Pearls and Pink Roses




Quite often, life gives you a cup of coffee when you earnestly long for a sip of orange juice. Then eventually you realize that, it was coffee that you ultimately needed, and happily go on enjoying it. Occasionally you are blessed with these tiny little happenings, which surprise you by being in just the way you want it to be. For me one such happy event, materialized when a good friend of us, asked me to make a cake for a bridal shower she was hosting. She wanted it as a miniature wedding cake, covered with fondant, and pale pink was suggested as an underlying color theme. I was amazed to realize that finally this indeed is upon me. A two-tiered fondant covered cake and pale pink flowers, too much joy for a single day!!! I make cakes mainly as gifts to my friends and for sharing in parties, and no daring soul ever asked me to make a wedding cake or a similar multi tiered construction. I love pale pink (‘PALE’ is the word!!!) sprays of all kinds of flowers. Altogether this indeed was my glass of orange juice and topping it all, my friend so graciously left the design to my imagination. A spray of pink roses and off white pearls seemed like a natural choice to complement a delicate, pleasant and friendly bride-to-be. This was a white chocolate cake filled with raspberry liquor laced butter cream, two layers in each tier, covered with rolled fondant. Roses, pearls, and the satin ribbon like band are all handmade out of fondant. Believe me, this tiny little cake has got one long and four short dowel rods inside for stabilization. Now I realize that those huge fancy multi layered stacked wedding cakes that we see in pictures might require lumber derived from a decent size of forest to support the structure. Making of this cake altogether was a pleasant experience, nothing went irreparably wrong. I made the roses couple of days ahead, so decorating this cake was a lot easier. T, patiently rolled out many a number of pearls, and we are now blessed with a decent stock of it, which hopefully I will be using for my next –Orange Juice – project.

Here is a well working white chocolate cake recipe I used this time.

White chocolate cake

¾ cup white chocolate

4 1/2 large egg whites

1 cup milk (or water)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 cup plus 3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp + 11/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

9 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature


Preheat over to 3500F. Melt chocolate in the microwave or using a double boiler. Beat egg whites with vanilla and 3 tbsp sugar till soft peaks form. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to blend. Add butter, mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened, add milk or water and increase speed to medium. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Scrape sides of the bowl and gradually add egg mixture in 3 batches, beating 20 seconds after each addition. Fold in melted chocolate and mix well. Pour batter into 2 greased 9-inch cake pans. Bake 25 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe Courtesy- FOOD TV

Detailed instruction on constructing a stacked cake is available here, along with other interesting information about fondant cakes

45 comments:

Gattina Cheung said...

Archanat,
All you cakes, including this one, turely reveal your talent and artistic sense!!! I'm so impressed by you passion, patient (hand made those pearls!!!) plus your precise calculation on the structure! You're the best home-baker!

Anonymous said...

How great is that. To bake a cake for a shower must have been a lot of responsibility, but you did good.

Anonymous said...

Love the cake ! I love those cute little fondant embellishments especially the five-petal flowers, VERY VERY PRETTY ! Iam sure your friend must have been very impressed.
The final finish is smooth and flawless.
How long do these cakes stay fresh??? I have never tasted a cake decorated with fondants :( have tasted only the icing ones.

Anonymous said...

wowwwwwwwww....as usual just great. What a talent and that,for sure, needs lot of patience(hand made pearls!!!). Hats off to you for this wonderful cake u made from scratch...

Rajesh &Shankari said...

I really want to come & learn this gr8 art from you. Baking is all about precision and I think you top it!

Neelu said...

R u an professional chef or wht > MAn ur work is tooo good n impressive

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Oh,Ok! No big deal this is. Looks so easy. Bake two cakes, put on top of one another,make some roses,make some pearls...too easy! Now, dont be lazy and make something complicated,will ya?
:-) :-) :-)

Now,Seriously.Can I order from you? Will it say intact if shipped? Are there any cake boxes for fedex or UPS?Food gets shipped,I know -- but dont know the exact details. Do you? How many days ahead I would have to order?

KA said...

Wow Archana! This cake looks awesome. I am running out of superlative degree expressions to describe your creations.
Only you can beat yourself again and again!
They are a true treat for the eyes. Now.. only, if I could get my hands on this cake ;-)..

Vineela said...

Hi Archana,
I visited your site morning due to some pblm blogger didnt allow me to work.
I liked the cake.Great work and roses are really nice in shape,archana.Are they made from fondant?
Nice wedding cake.
Hope to see your cake one day in foodnetwork.
vineela

Tanuja said...

Hi Archana,

All ur cakes so impresive we have no words to express our feeling ,hope u where my neighbour, I would have asked u to give me spl classes.

Krithika said...

Did you actually make this at home ? This looks professionally done. Archana, start a bakery of your own. You are extremely talented.

Nabeela said...

another masterpiece from Archana...:)
that pale color looks beautiful on the cake....yu have wonderful taste

Unknown said...

Mamamia!!! I´m speachless. Simply marvelous.

Anonymous said...

Archana,

I am speechless!!
Truly amazing piece of art there. Only one with a lot of love, creativity, an eye for detail and patience can do that!!

archana said...

Gattina,
Thank you, it is really inspiring to hear these good words.

Gini,
Thank you. Yes, that was truly a different experience, i am so happy that i was given with such a chance.

Priya
Thank you, the five petal flat flowers were all fun to make. I love these tiny little flower cutters !!!

KG
Thank you,i am happy that u liked it. T did help me alot in rolling out those pearls, but he was sort of very fast with it, and i have got a nice stock of it now.

Shankari,
You are very welcome to come over, whenever you are in Portland or anywhere near. I will be happy to share what i know.

Neelu,
Now, you are fattering me, i love baking and decorating, and more than that i enjoy the fun in sharing these stuff with my friends. Thank you

LG,
Believe me, i am going to try hard to make something utterly confusing and complicated !!!! LG, how i love to read your comments !!! I am sure Fedex or someone else has a facility to ship cakes, that's how you see wedding cakes designed by star newyork designers in a Portland wedding. I have got just the the right cake in mind for you - a "maze" cake !!!! HooooooHaaaaaaaaaa Hi Hi Hi

K&A,
Come on over, have your piece !!! Thank you, you have always been very kind. I am waiting for your cakes, after the Micheal's class.

Vineela
Thank you dear, you are setting the bar too high for me right now. What you just said, means a lot to me thank you. Blooger was having all kinds of problems yesterday morning, i was not able to post comments in many of the blogger sites. Thank you for coming again. That's an all fondant cake, flowers, and beads are all made of fondant.

Tanuja
Thank you very much. Anytime when you are anywhere near Portland, do let me know.

Krithika,
Yes i did, thank you. For the time being, i am just happy baking for my friends, and hearing extremely inspirational comments from people like you. Thank you.

Nabeela,
Thank you very much. I love this color combination very much.

Pushpa
Thank you, thank you.....

archana said...

Sailu
Thank you very much, i sort of try to put in what i feel about an occasion in the cake. Sometimes it works well, sometimes not. Thank you for your gracious words.

Anonymous said...

Oh my god...U prepared that cake??? I can't beleive it. Its so beautiful. I wonder where you are learning to prepare such beautiful cakes.

Revathi said...

What a beautiful cake !!!!! Wowww. You are surely going to make it big in baking - all the best

Sumitha said...

Archana.........................................................................................................................................I am sorry ,anything I say here would be too less!I just cant comment!

indianadoc said...

Arey! your cakes are real art pieces!...very professional....n amazing shape!!

Anonymous said...

hi archana, thx for dropping by! i love your site, really!! all the wedding cakes...ooo...i wish i know how to do the fondant/gum paste flowers!!! can i link u by the way?

Anonymous said...

I AM SPEECHLESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Krithika said...

I came back and had a second look at your cake. If you can work with fondant and create a flawless piece then you have to be supremely talented. Hope to see you participate in FoodTV wedding cake challenge.

Anonymous said...

Another amazing entry!!! I am left with no words this time... Truly astonished!!!!

reshma said...

I can't stop staring at this beauty! Archana, you have magic hands!

archana said...

Shilpa,
Thank you. I started by attending a class in a local hobby store, and now depend mostly on books and internet to learn new techniques.

Revathi, Sumitha, Doc
Thank you folks, thank you....

Evan
Thank you for visting, and thanks agian for linking me up. I love the look of fondant and gum paste flowers

Santhi, Aparna
Thank you, i truly appreciate your kind words

Krithika
Thank you so much for visiting again. I love the versatile options fondant provides, while decorating a cake. I love to do it, and hopefully i will improve over time. My god, thank you Krithika!!!!

Reshmeee
Thank you, valare nandi.

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! Yummy!!! *drooling*

Your skill is amazing. I am gonna try out some of your recepies. Is it okay if I post some of my doubts here?

- http://appughar.livejournal.com

Visala Manaskan said...

ഹലോ സുഹൃത്തേ..,

മേരാ ബ്ലോഗില്‍ ആപ്പ് (താങ്കള്‍) വന്നതറിഞ്ഞറിഞ്ഞ് 'ആരപ്പ' എന്നറിയാനുള്ള ചേതോവികാരത്താലാണ് താങ്കളുടെ ബ്ലോഗ് സന്ദര്‍ശിക്കാന്‍ ഇടവന്നത്.

സന്ദര്‍ശനം ഗംഭീരം.
മാഷെ, അപ്പോ ഒരു 'പുലിയാണല്ലേ?'

അപാര പടങ്ങള്‍ ഓറ് അതി ഗംഭീരമായ പടങ്ങള്‍.
ക്രിസ്സ്മസ്സ് കാര്‍ഡ് സ്കാന്‍ ചെയ്ത് വച്ച പോലെ തോന്നി. അത്രക്കും സൂപ്പറ്.

Anonymous said...

illa illa ente annakkuttiye, :)
ivide prashnangal onnumilla. othiri thankstoo,chodichathinu. kattu vannaalum ,evidennu aa portlandil-lekku varenam ennu aagrahikkum..appo parannu varem cheyyam,cakeum thinnam :):)

Anonymous said...

Hi Archana

This cake looks too good to be made by a home baker. You really have a wonderful skill in baking and decorating cakes! Where did you learn all this from? I do a little baking every now and then and dream of the day when I will be able to create a masterpiece like this...

I am a regular visitor of your site, although this is the first time I am leaving a comment!

archana said...

Appu,
Thank you for coming in, do try out the recipes and please let me know how it worked for you. You are very welcome to post questions

Vishalji,
Vannathil valare santhosham, iniyum varane. Njan puli alla sir, verum oru eli, pulitholitta eli.. Ella nalla vakkukalkkum nandi.

Suparna
Thank you for the compliments, thank you for frequenting Spicyana. I was just like you almost one and half years ago, baking once in a while, and wanting to decorate a cake. So this is a right time to start Suparna, if you look at the comments section of my post called " The Patchwork cake" you will get an idea about how i started. I started by attending a very informal class in a local hobby store, and then started collecting books and interesting infos from the net. If you have any specific questions or need more details please feel free to email me using the link on the sidebar. Hope this helps, and thanks again for visiting.

archana said...

LG
Valare samadhanam......, kattiloo, vimanathilo keri eppol venamenkilum ingottu ponnoloo..

Anonymous said...

I found my way here from Manisha's blog. I am so impressed. You are very talented.

Sudha said...

Archana, thats so beautiful..no words to express the beauty.. Hats off to you..

Anonymous said...

Sailaja took the words, or lack thereof, out of my mouth - "I am speechless".

What a gift you have, archana - made more special because you use it to make others happy.

Best wishes to you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Archana,
I and many more here, are amazed at the piece of art there.
How could you transform a simple food it to an exceptional artwork? keep it up (higher!!!)
love
joyce

:: niKk | നിക്ക് :: said...

Another Cookery Blogger ? :)

Kewl, Keep writing

:: niKk | നിക്ക് :: said...

മ്മടെ വിശാലേട്ടന്‍ വഴിയുള്ള ബസ്സില്‍ കയറിയപ്പോഴാണു ഇങ്ങടെ ബ്ലോഗിലേക്കുള്ള ബസ്സ്‌ കണ്ടത്‌... വിശാലേട്ടന്‍ പറഞ്ഞത്‌ പോലെ പുലിയല്ല, പുപ്പുലിയാണ്‌ ട്ടോ...

archana said...

Asha,Anony,Sudha,Linda,Joyce chechi
Thank you for all these kind words, i truly appreciate it a lot.

"Double"Nikk,
Vannathil valare santhoshm,puli poyittu oru eli polum alla kettoo. Iniyum varanam. Thank you

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Sophia said...

Archanat,

Beautiful cake. May I know how much of the cake recipe did you use for these lovely two tiered cakes?

Zillion thank you.

Dizzy

Pani Thuly said...

Hi,
I love your cakes and your creativity. You are a very good inspiration to me. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Archana,
u r amazing i m at loss of words to appreciate ur talent as acake decorater..i love cakes ..& ckaes like urs are my weakness. the only problem is i dont eat eggs yeah i m jain i m vegitarian ..do u have any good recipe for eggless cakes..
Meera

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