Book Deal!

cookbook shelf at our local Barnes and Noble. 

 

We barely had time to catch our breath upon returning from Rick's Canada classes when we jumped head-first into our next project, working on a proposal for our first book!  Over the past two and a half months, in between our cake orders, we've been quietly nurturing this exciting and complex project.  Working with our awesome agents Holly and Allan of Hollan Publishing our manuscript was pitched and highly received by publishers and went to auction, which is every first-time author's dream! We still can't believe how quickly this is all happening and suddenly we've found ourselves writing our very own cake book! This has been one amazing experience, really more like a dream that we're still waking up from.  We are thrilled to announce that we have been signed by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing and owned by Random House!  They are super excited about our book and we can't wait to work them!  It was absolutely a dream come true for us to be a "Potter" author.  Clarkson Potter is the largest cookbook publisher in America and Random House is, well, no introduction necessary.  Potter has some of the most well-known chefs and culinary experts including Martha Stewart, Giada de Laurentis, Ina Garten, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, and Rachel Ray, to name a few, and we are honored to be amongst them.

For the rest of the year, in addition to our cake orders Rick and I will be working on our book, which is scheduled to be released in Spring 2013.  During this time we will do our best to accommodate cake requests but we are also on a deadline and suggest you book early if you are wanting a cake.  We can't divulge what our book's concept will be or other details but we are truly excited to write it, design the projects and work with our agents and editors.  We promise the book will be a lot of fun and we will keep everyone posted.  Thank you so much to those who have given us their support.  It means the world to us! 

Totally Groovy!

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Here at cakelava, we're definitely not afraid of color.  We embrace it, celebrate it and fortunately, get a good amount of requests for colorful cakes.  Rick designed this totally groovy 70's themed cake for a sweet young girl whose family are regular clients of ours.  They are one of the kindest families we know and Rick took the responsibility to make a special cake for their daughter seriously.  The cake was a celebration cake made for the girl and her friends as they kick off their summer and prepare for 6th grade.  We were asked for a fun cake in bright colors, for someone who loves pre-teen music and peace signs.  They gave Rick creative control and he really worked his magic on this one.  When I walked into our kitchen while he was working on the cake, I couldn't believe how colorful and fun this cake was, and the medley of colors really worked together.  We loved the writing for the cake "You Rocked 5th Grade!" She is one lucky girl.  What a fun kick-off to her summer, and ours!

Cute and Geeky Kids Cakes - A Winning Combination!

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If cakes had a "like" button, I would give this one a thumbs up and a LOVE! It turned out super cute and is one of my new favorite kid's cakes.  It's only the second time Rick made a Little Einsteins themed cake, and the first one was a sculpted rocket made a couple years ago and shown below. 

This cake brings together the cute and the geeky, always a winning combination!  The cute and geeky cake requests seem to run in our client's family, as their first child's birthday cake was a Super Why? theme, shown on our website.  Making kids cakes can be more time consuming than other types, but also rewarding as it allows us to grow with the family as they celebrate their birthdays.  We get to know the family over the years and look forward to our next cake together. 

When the order came in for the Little Einsteins cake, as usual, Rick didn't know exactly what he was going to do until shortly before the event.  I loved all the different textures on the cake and the sculpted rocket topper was adorable!  Everything on the cake was edible and made by Rick, and for the inside of the cake two tropical flavors were chosen, Broke da Mouth (mango) and Guava Lava.  Thank you to our clients for making us a big part, once again, of their special celebration!

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Elegant Parisian Birthday Cake

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Ahhh, Paris. If only I could experience Paris in the springtime once again!  It's one of my favorite cities in the world and it's been far too long since I had an opportunity to visit and take in its beauty, culture and amazing cuisine!  Over the weekend we delivered an elegant, Parisian themed birthday cake in soft shades of pink, white and grey, in honor of Tira's birthday.  The whole time Rick was working on the cake my mind took a stroll down memory lane as I recalled the month spent in Paris and the incredible sights and experiences I had.  As the beautiful handpainted Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel) topper was placed on the cake, I recall standing at the base of the massive structure in awe as I looked up it.  For all the memories and opportunity to think about Paris, I have to thank our client Teresa.  She came to us with her vision of a stylish Parisian themed cake for her daughter, and left the design up to Rick.  Working with the soft, romantic colors of the party, Rick added a gorgeous damask print on the bottom tier of the cake, a romantic grey bow with a quilted tier on top, and pretty handcrafted pink roses.  It was lovely! 

When we arrived at the location, the cake looked perfectly at home with the rest of the decor.  In the center of the entrance to the party was a giant Eiffel Tower statue that someone had spent 4 hours assembling for the event.  There was a crepe station for guests to enjoy.  The room smelled of fragrant flowers and fruits.  We were impressed with their level of dedication to creating a fun, Parisian theme. Joyeux Anniversaire, Mademoiselle Tira!

At the time we arrived, the Eiffel Tower was still a work in progress

The cake was on a beautiful presentation table and was surrounded by flowers and fruits

Legally Blonde Cake

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When someone has committed the majority of their life for the sake of education, it's no surprise that they would also start the planning for the graduation celebration well in advance.  Our client booked her "Legally blonde" themed Law School graduation cake with us almost a year before the Big Day, which happened last Sunday.  We were excited about the theme.  We love the movie and she had all the right components for the cake -- blonde, owned a cute chihuahua, and would shortly become a law school graduate.  We adore the dog cakes! This one was such a fun theme and Rick was given a lot of leeway in the design of the cake.  He chose a pink leather purse with a chihuahua and gavel. Both the chihuahua and the purse were sculpted out of chocolate cake and the gavel was also edible.  We arrived at our clients home before her and met her family who were amazed by the cake.  Hopefully she had the same reaction when she saw it.  Wishing her a huge congratulations on her committment to education and a very successful career in law! 

Pink Tropical Graduation Cake

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Congratulations to all the high school and college graduates out there! You've worked hard all those years and you deserve a party and a fabulous cake!  One of our most recent cakes, shown above, was made for a woman graduating from law school and asked for a pretty tropical cake with a stylized Hawaiian floral pattern found on her invitation.  The party took place at Tiki's Grill & Bar, outside on the lanai, under the stars, and across the street from Waikiki Beach.  We love working at Tiki's and have fond memories there of many dinners, drinks and parties over the years, including our Food Network Challenge viewing party last April.  There was a live Hawaiian band playing and the temperature was in the '70's -- an absolutely perfect setting for a fun, tropical themed graduation party.  Rick selected taller tiers for this cake to give it a dramatic appearance, and the bright pink color gave it a pop that was quite striking!  Our client chose two tropical flavors for her cake, Guava Lava, which has a pretty pink color that would match the cake perfectly, and Coconut Pineapple Chunk, which is moist, delicious and coconut-y.  We were very happy with the cake and hope our client had a blast at her party!

Double the (Hello) Kitties, Double the Fun!

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When our client requested a cake with a Hello Kitty Bee and Hello Kitty Lady Bug theme, I have to admit, I had no idea what she was talking about.  Fortunately, she sent us pictures for reference and we thought they would make for a super cute cake.  This cake was very special to our client, and to us, because we had been making cakes for her whole family since shortly after we opened in 2005.  The cake was in honor of two birthdays -- a first birthday for Talia and a second birthday for Zoe.  Each child was represented by one of the Hello Kitties and had their name on the cake.  It was ordered around 7 months in advance but it wasn't until shortly before the party that Rick knew what he was going to design for the girls.  Our client left the design up to Rick, as she has in the past.  He chose sweet shades of pinks, blues, greens, yellows and white for the cake, a striped pattern and lollipops of hearts and flowers.  The cake was so adorable that I couldn't stop looking at it during the drive to Roy's Restaurant where the party took place, and thinking about how happy it would make the family and their two little girls.  Our client, her husband and three children loved the cake, which made us very happy!  These guests were in for a real treat -- an amazing dinner at Roy's followed by dessert and their choice of Guava Lava or Hawaii Five-0 flavored cake.  Happy Birthday to Talia and Zoe.  We're already looking forward to our next cake for their family!

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! 

A Birthday Cake for a Special Mom

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Today's blog is dedicated to that very special group of women who are mothers, including our own mothers, Linda and Joan.   This pretty pink topsy turvy birthday cake with hearts was ordered by a client for her mother's 60th birthday.  She requested pink and gold for the colors and told us that her mother has a "heart of gold" and would like to play that up on the cake.  She wanted the cake to be fun, but not too crazy, elegant and sophisticated but not conservative.  Rick kept the design simple and really emphasized the gold hearts and the shape of the cake.  Our client loved the cake and her mother was touched by the gesture.  Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Treasure Chest - A cake with Pirattitude!

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Last year when "Pirates of the Caribbean:  On Stranger Tides" was filming on Oahu, Rick and I drove down to the docks to see the Black Pearl, hoping to catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp.  Unfortunately, there was no Johnny Depp sighting, but he did have an opportunity to make a pirate themed birthday cake for one of the actors in the film.  The film will be released in theaters this summer, and we know two people who will most definitely be lining up to see the film, our wedding clients Carrie and Rick G.  Carrie and Rick, who are both in the Navy, had a Pirate themed wedding on a gorgeous beach a couple of weeks ago, complete with pirate attire for the wedding party and a treasure chest wedding cake. 

When we met with Carrie, she mentioned her and husband's love of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and they wanted to have a unique wedding cake, in the shape of a treasure chest on a beach, with jewels coming out of it.  Rick (Reichart) and I were both excited about the treasure chest and had been looking forward to their wedding for months.  He had been wanting to make one for a while and this was the perfect opportunity because he could carry out the pirate theme as it was meant to be, full of detail and extravagance.  The treasure chest was all cake and everything inside the chest was handcrafted by Rick.  It was stunning in person and captivated their guests when the cake was delivered. The bride and groom were amazed when they saw it and both walked around the entire cake, examining it from every angle.  They were so pleased and it made us tremendously happy to see how much everyone liked it.  The cake had its own papparazzi, and suddenly everyone was snapping photos and posing with the cake, some making pirate gestures, which seemed to us, the ultimate compliment.  Congratulations to Carrie and Rick G. on their marriage and for bringing us such a fun theme to make in cake!