EXTREME CAKEOVERS Book!

Having spent the past year and a half working on our book, EXTREME CAKEOVERS, it was truly exhilarating for Rick and I to see the cover design! He and I have had many discussions about the cover of our book, wondering which cake or cakes would be given the honor to be front and center, or would there even be a cake? As you can imagine, we have grown quite attached to all the cakes in the book and found it difficult to choose just one for the cover. As fate would have it, we didn't have to, because the decision was made for us. It was the Robot cake's lucky day - his chance to shine and show what he's made of, quite literally! When we saw the cover, we fell head over heels all over again with the cute little robot we spent so much time crafting and writing about, and were in awe with our book designer's brilliant composition that so perfectly captured what the book is about.

Although the robot cake is a perfect cover model, we are just as excited about the dozens of other cakes that Rick designed for the book and look forward to the day when we can share them with you! EXTREME CAKEOVERS will be released next Summer by Clarkson Potter (Crown Publishing/Random House). It has been a huge honor for us to work with our wonderful editor and publishing team at Clarkson Potter and feel blessed to have the opportunity to write such a fun book!

Nick's Toys

When we think of "toys", images of our iPod, cellphone or perhaps our car come to mind. In the case of Nick, his toys include his own helicopter, an ATV, surfboard, jet ski, his gold Rolex, and other luxury items. For his 50th Birthday party last Saturday, we were hired to recreate Nick's toys as a composition in cake, with a custom figure of Nick wearing a gold crown. The event took place at the Loulu Palm Estate on the North Shore. The Loulu Palm Estate is a new venue which is about to be made available for weddings and other events. It can accommodate up to 500 people and is on 2-acres of oceanfront land. Their official website is in the works and for now can be seen at www.loulupalm.info.

When we arrived with Nick's birthday cake, it was partially set up (see above) and looked quite elegant. We noticed Nick's helicopter parked near the house but we didn't get to meet the man of the hour, as he would arrive later. Sculpting the helicopter and all its necessary structure was a fun and challenging art project for Rick. We wish Nick the happiest of birthdays and hope the cake made for a memorable 50th!

Nick's cake isn't up on cakelava.com yet, but there are many other new sculpted cakes recently posted for your viewing pleasure.

Aloha!

Ipo and Gary - "The Kiss", Part Deux - The Wedding

All photos courtesy of Christen Vidanovic for Susanne Pridoehl Photography

Ipo and Gary’s wedding in Ka’a’awa was an elegant vision in white with beautiful tropical green accents and an Auguste Rodin’s “Le Baiser” (The Kiss) sculpted wedding cake (see yesterday’s blog). They are a warm-hearted and stylish couple, and obviously very much in love. Ipo and Gary wanted their intimate reception to reflect the art and aesthetics so important to them, and no detail was overlooked. When we arrived at the lovely home, we were greeted by the couple and offered to join them in their celebration. Though we were unable to stay, they asked their photographer to take a photo with us (see below).

To document their special day, Ipo and Gary hired the wonderful Christen Vidanovic of Susanne Pridoehl Photography. Her beautiful images are below. In addition to shooting for Susanne Pridoehl, Christen owns a company called Nineteen Owls. With such an intriguing name, I had to find out its origin and I asked Christen. She said:

“Nineteen Owls was inspired by my night drives home to the north shore. There's a lot of owls along the access road that connects Wahiawa and Snake Road and I like to drive slow and watch them. One night I counted 19. They were so beautiful and abundant in the moonlight - I knew thats what I would name my photo business..”

For more of Christen’s amazing images, check out her Nineteen Owls website and blog.

A Glimpse After the Cake

All images courtesy of Amodo Photo: Photography by Frank Amodo

It’s always a treat when a photographer sends us images of a wedding and we get to see the couple for the first time. Rachel and Henry, a destination wedding couple and I had only ever communicated long distance so to see them captured exquisitely by Frank Amodo was the next best thing to meeting them in person. Rachel and Henry were married at the Westin Moana Surfrider on May 24th in their intimate Rooftop Garden venue. I recall from talking to the couple that the bride had recently moved to the states from Korea and it appears in the photos she chose to honor their heritage in the wedding which is a beautiful and meaningful component to have.

Their cake was anything but traditional. Done in white fondant with handcrafted plumerias, Rick piped an elegant swirl design and gave the cake a fun and unexpected shape. Their flavors were Kona Toffee Crunch and Strawberries Chantilly.

Frank Amodo also wrote about Rachel and Henry's wedding on his blog. To see it from the photographer’s perspective check out his blog. Thank you, Henry and Rachel for making us part of your special day!