MUSIC RESOURCE CENTER

These musical cupcakes were done for a benefit for Charlottesville's Music Resource Center. For this we came up with a new flavor combination (for us).
Dark Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Caramel Sea Salt Buttercream.
Music in my mouth!

ASHLEY AND GAVIN

Ashley is a woman who knows what she wants! This is my favorite type of client. As first, though, I admit that I wasn't sure how her flavor choices would go together. Then, when I was assembling the cake and could taste all of the components together, I fell in love. She really knew what she was doing!
Alternating tiers of Red Velvet Cake filled with Cream Cheese Icing and Chocolate Sour Cream Cake filled with Hazelnut Cream Filling all iced with Vanilla Buttercream.
Classic, yet complex, innovative and delicious!

The design turned out great also! The beautiful afternoon sun beaming into the King Family Vineyard skylights doesn't hurt.

Gavin is English so we honored him and his family's heritage with a traditional fruitcake decorated with a St. George cross. Three weeks soaked with brandy!

STACEY AND FRANKIE

First off, I have to say that I had a wonderful time making both of these cakes. One classic and one whimsical!

Stacey's wedding cake was the Deanne. White Butter Layers soaked with a Kahlua syrup, filled with Mascarpone Marsala Cream and iced with Mocha Buttercream. The piping of hanging vines and the green centered gumpaste flowers really gave this cake and real presence.

If you haven't guessed, Frankie is a huge Phish fan! So we decorated his groom's cake (Vanilla Butter Layers that were filled with Pumpkin Mousse and Hazelnut Praline and then iced with Maple Cream Cheese Icing) with the Phish logo. Challenging, but really fun to do!

BETH A.

Beth and Josh chose a cake buffet for their October wedding at Ashlawn!

First, we have Carrot Cake Layers filled with Cream Cheese Icing and iced with Maple Buttercream. The decoration is cornelli lace piping.

Next, is Vanilla Chiffon Layers, moistened with Frangelico, filled with Hazelnut Cream and iced with Dark Chocolate Buttercream.

And third, we have the Nancy, a dense Dark Chocolate Cake filled with fresh Raspberries and Framboise, glazed with Chocolate Ganache and then iced with White Chocolate Buttercream.

A little something for everyone!

LAUREN

Another fabulous wedding at King Family Vineyard!
Jacob and Lauren had alternating tiers of Chocolate Sour Cream and Vanilla Butter filled with Raspberry Curd and Iced with Vanilla Buttercream.

The piping was done in Chocolate Buttercream as was so much fun to do. It felt like I was making chocolate peacock feathers!

They also had mini NY Style Cheesecakes and

French Macaroons filled with Chocolate Ganache.
Yum!!!

MATT AND JENN

LIBBIE

This cake was a triumph! It proved that a very large all-butter Swiss meringue buttercream cake can survive a very hot August day without air conditioning!
Libbie and Will chose Vanilla Chiffon Layers filled with Triple Cream and Fresh Raspberries and iced with White Chocolate Buttercream.

What truly made this cake special was the heirloom topper. It has adorned many generations of her mother's families' cakes. I was so proud to put it on mine.

MELISSA D.

The first time I spoke with Melissa, she told me she and her man were cupcake aficionados!
I new the cupcakes had to be perfect and I was instantly excited about the challenge.

After our tasting, she proclaimed them perfect! She chose vanilla with chocolate buttercream, chocolate with chocolate buttercream and vanilla with white chocolate buttercream.
A true purist!

We also did a cutting cake of Spice Layers with White Chocolate Buttercream. The most exciting part to me was the gumpaste gardenias. What a pleasure to make!

Above photos by Jack Looney.

MEGHAN M.

TAMARA

So this is Tamara! You may have seen her before eating a caramel apple in a earlier post. There are few ladies who could pull of wearing a bathing suit to her birthday dinner party that matched her birthday cake!
This gives a whole new meaning to "birthday suit"!
Her cake, like her, was an elegant classic. Pure coconut. Fitting to her personality, there was a surprise on the inside. The four layers of fresh coconut cake were filled with a tangy passion fruit curd. All iced with a coconut silk meringue buttercream. There was silence at the table after everyone took their first bite. That is the ultimate compliment in my opinion. And this was possibly one of the best cakes I have ever made.

SUMMER MOON

My friend Summer and Kyle often let me make them their birthday cakes. I am not sure what the magic is between us, but I am always inspired to reach outside my comfort zone and try something new. Summer is very passionate about plant medicine and feels very connected with the Dandelion plant. She has even been dreaming of getting a dandelion tattoo!
I have been working with gumpaste a lot this year and was excited to try a flower that there were no directions for. So this is my rendition of the dandelion complete with roots! It was a blast to make! Thank you, Summer and Kyle, for having me be part of your birthdays!

Mini Cupcakes

I just had to photograph these cupcakes because they are just so darn cute! One feels like a kid just being around them! These papers are handmade and come in all different colors.
The batch of 500 was made for a benefit for the Charlottesville free clinic featuring Sheryl Crowe. The servers passed them around the concert on trays. Pure fun!

MEGAN C.

Megan and Todd were married at Veritas Winery at the end of July and the affair was photographed by Rothwell Photography. The wedding and the cake were pure summer.
The cake was vanilla chiffon layers spread with strawberry preserves and filled with triple cream and fresh strawberries. Reports have it that a guest paid another guest $20 for his piece!
I am always honored to be part of families' celebrations and this one was one of the best. The whole event was magical and all came together beautifully.
I was not the only one who thought so!

This is a link to the photos of the wedding.

http://www.rothwellphotographyblog.com/blog/2010/08/megan-todd-wedding/

onewed.com featured the pictures on their site.

http://www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop/category/bridesmaids/2010/08/03/featured-vineyard-wedding-megan-and-todd/

And theknot.com featured the cake as editor's pick!

http://www.theknot.com/contests/my-real-wedding/photo/155017/megan-and-todd039s-quotbirds-and-bloomsquot-vineyard-wedding

APRIL

April and Alex were married at King Family Vineyard in Crozet! A perfect July summer day and a simply elegant summer cake. The vanilla chiffon layers were filled with triple cream and raspberry curd and iced with white chocolate buttercream. Pools of summer berries and a few flowers were the only accent. Ahh, summer.

KIM B.

I am crazy for gumpaste daisies!!!
These were so much fun to make. I stayed up late after the hubby and boy go to bed and went to town! When I am working on a something like this, I feel like I am a little girl again making craft projects for school the next day. This time, though, I have the skills to make my "project" look in real life the same way it does in my head. I think it may be why I love making cakes, the vision to reality process. OK, I admit, my incredible love of eating cake might have something to do with it.
This cake definitely fulfilled both loves. The outside was light, airy, innocent, and deceptively simple (there are over 60 daisies on it). But on the inside it was dark, dense, sinful and delicious.
Dark chocolate sour cream layers were spread with raspberry jam, filled with dark chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries, and iced with white chocolate buttercream.
The dichotomy of this cake- does it reflect a complicate nature of the bride? I imagine Alexander is finding out! Lots of love to you both!

SYDNEY

While my friend, Willow, was giving me a great haircut, she asked if I would be willing to do a birthday cake for her teenage daughter. Syndey loves to watch the cake shows and wants to explore the possibility of working with food as a career. She would like a cake that is fun and whimsical, just like on TV.
Well, of course I wanted to make her a cake! But, anyone who knows me knows that I have mixed feelings about working with fondant. To quote my assistant, Monique, "It is like trying to eat cake with chewing gum in your mouth!" But I love to do fun, lighthearted cakes. Where is the compromise? Gumpaste is great to work with and doesn't get in the way of the enjoyment of eating cake, which in the end, to me, is the most important thing.
Sydney's party was Hawaiian themed, so Monique (who is from Hawaii, lucky lady) and I came up with this design. Vanilla buttercream waves, lapping over a graham cracker crumb beach with a gumpaste lei of plumeria flowers (individually made and painted) and gumpaste flip flops.
This cake was a blast to make!!! Thank you Sydney and Willow for getting my creative juices flowing. I am already thinking about next year. Maybe we can make it together!

MELISSA M.

Here is another cake photographed by Jack Looney (jacklooney.com)

Melissa and Christopher were married at Alumni Hall in July. When we did our tasting the December before, they were so much fun and so clear about what they wanted their cake to be. Melissa's parents came also and after her father tasted the chocolate mousse, he repeated over and over, it doesn't matter what else you choose, as long as it has the chocolate mousse!!!

They chose two different flavors, alternating tiers of vanilla chiffon cake with triple cream filling, and chocolate chiffon cake with chocolate mouse filling. All iced with white chocolate buttercream. The caterer, Harvest Moon, served the slices with fresh berries on the side.

Action shot of the bride digging into the cake. I love it!!

ABBIE

Mini cupcakes to pop in your mouth! That was the desire of Abbie and Jeremy for their King Family July Fourth wedding. The flavors were chocolate with white chocolate buttercream, vanilla with raspberry buttercream, and red velvet with cream cheese icing. A little festive flair, with not too much. Simply elegant and oh so delicious.
We also did a few gluten free minis for Jeremy, carrot cake with cream cheese icing and lemon cake with raspberry buttercream. They reported back that they were tentative to eat them, they were too good to be gluten free!

JACK

Ok, I didn't create a cake for Jack, but when Jack Looney sent me this picture from the wedding in the previous post (Michele S.), my heart melted. Nothing warms this cake baker more than to see an elder enjoying some of her cake. One day I will have a cake studio or even a cake shop and this picture will be framed on the wall. Really big!
Thank you, Jack.

MICHELE S.

It was clear from the beginning that Drew and Michele are knowledgeable about food and know what they like. I knew right away that I was going to enjoy working with them. It wasn't until the end of the tasting that I learned that Drew is a well respected chef! Always an honor to work for fellow culinary professionals!

Their pure vision produced a beautiful cake. Almond Sponge Layers moistened with Amaretto, filled with Triple Cream and iced with waves of White Chocolate Buttercream.

The wedding took place at the Kluge Estate with Harvest Moon doing the catering.
We all worked together to create a dessert buffet with classic French almond macaroons sandwiched with vanilla buttercream, dark chocolate truffles, and lemon curd raspberry tartlets!

These photographs were taken by Jack Looney. He is amazing!
www.jacklooney.com

SARAH

Sarah and Lukas also chose Ashlawn as the site to tie the knot! For them, I tried something completely new. (I love that!) For their June wedding they picked the Lemon Chiffon Cake and Triple Cream filling, but instead of fresh fruit, they wanted a puree of fresh raspberries.
Hmmm, how to make that happen....
I made the puree, strained out the seeds and held it together with a little bit of gelatin so that when it hit the warmth of your mouth, it simply melted into a burst of fruit!
All this iced with White Chocolate Buttercream and decorated with White Chocolate Curls and Raspberries. All I can say is YUM! This idea has so many possibilities, blackberry, black currant, mango, passion fruit, I could go on.
I love the look of this cake, slightly old fashioned and the personal touch of love birds on top made by Lukas's mother. One of a kind.