Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Crushing on Fake Cakes





I have been a reluctant maker of fake cakes up until now but in my quest to always put a positive spin on things, I've decided to embrace them as an artistic medium. Why, you may say am I anti fake - after all this is Southern California- well it has to do with longevity. I like making a cake and then it getting eaten - my artists medium doesn't have to sit there and be examined for perfection because the goal it that its edible. In other words, I am too much of a perfectionist. But then I found an outlet in a local florist - Little Greenhouse - and my first cake was made. I've done a bunch now and with the most recent one, really allowed myself to make a cake that I probably wouldn't get called upon to make too often. My weddings tend to be rather simple, couples coming to the mountains to marry usually aren't looking for an ornate cake. So now I have fake cakes in two of the shops in Big Bear Lake Village: ReJoyce and United Wood Craftsmen and I am making a goal of keeping the fake cakes coming. This spring, I've done a couple of wedding shows and created new fake cakes for both of them. What's more fun is the edible treats that surround the fake cake - I just love a good display, it speaks to the type A personality in me.



The cakes that started it all at ReJoyce and Little Greenhouse




Embracing the medium - its weird to work with fake cakes because they are so LIGHT- real cakes are much heavier and as much as that might sound strange, the heft makes it easier to work with real cakes in a way. You can apply pressure on a real cake (like when attaching fondant or pressing a pattern) and it won't move but a fake cake could go flying! I love the button cake - hundreds of handmade fondant buttons - actually kind of fun -



Time to eat - the fake cake is surrounded by tasty samples of my treats: red velvet cake and vanilla orange spice cake truffles and a selection of yummy cupcakes!