Valentine's Day 2011

Today I delivered the first Jillicious Desserts Wedding Cake of 2011 and also the first Valentine's Wedding Cake that I've ever created.  The clients planned a small, intimate, low-key wedding in their home and since it was on Valentine's Day, the bride said to incorporate the Valentine theme with the Chocolate Raspberry Wedding Cake she had seen on my website.

As appropriate as hearts are for this holiday, I find that there is a fine line that is often crossed from festive to tacky.  I try to stay away from the latter of the two.  I was really pleased with how this cake turned out. 

I created a double chocolate heart topper to display within the chocolate curls and raspberries.  Thanks to the pouring rain we had today here in Oregon and the lovely overcast skies, it was difficult to really show the topper in the dozens of pictures that I took.  The next picture was the first one I took and forgot to take off the flash--ironically, it shows the double chocolate hearts with the gold dust best in what was probably the worst photo I took today.

It almost has a sepia look to it, minus the washed out middle part of the cake.  But at least you get the idea of what it looked like.  I have to say, it looked better in person.

When I finished setting up the cake and decorating it, the bride exclaimed, "It is exactly how I envisioned it to look!"  That is always my favorite thing to hear, especially considering this cake was discussed through several emails and a phone call.  It's always good to be on the same page as the bride.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Valentine Chocolate & Raspberry Wedding Cake Details:

• Both tiers ~ Dark Chocolate Cake w/Raspberry Filling & Vanilla Buttercream Icing
• Top tier = 6-inch  cake / bottom tier = 8-inch cake
• Dark chocolate curls & fresh raspberries
• Dark chocolate fondant heart details & decorations, w/sugar pearl accents

Three Purple Wedding Cakes

This past weekend, I created my third purple-themed wedding cake in a row.  I always find it interesting when brides who don't know each other pick a couple of features that on paper sound the same, but when the wedding cake is created, how different they all can be.  Purple was one of the common threads of each wedding cake and also, each bride wanted sugar pearls in the shape of flowers on each of their cakes, using the main color of purple with their respective other color choices. 

Since this was the most recent wedding cake, I'll start with this one and work back to June with the other purple wedding cakes.

Wedding Cake #3

Silver & Purple Wedding Cake

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

Outdoor Wedding in Nashville/Summit, Oregon

The cake topper was the bride and grooms first name initials.  I love the simplicity of the topper and by having the flowers on the bottom tier, it allowed the topper to have the focus on the top tier.

A few close-up shots of the cake details with the silver and purple sugar pearls and flowers...(I just love how smooth the fondant looks on this cake!)

Silver & Purple Wedding Cake Details:

Top tier [8-inch round]:  Coconut-Macadamia Nut Hawaiian Cake w/Coconut Buttercream Filling

Bottom tier [12-inch round]:  Classic White-Vanilla Cake w/Raspberry Filling

Decorations:  White Fondant Icing w/sugar pearl details, royal icing piping and fresh flowers.

*Serves = 80 guests

Wedding Cake #2

This next wedding cake was also a two-tiered, purple themed cake.  Of the three wedding cakes, this was the only buttercream frosted cake.  Both types of icing (fondant & buttercream) create different looks, even though both have a smooth texture on the cake. 

Romantic Purple Floral Wedding Cake

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Beazell Memorial Forest - Kings Valley, Oregon

The two main colors of this wedding was dark purple and forest green--the accent colors on the cake.  There were several varieties of flowers that were used for the decorations on this cake, and the varying shades of purple, give this wedding cake a more romantic look.

The piping around the base gives a nice ruffled look, which goes so well with the overall romantic theme of this cake.

Romantic Purple Floral Wedding Cake Details:

Both the top tier [6-inch round] and the bottom tier [10-inch round] had the same flavors; Carrot Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Buttercream Icing.

*Serves = 50 guests

Wedding Cake #1

Here is the first cake that started the purple wedding cake theme for the summer; the Royal Purple Flower Wedding Cake.

Royal Purple Flower Wedding Cake

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

Beazell Memorial Forest - Kings Valley, Oregon

The accent color to the royal purple was lime green and since it was used in small amounts, it didn't compete with the purple, but rather enhanced it as a bright accent color.

The cake was decorated with fresh-cut local flowers in varying hues of royal purple and tied all the decorations together.

Royal Purple Flower Wedding Cake Details:

Top tier [6-inch round]:  Dark Chocolate Cake w/Caramel Buttercream Filling

Middle tier [9-inch round]:  Classic White-Vanilla Cake w/Raspberry Filling

Bottom tier [12-inch round]:  Dark Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling

*Serves = 100 guests

As you can see, although all three wedding cakes had the color purple in common, all three were very different and were created special for each bride on her wedding day. 

Congratulations to all three couples!

Mission Mill Wedding Cake

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a large wedding cake to create and this time it was for a client who was someone I've known since my junior high days.  I was excited to meet with her a few months ago and discuss the details of her wedding cake and to come up with a design. 

One of the advantages of making wedding cakes and delivering them, is I get to see many wedding venues that I wouldn't normally visit or even know about.  This was one of those venues.  The wedding was held at the Mission Mill Museum in Salem, Oregon, which is a historic woolen mill and other buildings on a 5-acre site.  The reception was held in the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill building on the third floor which was called the Spinning Room.  I was relieved to find out that there was an elevator--whew!

The bride's colors were red, white and black and this was incorporated in her cake, as well as the decorations in the reception room.

I really like how formal and elegant this cake was even though the square cake shape gives it a more modern or contemporary twist.

I loved how the sugar pearls looked like little jewels hanging between the piped swag details.

Since black is such a strong, dark color, and it can make an impact with a small amount--so I went with the "less is more" attitude and added black in the form of black sugar pearls, slightly pearlized.

Although this cake was only three tiers, don't let that fool you.  This cake was very large and VERY heavy. 

There are several reasons why I assemble wedding cakes on-site and one of them is that there is no way I could lift a stacked cake and carry it by myself from my vehicle into the venue.  This cake was no different.  The bottom tier alone was so heavy that I had to enlist some help from a young man that was in the wedding party.  Even he was surprised at how heavy it was!

Once the cakes are safely delivered to the table where it will be displayed, then I can stack them and finish the piping details.  At this point, I am able to relax and enjoy the rest of the decorating process.

The bride chose fresh red roses and calla lilies for her wedding cake, as well as the reception table bouquets.

I was really pleased with how this wedding cake turned out and I was even more happy to see the look of excitement on the bride's face when she saw it completed.

Congratulations Stacy & Kevin!

May 29th, 2010

Mission Mill Wedding Cake Details:

• Top tier = White-Vanilla Cake w/Vanilla Cream Buttercream Filling [8-inch square]
• Middle tier = Dark Chocolate Cake w/Raspberry Filling [12-inch square]
• Bottom tier = Dark Chocolate Cake w/Vanilla Cream Buttercream Filling [16-inch square]
• White Fondant Icing w/Vanilla Buttercream Frosting layer
• Sugar pearl details and royal icing piping details
• Fresh Roses & Calla Lily Flowers

Wedding Season Has Begun!

Wedding season has officially begun for Jillicious Desserts and last Saturday, May 15th I delivered a simple, yet elegant wedding cake and mini cupcakes for the bride's outdoor wedding.  The wedding was held at a venue that I hadn't been to before, called Dancing Deer Mountain.  Although I didn't actually see any deer, let alone a dancing one, it was a very beautiful location and I imagine that from time to time deer are probably seen in this area.

The next wonderful surprise was the wedding cake topper.  I've seen many toppers over the years, but this one just might be my favorite yet!  I didn't know what the wedding cake topper would look like or the size, so I had to finish decorating the cake on site. I brought a tray of dark chocolate curls to finish the decorations on the cake and once the topper was in place, I was able to finish this wonderful, first wedding cake of the 2010 wedding season.

Along the back part of the wedding gown, there was a beautiful quote by Shakespeare and it just added to the wonderful details of this topper.

I just loved all the details on the wedding gown of the cake topper and I just had to take a few more pictures to show the details.  It worked out so well that I had decorated with some pearlized sugar pearls and I added a few more around the base of the topper for some special details.

In addition to the wedding cake, the bride ordered five different flavors of mini cupcakes for her guests.  The colors just added a nice contrast to the gorgeous greenery that surrounded the tables and once everything was set up, it just couldn't have worked together more perfectly.

The bride also added a small, 6-inch Chocolate Decadence Cake without the whipped cream, for a gluten-free and lactose-free option; so she too, could enjoy her wedding cake.

As I set up the wedding cakes and cupcakes, I just took a few minutes to relax and enjoy the process of putting the final touches on the cake and arranging everything just so.  I think that is really my favorite part--seeing it all come together and knowing that I played a small part in making the bride's wedding day so special. 

On my way home from the wedding venue, I stopped by a local hazelnut farm and purchased some hazelnuts and the lady noticed that I was wearing a chef's jacket and asked where I was coming from.  I explained that I had just delivered a wedding cake and she said:

"Oh, how wonderful!  Do you realize that all these people that you've done wedding cakes for have pictures in their scrap books or photo albums of your work?  What an amazing thing to know that your work will be remembered for years to come.  It's like you are a part of their lives for such a special day." 

She was right, and I hadn't really thought of it that way before, but I love the idea of being able add to their experiences that they can have wonderful memories to remember.

Wedding Cake Details:

• Black & White Chocolate Cake [Dark Chocolate Cake w/Chocolate Chips, White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling & Icing, decorated with Dark Chocolate shavings and curls w/sugar pearl details.]
• Chocolate Decadence Cake [Raspberry Glaze and decorated with Dark Chocolate curls and fresh raspberries.]

Mini Cupcake Details:

• Orange Zinger Cupcakes [Vanilla Cupcakes w/Orange Zinger Frosting]
• Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cupcakes [w/Chocolate Buttercream Icing]
• Coconut-Lime Cupcakes [Coconut Cupcakes w/White Chocolate & Lime Cream Cheese Icing]
• Lemon Surprise Cupcakes [Lemon Citrus Cupcakes w/Lemon Curd Filling & Lemon Buttercream Icing]
• Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cupcakes [w/Vanilla Buttercream Icing]

M.I.A. and the Lack of Posts.

Dear Readers of the Jillicious Discoveries Blog,

I have MISSED you all these past two weeks!!

I can't believe that it really has been nearly two weeks since my last post. I've missed being able to read all those wonderful blogs that I follow (and I will be spending this relaxing afternoon to read and comment on many of those) and I've missed updating my own blog. I even thought that it really wasn't that long since I had posted anything, until I received an email from a fellow blogger wondering if all was well with me and where I had been (thank you for that kind email Jenny) and comments on Facebook noting that I had been silent. Things are good, I'm fine--it was just a busy week and it seemed to have flown by way too fast. I've caught up on other areas of my life and I know can focus on blogging once again (woo-hoo!)

Let me explain how last week began and seemed to set the flow of the rest of the week.

Mondays are my day off (Jillicious Desserts is closed), but this just means I need to work to get everything else done, before the "work week" begins. I was cleaning the house on Monday and decided to use this really great vacuum attachment that dusts and cleans in small areas and I used it on my desk area and really cleaned my computer and keyboard. I cleaned them so well, that later in the day, when I had a few minutes to check some emails, I discovered that I had somehow disconnected my wireless keyboard and wasn't able to type.

Do you know how frustrating it is to see the Internet, emails and other work items, but you can't really access them? I think it's worse than not having the Internet--it was just teasing me and I felt like my computer was laughing at me saying, "Ha ha, you can't get anything done right now!" And of course, one of those to-do items on my list was the Monday Must Have.

Finally I had time late that night and with the help of tech support (which is my way of saying I called my friend that is super smart about these types of things--thanks Nick!) I figured out how to re-connect the wireless keyboard to respond to typing. By then, it was late and I had to postpone blogging for another day.

The rest of the week included driving up to Portland for a friend's wedding, picking up supplies in Newport (on the coast), setting up appointments, creating dessert orders, delivering several dessert orders in two different towns and preparing ingredients and plans for a wedding cake, baking and decorating wedding cake, attending some church meetings and catching a few hours of sleep here and there.



The best part of delivering this weeks wedding cake, was that the location is literally only 3 miles from my house, so it was a nice, quick drive (no traffic) and everything with the set up went smoothly. Plus, it's always a nice way to end a busy week; to create something that I love to do and that will make someones special day more memorable.

Romantic White Floral & Blue Dot Wedding Cake Details

• Top tier (6-inch round) - Dark Chocolate Cake w/Raspberry Filling
• Bottom tier (10-inch round) - Dark Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling
  

• Sheet Cake - White-Vanilla Cake w/Raspberry Filling & Vanilla Buttercream

P.S. I will see you tomorrow with the Monday Must Have!

Most Requested Wedding Date

You know when you plan to do something on a weekend and you've known about the date for months? And the closer it gets, it seems like all of these other great events that you'd love to attend also fall on that same day? Today, September 5th was one of those dates for me.

Let me share a little glimpse into my life as a pastry chef.

I've had this wedding booked for this date since about March. As the months continued to pass, I continued to have requests for this same date (9-5-09) and found that of all the many Saturdays during the summer, this was THE most requested wedding date for the wedding season this year. Maybe it was because it's Labor Day Weekend and it's the last time folks can be out of town for vacations or weddings, but this was the date that people continued to call and ask about.

I must have had to turn down at least 6 or 7 potential wedding clients, as I am only able to create one wedding cake each weekend. I'm not sad that I had to turn away other clients, because I've been looking forward to creating this wedding cake for some time now. The clients were very nice to work with and they had planned ahead and were very organized in getting ready for this wedding (something I can really relate to--the organization thing, it's like finding a kindred spirit).

This week was wonderfully, crazy busy and I really had to stick to my detailed, day-to-day, hour-by-hour schedule to get everything done. I love it when the orders come pouring in and this week was one of those weeks. In addition to several birthday cakes, bridal shower cupcakes, and other dessert orders, yesterday was the last Farmer's Market of the season in our small town. In between baking the cake orders and baking the wedding cakes, I was baking desserts for the market--which went very well.

I love the variety of things I get to bake during the week. Here are a few things that were baked in the Jillicious Kitchen this week:

• Coconut-Macadamia Nut Hawaiian Cake
• Guava Chiffon Cake
• Hawaiian Coconut-Macadamia Nut Cupcakes
• Lemon Surprise Cupcakes
• Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
• Vanilla Cupcakes w/Chocolate Buttercream
• Carrot Cake Cupcakes
• Macadamia White & Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
• Pecan Chocolate Brownies
• Orange Chocolate Passion Cake
• "It's All About the Chocolate" Cake
• French Apple Galettes
  

Today's wedding was located at the Eugene Yacht Club, where the bride and groom love to go sailing and their wedding cake reflected this ocean and tropical theme. This was a very LARGE cake and when I arrived to deliver and set it up, I actually had to get some help in bringing in the bottom tier. Usually I can carry the cake tiers myself, but this 16-inch bottom cake tier was unbelievably heavy and I wasn't going to take any chances and possibly drop it.

I've been making wedding cakes for some time now, but I think I will always be a little nervous until the cakes are stacked and ready for the final decorations. Once the cake tiers were stacked and in place, I relaxed and finished some piping details and added the fresh flowers. Adding the finishing touches is always my favorite part. I was a little sad to walk away, leaving this cake that I've been working on for the past couple of days, but I know that it will bring much joy to the happy couple today.

Tropical Ocean Wedding Cake Details:

• Orange Chocolate Passion Cake w/Orange Chocolate Filling (8-inch, top tier)
• Vanilla-White Cake w/Raspberry Filling (12-inch, middle tier)
• Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling (16-inch, bottom tier)

Time for Wedding Cheesecakes

Recently I've had several people tell me how great they think it is that I'm doing what I love. And I have to agree completely with them.

Today I had two wedding orders to fill. The first client ordered 240 mini cupcakes and yes, I baked them all this morning and decorated them and they were ready for pick-up by 10 am. I love working on pure adrenaline and being all alone in the kitchen, glancing out the window and finally seeing the sun come up. The clock is my friend--I watch it closely, seeing how fast I can get each part of the process done, making small goals along the way, 15 minutes for mixing and preparing the cupcakes, 20 minutes to bake, 2 minutes to transfer the baked cupcakes to a cooling rack--all the while working on the next batch, making the frosting and repeating each step several times. Working like this, is like clock-work (pardon the pun) when everything goes smoothly and today it did.

The client picked up the cupcakes for her niece's wedding and was thrilled with them and was so excited to bring them back to the bride and family for the reception. This is the best part of the entire process, seeing the reaction of the finished product and knowing that one of my desserts will play a part in someones special celebration.

The next part of the day, I was focused once again on the clock. I had seven cheesecakes to frost with fresh whipped cream, piping details on the sides of the cakes, and decorate with chocolate curls and fresh raspberries. The first cake takes the longest, as I had to decide how I would decorate it and how much cream was needed. The next cake took less time and the third cake even less time and once again with each cake, I improved my completion time, only competing against myself. Finally, all seven are decorated and carefully boxed up and ready for delivery. An hour later, I've loaded up my "Jillicious Rig", and I'm on my way to the reception hall.

The drive was smooth and I found the location easily. I carefully unload the cheesecakes and set up the three wedding cheesecakes on the clients tiered stand, take a few pictures and then my job is done and I head back home. Now I look at the clock and notice that I've been working for over 13 hours and that my energy is almost gone and it feels good to being sitting down.

It has been a great day. I love what I do.

Wedding Cheesecake Details:

• (1) 6-inch
• (1) 8-inch
• (5) 10-inch

Each cheesecake was a White Chocolate Cheesecake with sweetened whipped cream, fresh raspberries and dark chocolate curls.

My Best Friend's Wedding Cake

Yesterday my best friend (of 29 years--wow, has it been that long?) got married. It was such an exciting day and I'm so happy for her.

The past three days have been so crazy busy with baking, as I made her wedding cake and cupcakes for the reception. In between baking, make a ton of buttercream, and decorating till the wee hours of the morning, there were many festivities to attend. Bridal shower, family dinner, the wedding, ring ceremony, and the reception. It was so fun to see roommates from college, extended family and friends and to be there for this special occasion.

I've never been so exhausted after making a wedding cake. Trying to get things done in between all the events and yes, the wedding cake was finally completed with the piping details about an hour before I had to deliver it and set it up. Although, I've delivered and set up many wedding cakes, I still get tense and slightly stressed and can't relax until it is safely there and set up. This cake was no exception--in fact, I think I was more stressed about it being perfect, since it was my wedding gift for my friend. It all worked out, as it always does and this time was even better, as I was able to see her excitement and gratitude for her wedding cake and cupcakes.


The wedding cake and cupcake table with an assortment of seven different flavors of cupcakes.

Cupcake flavors: Dark Chocolate w/Chocolate Buttercream, Dark Chocolate w/Vanilla Buttercream, Lemon Surprise w/Lemon Curd Filling,Orange Zinger, Coconut-Lime, and Hawaiian Coconut-Macadamia Nut Cupcakes.

Congratulations Jenna & Philip!!

June 19, 2009

Hydrangea Wedding Cake: Dark Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling (top tier), White-Lemon Cake w/Raspberry Filling (bottom tier), frosted with a Vanilla Buttercream.