Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part II

The ICES Convention is about a week away now, and I am just about finished with all of the prep work for my display cake. I need to complete my peony flowers and buds, and will be dusting my freesia and hydrangea flowers today and tomorrow...and hopefully it will all be done just in time to create the floral topper and arrangements this weekend. Here are a few more photos from this past week!

Yellow ranunculus flowers:



The flower prep so far without the peonies and freesia:



Getting ready to dust the leaves:



Dusted hydrangea leaves:



Glazed hydrangea, peony and gardenia leaves:



Styrofoam order from last week...and somewhere in there are the specific tiers I decided to use for my display cake:



...and they have already been covered with fondant, and are ready to be stacked and decorated with the final elements of my design! I'm keeping things pretty simple to balance the tiers and the flowers...and I'm looking forward to having it all come together!

More photos coming soon...thanks for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part II

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part I

This summer the ICES Convention is being held in San Diego! For those of you not familiar with it, the International Cake Exploration Societe is an organization of over 4000 cake decorators, sugar artists and vendors from around the world!

I became a member earlier this year to have the opportunity meet and learn from other decorators and artists, and to plug into the ever-increasing network of people who love to do the same things I love to do. I also decided that I would attend the convention this year because it is so close to home. Many of my colleagues and cake friends are traveling to participate in the convention as well, and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone.

In addition to the many demonstrations offered and the vendor shopping, the convention boasts a room to display the work of the attendees. Anyone can bring a sample of their work....it's not a competition, but an opportunity for folks to share their craft. And because the logistics are very much in my favor this year (no long and precarious trip in a car or plane)...I have registered to bring a cake to add to the display!

I thought I might post a few photos along the way...I'm feeling pretty organized at this posting, and hopefully the process will continue to move forward smoothly. Enjoy the photos and let me know what you think as the cake takes shape! I'd give you a look at my final sketch, but that would spoil the surprise...



Sneak peek:



Filler flowers, freesia buds and hydrangea centers:



Leaves and more leaves:



White ranunculus flowers ready for final dusting:



Thanks for stopping by...and stay tuned for more photos!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet Preparing for ICES Part I

Sugar Flower Ranunculus and Gardenias

Although sugar flower peonies are still in very high demand, the flower that is currently holding strong in second place is the ranunculus! I have had many inquiries about this adorable flower, and have been so happy to have the opportunity to both make them and teach them!

I recently worked with two lovely and talented students for a full day of sugar flower private instruction. On the curriculum...gorgeous deep pink ranunculus flowers, and the always elegant gardenia.

Getting started...all the tools and supplies in place:



Work in progress:



The color palette for the day:



Dusting flowers and buds:





All of the beautiful ranunculus flowers:



Fabulous student work:



All of our completed flowers and buds:



Adorable and happy students:



And how cute is this? My student sent me a few photos of her gardenias...a beautiful close-up with the leaves attached:



And one of her gorgeous sugar flowers sitting among REAL gardenias...it looks amazing:



Many, many thanks to my wonderful students...it was a great day filled with laughter and some fabulous flower-making!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Sugar Flower Ranunculus and Gardenias

Sugar Flower Ranunculus Cake Topper

I hope you are having a wonderful summer! I recently finished another sugar vase cake topper...this one was filled with white ranunculus, peonies and filler flowers, green hydrangea, and a variety of little buds and leaves. The final bouquet was in a color palette of white and different shades of green...perfect for a summer wedding cake!

Here are some of the flowers in progress:



The sugar vase in progress (I made a base too, but later decided I did not want to use it in the final design):





Styrofoam ball "glued" into the vase with royal icing...I arranged all the flowers in the ball:



And here is the completed topper:



Thank you so much for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Sugar Flower Ranunculus Cake Topper

Modern Peony Cake

I traveled down a busy and bumpy road this past June...one filled with many twists and turns that also took me away from all the fun things that make up Petalsweet!

One of the biggest turns looked like this:



And the amount of time involved was staggering! There is nothing quite like moving, right? But all is finally settled and in place, and I am grateful to have time to create again!

I wanted to create a design that was fresh and modern, and I actually found these before I drew my sketch:



And I knew I wanted to use some of these:



This is the final result...two tiers covered with chocolate fondant, and decorated with over-sized sugar peonies and a scattering of leaves. Grosgrain ribbons finish the base of the tiers:



Thank you for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Modern Peony Cake

Peony Sugar Flower Vase

I just had the wonderful opportunity to make more peonies...in peach and white...and mix them with green hydrangea, filler flowers, and a myriad of other little buds and leaves. This time, I used them in a sugar vase topper:



The vase itself was made out of a granulated sugar and water mixture pressed into a slender mug. Once formed and dried for a day, the edges of the vase were firm, but the center was still soft enough to be scooped out with a spoon.



I formed a small base by pressing the same mixture into the hollow base of the mug. Both were dried for an additional day until they hardened completely, and I glued them together with royal icing:



The base of the vase was covered with tiny strings of sugarpaste to give it a modern and polished look:





Finally, I used royal icing to glue a Styrofoam ball into the opening of the vase, and then created the bouquet by arranging all of the flower, bud and leaf stems in the Styrofoam. A few extra peony petals were added for fun:



Thank you so much for stopping by!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Peony Sugar Flower Vase

Petalsweet in San Francisco Part Two

When visiting San Francisco a few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the very kind and fabulously talented Richard Festen of Baking Arts!

Richard has a degree in cellular biology, and spent the first part of his career in the biotechnology industry. Later, he graduated from the California Culinary Academy Baking and Pastry Arts Program in San Francisco, and began creating beautiful wedding and celebration cakes. In addition, he started teaching culinary and pastry classes. Now through his business, Baking Arts, he offers an amazing array of classes at his studio in the city. You can learn the fine art of chocolate, croissants, choux pastry, petit fours, macaroons, artisan breads, puff pastry, cupcakes, souffles, tarts, cookie and cake decorating and more! Check out his current class schedule here!

Richard is also very experienced in working with chocolate modeling paste, and has perfected the art of using it to create stunning cakes like these:

Wrapped cake by Baking Arts:



Striped cake by Baking Arts:



He offers Master Classes in both the wrapped and striped techniques, and I cannot wait to get back up to San Francisco to attend both sessions! I have limited experience working with modeling chocolate, and am looking forward to learning how to use it in such a beautiful way!

The Baking Arts studio is a gorgeous space, and Richard works there with small groups of students to make sure everyone gets plenty of hands-on practice and a good understanding of the theory behind the process. He also works with private parties...which would be a great idea for a group of friends! He is kind, thoughtful, patient, calm, smart, funny, experienced and knowledgeable...all attributes of a wonderful teacher.

And I couldn't help but smile when I first walked in...the studio is absolutely beautiful, and lends itself to a very relaxed and positive learning environment:



More examples of Richard's work:



Sign me up for modeling chocolate, macaroons and croissants...just to start! My next trip to San Francisco will definitely include a few classes! You can read more about Baking Arts here, and you can contact Richard here.

Thank you, Richard, for your time and gracious hospitality! It was such a pleasure to meet you!

Copyright © 2010 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet in San Francisco Part Two