Cake Photo Shoot

I know I promised that I wouldn’t let the Sweet Element blog slide for long periods, but somehow, even without a corporate gig anymore – life is still hectic!  In between dealing with all the people necessary to get my cake studio completed (which seriously is a job all unto itself), I’ve been keeping my creativity flowing by making portfolio cakes, which is always gratifying as it allows me to experiment with different techniques and continue to push the envelope artistically.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be able to work with Mike from Arclight Images & got some great new shots of some of my latest portfolio pieces.  It was such a pleasure working with a guy with such a great eye & very creative mind.  After a number of shoots with magazines & their very simple backdrops for cakes, it was really fun to think of different settings for pieces – both in & outdoors!

Without further adieu, here are the photos!

Octoberfest Beer Stein Cake

Happy Octoberfest!  Here’s the latest Sweet Element cake that was made for a Octoberfest themed birthday party in Montclair this weekend.  Inside the stein was a black forest cake (chocolate cake, kirsch infused cherries & chocolate buttercream) and whipped cream topped the cake to make the “foam”. The pretzels were made of modeling chocolate & topped with salt.

AT-AT Groom’s Cake

I’ve seen some pretty impressive Star Wars cakes out on the web, but I have never been asked to make one until I received a request for this AT-AT groom’s cake.  While definitely a challenge, I really enjoyed the whole process of making this cake – and learned a whole lot about construction & what a difference an air brush can make!  Gotta admit it was a little strange taking my airbrush out for the very first time to make a cake look “dirty”, but that is precisely what it needed to do, and I am pretty happy with the results.

The cake was a yellow pound cake filled with peanut butter buttercream (one of my new favorites) & iced in vanilla buttercream.  The deco on the cake was done in a combination of fondant & gum paste.  In case you’re wondering, the actual cake part of this piece was the body & the head.  I try to make everything I can edible … but this one definitely needed some serious support!  I had debated creating one of the AT-ATs fallen over on its side, which could have probably been made all edible with sugar legs, but I think the overall appearance of one of these standing up is far more impressive looking.  My client also requested that there be something on the board to show the size of the AT-AT, so with the help of a few Star Wars buff friends, we decided to take a scene from the movie and add a crashed out snowspeeder.  I hope I did it justice!

Big thanks to Jay, my carpenter & all around handyman in the kitchen & workshop!  Couldn’t have gotten this done without you!

Without further adieu …. here’s photos of the latest Sweet Element AT-AT cake!

Baby Einstein 1st Birthday Cake

Here’s one of the latest Sweet Element cakes that is just too cute not to post!  As a former Scholastic employee, I am definitely familiar with the Baby Einstein franchise, so I was excited to make a cake in the theme of Baby Einstein for a very adorable one year old’s birthday.  Mom requested that the caterpillar & frog from the series be featured and also requested that the birthday boy’s name be made out of fondant covered rice krispy blocks.

The cake was a chocolate devil’s food cake filled & frosted with vanilla moussaline buttercream & decorated in chocolate.  The blocks in front are buttercream frosted rice krispy treats decorated in fondant.

And one detail photo sans blocks as well …

Patricia’s Yarns 5th Birthday Cake

Last weekend I had the pleasure of making a cake for Patricia’s Yarns who was celebrating their 5th year in Hoboken, NJ. As creative license was left up to me, I thought it would be a sweet design for this Hoboken yarn shop to have a messenger bag with 5 skeins of yarn spilling out.  Patricia had requested that her logo be incorporated, so I made it fairly prominent on the bag as the label.  There were also three “5’s” incorporated into the yarn – can you spot them all?

This cake was comprised of a chocolate devil’s food cake filled & frosted with vanilla moussaline buttercream and decorated in fondant.  The yarn skeins were made of rice crispy treats frosted in vannilla moussaline buttercream and decorated in fondant.  The needles were the only inedible piece to this cake, and were made out of sharpened painted dowels with gumpaste toppers.

If you’re a knitter & ever find yourself in Hoboken – you should definitely check out Patricia’s shop!  I spent about an hour browsing through her vast selection of yarn and left with two giant bags full of yarn for 2 scarves & a winter blanket.  Patricia was also kind enough to give me a swift [which I totally love ] as a thank you!

Here are some additional detail shots of the cake …

Deco Wedding Cake

Here’s the latest wedding cake creation from Sweet Element Cakes that was made for an upcoming issue of New York Weddings magazine.  I don’t fancy myself an expert piper by any means, so this was definitely a challenge!  All in all, I think it turned out quite well.  I’m hoping the gold metallic finish on the piping shows up a little bit better in the magazine photos – I don’t think my camera did it much justice!

Guinness Cake

I always thought that I’d be making a pint of Guinness cake as a grooms cake, but our friends’ Irish pub birthday party this past Saturday presented the perfect occasion to create this cake. If you ever find yourself in Hoboken, NJ – go visit Carpe Diem for perfect pints & excellent pub food!

Since the pub’s true birthday is 7/15, I included 15 clovers on the board, three of which were gold four leaf clovers, as the pub was celebrating it’s 3rd birthday.

The cake consisted of alternating layers of devil’s food cake & yellow butter cake that was filled and frosted with Bailey’s Irish Cream buttercream. A combination of chocolate & vanilla fondant was used to decorate the exterior of the cake.

I thought the guys would enjoy the little clover in the foam detail on the top

Joe & Billy in Carpe Diem’s dining room with the cake!

Beach Wedding Cake

Here’s some photos of the latest Sweet Element cake that was made for a small wedding party this weekend. The cake was delivered to The Liberty House in Jersey City. Since the couple had their ceremony on the beach, the bride requested a beach themed wedding cake, so I thought it would be a nice touch to nestle a pair of wedding bands in the sand with shells.

To satisfy the tastes of both the groom & the bride, the cake was comprised of one layer of vanilla butter cake, one layer of rich devil’s food cake, strawberry filling, chocolate buttercream, and fondant & gumpaste decor. The “sand” was a mix of cookie crumbs.

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone enjoys a very happy July 4th!

Here’s a few Sweet Element treats made for the holiday festivities:

Mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting & local NJ blueberries.

Smore cupcake

Best lunch tray ever: Homemade "oreos", double chocolate oreo cupcake, mini red velvet cupcake & smore cupcake

Baking Element #1 (Baking Soda v. Baking Powder)

Welcome to the first of the Baking Elements posts!  After numerous questions from friends, co-workers, and clients on baking tips, I thought I would start a series to answer some of the most common and also the slightly outlandish queries I’ve received about baking.  If there are any burning questions you have on the science of baking – send them my way!

One of the most common questions I’ve received is:

“What is the difference between baking soda & baking powder?”

While both are leaveners, these two ingredients are related, but act quite differently. 

Baking soda is an alkaline, which means that when it is combined with an acidic ingredient (i.e. yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, brown sugar, molasses) it produces carbon dioxide gas bubbles that cause a batter or dough to rise. 

Baking powder is made of a combination of baking soda, cream of tartar and cornstarch.  Baking powder needs to mixed with any liquid in order to release carbon dioxide gas bubbles for leavening a batter or dough.  To add to the confusion, there are also two types of baking powder: double-acting & single-acting. Most recipes call for double-acting baking powder, which contains two acids – one releases gas when it comes into contact with liquid, and the second when exposed to oven heat.  Single-acting baking powder contains a single acid, and releases gas as soon as it comes into contact with liquid.

Usually people ask me about the difference between these two common leaveners because they realize halfway through a recipe that they have run out of one or the other and want to know if they can substitute them for each other.

“HELP! I’m out of baking powder!”

To make your own 1 teaspoon of baking powder:
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

 

“EEK! I’m out of baking soda!”

While I don’t highly recommend it, if you are truly in a pinch, you can double the amount of baking soda called for in the recipe with baking powder.  For example, if your recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda and you are out, you can use 3 teaspoons of baking powder. 

My real recommendation in this case would be to run out to the store (or send someone!) to get some baking soda.  The extra cornstarch and cream of tartar that are in baking powder that you’ll be adding to your recipe in this substitution may alter the taste or texture of your final product.