Beautiful Cake and Cupcake Stands - Handmade!

Whoever says 'social networking' isn't the perfect medium for finding some of the best products around is dead wrong.  We met up with a very talented woodworking artist on facebook who makes the most beautiful cake and cupcake stands by hand, Robert Edward Woodworking.  We were so impressed with his work we asked him for permission to post some of his pieces on our blog to share with you. I can just imagine our decorated cakes or cupcakes sitting on these stands in an elegant venue! Please read more about Robert below:

"My love for woodworking started at a very young age – probably about 10 or 12.  I was always making things from scrap pieces of wood from my Dad’s workshop. As I got older, my attention shifted to pencil sketching, oil painting and much later photography – particularly architectural photography.

During a recent trip to Savannah, Georgia I took many photographs of all the beautiful homes in the historic district. I thought I might try and sell some of my work. One of the homes I photographed was the Mercer Williams House, in my opinion, the most beautiful home in Savannah. I sent some of my photographs to the owner and Carriage Shop manager and we developed a very good relationship. I mentioned to the Shop Manager that I do woodworking – things like very detailed bird feeders, candle holders and planters. The Shop Manager liked my work, but didn’t think there was a market for it. She suggested I build a replica of one of the gazebos in Savannah and try to sell it as a wedding cake topper. Since this gazebo was popular for weddings, it might be of interest to wedding planners.

It took me several months to build the gazebo, but once it was completed, I was totally hooked on woodworking. Building that gazebo convinced me to start a woodworking business and in 2008 Robert Edward Woodworking was born. The gazebo cake topper idea never really took off, but it lead to the cake stand concept after speaking with one of the wedding planners in Savannah."

 Following are some of Robert's spectacular stands we can't wait to use!

Please visit Robert at www.robertedwardwoodworking.com to see more of his work.

5 Days of Christmas: Part V

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This cake is a little extra special for me as it was made for my step-grandson who cannot eat eggs or gluten. So what's a baker to do!! I found a great gluten-free recipe (see below) and used an egg-replacer by Ener-G. The cake is wrapped in a chocolate transfer which you can find at cake decorating stores or online (just search 'chocolate transfer sheet').

The hardest part about this cake was the white chocolate curls on top - it took several tries to get them to curl properly, but after working with the chocolate for a while I found it was 'all in the wrist.' I used a vegetable peeler on a white chocolate bar and put more pressure on the end of the peeler that was away from me; then flicked my wrist in a 'curling' action, and voila! white chocolate curls!

For a good step-by-step tutorial on wrapping a chocolate transfer around a cake go to Fancy Flours.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake: (recipe taken from Bob's Red Mill website)

Ingredients

•1-1/2 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
•1 cup Brown Sugar
•1/2 cup Cocoa powder, unsweetened
•1 tsp. Baking Soda
•1 tsp. Xanthan Gum
•3/4 tsp. Salt
•1/2 cup Milk (cow, soy or rice)
•1/3 cup Butter, Margarine or Shortening
•1 large Egg (I used the egg replacement for this but you can use an egg if desired)
•1 tsp. Vanilla
•3/4 cup warm brewed Coffee
Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 11" X 7" nonstick pan (note: I used 2-6" rounds). Set aside. Place all ingredients, except coffee, in large bowl and blend with electric mixer. Add coffee and mix until thoroughly blended. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Serves 12.

Guest Blogger Debi Brim: Groom's Cake

I don't think I know anyone in the cake decorating world that isn't familiar with Debi Brim's wonderful creations, her witty comments, and her generosity in advising others. My business partner, Pam, and I have both benefited greatly from her advice and probably avoided a lot of headaches when we opened our bakery .

Debi graciously agreed to guest blog for us this week. Please check out the article below for a great cake and a little history!

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I  had a groom who was an outdoorsman. I made this Tree Stump cake for them. The 3-layer cake is covered in fondant, then hand-painted to look like a tree stump. The bride and groom's initials were carved into the trunk and I hand painted the carving with a dry gold luster dust to make it stand out. The green foil covered base resembles a grassy base.

This was then displayed on my Slice-of-Tree cake stand, handmade by Bill Dickinson of Dickinson Custom Furniture in Greenfield IND. I had asked Bill to keep an eye out for a nice big slice of wood just for this purpose and it took him about 3 months to find the right piece for me. He did a great job!

Adding some decorative fall leaves and some rose petals added to the look of this autumn wedding groom's cake.

The history of a groom's cake are vague and varied. In ancient times, it was believed if a single girl slept with a slice of groom's cake under her pillow, she would dream of the man she would marry. Groom's cakes were usually a fruit cake, or a dark (read "chocolate") liquor soaked cake.

Today, groom's cakes are getting very creative, reflecting the groom's (or sometimes, the couple's) interests, such as a hobby, favorite sports team, etc. They are served at the rehearsal dinner, as a midnight snack after the wedding, and sometimes alongside the traditional wedding cake.

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Debi is also a very gifted writer/poet. Please check out her wonderful writing collection for a little inspiration.

5 Days of Christmas: Part IV

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This is one of my favorite holiday cakes because the sheen is so intense. We achieve this by airbrushing with a mixture of pearl dust and Everclear. If you don't have an airbrush, Pearl Spray by PME works very nicely. I also love the poofy two-toned bow look!

The cake is our 'secret' red velvet recipe filled with Toba Garrett's Cream Cheese recipe. Our customers really like this filling as it is not overly sweet like so many other cream cheese fillings. The cake is iced in a vanilla white chocolate ganache - we find what works best is to boil 1 part heavy cream with 2 Tbsp vanilla extract and add to 3 parts white chocolate; stir to a smooth consistency; let rest overnight and your ganache will be the texture of a creamy peanut butter - perfect for icing your cake and super smooth under the fondant.

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5 Days of Christmas: Part III

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Here's a pic of our carved Christmas tree cake. Although it looks a bit difficult it was actually quite simple to make once we broke it down. The hardest part of making this cake was going back to high-school math to calculate the angles (yes, my teachers were right when they told me 'you'll use this again!").

Its a three-tier cake with each tier carved at an angle, covered in fondant, and stacked using pillars extending above the tiers (we wrapped the pillars in red fondant). The cake is sitting on a base of styrofoam draped in red fondant for the tree trunk.  

Anyone who knows my decorating methods will recognize my favorite part of this cake - the little gumpaste figures under the cake. I can work on these little things all day!

5 Days of Christmas: Part II

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So what is better than a big stack of holiday presents? Well, holiday presents you can eat of course! Er...on second thought, that holds true unless the presents are diamonds, cashmere, etc... you get the picture!

The base cake is a 14" spice cake with layers of yummy Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue  (add a touch of cinnamon or allspice to this recipe for a little extra taste).

The presents on top of the large cake are made of tiny layers of almond frangipane cake sandwiched together with apricot jam.



5 Days of Christmas: Part I

Even though our Bogota, NJ bakery is located 15 minutes from the bustling metropolis of Manhattan, I often feel like I'm working in Mayberry. Bogota seems to have withstood the test of time and everyone knows everyone and everyone is involved in everything.

Our fire inspector, who is also the president of the town's 'Beautification Committee' (I use that term loosely), has taken great care of us along with the rest of his team, and we like to take care of them by delivering bags of goodies every so often to show our appreciation. We are debating the design for this year's Fire Department cake, but last year the following is what we dropped off:

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The cake is made using Syliva Weinstock's Yellow Cake recipe  which we find bakes up sturdy enough to withstand carving yet is still quite moist. Santa and the fire hat brim are made from gumpaste.

If you have any fun cake ideas we can do for the folks at the fire department this year, please drop us a comment.