My Cake Central Magazine Cover Cake

"I am excited to tell you that your cake is going to be our cover cake! Congratulations!"

When I read that email from Cake Central Magazine editor, Andi Satterlund, I just about fainted and went into a coma. I thought she had made a mistake. Definitely did not think my cake design was "cover cake" worthy! Wasn't even sure it was good enough to make it into the magazine at all! But here it is! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to use my God-given talents to bring Him honor and glory! He is the Master Artist and I'm honored that He has given me just a little bit of His creativity! The outpouring of love and encouragement on my Facebook page has been an overwhelming blessing! And to think that I almost decided NOT to design and submit this cake design! I'm glad I pushed myself to do it! 

Here is the Dusk Forest wedding Inspiration photo-

I wanted to share the responses to the questions Andi asked me about what inspired this design.

1. My initial reaction to your inspiration photo was, "How beautiful and enchanting." Then the thought immediately occurred to me that all the bride (in the photo) needs now is a little chapel nestled in the trees with a sunset backdrop and she'll have the perfect stage on which to take her vows! 

2. How I decided on the elements I used- I've always been inspired when I see beautiful photos of white birch trees against the sunset and I love trying to replicate nature and textures in sugar. The little chapel made of gingerbread is the perfect venue for a Dusk Forest themed wedding! This theme gave me inspiration to incorporate my gingerbread art into my cake art. As for the color palette- I have a fetish for moss green and salmon as you can see from some of my photos on Cake Central.com. :)

3. Specific tools I used- Wooden skewers and wire are the support system for the white birch trees. I hand sculpted the gum paste around the skewers and wires then used a fondant crimper, paint brush and icing colors for the black knots in the bark.   For the sunset I used airbrush. Haven't used an airbrush machine in 13 years! For the butterflies I used food color markers and rice paper. 

4. My fave thing about my cake is the gingerbread chapel with the birch trees and sunset backdrop.

5. The mood I wanted to reflect- Peaceful, Romantic and Haunting.

6. About our new bakery- We hope to open in the middle of January. We will announce our grand opening via Facebook. The name: "With Love & Confection ~ A Sweet Boutique"

Our signature dessert is the CakeCheeseCake Present. That is a layer of cheesecake hugged between two layers of cake, wrapped in (scratch-made) white chocolate fondant and topped with a sugar bow and gift tag to say, "With Love & Confection". (http://cakecentral.com/g/i/1643316/a/1644316/hearts-of-gold/)

We will use lots of fresh local ingredients including milk, buttermilk, butter, cream cheese and sour cream from the local Happy Cow Creamery. (http://www.happycowcreamery.com)

We will be serving cappuccinos and espressos and our sandwiches will be made using our scratch-made breads. Our signature sandwich is a yummy grilled chicken salad on focaccia. 

We plan on holding scratch baking and cake art classes for children and adults. 

The aesthetic of our bakery is going to have a French-Shabby-Chic vibe. The color palette is pastry pink, aqua and white. Very inviting, comfortable, light and airy.

Here are the images I captured! Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting and feel free to leave a comment! 

With Love & Confection,

Veronica

(All watermarked images are property of Veronica Arthur/With Love & Confection and may not be copied without permission. Email me at loveandconfection@gmail.com for permission. Please do feel free to "Pin It" though! Thank you :)