Monday, November 29, 2010

An Orchid Wedding



So I hinted in my last post that I had a special project that I rushed back from Thanksgiving for: this is it!  A wedding cake!  And quite possibly my favorite one that I've done to date.

Normally, I don't take wedding cake orders in the middle of the school year, much less on the weekend *right* after Thanksgiving (yes--try to cook a Thanksgiving dinner and make a wedding cake in one weekend...!) and *right* before finals/papers season.  But, when J approached me about making her wedding cake and told me that her wedding was an Asian theme, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity, especially since I'd been itching to make sugar orchids for ages now.  J was gracious enough to give me plenty of free reign in designing the cake, which I love, (her one request being that it be TALL) and when I finally sat down with her to show her my sketches, she picked out the one design that I'd sort of sketched as an improbable "fun" drawing, never meaning to make it.  But that's the one she wanted!


And I have to say, I love how it turned out!  The orchid flowers, buds, and leaves were all handmade out of sugar paste and painted with colored flower dust.  I was a bit worried for a while about how I would support the sugar orchids on a tall stem, but a trip to Home Depot totally solved that problem quickly (thanks to Anita of Dessert First and her husband, Mike, for pointing me in that direction), and the drama that the tall orchid stem added to the cake was fantastic.  People kept thinking they were real orchids on the cake, too!--even the bride, who was well-aware that I'd planned to make sugar flowers!


The cake itself was a dense dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache studded with crystallized ginger slices, mango and fresh ginger curd, and mango and vanilla buttercreams.  J and S really wanted a mango and chocolate cake, and I added the touches of fresh and crystallized ginger to tie into the Chinese theme of the wedding.  The vertical buttercream stripes on the cake were meant to provide an illusion in the height of the cake.  And I particularly liked the white sugar pearls that I added at the last moment for even more texture and detail and to reflect the sparkles in J's wedding dress.


One of the best parts of the whole day was how incredibly well the cake matched the rest of the wedding.  The rooms were all decked out in a ravishing array of beautiful orchids of every type and shape and color imaginable, with tiny orchid plants on every table as party favors for the guests to large orchids scattered about the doors and entry tables.  The orchids on the cake even matched the orchid in J's hair perfectly, though we hadn't planned it that way at all.


Congratulations to J & S for their absolutely gorgeous wedding!  Thank you so much for letting me be a special part of it!


[For dessert and cake order inquires, please write to s {at} dessertsforbreakfast {dot} com.]

40 comments:

  1. This cake is absolutely unbelievable. I'm a little shocked, actually. Congratulations on being amazing. (Like a cake superhero of some kind. Seriously. Cake-woman.)

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  2. Steph, it's absolutely stunning! Totally added to my wedding cake baking inspiration folder.

    Those orchids are insane. How long did they take?

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  3. Beautiful cake Steph, well done. :)
    x
    Nicole
    http://nicolefranzen.blogspot.com/

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  4. Incredible to see something like that; something I could imagine pulling off in my wildest dreams. The white sugar pearls add a nice pop to the simple texture. GREAT flavors, too! You have fortunate friends.

    Cheers,

    *Heather*

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  5. *something I COULDN'T imagine pulling off... whoops!

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  6. Absolutely stunning! If I had another wedding, I would hire you in a heartbeat!

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  7. Your orchids are so amazingly realistic! And those flavors?!? What a delicious cake under all that beauty:)

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  8. Absolutely stunning!! I love the unique flavors of this cake.

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  9. Oh Steph, so gorgeous! I may have made the suggestion but I doubt I could have implemented it as beautifully as you. Bravo!

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  10. Amazing work with the flowers! I never would have thought that they were fake! The entire design is very, very cool, and I am very impressed that you were able to pull it off so flawlessly. The horizontal stripes in the buttercream are a very nice touch, as are the sugar pearls!

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  11. Thank you so much, all!

    @Poires au Chocolat: the flowers take about 2-3 days of work time to make but in between, the petals have to dry for a few days, so all in all, about a week.

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  12. Wow - that was a surprise - took my breath away!

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  13. Thank you Stephanie! Your cake made my wedding a unforgettable memory. I am very happy! <3

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  14. beautiful! what a work of art

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  15. wow!

    I remember you talking about the flowers at the BAFB meet-up, but not that they were orchids! These are crazy beautiful and realistic! Now I wish we had asked you to do our cake!!

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  16. Delurking to say I am speechless! (The irony.) I still can't believe those orchids aren't real. You really are incredible.

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  17. Wow, Steph! You really outdid yourself with this one. I think it's absolutely stunning. Cake = art. Brava!

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  18. I literally just stared at these pictures for 5 minutes with my mouth wide open. What a beautiful cake! The mango and (TWO! Two types of...!) ginger sound like a perfect complement to the dark chocolate.

    I hope you got to sample some of your artwork :)

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  19. You never fail to amaze me, awesome work Steph!

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  20. Now I want to have a wedding just so that I can order a gorgeous cake like that!! Can't believe those orchids are made out of sugar paste, they look too real.

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  21. Wow absolutely gorgeous!!! Great job!!!

    <3 Kelly

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  22. Sooo gorgeous, Steph! It makes me want to order a sugar orchid from you just to put in my room... Such lovely work! :)

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  23. Seriously...does your talent ever end??

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  24. whoa - they look like real orchids! and looks/sounds so delicious :)

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  25. I love the look if the frosting - how did you make it?

    http://londonreviewofcakes.blogspot.com

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  26. Thank you so much, everyone!

    @Ellie: the frosting is just a basic Italian meringue buttercream, and I used a spatula to create the vertical lines.

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  27. Wow! Simply beautiful cake! and I love all your photos!

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  28. oh my goodness, how beautiful! such talent.:)

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  29. simple and elegant, all it needs for a wedding cake. great job !

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  30. I am in complete awe! That is such a beautiful, beautiful cake!

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  31. You. are. amazing.

    Makes me want to get married all over again (and have you make the cake)! Maybe for my 10th wedding anniversary next year...

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  32. You. are. amazing.

    Makes me want to get married all over again (and have you make the cake)! Maybe for my 10th wedding anniversary next year...

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  33. Wow! Simply beautiful cake! and I love all your photos!

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  34. whoa - they look like real orchids! and looks/sounds so delicious :)

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  35. Wow - that was a surprise - took my breath away!

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  36. Now I want to have a wedding just so that I can order a gorgeous cake like that!! Can't believe those orchids are made out of sugar paste, they look too real.

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  37. Absolutely stunning!! I love the unique flavors of this cake.

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  38. Incredible to see something like that; something I could imagine pulling off in my wildest dreams. The white sugar pearls add a nice pop to the simple texture. GREAT flavors, too! You have fortunate friends.

    Cheers,

    *Heather*

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  39. This cake is absolutely unbelievable. I'm a little shocked, actually. Congratulations on being amazing. (Like a cake superhero of some kind. Seriously. Cake-woman.)

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I love hearing from you and reading your comments! Thanks so much for stopping by the blog. Happy feasting!