An Ampersand Wedding Cake

This cake was made for a couple who wanted a wedding cake a little bit different. 

They wanted no flowers and to incorporate their wedding colours of yellow and shades of grey as well as the ampersand that was a feature on their wedding invitations.

The tiers were covered in a mosaic of grey shades and then the ampersand became the main feature!

Very vogue at the moment!

Congratulations Kim & Corey!

A Grasshopper, Coffee & Hearts Engagement Cake

My lovely client Kylie organised this cake for her brother's engagement. Kylie left the design to me, but wanted to incorporate grasshoppers, coffee and hearts into the cake - everything had a meaning! The grasshoppers and coffee signify their new business, The Hungry Grasshoppers cafe in Haberfield (coming soon) and obviously hearts due to the engagement. 

I decided on quirky, funky and a little bit whimsical! The colour scheme I decided on were tones of coffee hues as well as a touch of deep red.The cake is heart shaped and is decorated very simple with a lustre finish and a mosaic of hearts up the sides of the cake in the colour scheme. The coffee cup is fondant covered styrofoam (as I knew they would like to keep it) and the grasshoppers, coffee beans, spoon and saucer are all handmade from fondant. I wanted to keep the grasshoppers fun. So I had them sitting on the edge of the cup with arms around each other, as if they were sipping from the coffee of love. 

The coffee froth also has a love heart motif also! At the last moment, I decided to hand paint the couples names on the coffee cup.

The cake is chocolate mud cake with dark chocolate ganache and there was also a separate cutting cake which was white chocolate mud cake with white chocolate ganache.

Congratulations Bren & Dani!

A Ruffled Ombre Moccha Engagement Cake

My gorgeous client Kathy contacted me a while ago to arrange her engagement cake. I was very humbled when I asked her what she would like, she said that she was inspired by the colours I used in my Christmas table last year (shades of moccha) and that she wanted one of my ruffly type cakes with one of my type of flowers!

The venue was more old world, so this was something that fit in quite well with the ambience and her gorgeous sister was setting up a little candy table to go with these colours.

I decided on an ombre of ruffled blooms for the bottom tier (I am guessing there is maybe about 1100+ ruffled blooms there - RSI hello!!). The top tier was a textured look with some embossed bands and fondant pearls and then a single ombre ruffled big bloom on top.

There was also a set of ombre ruffled bloom cupcakes to go with, which I never got a chance to photograph.

The bottom tier is white chocolate raspberry mud cake with white chocolate ganache and the top tier is chocolate sponge cake with dark chocolate ganache.

Congratulations!

Autumn Leaves Wedding Cake

My lovely bride Natalie contacted me about a year ago to request a cake. She wanted something autumn themed and wanted it teamed with crisp white (like her dress). A more perfect couple you would not meet and it was such a complete pleasure to make this cake for them.

From the start, this wedding sounded like a dream. Being held today at the Rhododendron Gardens in Wollongong, it is set in a beautiful marquee in the stunning gardens which I can only imagine is going to be filled with millions of these same leaves!

When the design for the cake was being made, the brief was classic elegance with the beauty of the autumn leaf colours. We agreed on cascading leaves down the side of the 3 tiered cake. Such a simple design, but the colours were just gorgeous! There were 100+ hand dusted and coloured leaves draping over and down the sides of this cake. I can almost hear the crackle of the leaves!I cannot wait to see some images from the wedding!

The bottom tier is mocha mud with dark chocolate ganache, the middle tier is a gluten free chocolate mud with dark chocolate ganache and the top tier is white chocolate raspberry mud with white chocolate ganache.

Congrats Natalie & Bos!

Peach & Aubergine Engagement Cake

Hayley contacted me a while ago to discuss some options for her engagement cake. 

Her design request was something quite simple with some of my "big" flowers and to incorporate some of her upcoming wedding colours of peach, aubergine and a earthy green.

The bottom tier is an extended tier with ivory quartrefoil stencilling. The top tier was left simple with the adornment of the flowers.  I decided to make the big ruffled blooms peach to match the colour tone with the green for the foliage and the berries for the extra aubergine colour punch. There are 2 open big ruffled blooms and 3 smaller ruffled buds in the arrangements.  All the flowers are handmade from fondant.

The bottom tier is white chocolate raspberry mud cake with white chocolate ganache. The top tier is dense carrot & walnut cake with white chocolate ganache.

Congratulations Hayley & Ryan!

Stencil & Blooms Wedding Cake

A wedding cake made for a beautiful intimate ceremony at the stunning Gunners Barracks on Sydney Harbour.

The bride came to see me and wanted a simple cake that was ivory and incorporated their wedding flowers .... roses (groom is English) and the Scottish Thistle (bride is Scottish).

The rest of the design was left to me.  The bride also chose these gorgeous little berries for her bouquet and they were the perfect pop of colour. I decided to stencil a quartrefoil pattern on the bottom tier in the same ivory monotone. The top of the cake was left to the beautiful floral decorations.  

All the flowers are handmade from fondant and edible. The bottom tier is carrot cake with white chocolate ganache and the top tier is a vanilla bean sponge cake with white chocolate ganache.

Congratulations!

Black & White Wedding Cake

Louise has had her wedding cake booked with me for over a year .... and the day had finally come!

The wedding always had a theme of black and white and Louise came to me with a cake design in mind.  This is the cake design that Louise chose, however at the last moment, I suggested that the middle tier be different to the other two striped tiers and for it to be covered in scrunchy white flowers with a pop of black!   I think it became a point of difference to the cake while still keeping the original design that Louise had made and loved.

The bottom and top tiers are chocolate mud cake with dark chocolate ganache.   The middle tier is white chocolate mud cake with white chocolate ganache.

The wedding was held at the beautiful Curzon Hall.   Such a gorgeous venue for a wedding and Louise also had her ceremony in the gardens of this magestic estate.

Louise's design with my ruffled addition!

Lots of ruffly blooms.

The beautiful and magestic Curzon Hall!

and the cake set up in the beautiful reception room.   I especially like the top photo of the topper in the shadows of the window!

Congratulations Louise & Cameron!

 

50th Wedding Anniversary Cake

This cake was made a few weekends ago for a 50th wedding anniversary celebration.

Bonnie makes an unbelievably good fruit cake!   So she baked the fruit cake and the rest was left to me.   The little silver vase on the top is the same vase that was on top of their wedding cake 50 years ago.   How lovely to see it 50 years on!

The bottom tier is the fruit cake, covered in marzipan and fondant.   The top tier is chocolate mud cake with dark chocolate ganache.

This was not my original design, not far off it, however at the last moment (the night before) I changed my mind, due to the fact that I hate fruit cake and marzipan and in humd rainy weather!   Can never get it as clean lines as one would like!   So I covered the entire tier is these ruffled roses ..... if I knew how much time it was going to take, I would've rethought it??!   However, I love it!   I love that the roses have a fabric look to it.   I wanted to incorporate a little bit of lace and for it to be golden, but not tacky golden!   I put the same ruffled roses in the little vase.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary!

Cascading Petals Wedding Cake

Back in December last year, I again had the pleasure of collaborating with Leanne of Sweet Style on a wedding candy table she was styling.

The wedding was being held at the beautiful Gunners Barracks in Mosman and the venue is just B E A U T I F U L!   The tables had beautiful peony flowers as centrepieces and the candy table itself was a beautiful antique table that suited the room wonderfully!

The bride Gabby knew exactly what she wanted.   She had seen this cascading petals cake in various different forms, across Pinterest, and I got quite excited as I had wanted to try one of these cakes for quite some time.  

The cake itself is bottom 4th tier: lime coconut cake, bottom 3rd tier: vanilla cake with four layers of an ombre of pink.   The top two tiers are styrofoam, as she wanted the height and effect of the 4 tiered cake, but didn't need that much!   The entire cake was covered in a vanilla buttercream.

All images below are courtesy of Leanne at Sweet Style.    Further images of the gorgeous candy table that Leanne set up can be found on her blog here .

The cake with all its glorious cascading petals!



 The beautiful candy table that Leanne set up with the bride's colour scheme of pink, white and grey.   I think the cake set off the table beautifully.

Congratulations to Gabby & Paul!  

Rossella's Champagne & Rose Wedding Cake and Dessert Table

Early in 2011, one of my oldest friends that I went to school with gave me the great news that she was getting married!   I was over the moon for both Rossella and Craig!

Immediately we spoke about what cake was to be made and Rossella wanted a dessert table also, again I was over the moon!   They initially planned to be married in Byron Bay, but decided to have their ceremony here in Sydney and the reception was going to be held in the beautiful grounds of Craig's parent's home in Dural.

Rose and I are like 2 peas in a pod really!   We are both very passionate, determined, organised and know what we want!   She had a vision in her head of what she wanted and it played out to a T.  

We received our invitations a few months before the wedding and they were beautifully made little booklets covered in the most glorious pebbled ivory paper.  I immediately thought that it should be incorporated into the cake.   When we finally sat down to discuss the fine details, she left it all to me and she also wanted to incorporate the invitation into the cake with that same colour scheme.   I also planned out some beautiful desserts that would be displayed on the dessert table.   Our visions were one!

This table was a labour of love and something that I had in my mind from the beginning.   However, I will say this!   I completely understand why dessert table stylists use photographers!   As it was summer, the dessert table items all needed to be refrigerated until just before consumption, the table was set underneath a beautiful tree in the grounds with natural (read "moonlight*) light!   I need night photography skills BADLY!   So my main frustration is that I wanted to have more beautiful photos to showcase this stunning table, but alas I need to settle for B- photos, with an A+ table! ;P   Oh well ... lucky dessert tables are not my business ..... I got great photos of the cake!

All photography by Blissfully Sweet unless stated otherwise*.

Onto the wedding!

The beautiful invitations that was the main inspiration for the cake.   The colour scheme of ivory, champagne and red was the main inspiration for all the desserts and the dessert table.

The property at Dural was set up so beautifully, it was just a dream!   Rossella organised everything herself, from the set up to the tables and furniture to the decorations.  The day of the wedding was a magnificent Sydney day, couldn't have ordered better!

Below are a few photos of the venue.





Table centrepieces and bomboniere



Did you just spy a sneaky peek of the cake and naked dessert table?  

Here are some close ups of the cake and the dessert table set up before the desserts came out.

The cake it is pride of position!   I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cake!   Lets start from the bottom up!

Bottom tier is double height tier covered in a thin champagne colour fondant and covered in cascading fondant "scales" to mimic the design on the invitation.  The top two tiers are ivory.   I embossed gather lines up the sides of both tiers that was a play on Rossella's gorgeous dress and then I brush embroidered some flowers onto the sides in the same ivory.  Black swarovski crystals are placed about and then to bring out the brilliant red in the colour scheme, a single oversized red rose extended from the top tier.

The naked table set up and ready for desserts.   Suspended over the table are string chandeliers that I had made and used for my own 40th birthday.   I also hung candles in glass jars from the tree.  

The milk glass cake stands and the 3 tiered compotes are from the gorgeous Leanne at Sweet Style.

The table was then ready for guests and the bride and groom to arrive.   This beautiful table was hired for the occasion, as well as a butlers table for the kids treats from Splendid Days!   I can highly recommend their services and they have the most beautiful hire equipment.   Visit their website here.

and the lady of the moment, my gorgeous friend Rose!  Isn't she stunning!   I also loved this photo of Rose with her beautiful little boy Jesse and of course a gratutitous photo of Larry & I!!

It was time for me to start thinking of the desserts, and WOW what a menu was planned!



Printables by Blissfully Sweet

Are you ready for sweets overload??!   The dessert tabel menu read like this:

Vanilla Pannacotta Shots with Balsamic Strawberries

Raspberry Cheesecake Pots

Tiramisu Coffee Cups with Callebaut White Chocolate Shards

Mini Pavlova Spoons with Chantilly Cream and Pomegranate

Profiteroles with Vanilla Bean Custard & Cherries

White Chocolate, Cranberry, Macadamia & Hazelnut Rocky Road

"Rose" Turkish Delight

Jelly Beans (purchased from Sweet Style)

Mints

White Chocolate Covered Raspberries (purchased from Sweet Style)

Jelly Cups with Marshmallows (for the kids)

All desserts and sweets were made by moi!   Except for the Turkish Delight and the mints that were courtesy of Thomas Dux!  I can tell you right now that it took no more than maybe 15 minutes max for the entire table to be demolished!

WARNING - the next photos are the B- ones!!   A warning that moonlight is very hard to work with and that even then I will still refuse to use my flash!   It is my pet peeve!



The photo of Rose and Craig is courtesy of their official photographer.


You know what I mean now?!   But you get the picture of how it all looked!   The table took another hour of setting up, between going backwards and forwards to the cool room and assembling it all just so!   I then had to hold everyone back whilst I attempted these poor effort shots.  Having an audience while assembling, not the best.   Having the said audience waiting while you get photos, even worse!   Once I said the table was open, it was open season for one and all!

It was a GREAT success and everyone told me it was the highlight of the evening!

The desserts!   Again, these were the best shots that could be got!  :(

From top to bottom and left to right:
Profiteroles displayed in tea light holders, pannacotta shots, mini pav spoons, rocky road, raspberry cheesecake pots, jelly beans, kids jelly cups and pannacotta shots!



Photo courtesy of the official photographer

And I leave you now with this photo of gorgeous Rose and Craig cutting their cake.   It was such a special night and to see the fruits of my many hours of labour received so beautifully made it all worth it!   I wish my bitter disappointment over my bad night photography was not such a hard pill to swallow!

Congratulations to you both and to your 2/3's Brady Bunch!
xx

All photography, cakes, styling, decorations and printables by Blissfully Sweet
Milk cand stands and tiered compote by Sweet Style.

Baseball Themed Groom's Cake

This baseball themed groom's cake was made for a friend's sister's wedding day.   Amanda & Dan were getting married off at Coffs Harbour and Amanda asked me quite a while ago to make her cake.   However, the wedding cake would've been a bit of a stretch to go to Coffs Harbour!   We decided on a groom's cake and some bride and groom toppers for their locally made wedding cake.

Amanda wanted to surprise Dan with the groom's cake.   Dan is a qualified baker and loves cakes.  He also loves the Seattle Mariners!   Amanda was quite specific with want she wanted - Hernandez pitching, Ken Jnr batting, the Mariners Moose doing something mascotty and Dan sliding into homebase!   Hello Google!  I needing to search to see who and what these players looked like!   I need to also keep in mind that this cake needed to travel!

I took these pictures before they left on their flight.  It was a horrendous Sydney morning, humid and raining!  I hoped it would all go well!   All the people were then removed and placed in styrofoam for the trip.  Amanda had a friend who could put it all together up in Coffs!

So pleased to say that the trip was an extremely safe one!  Everything went to plan.   Dan's head came a little unstuck, however these things happen to grooms!   A little different placing on the night, but the groom's reaction was the best - he was over the moon!

The cake is chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache.   All the decorations were handmade and completely edible.

I also made the bride and groom topper for the wedding cake.   The dress, hair, flowers and groom's suit were all made to match.   Slightly different placement on the night, but very happy faces!

Congratulations to Amanda & Dan!   Such a pleasure to work with such a beautiful couple!

xx

Ombre Effect & fresh Peonies Engagement Cake

Tegan came to me as she wanted a special cake to celebrate her engagement.   She wanted something simple and elegant, but also something delicious!   So after a taste testing, the whole family decided on my vanilla sponge cake layered with vanilla bean buttercream.

Nothing speaks simple and elegant than a beautifully buttercream covered cake.   I suggested an ombre effect to the buttercream using her choice of colours.   She then choose to use fresh peonies to give that extra special finish.

I think if I had the change again - this woud be my engagement cake!

Congratulations!

Wedding Cake Designed for Cosmopolitan Bride Summer Edition 2011

At the end of September I had a very humbling and exciting phone call from Cosmopolitan Bride magazine! They had heard about little ol' Blissfully Sweet and they wanted to know whether I would like to design a cake for their next issue .... derr .... YES!

They had the sweetest things to say about my work *blush* and then gave my carte blanche on the design, just that it needed to be based on a real wedding they were featuring and that it needed to be ready in 10 days! No probs! Considering I was in the midst of birthday season in the Blissfully Sweet house!

They sent me the images and I LOVED them! The wedding was a modern/vintage style I thought with very clean lines and nothing too fussy! The colour palette of greys, silvers and pewters mixed with bursts of lemon was a gorgeous combination.

I decided to take my inspiration from there and this is what I came up with!
The bottom tier I made all pleated to match the brides and bridesmaids dresses. This was all in a dark pewter shimmery hue.

The middle extended tier was a silver shimmer and was a mass of ribbon quilling. I got the quills idea by looking at the clean lines of everything else and decided to soften up the edges.

The top tier is ivory pleating going around and coming to a point at the front where it meets the bloom.

The yellow open bloom was my take on the flowers for the day and I decided to add in some grey and silver berries because it looked pretty!

A few days later, I was asked to make some matching cupcakes to go with, as the real wedding had a cupcake tower. I decided to keep in theme and keep the cupcake design in the same simple lines - quils, pleats and yellow blooms.

All the beautiful cakes and cupcakes were displayed and photographed on beautiful amber hobnail cake stands that were supplied by Sweet Style. You can buy them here.

So very excited to see it in print today!

I came up with this design quite quickly once I saw what I was working with and once I sketched it I loved it. However, I loved how it turned out even more! Nothing better than when that happens.

Thanks to Cosmo Bride and Katerina for this opportunity.

Woo hoo!

The beautiful cover of the summer edition and on page 155 is what I now call the "Sweet" page (for both Blissfully Sweet and Sweet Style)!

The cake before it left for the photo shoot! I loved all the textures on this cake. If I had the chance again I would have THIS cake. Maybe for my renewal ceremony??!

The different elements.

The cupcakes.

and the whole set!
:)

50th Wedding Anniversary Cake

A lovely friend from Liam's school asked me to make a special celebration cake for her parent's 50th wedding anniversary!

She wanted something special, elegant and personalised to them.

We decided on a neutral, gold toned colour scheme with a bride and groom topper. The bride and groom became even more special when I matched their hair colours/styles, I used a 50/60s style wedding dress and a hint to their favourite things. Merle loves watching movies and Paul loves tinkering and is a great handyman!

I am very proud of my first peony! This is an open version and I kept it ivory to go with the colour scheme - but for a first time effort - have to say I was impressed with myself! :o)

The message is handpainted in edible gold.
Merle and Paul. I loved the Jackie O feel to her dress!

Their favourite things - his weathered tool belt and her old VCR tapes, remote control and obligeratory box of popcorn!

Paul was very distinguished with his 3 piece suit with red rose!

My open peony! Room for improvement - definitely! Happy with first attempt - oh yeah!

Congratulations Merle & Paul!