A Stroll Down Memory Lane - 2010, Part 3

Today, we explore Part 3 of a retrospective of cakelava cakes made in 2010. We began our stroll down memory lane in late January 2013, starting with the year 2005, our first year in business, and have selected cakes from each year to share. If you missed Part 1 of 2010's post, you can view it here, and Part 2 here. You can read the entire series by visiting the Archives on the blog.

One of our favorite designs (above, photo by Mike Pham) was a 7-tier towering black, white and silver wedding cake made for Jessica and David. The stunning cake was 3 feet tall with handcrafted flowers and a vase topper, piped swirls and handmade decorations. Rick spent much of the week before the wedding making the decorations. The gorgeous cake was featured on a number of internet websites and in Wedding Essentials Magazine.

The World's Most Expensive Wedding Cake Costs $52 Million!

twitter photo courtesy of Cake UK LTD

Today, we're all about the eye candy!

Have you ever wondered what a $52 million wedding cake would look like? Feast your eyes above on the world's most expensive wedding cake made by baker Tim Smith of Cake UK LTD, based in Chester. The extravagant wedding cake is covered in more than 2000 diamonds supplied by Liverpool jeweler Russell and Case - who most appropriately are located on the ground floor of the Bling Bling Building in Liverpool. The cake was unveiled recently, ahead of its formal unveiling at the National Gay Wedding Show, taking place in Liverpool on March 3, 2013. Congratultations to the team at CAKE UK LTD for their record breaking display of extravagance!

You can visit ITV News for more information and close ups of the blinged out wedding cake.

Rick and I had a small debate about the number of tiers in this cake. We count 6 tiers of cake and 2 separator tiers, which may or may not be cake. This may explain why we have seen conflicting reports of 6 tiers and 8 tiers. How many tiers do you count in this decadent cake?

We have even more eye candy to share! You may have noticed our blog has undergone a dazzling makeover! The new design is courtesy of our awesome designer Dana at Wonder Forest. We are totally smitten with the results and hope you like it too! Our new blog has the same great content - mostly cake, all the time - and a new name that truly reflects us - cake 5-0! Rick and I chose the name cake 5-0 as a nod to our life in Hawaii making cakes in the 50th State. "Hawaii Five-0" is one of our cake flavors, and yes, that ever-popular show "Hawaii 5-0" is filmed here as well. So, come on in, kick off your shoes, and tour the new cakelava blog. We have lots of eye candy lined up in the future and we can't wait to share it with you!

Four and A Half Foot Stunner!

Images courtesy of VISIONARI

We just returned from a fun-filled week in Florida! Having been absent from the blog for over a week, we knew upon returning we were going to go BIG -- and Linh and Roger's towering four and a half foot ivory and platinum wedding cake would be perfect!

Linh and Roger were married a little over a month ago at the iconic Royal Hawaiian Hotel (the Pink Hotel) on Waikiki Beach, in the Monarch Room, a huge ballroom with a pink interior. The fabulous Yvonne Design team of floral and lighting designers completely transformed the Monarch Room over the course of two days from pink to white at the couple's request. They used over 2000 yards of ribbon and 200 phalaenopsis orchids for the installation behind the head table. Flowers and real crystals were found abundantly throughout the room and it was without a doubt, one of the most blinged out events we have ever done!

For this platinum wedding, Linh and Roger wanted a BIG cake that would cause all their guests jaws to drop and would be a key focal point at the wedding. Rick took his design duties very seriously, to assure their cake would be worthy of talking about for years to come. Colors would be limited to ivory and silver. It would be several feet tall, with large amounts of handcrafted flowers, romantic swirl detailing and drapery and a fair amount of bling. Rick spent a couple days making all the ivory flowers by hand, custom small brooches for the draping, and creating the pole apparatus for the top tiers to sit upon. This was a cake that required meticulous advance planning both in the making of the cake and in the on-site set up.

Upon arriving at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, we were met by Alex Garcia of Yvonne Design and one of his assistants who came out to help us transport the cake. We didn't know he would be there and we were so touched by their kindness. Rick and Alex transported the wedding cake to the large table that was exquisitely covered with Les Saisons custom linen. Rick carefully assembled the cake and as the cake "grew" so did the crowd watching him. No pressure on Rick of course! He was concentrating so intensely it didn't seem to phase him, or maybe that is how it appeared. The crystals dangling from the tier were placed ever so gently as was each piece until "The Reveal", which was absolutely gorgeous! We couldn't be happier. The cake matched perfectly with the amazing backdrop and the rest of the stunning decor in the room. It was an incredible team of vendors and one of the most extravagant weddings at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. We want to thank everyone who contributed to an unforgettable wedding and to Yvonne Design and VISIONARI for sharing the images with us!

Pink Bling Wedding Cake

Image courtesy of Frank Amodo Photography

It's been almost a year since we first met with our bride Porsche to design her and her fiance Micah's wedding cake. We knew from the beginning that she wanted a cake with a high WOW factor and a good dose of bling. In the months to follow, as Porsche and her team of vendors began pulling together the various design elements of the wedding, it became more evident what the cake would look like. The cake would be a pretty pink color with silver accents, unusual shapes of the tiers with the top tier perched on a pole with crystals or some type of bling dangling. When we found out that cherry blossoms figured promiently in the florals and decor, and saw Porsche's exquisite couture wedding gown with its delicate beading, the cake design really came together! As soon as I saw Rick's sketch, I fell madly in love with Porsche and Micah's cake and thankfully so did they. For a cake with as dramatic a style as Porsche and Micah's, we opted to have the cake on a stand with more bling hanging from it. Their wedding cake on the outside was romantic and delicate but on the inside they went with rich, bold flavors, and chose our Peanut Butter Fudgey and Banana Nutella.

Their wedding cake was definitely one of the va-va-voom variety, and it wasn't the only cake. Little did Micah know that Porsche had booked us for a fabulous groom's cake that would draw as much attention as her cake -- the standing Incredible Hulk cake! We couldn't have made two more different cakes side by side, and yet, so perfectly balanced. Congratulations, Porsche and Micah!

A big mahalo to photographer Frank Amodo for his amazing image of the cake!

Aloha, 'til next time!