Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sunday Sweets: Baby Showers

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Over the past few weeks we've seen plenty of ways to do it wrong, so here are some sweet ways to do a shower cake right.

(As always, if you recognize a cake that's not credited please let me know.)

(By Cake Lady Cakes)


Hey, we haven't had one of these in while - so how about a mostly fondant-free Sweet?

(By Cake Central member dinkadoo)

Basket weave is a tricky technique, so to see this much of it (and done that consistently!) is super impressive. I also love the flowers, and the fact that the baker didn't feel the need to put a creepy baby doll in or on it. Heh. (Yep, that's a little foreshadowing for my next shower post.)


Here's another mostly fondant-free beauty:

(Made by Megan Blackburn. See more of her stuff here)

Proof that you really can get buttercream that smooth! Oh, and those pink ruffles are fantastic. (Hey bakers, which tip do you use for those? Just a simple flat one?)


I pretty much love everything there is to love about this next one:

(Baker Unknown)
And this one:

(By JaneBK)


This could very well be the most gravity-defying shower cake you'll ever see:


That's an engineering feat right there - and so many great details!

Which isn't to say that simple can't be gorgeous, of course:

(By Latrells25)


And lastly, I thought this was a clever way to hide columns, in addition to being adorable:

(By Patisserie Ganache)

Ah, you just can't go wrong with buttons and bows. :)


Have a Sweet to nominate? E-mail it to me at Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com!
Rachael said...

they're all so pretty! but I have to say the basket is my favorite! it's nice to see cake artists instead of cake wrecks occasionally. yay for sunday sweets!

Jon and Becky said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jessica said...

the pink ruffles are made with a rose tip

Jon and Becky said...

Cake is like figure skating, in that they both involve leotards and knives.

Unknown said...

It's a little creepy to have a baby cake with the "sweet prince" phrase on it. Is there another meaning besides Horatio mourning Hamlet's death?

Anonymous said...

Wow. That first one looks *just* like the rocking horse that my grandparents made for my mom way-back-when. Amazing!

Stephanie said...

I love the ones with the teddy bears - and the tea party! So cute! :)

bridget said...

I am sorry but the first cake is scary. It is the eyeball that is creeping me out because it looks like it is staring me down. I didn't think it was a Sunday Sweet. And at first the basket cake looked like a baby casket instead of a baby basket. But after looking at it for awhile I noticed how beautiful it really is. The fondant free cakes are always my favorites because they showcase the most talent. Thanks for posting the fondant free ones.

bridget said...

The Sweet Prince cake also scares me because it looks like a disembodied torso.

Cathy Santarsiero, "The Christmas Corgi" said...

Love the one with the teapot in the middle, but how the heck are they going to cut it?

Dennis said...

That bassinet looks funerary to me.

Anonymous said...

Sundays give me hope around here--and these beautiful baby cakes will give me a chance to brace myself for the next round of wrecks!

Are you sure that tea kettle cake isn't in motion (or won't be if you try to move it)? That looks like livin' on the edge a bit to me. I'd be too scared to try serving it!

Unknown said...

Sigh. Simply beautiful, as will be the babies to come!

Debra said...

Alternate title: Cakes that make you go "Awwwwwwwwwwwww"

Culinarychiq said...

GORGEOUS cakes, I love culinary art:) Others have mentioned it and I'd really like to know myself as I've always wondered how DO you cut the lopsided/tilted cakes without the whole thing collapsing? Are they on tiers and can stand on their own or...?

Anonymous said...

IMHO, the 'Sweet Prince' one has more of a Wreck feel than a Sweet one... but all the others are gorgeous. The gravity-defying one, and the adorable rocking horse especially (but not exclusively!).

Sweet Sundays, I love Sunday Sweets.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Stunning.

Jen said...

They are adorable!

aimee said...

Jen, are you suuuure there isn't something you want to tell us? Sure is a lot of baby talk 'round about these parts lately...

Jules AF said...

Well, this just makes me want to have a baby to get one of these. Beautiful.

Casey said...

These are all so sweet and pretty!

Lindsey D. said...

To get the ruffles you use the same tip you would for roses such as a 104. They're pretty easy to make too! Here the Wilton website has a step-by-step guide with pictures: http://www.wilton.com/technique/Ruffle

zebe912 said...

Some of these shower cakes have more servings than my wedding cake. Do they really have this many people at their shower (I can NOT even imagine) or are they just eating leftover cake for the rest of their pregnancy??

I agree with other posters that something on that horse head is just not quite right.

Fanboy Wife said...

I've never been to a baby shower before, but if I do go to one I hope I get to help eat one of these cakes instead of the dead-baby cakes.

Literary Crap said...

These are beautiful! The pink and brown one (near the beginning) is my favorite, though!

jackie31337 said...

These are all beautiful. I hink the topsy-turvy one is my favorite.

My sister-in-law would love that pink and brown dotty one. Her birth announcement had pink and brown dots, and I think most of the baby gear does too.

Virginia Price said...

My sister and I had a rocking horse just like the first cake. I'm also just now pregnant. What a great idea for my shower. Thanks, Jen, for showing us!

Cher' Shots said...

there is definately a lot of talent shown ... and who doesn't love cake??

Terry Lee said...

look at the little drops of water coming out of the teapots!!

ohmygosh!!

love love love this sweet, pink tea party theme!!!!

Anonymous said...

I am awed by that basket weave cake. How can that be mostly fondant free?

Candee said...

Those are all so beautiful and inspirational (even though I couldn't decorate a cake to save my life). Wish I had a cake like that for my baby shower!!

Jasry said...

Now THESE have me wanting a baby shower! That is how you do cakes.

Annette said...

I don't think those ruffles are made with a rose tip, they look more like they were done with a petal tip or a ruffle tip. If you look closely they weren't done sideways along the cake but rather each ruffle is done individually, like a curved petal.

drgns4vr said...

In addition to being a wonderful example for bakeries everwhere, these should be held up as good examples to prospective cake buyers.

Catherine said...

I thought the bassinet was creepy, too. Funerary. I think it would have been better if it didn't look so box-like on top.

Anonymous said...

Oh but I'm sure some wreckerators could find a way to go wrong with buttons and bows! :)

Rhonda said...

I agree with Annette, the 'ruffle' appears to actually be individual petals. I'd guess 104 but it might be 103, 105, or 106 depending on how large those layers actually are. Definitely 10-something anyway! Fiddly but it's going be more even than a ruffle since it's very tricky to disguise the joins in a ruffle and even harder to go all the way around with a join.

The bassinet really wouldn't be that hard to make, just wicked fiddly and it would take forever. I don't mind doing basket weave on smaller cakes but my piping hand is cramping up just looking at the much weave.

Mary said...

The basket weave is really neat and consistant.

The cakes were all lovely and a nice change to the "life-like or "rude" cakes

Are the parties really that big and require all that cake?

Ang said...

I can appreciate the beauty of the bassinet cake, and the fact that the baker wisely chose not to include a "sleeping" baby, BUT it still looks like a coffin, or at least very funeral-esque.

Hobbit said...

Yeah, that 'Sweet Prince' torso cake was actually a bit creepy.
But I LOVED the rocking horse! So sweet!

Unknown said...

I have a rocking horse like that! My grandfather made it. That would've been the perfect cake for me!
All these cakes are so inspiring. Well done.

Mary Connealy said...

How can anyone stand to eat something that beautiful. It's amazing work. Real art.

Glory von Hathor said...

Bear number 1 is totally saying

'Muahahahaha!'

Anonymous said...

I was really surprised to see that the fondant free cakes are made with buttercream - I always assumed that all your fondant free choices are made with royal icing (and was never quite sure why you took against it tbh.) I don't think I've ever seen a cake iced in buttercream! doesn't it make them a bit sickly? perhaps it's a British thing to only use Royal or fondant icing - royal every time for me :¬)

Janine said...

the baby basinette is by "dinkadoo" on cake central. Second week in a row that a pic in my favorites file on cake central made it here. Some seriously awesome talent on that website.

Cristy said...

I don't believe the sweet prince cake is meant to be a torsoe; it looks like it is a cute outfit on a hanger.

Varika said...

Anon, buttercream is quite common over here in the States, though the kind of buttercream most people are familiar with is butter or shortening and powdered sugar with a touch of vanilla, and it crusts over. Not as hard as royal icing, but it still crusts over. It's rare to find a decorated cake that's made with meringue-based buttercreams. It doesn't make it any stickier to use buttercream than to use royal icing, in my experience.

As for cutting a topsy turvy or any other stacked cake, you take the layers down one by one and cut them. It's a lot more stable than you think, thanks to boards between each layer and stakes or other stabilizers holding each layer up!

Anonymous said...

A rose tip was used on the baby shower cake to make those pink ruffles :)

Shelley Dayton said...

That pink teapot and teacup cake was outstanding. I love the humor in the happy baby, calmly enjoying her bath atop this crazy pile of cakes!

quichepup said...

I like #1, 4 and 5. The expression on the rocking horse's face is funny. The bears are great too, #4 is definitely going bwahahahaha but the thumbs up from #5 is probably my favorite. I want to remember this page when we have my sister's baby shower.

shikishinobi said...

My instant thought upon seeing the pink cake was 'The Mad Hatter's Baby Shower.' Yes, I realise what I'm saying.
But all those cakes are quite good. 'Sweet Prince' was simple, a little off centre but good.
A bit hurried today, so comment is going to be brief.

Shelley Parker Chandler said...

They also make ruffle tips, although I think those are made by Ateco and not Wilton.

Meena said...

Elizabeth, I also thought "Goodnight, sweet prince," from Hamlet. I would not want to see that on a shower cake. Seems like a very bad omen.

Middle Kid said...

Great cakes. I heard you on "The Splendid Table" on NPR today. Great job!

Sesana said...

I had a rocking horse just like that when I was little! My niece is using it now.

Cailtach said...

Eh, I'm not too fond of the bassinet cake. It looks a little coffinish to me. The "Sweet Prince" cake is kind of creepy too.

The teapot cake is excellent though.

Dave said...

That first mostly fondant-free was amazing. I can NEVER get basket weave to look so good. But that's why I'm a sailor, not a baker, I guess.

Cipiglio said...

The pink and brown "K" is my favorite. It looks like the buttercream was smoothed with a paper towel - you can refrigerate the cake until the frosting is cold and solid, then gently place paper towel against the surface and (also gently) smooth the paper towel against the frosting with your hand. When you peel the paper towel away, it will have that look. (Note - use a paper towel without a perforated pattern!)

Ophelia said...

The topsy-turvy teapots are amazing. The only thing that keeps me alive on Monday mornings is coming in to look at Sunday Sweets (no, I don't look at it at home on the weekend. I don't need to be cheered up on the weekend!). :)

FrostedFantasies said...

The brown and blue bear shower cake is from cakecentral member veragatafera. I loved everything about it too and had it saved in my favorites!

Bekah said...

@bridget and others creeped out by the rocking-horse - it appears to be a replica of an actual rocking horse that I've seen before. I'm not able to find a photo of it online, but I've seen more than one of them in church nurseries and people's homes and antique/thrift stores. The fault is definitely not with the cake maker - it really looks just like the horse it must have been modeled after.

Melissa (& Billy) said...

Every single one is a-freakin-dorable! (the tipsy teapot one is also a-freakin-amazing!)

Unknown said...

What is wrong with the eyeball on that rocking horse? That's nightmare inducing creepiness. All the other cakes are absolutely lovely.

Rookie said...

My cousin and I both have rocking horses like that first cake, made by our (late) grandpa.

I'm not a fan of babies, but I am a fan of these cakes! Adorable all around.

Unknown said...

OMG! That horsey cake! I HAD that rocking horse! My dad made it for me when I was a tyke. My mom's still got it and my youngest nephew is enjoying it now more than 45 years later.

Bekah said...

I found a photo of the right shape; however, this one is unpainted. You can see the distinctive wavy mane and the curved-forward head, though. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7IT9bKqNuA/SVEq-aEPk6I/AAAAAAAAClE/D2Nebc1FcBE/s400/RockingHorseByGrandpa.jpg

Christy said...

"It's a little creepy to have a baby cake with the "sweet prince" phrase on it. Is there another meaning besides Horatio mourning Hamlet's death?"

Yeah, I thought that too. I love Hamlet, and that's one of my favorite lines "Goodnight, sweet prince. Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest." But I don't want Hamlet's death quoted at my baby shower.

Anonymous said...

The brown and pink cake with the "K" monogram is cute, but the feet are all wrong. Babies and toddlers' footprints do not have arch definition like that.

WV: Boozo: Krusty at the Greek Festival

Emelie said...

Aww, it's very beautiful cakes! I hope some day that i can do cakes like that:)

The Cake Decorator's Daughter said...

awww

Sam said...

Okay is it just me, or does that rocking horse cake at the top confuse you? It's either looking demurely down or enticingly over it shoulder. Creepy either way.

Cute Things in Paint said...

no... id have to say most of these are still pretty creepy.

Dawn said...

The wildly tilting pink teapot cake is a nice analogy for how new parents feel once their first baby is born. :-) I wonder if the mother-to-be knows this? It *is* lovely, though.

JJ said...

These cakes are gorgeous!

Wilton does make a ruffle tip (#86) but I believe those sweet pink ruffles were made with a 127, which is a giant rose tip. That's what we use in Course 3, anyway :)

HunBun said...

The Sweet Prince reference made me think first of Celine Dion and her son, then of MJ's two boys.

I've done several wedding cakes with basket weave and it is hard to get it so perfect...kudos to the decorator!

Anonymous said...

I had that rocking horse- my Dad made it for me!

MmmVegan said...

I'm pretty sure the Sweet Prince cake is a cupcake cake. So not bad considering, but not as good as everything else in this post...

emily said...

I'm going to go on record to agree with the others here--love all of them except the "Sweet Prince" cake, and I don't know how you'd serve the teapot cake.
My problems with the "Sweet Prince" cake began with the dubious reference, and quickly continued along the lines of: off-center, shaky inscription; somewhat (disturbingly) asymmetrical form; tacked-on-looking hanger; and something... weird... going on with the leg holes. Personally, I have to disagree completely. But the rest are great and I love the horse! Too cute.

Anonymous said...

buttercream is smoothed using the viva paper towel method.