"It's all in the details" is what my Dad always said growing up while doing stuff. Stuff like--helping me with a school science project...or putting up crown molding throughout our entire house. He has an eye for the details, that little extra touch that ends up making the entire project come together.
I can certainly say I've inherited that "eye" for things. As I continue to concentrate on building my portfolio of little baked creations, I find myself moving away from what's easy and moving towards the details. In the case of decorating desserts, that means adding a lot more to each cake pop, or cookie, or cake.
Last night I created 60 cake pops for a 30th wedding anniversary and I definitely worked the details!
First, the color detail. I wanted to create a flow of colors that blended but also stood out on their own. The theme was holiday, but it wasn't a Christmas party, it was for an anniversary so I didn't want to fill the plates with Santa Clause and Rudolph, and I wanted the colors to be sort of...magical. So I decided on silver and gold, like the song from Rudolph! I love that part, when the snowman sings the song!
So many things come into play now that I've started using other ingredients besides chocolate. I am collecting sprinkles like no other. Three huge drawers are filled with all types of sprinkles and dusting sugar. I wanted to keep these simple, but detailed! So the holly berries were a great way to bring in the red and green of Christmas, but still helping me stick to my silver and gold color palette.
These snowflakes also let me stick to "simple" with their pure white and blue elegance. I wanted to tone down the blue though, so I brushed each blue snowflake with silver sugar dust to add a pretty luster that popped against the bright white chocolate.
I have been picking up a lot of random containers of sprinkles, ones in all shapes and colors. It's amazing what you can use random sprinkles for! For instance, check out my holiday packages! Silver and gold, but with red "bows" that are actually sugar hearts with a single sugar bead in the middle.
I am particularly proud of the packages and their details. Each one was cut from a ball into a square, then dipped in white chocolate. Once dry, I sprayed them with silver and gold edible paint. The ribbon is all fondant, rolled out then cut with a wave blade to create a ribbon effect. I sprayed them with a pearl luster spray to make them sparkle!
Since this was for an anniversary celebration, I wanted some sort of "topper"... so I created the snowman and snowwoman. This is a 3 tiered cake pop, dipped in bright white chocolate. The scarves are rolled fondant, cut with the same wave blade as the packages. I think it's important not only to carry the colors throughout the display, but the lines and shapes as well. I wanted the snow-people to share the characteristics of the packages, through the scarves. The flakes of snow on the snowwoman's scarf ties her to the snowflake cakes. The snowman's hat is molded with modeling chocolate and finished the the holly and berries, tying him with the other holly cake pops. The nose is a little candy coated chocolate piece, another awesome "sprinkle" find! Their pretzel-stick hands complete them, as it looks like they're holding hands and enjoying life together! They were sprayed with the pearl luster spray, and really just exuded happiness!
As I was creating, it was snowing!! We got our first snowfall of the season, and I couldn't resist submerging this bundled little couple into the scenery :)
So with the help of my lovely boyfriend, we ventered out into the blizzard to deliver the cakes to the Country Club, which was decorated beautifully with bright red poinsettias and candles. The pops seemed to match the venue perfectly! I am happy I chose the square plates, and I think they complimented the square packages quite well. I carried the theme into the taste cards, which featured holly, snowflakes and poinsettias.
I had a lot of fun making these, and I really poured my heart into them. I think the details made all the difference, and I definitely will continue to pay the utmost attention to them.
Thank you Nina Caron for giving me the opportunity to create these and I hope they were enjoyed by all!
I can't stay out of the kitchen! I've baked 6 cakes in the past two days, with 4 or 5 more to go in preparation for our upcoming holiday party and for Christmas day, plus care packages for friends and family--a nice way to keep the holiday in mind even when the day is over. The smell of spice cake, gingerbread and red velvet are filling my senses as I write this and it makes me so excited to keep on with the holiday sweets!
Stay warm everyone!
-Elena
