GO.... Mascots!

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 A little over a week go we delivered a beautiful wedding cake with handcrafted peonies along with a surprise groom's cake of "Puddles" the Duck, the University of Oregon's school mascot. The Puddles the Duck cake was absolutely the perfect gift for the groom, who is a die-hard fan of his alma mater! We recall when we met with the couple to design their wedding cake, the University of Oregon came up on a number of occasions. If the groom was solely in charge of planning the wedding, green and yellow would be their wedding colors. Seriously! In one of my communications with the bride about her groom's cake, she mentioned it was becoming difficult to keep the secret from her fiance, especially when he kept asking if they could have ducks on their cake. I thought this was pretty hilarious! Somehow I don't think the green and yellow duck cake toppers would have married well with the pretty peonies.

Can you imagine the ducks on top of this beauty?

I certainly can't.

The groom's cake grabbed a lot of attention that night, as to be expected, but Rick and I were smitten with their gorgeous wedding cake as well! Their wedding cake was inspired by their invitation, which had a lovely print of peonies on it. Rick's handcrafted peonies complimented the design.

Puddles the Duck was sculpted out of chocolate cake, a very popular flavor choice for groom's cakes. Rick spent many hours sculpting the duck and had to create a special support structure. We needed to make sure that under all the pressure to dazzle the groom and bride and their guests, Puddles didn't lose his head, feet or ruffle any feathers!

The couple were thrilled with their cakes and sent us a very nice thank you note shortly after their wedding, part of which I've included below:

"... wanted to send you an email to thank you so very, very much for the STUNNING cakes for our wedding!!!  The wedding cake was absolutely beautiful and the peonies were amazing.  It looked exactly like our wedding invitation!  And Puddles was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!  It was beyond anything I could have ever hoped or imagined...Scott was blown away and was so incredibly happy with the surprise!!! 

Both cakes were supremely delicious, moist and full of flavor -- we received many compliments from our guests that they were the best wedding cakes they ever had"

Doing the Puddles the Duck groom's cake got me thinking about another mascot themed cake we made years earlier. (circa 2008) It was also a surprise gift from the bride to her fiance. Both mascots were from Universities in Oregon and they are rival schools! Rick has now made "Puddles" from the University of Oregon and "Angry Benny" Beaver, also called "Angry" Beaver, from Oregon State University. If Puddles and Angry Benny had to duke it out in all-out cake fight, who would win? That is a fight I would love to see! We'll be rooting for them both!

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Truck Enthusiasts Unite!

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The 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel is a BIG truck. Occasionally we have one of these massive vehicles in our shop parking lot, and I watch in awe as the driver maneuvers this huge piece of machinery into a parking space better suited for a compact car. They almost always back in, which is a feat in itself. If you have seen our parking lot, you know what I'm talking about. Weve been eyeing the Dodge Ram trucks for a while now, knowing that Rick would have to sculpt one of out of cake for a client of ours who was gifting the cake to her son. Making this huge truck was a BIG deal for Rick because the client and her husband were also close friends of ours, and we would be attending the party as guests.

I don't know how other cakers feel about this, but having your cake on display at a party you are attending is both exciting, and makes us anxious - and I don't even make the cakes. I can only imagine how Rick must feel having his art on display. Every party we attend with a cake, the same thoughts race through our heads. What if something happens to the cake while you are there, or en route to the party? What if the guest of honor doesn't like it (thankfully, he loved it!) What if the whole thing crumbles before your very eyes. Okay, so that won't happen ...

The sculpted 2001 Dodge Ram was made for a holiday celebration on the same weekend that Rick did the sculpted dragon wedding cake , and another art cake, so his plate was very full! The cake was ordered in honor of our client's sons, who had flown to Hawaii to spend the holidays with family. It was a lovely dinner party with the perfect mix of their family members and close friends and, is often the case, some of our other clients who have previously ordered cakes were there as well. No pressure there!

The owner of the truck was thrilled with his edible gift, and very happy with his mother's choice of Guava cake, as were the guests. One of the guests happened to be a truck enthusiast and complimented Rick on how spot-on all the details of the Dodge Ram were and basically, everything was where it was supposed to be. That meant a lot to us, as we are far from truck experts and Rick did his best to pick up on the nuances that would best translate the cake into a recognizable Dodge Ram. The clients were happy. Guests were happy. Our previous clients were happy. We were ecstatic because everyone was so happy (including the truck enthusiasts)! Cake tasted great. Mission accomplished!

In case we don't blog again before 2013, we want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  2013 will be an incredible year. Bring it on!!!

Giddyup, Cowboy!

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We don't get many requests for cowboy/Western theme cakes here, which is probably no surprise given our island location. As I was talking to the client about the order, I felt excited by the theme and knew Rick would enjoy it as well. When we found out that the client would be using red and blue bandannas at the party, Rick thought it would look great to bring in those colors rather than do the usual shades of brown, especially since it was for a child. Both the cowboy hat with the Sheriff's star and the boot were made of cake, and the lasso was edible too. The three pieces together made for a striking composition, and the delicious filled chocolate cake served its purpose as well! Happy Birthday Royce!

A Pretty Kitty in Aloha Attire

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It's great to be back in the swing of things once again! Now that the hard part of the book writing is behind us, we are able to focus more of our time towards making cakes. In the past couple of months we've had an opportunity to make some amazing cakes, some of which have been posted on our Facebook page. Thank you to everyone who has left us comments and sent us emails of appreciation, and apologies to anyone we had to turn away due to other commitments.

It's been a while since Rick made a sculpted Hello Kitty cake and we've been looking forward to this super cute version wearing a Hawaiian print sundress for months. The cake was made for the baby daughter of a couple whose wedding cake Rick made a few years ago. It's always a treat when a couple returns to us for their children's cakes. To be able to do one of our favorite characters in a new way makes it even better! The couple selected our yummy Guava cake for the inside of their sculpted cake. Pretty in Pink inside and out! Thank you to Delphine and Ray for including us in your sweet girl's special day!

Sculpted Castle Cake

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Last fall our client Laura began planning her amazing gift to present at her High School Reunion to Castle High School, in honor of their 50th Birthday in 2011. When she called us to discuss the cake design, she was very excited to hire Rick to make her a sculpted castle cake with a knight on a horse which is Castle High School's mascot. The school colors of maroon, white and gold would be included in the design as well as a "50" in honor of their milestone birthday celebration. Ever since the order was placed, we knew that Rick would have to set aside a significant amount of time to make the custom knight on a horse as well as sculpting the castle.

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Rick sculpted the castle out of cake and every part of it was edible, including the handcrafted knight on the horse. The only part wasn't edible was the structure needed for the figure.  To give an idea of scale of the cake, the custom knight on horse figure stood 15" tall. Adding the knight on the horse really added to the "WOW" factor of the design and after spending a couple of days working on the figure, it was all worth it when it was finished. The horse looked so realistic I wanted to reach out and pet it and the detail on the knight was incredible! We were extremely happy with the whole composition.  When we met Laura at the hotel where the reunion took place, she had such a strong emotional reaction to the piece that her eyes began welling up with tears. It was more than she had expected and was so proud to present her gift to her class and to her school. Seeing how happy she was made us feel even more proud of the piece and knew it went to the right home! Happy 50th Birthday to Castle High School, and thank you so much to our client Laura for her wonderful gift!

Hawaii Big Island Cake

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 Today's blog post is dedicated to my brother and his family, who are travelling to the island of Hawaii (Big Island) today for vacation. It is the first time he has been back to the Big Island since he was a child and the first time for his wife and their children to experience this incredible place! The island of Hawaii has been a favorite of Rick's and mine since moving to Oahu and we are so happy that my brother, his wife and their kids have the opportunity to stay there.  

It's been almost two weeks since Rick made the sculpted Big Island of Hawaii 30th birthday cake, a surprise for our client's boyfriend who is from the Big Island, hence the "F.B.I" sign, an inside joke amongst his friends. Rick sculpted the island out of our peanut butter cake which had this wonderful nutty aroma that kept pulling me into the kitchen.  The cake was large, well suited for a "Big Island", and on the eastern side where the town of Hilo lies we placed a custom handcrafted figure of the birthday boy. His girlfriend explained to us that he has a prominent position at the company Groupon and would love to have the company logo on his laptop.  Rick and I would like to point out that the guest of honor was not naked underneath the Groupon laptop.  He was wearing board shorts in case you were wondering...

The figure is flashing the Hawaii hand gesture for "Hang Loose" known as the "shaka".  Rick painted his tattoos on his chest and arm.  We love all the custom elements on this cake.  It was delivered to Uncle Bo's Restaurant, a hip local bar and eatery near Waikiki and had a lot of heads turning when we brought in the cake to their private party room. Thank you to our client for giving us the opportunity to make this special cake and to virtually revisit one of our favorite places!

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Pittsburgh Steelers Helmet Cake

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With Rick's newly announced "Discover Your Inner Artist" class at Mother of Cakes: Sugar and Cake Academy in Allentown in 2012, the state of Pennsylvania has been on our mind. What better time to share a reccent sculpted groom's cake Rick made for a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  We are starting to build up a nice collection of sculpted football helmet cakes in our portfolio, but this one is our first black colored helmet and also the first one of the Steelers.  The helmet is made completely from cake and the headgear and props were made by Rick. The wedding cake that sat beside this surprise groom's cake was a soft pink-ish purple color with flowers, adding a lovely, feminine quality to an otherwise masculine cake table. Congratulations to our couple!

A Ramen Bowl and a Couple of Mii's

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I have consumed and slurped hundreds of bowls of ramen in my life.  In fact, I'm craving a big bowl of it right now.  Going out for ramen is one of Rick's and my favorite dining experiences.  The smells of ramen are both intoxicating and soothing.  Our wedding couple Jenny and Tim, who were married last weekend, also have fond memories of enjoying a bowl of ramen together and sent us photos of a trip they took to Japan a few years ago. This became our source of inspiration for their fantastic, definitely one-of-a-kind wedding cake featuring their "Wii" Mii likenesses sitting on the bowl on a pair of chopsticks.  This cake design was a wonderful collaboration between Rick, Tim, and Jenny.  When it was decided that the couple wanted to go with a fun, unconventional design, they asked for their Mii's to be added onto the cake because their Wii console was one of their first investments together.  We loved the idea and thought it added the perfect element of whimsy to the realistic bowl of ramen.

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The bowl that the ramen is served in was also designed especially for Jenny and Tim's wedding.  The couple's wedding colors included lavender and on their wedding invitation was a wave graphic, which Rick incorporated into the bowl, as well as a hibiscus flower, which would honor their Hawaiian wedding destination.  Jenny and Tim were married at Lanikuhonua, a gorgeous property in the resort area of Ko Olina, Oahu.  They selected our yummy guava cake to serve their guests.  The wedding was exquisitely coordinated by Dianna Shitanishi of Hawaii Weddings and Events and catered by Gourmet Events Hawaii and Poke Stop Catering.  Su-V Expressions did a beautiful job on the flowers and photographer Frank Amodo captured Jenny and Tim's special day.  Thank you to Tim and Jenny for bringing us such a fun theme to work with and for their contributions to the design!  Congratulations! Now we're really hungry for a bowl of ramen!

Cake for an Endodontist

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Rick and I had a chuckle when we got the call from a local dentist, wanting to order a cake for her husband, an endondontist.  It was an unfortunate case of art imitating life, because Rick had recently had his first experience in an endodontist's office when he went to get a root canal.  I would never use the words "lucky" and "root canal" in the same sentence, but in this case, it was fortunate that Rick had the root canal because it made him more familiar with the process and gave a more realistic representation of how to make a tooth cake fit for an endodontist.  Our client (the dentist) came into our studio and brought us visuals of how the tooth was supposed to look, during a root canal, as well as the endodontic probe. Since her husband Wade was celebrating his 50th birthday, she requested for the number 50 on the probe.  As I sat at the table with Rick and our client discussing the root canal tooth cake, I was thankful that I would never have to go through that experience. Then a strange thing happened a month after we delivered the root canal cake to the endodontist. This time it wasn't a case of art imitating life but rather life imitating art, and after a trip to the dentist, I too found out I needed a root canal because of a previously impacted wisdom tooth that had pushed up against a molar.  I was absolutely terrified of the procedure and decided to hold off on showing the root canal cake until I had gone through it and didn't cringe when I looked at the cake. 

If you are facing a root canal of your own, know that it isn't nearly as bad as you may expect.  I barely felt anything and my recovery time was very quick, which was also Rick's experience.  The timing of my root canal couldn't have been more interesting -- 3 days before our book went to auction!  I was still recovering and at the same time celebrating a book deal with Rick.  Now that life has settled down more, and the root canals are behind us, we felt it was time to show the root canal cake.  I look at it differently now, where I'm not filled with terror at the mere sight of it, and oddly enough, I can laugh
at it because the timing was pretty funny and perfectly indicative of LIFE!  You just never know when you'll have to face your worst fears, and then make it out of cake.  

The American Academy of Neurology Comes to Hawaii

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Last month, thousands of neurologists arrived in Honolulu for a week of fun in the sun (and scientific conferences), for the 63rd Annual Meeting for the American Academy of Neurology.  At the meeting the Academy would also be celebrating 60 successful years of publication of The Neurology Journal and requested a special cake for their event.  The cake was designed for a huge launch party at the Hawaii Convention Center on Sunday night before the conference was in full swing.  The Academy wanted to go big with the cake and we decided on a giant sculpted Neurology Journal, and Rick would do all the text freehand.  He incorporated the logos requested and over top put a banner showing their 60 years of publication.  The cake was a huge hit with the Neurologists!  They were proud of their journal and were excited to eat the cake afterwards.  We were honored to have been asked to be a part of their very special celebration! 

Cute Lamb Baby Shower Cake

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 One of our close friend's is pregnant with her first baby and last weekend had a baby shower which I attended.  We have known for a while that Rick would be making her a baby shower cake and weren't sure what he was going to make, until we received her absolutely adorable lamb themed baby shower invitation in the mail, and thought "Yes!  That's it!"  It was a perfect plan, a lamb baby shower cake that would also tie in with the couple's planned lamb themed nursery. 

Rick sculpted the lamb out of vanilla cake and made the handcrafted red daisies and little flowers to place on the grass.  We delivered Annie's lamb cake to the location of the baby shower and all the ladies commented how cute it was.  After the lunch, games and socializing, our little lamb was ready to be devoured.   People were afraid to cut the cake, as usual, so I came prepared with an apron and sharp knife, to do the honors.  Many of the women came back for seconds and also took a piece home for their husbands. 

It was an honor for us to be part of Annie's special day, and we can't wait to meet the baby!  Congratulations to Annie and Eric!!

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Dan's 60th Birthday Cake!

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The cakes with the custom figures set into a scene are so much fun to make.  A lot of work no doubt, but especially meaningful when we're making it for one of our favorite clients!  The occasion was a 60th Birthday for our client's father Bob. I remember when he approached us to make the cake, knowing precisely what he wanted and all the details he wanted to include.  I loved the story!  His father installs home theater systems and big screens and audio are a big part of who he is.  He's famous for the parties he throws at his home, where everyone shows up to watch football or movies.  He's a huge film buff and is the vice-president of a a cinema club that preserves and shows old movies set in the islands of the Pacific.  He also loves football and music, and used to own a Wurlitzer 1015.  He requested for Rick to make a living room scene set in their home where his father and his wife, and their chihuahua are sitting on the couch watching a movie on the big screen.  On the screen would be the birthday greeting and on the table in front of the couch are a bunch of remotes.  Also in the room are a mini-jukebox, and an Oakland Raiders helmet.  It sounded perfect and we were all excited to see it!

Rick placed all his hand sculpted props and figures on top of a living room "stage" with the signature red curtains found throughout cinemas.  

Did I mention all the remotes?  One of our favorite pieces in the living room composition was all the remotes Rick made that are sitting on the living room table.  When our client sent us the photo below showing his father's remotes, we had to emphasize this on the cake.  It was just too perfect!

For a truly memorable birthday cake it has to look great AND taste just as good, and this living room was very tasty in our Kona Toffee Crunch flavor!

A huge thanks to our client for always bringing us fun and amazing ideas to make in cake, and they keep getting better and better.  Happy Birthday to Dan!  Hope you loved your cake!

Meet Shakira, our newest Canine Cake!

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The month of March has been absolutely whirlwind between cakes, Canada classes, the next round of classes in June 2012,  and other exciting projects in the works. We've been on a non-stop adrenaline rush since the month started and its leading right into the month of April!  If you are a follower of "Musings from Cakeland" blog, you know we recently returned from Canada where Rick was teaching 2 classes.  We left for Ontario on Sunday, March 6th.  The last cake that left our shop was in the evening of Saturday, March 5th when Rick had an opportunity to make this super cute half Chinese Sharpei, half Australian Cattle dog mix, named "Shakira". 

We were excited to make "Shakira" sculpted out of cake for our client, who has previously ordered cakes from us before and always brings us fun and interesting projects to sculpt.  How could we not fall in love with a doggie this cute.  To see this face right before we left Oahu was a wonderful goodbye!  Rick sculpted "Shakira" completely out of cake and had him relaxing in the grass.  The cake was a gift by our client for a friend of hers and she was thrilled with the cake when she saw it.  We had grown slightly attached to the dog in the process of making him and it was nice having that spirited dog energy in our shop shortly before taking off on our big adventure.  A huge thanks to our client Traci for introducing us to the loveable Shakira! 

Fenway Park Groom's Cake

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Today's blog is devoted to our pal Eric, the biggest Boston Red Sox fan we know!

Making architectural replicas in cake is always a time consuming process and the added pressure of having it look like an iconic structure that everyone recognizes makes them difficult to do.  We were hired to make a Fenway Park Groom's cake for a bride wanting to surprise her fiance, who is from Boston and a HUGE Red Sox fan, with one of his favorite places.  Neither Rick or I have ever visited Fenway Park and had to rely on photographs available on the internet.  As fate would have it, one of our close friends, Eric, is a huge Boston Red Sox fan -- he and his wife even have a dog named "Fenway"-- and gave Rick many insider tips and pointers, something that would be appreciated by a true Red Sox fan.  When making the cake, Rick included the Green Monster score board and had Red Sox winning over the Yankees, with all zeros for the Yankees. He also included at Eric's suggestion, on the overhang in right field, the retired Red Sox numbers and provided us the correct order of the numbers, ending in a blue "42" for Jackie Robinson.  A special touch on the cake was found on the billboard that read "Rick and Janice, January 29, 2011".  The Red Sox logo and the Fenway Park sign was also placed prominently on the cake.

We can't thank Eric enough for giving us a devoted Boston Red Sox fan's perspective on this cake, and given his interest in the outcome of the design,  he was the first person, after Janice and Rick, the bride and groom, to see photos of the cake.  We hope we did Eric, Janice and Rick, and every Red Sox fan proud, and hope to one day experience Fenway Park in person.  After sculpting it out of cake, Rick will never look at Fenway Park the same way again!  Congratulations to Janice and Rick!

Snoopy in a Race Car Birthday Cake

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Today's blog is dedicated to Snoopy's biggest fans!

Shortly before we left on our trip, Rick made this sculpted Snoopy as the Red Baron in a race car birthday cake for Tanner.  When we received the order, the client told us the cake was for her son Tanner's first birthday.  She likes Snoopy and her husband loves old school race cars and could we possibly combine the two.  We thought it would be a beautiful collaboration and Rick knew it had to be sculpted and he would do it entirely out of cake.  Chocolate cake, in case you were wondering...

The party was held at Indigo Restaurant in downtown Honolulu.  The client flew in from New York for the occasion and was very pleased with her son's Snoopy in a race car cake.  We arrived before her and didn't have a chance to see her and the family on the day of the party, but she sent us a sweet thank you note:

I wanted to drop you a note to thank you so much for our cake! It was definitely the talk of Tanner's birthday and enjoyed by all his guests. Thank you again for doing a fantastic job and making Tanner's birthday extra special!

This cake was so much fun and of course it brought back nostalgic feelings for both Rick and I!  Thank you to our clients for giving us the opportunity to make it!

When Kitty gets into the Cake

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Here is the second cake that served as a companion to our January 8th couple's beautiful elegant wedding cake.  Although it was referred to as the "groom's cake", we can't exactly call it a groom's cake because it was a surprise for both the bride and groom by the bride's parents.  This adorable black and white kitty is owned by the couple and the bride is a veterinarian specializing in feline behavior.  

Rick sculpted the kitty out of our Guava cake.  The 3-tier wedding cake beside the kitty is also guava cake.  The kitty/wedding cake was a composition that got people talking.  When we delivered the cake, we saw a couple kids talking to each other about how the kitty had gotten into the cake.  It was a cute cake, a great conversation piece and a huge surprise to both the bride and groom!  Congratulations to the couple!

We will be out of town this week and will return to the blog once we return and have a chance to catch our breath.  In the meantime, we invite you to visit our online portfolio of cakes at www.cakelava.com or join our facebook community!  Aloha!!

Celebration at the Finish Line

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We are blessed to have many repeat customers at cakelava, including Connie and Mike, who we made a wedding cake for last year.  Connie contacted us to make a surprise cake for Mike, who was running his first Honolulu Marathon on his birthday, Sunday December 12th and wanted a cake to reflect both events.  Mike is an avid runner and she was excited about the idea of a sculpted running shoe.  Not just any running shoe, but one in Mike's collection.  Rather than having just a shoe sitting on a board, she asked if we could add in a Finish Line with a "Happy Birthday" sign, to give it context and we thought it was a great idea!  Rick sculpted the shoe out of cake and all items used were edible.  Connie was so excited when she came to pick up the cake and said they would be afraid to cut into it.  Wishing Mike a  big Congratulations on finishing his first Honolulu Marathon and a Happy Birthday!

Just a reminder that our Quarry Books Giveaway of one copy of "1000 Ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies and Cakes" book will be ending tomorrow, Saturday, December 18th at Midnight Pacific Standard Time.  If you haven't entered yet, this is a fantastic opportunity to win a fabulous book featuring cakes by Rick Reichart of cakelava and many other amazing designers!

Birthday Wishes from Afghanistan

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Earlier this year we made a sculpted tiki cake for a woman about to leave to Afghanistan on deployment.  The cake was ordered by her husband as a surprise in honor of a birthday celebration before she left for duty.  The cake was a big success -- she, her husband and their guests loved it!  A number of months later we received an email from Afghanistan.  This time, it was her husband's birthday and she wanted to surprise him with his own special cake!  For both of our clients, incorporating Hawaii into the cake was important to them.  He chose a tiki with a surfboard for her and she requested a sculpted Honu (Hawaiian sea turtle) for him.  Both cakes looked amazingly realistic!

Hawaiian sea turtles are revered in Hawaii and most people think they bring good luck.  Sometimes when we are out swimming at our local beach they come right up to us.  it is a magical moment. They are gentle, beautiful creatures, and also look great in cake!  Rick has made many honu cakes over the years and each looks slightly different from the next.  The honu is sculpted out of cake and handpainted.  The handcrafted hibiscus flowers give it a further tropical touch.

Just like the tiki birthday cake, the honu cake was delivered to a party on a military base.  Our client had arranged for a friend to meet and escort us.  When we arrived at the building where the party was held, a familiar face walked by -- it was the birthday boy -- yikes! -- and we had to dodge him just so he wouldn't see his birthday surprise.  Luckily he didn't see us and we delivered the cake to the table where it patiently waited for its reveal!  From across the miles, we want to say "Thank You!" to our clients for including us in their special days!

A Marriage of a Family

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 Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with their families! I thought this cake, which was actually made for a wedding couple and their daughter, would be a perfect design to share after a holiday weekend that brings families together.

This sculpted island cake complete with custom handcrafted figures, palm trees, rowboat and firepit was made in honor of Christina and Clint's wedding to each other as well as the celebration of their official union as a family with their daughter Kylia and their pet poodle.   It was an idea that touched us, to truly personalize the wedding cake to include the whole family.  Rick based their wedding cake on photographer Dave and Michelle Miyamoto's island themed design he made for their 2009 wedding.  Christina and Clint fell in love with it and asked for a similar design honoring their family with a rowboat instead of the yacht and a poodle instead of a shiba inu.

When the cake was delivered, we knew immediately who greeted us because Rick had spent many hours making and painting the figure -- it was Kylia, their daughter, and she got a kick out of seeing herself and her parents on the cake.  Everyone loved the cake and felt it really represented the spirit of the couple.  Congratulations to Christina, Clint and Kylia!

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Heisman Trophy Cake

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The Heisman Trophy cake had been on the books for a while, and it was a mere coincidence that it happened to be on the same Saturday as the Miami Dolphins Football Helmet with figures wedding cake.  Two football themed cakes for diehard football fans, and the pressure was on!  I remember when the Heisman trophy cake request came in.  I had to look up the name "Heisman" just to make sure it was spelled correctly on the order, (and again had to confirm the spelling for this blog post).  We had certainly heard of the Heisman Trophy, it's the most prestigious trophy in college football,  but could not tell you who had won one in recent years.  As a sculpted piece Rick was determined to make this difficult structure as true to form as possible.  It didn't help that the body in a Heisman trophy contorts itself in a way that doesn't seem natural, or the fact that he had to make the piece look like it was made out of bronze, or that the father of the child who the cake was for was a H-U-G-E football fan -- no pressure there!  The sculpted Heisman Trophy was substantial, the photo does not do justice to the size.  We were both extremely happy with the completed piece and hope it made a huge impression at the party.  When we delivered it to the venue, every football fan in the room who was there setting up commented on how realistic it looked, which we took to be a good sign and a felt a big sigh of relief that Rick had captured such an iconic form as an edible piece.  After spending many hours sculpting the piece, Rick as well as myself, will never look at another Heisman Trophy quite the same way again!