Fun with Fondant Class Pics

Last Thursday I taught my Fun with Fondant class at the Cornerstone Culinary Kitchen in Camp Hill. It was a sold out class of super creative cake designers. I spent about 30 minutes demonstrating the details of getting a cake ready to decorate, then everyone got to decorate their own cake. It’s so much fun…especially if you have a glass of wine while decorating 🙂 My friend Kim who owns Edible Art also came and demonstrated her technique on decorating beautiful royal iced cookies. Stay tuned for a date for my next class hopefully in May. Also, check out the other wonderful cooking classes going on each month at the Cornerstone Culinary Kitchen.

http://www.couturecakery.net

Tamara & Ralph’s Wedding…congratulations!

Groom’s cake for Ralph…his fraternity logo.

Gorgeous floral designs by Petals & Beans

Jonnaysa from Planned Perfection coordinated.

All I can say about this wedding is WOW. From the amazing couple (Tamara and Ralph)…they looked so gorgeous today, beautiful floral design by Stacia at Petals and Beans, day of coordination by super talented Jonnaysa at Planned Perfection, and stationery and wedding design by Ralph’s sister Dana. Tamara provided me with a beautiful inspiration board when we met in the fall. The wedding colors revolved around peacock feathers (navy blue, purples and apple green) and a beautiful feather was tucked into each napkin. Tamara and Ralph are such a sweet couple..Ralph’s smile is just the best. Thank goodness for the internet since they live in Delaware and we were able to coordinate everything via email and Facebook. She gave me a lot a creative flexibility on the cupcake tower design and I love the way the colors tied in with everything in the room. The groom’s cake was a surprise for Ralph. It’s his fraternity logo and the happy couple sitting on top. The groom’s cake was red velvet with cream cheese filling. The cupcake flavors were Lemon Drop, Carrot Cake, Red Velvet and Vanilla cake filled with strawberry buttercream and topped with vanilla frosting. The reception was at the Eden Resort in Lancaster. The waterfall in the background was just beautiful. It’s my first wedding of the year and I am so happy I was able to be a part of Tamara and Ralph’s special day. I know they are eagerly anticipating this post 🙂 I’ll miss working with you!

http://www.couturecakery.net

Chili Nights Event – Dessert Table Design

Yesterday I did a dessert table for a charity event at the Holiday Inn East. Sue Pera who owns Cornerstone Coffeehouse was the master of ceremonies and asked if I would create a dessert table for the event. The theme was Chili Nights and Hot Topics, so I incorporated reds and a really pretty damask print fabric. I made 150 mini chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream frosting, marshmallow pops and dipped pretzels. I even did the floral arrangement with some branches and gerber daisies as well as the bid sheets for the auction.

http://www.couturecakery.net

This Weekend’s Cake Show was so much fun!

This past Sunday, my friend Annie and I attended the National Capital Area Cake Show in Fairfax, VA. As a cake artist, I was in heaven with my credit card in hand to buy lots of new tools to make even more awesome cakes 🙂 One of my very favorite cake designers is Anne Heap with Pink Cake Box in NJ. I love her style from whimsical to extremely elegant designs. I snuck a photo with her while she was teaching a class…she’s really sweet. Her cake won 1st place in the circus cake challenge…just awesome. Courtney Clark’s cake was also adorable. Anne was a recent winner on Amazing Cakes and Courtney has won on Food Network Challenges several times. Lots of cake challenge celebs including Norman Davis and Zane Beg and super talented Maria Sousa were on hand at the show… just a great getaway of shopping, staying at the Ritz and eating yummy food. By the way if you go to Tyson’s Corner or the DC area, check out Warren Brown’s Cake Love cupcake shop. His cupcakes use my same yummy frosting recipe. My favorite cupcake was the almond on vanilla cake.

For you TV cake junkies, Julie Bashore represented the House of Clarendon in Lancaster on the Amazing Cake’s challenge last night on TLC and won! Great job and congrats to Martine and his team at the House of Clarendon.

Anne Heap with Pink Cake Box. Winning Cake in the Circus Cake Challenge

Courtney Clark’s circus cake…really cute too!

Me with Anne Heap…I had to tell her how much I love her!

Zane Beg working on a cake in a challenge.

Norm Davis trying to out do Zane.

Entry in the haunted house challenge. Very well done.

This was a nice entry in the cake show.

http://www.couturecakery.net

Sweet 16 Cake & Dessert Table

I’m sure you are thinking…is Jasmine just doing zebra stripes now??? For some reason that has coincidentally been the request for my last 3 cakes. This cake and dessert table were for a sweet 16 party at the Hershey Lodge on Saturday. Am I incredibly lucky to share my space with an amazing photographer or what? I asked Thomas Beaman if he might be able to take some photos for me and he shot these fabulous images. In addition to the cake, I designed the logo tags, made chocolate dipped pretzels and marshmallows, meringue cookies, a munch mix and wrapped Hershey nuggets with a custom wrap to go with the colors and theme. Thanks again to Thomas for getting there great shots 🙂 You can click on an image to enlarge.

http://www.couturecakery.net

The Studio Is Done!…almost

Front sign in, cakes in place and photos are up! Thomas Beaman who I share the studio took these great pictures. I’ve had 2 weekends on consultations in the new studio and it’s just perfect. Just a few little things to do, but it’s exactly how I pictured it to look…love it!

http://www.couturecakery.net

Erin & Mark’s Winter Wedding

I did a post earlier, but I just wanted to share these amazing professional photos of Erin & Mark’s December wedding taken by Epic Photography. Sometimes you just have a special connection with a bride and Erin was certainly one of those for me. We worked over a year to make sure everything was perfect..the cake, cupcake tower display and candy buffet. I put my graphic skills to use by also designing the table numbers and creating the programs. Her colors were chocolate brown and a beautiful ice blue. Lots of crystals, ornaments and snow…just like magic the first snow of winter happened to be on their wedding day just to make everything even more perfect! Blooms by Vickrey designed the beautiful centerpieces, Balloons and More provided the linens and the reception was held at the West Shore Country Club. Erin’s wedding was a wonderful end to 2009. I’m looking forward to working with more amazing couples this year too.

http://www.couturecakery.net

Fashion Lovers Birthday Cake

First of all, I love what I do..so much fun! This cake was a blast making. I have been wanting to do a shoe cake, and this was the perfect opportunity. I was told the birthday cake was for someone who was the queen, loved to shop, loved shoes and champagne. I love how this came together. The cake flavors were, vanilla cake with raspberry buttercream, chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and raspberry Chambord buttercream. The surprise birthday party is tonight and is being catered by the Cornerstone Culinary Kitchen.

http://www.couturecakery.net

Diva Birthday Cake

I created this cake for an absolutely lovely lady. She gave me creative license and wanted something incorporating zebra, purple and lavender. I used edible silver paint and silver dragee balls as part of the design. I delivered the cake to the Iron Woods restaurant at the Heritage Hills Gold Course in York. The cake flavors were vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream, vanilla cake with lemon buttercream, and red velvet with coconut buttercream fillings. I designed the stand to give the cake a more glam look.

Here’s what the birthday girl had to say:
Thanks so much for making my birthday very special. My cake was beautiful and it tasted great! Every layer was moist and so tasteful. I will not order a cake from anyone else, ever again! You are now my official cake artist. Everyone raved about the cake, even the guest at the restaurant commented on how beautiful it was.

http://www.couturecakery.net

Studio Space…Opening Day!

So yesterday was my official opening day for the studio. I had 5 cake tastings with clients back to back! Everything went great. I am so happy to be working with my new clients. The space is not 100% done…lots of little touches to do, but I am so happy with how it looks and can’t wait for Thomas Beaman, who I share the space with to put up more of his amazing photos.

http://www.couturecakery.net