You know… I write about cakes all the time. Each day I feature cake designs that I adore, which were created by others. It is my privilege to post their images and share their talent for everyone to enjoy. Normally, my write ups come easily as I oohhh and awe over the details and techniques used…. fully appreciating the time, skill and effort involved in each and every creation. But when it comes to today’s post, it’s harder to find the right words.
Most of you probably realize that I’m a little obsessed with cake! What you may not know is that I used to own a specialty cake shop of my own. It has been almost four years now since my family relocated and I stopped accepting orders… which was kind of a hard thing for me. But I’m loving the blog life now and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I still get my fill of cake and get to be a full time mommy to my 11 month old daughter. It’s actually much easier on the waistline too!! And every now and then, I have the opportunity to design something new and put my skills to the test.
This post has been a long time coming and I’ve been dying to share it with you! But I wanted to see it with my own eyes first! And it’s finally here, in print!! I am tremendously honored to be included in BRIDES Magazine’s America’s Most Beautiful Cakes for 2011!! I could not be more flattered and humbled to be included with some of my favorite cake icons of all time, like Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes and cake experts, Kerry Vincent and Colette Peters . Not to mention some of my new favorite talents like Erica O’Brien and Eat Cake Be Merry.
Really?!? Can someone pinch me please? It’s been a year long process but that’s my cake in the back row! BRIDES contacted me back in January and invited me to submit some design ideas. I, along with numerous other cake designers, submitted our best and most original ideas. Then came a request to submit an example of my sugar work, showing the techniques and colors to be used. Finally came the invitation to actually create the cake for a photo shoot in NYC! I so wanted to deliver my cake to the shoot in person, but it just wasn’t possible. Many props to the FedEx man for delivering the cake safely on my behalf! Talk about nerve racking!!
Okay, so enough of the back story… here are some of my photos of my Retro Cafe Flowers design.
Inspired by this retro Dandelion Clocks Wallpaper, my design features three extra tall tiers covered in light grey fondant. Hand-cut fondant flowers in turquoise and bright green recreate the wallpaper pattern. The flower details and intricately striped leaves are hand-piped using a sugar glaze and a short turquoise spacer adds an extra pop of color.
My favorite part of this design is the leaves…. so many thin lines, hand piped into the shape of a leaf. Honestly, I must have been crazy! They took forever and you really can’t even see them in the magazine! I’m not sure why I didn’t think that through. But that’s okay, I love how they turned out! So please indulged me as I show you a close up…
Thanks so much to the editors at BRIDES for this amazing opportunity! I could not be more thrilled to be a part of this feature! Thanks to the many, many cake designers who allow me to showcase their work every day on Half Baked. You provide us all with such great cake inspiration and this process reminds me all too well of the time and effort involved in every one of your creations! And a huge thanks to all of you, for allowing me to share a bit of my work with you today.
Be sure to pick up a copy of the September issue of BRIDES Magazine to see all of the amazing designs included in the 2011 America’s Most Beautiful Cakes feature! Stay tuned for some additional photos and behind the scene video coming to brides.com and the BRIDES iPad App!
Well done Carrie! Amazingly beautiful cake and well deserved recognition from Brides. It’s truly a work of art. xo
WOW!!!!! Gorgeous! Absolutely Gorgeous!
Congratulations!! Your cake is gorgeous!!
Carrie- you are amazing! Just gorgeous!
Congratulations, Carrie! It’s absolutely gorgeous! This post gave me the goosebumps because it’s so inspiring! You are amazing!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You have amazing talent and work ethic! I love your humility, but hope you fully ENJOY this honor. {YOU are FEATURED in theee BRIDES magazine–> BRIDES MAGAZINE–>YOU are FEATURED in theee BRIDES magazine-!!!} You are also so considerate and respectful to your fellow cake talent out there. That is a nice trait to have. Best wishes for continued success!!
I LOVE IT!! It is gorgeous! Fabulous job and congratulations on the feature! So exciting!
beautiful, I love the graphic flowers. amazing cake!!
The design is Fantastic, the colors are Wonderful and I’m so happy for you – well deserved!! 😀
So beautiful – congratulations Carrie!! What a dream come true! 🙂
Wow! Thank you everyone for all of the sweet comments! I was fairly nervous about featuring one of my own cakes, but your comments have been so kind! : )
Tomorrow we’ll return to posts as usual, featuring one of my favorite cake designers of all time! Thank goodness for all of the talented designers who share their work on our site. It would be nothing without them!!
Congrats Carrie! What a beautiful cake from such a talented designer! 🙂
Congrats Carrie! That is quite an accomplishment. I will go out tomorrow and grab the magazine. I will be taking it to work to brag about ya too. Everyone has seen your blog and love the party ideas. Love ya! Jenn
Carrie I’m so very happy for you! You have always been so incredibly talented and you deserve this honor. I know first hand your cakes are not only stunning on design, but I also know how amazing they taste. Cheers!
I am extremely happy for you, what an honor!!!!!!!
Carrie,
How fun is this…a big congratulations from your friends at The Pastry Studio.
We love your keen eye and it shows in your designs and the ideas you share.
So thrilled for you, here’s to many more publications and lots of high praise.
Kudos-sherri meyers
If you have a moment check out Enchantedcake.com
Or Enchantedcakes on FB or Flickr….
I am just now seeing this!! CONGRATULATIONS! This is so exciting and oh my…what a GORGEOUS cake!
Hi Carrie: Your cake looked beautiful! Congratulations for being included and thank you for mentioning my cake as well!
Best Regards,
Elisa Strauss
Wow, that’s absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations.
Love it!
Wowee!! Congratulations Carrie!!