Here’s an incredibly decadent small frame cake we designed and created for a wedding. For this cake we were pretty much given full creative control with just a few definite design requests from the happy couple that included lots of gold, simple blossoms, a lavish style in terms of overall look and a bit of an autumn/winter feel to the end cake.
With all of the fabulous elements that the couple requested in mind we decided upon a bit of a Rococo (always a favourite) influence combined with a luxurious jewel-inspired colour palette which pairs wonderfully with gold and copper accents.
The small bouquets nestled onto the cake are all hand-made from cmc reinforced sugarpaste / gum paste. Following the request for simple blossoms we picked out the silk taffeta damson-style blossoms from the table centrepieces and invites to use as small arrangements adorning the cake. Each was lightly dusted with shimmering gold lustre dust and further accented with burgundy tinted hypercium berries and sugar leaves.
When we designed the cake a few sketches featured the use of grosgrain ribbon to add a little dimenson to the cake’s decor. This idea came from looking though fashionable attire that straddled both the Rococo era and Baroque for women’s necklaces being tied about the neck with silk ribbons. After initially assembling it was clear a little bit of black grosgrain ribbon with chevron snipped tails was needed.
To a nice element of drama as well as to fulfil the couple’s request for lots of gold we decided to carefully gild the smaller top tier with sheets of edible gold leaf. This also added a wonderful bit of texture and a touch of the rustic look.
Using gold leaf is fairly costly and can be quite the challenge. Applying the edible gold took a fair bit of steadiness as well as minutes of holding one’s breath to complete. Our tips for trying out this technique is to use cake decorating tweezers to lift the top two corners of the sheet, carry it slowly to the cake and drape over the side and top before lightly brushing the leaf on to the tier. Also, don’t wet the fondant covering of the cake before doing so!
It was so sad to see this stunning piece leave us as it is definitely our style of cake from the realistic florals to the lavish usage of gold.
