Sweet Escapes by Jenn

Archive for the ‘Weddings’ Category

Behind Every Cake is a STORY

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

By now you should know that I LOVE telling stories. My vision for a designer cake company was that not only would the final product be presented but the story behind it too. Who is the cake for? What is the relationship between the person who bought it and the recipient? Why is it designed a certain way? I love stories And by now, you should know that I get emotionally attached to my creations sometimes and have difficulty letting it go. I absolutely CANNOT WATCH my cake being cut/eaten (although that’s the cake’s life purpose). Little did you know, I have a relationship with each cake. I have a story too

I did this wedding cupcake tower for a friend as a favour. I never do more than one wedding per week and this was #3 that week! I was really hesitant because I wanted to do a good job on every order and accepting 3 wedding orders that week was pushing my limits. But I did it anyway because I have troubles saying, “no”

I had full design “executive powers” over this cake and all the bride wanted was, “BLUE”. And “FLOWERS”… so I came up with this design. I stamped each cupcake topper with J for the groom and N for the bride. 200 cupcakes sounds like a lot and LET ME TELL YOU… it was A LOT. I would like to call this story, “the fondant toppers that kept going and going”… because late into the night, I was still stamping, sticking and sparkling.

Their wedding was on a Sunday and even when I got home from church, I wasn’t finished with the cake yet. The delivery was at 3pm and it was my first wedding delivery by myself to a far location that I’ve never been to. So much pressure! And it was HOT outside. Sun + cupcakes = melted MESS! Eeks! So I had to rush and luckily it turned out how I had envisioned it in my head. When I got to the restaurant (an hour early *phew!*), I saw a big sign on the door that said, “CLOSED”. You could only imagine what was going through my head! I was panicking and pulled out my phone to call my friend who ordered the cake. I squinted my little Asian eyes and saw people in the restaurant and luckily someone opened the door for me. They were closed because of the wedding! Relief.

The rhinestone buckle was my favourite part of this cake!

It took 30 minutes to set-up and I felt so relieved. But more so, I felt God’s presence with me the whole time! Even though it was my first delivery “alone”, He was still with me in the car as I drove, keeping my cupcakes together (NOT melting!) and His peace was in my heart as I set-up the tower. When I look at these photos, I not only think about how I am never going to accept 3 wedding orders per week until my studio is set-up but I am reminded of God’s grace and how He was FAITHFUL and how He was with me the whole time!

Posted in Cakes, Tiered Cakes, Weddings | No Comments »

Polka Dot Wedding

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Good morning, Monday!

I had an amazing weekend of orders but I’m so relieved it’s Monday. Today’s agenda is filled with CHRISTMAS stuff. Can you believe it’s already been a year? Crazy!

I got to do a special wedding cake yesterday for a high school friend’s older sister. I love what I do because it reconnects me with people from my past (this being one of the many examples). She wanted a red-and-white themed polka dot cake with anemone flowers and a monkey bride and a penguin groom topper. I have a new-found appreciation for SIMPLE cakes because less is definitely more! I am also loving the double ribbon border around the cake and the board. Something about red ribbon makes my heart sing.

Posted in Cakes, Special Occasions, Weddings | No Comments »

An Elegant Wedding Cake

Friday, September 21st, 2012

Have you ever started a task thinking it was going to be easy but it turns out to be not-as-you-expected and maybe you even want to give up mid-way? I had that experience this weekend.

It’s the end of my late summer/early autumn wedding streak and I am relieved to say that I’m DONE. I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am, by no means, at the end of the tunnel because as a business owner, you always have to be proactive and FORWARD-THINKING. I guess it doesn’t make sense that I can see the light since I’m still in the tunnel… wait, do tunnels have windows?! Or holes? What’s currently on my ‘cake board’? CHRISTMAS DESIGNS! (if Hallmark can display ornaments now, Jenn can start thinking about the holiday season! )

One of the things that I LOVE about what I do is that it connects me with new people, ones that I have never met before who read my blog and most importantly, it enables me to keep relationships with people from the past. This weekend proved that statement to be true. My friend and fellow manager at Richtree was getting married and wanted me to do her cake.

So, you know… I did her cake

She wanted elegant drapery on her porcelain white cake with big sugar flowers with a baby pink trim. It sounded easy in my head but it was definitely not so. I never realized DRAPING fondant was so dang difficult! Let’s just say, I had to do and re-do and re-do each layer ’till it was perfect. I am a perfectionist… (I kind of have to be).

I did the bottom tier first, the middle tier second and the top tier last. By the time I got the “hang” of it, it was already at the last tier and I couldn’t re-do the other two because they had hardened already. That’s why my favourite “drape” is the top tier one!

Although I didn’t have an option besides continuing on and doing the best that I could do, I’m glad I stuck with it because now I can add this to my growing portfolio of “I’m so glad I didn’t give up” photos

I’m SOOOOO getting “draped” fondant for my wedding cake. It’s just so purdy (when executed properly *ahem!*)

This journey is definitely not easy but it is so incredibly worth it!

Posted in Tiered Cakes, Weddings | No Comments »

Seashell Wedding Cake

Monday, August 27th, 2012

Happy Monday, everyone! Am I the only one excited for Mondays? (I will take the deadly silence and sound of crickets chirping as a yes) I had a busy few days putting together a wedding cake for my friends’ wedding last night and I had the privilege of attending it as a guest as well. Double excitement!

It was a beach-themed wedding and had the ceremony and reception at Palais Royale Ballroom (next to CNE — you can imagine it was buckets of fun commuting there with a 3-tier cake on my lap + crazy carnival traffic. Eek) and it was the most gorgeous wedding I’ve ever attended. The ceremony was outdoor with the beach and lake as a backdrop and it was quite picturesque! I’m always wary of outdoor weddings and wonder if I’d be courageous enough to have mine outdoor because it is dependent on weather conditions and they’re always changing. Luckily, today’s weather was PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL–sunshine with just a slight breeze to stay cool and not gusty winds (a la Marilyn Monroe’s dress, ha!)

There were about 20 of us and we had a BLAST! This was the first wedding I went to with a photo booth. We abused it. Badly. (Exhibit A)

I’m surprised we all fit into it. Let’s just say, this was one of our “proper” shots. We weren’t sure what we were doing and the flashes came quickly. I would ask before each shot, “Is this a serious one or goofy one? SERIOUS OR GOOFY?!?!?!”… I didn’t want everyone to pose properly and there I was doing the fob “peace” sign or worse–sticking my tongue out! And if it were the other way around (them = goofy, me = serious), I don’t want people to ask, “What’s up with Jenn?!”

Here’s a very PINKY shot of the cake. I love, love LOVEEEE this cake and I let out a tiny *gasp* when they cut it. With every knife-cut, my heart bled a little more. It’s been exactly TWO YEARS (Labour Day 2010) since I made my first wedding cake and it does not get easier watching people cut into your cake. HEY! A lot of love went into it!

The couple who ordered their wedding cake from me (two years ago) were also at tonight’s reception and I THANKED them for believing in me because their faith and support gave me the confidence to make more wedding cakes and do this for a living!

Can’t wait to show you the topper on this cake! Notice it’s strategically cut-off here… hee hee! Everything on this cake was handmade. Will post more detailed pictures later this week.

Have a great day, you!

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Surprises

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

I just love surprises. But I must admit that it’s really difficult for others to surprise me because I’m very observant and paranoid about EVERYTHING (I prefer to call it being conscientious! )

Oh! Before I get to the surprise… check out the fine details from Deb and Nick’s wedding cake from the previous post. I’m addicted to my iPhone and I love INSTAGRAM. Instagram, where have you been all my life? Because of my convenient new app, I find that I’m getting lazier and not taking my usual studio shots with my SLR. I know I’ll need those photos for future promotional purposes and for my portfolio but who can resist all the filters that Instagram offers?! AND I can post it INSTANTLY on my Facebook/Twitter, tag my friends, my locations (so it’s easier for people to stalk me) AND check out what my friends are doing/eating/wearing that day. Clearly, it does not compare!

We had a surprise birthday dinner last night with a bunch of close friends and got the birthday boy GOOD! I picked him up from his place and told him we were headed to a business meeting with an old boss. He asked me a bunch of questions… how old is he? What’s his name? What’s his occupation? Where does he live? Marital status?. I couldn’t even focus on driving cause I had troubles remembering all my lies and clearly I cannot multitask! He got really frustrated with me because I wouldn’t answer his questions (and the answers I was giving were contradicting each other)… and I was frustrated because of all the questions. I’M TRYING TO DRIVE!!

When we got to the restaurant, all our friends yelled “SURPRISE!” and my heart could let go of its breath! He was… surprised

(and I can stop lying – YAY!)

I read somewhere that when giving someone a gift, always think about how they will feel when they open it. I like to give experiences instead of actual gifts (unless it’s cake/cupcakes) because gifts are great but when you give an experience, they will remember that feeling forever!

I’m heading to the zoo with the boys tomorrow–their first zoo trip! And I have a never-made-before confection to post, hopefully before the weekend. I have a crazy rest-of-the-week ahead (4 weddings to close, multiple coffee dates on top of my cake orders)… have Sunday/Monday off… and Tuesday I’m off to North Carolina. I come back the 3rd week of August and might take an impromptu trip to LA to surprise someone and then coming back to prep for all my weddings.

Busy is an understatement. But I love my lifeeee!

(I also saw a midnight showing of Batman last night and I want to be Catwoman so badly!!!

) –random, I know… but I’ve been thinking about that the whole day.

Posted in Best Things in Life, Birthdays, Weddings | No Comments »

Deb & Nick’s Wedding Cake

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

This weekend I got the honour of making Deborah & Nicolas’ wedding cake. It was a crazy task since each tier was uber heavy, had graceful swags piped on and sugar flowers… oh, the sugar flowers that gave me nightmares!

I was watching Dragon’s Den & putting these lavender flowers together. Love! (I wish everyone’s job was as fun as mine!)

I met Deb at combat class and we hit it off right away. Let me tell you how I started taking these intense classes…

I’ve been taking combat classes since mid-2011 and LOVE it but it didn’t start off that way. I took it 3 years ago and gave up within the first 10 minutes vowing never to embarrass myself doing such a coordinated and difficult workout in front of other people… who have eyes. Last year I turned over a new leaf and decided to try it again… within the hour, I wanted to quit 57 times. “I’m going to die… this is so hard… I am so uncoordinated…”, said my inside voice. I was discouraged and drained by all the negativity, week after week… and finally decided that all the negative thoughts had to GO. Before my next class, I gave myself a pep talk… “You can do this! It’s only an hour… just follow the instructor and don’t worry about what other people think. Think of how good you will feel after the class is done. I believe in you!”.

After that day, my life changed for the better. I did combat every week and each week, I chose to have control over my thoughts and over my life. I chose to not be scared of anything and to conquer my fears. I chose to fight through the pain, the negative thoughts and the constant, nagging voice telling me that giving up would be so much easier. I would mark down in my calendar when I went to the classes and felt such a sense of accomplishment when I look back at the months passed and saw that I didn’t miss a class. PROGRESS!

The new releases became easier to master and my instructor and I became great friends. Along with that, I met so many amazing people including Deb and her cousins–The Combat Squad!

I look forward to seeing them each week because working out should be a FUN and social event (it makes the time pass by quicker

).

That’s how I got to make this weekend’s cake.

I got to take what I learned from class and apply the skills to the real world. No, I did not roundhouse-kick my cake even though at 4am, the icing was melting off the cake and all I wanted to do was cry and sleep… (and sleep more and then cry when I woke up)… BUT I persevered. I fought through the frustration, calmed myself down and broke down what I needed to do into smaller, manageable tasks. I popped the cake in the fridge, thickened my icing with meringue powder and icing sugar and continued on. “Quitting” and “giving up” was all I thought about but if I did, Deb and Nick wouldn’t have gotten their cake! I reminded myself that I was STRONGER than these negative thoughts creeping into my head telling me that this cake was beyond me.

And guess what?

Deb and Nick got their cake!

Posted in Cakes, Weddings | No Comments »

A Snowflake Wedding

Monday, December 12th, 2011

“One crazy weekend” would be the 3 words I’d choose to describe the past few days. Lots of orders, lots of new clients and of course, lots of fun! It has also occurred to me that I am extremely OCD and ~~want~~ demand things to be done a certain way. And when things don’t go my way… Jenny no happy!

I rarely attend the weddings I cater so attending my good friend Trish’s wedding was a definite treat for me! The cake was pretty straightforward and simple — 3-tier white cake with navy blue ribbon and cascading snowflakes. The “something new” for me would be adding the Grecian pillars because the groom wanted the cake to be higher (and you know, it’s 20% his wedding too!

). I have NEVER used pillars on a wedding cake before so I was really nervous about it. Will the cake collapse? Will the four pillars be strong enough to hold the top tier? Will our friendship be ruined because of this potentially ruined cake? So many worries!

Behind every cake is a story and when I look at the cakes I’ve made in the past, I don’t only see a whimsical design or matching colours–I remember the people and the memories that the sugarwork represents. When I look at this cake, I don’t think about all those long nights I stayed up to cut, emboss and paint each snowflake, how my hands and sometimes face were covered in glitter that matched Trish’s invites or even how MOST of snowflakes I made BROKE even before I could put them on the cake. Instead, I am reminded of the first time I met with Trish at Panorama Lounge, 51 floors above street level to discuss the vision for her dream cake. I remember the first time I met Avo, her then-fiance, now-husband, when the three of us sat down in the food court at Fairview mall to confirm the design and flavours of each tier. I couldn’t stop but marvel at how perfect they were for each other. Everything about their personality complemented each other so incredibly well. They were so cute and so in love.

This cake reminds me that true love exists.

Posted in Cakes, Weddings | 2 Comments »

Pink + Black Wedding

Monday, September 12th, 2011

Happy Monday, everyone! Yesterday’s cupcake delivery to Toronto Hunt Club was super succesful. I iced all my cupcakes on-site and although I thought it’d be easy, it took a lot longer than I had anticipated. I thought it would take me 30-45 minutes (you know, cause I’m superpastrygirl ) but it actually took closer to 2 hours! Wowwwwie! I’m a perfectionist so everything had to be perrrrfect.

Let me tell you a little bit about my experience! My stomach was in knots and my heart was RACING all the way there. My first worry was the giant cupcake topper. I told myself that I’d ice it at the club but I got carried away and iced it at home. Have you ever tried to deliver a top-heavy 5-layer cupcake cake that weighed close to 6 lbs and iced with perfectly swirled buttercream that is prone to melting? (your response: “no”). I THOUGHT SO! It wasn’t fun transporting it. Every sudden “STOP” at a light, every turn… the cake would shift in the box (on my lap) and my heart would drop a little. It was one rollercoaster ride there, I can tell ya that!

But nevertheless, it made it in one piece. I brought two piping bags of extra buttercream, just in case. As a pastrychef, you have to have an eye for detail, be prepared for ANY situation (toppled cake, melted buttercream) AND you have to be a bunch of crazies. Luckily, I am all those things

As I got to the club, I got a beautiful glimpse of where the ceremony was set up. Perfectly lined white chairs with a beautiful white arch in an open space outside with the picturesque lake and clear blue sky as the backdrop. Today was the perfect weather for an outdoor wedding. I was always against outdoor weddings… I mean, don’t you have enough to worry about on your big day let alone worry about the weather? But now, I might re-consider!

The set-up went smoothly but took a while. The cake table was positioned in front of a big window with plenty of sunshine streaming in and I had a beautiful view of the lake as I iced the cupcakes

I had bagged all my icing (approximately 10lbs) with piping tips so I didn’t have to refill the bags and that saved a lot of time. The bride also requested sparkly glitter on each cupcake in ROSIE and SOUR APPLE. The cupcakes were: chocolate cupcake/strawberry buttercream, red velvet cupcake/strawberry buttercream and chocolate cupcake/key lime buttercream. The cupcake topper was 5 layers of red velvet with strawberry buttercream and finished with Princess Pink vanilla frosting. The bride requested a black + pink bow (either with polka dots, stripes or some sort of geometric design) but I couldn’t find it so I bought black wired organza and a super glittery pink ribbon to overlap and accent the bow. She loved it!

Who doesn’t love glitter!???

Afterwards, I went out to TREAT myself for another successful wedding delivery. I had a red bean freeze in which Aiden {almost 2} drank half of it and when I told him it was MY “special” drink, he wanted it even more. He finished all the milk part and left me with the beans. Now that’s love!

Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes, Weddings | 1 Comment »

Cherry Blossom Cake

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

I’m so in love with this cake. You don’t even understand. I’ve lost sleep thinking about this cake because it’s so simple, everything has to be perfect. No blemishes, perfectly levelled with a smooth finish… beauty. I got the honour of making this cake for Andrew and Diane’s wedding at the Old Mill Inn today. I couldn’t have asked for better weather because forecast showed that there were going to be thunderstorms and the rain behaved obediently and stayed in the clouds up in the sky. Cake and precipitation don’t mix, FYI

The lovely couple’s theme was blue cherry blossoms–from the centerpieces to the invitations–everything was adorned with tiny blue flowers. The banquet hall was quite magical, the whole venue was! It had an old Victorian feel to it and I love it!

This cake took a lot out of me–in a good way–and it reminded me why I love what I do so much. Each tier consisted of 3 cake layers and each layer was baked separately to ensure maximum moisture and fluffiness (yup, 9 in total) which was a lot of extra work but totally and completely worth the results. All the ingredients were measured and sifted multiple times, mixed and baked with extra attentiveness, cut and levelled with precision, iced and assembled with care, handcrafted each flower and delicately painted each blossom. This cake was made with lots of love. I am extremely happy with the results and my heart can sleep peacefully tonight!

The groom saw it and loved it! I’m so happy for them–they truly are a lovely couple.

More pictures to come.

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Sweet Words

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Thanks so much for your hard work on the cupcakes and the cake! Many guests told me that they loved the cupcakes, and some asked if the cake on top was real – they thought it was fabric!

Thanks again for your hard work and the spare cupcakes! They turned out beautifully and there were only 4 or 5 cupcakes left over which were quickly eaten by one of my bridesmaids the next morning.
- The Bride

Posted in Cupcakes, Weddings | No Comments »