It’s day three of our brand new cake series – The 2015 Wedding Cake Preview! We’re spending two weeks oohing and aahing over marvelous cake designs and getting the scoop on 2015 cake trends from the ladies who know. Top cake designers were asked to predict which cake trends will be hot in 2015. Based on their insights, this talented group got busy creating innovative new cakes, exclusively for this cake series and especially for you! I hope you’ll join us as we debut a new trend-inspired design each day. At any point, you can catch up with the entire cake series HERE.
Let’s continue on with cake number three! Our third design updates a classic technique with a modern style perfect for 2015 brides. Buttercream cakes made a big comeback a few years ago, with more and more brides opting for rustic, textured designs over fondant. Today’s cake elevates this look with clusters of buttecream flowers hand-piped to resemble a gorgeous wildflower bouquet.
The third cake in our series comes to us from Erica OBrien, owner of Erica OBrien Cake Design located in Hamden, CT. Erica’s refined style and knack for elevating current trends into elegant designs consistently has us gushing – and always eager to see what she’ll dream up next. Erica joined our talented team of contributors last year and has wowed us with new ideas and techniques like her chocolate painted cake (yes you read that right, chocolate painted!) and her chalkboard & paper flowers cake while also tackling trends like pastel triangles, paper garlands and golden pineapples. If you’ve loved a trend on pinterest lately, chances are Erica has translated it into a fabulous cake design, all of which you can catch right here!
Today Erica gives traditional buttercream flowers a 2015 makeover, building upon the the natural beauty of a wildflower bouquet. With complementary colors and a variety of textures, these buttercream flowers look as though they’ve been picked straight out of a meadow. This unfussy yet elegant look pairs perfectly with textured buttecream finishes and gives brides a delicious alternative to real flowers — and reason enough for us to brush up on our piping skills!
Erica OBrien shares the inspiration for her design:
“I fell in love with cake decorating about 20 years ago when I signed up for a local Wilton class. At the time, it was all about buttercream. (I use the term buttercream term loosely because there was no actual butter in the buttercream I was using then.) Although I was pretty good at piping and enjoyed making piped flowers, once I was introduced to fondant, I thought I’d never look back. To me, the perfectly smooth finish I could achieve with fondant far surpassed buttercream, and I couldn’t imagine a cake that didn’t boast a flawless finish.
In recent years though, I’ve begun to appreciate the all the rich, organic textures of buttercream, and really embraced all its imperfections. It’s something you just don’t get with fondant, and something people really respond to. There’s a certain nostalgia that accompanies a classic buttercream cake, and as buttercream has become more popular again, I’ve begun to really value the skills I acquired long ago.”
Erica OBrien tells us about her technique:
“The challenge for us as artists is rethink traditional techniques and give them a contemporary update. For this cake, we achieved the texture by first icing the cake smooth and then using an icing comb. We arranged the flowers in a way not traditionally seen with buttercream. The top and bottom tier have only small flower clusters that compliment the arrangement. In the middle tier, we layered the flowers, giving them the look of an overgrown wildflower garden. Butter-based buttercream can be challenging to color because of its slightly yellow. Lucky for me I love deep, rich, jewel tones, which are easier to achieve with accuracy in buttercream. We wanted the colors to be bright and happy, like a beautiful summer bouquet.
This cake combines some proven techniques in a fresh, new way. It is a look that would be equally comfortable at a backyard gathering and a fun summer wedding.”
VENDORS & CREDITS
Cake : Erica OBrien Cake Design
Photography: Eric Brushett Photography
Learn From This Baker : Online Cake Classes with Erica OBrien on Craftsy
Gorgeous! I hope this is a trend that stays. Besides, buttercream is much MUCH tastier than fondant.
What type of buttercream do you use? It’s beautiful!
This was all Swiss meringue buttercream.
When the bc flowers are on the side of the cake, do you have to keep the cake really chilled until serving time? I’m worried the bc flowers would droop or slide off. =X
I was wondering the same thing! –
Also- I use Italian Meringue and I have a really hard time getting these dark/bright colors… any ideas?
We add color and let the buttercream sit overnight in the fridge. For some reason, the colors intensify when cold.
Beautiful & yes, buttercream is much tastier than fondant!
This cake is stunning. Do you pipe the flowers directly on the cake, or are they first piped on parchment paper?