Cake-a-palooza Day 6

Three weeks and five posts later, I am finally back with the last cake. I have had the chance to design and create so many cakes in the past few months, it is hard to pick a favorite but this one is definitely up there. This is one of those cakes that makes me so excited for wedding season to get into full swing, and even though we may not be making cakes like this every weekend, there are some great designs lined up for the summer.

For now though, we have been getting in lots of practice with our window displays. We decided to go for a theme for the main window in the shop this time around, a modern spin on a midsummer nights dream. Succulents, muted purples and greens with a touch of metallics, plus a suggestion of lit vines dripping down from above, all come together in this 4-tiered stunner.

March is here, April is on the way, and then wedding season will be here before I know it. Stay tuned.

***Cake made by Bria Helgerson for Sugar Fixe Patisserie***

Cake-a-palooza Day 3

I'm gonna make this short since it has been a VERY long day and there is a glass of wine calling my name. So let's talk about this cake, which I have so lovingly named 'big blue'. This isn't a cake for the traditionalist, or the romantic. This cake is for someone who likes a little quirk, a little mod, maybe even a little hint of southwest flair. All of those things go together right? 

Right. This cake allowed me to practice one of my new favorite mediums. I have long been a user of petal dusts and luster dusts, but up until recently have only been using them by themselves, or mixed with alcohol. I may have been a little late to the game, but mixing dusts with a small amount of cooking oil, produces a much different, silky smooth finish. It also allows for a much more fluid brush stroke, which is how I created the pattern on the bottom two tiers. 

The feathers were also a first for me, and they almost became the death of me. Gum paste flowers have nothing on feathers when it comes to fragility, but the statement they make on this cake makes all the breakage and heartbreak worth it. 

**This cake was designed and made by Bria Helgerson for Sugar Fixe Patisserie. 

Cake-a-palooza Day 2

Day 2! Today we have a three-tiered beauty with gold leaf and watercolor panels.

I am an avid follower of fellow cake designers whether it be through blogs, Pinterest, twitter, or Facebook, or creeping in the windows of cake studios here in Chicago. Most of my time online is spent looking at wedding cakes, checking out whats new and trending in the industry, and gathering inspiration for designs of my own. 

I have always been a huge advocate of creative integrity, and of giving credit where credit is due. I try never to copy another cake artist's design, because that isn't fair to me, to said cake artist, or to the client who is expecting a custom, one of a kind cake. That does not mean that I don't get ideas from other cakes, but I always try to put a twist on them and make them my own. This cake includes some techniques and styles that were made popular by JessieCakes and AK Cake Design, but with my own spin. 

The dahlia is a flower I have been working on recently and there are so many types of dahlias that the variations and possibilities are endless. So you can probably expect to see many more from me in the future. 

*This cake was designed and created by Bria Helgerson, for Sugar Fixe Patisserie. 

Cake-a-palooza Day 1

I am about to make up for some lost time here. Get ready for a cake-a-palooza. 6 days, 6 cakes. Things are about to get real crazy at the bakery, so I figured I better post these pictures now, or they will sit on my hard drive for all eternity. Seven months after starting a new job at a bakery, I find myself once again in a management position. I realized I really missed bossing people around, but more importantly I missed being able to share and implement new ideas to help improve and grow the business. So here we go, let the madness begin once again.

It is almost March and we are quickly approaching wedding season. A few recurring trends you will see throughout the next few days are: metallics applied in new ways, intricate gum paste flower sprays, unexpected pops of color, and the merging of romantic and modern aesthetics.

First up a small but striking cake. The bottom tier is brushed with a metallic copper petal dust and is adorned with gum paste poppies, leaves, and berries in peach and copper hues. The top tier is left blank to showcase the detailed arrangement.

Stay tuned, more to come tomorrow.

*This cake was designed and created by Bria Helgerson, for Sugar Fixe Patisserie.

Ranunculus and Succulents...say that ten times fast.

I keep calling it spring. Even though I know it is officially summer, I just cannot seem to get it through my head. Spring has once again flown by without notice, and all of the sudden it is 85 degrees and sunny everyday. Well, almost every day. Usually on my days off from work it rains, so there's that.

Cake season is in full swing, and I have been cranking out wedding cakes at the restaurant like it's my job. Because it is my job, or was my job I suppose. I finished up the last wedding cake I will be doing at the restaurant this past weekend, after some hard decisions were made. I have been pushing and pushing for the last year to keep wedding cakes on the table as an option for our events, because it truly is the favorite part of my job. I learned, however, in this past year that plating desserts and charcuterie boards for service while trying to do watercolor work on a 4 tiered cake or attaching 50 tiny little gum paste petals to a sugar flower, is near impossible. I wasn't achieving the quality of work on my cakes that I know I am capable of, and that is a big disappointment.

So, for now, it's back to regular service at the restaurant, and the wedding cakes will move back into my own personal kitchen for the time being. I have taken for granted how much easier it is to bang out a four tiered cake when you have a large mixer and lots of full size sheet pans. For the next week and a half, it is back to baking at the apartment for a 4th of July wedding in Wisconsin.

These two cakes were by far my favorite from this spring's wedding season. The clients on both of these expressed that they loved my cakes and pretty much let me do whatever I wanted, with a bit of inspiration direction. I was able to push out of my comfort zone a bit, doing gum paste flowers that I hadn't attempted before including the ranunculus, and succulents. I also took my first swing at watercoloring an entire cake. There is something truly terrifying and incredibly awesome about taking a blue soaked paintbrush to a perfectly white, fondant-covered cake 3 hours before the start of a wedding. It wasn't perfect, but I learned a lot in the process and hope that I get a chance to do it again soon.

So, happy summer to all, I for one can't wait to see what this season has in store. Changes, growth, and more new challenges, or perhaps just more rain on my off days. Only time will tell.

Good as Gold

It's Saturday morning, and I am at home, drinking coffee, and...well, that's it actually. I am sitting in my pj-s, doing nothing. Nothing except writing this post. It feels wonderfully weird. No baking to do, no projects to work on, nothing. I get to spend some time with friends today whom I haven't seen in far too long, participate in some fall-themed activities, and share with you some goodies that I just haven't had the time to post.

A few years ago, I hinted not-so subtly on this very blog that I wanted Santa to bring me an airbrush machine for christmas. Santa pulled through, but unfortunately the machine was swiftly delegated to our second bedroom, otherwise known as the room where kitchen appliances go to die. When a friend of mine asked me to make her a anniversary cake, and showed me the picture of what she had actually wanted her wedding cake to look like (not what they ended up receiving unfortunately). I knew this was a perfect opportunity to resurrect and make use of my not-so new toy.

A smooth layer of buttercream, a quick coat of airbrush gold, and a light pressing of a textured paper towel, gave this cake it's antiqued look. For the flower, I rolled what felt like a million little balls out of fondant in multiple sizes and used royal icing to secure them to the center of the flower. Then I airbrushed the entire center and let it dry before affixing the petals.

Inside is my favorite devils food chocolate cake, frosted with vanilla italian meringue buttercream and filled with this raspberry curd mousse.

Raspberry Curd Mousse
recipe adapted from epicurious.com

12 oz raspberries
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 TBL lemon juice
2 TBL unsalted butter (room temperature)
pinch salt
1 tsp gelatin
1 TBL water
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Combine raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and butter in a food processor, and pulse until raspberries have broken down. Transfer to a saucepan, and whisk in the eggs and salt. Place pan over medium heat, and bring mixture to 175 degrees F, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, strain through a fine mesh sieve, and let cool to room temperature, whisking every few minutes to aid cooling. Combine water and gelatin and let bloom for 5 minutes. Melt gelatin and whisk into raspberry curd. When mixture has cooled to room temperature, whip the heavy cream to medium peaks. Add the raspberry curd and mix until combined. Chill until you are ready to fill your cake.

You can skip the gelatin if you want, but I found the raspberry curd to be a little runny to be filling layer cakes with. If you are using the curd or mousse for a different purpose you can omit it.