Happy 75th Birthday Batman!

cakelava.com

On the evening of Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014, an enormous four-day pop culture media festival called Comic-Con opened at the San Diego Convention Center. Comic-Con is a much anticipated event each year with more than 100,000 attendees coming together to celebrate the best in pop culture film, comics, video games, costumes and more. Coinciding with the kick-off of Comic-Con, DC Comics, the publisher of the Batman comic book franchise, declared July 23rd as "Batman Day" honoring the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Bob Kane and Bill Finger comic book hero.

Outside of Comic-Con, Batman Day was celebrated throughout America. Local theaters showed special screenings of  Batman movies. Fans of the caped crusader threw parties in his honor, and at cakelava, Rick was hard at work making a special cake for a woman who adores Batman!

Our client wasn't kidding when she said she loves Batman more than anything. She said she has felt an affinity with Batman for years and has a Batman tattoo. She calls her apartment "The Batcave" and has Batman items throughout - pictures on the walls, Batman tchotchkes on the shelves, and Batman dolls. In honor of Batman's 75th birthday, she and a group of her friends would attend a special film screening of the original "Batman" movie (with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson) from 1989, then going back to her place to celebrate with treats and cake!

For her cake, our client knew exactly what she wanted - a 3D sculpted "Chibi" Batman modelled after a doll she owns. We didn't know what a "chibi" version of Batman was but thankfully, Google does and was all too happy to help. Our client brought her coveted Chibi Batman doll to our shop, still in the box and sealed. We knew what this doll meant to her and when she told Rick he could open the box to access the doll, we felt honored.

Rick sculpted the Batman out of chocolate cake. He spent a lot of time sculpting the body and it's gigantic head. The doll had subtle nuances in its shape that required special attention to get the look just right, and he had to build a specials structure for the standing figure. We were thrilled with how it turned out and thought our client would think it was too cute to cut. It turns out she did!

She greeted us outside her building wearing a sleek black outfit with a patterned jacket and leggings - Batman themed of course - and squealed when she first saw the cake! As far as reactions go, a big grin is a huge plus but a squeal is an impulsive, kid-like reaction that cannot be contained and it is the ultimate reaction for us to witness! The cake was well-admired as we walked through the building to her apartment. We didn't know her guests were waiting inside and when the door opened, we were swarmed with a room full of people who instantly pulled out their phones to snap photos. This was one well-photographed cake!

In addition to her amazing Batman cake, party guests enjoyed her homemade Batman sandwiches and black lemonade served in mason jars with chibi Batman heads on top. How cute!

That's one happy Bat-group posing with the cake!

A Stroll Down Memory Lane - 2009. Part 3

When I had the idea about doing a cakes retrospective for cakelava dating all the way back to our humble beginnings in 2005, little did I know how much effort would be involved with the writing and cake selection process. Was I crazy to think that with well over 1000 cakes in our history it would be easy to choose a representative sampling? Clearly, I didn't think about it, I was driven by the desire to look back and appreciate how far we've come, and to share some cakes we are proud of with new people who may not be familiar with the designs.

For 2009, I had an especially tough time choosing cakes to feature so I divided it into three parts. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed it.

Rick designed this beautiful wedding cake with wrapped layers and handcrafted cherry blossoms for an outdoor wedding at Kualoa Ranch in May. The cake was featured in a number of magazines and in the book "1,000 Ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes". The gorgeous photo is by Frank Amodo.

In 2009, a number of our good friends were married and some celebrated significant birthdays with a cakelava cake. This sushi cake was made by Rick for our friend Melissa for her 40th birthday party and gifted to her by her boyfriend as a surprise. Like us, they are huge fans of sushi. Rick made and placed sushis all over the cake. A few years later, Rick would teach students how to make the sushis on a sculpted platter for one of his classes. This exquisite photo is by Robert Bruce Ayres.

We've adored this cake for years! I like the vintage look of the flowers and bands around the tiers, and the muted tones used throughout. The bride Krista sent us the custom made bird toppers, we thought they were beautifully made and so cute! I wrote a post about this wedding cake back in October 2009 that covers the cake, including the types of flowers, in more detail.

It's no secret. Rick has a great appreciation for Hawaiian tikis and has been including them in his designs for years. I love them too. We even chose "Tiki's Grill & Bar" in Waikiki to have our viewing party for the Food Network "Spongebob" Challenge. He made this sculpted tiki out of cake for a couple's 17th anniversary celebration. We were both really happy with the way the standing tiki head turned out, and it remains one of our favorites.

By the time Rick had made the Tiki cake shown above, we were already in discussions with Food Network for an upcoming "Challenge" TV show they wanted to cast him for. When Rick found out they wanted him for "Spongebob Birthday Cakes", we both just about died! We were so excited for this particular challenge because we are huge fans of Spongebob Squarepants and it was a sculpting challenge - right up Rick's alley! For the competition which would take place in December, the competitors were asssigned one of the characters as their main character. Rick was given Spongebob, which we were both thrilled about! It was his first time on "Challenge" after numerous efforts to try and get out there to do them, and he had to compete against "Challenge" Veterans - Lauren Kitchens, Bronwen Weber and Kristin Davison - which added to the pressure!

In an ideal world, we would have uninterrupted time to prepare for such an important competition, but we had too many cake orders to fulfill during that time. Rick had very little time to prepare for his Challenge. He sketched his design, made Spongebob once, secured his assistant, Annie Welch, who he had worked when he was making cakes in Seattle. Once he was cast, we began noticing Spongebob EVERYWHERE, and took trips to Toys 'R Us to look at Spongebob items.  Many emails, and forms to sign later, we were on a plane to Denver to shoot the competition!

The photo above was taken at the studios where "Challenge" was filmed. The production company had just moved into a brand new studio and we would be one of the first to use it. After a very LONG day with what felt like an equally long deliberation by the judges, including a Nickelodeon representative, the competiton ended and we flew back to Hawaii. Food Network still airs the episode from time to time and I will leave the result of the competition a mystery, in case you haven't seen it. It was a nail biter and a very close competition, and so much fun to watch!

Rick and his assistant Annie Welch standing proudly next to their creation! The competition occurred shortly before Christmas and would be aired in April 2010. It was the third longest, most agonizing wait we've had in our cake career, the second being the casting for another Food Network show. The longest wait we've had, well, we are still experiencing it and have been for the past year and a half! The wait for the Food Network shows was agony, but multiply that intensity by at least ten, adding in excitement we can barely contain, and this is how we feel about the wait for our book, "Extreme Cakeovers". It will finally be released by Clarkson Potter/Random House in July!

The next posts will cover 2010, which was another great year for cakes and media, and a turning point for cakelava, leading us down some new avenues.

Since our Stroll Down Memory Lane started, a number of you have recognized your cake and it has meant a lot to hear from you! Whether we have made your cake or are just enjoying the view, we would love to hear if you have a favorite cake, or anything else you want to share with us about the cakes.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane - 2009. Part 2

Yesterday we continued our stroll down memory lane, remembering a selection of cakes made at cakelava during the year 2009. If you missed it, you can view it here. A number of cakes shared in yesterday's post could be categorized into a common theme. Today's cakes cannot be categorized.  A great example of this would be the sculpted turtle hugging a cupcake, which Rick made for a wedding in June 2009, and is shown below.

It was one of our most unusual requests, a cute sculpted turtle hugging a cupcake. Rick and I were both intrigued by the idea when our clients told us this is what they wanted for their wedding cake. The bride and groom had a huge sweet tooth and had planned their wedding around a sweets and candy theme, which included sculpted giant cupcakes on the tables as centerpieces, which Rick also made. Their adorable turtle with a cupcake wedding cake was a huge success and circulated around the internet where the wedding was featured several times, including cakelava.com. The awesome photo is by Stephen Ludwig.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane - 2008, Part 1

2008 was a banner year for cakelava. It was the year our business really took off and doors opened with opportunites we never imagined waiting on the other side. Rick made over 200 cakes for clients, and between taking orders, meeting with clients, deliveries and the start of more serious media attention, our entire company (of 2) was extremely busy!

We started the year in our new studio, and in retrospect, I don't think we could have handled the amount of business we had if we were still in the incubator. Our work load had basically forced us to look for a shop in 2007. cakelava had incubated and it was time to move forward. In our new studio we had our kitchen and office and a client meeting space all together. No more driving to a local coffee shop to meet with brides and their coordinators. It was wonderful, but also an incredible amount of work!

Although we had started getting media interest in the earlier years, 2008 was a huge year for cakelava in terms of press, specifically magazine and television interest. Rick was invited by Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine, The Bride and Bloom, and Pacific Edge Magazine to design cakes for their magazines and we were regularly asked for photos for internet sites. In the latter part of 2008, Food Network contacted Rick again to compete on "Challenge". They contacted him in 2007 for an "Extreme Cakes" Challenge, but Rick felt he wasn't ready to do it in the conditions we were working in at the time. We kept in touch with them regularly until finally in 2009, Rick did the "Spongebob Challenge". Also in the latter half of 2008, we got a call to make a cake for a Mark Burnett show and would later travel to Maui to shoot it. Then there was a "pillows" cake, a cake made for our bride who is a yoga instructor. That one cake circulated across the internet and magazines, and has become one of Rick's most famous designs!

Below is a selection of cakes made in 2008. When I was selecting cakes, there were so many to share that I am splitting the post into two parts, with the next one to follow.

Rick made this cake for a couple who requested a fun, non-traditional design with a Hawaiian flair. The shape of the cake was inspired by a Colette Peters design. Rick has long admired Colette Peters and she remains one of his favorite designers. As a policy, Rick doesn't replicate other people's work, and this cake was one of the few times he drew such direct inspiration. The couple were ecstatic with the cake and making the shape was a feather in Rick's cap, as it was not an easy one.

We've done many sushi platters and rolls over the years, and a similar design was the basis for one of Rick's cake classes. The platter is cake and all sushi are handmade. I don't recall exactly what the writing on the bottom said because I can't read Japanese. Feel free to translate it if you would like to. What I do know is that this cake was for a 21st birthday and started a sushi cake trend at cakelava that continues to this day.

This beautiful cake photographed by Chrissy Lambert was designed for a couple who were the recipients of a free dream wedding, in a giveaway sponsored by Parasol Events and the Honolulu Advertiser (now Star Advertiser) newspaper. Parasol assembled a dream team of vendors and we were fortunate enough to be asked to participate. The lucky couple got a cake that Rick designed for them using their elegant cherry blossom theme. That week was a crazy one for us because we had Primrose and Alex's wedding at The Kahala resort immediately followed by 3 wedding cakes Rick designed for a Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine shoot at the Halekulani, one of which is shown below. Grace herself was in town for the shoot and she stopped by the wedding where this cherry blossom cake was at. We heard from the coordinator at the wedding "by the way, Grace is here and saw your cake". No pressure or anything!

This was one of 3 cakes designed for Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine. The shoot took place at the beautiful Halekulani resort in Waikiki, and if I recall correctly, this shot was taken in the Presidential Suite. Stefanie Riedel of Absolutely Loved took the amazing photo, which was later featured in the magazine. I think it was Grace that started calling this cake the "mermaid cake", and the name stuck. Once this cake went up on our website every bride with a beach theme was asking for it and this was even more the case when the magazine was released. We have been a fan of Wedding Style Magazine and it was such an honored to be asked to make the cakes!

The ivory bamboo with black plumeria pattern cake was featured in two different magazines, a bunch of websites and a book. This gorgeous photo was taken by Dave Miyamoto for a shoot at the Bayer Estate, a popular wedding venue here. Rick has used this plumeria pattern on other cakes and it always makes for a striking deisgn. This cake, like many others is one that he made on a number of occasions for brides wanting a similar style.

 

The theme for this wedding combined antique details with traditional romantic elements. Kendra and Johnathan's cake was one of the earlier "vintage" inspired designs Rick made. Rick had free reign on the design, but drew inspiration from antique frames and romantic roses to create this elegant cake for the couple. We both really love this design and the couple was so much fun to work with!

A month after we did the Grace Ormonde shoot, we did The Bride and Bloom Magaazine shoot, again with photographer Stefanie Riedel. Rick was given a color palette to work with and was asked to design a cake around the colors. I scoured the internet to find just the right ceramic cake stand to place the cake on and this one fit the bill beautifully! Rick and I went with Stefanie down to Kailua Beach for the shoot. After the Bride and Bloom shoot, Rick made the cake at least a couple other times, once in orange, and once combining the bamboo from cake above with the same floral vine pattern. Every version has been beautiful!

We've always loved this cake! It was made for a wedding that was quite extravagant at the Paul Mitchell Estate here in Kailua. The stunning photograph was taken by Cassandra Dieterle, whose company also coordianated the wedding. The color palette for this wedding was ivory and purples and very elegant, all of which was brought into Rick's design for the couple.

There there was the "Rachel" cake. We are still making some version of this cake for brides that fall in love with it. Rick has made the Rachel cake, with the taller unusually shaped tiers in a variety of colors, and modifications to the design (like adding turtles or fish). This cake has stood the test of time and has become a cakelava "signature" design. It was beautifully photographed by Frank Amodo.

Speaking of cakelava signature designs, this is the "Gwen" cake, named after the bride who Rick designed it for. The Gwen cake has all the classic cakelava tropical decorations -- Giant tiki and torches, hawaiian flowers, and the all-bamboo tier. We have a bunch of emails from people asking us how Rick made the cake and we've seen knock-offs of the design, (even from cakers in our own backyard) offering the same cake on their websites, unfortunately, and often without credit to the designer. The "Gwen" is a small cake that made a super-size impact and is a design we are very proud of!

 

 Cake sculpting is one of Rick's favorite things to do. This beaver groom's cake is one of many he made in 2008, but I specifically chose this one because it is so darn cute! Our bride surprised her fiance with an Oregon State University beaver. Rick enjoyed making the cake and I think it will always be one of our favorites!

When we met with the couple this wedding cake was designed for, they told Rick they wanted a cake with "underwater invertebrates". It was an odd request but we always love those. The theme lent itself well to the use of a lot of color, which Rick always enjoys! All 3 tiers were sculpted out of cake and the decorations were hand made. Rick recalls making all "those damn spines" that were placed into the sea urchin on top. This cake was definitely a labor of love and took a good amount of time to make!

It's funny what you recall when you are reminiscing about cakes. Rick remembers when he was making this cake that the power went out at our shop just as he was starting on the headphones. He was on deadline, so he had to make the headphones in the dark. I didn't actually remember that power outage because I wasn't the one making the cake. What I remembered about this cake was that it was ordered by a bride as a groom's cake for her fiance who was a DJ. We were asked to make a Technics turntable with a blue "scratch" record. She was terribly excited about surprising her fiance with the cake and we went sent this photo of the groom with his cake.

 

 This was Rick's first Millennium Falcon and he says it remains one of his favorites. We are big fans of Star Wars and relished any opportunity to make Sci-Fi cakes, and specifically Star Wars. Rick was thrilled to get this order and he was determined to make sure every detail was spot on. I think he also knew that both of our brothers who adore Star Wars and all the Star Wars fans who would later see it were depending on him to do it right! He made us all proud!

 

Ah, The "pillows" cake. It is one of our most widely circulated cakes, making its way into international magazines and all over the internet. It was featured on Brides.com then on the front page of both AOL and MSN.com. Rick designed the cake for a wedding couple who wanted an unusual design and the bride was a yoga instructor, hence the Indian influence in the composition. All the pillows are made of cake and one of the pillows has a swirl pattern which Rick incorporated after seeing the bride's tattoo. Since the bay area couple was getting married in Hawaii, they wanted to include a Hawaiian element and Rick added the lei in front as well as made the board blue, which symbolized the ocean. Beautiful pillows floating in the ocean. Namaste!

In my next post, look for more cakes from 2008. You won't want to miss some of these!

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!!!

Inspired by Betsey

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We apologize for our absence these past few weeks. Rick and I have been working long hours with cake orders and business as usual while simultaneously creating for and writing our book. We will be posting new cakes as time permits both on the blog and our Facebook page and hope you enjoy seeing some of our latest inspirations!

Rick designed the cake above as a surprise for a 21st birthday party. He was asked by our client to make a cake inspired by her daughter's favorite fashion designer, Betsey Johnson, known for her contrasting prints, sexy and wild clothing and accessories, and bold use of color.  The design was left up to Rick's wild imagination and he chose two animal prints in contrasting colors for the base, a checkerboard pattern for whimsy, and sexy hearts and lips. Lips are a recurring motif in many Betsey Johnson designs, including on her signature, and we both thought the lips would be a nice touch. Pulling it all together, Rick made a large handcrafted flower with gold detailing, and flirty ruffle on the bottom, giving the cake a touch of bling, and a sexy playful quality that any Betsey Johnson-adoring, 21-year old would go gaga over!

Sandy and Ryan's Wedding Cake

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We met Sandy and Ryan last year when they came to Oahu to plan their wedding. They requested an elegant cake with handcrafted bright pink plumeria flowers with gold accents. Rick designed the cake as a four tier, varying the heights of the tiers for a more modern style and added gold bands of different widths on the cake and gold leaves on the plumerias. The couple used the hot pink and gold palette throughout the wedding, with the bridesmaids dresses and bouquets in the bright pink and gold chiavari chairs for the guests. The wedding was held at a beautiful private home in Kailua. Nichole Shin of Nichole Weddings & Events did a fantastic job coordinating the gorgeous wedding. We were proud to be a part of an amazing team of vendors which included Visionari, Nichole Weddings & Events and Indigo Catering. For the inside of the cake, the couple wanted to continue the tropical theme. They both love coconut and chose our Coconut Pineapple Chunk for two of the tiers and the other two tiers were coconut cake with a guava jam and guava cream combination.  This cake screamed "Hawaii" inside and out! Congratulations to Sandy and Ryan!

Dramatic Hibiscus Wedding Cake

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We've noticed a trend in the past couple of weeks towards large cakes.  Two weekends ago Rick made a three and a half foot tall romantic floral and damask print wedding cake . Over the July 4th weekend, we delivered this striking modern, squared tiers hibiscus themed wedding cake, which stood almost 3 feet tall for Kim and Andrew's wedding.  This weekend we are working on another large cake and have started the custom pieces for that.  Kim and Andrew's cake was designed to work with the couple's wedding colors, orange, turquoise blue, with accents of green.  Rick designed the cake with dramatic hibiscus plants, which he did free hand without stencils.  We were very happy with the finished design and were excited to present it to our couple!  The cake was delivered to Lanikuhonua, a picturesque outdoor location on Oahu's west side, beautifully landscaped with tropical plants.  The orange, blue and white decor throughout the wedding matched the cake perfectly.  We want to congratulate Kim and Andrew and all our July 4th weekend wedding couples!

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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A Celebration of Love and Family

Image above by Rita Coury Photography

We were honored to be asked by the family, who are regular clients of ours, to make a cake that would celebrate the couple's 18 year wedding anniversary.  It was important to them that the cake represent the union of the couple and their two beautiful daughters.  The idea of including the family was truly touching to us and Rick set out to design a cake that would represent one of their favorite activities of going to the beach.  He has made similar designs that had a tropical beach setting with handcrafted custom figures enjoying an activity on the island, and it worked perfectly for our clients' needs. 

The family chose our popular Guava Lava cake for their celebration.  Rick spent many hours carefully sculpting the custom figures modelled in the likeness of each member of the family, and making the surfboards, palm trees, turtles and other tropical accents.  He placed Hawaiian plumeria flowers on the cake and a sign that said "18th" to honor the 18 years of marriage of the couple. 

Photographer Rita Coury of Rita Coury Photography, took the beautiful photo above of the family who was all smiles with their cake.  They have been clients of ours for a number of years and Rita really captured the warmth and cheerful personalities of the family as we know them.  We want to thank the family and Rita for sharing with us their photos. Check out Rita's website to see the gorgeous images in her portfolio! 

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More cakes to come next week! 

Baby, Life's a Beach!

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Living in Hawaii, you can imagine how popular the beach theme cake is.  The tropical beach theme cakes are always fun to make and are a great crowd pleaser too.  Rick has made countless beach themed cakes and hundreds of palm trees and surfboards since cakelava opened and we never get tired of looking at them.   The cake above was made for Sophia's first birthday party.  For Sophia, at our client's request, Rick used pastel colors and gave everything a cute, rather than more realistic appearance.

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For the beach themed baby shower cake above, Rick chose to use only white and shades of blue, which made for a nice contrast.  The client had requested for the beach theme to be done in "baby style" and had wanted to emphasize the beach and surfing since the baby's father owns a surfing company.  Around the cake he placed handcrafted beach toys, shells and marine life.  Cute baby faces were placed on the side of the cake and on top he created a scene with a "BOY" sign, surfboards and a sweet blue crab.  Inside the cake was bright layers of our signature Rainbowlicious flavor.

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!

Tiki with Surfboard Cake

This sculpted Hawaiian tiki with a surfboard cake was a special one to us. It was ordered by a man for his wife in honor of her birthday, a day they would be unable to celebrate together because she was going on deployment. Rick chose to make this cake using both light and brown colors for the tiki and surfboard and added a couple hibiscus flowers and a beach at the base. Our client and the party guests loved his wife's tiki cake and it looked incredibly realistic. Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to meet his wife but we want to wish her the best while she is away and are looking forward to making her and her husband another cake after she returns.

Aloha, 'til next time!

cakelava gets Lavalicious

First we had the Rainbowlicious. Then there was "Blogolicious", followed by "Lavalicious", the title of today's article on cakelava on the front page of the Food section of the Honolulu Star Bulletin daily newspaper. "Lavalicious" no doubt! a 2-page spread in the Honolulu Star Bulletin and a photo of the cake on the front page of the newspaper as a teaser, was a fantastic way to start our morning! Joleen Oshiro, a Food Editor and Arts writer wrote a wonderfully written article about our business and Rick as a designer, as well as his upcoming appearance on Food Network Challenge. The newspaper came to shoot on a weekend that was quite hectic where Rick was finishing up one cake and starting another and continuing this pace throughout the weekend. 3 of his cakes were shown in the article, a couple of them which you may recognize. The butterflies birthday cake was adorned with many fluttering handcrafted butterflies, in pretty pastels. The article made our day and we're so thankful for the support of the local community!

Aloha, 'til next time!

Clownfish Cake

One of our most recent cakes was this sculpted clownfish made for our client Masaki's birthday. Last year Rick designed an amazing big jungle cake for his son, and this year, his wife decided to surprise him with a beautiful birthday cake of his own in one of his favorite flavors, Banana Nutella. Rick sculpted the colorful composition out of cake and made the ocean scene so realistic, it looked like the clownfish was ready to swim off the board. As luck would have it, we had a media shoot over the weekend and Rick's cute clownfish was nice and ready for his close-up ... before he was to be eaten later that night.

The day after the party, we received a wonderful Thank You note:

Sasha and Rick,

just wanted to thank you again for an incredible cake! Customers and staff alike at Roy's Ko Olina were oohing and aahing over our clown fish. Our waiter even told us the chefs were amazed at how the cake was constructed. And, of course, it was delicious to boot!

Amanda

Happy Birthday, Masaki!

Aloha, 'til next time!

A Doggone Good Doggie Rescue Party

We live for celebrations like last Friday's Doggie Rescue Party. Parties with a purpose filled with creativity and of course, a super fun cake! Our client's daughters are crazy about dogs. They own two adorable Shih Tzu's "Issa" and "Jazzy", and both have a desire to pursue a career involving dogs. One wants to be a Veterinarian or a doggie baker, and the other would like to own a rescue center. Their older daughter is a "walking dog encyclopedia". The party took place at their residence on "Furlough Friday", when some Hawaii state workers take a mandatory day off. It was the perfect time to get a bunch of adults and children together on a day when they would normally be off, and have a big party. Children attending the "Furry Furlough Friday Doggy Party" were invited to bring along their favorite stuffed animal to visit their play Veterinary Center. They were also asked to bring an item to donate to the Animal CARE Foundation. ACF needs any item for the care of animals such as toys, leashes, organic food and cleaners, pet beds, dust-pans, towels, brushes, etc. This gesture is one we find very touching, when children are encouraged by their parents to donate to an organization in lieu of any gifts that they may receive. One of our clients (with the Death Star cake) had children bring a book to donate to a local foundation rather than gifts for her son. We're hoping this is a trend that will continue to catch on!

Rick sculpted a blue super cute doghouse with Jazzy peeking out of it. He used different shades of blue, at the request of our client, and put their dogs names on the house. The entire doghouse, dog and bowl was made out cake, Chocolate Dream to be precise, and was quite large, around 100 servings.

Our client was so kind to share with us the photos taken at the party! These are some happy children! Rick and I were quite intrigued at how the theme of the party was selected and asked our client for more information. She sent me a wonderful email explaining about the party, which I have attached below, at her permission:

Well basically this all started when the whole family was at formal tea on Sunday in Manoa and my 9 year old asked to volunteer at the Humane Society because of her obsession for dogs. I said she couldn't handle that because they put the dogs to sleep if they aren't adopted and she started crying hysterically for the dogs causing a scene. I had to right it in a big way! We started researching no-kill shelters and how kids their age could get involved. (No we are not adopting 50 dogs!) Animal CARE Foundation seemed to have the best philosophy and be well established and respected in the community. We drove by as a family to check it out and called to see how we could help.

This led to the dog themed party with the Pièce de résistance, the cake! Rick surprised us with an exact replica of Jazzy our beloved pooch! The dog house, bowl and bone looked so real and little fingers kept poking at them until served to satisfy curiosity. The colors were beautiful! It was a wonderful gift for the girls and their friends. It all tied together the meaningful cause and fun reason for gathering together.

Guests were asked to donate to the Foundation. We thought about having actual dogs at the party then decided against that possible lawsuit by bitten guests. The girls dream of having their own rescue foundation with a doggy cafe and we are researching what is involved. For now we set up a play center for toy creatures. We did doggy crafts, games, ate human puppy chow and such. Fun times. Sometimes kids get caught up in parties being all about them and we thought this would be a great way to encourage community service and overall a more giving spirit. We like to encourage when the kids are involved in nature and get them away from video games or Hannah Montana. The parents had a fun time and ate lots of cake too! And yes we bounced in the bouncy!

The party and the dog cake were a huge hit, and most importantly, the animals at the Animal CARE Foundation were also happier with their new gifts, courtesy of the children! A big Thank You to our clients for making this very special day possible!








Aloha, 'til next time!