William's 50th Birthday Fishing Boat Cake

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Last Saturday night, our client Carol C. escorted her husband William to his surprise 50th birthday party, held in the ballroom of a Waikiki hotel. As the couple opened the doors, waiting anxiously behind them, was 150 of their family and friends, Rick and I, and a beautiful sculpted fishing boat made out of our Guava cake, which Carol had arranged for her husband. Everyone yelled "Surprise!" in unison and William's party began!

Although we never met the couple before the day of the party, the fishing boat cake felt special to me because it brought a family together. There was Carol C. who was so excited about ordering the cake for her husband and chose one of his most prized possessions, a beautiful fishing boat named after her. How romantic! Our client's sons were also involved. They photographed the fishing boat from various angles so Rick would be able to envision the massive piece of machinery as if were in the room with him. Carol and I had several conversations on the phone about the details of the boat and she conveyed to me how much it meant to her to gift the cake to her husband. We discussed the type of fish we would put on his fishing line in the water and chose a marlin because we wanted him to catch a big fish on his special day! She asked if we wouldn't mind delivering the cake a little later to allow us a chance to meet in person. We didn't realize at the time that we would be arriving just before William and Carol entered the room. Everyone rallied around William, the guest of honor, and he didn't even know it!

The cake was sculpted out of our guava cake, and all decorations on the boat and in the water were handcrafted. We were happy with the end product and looked forward to having Carol, William and the entire family see it. It was great to meet everyone. We hope William had a truly memorable 50th birthday!

We have a Winner!

We are pleased to announce we have a winner for our Craftsy cake decorating class giveaway! The lucky winner who has already been contacted, is Lorie of Sugar Song Cakes! Lorie  is very excited about her prize, one of the two fabulous Craftsy classes taught by superstar instructor, Marina Sousa. A huge Congratulations to our Lorie, and Thank You to everyone who entered the contest!

Giveaway! Win one of Marina Sousa's Craftsy Cake Decorating Classes!

Craftsy Instructor, Marina Sousa

For an artist serious about their craft, the learning never stops. We constantly seek out new inspirations and ways to broaden our artistic horizons. These days, there are a myriad of options available for learning a new craft and expert instructors are ready to teach you anything you want to know. One of the most popular online craft websites is Denver-based Craftsy, which started 2 years ago when their parent company Sympoz began offering online education classes. One of their first classes listed was a quilting class and it was so popular, Craftsy was born to celebrate all things craft! Craftsy is an enormous network of 1.5 million users and growing, who purchase professionally designed online video classes in quilting, sewing, cake decorating, and more. It brings together traditional, in-person courses with the flexibility of the internet, allowing viewers to watch their video when it is convenient for them and start and stop whenever they want.

Rick and I were invited by Craftsy to do a giveaway for a cake decorating class taught by one of their superstar instructors, Marina Sousa, and we were excited for the opportunity to share this talented designer's work! Marina is a Food Network Challenge Champion and owns Just Cake in Capitola, California. Rick and I have been fans of Marina's unique style of decorating for years. He and Marina worked at the same upscale cake boutique in Beverly Hills, and have been supportive of each other's careers. I interviewed Marina for our blog's "Interviews from Cakeland" series and she was generous with sharing information, just I imagine her to be when she teaches - which she has done all over the world!

Marina is currently offering two classes on Craftsy, Advanced Fondant Techniques which embellishes on cake decorating techniques you already have, teaching you how to make ribbons, flowers, and add texture and sparkle to your decoration. Her other class, Jeweled Wedding Cake shows you how to make brooches, bling and pearl bursts. Click on the links above to view more about each course.

Now, for the details on this special giveaway! To enter to win one of Marina's classes, first visit this link on Craftsy to create an account. If you already have a Craftsy account, you can use your existing login information to enter the contest. One entry per person. We recommend using the Firefox browser if  you are having trouble viewing the contest. The contest will end on Monday, May 13th at 5:00pm EST. One winner will be randomly chosen and the winner will be emailed directly and asked which of the two Marina Sousa class they would like. Craftsy will then add that class right into the winner's account. How easy is that!

We would love to hear your thoughts on online classes. Have you used Craftsy before? What classes have you taken? Is there a technique you are dying to learn?

Scuba Diver Looking into a Cave Birthday Cake

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The colorful scuba diver looking into a cave birthday cake is one of our favorite recent projects! The week Rick made the cake was hectic because his other cakes were also artistically demanding, making the week as challenging as those that have more cakes with less complexity. The cake was made as a 21st birthday gift from his aunt to Joey, a Marine Biology major at the University who enjoys scuba diving.

Rick started making the decorations for the cake early in the week, allowing extra time to sculpt the cave and scuba diver. Sculpting the cave was very difficult. It was important to make it look as realistic and organic looking as possible. Rick estimates it took him 4 to 5 hours to make just the cave and diver. A cake with this big a wow needs to be tasty on the inside and the client chose our "Broke da Mouth" flavor, a delicious mango cake with a mango curd and cream filling with Li Hing Mui. Li hing mui is a sweet and salty dried plum sold in the islands and a popular ingredient with local chefs.  In Hawaii, "Broke da Mouth" is a pidgin English term that literally means the flavor is so good, it will break your mouth - an explosion of flavor! My mouth is practically breaking just thinking about our "Broke da Mouth" cake!

I always have to smile when I see Rick making cakes with a coral scene. He has used some version of a coral scene on many under the sea cakes. We spent a good part of 2012 touring around the world with his "Discover Your Inner Artist" clownfish class, where he taught students how to make the realistic looking coral. The coral pieces have been incredibly versatile over the years, being used on both sculpted and non-sculpted ocean themed cakes. Although I have watched Rick and his students make hundreds of the colorful decorations, it never gets old and it always brings the already lifelike cakes to another level!