DIY Tutorial: Rainbow Petal Cake

It's been a little quiet on the blog lately.  We have been busy designing and styling our newest collections which I look forward to sharing with you soon.  When I had a little free time over the weekend, I was indulging in one of my favorite hobbies pinning away on Pinterest and came across this amazing Rainbow Petal Cake created by Kate Wagner of The Greedy Baker for The Cake Blog.  Isn't it AMAZING?

Click for the easy step-by-step directions to create this cake yourself HERE.

{tutorial} How to Frost Cakes Like a Pro!

I love to bake cakes for all different occasions but when it comes time to frosting the cake, I don't know what I am doing.  I just try to pack on the icing so every part of the cake is covered.  What I end up with is a great tasting cake but one that looks a mess!  I am sure a lot of you can relate.  So,  I thought it would be a great idea to put together amazing cake icing tutorials that I found and put them together in this post for you.

petal frosting tutorial ♥ la receta de la felicidad 

ruffle icing tutorial ♥ martha stewart

pastel swirl icing tutorial ♥ sweetapolita

  swirl frosting tutorial ♥ better homes and gardens 

rose icing tutorial ♥ i am baker

vertical ruffle icing tutorial ♥ bakers royale
 

ombre petal icing tutorial ♥ prudent baby 

simple icing tutorial ♥ whisk kid

Do you have a favorite way to frost a cake?  Would love for you share by leaving a comment. 

{Interview} Meet Wild Orchid Baking Company

Recently, I was putting together pictures for a new boards on Pinterest called Somewhere Over the Rainbow and another board for Beautiful Flowers.  That is when I came across the most elegant and exquisite cakes. I instantly fell in love and had to learn more.  I discovered that the creator and designer behind these gorgeous pieces of art is Erin from Wild Orchid Baking Company.  See my first post HERE featuring Erin's tutorial on creating your own cake flowers.

Located in the North Hampton, NH, Wild Orchid Baking Company offers cakes and cupcakes that are breathtaking masterpieces.

I had the honor and privilege to interview Erin last week and I am delighted to share with you some of her beautiful and unique designs. Are you ready to swoon?

{Question}  Please tell us about Wild Orchid Baking Co., from conception of the idea to where you are today.

Wild Orchid Baking Company is a custom cake studio in North Hampton, NH. I started my food career as a fine dining restaurant pastry chef a little over 10 years ago. 5 years ago while trying to figure out what direction I wanted my pastry career to take, I took a sugar flower class with Ron Ben-Israel. I instantly fell in love with sugar flowers and knew this was what I wanted to do! I started making the cakes from my house, mostly for family and friends. Then 3 years ago I opened up shop. Today we're a busy custom cake studio, creating cakes for weddings and any other occasion. At times it's been a bumpy road, but I always feel so lucky to do what I love!

{Question}  Do you have a favorite cake that you created?

From a design perspective, I don't know that I could pick a favorite cake! One near and dear to my heart is actually the biggest cake I've ever made. It was 7 tiers of cake and close to 1,000 sugar flowers. It took weeks of planning, prepping and stressing out. But when it was all said and done, the cake was a success! It was such a special moment for me in my cake career. It helped me realize that if I put my mind to it, nothing is out of reach.  From a flavor perspective my latest favorite is my orange-clove cake. It's so summery and light and absolutely surprises everyone who tastes it!

{Question}  What are your favorite sources for inspiration when creating your beautiful cakes?

When creating cakes I love to look at other designer's work, but I also love non-cake related sources. I love to draw inspiration from fashion, textiles, art, etc. Inspiration can really come from anywhere!

{Question}  What is next for Wild Orchid Baking Co.?  Would love to hear about them!

So many fun things on the horizon for WOBC! This upcoming wedding season has me so excited! Couples are more open than ever to using un-traditonal designs. Color is also very big this year. As a business we'll be launching a new line of Giant Cupcake Cakes for our clients who want a little something special, without doing a full custom cake. A very special project I'm working on is adding Dessert Buffets to our sweet offerings! I've been working on this a while now, because if we're going to do it, we have to do it right! Look for expanded individual dessert selections and even stands and dishes!

Thanks so much Erin for sharing your answers with us today!

{Tutorial} Make Your Own Cake Flowers

A few days ago, I started a new board on Pinterest for beautiful flowers that I love.  I came across this gorgeous cake with the most stunning flowers. When I clicked the link to find out more, I learned that the amazing flowers are made from fruit leather.  They were created by Erin at Wild Orchid Baking Company (who also created the fabulous rainbow heart cake I posted about recently).  I knew that I had to share the tutorial with you.  The tutorial is incredibly easy and within minutes, you can create yet oh so stylish flowers to adorn your desserts with.  Using a combination of colored fruit leathers, you can create these stunning cake flowers before you know it!

Perfect for cupcakes too!

Cake: Wild Orchid Baking Company
Photography: Mark Davidson
 Perfect for decorating a cake or cupcakes. You an also use these cuties to dress up a fruit plate or garnish cake slices.


Supplies
Fruit leather (We used store bought for this project. If you wanted to match a specific color, then making your own might work better for you.)
Round cookie cutters
Small bowl of water
Small paint brush
Floral wire (tooth picks or skewers would work as well)
Piece of foam

Step One
Using a round cookie cutter, cut circles out of the fruit leather. The size of the cutter you use will determine how large of a puff you have at the end. For these puffs we used round cutters that were 1/2” to 2” in diameter.

Step Two
Pick up a fruit leather round, and using your thumbs and forefingers, press the sides of the round together towards the center of the circle. You’ll end up with a shape resembling a ruffled “x”. Just be sure to press towards the center of the circle, so that you don’t close the “x” entirely. The open loops are what give the puff it’s shape.
Repeat with other circles. For a nice full puff we used 6 fruit leather rounds per puff. You can use more or less depending on how full you’d like the puff to be. To begin to form a puff, press 2 of the ruffled fruit leather rounds together at their points.

Step Three
If the fruit leather has begun to dry out, brush on a small amount of water so that they stick together. Add more ruffles until you achieve the desired puff shape. Set formed puff onto a piece of styrofoam. Use floral wires or tooth picks to prop up the fruit leather puff into it’s desired shape. Allow to dry out over night. Using the wires or toothpicks helps keep the puff from drooping or loosing it’s shape as it dries.  You may need to allow puffs to dry out longer depending on the humidity.

Make The Small Circles
Add dots to your cake or cupcake design by cutting out small circles from the leftover fruit leather. Apply using royal icing or water, just like the puffs.
Apply to a finished cake using small dots of royal icing, or if applying to fondant just brush on a small amount of water where you’d like the puff to stick.

For cupcakes: Set onto freshly piped frosting.

Need an invitation for Pinterest?  Email me at stefanie@annaandblue.com and I'll send you an invite.

{Free Printable} Happy Birthday Cake Banners

Back in November, I posted that I had created a free printable in celebration of my birthday.  It's been on my to do list to post the free printable for you since then.  I finally had the opportunity to take a photo of the Happy Birthday Ribbon freebie when I baked my husband's annual old-fashioned carrot cake (see recipe HERE) for his birthday last week.  This year, my two girls helped me with decorating the cake and added the colorful sprinkles which I think added the perfect touch.

I created three different sets of Happy Birthday ribbons using some of my favorite color palettes.

To assemble the ribbon banner, simply print your favorite set.  Cut the banner ribbon and attach to wooden skewers, lollipop sticks or your favorite straws.  I used wooden skewers for mine and used a dab of hot glue to adhere the printable ribbon to the skewers.  

 Download set one HERE

 Download set two HERE

Download set three HERE

Enjoy!

Aloha Summer Birthday - Dessert Table Details

The dessert table was incredibly fun to style.  Once I decided on a color scheme that consisted of orange, tangerine, yellow and fuchsia it was time for the creativity to begin.  When I came across the gorgeous hibiscus flowers created by DK Designs, I fell in LOVE.  They became the focal point when putting together ideas for the Aloha Summer themed birthday party.  I worked with incredibly talented ladies who made the most breathtaking treats for the dessert table.

Pictured above, is the birthday cake which served as the centerpiece for the table. The cake was adorned with eco-chic hand crafted hibiscus flowers created by Diane of DK Designs.  

When I opened the package from Diane in the mail, I was speechless.  Diane's work is so intricate and beautiful! Her gorgeous flowers truly made the cake simply amazing and made for the perfect centerpiece for the dessert table.  The celebration candles from Shop Sweet Lulu matched perfectly.

 I am loving all of the colorful, layered cakes that I have come across lately.  I so wanted to have a layered cake consisting of the party's colors.  The night before the party, I decided to give it a try.  Part of me thought I was crazy for making a layered cake without having made one before.  What if it turned into a disaster?  I enlisted in the help of my sweet hubby.  His engineering skills came in very handy indeed!  If it weren't for him, you might be looking at pictures of one lopsided mess.  When we cut the cake, it definitely set a "wow" moment at the party.  I was so happy that it turned out exactly as I had envisioned.  I had so many guests ask where I had the cake made.  I have Betty Crocker to thank.  We used four 6 inch cake pans and created 4 sets of batter each using Motek Sugarcraft's Magic Colours concentrated paste until we reached the colors we desired.  Just a couple of drops and the colors were achieved.

Inspired by Amy Atlas, who creates the most stunning dessert tables, I incorporated the hibiscus flowers and party color scheme throughout the dessert table.  A happy and colorful bed linen print with bright swirls of flowers and paisley from Pottery Barn Teen was used as the backdrop for the dessert table.  The dessert table was adorned with large paper flowers that were added to the backdrop.  I made a table skirt using raffia hula skirts and I added a garland in matching party colors using leis from Party City.

When I received the cookies that Christina from Cookies Are My Canvas sent, I think my mouth dropped.  I was completely blown away at how fabulous they were.  Never before had I seen such stunning cookies before.  Every little detail was so perfect even down to the glitter in the icing.  Christina took the colors and flower designs that I emailed her and created perfectly coordinating cookies.

I absolutely loved Christina's yellow polka dot ALOHA cookies.  They were the perfect addition to the centerpiece for the table.

I love making cupcakes and they are always a favorite among kiddos as well.  I used my favorite decorating tip which is the Wilton 2D.  The flower drop tip always gives a fun ruffled look to the icing.  Icing cupcakes is not my forte (although I have been getting lots of practice this past year) but I find by using this tip, no matter how I angle the tip, the icing always turns out looking very pretty.  I added my party tags as toppers for the finishing touch!

When I came across Charynn's at Two Sugar Babies fondant hibiscus flowers, I knew that they would be the perfect treat for the dessert table.  Charynn customized the toppers to match the colors of the party and I adore how they turned out.  Her designs are delightfully simple and stunning!

Many elements of the party came from inspiration that I found at HWTM, including the candy kabobs. I really had a fun time making these.  I found lots of gummy candies at the dollar store.  The candy kabobs were a BIG hit with the kiddos.  They were simple to make and I look forward to sharing the tutorial I put together with you soon!

I bought Jelly Bellys in shades of yellow, orange and pink.  They added an additional splash of color to the table.  I found the white pails at a dollar store.  By placing the jelly beans in the white pails, the colors really "popped" from the table.  Who doesn't love jelly beans?

I used one of my signs from the collection and used a circle cutter to create the circle shape for a cute table decoration.  I then added a long lollipop stick to it and tied a matching bow around it.  Then, I filled a jar with candies which held the party sign in place. 

I used Starbuck's Frappuccino bottles to serve fresh lemonade in.   I dipped the bottles in pink sugar sprinkles and placed yellow striped straws from Shop Sweet Lulu to top off the look.

The adorable birthday hula girls taking a peek at all of the birthday treats and goodies.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped create such delicious and beautiful treats that helped to make this party such a hit!
The dessert table was incredible!

Many more details coming soon!
xoxo, Stefanie

In the meantime, the Aloha collection is available in my shop HERE.