FAQ Friday!

Heehee, this is fun.

Q:  "Rachel, how do you work in a bakery and stay so small?  If I was around cakes all day, I'd weigh 1,000 pounds!"

A:  First of all, I don't think you can weigh 1,000 pounds and still be alive.  Second, contrary to popular belief, working in a bakery does not entail standing around eating cookies and cake all the live long day.  I would probably be fired.  Yes, I do taste items that I'm working on, and I always encourage interns to do the same.  How do you know if it's right/tasty/not rotten if you don't?  But a taste is a taste, not an entire serving.

Also, when you are around the same foods day after day, you tend to get a little tired of it (gasp!).  I like to use the example of working at Taco Bell:  I love Taco Bell, but I would imagine the people that work there, making Mexican Pizzas all day, every day, they would get sick of cheesy, beefy goodness too.

I did gain weight when I was in pastry school.  Talk about baked-goods overload.  We would make loads of pastries and whatnot, but unlike a bakery, it doesn't get sold and go out the door.  So it's there, and available, and free.  And your eating habits are so wacked out because you can't cook in your little dorm room and the cafeteria is getting old.  And you're excited and invincible because you're at college without Mom and Dad.  And you're still kinda hungover from drinking pineapple Captain Morgan until 2 am last night.  So...you eat it.  You eat it all...

My pastry labs lasted two years.  After that, I was working at a fast paced bakery and in Food Service Management classes full time.  I started running to de-stress, and got back to a comfortable size.  I truly believe in the European way of eating:  Smaller quantities of higher quality foods are the most satisfying.  Good things in moderation.  A croissant a day keeps the doctor away... 

The author, in Chocolate and Sugar Showpieces Class, Johnson and Wales University, circa 2005-ish.  Hello Kitty obsession will be addressed at a later date.  Pasty skin and under-eye circles due to lack of sleep, but she smiles wide!

Happy weekend!

Rachel

New weekly feature: FAQ's!

Hey kids!  I had been mulling over the idea of weekly answering some of the questions I get asked most often.  Then, last week, I had some great questions asked in the comments, sealing the deal.  Leave your questions in the comments, and I may feature the answer in a future post!

Kicking things off, here is the question I got from an anonymous reader last week:

Q:  "Hey Chef; when you begin your designs... You start with the texture of the cake first Or do you start with the overall design, the big picture and the set up of what the cake will look like?  Over the years, what have you learned that is different from what you were taught in school?  The cakes I see you do on the Fresh Fields Bakery and Café Facebook website are amazing! You do a great job And are inspiring!"

A:  Wow! Great questions! Thank you thank you.

It's kind of weird how designs come to me. Sometimes I know right away what the entire cake will look like, other times they evolve from a concept or element that I want to incorporate, such as a texture, colors, pattern, or theme. In my spare time, I cut out pictures from magazines that grab me, anything from clothes to landscapes, and I try to sketch a design based off that. So I would say, most of the time, there are one or two elements that a client wants, and the rest of the cake flows around that.

The work I do day to day is sooo different from what I learned in school! However, school was a great foundation to build off of and I wouldn't trade the experiences I had there for the world. It was one of the first times that I was able to work with a group of people that had the same goals and passions as I did. In school we learned very little about artistic design concepts, but that is something that has always come naturally for me. Also, the pace of school is much slower than reality working in a bakery. Time is money! Sometimes I wish I could spend the whole day perfecting a cake, but you have to finish up and get to the next one.


I look forward to answering more awesome questions like this one!

xoxo,
Rach

A Golden Birthday Cake

A big THANKS to Laura for her referrals and this cake order she placed for a friend over the weekend!  I was excited to use the luster dust painting technique I tried a while back with silver, but this time with gold.  I covered the cake with a think layer of ivory fondant, then used a wide, dry brush to apply gold luster that had been mixed with a little alcohol (the drinking kind).  I love black as an accent color, because it makes everything else really pop.  The swirls are hand-rolled fondant.

And did you notice the swirly "26" hidden in there?  Clever girl...

xoxo,
Rach

Airbrushing Gum Paste Flowers

Wedding season is about to begin!  I have my first two wedding cakes of the spring/summer months next weekend.  I almost wish it was this weekend because I'm raring to go.  Instead, I started prepping the gum paste flowers for the cake that belongs to the lovely bride Dana.

Dana chose a simple, white on white cake design with a tri-dot pattern, but the gum paste flowers we are adding to it will be the focus.  Her flowers for the wedding are bright, "tropical" colors, but she really liked the look of gum paste flowers for the cake.  For the less cake savvy, gum paste is a stiffer form of fondant that holds delicate formed and imprinted shapes very well and hardens when dry.  Most of the realistic looking sugar flowers that you see on cakes are made from gum paste.  Each petal is individually cut, shaped, wired, and often painted or air brushed before creating the actual flower.  

I don't have a lot of experience making these types of flowers, although it is on my bucket list to perfect them.  The less time consuming and relatively affordable option is to buy them pre-made.  I purchased tiger and calla lilies for Dana's cake from Pfiel & Holding (www.cakedeco.com).  I ordered them both in white, since they are sold in bulk, so that I could use the leftovers for other projects and color them accordingly.  I custom mixed the colors for these and airbrushed them.  The speckles on the tiger lilies were done using the butt-end of a paintbrush.

Before...

After!  That's my chub hand.

 

I bought the calla lily sprays because I wanted to use the filler and leaves.  I deconstructed them so that, when placed on the cake, I could create a more natural, flowing arrangement.  It also makes them easier to airbrush, although my hands still looked jaundice when I was done.

Before.  Scab hand.

After.  

All together now!

For an airbrush rookie, I think I did pretty well.  Dana also requested some magenta roses, which I will be enlisting Nick to make.  He's pretty much the rose expert.

Pie and posies,

Rachel

Magazine Shoot Inspiration

I just fell in love with this cake from Ruffledblog.com.  Ashley has me obsessed with DIY wedding blogs.  I dig the addition of vintage-looking jewelry.

Milk glass is so pristine, but the texture makes it chic and, dare I say, quirky.  Again, playing with texture is so fun to me.

Another textile inspired cake with jewelry elements.  This one found on Loveandlavender.com.

Hmmm, what will it be, what will it be???

Rach

Spring Birthday Cake

This cake was for my Aunt Nancy's niece (we aren't related) who turned 40 last week, hence the "Life Begins..." tag.  I was pretty much given free range on the design, though Nancy said it should be "girly, but sophisticated."  She also invited me to the party, and the response to the cake was no less than overwhelming!  There were about eight kids that were all fighting over who got to eat the bow, bee, etc.  I wish I had taken some close ups, because the magic is in the details:  A shimmering veil of gold luster dust.  Handmade ruffly flowers.  The fondant bee with almond slice wings.  There are some sparkly beads on wires to either side of the bow, which I had left over from a previous project.  These are the only part of the cake that is inedible.  

The base is buttercream, believe it or not.  I've been experimenting with tinted buttercream in the place of fondant for those who don't like fondant.  Pastel colors seem to work pretty well.  If you go too dark, it stains anything it touches, like say, my chef pants, or your mouth and teeth.  I knew I wanted to use a warm, springy color palate based around the trendy pink/coral color "Honeysuckle" that I've been seeing so much of lately.  I used that for the bow and the rest fell into place.  If it were a dress, I'd wear it!

Love and cake,

Rachel

If the shoe fits...

{In my next life, I'm going to open a store for petite women of style.  It will have a cheesy name along the lines of "Short and Busty," and we'll sell small sizes with ample boob room and shoes for little feet like mine.}

I have searched high and low for shoes for Ashley's wedding.  First, they had to be a light shade of pink to go with our grey dresses.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Well, not when I'm both frugal, picky, and wear an odd size, 5 1/2.  I wanted shoes that were dressy enough for the wedding, but also that I could dress down and wear again without having to wait for another fancy event.  Also, the ceremony is outside.  I was hoping for a wedge heel or something less spiky to avoid the whole lawn-aerating effect, if you follow my drift.  Speaking of aeration, my feet tend to get hot, so a peep toe or something that breathes is nice.  Enter "Step in the Name of Love" from ModCloth.com...

Note to self: Grey tights!

I kept looking after I found these because I thought $90 was a lot for shoes, but that's because I'm used to spending about $20 at Target (my leopard print ones are ridiculously cool and cost $25).  After scouring the usual internet sites, malls, and even Etsy for vintage, these were the clear winner.  I love the mid-height heal (easy to walk in for long periods of time), made in my size, the perfect shade of pale pink, and bonus rose gold insoles!  A splurge made possible by my tax returns :)

Here are the honorable mentions, who didn't make the cut for one reason or another.

Alice by Nine West, Via Zappos.com

Mezzo by Enzo Angiolini, Via Piperlime.com

Hilari by Fioni, Via Payless.com

Tiffany by Kelsi Dagger, Via Sears.com

What do you think - did I make the right choice?

Love,

Rachel

Giselle Photos Revisited

My own MOTHER was too lazy to follow the instructions to view the photo's from Giselle's first birthday shoot, so I'm going to make it easy on you all and post them.  This is made possible by the generosity of Agape Photography,  who sent me prints of these two photos and digital copies to use for promotional purposes.  Seriously, the prints are even more gorgeous in person.

xoxo,
Rachel

Announcements, announcements, annoooouuuuncements!

I received a wonderful phone call at work yesterday!  I have been asked to design a cake for Minnesota Brides Magazine!  The story will be similar to this, featuring several local bakeries.  The theme is "Black and White" - one of my favorite color (or colorless) combinations.  Black and white can be bold, dainty, understated, simple, or complex, and I love it any which way.  I have not decided what I will do yet, but I have a couple sketches I'm thinking about.  I would like to come up with a concept that is sophisticated, but not so outlandish that it is intimidating or would cost a fortune to recreate.  If I have learned anything about Minnesota brides in my first year here, it's that they lean on the traditional, understated side.  Is that my personal style?  No, but I think we can find a happy medium.

Here are some of my favorite black and white cakes I've done over the years.

Saved the best for last...this is probably my favorite cake of ALL TIME.  I can't claim the design, it was copied from this picture:

 Cake by Cake Girls in Chicago

But damn!  Is that a darn near perfect replica or what?!  I actually like mine better because I made the flowers out of chocolate so they were popping off the cake and really made it come alive.  Picking a design for the mag is going to be so hard!

Ebony and ivory love,
Rachel

Hayley Williams Cosmo Cover!

Via cocoperez.com

OMG I love Hayley!  Usually I hate Cosmo (too much "What your man wants" not enough "What you want")  but I have to get my hands on a copy of this.  And it will probably be for free at the salon, bahahahaha.  

My buddy Elle and I saw Paramore perform at The Filmore in Denver last year and girl can work a stage!  Not only that, she changes her haircolor about as often as I do :)  Power to the unique beauties of the world!

Love and hairdye,
Rachel

Dare I say....Swim Suit Season?

Anyone who has spent two minutes in my presence lately has probably heard me curse the weather in Minnesota.  Not only has this been what seems to be the longest winter of my life, we've also broken records for snowfall, I've driven in a blizzard with a decapitated windshield wiper, had to wear tights under my jeans, watch my skin turn the color of oatmeal, and I'm now contemplating light therapy.  I'm THISCLOSE to cranking the heater to 80 and blasting beach sounds on the stereo.  Mmm, margaritas....

Hence, I bring you a crave-list of swimwear.

$84.90, Volcom, via Alloy.com

$89.50, B. Swim Tutu, via Delias.com

On sale!, Victoria's Secret.com

 

$109, La Blanca, via Nordstom.com

 

$38 and $44, Roxy, via Nordstrom.com

Love,

Rach 

Ashley's Wedding Cake #2

Cakes by Cake Ink Events

Have I mentioned lately how EXCITED I am for Miss Ashley's wedding?!?!?   She recently turned me on to Elizabeth Ann Designs and I found the exact inspiration I needed to finish the designs of her final two wedding cakes.  The photo above is reminiscent of our vision for the wedding, although this is on a smaller scale.  I would estimate the above as shown would serve up to 100 guests.  Ashley is inviting the entire west coast.  

I knew this was Cake #2 instantly.  Ashley had shown me a couple other designs similar to this, but the proportions really got me here.  The colors are spot on, too.  However, I'll be making some adjustments.  First, the icing will be the palest pink, with grey ribbons.  It is really important to me that the cakes, like those in the first picture, mesh together and stand as a whole.  I was looking for them to all have a common threat beyond the fresh peonies and colors, and that has become the pearl buttons.  Remember the buttons coming down the front of the cake resembling her dress?  Those are going to pop up on all of the cakes, but in different ways: Alternating sides on the three tier, and around the bases of the two tier - a la a pearl necklace, which I think Ashley is wearing the day of.  I'm extremely happy with the final result!

What about cake #3, you ask?  Those squiggles are a flowery lace design.  I'll have more about her later.  Patience!

Lastly, a little visual on the French Macaron favors we will be creating (but in lemon/yellow).  These and the wedding cake in the photo were created by Two Fat Cats Bakery in Maine.  I love that name cuz I love me some cake and cats.

 All photos (other than my shoddy sketch) are via http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com/blog/

I can't wait until these photos are of the real deal! 

Love,

Rach