We talk about inspiration day after day because, well… Half Baked is meant to inspire you! Whether we get a peek at the hand drawn sketches or a few thoughts shared by the baker, I love exploring the inspiration behind a cake. So what happens when you take a gorgeous wedding dress and translate it into a cake design? With layers of delicate folds and a bright pop of color from the bridal bouquet, this wedding gown was screaming to become a cake! Rachael Teufel and her team at Intricate Icings heard the cry and answered with an eye-catching creation. Ultra feminine and incredibly elegant, we’re loving this delightful Ruched Wedding Cake.
Incredible, right? This is the actual bride, in her ruched dress… and her amazing cake! Let’s get a better look at the cake all by itself…
This entire design is simply stunning. The soft folds of the pleating appear to gracefully flow across the cake. I love how the gathered fondant comes together from opposite directions, creating a great focal point for the bright orange sugar flower. Which by the way, is also incredible!
A huge thanks to Rachael at Intricate Icings for sharing this incredible Ruched Wedding Cake with us today. We’re swooning! You can see more of Rachael’s designs on her website and blog, and also in our Top Tier Directory!
Happy Friday everyone!
Vendors & Credits:
Cake: Intricate Icings
Photography: Rachael Grace
Today’s post is twice the treat! Not only do we have a beautiful new cake design to showcase, but we’re going to learn something new as well! Our contributor, Miso of Miso Bakes, created this incredible cake and is kindly sharing one of her techniques with us. So once we finish swooning over Miso’s lovely design, we’ll learn how to make one of the elegant sugar flowers she used. Frilly and flirty, carnations are not just a filler flower! They’re a great place to start if you’re new to making gumpaste flowers. The layers of ruffly petals are more forgiving for beginning hands. Plus, carnations would be perfect for your upcoming Valentine’s Day cakes! I can just envision the pink carnations now! So first, let’s enjoy the beauty of Miso’s Modern Sugar Flower Cake and then we’re on to her Frilly Handmade Carnations.
Miso shared a few thoughts about her design:
“I have always wanted to create a cake using my favorite colors but never really got around to it until early last Spring. I spent a couple of weeks creating tons of roses, carnations, ranunculus, and gardenias out of gumpaste so I could pick and choose the finest ones to be displayed on the cake. I wanted the cake to be covered in flowers but at the same time be chic, bold, and crisp.”
Be still my heart! From the striking color combination to the elegant flowers, this design is just stunning! I love the varying shades of purple against the white contrast with just a few pops of green. And now… the promised tutorial. Frilly and flirty, handmade carnations!
To make carnations:
- Create a core using a pea-sized ball of gumpaste. Dry until hard.
- Cut out a flower or a circle using a flower or round cutter.
- Using a knife, make slits all around the edge of the flower or round gumpaste.
- Frill the edges.
- Slide through the wire all the way to the base of the core.
- Wet and fold in half.
- Glue a corner to the center.
- Repeat on the other side, but this time, folding it the opposite way.
- What it looks like with the first layer.
- Repeat with as much layers as desired. You should increase the size of the cutters every 2-3 layers. When you get to the last few layers, folding the petals is not needed. Just slide it to the base, wet the petals, and gently mold it to the shape of the flower. This is what a completed carnation looks like!
A special thanks to Miso for sharing her exquisite Modern Sugar Flower Cake with us today! And for teaching us all how to create our own Frilly Handmade Carnations! If you give Miso’s carnation tutorial a try, be sure to come back and tell us about it! Happy flower making!
Vendors & Credits:
Cake & Carnation Tutorial : Miso Bakes
Photography (cake images) : Sylvia G Photo
With Arctic air making its way across the country, wreaking havoc with cold temperatures, ice and snow… I thought we’d wrap up with week with a little bit of snow we can all enjoy! With a soft glow and subtle shimmer, today’s cake captures the magical beauty of a white winter. White-on-white textures like ruffles and pinwheels combine with frilly flowers and delicate buttons. The result is one exquisite cake, create by Stevi Auble, owner of Hey There, Cupcake! So bundle up, grab a mug of hot cocoa and let it snow! We’ll be enjoying this Snowy Winter White Wedding Cake….
Did I mention the incredible touches of silver, including edible silver leaf and a fabulous cake stand? And for the love of chevron… what a perfect backdrop for this design! The soft blue and silver tones really add to the chilly winter vibe.
Stevi shared a few thoughts about her lovely design:
“This cake was made with visions of a snowy magical winter in mind. The flowers, buttons, ruffles & pinwheels are all handmade and consists of many different edible materials including fondant, rice paper, gumpaste and poured sugar. I also used edible silver leaf to give some contrast to all of the whites on the cake.”
It’s like a snowy dream… only it won’t leave you frostbite! The silver leaf accents really make the white detail work stand out and add a great wintry touch. And those small clusters of vertical frills… LOVE them! I’m not sure if there is a technical term for these. All I know is that I love them!
A special thank you to Stevi Auble, of Hey There, Cupcake!, for sharing her fabulous Snowy Winter White Wedding Cake with us today. It is just stunning! Happy Friday everyone!
Vendors & Credits:
Cake: Hey There, Cupcake!
Be a Fan: Hey There, Cupcake on Facebook
Photography: Bryan Miller
