Normally cake goes on a plate… but in this case, I think they got it absolutely right.

Jessica Harris, of Jessicakes, created this lovely cake for a collaborative photo shoot with Dani of Weddings Fresh and an excellent team of Portland-area talent.  This design is just stunning with its white on white detailing and textures, clean modern lines and romantic flair.  Perfectly trimmed with a ruffle and topped with a dainty flower, it’s love at first sight!
White China Plate by Jessicakes

A few thoughts from Jessica about her design:

“When Dani asked me to do a cake for this wedding shoot I was thrilled!  She wanted something feminine, modern and white.  She showed me the plates from Anthropologie that she was going to use and I went to work on some sketches.”
White China Cake by Jessicakes

White China Cake by Jessicakes

I absolutely adore the individual cakes at each place setting!  Talk about making a statement with cake.  LOVE it!  And you’re going to love Jessica for sharing a few hints about about her technique:

“From the beginning I knew the cake was going to be white on white, so I wanted to incorporate some textures on it.  That’s where I came up with the pearl tier and the reverse ruffles.  The ruffles were tricky, and had I had the time to do them again, I would have made them a bit thinner and more delicate.  But, all in all, I was really happy with the cake.  To make the ruffles, I rolled some fondant mixed with gumtex out and cut strips about 1.5 inches wide.  I marked on the cake (with toothpicks) every place where the ruffle would come out from the cake.  I left the toothpicks in the cake until I had wrapped the fondant strips around the cake and then used the toothpicks to help form the ruffles.  I then pulled the toothpicks out and smoothed the ruffles more with my thumb and index finger.  It took a bit of practice, but I liked the modern feel of them a lot.”

I want to send out a special thanks to Dani for the inspiration and putting together a beautiful shoot, and to Diana for her beautiful pictures that I will be able to keep forever!”

And we’d like to thank Jessica for sharing both her design and thoughts with us today!  Wishing everyone a Happy Friday and great weekend!

Vendors & Credits:
Cakes: Jessicakes
Event Design & Styling: Weddings Fresh
Photography: diana marie photography
Floral Design: Quince Flowers & Events
Tableware: Anthropologie & Pottery Barn
See the Full Photo Shoot: Style Me Pretty

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...