The Fondanista Files

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2010-08-03T08:14:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

I've recently re-vamped my website and have moved my blog posts directly onto my website. Just click on the blog tab! Thanks...

Fondanista Files Blog

Julie

Now that's how you do "Inclement Weather"!

2010-06-13T22:51:00.000-06:00

When brides tell me that they are planning on holding their receptions at an outdoor venue, I think that I worry as much as they do that the weather may not cooperate. In fact, I had to move my own wedding indoors when a rogue wind storm came through 18 years ago! All of the careful planning and everything you envision for your wedding comes to a screeching halt when you hear that fateful weather report and you see the first rain clouds.

However, I had the pleasure of doing two weddings this weekend where the bride put her foot down and worked around the rain to thwart the unexpected weather (I mean really, is it too much to ask for nice weather in June?).

This is Emily and Wes. They had a cool wedding...both literally and figuratively! But as you can see, they are both happy and smiling:

The reception turned out extremely lovely. They set up tents, moved things around and it was all very romantic! The reception was poolside and the steam coming off the pool in the rain was so beautiful.

We decided to use the couple's monogram on cupcakes which made them elegant and casual at the same time.

Shawn is the name of the other brave bride I mentioned above. Coincidentally, her new husband's name is Shawn as well (perhaps that's fate, not coincidence!) We decided to borrow the fantastic monogram from the couple's invitations and use it on the cake as well: "S squared."

So, to all of those brides who fear that their beautiful receptions will be ruined by crazy weather, remember that inclement weather can be beautiful too.

The Well-Groomed Cake

2010-06-02T22:02:00.001-06:00

Well, it's wedding season and along with beautiful wedding cakes comes the wacky, outrageous, sometimes weird, but always interesting groom's cakes. I recently did another spot on Studio 5 dedicated to groom's cakes...If you've ever had a question about groom's cakes, take a look!

Studio 5 spot

Doesn't that just make you want to run out and get some Armadillo soup? :)

I have a couple of other favorite cakes I wanted to show you since I've been on my "blog hiatus":

This cake was so much fun... a graduation cake for guy who loves Mac n' Cheese almost as much as I love cake:

Of course diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I would definitely say shoes and accessories come in a close second. This cake was a combination graduation/birthday cake. My favorite part is the Chanel sunglasses!

May the 4th Be With You...

2010-05-04T15:51:00.001-06:00

Okay, I have no idea how I'm going to cohesively tie these cakes together. So, I'm not going to even try! The fun part of my job is that I get to do a variety of different cakes in a week's time...keeps me from getting bored. So although I'd like to come up with a clever theme, I'm afraid it's impossible. My good friend and awesome assistant, Suzie, is responsible for the blog title! Here you go:

This was a birthday cake for a groom in an upcoming wedding. His fiance wanted to surprise him with it prior to the wedding. This one was a blast, but also a challenge. When all was said and done, it was well over 15" high and weighed a ton! The best part is that it had a sound component (Darth Vader breathing).

This next cake was for a beautiful wedding at Sundance. What a beautiful setting for a wedding. I must say that although the cake is not typical of my style, it turned out perfectly. All of the nuts and berries are sugar.

Fashion Trends

2010-04-25T08:03:00.007-06:00

One of my favorite places to find design inspiration is the fashion world. Whatever is hot in accessories, clothing or home decor is hot in cake design! Here are a couple recent examples that I had a blast doing...

This cake was for a bridal shower for one of my favorite clients. I had some help with the jewelry on this one and I think it turned out fantastic. Notice the Tiffany bracelet on the board...awesome!

Another trend that I am loving right now is the chandelier motif. Here is an ultra modern yet romantic design. I used swarovski crystals to highlight the design.

In fact, one of the coolest weddings I did this month utilized the chandelier motif. Chantel and TJ used the motif on their cake and throughout the decor:

Notice the chandelier crystals that hung from all of the flowers arrangements (flowers by Willow Specialty Florist):

One more trend that I'm loving is the animal prints...I love these cupcake wrappers. Who knew that fashion could taste as good as it looks.

Good Day, Sports Fans!

2010-04-13T00:02:00.005-06:00

This week was full of orders for beautiful and elegant wedding cakes. So, what should I post on the blog? The cakes for the rock climbing enthusiast and the BYU Super-fan of course! Don't get me wrong, I love creating beautiful cakes, but I have a soft spot for the unique.

This cake was for a great guy that is into rock climbing. The cake was a Hazelnut-Chocolate with a salted caramel buttercream. The rope and the carabiner are sugar too.

This groom's cake was for the ultimate BYU fan. The cake was modeled after the groom's own BYU helmet. The cake itself was vanilla, but the bride and I decided that it would be fun to dye it a light blue on the inside. I love surprises!

Studio 5

2010-04-05T14:54:00.004-06:00

Hi y'all! After recovering from an extended spring break (translation: recovering from kids being out of school!), I am finally posting the link for my Studio 5 segment. It was a lot of fun and the hosts couldn't be cooler. In the spot, I show Darin Adams and Tonya Papanikolos how I use a silicone mold to make jewelry for cake. Thanks for watching!

Studio 5 Spot

National Capital Area Cake Show

2010-03-26T16:30:00.008-06:00

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the National Capital Area Cake Show (NCACS) in Fairfax, VA. This show is Norm Davis' (of Food Network and TLC fame) pet project and I have to say that I'm so glad I went! There were cake celebrities galore...Norm Davis (of course), Marina Sousa, Courtney Clark, Anne Heap, Mike McCarey, Lauren Kitchens, Susan Carberry, and many more.

One of my favorite parts of the show was the "Cake Challenge". It was a competition patterned after the Food Network and Ultimate Cake challenges that you see on TV. This year, Courtney Clark, Anne Heap, Pat Jacoby and Wayne Steinkopf were the competitors. Can you say AWESOME? I took a couple of photos of these incredible creations. The theme was "Circus Cakes."

There are a couple photos of each cake because they were so tall and detailed that it is impossible to show everything in one picture. The first cake was by Pink Cake Box's Anne Heap. The giraffe is standing on the circus ball with the mice below. She was this year's winner and I loved her design concept:

The next cake is Courtney Clark's. It was an Alice in Wonderland/Circus theme. Her work is exceptional and this one was my personal favorite:

This is Wayne's cake. He went with a darker interpretation of the theme...no wonder clowns freak me out...

Lastly, but not least, is Pat Jacoby's cake. This lady is on fire! She has won two competitions on TLC's Ultimate Cake Off:

There was also a "Dream Wedding Cake" competition. The winner of the competition is a personal friend of mine, Irene Maston from Vermont. She entered two cakes in the competition and her cakes took 1st and 4th place. Now, that is INCREDIBLE talent. Here's a pic of the winning cake:

Okay, now for my contribution...While I was at the show, I took a class with Lauren Kitchens based on her recent Sesame Street Food Network Challenge cake where she "muppetized" the judges. I muppetized my mother-in-law (and yes, I do love her!):

Wear your boots and eat them too!

2010-02-25T18:25:00.003-07:00

Okay, I love it when cakes look good enough to eat...or wear. This was a birthday cake for a really nice gentleman who turned 75 years old this week. Apparently, his wardrobe includes some cool cowboy boots. The picture doesn't include the other items that went with this cake: A Colnago water bottle (to match his Colnago bike), a BMW keyring and an Alta Ski Pass. This is one very interesting 75-year-old!

I tried to imagine what interests my 75th birthday cake would include....oh, I guess it would be cake! :)

The story about how a teddy bear became a groundhog...

2010-02-15T21:33:00.003-07:00

Once upon a time, there was an adorable teddy bear. He was made of luscious chocolate cake and filled with cherry/almond buttercream. He was a special teddy bear because he was going to travel to a very distant kingdom (central Utah) to surprise a beautiful baby princess named Lexee (the sweetest niece ever!). However, the trip was extremely treacherous. Despite everyone's best efforts (an air-conditioned car and a well-doweled internal structure), the adorable teddy bear did not arrive in great condition.

Although no one knows for sure, it is rumored that a wicked witch cursed the teddy bear and both of his ears fell off before he reached his destination! There was a great deal of lamenting (and a generous amount of cursing), but it was decided that the teddy bear would hereafter be known as the adorable groundhog. Alas, the baby princess didn't know the difference and everyone enjoyed the adorable teddy bear even though he now resembled a groundhog. The End.

Just in case you're wondering, the moral of the story is not to travel with a sculpted cake any further than you absolutely have to!

I Feel Like a Criminal!

2010-02-06T12:32:00.003-07:00

Well, it's been awhile since I've updated the blog...too busy making cakes I guess! However, I have had fun this month. Here are a few of the really interesting ones. The first one is for my family's favorite banker:

The $100 bills are edible images, but I must say that I felt like the Feds were going to come and get me while I was printing them! This cake was so much fun...I just wish I could print my own money all of the time.

The following cakes are "themed" wedding cakes. Animal prints on EVERYTHING is so popular now. The "jewel" on the top tier is poured sugar.

This cake was for a wedding at The Canterbury Place. Very elegant with a peacock theme.

I want a Ferrari for the New Year!

2010-01-01T14:32:00.003-07:00

Another fun car cake! This Ferrari was a surprise for both the bride and groom from the bride's mother...She told me that she hoped it would endear her new son-in-law. I hope it worked! Notice that the back of the car said "Just Married" accompanied by tin cans in tow.

This wedding cake was one of my favorites for the year. Very simple, yet very modern and elegant. The cake was for Brittany and Jake...such a gorgeous couple. I also loved the fact that they were so adventurous with their cake flavors: Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for the top tier, pumpkin chocolate chip with cream cheese frosting for the middle tier and coconut cream cake with coconut buttercream on the bottom. The flower is sugar and the pearls are white chocolate.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-27T14:03:00.005-07:00

This week has been a whirlwind of activity, but I wanted to share a couple of fun cakes...

The first cake is another take on sushi...I'm really trying to learn to appreciate sushi. I'm making some progress, but I can never pass up sushi made out of sugar and cake!

Everything including the plate and chopsticks are edible. The "bamboo" around the outside of the cake is modeling chocolate and the banner says, "Happy Birthday" in Japanese (or at least that's what I hope it says!). My friend, Kelly, at Willow & Wildflowers, ordered the cake for a friend's birthday.

This is a birthday cake for a very sweet 18 yr. old whose birthday is on Christmas Day. Her birthday always gets rolled into the Christmas holiday, so her mother wanted a birthday cake that was totally unrelated to Christmas. I must credit the design to another sugar artist named Andrea. She posts on Flikr and does incredible work! Check out Andrea's Sweetcakes for more awesome creations. I had such a good time with this cake!

Tune in next week...I have a Ferrari and a couple of really beautiful wedding cakes coming up.

The holidays are for carving turkey and cakes!

2009-12-08T17:27:00.004-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope y'all are further on your Christmas shopping than I am! I have been having fun though. Although I love to make beautiful wedding cakes, I think I love to carve and make "objects" even more. This week, I had a chance to do quite a bit of it...

This is a teapot cake for my sweet grandmother who just turned 80. The cup, saucer and spoon are made of gumpaste.

A golf ball for a golf enthusiast named Doug... (tees are modeling chocolate).

And... a 1951 Chevy Pickup. Car cakes are hard...I've decided that pickup trucks are even harder. However, I was really pleased with this one. I can't remember what year or make the pickup truck in "Twilight" and "New Moon" is, but this had me reminiscing about Edward & Bella.

Okay, no more excuses! I've got to get that Christmas shopping done!

Utah Chocolate Show

2009-11-29T16:44:00.005-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted last, but I have been preoccupied putting together my show cakes for the Utah Chocolate S ho w. The annual chocolate show hosts a wedding cake contest in conjunction with the show and I'm thrilled to say that my cake won the grand prize! I was also honored to win the "Best Tasting Cake" category as well. The theme for the wedding cakes this year was "Italian Romance". My cake was inspired by Venetian Carnival costumes.

Everything on the cake, including the masks and feathers are edible.

I also entered a second cake based on the beautiful gondolas in Venice.

The bottle of "Prosecco" is actually molded chocolate that I airbrushed and decorated.

Susan Fox from Midway Country Corner and Lori Rees from Layer by Layer also placed with beautiful cakes which I encourage you to check out!

I had a lot of people ask me about the feathers on my cake. Here is a short tutorial on how to make the feathers: You'll need edible wafer paper (sometimes referred to as "rice paper"), white 28 gauge wire, pearl dust, and clear piping gel. You can get wafer paper online or at cake supply stores. It also comes in a few different colors.

First, make yourself a template shaped like a feather. Then, use the template as a guide to cut the feather out of the wafer paper.

Next, using small, sharp scissors, make diagonal cuts along both sides of the feather (the closer and smaller you can make the cuts, the more realistic it looks).

Coat the white wire with clear piping gel, using your fingers to remove the excess, and place the wire on the feather. Put the feather on a flat surface until the gel is dry (approximately 1 hour).

Gently dust the feather with pearl dust. Next, hold the feather over a steaming teapot (not too close!) to give the feather movement and shine. At this point, be very careful with your feather as it is very fragile. Here is a close-up of the feathers.

As you can see, the feathers are fairly easy to make and they are stunning on a cake when you don't wish to use real feathers. Enjoy!

Indiana Jones and the Haunted Mansion...

2009-11-02T12:49:00.005-07:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween! I'm still reeling from the thought of taking down my Halloween decorations (we go a little overboard) and getting out the Christmas decor. It's okay though, I have plenty of excuses for making cake and ignoring chores. Here is a fun Halloween cake which also doubled as a birthday cake.

The "haunted mansion" topper is made entirely of chocolate. I colored and melted white chocolate and poured it into panels and different molds to construct the mansion. I airbrushed it and dry brushed it with dark gray to make it spooky. The "wrought iron" is piped dark chocolate.

This cake was for my "all boy" nephew Xander, who is turning 6. He loves Indiana Jones and wanted an Indiana Jones hat. The hat is chocolate fudge cake layered with cookies n' cream buttercream.

My favorite part of the cake are the chocolate snakes! I made a food-grade silicone mold using one of my son's plastic snakes. I used modeling chocolate to make the snakes in different colors and then dusted them with edible color. Happy Birthday Xander!

The Bride, the Groom and the Wedding Cake Designer

2009-10-26T20:53:00.002-06:00

Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, huh? However, it was the BEST party yet. I promised pics of my sweet step-daughter's recent wedding and here they are! This is Mr. and Mrs. Anthony & Kaylee Whytock...Aren't they a beautiful couple?

Kaylee is usually very decisive and quick when it comes to making decisions...not so with her wedding cake! She gave me some very definite ideas about what she liked, but there were so many options that it was difficult to put it together. Her colors were pink, orange and black. So this is what we came up with...very unique and very Kaylee.

Tony, on the other hand, knew what he wanted for a groom's cake from day 1. He said that in addition to a Jack-O-Lantern, the cake must have "pumpkin guts" and carving tools. I think it came out pretty nice. So if anyone ever needs to recreate pumpkin guts, please feel free to email me...

This last pic is of our family...lucky me!

NEWSFLASH: "Cake Builds Amazing Muscles"

2009-10-11T20:59:00.003-06:00

Okay, okay... This photo has nothing to do with cake. This gentleman is the current Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler! My husband and I recently had the opportunity to attend the local NPC Open Figure championships. Jay Cutler was the celebrity "poser" for the event and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a closer look at his biceps! I can guarantee you that he didn't get those arms from eating cake. He was a very nice man, but I don't think there is anything I could say to talk him into one of my cakes. However, we did have one thing in common--a passion for what we do. He lifts weights and I make cake:

These are two of the latest cakes from the last week. The first one is from one of the most unique and beautiful weddings ever! The bride was breathtaking and the whole wedding was very rustic and cool. It was a pumpkin chocolate chip cake with caramel buttercream...and of course, adorned with caramel dipped apples.

The second was for a very gorgeous wedding at The Canterbury Place in Bountiful, Utah. The wedding colors were cream, black and gold--very elegant!

On my next blog, I hope to have some photos of my sweet step-daughter's wedding. I'll keep you posted!

California Cake Camp...Las Vegas, Baby!

2009-09-26T21:03:00.006-06:00

I'd like to introduce you to my new BFFs, Marina Sousa and James Roselle...

Okay, maybe I "stalked" them just a bit while I was in Las Vegas at the California Cake Camp. For those of you who may not be as obsessed as I am, both Marina and James have appeared and won the Food Network Cake Challenges. Basically, they are cake Gods. I took several classes from Marina and I have to say that she is every bit as nice as she is talented. Sometimes, I am hesitant to meet people that I admire from afar because I'm afraid that my expectations may not be met. Just the opposite with Marina and James. They were so very generous with their time and techniques. Follow these links "Just Cake" and "Elle Cakes" to check out their exquisite work.

Okay, now for some cake...

These two cakes were for Mr. and Mrs. Kerr Foster.

What a great-looking couple! I met Rachel and Kerr about a year ago before they moved to Texas. Talk about organized! I think Rachel had all of the wedding details ironed out a year in advance. Kerr is a fire fighter in Texas--hence the groom's cake. It's a replica of his firetruck.

Rachel, picked out the bride's cake which was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate cake with caramel buttercream. Congratulations guys!

Black and White Done Right!

2009-08-31T13:18:00.005-06:00

This was a topsy turvy cake for the cutest wedding ever! The bride, Madison, told me exactly what she wanted her cake to look like and it went so well with the reception decor. The wedding was held at the Salt Lake Hardware Bldg.---What an awesome venue! It has a very industrial feel, yet, extremely cool.

This was the groom's cake for Madison's Harley loving groom, Eddie, (his bike was even displayed at the wedding).

The flowers and table displays were incredible (created by Willow & Wildflowers in Bountiful). Here are a couple of pictures...

My sincerest congratulations to the newlyweds!

Surf's Up and Monkeyplay

2009-08-25T21:38:00.005-06:00

This was an interesting week...I'm really surprised that I lived through it (thank goodness for Diet Coke and Junior Mints!). It was a busy week and the cake gods were not kind to me. My oven decided to quit working--guess it was tired too. Thankfully, I was able to have it repaired in time to finish my orders. I was really looking forward to making two of the cakes.

Only two weeks late, we finally celebrated our oldest son's birthday. He's been teasing me for awhile about making him a surfing penguin cake. Now, if you know Tyson, you'll understand his request, but suffice it to say that it totally fits his personality.

Please note that the penguin has a single pink candle sticking out of his forehead...Good times.

The other fun cake was for a sweet 1-year old named Kaylee. Her mom, Jeni, wanted to replicate one of her favorite toys...a sock monkey. The cake was banana (of course) and we made a small "smash" cake specifically for Kaylee.

Rockin' Week

2009-08-16T19:06:00.004-06:00

This was a groom's cake for a couple named Tracey & Nick. It was fun because Tracey wanted to surprise Nick with a groom's cake at the reception and she was afraid that he would call and order one on his own. It was supposed to be a X-Box "Guitar Hero" replica, but the gamers out there will notice that it's actually a hybrid of the "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" controllers (that's what you get when you only have access to one guitar and pictures of the other!) I hope you'll give me a break on the accuracy!

This cake was for a lovely wedding at "Rose Sachs Gardens" up Parley's Canyon in Salt Lake. The design was inspired by one of Carrie Biggers' cakes of "Carrie's Cakes" in Sandy, UT. Kristin and Mike's colors were kelly green and chocolate brown. The cake itself was chocolate fudge and old fashioned vanilla with chocolate buttercream.

It begins...

2009-08-12T15:15:00.001-06:00

I've decided that a blog is the best forum to share my cake travails, stories and photos. It's also an ideal way for me to give you background and extra details about some of the most interesting cakes I have the pleasure of making...so, the Fondanista Files are born!

These two cakes were for a very nice couple with a huge amount of sport history! The Ute logo on the groom's cake matched the colors on the bride's cake...but somehow, I think the wedding colors were very intentional!