Cake of the... well, it's been a few months, hasn't it?

       So, it turns out that maintaining a new business AND a regularly kept blog is a real challenge! I apologize for the lengthy delay since my last post. If you want more frequent updates, like us on Facebook and follow our instagram account, I'm on those all the time!
     So, let's do a recap of some of my favorite cakes that I've decorated recently. Now, it should be noted, that some of these are not my original design, so I don't claim real ownership to all them. However, they are almost always tinkered with, if they are not my original concept.
      Without further delay, here are some of my favorite new cakes!

     This pretty little cake was for a classmate of mine. She was celebrating her adorable baby's first birthday! The theme was "Alice in Wonderland" and I loved the idea of doing a cake that wasn't just your every day topsy turvy, mad hatter take. This cake was not an original design, but I did alter it from being a 5 tiered wedding cake, to being a little more suitable for a baby's 1st birthday. I was really happy with how it came out.

      The DJ cake was a cute little birthday cake I made for one of our shop's neighbor's. She was celebrating around Thanksgiving, so the cake was her favorite fall flavor, pumpkin cake with cinnamon cream cheese icing. Sadly, in a sitcom-worthy twist, it turned out that one of her party guests accidentally SAT ON THE CAKE! That's why you always take a photo before it leaves the shop!




   
     These next cakes were made for our Valentine's Day store window. I had a lot of fun making pretty, love-inspired cakes. I adore the simplicity of the pennant cake and I think it could work for a lot of really cool weddings. The "Be Mine" cake allowed me to play around with painting and developing a deep, rich tone of red and gold on the bottom tier.
I even snuck in our initials into the window by "carving" into the birch bark of our rustic wedding cake. It features some of my favorite flowers, peonies and tulips.

    Believe it or not, this brightly colored cake was actually for a baby shower! The mom-to-be has a lot of love for Mexican art and textiles, so her sister selected them as inspiration for the cake. I LOVE the idea of a baby shower that isn't just pastels. I had a lot of fun piping all the details on this cool little cake. Side note: This cake was also ordered by a former classmate of mine. GFS PRIDE FOREVER!

   For my final cake, I wanted to show off one of my super-favorites. I made this cake at the request of a wonderful event planner who found me through the owner of the shop next to ours. She was putting together a big celebration and really wanted the look of multiple cakes and cupcakes for her dessert table. These cakes, including the ruffles, are iced with buttercream and decorated with hand painted gold cake lace.  I made a few purple peonies to garnish the cake and I LOVE how it all came out. I really hope everyone at the party enjoyed them. Just like I hope you have enjoyed this post. If you would like to talk about designing your own wedding or birthday cake, you can contact us through our website at www.frostedfoxcakeshop.com. Also, please follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. I promise I am way better at keeping up with those!

It's Wedding Cake (Tasting) Season!

    I recently learned that 3 of the 4 days that see the most engagements take place in December. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve are 3 of the most popular days to propose (the other one is Valentine's day). That means that there is a whole group of excited brides and grooms-to-be who are just starting to plan their weddings. In addition to that group, there are all those couples out there that are getting married this spring and summer who are at that fun stage where they've booked their venues, picked their dates, and are ready pick their food.

If you are like me, You will probably take a lot of silly photos like this.

Our Venue, Glenn Foerd, didn't usually allow
outside wedding cakes, but they were kind
enough to make an exception for our wedding.

    What does this all mean to your little local cake shop? Well, it means that even though the excitement and craziness of the holiday season is behind us, we are now entering into prime season for wedding cake tastings, bridal shows and general info calls. I thought I'd spend this post talking a little bit about planning for your wedding cake, what happens in a tasting and what goes in to booking your wedding cake. I've touched on this a bit before, but it's such an important topic, it's worth re-visiting.

    In my experience, the first step to planning your wedding cake is actually just picking your venue and your wedding date. Why does this matter? Well, it's going to determine if you can bring in an outside cake, whose cake you can bring in, who is within the delivery range, and who is available for your wedding date. It would be unfortunate to go through the excitement of finding the perfect cake and the perfect bakery, only to learn that they either aren't available OR that your venue does not allow outside venders. It's also very important to figure out what you are budgeting for your wedding cake, and how much guests you would like it to serve, since these are important factors to planning your wedding cake.

   

Ah, Pinterest. Why weren't you around when I got married?

   Once you've worked out some of the logistics, the fun part begins. You should start getting together some images of what you like in a wedding cake. Is your wedding rustic or modern? What's your color scheme? If you're planning a wedding, you've probably already become very familiar with Pinterest and other wedding planning sites and magazines. These are, of course, great places to start with your cake planning! You don't have to find a cake that is exactly what you're looking for, that's why you are meeting with a cake designer, but it's invaluable to have some images to use as starting points.

These are some of our different filling and icing flavors.

     You should also start checking out the websites of a few local cake shops, they should be able to give you some basic pricing information, and also you should get to know their aesthetic to make sure they are a good fit for your wedding. Don't be afraid to call for information, that's what we are here for! We do this stuff every day, while this is a once in a lifetime moment for you.

      Also think about what flavors your might be interested in for your cake. Are you more of a
traditional, chocolate or white cake couple, or do you want to surprise your guests with a banana cake or passionfruit filling? Icing choice is another thing to consider. I've touched on this in my previous posts "In Defense of Fondant" and "the Beautiful World of Buttercream." There are very important pros and cons to both icings. You should definitely plan on tasting both icings at any bakery you visit, since they can really vary widely from shop to shop.

   

Some sketches of wedding cake ideas.

  Once you've figured out a few bakeries that are a good fit for you, your budget and your venue, you should start setting up tasting appointments. A tasting appointment is a chance for you to come in, taste some cake flavors, design your cake, and get an exact price for your design and flavor choice. While each bakery treats them a little differently, they are often complimentary and very helpful. That being said, please be conscious that tasting are expensive for a cake shop, both in terms of materials and time. Once you've made some appointments, you're ready for the best part : the wedding cake tasting. I'll cover that in the next post. "What to Expect During Your Cake Tasting."

Grand Openings are a Great Time to Party!

     Hi Friends! It's been a while since I've posted and I'm very sorry for that. A LOT has happened since my last post, and that is why I have been so negligent of this blog. So, I'm going to start by writing a long overdue post about our grand opening and all the people we want to thank.

Sean and I grinning ear to ear during our grand opening.

 
  The big news is that we finally opened our shop at the Beginning of November. We soft opened on the 3rd and we had our official Grand Opening on the 6th. We celebrated by inviting our neighbors in for a cookies and milk party. We provided the cookies, the milk and a fun cake and our neighbors supplied the excitement. We were so thrilled to see so many families in our shop. People seemed to really enjoy the ambience and many of them treated themselves to some of our baked goods. It was a really great night!

Our customers seemed excited about our milk and cookies party.

  We followed up that party with our "Friends and Family" party the next evening when we had a private shindig with all those wonderful people who helped us along the way and kept our spirits up when it felt like we would never get it all done! I think we filled the shop past capacity, but it was a great group of people. We are really so lucky to have so many terrific people in our lives!
 
   With that in mind, I want to thank all the remarkable folks who helped make this happen. Thank you first and foremost to our parents. David, Kelley, Skip, and Dorothy, we absolutely would not have this shop without your support, your guidance and your overall fabulous parenting! Jamie, Katie, Alexis and Brian, you guys are phenomenal siblings, thanks for being there for us, you're the best!
 

Cake cutting is no longer just for
weddings. This is the second time
we "cut the cake."

     Next up, we have to thank the creative team that made the physical space of our shop into a reality. Val and Trudy at Ennis Nehez, your amazing eye for design, your quick problem solving skills, and your excitement for our project helped us envision a space more fabulous than we could ever dream up. Jonathan and your team with Duck Rabbit turned this shop into a beautiful reality that functions. I can't tell you all how many compliments we get on the way our shop looks and feels every day, it's really amazing. You turned our vague descriptions of our aesthetic into something real and breathtaking. Ingrid, thank you for being such a fantastic, patient building owner. We hope to be your tenants for a long, long time. Thank you to our neighbors for putting up with our construction, the noise, dust and traffic.

Tuba Dan entertaining our guests.

  Ben, Katie, Jesse, Jessie and Josh, thank you guys for helping us with some of the smaller, but super important elements of our logo design and branding elements. Ben and Katie, the logo is magnificent! Jesse and Jessie the wood-working is pitch-perfect!  Josh, the window signs are great and thank you for supplying us with your adobe software expertise! Susannah, thank you for helping us get the shop up and running. We could not have opened without your help. Our first week would not have been nearly as successful without your skills and eye for detail.  Dan "Tuba Dan" Nosheny, thank you for providing perfect accordion accompaniment for our opening party.
 

Nothing says "party" like balloons.

     We want to thank all of our mentors. Thank you Alex, Amy, Peri, Maureen, Kate, Susannah, Katie, and all the other wonderful decorators I have worked with. Your talent and artistry inspired me to work harder and become a better decorator. To the wonderful ladies at John and Kira's, Angela, Lorraine, Corrine, Heather and Megan, you showed me how fun work can be, even when your exhausted! To the crew at Culinart and Compass, thanks for teaching me the value of hard work and attention to detail. You set a great example for me to follow and taught me how to work as part of a team. Thank you all. Amy and John, Thank you for being great mentors to me and helping me hone in on how I envision myself as a business owner, even if I still don't really think of myself as one.
 
  Thank you to all of our friends who have been keeping up with our progress, either in person or via social media. It's so great to have your "likes" and well wishes to come home to each day. We miss you and if you are ever in Philly, come visit us. Also, thank you so much to those of you who don't know us, but have come by the shop to see what we're about. We are so grateful for your support, and I hope we can surpass your expectations!

     We've been very very busy keeping our shop up and running. I will try to write another post soon, but I'm not going to make any promises about when. In the meantime, stop in and say "Hello!"

The Frosted Fox has Finally Arrived!

It took a long time, but I can finally say that we are OPEN!

Me, Sean and Our Shop.

    We had our soft opening last Tuesday and we celebrated our Grand Opening this past Friday with a "Milk and Cookies" themed party for all of our neighbors. The party went great and I think it was very well attended. It was wonderful to see so many families stop by and welcome us to the neighborhood.

Our Wooden Trays in Full Use.

    As of today, we have been open for about a week and it has been great! We have a few awesome specialty orders on the horizon and we have been serving a small selection of treats to people who are checking out the new shop.  We have been welcomed by many of our new neighbors and it turns out that many of them were waiting for us to open almost as long as we were!

The Grand Opening Sign I Made.

   I am super happy with the way the shop has come out. It is perfectly adorable and I couldn't ask for a cuter space. We've heard it described as magical, adorable, beautiful, and, "like walking into a Wes Anderson movie." That last one is my favorite. Our designers, Ennis Nehez, did a wonderful job with the design of the space and our contractor, Duck Rabbit, executed the plans to perfection. Sean and I had a wonderful time decorating the window displays and adding all the little details to the display shelves.

Cakes in the Window, Finally!

   It hasn't been totally smooth sailing, we did have a few issues with equipment, I think I'll go into those on the next post. Nothing insurmountable, just a few growing pains. Overall, it's been such a great experience so far. Even though we have worked a ton of hours, it doesn't feel like it. We are so happy to be part of this neighborhood and I am super proud of all the hard work everyone has done to help us get here.
 Thanks everybody!

Yet Another Renovation Update!

Here you can see the lovely
copper accent on our
workstation.

   Hi friends! I thought I would share another renovation update as well as a general update about what we have been doing lately. So here goes!
 
   Since we last posted, things have been moving along nicely (although always at a slower pace than I would like). Our dreams of the renovation being completed by the end of September didn't come true, but we are hopefully looking at just a few more days of construction work, followed by the big clean up!

Look at that perfectly cozy fit!

   Some big moments have happened. The paint, floors, wallpaper and most of the shelving and woodwork has been finished. Most of our big equipment came in last Friday and the last two big pieces of equipment are due in tomorrow. Once all that stuff is wired and plumbed into place we can start cleaning the shop out and get the health inspector in to look everything over. I'm hoping we will be so on top of things that he will pass us right away! Then, we will order in our ingredients and start mixing, rolling, scooping, baking and icing like crazy! Look for us to secretly and quietly soft open towards the end of the month with a big formal Grand opening to follow!

How cute is this?

    Friday was a huge day for us. It was so incredible to see all of our big equipment coming in. We now have several refrigerators and freezers as well as many sinks. We are also the proud owners of two of the biggest stand mixers I've ever seen as well as two cuter and more manageable counter top mixers. One big treat for me is that my little 5 qt mixer came in with the perfect shade of green paint to match the rest of our shop! Plus, it's the only mixer that customers will see, so I'm thrilled that it is so cute.
   
   Unfortunately, there were a few hiccups with our convection ovens and they had to be sent back to get re-delivered on Tuesday. What happened? Well, it turns out that when it comes to oven wheels vs. Germantown Avenue, the cobblestones win. It was just to much for that little wheel and the welding has to be re-done. Also, it wasn't going to fit through the front door, so they are making a few adjustments and removing some stuff that stuck out the back so that it will fit on Tuesday. I'd be lying if I said the deliver wasn't nerve-wracking. It was full of precarious moments as well as a general "oh my god, this is really happening" surreal tone.

These mixers are bigger than I am.
They were one big source of the
overwhelmed feeling I had.

 
 In the mean time, the signs have been put up in the windows thanks to our good friend Josh. He made the signs and applied them on Sunday morning. They look great! They were a bit of a beast to apply, since our logo has a lot of details due to its woodcut style. But they are up and they look awesome! Once again, we are so lucky to have such talented friends who are willing to help us out!

Here's Josh totally focused applying our sign!

 
  The woodwork for the shop is also coming along nicely and we now have shelves and some tables that are just about done. They look awesome and will be great for display, storage and keeping our office area organized. The shop is starting to fill up with stuff and I'm hoping we'll have room for all the small stuff that needs to live in the shop as well.

Here's a picture of our table from the
Awbury Arboretum event.

 
  We have been trying to keep busy while we wait on the shop. We've got a couple of great cakes coming up to make, including a few for my dear friend's wedding. We participated in a wonderful Harvest Fest with out friends at the Awbury Arboretum this past Saturday. We've also been working on re-finishing an old butcher block table my mom gave to us so that it can serve as our coffee station.  Things still haven't gotten crazy, but hopefully by the end of this week, they will.
 
  Thanks for checking out or progress! You can follow us on Instagram www.instagram.com/frostedfoxcakeshop, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/frostedfoxcakeshop or check out our website www.frostedfoxcakeshop.com for more news on our shop opening.

Inching Closer and Closer to a Real Bakeshop!

   Here we are with another quick construction/opening update post. These things never quite move as fast as we want them to, do they? I can't tell you how many times I've started a little project at home that I figured would only take a few hours, only to find myself at home depot at 9:55 pm on a Tuesday just trying to find the one stupid part I didn't have when I started the project on Friday afternoon. That's why I've recently limited myself to projects that mainly include painting, as this is usually pretty straight forward, start to finish.

So many greens! In the end, the two winners are the
two shades farthest to the right. 

 

  Speaking of painting, we've selected out final paint color options for the shop. We're gonna be using two shades of gorgeous green (which happens to be my favorite color) and we're going to accent it with pops of copper all over the shop. We also have a super cute wall paper treatment that will live on two accent walls. By itself, the wallpaper totally looks beigey-yellow, but next to the greens it works as an additional shade of green, and it's really lovely.

 

 The plumbing and the electrical work are mostly done, I believe all that is left is hooking up fixtures, sinks, toilets etc. Which would take me a month, but I trust the professionals will swoop in and be much quicker than that. The hood still needs to go in, but I believe the actual installation should only take a day or two or three. 

 

Look how excited sean is about
the dry wall going up! 

   The most exciting news I've basically ever heard is that the drywall is all up, taped, spackled and sanded. The rumor is that painting will start today, and I may just fall to my knees and weep tears of joy when I walk into the shop and it's no longer the gray of drywall and demolition. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is happening as I type this very sentence. Once painting is done, the floors will be sanded later this week (or so I've heard) and water-resistant vinyl will get laid down in the back workroom. I'm really keeping my praying that the vinyl will work out time-wise, as I've been told it may fall prey to the pope-apocalypse delivery nightmare that's headed to Philadelphia this week. Who would have thought the pope's visit could affect our shop before it was even opened? Maybe he'll come by and bless it for our troubles. He seems like a pretty good guy, and if there's one thing I know about guys from Argentina, they love desserts. 

  We've also made some big decisions on stain colors for our tables and other woodwork. That's sort of the last stage of this whole project. Installing the equipment and the millwork (tables, shelves, counters). The stain will be a pretty reddish cherry color, It works with the copper and it works with the green and it works with the overall theme of our foxy little bakery.

 

  

A small fraction of the boxes filled with
bakery stuff awaiting their forever
home.

I know it sounds like a lot left to do, but I'm really optimistic that these elements are smaller projects that can hopefully fall into place quickly. Once the shop is turned over to us, Sean and I will be locking ourselves (and anyone else who wants to help) inside in order to clean, decorate and organize all of our small tools and equipment. These are currently living in our house and my dad's basement. I can't wait to get it all in the shop, because right now our house is starting to look like a bunch of Boxtrolls live there (shout out to Laika, my sister's recent stop motion internship). Side note: I think I just thought of our dogs halloween costume for this year, a couple of box trolls, we have SO many boxes in our house.

  

 Once the shop is set and ready to go, we'll get the health inspector to come by and hopefully grant us our food license. Then, it's a mad dash to the finish while we get all of our doughs, cakes and sweets made for a soft opening. A soft opening is when a place quietly opens its doors without any fanfare before have a larger "Grand Opening." This is an opportunity for us to get the doors open fast without having to stick to a specific opening date. It's also a chance for people to come and visit with us, see what we are about and for us to get a little feedback on what works and what doesn't before our true opening. For up to the minute updates on when we will open you can like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/frostedfoxcakeshop.

   There's a lot left to do, and not a lot of time to do it. But I'm very excited to get going. If you want to take a peek at what our shop will offer, check out our website www.frostedfoxcakeshop.com.

And now for a renovation update!

Our store front prior to demolition.

    As some of you may know, the story of opening our shop has taken a little longer than I had hoped. We started out young and naive about a year ago. I remember telling people that I would probably have a shop open in early spring. Well, I was a little off, wasn't I? From watching many many a renovation TV show, I was well aware that renovations often take longer and cost more than expected. So, I thought I was bring super smart and planning for a longer time and more money than the estimates we were receiving. What I didn't realize, is that I should have taken that buffer estimate and basically doubled it! I thought I was already doing that.. but no.... no....
    Here's a quick reminder of where we've been. When we originally signed the lease on our storefront, we knew we were going to need to seek a zoning variance from the city. I knew it would take a while, but I was pretty confident we would be able to get it granted. Plus, I loved the shop, it was right near our house and if we got the zoning, it would be perfect! What I didn't know was just how long it would actually take. From start to finish it took about 5 months (I had thought 3). I'm sure there were ways to speed this process up ::wink wink:: but I didn't know them. Thank goodness we did in fact receive the variance on April 1st (this might make us April fools). So, I figured construction would start on April 2nd..... nope!

This is our store front with the zoning notice in place. Note that Sean
is wearing a winter coat and there are no leaves on the trees shadows!

    Flash forward about a month and we had our contractor chosen and our second round of permitting into the health department. This was the second step towards planning a legal bakery. They had a pretty quick turn around and we were able to get our health review plan back to us with their approval by the end of May. Then, I thought, construction can start right away, right? Nope.

Demolitions expert!

    Next up came the 3rd round of permitting, this was the building permitting needed to start the demolition/construction on the space. In addition we also needed to get the plumbing and electrical permits. This process felt like it took a million years! After a few setbacks we were finally able to start the renovation in July! The first time I came by after the demolition had started I felt like a kid on Christmas! I have possibly never been so excited! The down side? We were now officially into July and just getting going on the work. In my foolish pride, I had been telling people that we would definitely be open in July, oh, the arrogance!
    Now, we have made it through August and it's been really great to see the space start to change. There is all kinds of new plumbing in place, all kinds of new wires running everywhere. Soon we will have new walls, some new flooring and all kinds of wonderful tables, counters, shelves and appliances. My hope is that now that we are actually to the renovation part of the renovation (and not the paperwork part) things will stay as on track as possible from here on out. Our hope is that all the renovations will be complete by the end of September so that we can get in and get our health inspection done as early as possible in October. Then, fingers crossed, we'll soft open as soon as we possibly can then send out a date for our formal "GRAND OPENING!"

While this looks far from finished, there is
still a tone of progress in this photo!

   While our space is still pretty far from being finished, I am so ready to get beyond all the red tape! I can't wait to post pretty pictures of what our shop will look like. While this has (and continues to be) a long journey, I am really optimistic that we will be in this space for a really long time to come. I can't wait to spend all my time in our shop, making cakes and helping customers! By this time next month, let's all hope I will be posting about our finished space!

You just got engaged! Now what?

Ok, this was not our wedding
day, but this is the dress I
wore! (Seen here as formal
ware for an arcade fire concert).

   Getting engaged is one of the most exciting and happy moments of any couple's relationship. Then reality sets in and you realize that now you have to plan the biggest party you've ever thrown in your life and that there are about a million details that need to be attended to and they all have a big price tag! The whole thing can get really overwhelming really quickly and for most people, they haven't planned one before, so they don't really know what to expect.

    I remember when I got married there were a lot of appointments to go to, a lot of questions I hadn't considered and while everything was exciting, it was easy to get swept up and start to feel stressed instead of excited. I met with 3 florists, 1 officiant, 8 venues (probably), 2 dj's, 2 wedding dress shops and don't even get me started on trying to figure out the wording of the invitation. The only thing I didn't do was meet with a cake shop to have a tasting! The reason there was no tasting is that I was going to make my own cake at the bakery I worked for. So, I already knew what flavors I wanted and I simply filled out the design sheet with my friend who worked there too. Most people, get to have a cake tasting and might not know what to expect. I thought I would put out a little guide about how I conduct my tastings and what you can expect from them.

Rose gold, sequins and
gumpaste roses!

  The first thing I would recommend doing, before you even start calling to make appointments, is to book your venue and possibly even your caterer. The reason I suggest doing this, is because some venues and some caterers either supply a wedding cake in their package already or they have strict guidelines about who can supply the cake. While you can usually decline the cake that's included in the package, you may just want to be sure you are allowed to bring in a cake from an outside source. Sadly, don't expect to save a lot of money by doing this, but if the cake is important to you (and why else would you be reading my blog) it can definitely be worth it. I find that you can get a better cake with more design options by going with a cake shop instead of a catering company that is usually more concerned with the meal than the wedding cake. Having attended a number of weddings in my life, I have seen some pretty mediocre wedding cakes that came from the venue (sorry to sound like a snob, but the cake is very important to me). Don't let this happen to you.
 

Let's assume her cake was probably $100
a slice.... seems like a safe assumption.

Once you've decided that you'd like to seek out cake decorators, start looking around at people's websites. They will provide you with a great sense of a given cake shops style, skills and flavors. You will also be able to find some initial pricing guidelines to give you a sense for whether or not a shop is in your budget. Be prepared, wedding cakes can range in price significantly. The least expensive option is usually a supermarket, while designer wedding cakes can go from $5 per slice to upwards of $20 per slice. This is based both on the reputation of the shop and the design of the cake. If you've been dreaming of ordering your wedding cake from the cake boss, be prepared to shell out $10-$18 a slice (or so I've been told). Want a cake by Sylvia Weinstock? Consider selling your car. Our wedding cakes typically range from $6-$10 per slice, depending on how elaborate your cake becomes. Don't be afraid to ask for pricing information when you call to make your appointment, believe me, they don't want to waste your time or theirs if they aren't in your budget. It would be a real shame to design the cake of your dreams only to find out it's going to cost you your honeymoon!

     Once you've found a few places you like, call to make tasting appointments with each shop. Some places charge for their appointments and some do not. Tastings are expensive for shops and take a decent amount of time to prepare, so try not to be too turned off by someone charging. They are just trying to make sure that their business stays viable.

      When I take an appointment, I usually ask the couple to select a few cake flavors and a few filling

ALL THE ICING!

flavors they would like to taste when they come in. This way the tasting is catered towards their interests. I also request that they bring in any photos or color samples they are working with, as these can be a great jumping off point. I also provide them with photos of my work at the tasting so that they can look through them and get inspired by them.

    On the day of the appointment, I usually bring out the cake samples and explain what each one is. I give a little information about fondant vs. buttercream and then I leave the couple to taste, look at photos and discuss in private. Once they are ready for me, I usually return with my trusty clipboard and we get some of the logistical details out of the way (who, where, when, how many?).

     Then we get to the fun part. We start to design the cake and pick the flavors! I usually get the flavors sorted out first as this is usually a little easier for the couple. Based on how many people they are inviting, we determine the size and shape of the cake, then we pick the flavors for each tier. I like to give people the option of selecting different flavors for each tier if they'd like. Once the flavors have been chosen we usually have to make the biggest decision any bride ever has to make. Should she cover the cake in fondant?! Now, if you've read my post about fondant you know some of the pros and cons. If you haven't read it, check it out here.

This was inspired by something I found
on Pinterest, but I changed it around
to make it unique to me!

    Flavors and icings have been chosen and we are ready to actually design what the cake will look like. Pinterest has become a valuable tool that came on the scene in the past couple of years I've been decorating. It used to be the case that brides would come in with binders full of magazine photos, print-outs, ribbons and whatever else they could bring, now they just come with iPad in hand. Pinterest is really great for designing, although it can be tough to edit with a Pinterest board and really hone in on what it is you like about each cake. Imagine being face with a board with about 300 cake pins and figuring out which one you like the best! Also, many of the cakes on Pinterest tend to represent very detailed (re: expensive) styles, so be prepared for that.

  Some brides choose to replicate a photo of a cake they like almost exactly. That's totally ok! It's a great way to get exactly what you want and to get something off that to-do list. Other brides like to pick and choose details from a number of different cakes which is also a great way to approach designing. That way you can get something unique to you, but you also have a firm starting point. Other brides have less concrete ideas about what they would like to do, and in this case I get to do a little detective work to figure out their style and come up with a concept they will love.

    I like to offer guidance when it comes to color, style, or small details (like the border) that a couple may not notice since they aren't cake decorators. I find that on some cake TV shows, they leave you with the impression that the couple says "we like glamour" and then the designer says something like "ok, I'll make the perfect thing, see you at the wedding" and then the cake is a surprise. I find that most people don't really work like that. I think that's a recipe for misunderstanding, as my concept of "glamour" may differ from yours. I very much prefer to get all the details out and on paper, draw up a quick sketch and ensure that we are all on the same page.

Maybe you're loving the chalkboard
cake trend!

      While designing the cake, we will decide on several different aspects of the cake. What color will
the background be? Will it have texture? What style and color will the borders be? Is there an all-over design element like brush embroidery? Are they concentrated design details like gumpaste flowers? Will there be a cake topper? Will there be fresh flowers? Will there be a monogram? Will each tier be a different design? What color scheme will we use? etc. There's lots of information on a wedding cake design form. This helps us get as close to the bride's vision as possible.

      Once we've settled all the details, that's when we get down to business. I draw up a sketch and determine the pricing of the cake. This is based on the number of people the cake will serve, the type and color of icing, the overall complexity of the design, and the delivery distance. I provide this to the  couple and we go over the details of the cake contract together. Then, if they want to book right then and there, we can take care of that in the shop. If they prefer, they can take it home, mull it over, and get back to me a little later with their decision.

     I genuinely love conducting cake tastings. It's really fun to meet new couples, especially when they are at this exciting moment in their lives. Also, the cake tasting is usually one of the more fun aspects of wedding planning that both the bride and groom enjoy, so it's great to be part of the purely fun part of the plan.

     If you're planning your wedding and are interested in coming in for a cake tasting with us, check out our website www.frostedfoxcakeshop.com for all the information you need to make an appointment.
   

Cover Your Cakes in Sugarveil!

This lace wasn't piped, it's molded!

     Have you ever been piping an elaborate lace design on a cake and thought "MY GOD! THERE MUST BE AN EASIER AND FASTER WAY TO DO THIS!"? Well, the good news is, that there is an easier way to do it, SUGARVEIL! Just what that heck is SugarVeil? Well, SugarVeil is a brand name for a product called "confectionary lace." There's also some other brands like "SugarDress" but from what I can tell, sugarveil arrived on the scene first. It starts as a dry mix, then you add liquid and mix it into sort of a goo. Once it's the right consistency (think, royal icingish) you can pipe it, spread it out or work it into thin silicon molds. You let it set up either at room temperature for a few hours or in a 200 degree oven for a few minutes and you have this magical product that peels away but stays flexible!! You can attach it to your cakes, smooth it over cupcakes or decorate cookies with it. It's totally edible and pretty tasty and it allows you to make a ton of perfect lace quickly.

 
 
  Have I peaked your interest? Let's get into the how-to. For my photos, you should be aware that I
am using "SugarDress." I have, however, recently switched over to working with SugarVeil and saw a lot of really great stuff from them at the ICES convention. In fact, the creator of the product was there to demonstrate how to use it! I'm not an expert on this stuff yet, but it's just so cool and fun to use that even as a novice it was really approachable and I would definitely recommend trying it! Both products work about the same way.
 

Magical White Powder...
No, not that white powder....
This is before icing it up.

   The first thing to do is follow the instructions that come with your product to mix it up to the proper consistency. SugarDress involves a powder and some sort of magic liquid goo, SugarVeil is just a powder that you mix with water. It's pretty straight forward and no more difficult than making a little bit of royal icing.

  SugarVeil has different suggestions for mixing based whether you are going to spread your sugarveil into a mold or pipe it out by hand. If you are going to pipe it, you will want a slightly stiffer consistency. If you are going to spread it into a mold, you will want a runnier consistency so that it will flow into all the nooks and crannies.

SugarDress, silicon mats and tools of the trade.

     If you are going to pipe the SugarVeil you can free-hand it onto a flat surface, which is pretty cool. It makes it a lot easier to pipe than trying to pipe directly on the side of a cake and you could follow a pattern really easily by piping onto transparent acetate over a template. You would then let your design set up completely. Next, and this is the really awesome part, you can peel it up off your acetate and directly apply it to your cake, cookie or cupcake! It's so cool! It's flexible, so it won't snap like royal icing could (but be careful because you can still rip it if you're not careful.) I just about lost my mind the first time I peeled it up! My husband and business partner, it should be noted was less excited than I was.

    If you are going to mold it, you can use one of the many silicone mats that are being made for this

The blue mats and all those packets on the left are my
SugarVeil haul from the ICES convention.

product. There are a ton of different patterns to emulate everything from lace to burlap, spiderwebs to steampunk gears. And, the mats all have a TON of detail. So much detail that it looks like you have real lace on your cake. The downside? The mats aren't cheap. The upside? Hopefully you will save so much on labor while making such gorgeous cakes that it will be worth it. Also, the designs are SO pretty. There are a quite a few brands on the market selling these mats, so shop around for a design you like. Also, some mats have just about a 14" length of design while some bigger mats have 3- 14" lengths. I would really recommend getting the bigger one, otherwise, if you have to cover a whole cake with lace you might get stuck repeating the process over and over again. That would sort of defeat the labor-saving appeal.

   Using the molds is pretty easy. You start with your pourable SugarVeil and you treat it sort of like you are going to grout some tiles. You pour it over your mold and then use an offset spatular or a rubber scraper to spread it over the entire mat. Then, you use a straight edge (like a rubber bowl scraper or on the stiffer scrapers that they sell specifically for this purpose) and you carefully scrape over the entire mat and remove all the excess SugarVeil  that hasn't been pushed into the mold. Once the surface of your mat is clear, you can allow it to dry at room temperature or you can dry it in a 200 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. I would recommend adding a second coat at this point, then dry it a second time before trying to remove it from the mold.

Above you can see me applying the Sugarveil,
Spreading it out and removing the excess.

   

This how it looks after coming out of the oven.

    Now we're at the exciting part! Once your SugarVeil  is set and you can carefully peel up an edge,
you turn the entire mat over (so the SugarVeil is facedown) and carefully peel the mat away from the lace. This seems to work better than trying to peel the lace up out of the mat when it comes to preventing tears. Try to use an even hand (or your scraper) when peeling the mat away, and keep an eye on the extra delicate parts, they may need a little help out of the mold to prevent tearing.

I know, I'm pulling the sugarveil up exactly like I told you not to. But you might not be able to see it the other way!

    Now you've got some really awesome flexible confectionary lace and it's ready to go onto your cake! You've saved yourself hours of piping time! Your lace looks awesome! Just brush the back with piping gel (or maybe watered down royal icing) and attach it to your cake. You can cut away what you don't need with a pair of scissors of a craft knife. You can also paint your SugarVeil with an airbrush or by hand to add some pop.

It's so flexible and delicate! Seriously,  SO cool.

    If you're not quite ready to put it on your cake, that's totally fine! Another awesome thing about SugarVeil is that you can roll it up, or gently fold it, put it in a plastic baggie and will stay good and flexible for a really long time! We're talking, months! OR you can let it set up hard, store it, then bring it back to life with a little steam or a moist paper towel. HOW COOL IS THAT!? You can get ahead on those wedding cake details for June (when it's crazy) in March (when it's slow)!

My secret shame, I didn't pipe this lace!!

   So, while I really love SugarVeil and I think it's super fun to play around with, I do feel a little www.sugarveil.com and see a bunch of photos of stuff they've made with the product. You can also check out SugarDress products at www.globalsugarart.com where there is also a ton of other decorating product. I don't want you to think I've been paid off by theSugarVeil people, I haven't, I'm not nearly that important!! I'm just really excited about this cool, and still fairly new, decorating product.
guilty when people compliment the lace and I know that wasn't really all that hard to make. That's the kind of person I am, I'm bad at taking a compliment. I will always be more impressed by a cake that is completely hand piped than one which uses molds, but that doesn't mean the cake is any lovelier. I don't think SugarVeil can or should replace all hand piping, but it is a super cool tool that belongs in any cake shop. It also invites creativity to use the SugarVeil  in ways that you can't use royal icing. When I saw their booth at ICES I basically bought everything because it was just SO cool. If you have the chance, check it out. You can buy it from their website
 
    If you are interested in having a beautiful lace cake, but aren't quite prepared to make it yourself, check out our website www.frostedfoxcakeshop.com and get in touch. We'd love to make a gorgeous cake for you, especially if you're interested in using some gorgeous confectionary lace as part of the design. If you enjoyed this, like us on Facebook too (www.facebook.com/frostedfoxcakeshop) and pass it on to your friends! Feel free to message us with any questions you have!