Can someone tell me where the last two months have gone?!

I swear to you that I blink my eyes for a split second and May and June have come and gone! I don't know where the time went, but I do know that almost every single day I have been begging for one more hour in the day. The last two months have been very busy with cake orders every single weekend, another TWO deliveries down to Lancaster, running a Tough Mudder,  AN ENGAGEMENT... not mine, but my sister's, and turning 26! I need to tap the brakes because this summer is flying by. 

I've been posting almost all of the cakes that I've had recently on my Facebook page, but I've been saving the following cake because it's really special to me. As I've mentioned before, I went to Millersville University and while I was there I was a personal trainer at the Fitness Center on campus. I really loved the other students that worked there and we pretty much had a little Fitness Center family. That's how I met Lynn. She worked there as well and I looked forward to any shift that I got to work with her. After college, we obviously went our separate ways but cakes brought us back together. Lynn actually has her own cake business called, Lucky Duck Cakes, and it's been great watching her grow her own business as I do the same. Her and her fiance, Matt, have been two of my biggest supporters and when Lynn contacted me about potentially doing their wedding cake and cupcakes I was honored! A fellow baker... trusting ME to do her wedding... shut the front door! Talk about pressure, too! I know how much of a cake snob I am when it comes to trying other people's cake, so I was definitely nervous about entering this venture.

Lynn and Matt had the FABULOUS color scheme of orange, blue, and silver. They also incorporated a chevron pattern and orange slices into their theme. I love when brides think outside the box and use bold/modern colors, themes, and decorations. Lynn had mentioned to me before we started the design process that they were leaning more towards a "modern" and "fun" vibe, rather than a "soft" or "overly feminine" feeling. They also wanted just a topper cake with different cupcakes instead of the traditional wedding cake. My mind was racing with ideas and I couldn't wait to get everything down on paper. Lynn, Matt, and I went through a few different concepts for the topper cake but finally settled on the one below. We included the chevron pattern and an orange slice that was part of their wedding invitations. 

The final cake design (sorry for the blurriness!!)

For the cupcakes, we decided to distinguish the different flavors by using cupcake toppers and a cupcake menu. I made a the cupcake menu to be displayed on the cake table in a frame that Lynn decorated. 

The cupcake menu

Oh yeah, totally forgot another element to this whole cake... it had to be delivered to Lancaster! Yup, another 3 hour drive in sub-zero temperatures. Alright, they weren't sub-zero but I definitely lost feeling in my nose, toes, and fingers! The good news is the delivery was a breeze and so was the set up at the Eden Resort . Below are a few pictures of the cupcakes all set up as well as the cake topped with a wooden "A" that Lynn made.

The topper cake with gumpaste orange slice, fondant chevron pattern, and wooden topper

A close-up of the cupcakes 

The entire cake table... which was PACKED with yumminess! 

All in all, it was a successful cake. I was so happy when Lynn contacted me to let me know how much she, Matt, and their guests loved the cake and cupcakes. A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders because I got the stamp of approval from a fellow baker!! Congratulations again, Lynn and Matt, and many wishes of love and happiness in your future.

Thanks for reading and I'll try to post to the blog more often! ... Key word there is, TRY! 

Always, 

Sarah 

A little road trip...

I received my undergraduate degree from Millersville University which is smack dab in the middle of Lancaster County. If you haven't been to Lancaster then I would definitely recommend it! It has a natural beauty that is hard to describe. When Danielle contacted me in October about possibly doing her wedding cake at Lauxmont Farms in Lancaster, I had a few thoughts go through my head. The first, "Wow, Lancaster County in the beginning of May is going to be GORGEOUS!" And then, "Oh my god, how the hell am I supposed to get a wedding cake down there in one piece?!" Lancaster is approximately 3 hours from my basement kitchen and if you are from PA then you know how terrible our roads are after the winter season. I've delivered a cake down to Lancaster once before but it wasn't a stacked cake and it was covered in fondant. Needless to say... I was nervous!!! 

Danielle and Jonathan had a color scheme of white, light pinks, and navy. It isn't your typical color scheme but it looked stunning, one of my favorites actually. We played around with a few ideas for the cake but settled on the design below. A white buttercream cake with navy ribbons and a full cascade of gum paste peonies, hydrangeas, and filler flowers. 

Original cake sketch

 I made all of the flowers by hand and I was actually going to do a tutorial for the peonies until I realized how much work actually goes into each flower... I decided my time was better spent working on the flowers themselves than the tutorial. Maybe next time! I used petal dust and luster dust to accent the flowers and leaves as well. 

One of the twelve peonies that I made for the flower cascade. It was as big as my hand! 

When it finally came time to transport the cake, I knew that the safest way was going to be unstacked. I had to wrap each tier individually, pack it into a cake box, and then surround that with freezer packs. I also had to endure 3.5 hours (thanks to Central PA traffic, I had to sit in a traffic jam for almost 45 minutes) of blasting the AC. When I finally got to Lancaster I could barely feel my legs or fingers from being so cold, but the tiers made it through the trip without a single issue (thank god!!). I was able to get the cake stacked Friday night and ready for the flowers to be applied the following morning. 

The cakes before the trip to Lancaster!

Arranging the flowers took almost 3 hours. I never have an exact idea of what a flower cascade is going to look like, just a certain amount of main flowers that I intend to use. All in all, I ended up using 12 peonies and a ridiculous amount of hydrangeas and fillers. There was a few casualties with gum paste leaves and a few hydrangeas but the peonies held up like champs. 

Half-way there!!

The cake was delivered to the Rotunda venue and it was breathtaking. Seriously... I was speechless. 

The view of the Susquehanna River from the Rotunda

I cannot get over how beautiful this venue was and my cake paled in comparison! 

I took so many pictures because I wanted to capture the beauty of everything but pictures didn't do it justice. The cake made it to the venue without any issue and as soon as I started driving away, a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders... until I realized that I had a big ol' wedding coming up the following weekend. Such is the life of a busy baker. 

A close up of the cascade

At the venue.. before I realized I forgot to put the cake onto the cake stand! 

The finished product! Cake stand and all!! 

I'm so happy with how beautiful this cake turned out, and I hope that Danielle and Jonathan were as please with it as I was. I wish them nothing but happiness in the years to come! 

Thanks for reading and the continued support! 

Always,

Sarah 

I like books too... especially if they involve Harry Potter.

I would like to consider myself a reader. Before I got into the whole cake business, I often had my nose buried in a book during my free time or while I was mindlessly working out on the elliptical at the gym. Now that I don't really have an abundance of free time I have found that I really miss reading. Like Harry Potter! I'm a HUGE Harry Potter nerd and will proudly admit it that I have read each book multiple times as if each time was the first time. I miss Harry Potter... I miss reading... oh my gosh, enough about that! 

This cake was ALL about books and I looooved it! It was for a bridal shower that had an entire literary theme, including the cute invitations that were a play off of the Penguin Publishing Group book covers. I'm so, so fortunate to share this cake with professional pictures by Amanda Krieg Photography. Amanda and I went to high school together and she conveniently is also my neighbor! We are both in the beginning stages of starting our own businesses, so we have decided to work together and help each other as much as possible. Love her, love her work, and would LOVE if you supported her as well! : ) 

On to the cake!!!!! 

I decided to stick with the whole Penguin Group theme for the books. The mother of the bride helped to pick out the titles of the books, with the top book being the bride to be's favorite. Well, her favorite book is actually, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," but the M.O.B. suggested we play around with the title and change it to, "Her Eyes Were Watching Ryan." Too cute! 

All of the little penguins, book spines, and placards were made from gumpaste. 

Each book was covered in white fondant and then I wrapped them individually in three bright colors, purple, turquoise, and orange. I then went in with a fondant cutter/Wilton tool that I don't know the name of, to make the page indents. 

I added two extra decorations to pull the whole cake together. I made a bookmark out of gumpaste that said, 

"To mark your spot,

And save the date.

June 11, 2013

She will wear white,

He won't be late."

I also made some reading glasses out of black gumpaste. They were a last minute addition... as in I made them an hour before I delivered the cake. 

I really enjoyed working with the mother of the bride to make this cake so personalized and one of a kind. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and I'm sorry I've been slacking with updating the blog. Spring is a busy season for cakes but I'll do my best! 

Thank you for your support and for reading! 

Always, 

Sarah 

A little dose of healthiness!

People are usually surprised to find out that I make my living as a baker. I love to run and workout, am obsessed with torturing myself at CrossFit570, and I'm even a distributor for Advocare. I guess it's a good thing that I try to stay active and eat healthy because I DO have a sweet tooth. I don't always eat everything I bake but I have my weaknesses... carrot cake, brownies, and cream cheese filling. If any of those things are leftover then I usually have to add an extra mile or so to my run the next day. I plan on offering healthier options in my shop because healthy treats can actually be tasty! Like the breakfast cookies that I adapted from this blog. I love this recipe because you can add or substitute ingredients to your liking. Try it out and make it your own!

Death, taxes, and sheet cakes..

There are a few things in life that cannot be avoided. There are the obvious ones.. death, taxes, and sheet cakes. Yup... Sheet cakes! I'm going to preface this post by saying that I am a very stubborn person. I am set in my ways and if I decide earlier in life that I don't like something then chances are I still hate it today. Hot dogs, driving on a certain road, going to a particular restaurant, and sheet cakes. Are you catching the theme here? I do not know why or when it happened but I absolutely dread doing sheet cakes! I am well aware that as a baker and owner of a cake company that I will in fact have to do sheet cakes. Doesn't mean I'm going to like it! I think my biggest issue with them is that they have been  overdone and have become generic. When people hear "sheet cake" they automatically picture the slab of stale cake and overly sweet icing that you can get from Wal-mart, but I'm on a mission to change that. Instead of a lone "Happy Birthday" and piped buttercream border, I usually try to make sheet cakes more personal with customized decorations. 

The sheet I did last weekend was a breeze to design because the birthday girl's sister helped so much with the personalized decorations. "She's a very girly, girl and a teacher!" Done... and the ball was rolling! 

I decided to split the cake into two sections, the one geared towards her teaching background and the other towards her personal taste. 

The "girly" side of the cake had a zebra background, Tiffany's box with pearls, and a M.A.C. lipstick. The Tiffany's box was made with colored fondant, as was the lipstick. I used gumpaste for the pearls and strung them together with a needle and thread. 

The teaching side had a ruler as the boarder, a red apple, and a chalk board. All of those decorations were made with gumpaste and royal icing detail. 

The birthday girl was turning 23 so I hid a few 23's on the lipstick and chalkboard. Every little detail matters to me! 

So remember folks, when ordering a sheet cake don't assume that your decorations have to be boring and generic. Get creative! 

Thanks for reading and for all of the support! 

Always,

Sarah 

Beach Bridal Shower

Yay! Spring has finally arrived... except Mother Nature missed the memo! We are supposed to get another batch of snow tonight and it's almost April. This can't be real life. Uggh, and to make matter worse I had a beach themed bridal shower cake yesterday!! Now, all I can think about it is the summer, a nice tan, and being able to run outside without freezing to death. My fingers are crossed that a warm-up will be here sooner than later! 

On to the bridal shower cake! It was a two-tiered, buttercream finish cake. It had turquoise buttercream and I made the "sand" from graham cracker crumbs. A lot of cake designers vary their technique for sand, but I have found graham cracker works the best!

The finished cake! 

This is the sketch I did for the client. We decided to nix the anchor, and I was just too lazy/artistically challenged to draw the adirondack chairs. I'm extremely anal about having everything planned out to the very last detail with my cakes and that's why I almost always do sketches for my clients. It helps me to pinpoint their vision and ensures that they get the exact cake that they had in mind. 

To make the coral, I colored the buttercream with red and orange food coloring and then piped it on to the cake with a #14 star piping tip. The bubbles were made the same way with white buttercream and #9 round tip. 

The initials of the bride and groom-to-be were piped with tan royal icing. 

The seagrass, seashells, and cattails were are made from colored gumpaste. 

I have a candy mold that I used to make the seashells, and once they were dry I added detail with edible petal dust. 

I am really hoping that this cake was a sign that summer is right around the corner... that, or that I need a beach vacation ASAP! Thanks for reading! 

Always, 

Sarah 

Let's just start from the beginning... Part Two

Hello again! Alright, so where did I leave off? Right! Miami! 

In August 2010, I packed my bags, said my goodbyes, and made sure that I had all of Sophie's (my miniature cockpoo that you will know and love!) favorite chew toys. Making the move from rural PA to Miami was by far the hardest and most rewarding decision of my life. I was taking a leap of faith with culinary school... leaving everything and everyone that I knew and loved. I was going after my dream and I had no intentions of looking back OR failing. 

My time at Johnson & Wales went by in a blur. I was taking courses like Artisan Breads, Chocolate (which I had issues in because my abnormally warm hands would melt the chocolate!), Pies and Tarts, Plated Desserts, etc. I had never been so focused before in my life and it definitely paid off because I excelled in each course.  I was really anticipating the time when I would take the Specialty Cake class because this was the whole reason I went back to school! The skills practical (the hands-on final exam portion of course) in the Specialty Cake class was to decorate a two-tiered, fondant cake. Ya remember how I went all out for Claire's birthday cake? Yeeeeeah, I kind of had the same mentality when it came to this practical. Instead of doing one cake... I kind of did seven cakes! I HAD TO THOUGH!!! I wanted to do something with the theme, "Tastes From Around the World," and each cake represented a different country. 

All seven of my cakes from left to right: Mexico, Philadelphia, Japan, the Main Cake, Australia, China, and Italy

 There was the main cake that had flags from around the world, a globe, and a plane on top with a banner that read, "Tastes From Around the World." 

Mexico with tacos and tequila 

The United States, which I had to represent good ol' PA with a cheesesteak! 

Japan with sushi

Australia with some shrimp on the barbie! 

The one side represented the Outback 

While the other side represented the Great Barrier Reef

China had some take-out stir-fry! 

Had to include the Great Wall of China

And then Italy with a bowl of spaghetti and glass of wine! 

One side depicted the Sistine Chapel

While the other side had the Coliseum 

I spent countless hours, sleepless nights, and so much energy working on all of the cakes. I actually didn't think I was going to finish everything in time, but I did! And you better believe that I cried like a baby when I turned them in to be graded. When Chef Andrews was critiquing my work, she shook her head and said, "Sarah... I'm speechless! Your work speaks for itself. In almost all of my years of teaching, I have never seen a student go so above and beyond what was expected of them. You've set a new standard for future students." I am certain that those were her exact words because I have the memory engrained into my brain. It is the memory that 100% validated my choice to return to school. I knew that every single sacrifice, every penny spent on tuition, leaving my family and friends, the hard work, and my future career... it was all worth it. I was on Cloud 9, but still had to finish out the school year and intern over the summer. 

Ohhh man, I forgot about the whole internship debacle. Before I even thought of going back to school, I had fallen in love with the work of The Pink Cake Box. It is a cake shop in New Jersey and the work they do is INSANE. See for yourself... This was the only place that I wanted to do my internship, so I applied and sent in my portfolio. Sure enough, I got an interview! I met with them during my spring break and two days after the interview they offered me the position. My dreams were coming true! Orrr so I thought! The apartment that I had been renting in Miami had me locked in a lease until September 2011 and I would have to pay a RIDICULOUS amount of money to break it. In addition to that, I would have to find an apartment to sublet in New Jersey for the summer. Things slowly fell apart and I had to give up my internship at The Pink Cake Box. I'm still pretty bitter about it so I'll just leave it at that. I spent the summer interning at Couture Cakes in Delray Beach and it would have been great if I didn't have to deal with an hour's worth of traffic on 95 every morning and night!
After my internship was over, I returned to NEPA (North East Pennsylvania for all of those non-local readers). I had already applied, interviewed, and was offered a job at a cake shop in the area. I worked there for about 6 months and then quit for.. well we will say it was because of artistic differences so that I don't get sued by my former employer. When I started working there I had to sign a noncompete agreement that prevented me from doing anything cake/baking related in the entire state of PA for 6 months after I quit. Welcome to my own, little personal hell! Literally HELL! The six months were torture and I had to deal with a lot of unnecessary drama. I had the state agriculture department (they license home bakeries) contact me and then a few months later show up at my house because an "anonymous caller" reported that I was running an illegal, unlicensed home bakery. I guess the caller didn't know, or forgot!!! about my noncompete contract. Ugggh, I'll be the bigger person.. I'll be the bigger person! Pheeew... but this is all water under the bridge because I did become licensed when my noncompete contract expired!
I am now working out of my parents' finished basement, and I'm loving every minute of it... except for the tiny sink that I have to do the dishes in! The support from my family, friends, and growing clientele has been astounding. There have been so many times that I just want to throw the towel in and find a regular 9-5 job that doesn't require having food-coloring stained hands 24/7! But I would be giving up my dream. What I do for a living is my passion, although I can get frustrated with things, I can't picture myself doing anything else.
So that is where I am at today! I constantly have my eye open from places being put up for rent because I am determined to open a shop within the next year or two. I guess everyone will just have to stay tuned to see where life takes me!!!

Again, thank you so much for reading my blog! Now that I have my background story done, my posts will be more geared towards my cakes, business, etc.

Always,
 Sarah