Hawaiian Family Vacation 2010

On the day after Food Network Challenge - "SpongeBob Birthday Cakes" aired for the first time in April, we were contacted by a woman whose daughter saw Rick on TV and wanted to order a special cake to celebrate their family vacation to Hawaii. She told us her daughter had been wanting a special cake for years and had been an avid watcher of the cake challenges. We loved the idea of making a cake to honor a family's Hawaiian vacation and thought their request of a sculpted Stitch from "Lilo and Stitch" was too perfect since the movie is set in Hawaii.

Earlier this week, Rick finished and we delivered their Stitch cake. Between the Avatar (Jake Sully) cake made just a few days before and the Stitch cake, Rick and our kitchen were covered in blue for days! The Stitch cake was all cake, no cereal treats were used, and since he has a big head, structure was very important. The cake was brought to Duke's, one of Waikiki's most famous eateries and the place was packed. The delivery was quite interesting. Almost immediately after stepping out of our vehicle with the cake in hand, we heard someone yell "Stitch!" and more echoes of the same name followed, and from the corner of our eye we saw people pointing and saying his name as well as the movie title. Rick had several people approach him asking him about the cake and he got many compliments. The opinion most important to us was our client and she and one of her daughter's were really impressed and excited for her other daughter to see it. That made us very happy! We hope our client and her family had a most memorable Hawaiian family vacation and have a safe trip home!


To see more sculpted cakes, visit cakelava.com

Sayaka and Grant's Wedding Cake

Yet another cake in our list of "favorites" for the month of July. This cake was made for the wedding of Sayaka and Grant, who were married on the same day we delivered the 4 and a half foot tall wedding cake! The towering white and silver cake will be shared once we have the professional images back from the photographer. We've been excited about Grant and Sayaka's wedding cake since Rick designed it. The couple requested to use their wedding colors of gold, chocolate brown, burgundy and ivory and wanted a whimsical design with some handcrafted flowers and different patterns on the cake. They gave Rick carte blanche on the design and we were all excited about the cake once the sketch had been approved. Rick most definitely had his hands full just between Sayaka and Grant's cake and Linh and Roger's four and a half footer, both of which required MANY handcrafted flowers which he was working on for part of the week leading up to the two weddings. Aside from having great taste in their cake design, Grant and Sayaka chose some delicious, unusual flavors for the cake, Broke da Mouth, which is our mango cake with a mango li hing mui (salty dried plum) cream filling and Kona Toffee Crunch. We delivered the wedding cake to the Moana Surfrider Resort in Waikiki, and had both the staff, and the couple's coordinator, Karine France-Matsumoto impressed with the design. We were extremely pleased with it as well. Congratulations to Sayaka and Grant!

Avatar Cake

Last Saturday morning, we posted a photo of our Avatar cake on our facebook page. It was newly completed and not even the client had seen it yet. Therefore, we only showed the back of the head of the Avatar figure (see below). We didn't think at the time people would confuse the figure of Jake Sully with Neytiri, until people started posting comments and guessing which of the two of it was. We knew who it was and had not thought about that angle of mystery and quite enjoyed watching people guess who it was. For the person who said "I'll take Jake Sully for $200", you and the many others who guessed Jake, are the winners!

Rick sculpted the "Jake Sully" Avatar cake for Tristan, a little boy about to turn eight and was obsessed with the movie Avatar. Had Tristan been a Trista, it could very easily have been a Neytiri in these photos. The Avatar cake was a difficult one to create. It was a character based on a real human, and perfectly blend the realistic with fantasy. It's an iconic character that must be instantly recognizable. Rick's Avatar cake is all cake and everything is hand crafted and painted. It was incredibly realistic and dimensional looking in person. It blew away our clients and we were very happy with it. We only wish we could have seen the expression on Tristan's face when he saw it!

O Canada! Second Class offered with Rick Reichart at Icing Inspirations

Image courtesy of Rachel Robertson Photography

About a week ago we announced we would be making a big announcement soon. On Monday, June 28th, Rick's first class "Discover Your Inner Artist" at Icing Inspirations in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada was announced. On Friday, July 2nd, just four days later, we received notice from Icing Inspirations that his class sold out and a wait list had been started because more people were interested. Before long we were discussing options with Icing Inspirations for a second class and shortly after the decision was made to extend our visit to Canada, which was completely fine with us!

We are super excited to announce Rick's SECOND "Discover Your Inner Artist" class is now available for registration through Icing Inspirations!

Dates: March 15th (Tuesday) , 16th (Wednesday) and 17th (Thursday) 2011
Time: 9am - 5pm
Location: Icing Inspirations - Kitchener, Ontario, CANADA
Registration and class information here.



As in the first class on March 10th, 11, and 12th, 2011, Rick will be teaching students his hibiscus bamboo cake, a cakelava signature design, and a sculpted clownfish in coral composition. What he hopes to accomplish in the class is to have students become more in touch with their "inner artist" and will be demonstrating painting, sculpting, airbrushing, and freehand art techniques without the use of stencils, molds or special cutters. For more information on the class and registration, please contact Icing Inspirations directly.

Rick has made himself available for both a weekend class (March 10th, 11th, 12th, 2011 - SOLD OUT) and now a mid-week class, which will hopefully work for those of you unable to attend the first class due to weekend scheduling conflicts. As with the first class, Rick is accepting a maximum of 15 students, and booking is first come, first served. For those of you travelling to attend the class, please contact Icing Inspirations at info@icinginspirations.ca for information on accommodations or any questions about the class.

We hope to see you there!!