It’s our third annual holiday series…. The 12 Cakes of Christmas!! We’re oohing and aahing over twelve marvelous cake designs, created especially for this series! All brand new, never seen before, and created by some of your favorite bakers! For our theme this year, we’re taking a moment to reflect on our favorite Christmas memories and traditions. It’s a feel good month, celebrating the little things that make this season shine bright. Each of our featured bakers was asked to create a cake based on a classic Christmas tradition.
We are wrapping things up with cake number twelve. Our twelfth cake celebrates a tradition that many families cherish. An activity filled with joy, excitement and anticipation of the wonders to come – with our loved ones gathered close and our tree awaiting. The Twelfth Cake of Christmas was inspired by…. Trimming the Tree!
The twelfth cake in our series comes to us from Rachel Skvaril, owner of Fondant Flinger in New Orleans. While this is Rachel’s first year to join our Christmas series, we’ve been loving on her cakes for years now. She wowed us back in 2012 with this incredible ruffled flag cake created for our Fourth of July series. And who can forget her out-of-this-world blue poppy flower cake or her gorgeous purple anemone cake? Today, Rachel’s cake is just as amazing as ever! With a woodsy winter feel and a snow owl too cute for words. But it’s made even better by the family tradition that inspired her design. If you’re one of those who just browse the blog for the pictures, I encourage you to actually read today’s post! Rachel is not only trimming the tree, but putting the star on the top of our Christmas series. It’s time for The 12th Cake of Christmas!
Rachel of Fondant Flinger shares the inspiration behind her design:
“I love Christmas. The smells of evergreen and cinnamon, the crisp cool air, the sounds of carolers, and the millions of tiny lights scattered throughout gorgeous decorations. Perhaps the most nostalgic part of this time of year for me is the weekend following Thanksgiving. After hours of searching through hundreds of trees, the perfect one has been chosen, drug home (leaving a carpet of needles all over the floor) and we begin to decorate. My husband drags down all the boxes out of the attic while the rest of us lay around under snuggly blankets, sipping hot cocoa and snacking on sugar cookies. Michael Buble quietly serenades me as the boys fling boxes open revealing the hundreds of ornaments and pine cones collected through the years, each, of course, brings a warm memory as it takes its place on the tree with all the other memories. Its one of those moments where time seems to stand still and you actually have time to look around you and see how incredibly blessed you are. The sheer delight in my boys’ faces throughout the night is beyond priceless to me.”
More from Rachel of Fondant Flinger on her inspiration:
“When the tree is finally trimmed, we gather on the couch in a tremendous heap as my husband reads the story of Christ’s birth. The boys listen wide-eyed as they hear about angels and shepherds worshiping the Baby in the stable, when both heaven and nature sang in joyful adoration. Following story time, its our turn to sing. The boys sing at the top of their lungs and as off-key as you can imagine, “Joy to the World, The Lord is come, let earth receive her King. Let every heart, prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing…” And I, well, I sit with glassy eyes watching my family in the soft light of the newly trimmed tree, with joy completely filling my heart, my home and seemingly the world. This night, to me, is far greater than Christmas morning; instead of the focus being on the things under the tree, this night is about those around the tree.”
Rachel of Fondant Flinger tells us about her technique:
“Perhaps my favorite aspect of decorating for Christmas is in the taking of this completely natural and rustic tree and adorning it with the lights and ornaments, that combination of both heaven and nature together. The inspiration for this cake came from precisely this. I recreated a woodland brush owl ornament (one of my favorites from our collection) and the small pinecones and contrasted it with the gold tiers, ornaments and the bright white poinsettia. The bottom tier I decorated trying to mimic the pinecone’s scales and used a smaller tier to mimic the brush owl’s twig-like components.”
Absolutely. Positively. Amazing! Thank you Rachel Skvaril of Fondant Flinger for creating this stunning cake for our Christmas series. And for sharing her family tree trimming tradition with us. Not only is she inspiring us to cake greatness… but she’s inspiring us to take a moment and remember what this season is all about. And to be thankful for the many blessings in our lives. It’s the perfect ending to The 12 Cakes of Christmas!
VENDORS & CREDITS
Cake : Fondant Flinger
Photography : Heather Neely Photography
Inspiration Image: Pottery Barn
Elegant and adorable. Wonderful end to a fabulous collection of cakes.
I’ve read through the entire twelve cakes of Christmas series and it is wonderful! Thank you for sharing!