It's a New Year!

there's a new look....

there's a new location...

you'll learn new skills...

stay tuned.....

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a sweet & happy holiday this year!

All the best,

Lisa

Lil' Rockstar

My last cake for 2008 - now I can take a "mini" break until 2009!!

The theme of the baby shower was "Rockstar Baby" with colours being white, black and red - since I had carte blanche, I went with a zebra print diaper bag cake complete with bling bling gumpaste baby booties, rockstar baby bracelet and white chocolate baby bottle....can't get much more "rockstar" than that!

Inside is 7 layers of vanilla bean butter cake with hot buttered rum buttercream.

Last wedding of 2008

Karen & Steve were blessed with the most perfect winter wedding day. Friday there was a major blizzard (as there was over 1/2 of the North East!), and Sunday started with yet another snow storm, but Saturday was beautiful, snowy and sunny - and that happened to be their wedding day!

Taking inspiration from their invitation, we created a modern square wedding cake incorporating their wedding colours: black, white & red. Edible ribbons and rose petals adorn the cake, while inside is pure decadence - midnight chocolate cake, vanilla bean buttercream and brandied cherries.

Congratulations Karen & Steve!

Happy 1st Birthday Princess Hannah!

Inspired by the party decor, this 3 tier cake is the perfect ending to a princess birthday party! What more could a little girl ask for?

Life's a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios

Taking inspiration from a fabulous cake created by Rosebud Cakes I made this giant bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for my husband's 35th birthday. He eats them every single day, so this cake seemed totally appropriate! Inside is rich chocolate fudge cake layered with Oreo crunch buttercream, finished in white chocolate fondant and all edible accents (yes the Cheerios are real! After making 22 of them, I gave up!)

Griffin's 1st Birthday continued...

Griffin's mom Kim, being a repeat client, knows how much I love to see pictures of people enjoying the cakes I've created. Check out these great pictures and Kim's comments:

Hi Lisa,
Thanks again for the beautiful birthday cake, it was so yummy and a
great conversation piece!
Everyone loved it!
Here are some pics from
the party.
Kim


Thanks Kim for sharing such wonderful pictures and I hope to see you again!

Griffin's 1st Birthday Cupcake

Griffin is turning 1 and his mom wanted to incorporate the cupcake party wear theme into the cake design. Based upon a design by Butterfly Sweets this 2 tier chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and fondant accents and coordinating cupcake "smash" cake will be the hit of the party!

Happy 1st Birthday Griffin!

1st Knight Birthday

What kind of cake would be suitable for the bravest of little boys? Why a castle of course - complete with a knight in shining armour and a chocolate dragon!

The knight was made from polymer clay in order to be kept as a memento, the rest of the castle is entirely edible, including the chocolate dragon with gelatin wings.

Here is what the client had to say:

Hi Lisa, Thanks for personally delivering Nathan's birthday cake. It was a
huge hit for young and old a-like. They loved it, especially my little ones. My
husband, Ken wants to hang onto these memories....he's gone as far as preserving
the chocolate dragon, (thank G*d you made the knight out of clay) and plans to
put it into a shadow box. Nathan will always be able to look back at this
special keepsake. Thanks for making his first birthday so memorable. Karen

Closed for vacation

Flour Confections will be closed for holidays from October 17th until October 26th. All emails and phone calls will be addressed upon my return.

Sweet Sites Down Under

I love cake as an art form. That is the reason why I started doing what I do...because I could express myself artistically.
I also love to view cake art at its best - so I'm constantly searching the web to find fabulous artists doing what they do best.
I thought it would be nice to highlight some of my favourites. Every now and again I will post the websites of some of my favourite cake artists from around the globe. You may notice that I keep saying "cake artists" versus "cake decorators"....the reason is simple - because this is an art form - these people take cake and turn it into an edible sculpture that is the highlight of any event. We don't see cake as "cake" - a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar, etc...we see it as a blank canvas upon which we can express the desires and dreams of our clients. The cakes and the artists that I will be featuring are not ones that you would find at your local grocery store.
I hope you enjoy viewing these sites as much as I do.

For my first post in my section entitled Sweet Sites, I will be highlighting some of my favourites from Australia. The Aussies have a unique style which I adore! The lines are crisp, the workmanship is flawless, and they often express a sense of humour in the designs. I have become fortunate to become friends with many cake artists around the world, including some Aussies.

First off is Planet Cake When and if I can ever get to visit Australia, I will not miss out on a chance of visiting Planet Cake - their style and workmanship is above and beyond WOW! I love their signature Funky Couples and the Off Kilter style cakes are beyond amazing!

Next is Sweet Art Again a great sense of style and whimsy....their carved cakes and couture cakes are amazing, and I love their signature wrapped cakes.

Another favourite and a dear friend is Cakes By Francesca Fran does the most amazing sugar flowers, her workmanship is flawless, her designs are fabulous - so much so that she made such an impression on the folks of Planet Cake that she will soon be teaching with them!

And yet another favourite and dear friend is Natis Cakes Natis luscious cupcakes and mouth watering mud cake flavours are just some of the reasons why she's a favourite Down Under!

For amazing cupcakes look no further than Le Cupcake Amazing designs, custom made stands, fabulous photography - cupcakes at their finest!

Faye Cahill Cake Designs just makes your mouth water the moment you open the home page! Look at that cake!!! mmmmmm luscious! Go further and you'll see some very imaginative designs beautifully executed!

For beautifully done modern cakes with a twist, visit Cake Stories A gorgeous site - clean and stylish.

Back from Tulsa OK!

OMG what a trip! The 20 hr drive to Tulsa and the 20 hr drive back just about did me and my friend Karey of Kake Kreations in! Wish this competition was closer! But it's so worth it....the experience, the talent, the opportunities....all worth the drive!

Not withstanding plenty of drama on both the way down and the way back....we managed to make it and not only that...but we both placed in our given divisions.

This year I entered a few of the divisionals and also the Grand Wedding Cake Competition - the mother of all wedding cake competitions! It is judged by 4 separate judges on a 100 point system. After all the cakes were judged, a Grand Champion, 1st Runner up, 2nd Runner up, 3rd Runner up, 4th Runner up and Honourable Mention to the 5th Runner up are chosen. The remaining cakes will either receive a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Certificate of Merit based upon their given scores. Gold = 90 or above, Silver = 75-89, Bronze = 65-74.

I had the privilege to witness first hand my good friend Rebecca Sutterby of Sugar Creations win the whole thing and take the title of Grand Champion for her GORGEOUS Western Innocence cake. I'm so proud of her! Her cake was beyond outstanding and it's a well deserved win.

I was also lucky to place 1st for my Master's Confections entry of the Flower Fairy cookies, my Canada Day Holiday cake took 2nd and my Mucha inspired Summer cake took 3rd. My 6 year old daughter Isabella also sent in an entry - her little mermaid cake took 2nd place in the Junior under 7 category!

My wedding cake entry inspired by Coco Chanel and her love for the camellia flower placed Silver in the Grand Wedding Cake Competition - just 1.5 points shy of Gold too!! This news was beyond surprising since I had my share of tragedy with this cake! On the drive down there was a mishap causing the cake to fall over and some of the flowers became damaged....I repaired what I could in the room only to get to the show and as a result of a bump from a spectator, dropped my box containing my cake and more damage occurred! At that point it was simply to put on a brave face and accept it, move and and learn for the next year. So any award after that is simply "icing on the cake"! The biggest thrill was hearing that Brides magazine's Wedding Style Director Maria McBride was there to chose her top 10 cakes to be featured in the upcoming 75th anniversary of the magazine! And after all my cake went through, it made that top 10 (well actually she chose 14 because she loved that many of them)! So now my cake is to be en route to New York City to be photographed for possible inclusion in the 2009 Brides issue! OMG that was a thrill beyond all thrills!

Here are some pictures of all of my entries - the wedding cake photos are courtesy of my dear friend Becky Willard from Kansas.

Going to Oklahoma!

Well I'm off for my long drive in a car packed to the brim! My wedding cake competition entry is complete, less a few elements that must be applied on site. The other entries I managed to complete are for the divisionals in the categories of : cookies, summer cakes and holiday cakes. I never managed to finish any others that I had planned on creating. Here's a teaser for you to enjoy until I post the completed entry!

Suffice it to say that Flour Confections will be closed from Thursday September 25th until Tuesday September 30th. All calls and emails will be addressed upon my return.

Thank you from Shantell & David

I had to post these gorgeous pictures from Shantell & David's wedding in August!

"Lisa, Thank you so much for the amazing cupcake tower and topper. The cake was such a great extension of the vision we had for our wedding day! Your designs are beautiful and everyone loved the lemon and raspberry butter cream flavours"

Shantell and David, August 9th, 2008

Photos courtesy of Darren Scala Photography

10 more days!!!

10 more days until I'm to be in Tulsa Oklahoma for the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show! I will be competing again not only in the Sugar Art Show but this year I'm going to enter The Grand National Wedding Cake Competition!!! This is the wedding cake competition!
So needless to say I've been working away on my entries trying to get them all perfect before I'm scheduled to leave, not to mention I still have weddings as well.
For more information about the show visit the Oklahoma State Sugar Artists website.
I will be sure to post my entries and details about my experience when I return....wish me luck!

Calling all 2009 Brides!

If you are planning a wedding for 2009, then be sure to come out to the Ajax/Pickering Fall Wedding Show this Sunday September 14th at the Ajax Convention Centre.

Here you will be able to meet many fabulous vendors from the region - including me!

Be sure to come by booth #14 where you'll be able to see my work, taste my creations and talk one on one about your dream wedding cake.

For more information please visit:

Durhamweddingsource.com

The Colour Purple

This cake was fun to do, and what was even better was the reaction when I delivered it today! I love to see people get excited over cake!

I was contacted by Heather who was planning a surprise 25th wedding anniversary for her parents. When they got married something went awry with their wedding cake and they never had the cake of their dreams - so she wanted to make sure they had something extra special for their 25th anniversary.

She wanted something bold, fun and whimsical - so an Off Kilter design fit the bill just perfectly. Heather came to me with a design in hand, we added a few elements during the consultation and the finished product is a show stopper!

Each tier is Vanilla Orchid cake filled with Hot Buttered Rum buttercream, iced in lavender buttercream with fondant accents.

Congratulations Joel & Beth!

Sweet & Simple

Simple 2 tier wedding cake for a small backyard wedding. Each tier was a different flavour: lemon/lavender top tier and midnight chocolate base tier filled with white chocolate buttercream, then iced in pale yellow buttercream and decorated with sugar daisies and ribbon.

Sweet & Simple!

Crazy for Cupcakes!

Well wedding season is still here....and so is the cupcake craze. The cupcake tower phenomenon started oh so many years ago now, but they have not lost their popularity unlike other fads. In fact this year I seem to have more cupcake towers on the books than wedding cakes.

Why are they so popular? Well some people just like the look of them - I mean 100 or more cupcakes all decorated the same way lined up on an elegant stand with a coordinating top cutting cake can look quite impressive. The other reasons are: they are cute, portable, single serving cakes that can be customized to suit any wedding theme - and who doesn't like to eat a cupcake??

This past Saturday I had 2 wedding cupcake towers at 2 different venues - and it was pouring rain - I mean pouring! That kind of rain doesn't help much when you are transporting multiple boxes of cupcakes, a boxed top tier, a stand, extra decor, etc....

The first tower was for Cynthia & Steve's black & white wedding at Deer Creek. To keep the entire display in their colour scheme, they went with Midnight Chocolate cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream swirls in white cupcake liners. Each cupcake was decorated with 3 tiny black flowers with white centres. The top cutting tier was iced in vanilla buttercream and decorated with an edible grosgrain bow and ribbon and more black & white flowers.

The second tower that day was for Shantell & David's "colour purple" wedding at Tosca Banquet Hall. Their room decor was gorgeous! From the linens to the flowers to the lighting, nothing was left out. They chose Pink Lemonade cupcakes each decorated with a either a lavender or eggplant sugar hydrangea. The top cutting tier was iced in buttercream and then decorated in a romantic fashion with hand piped buttercream flowers in shades of purple and a pair of sugar butterflies.

Off to VEGAS!

Yes that's right...in just a few short hours I will be boarding a plane to go to Cake Camp in Las Vegas! Yes people there really is something called Cake Camp - and it's just as it sounds: hands on classes with some of the best in the cake industry! 3 days of learning, sharing, having a blast with all things cake!

Here I am 2 years ago at camp with Colette Peters

So as you may guess, Flour Confections will be closed until I return on August 5th.

Isle of Love Topper Continued....

I wanted to share this wonderful review I received from Christa & Darryl on WeddingWire

"I searched far and wide for the perfect cake topper. So far, in fact, that I contacted someone in Germany who then recommended Lisa of Flour Confections. I then sent Lisa a photo of my husband and I, and asked if she could create a cake topper based on the photo. It turned out absolutely amazing, and everyone loved it -- especially us!"

Yes it's true - Christa originally contacted my talented friend Bettina of Betty's Sugar Dreams in Germany! Bettina is the amazing artist that has opened my eyes to custom cake toppers and working with polymer clay - be sure to check out her wonderful figures! You can also see the original post regarding their custom topper here

Congratulations Christa & Darryl!

Who let the dogs out???

I received this great email from a couple for whom I created a custom cake topper.

They contacted me from out of province, wanting a cake topper of their 2 dogs as the "bride & groom". I thought it was a fabulous idea and was excited to create this for them.

Hi Lisa,
As promised, I’ve attached a photo of my wedding cake. The cake topper was the hit of the wedding – people were taking pictures of it all night. Thanks so much for your fabulous creation!

The cake was provided by Northgate Bakery in Regina, SK.
The photographer for the photo with just the cake is Martha Roberts, and the other photo of the cake cutting is by Doran Chen

A Slice of Advice

Choosing your wedding cake should be one of the most enjoyable aspects to planning your wedding. Here are a few details to consider before you get started:

Be prepared:

Before booking your appointment, you will need to spend a little time researching not only cake designers, but designs as well. Find out from recently married friends who they would recommend, get referrals from your other vendors, search wedding forums and blogs. Word of mouth is often the best way to find your ideal cake provider.
To help you figure out your design, search the Internet & clip pictures from magazines. Get a good idea of what you like and what you don’t. Make sure you bring along any images you find so that your designer can see what style of cake you are wanting. Also bring along any fabric swatches that you may want to coordinate, dress images - basically anything that inspires you. Your ideal wedding cake should not only reflect you as a couple, but should also reflect the theme and feeling of your wedding.

Know your limits:

Weddings can be expensive, and staying on track with your budget can be difficult. Make sure you have a budget in mind before meeting your cake designer. Designer cakes will cost designer prices. Our cakes start from $6.00/serving and can go upwards of $20/serving. Our average cost for cakes that serve 100 people is between $600-$850. If your budget is an important issue, make sure you discuss that with your cake designer. Then they can provide you with some options in order to try to reduce costs.

The Bait & Switch:

One note about saving costs: getting a smaller display cake (be it real or fake) and having additional kitchen cakes for the extra servings does not always save on costs despite what the magazines state. A kitchen cake still needs to be the same in appearance as the main cake (ie: same number of layers - it's not simply a single layer sheet cake like you can get at the wholesale food stores). Most private bakers only supply kitchen cakes when there is the need for the additional servings above and beyond what the main display cake will yield, and in most cases they will not supply the additional cakes if the main cake serves 100 people or less.

It’s all in the details:

Order your cake as early as possible. Anywhere from 6-9 months or more in advance is preferred. Some months are busier than others – prime wedding season will book up early – so plan ahead!

Know how approximately how many guests will be attending and be sure to have a good idea as to how you will be serving the cake: as the main dessert or later with coffee on the sweet table. These details are important to determining the size of the cake.

Think about how you will be displaying your cake. Today the cake is seen as the centerpiece of your reception, so proper display and placement should be considered. Most cake designers do not include table arrangement, decoration or design in the costs of the cake. So if you want something special for the display, be sure to consult with not only your decorator and florist, but your cake designer as well so that the ideal presentation can be created on your wedding day.

Decide if you want to save the top tier. This tradition was fine during the days fruitcake was the common wedding cake choice. But with today’s butter cakes, buttercreams, and other finishes, the idea of saving the top tier has become less important. If you still want to keep with tradition, make sure to tell your cake designer. They will need to size the cake accordingly.

Be prepared to pay a deposit once you decide upon your cake designer. This is necessary to guarantee your date. Due to the amount of time involved with custom wedding cakes, many cake artists will only take on a few bookings per month, so they book up early. If you want a custom and unique wedding cake, be sure to book early!

Make sure to find out if there are any delivery fees, set up costs, or other additional fees. Delivery fees are common, especially if the baker needs to travel a great distance from their studio. Set up fees are sometimes needed when the cake design is one that must be set up on site. Additional fees would pertain to cake stand rentals or other display materials that must be secured with a deposit and returned. Please note that in Ontario, there should never be any taxes applied to the sale of your wedding cake. Therefore you should not be charged either G.S.T or P.S.T on the sale of any whole cake in Ontario.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

This gorgeous wedding cake was for a wedding this past Sunday at Paradise Banquet Hall.

The 4 tier ivory fondant cake is detailed with light pink brush embroidery & sugar diamonds - based upon a design by Planet Cake. Each tier flavour is different - including Vanilla Orchid, Limoncello, and Ebony & Ivory.

All the best with your lives together Armaity & Mahiar!

In it for the long haul

My in laws recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. What better gift could I give them but a cake!!!

They both love to do lots of outdoor activities such as hiking, canoeing, cycling....and they travel extensively through Canada and the US with their trailer in order to do these things.

They recently purchased an Airstream trailer, and I thought that it would be perfect as a cake!

So here it is - an Airstream cake! This is all cake and entirely edible - even the silver colour is made with silver food paint. Inside was vanilla bean butter cake with Canadian maple buttercream.

Here's to 40 years - you're in it for the long haul!

First Birthday's are a Smash!

A great way to help celebrate your child's first birthday is to order a "smash" cake along with the large party cake.

A "smash" cake is a mini cake - normally a mini version of the bigger cake - that is given to the birthday boy or girl with the intention to destroy & enjoy. It's a simple touch that makes their 1st birthday extra special.

A Summer Solstice Whimsical Wedding

Today is the first day of Summer aka The Summer Solstice.

Today also happens to be Rob & Joanne's wedding day.

Their vision was to have something fun and whimsical, something that reflected their style. They chose a 4 tier tapered wedding cake finished in pink & mocha brown complete with a handmade custom topper.

To satisfy all guests, they chose different flavours for each tier: from Vanilla Orchid cake with Belgian chocolate buttercream, to Limoncello cake - lemon scented cake with lemon curd buttercream, to Midnight chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream.

Have a wonderful wedding day Rob & Joanne!

Happy Father's Day!

To all those great Dad's out there - have a wonderful day!!!

Enchantment Under the Sea Cupcake Tower

Nicole & Jeff had a really fun theme for their wedding yesterday - Back to the Future's Enchantment Under the Sea Dance! They went all out with the decor - the room was filled with seashells, balloons, fish - you name it!

To carry the theme right on through to the dessert, they went with an under the sea cupcake tower. The variety of cupcake flavours comprised of BananaRama, Midnight Chocolate, Vanilla Orchid and Ebony & Ivory, each finished with a handmade white chocolate seashell. The top tier was all edible, including sugar seashells, coral, kissing fish and bubble sugar.

Congratulations Nicole & Jeff!

Isle of Love topper

Christa & Darryl commissioned this custom topper for their destination wedding taking place in July. It's based upon their engagement picture which was taken on a tropical beach. Made from polymer clay, it will be a lasting memory of their wedding day.

Congratulations and have a wonderful wedding day!

The wait is over

It's here! It's here!

For all you Sex and the City fans - you can finally celebrate - the new movie is out in theatres! Mix up some Cosmo's, get some cupcakes & call the girlfriends - it's time for a Girls' Night Out!

Happy Mother's Day

To all the Mother's out there - enjoy your day!