Alison and Dave's Special Day

I love weddings. I love the planning part of it, the day of and of course the cake! However, having a child and being around more of them now, most of my cakes have been children's cakes. This month though I was given a chance to work on a wedding cake and I truly enjoyed it.

Wedding cakes are so different from creating a child's cake. It is simpler design wise but the smallest detail you put on it I feel needs to be perfect and precise, which doesn't make it simple to make. And making it look cohesive and detailed but not overly decorated I think is important.

"Lace"

This cake I made for Alison and Dave was inspired by Alison's beautiful Monique Lhuillier dress. ML is known for using beautiful lace on her gowns and the signature ribbon tied around the bride's waist. So I focused on the lace and the bow for the cake. The bottom 2 layers of the cake being the "skirt", then the bow and working up to the "torso". The "lace" were hand cut pieces of gumpaste then hand piped with royal icing. I only had a small swatch of the lace which didn't give me an option to make a mold. I did some string work too to create the hem. Last minute I decided to add the lowest tier to elevate the cake and give me room to pipe the hem.

Jane Hammond events busy transforming the room

Congratulations Dave and Alison! Wishing you all the best and happiness.

ICES 2010

Just a couple of weeks ago, I attended my 1st ICES convention in San Diego . This year's theme was Hanging 10 in 2010. Each year, a cake decorator creates the main show cake for the event. This year, Susan Carberry of Cake Cottage created this ginormous and amazingly detailed cake as this year's ICES cake.

It was overwhelming to see hundreds of cake decorators, some coming for the first time while others veterans eager to see what's new in the business and to learn from the who have taken the time to share their talent. There was what they called a Cake Shack where decorators can bring in a cake to share. I wasn't expecting a lot of cakes since this was not a contest but surprisingly, there were a good number and they were from all over the world! I myself brought 2 cakes to share. The one seen above is inspired by geometric shapes and the Modern Art Museum. I wanted to make a modern showpiece worthy to call art. I do hope it is! The second cake below is inspired by tin lanterns. Both photos were by Stringer Photography, taken at the convention site.

Attending this convention was a wonderful experience and I hope to be able to attend more events like these in the future. The one thing I realized with this event is that there are so much more I need to learn, so many sacrifices to make and hurdles to go through to survive in this industry. Cake decorating is more than just a job or a business. It is dedication and passion that makes us do what we do. I admire the great ones out there and they are such an inspiration. I do hope to make it like them someday. When that will be, I don't know but it never hurts to dream right? :)