Cake Archives

Posted by Jennifer Miranda, Associate Editor

We've become known for our beautifully designed cakes, all created in-house by our super talented art directors, stylists, food editors, and usually the very talented Wendy Kromer. But ever wonder what happens to those cakes after they've been shot? (Sadly, they don't end up in the editors' stomachs.) Well, wonder no more. They go into our cake archive. Here are some old favorites from previous cake stories that have run in MSW. Though they look good enough to eat, I wouldn't try it—some of them go back years! How they're preserved—well that's for another day. Enjoy!

A Taste For Color: cakes inspired by flavors that are also colors. Here we have a strawberry cake decorated in a Bavarian style with gum-paste fruits.


Pretty Piped Cakes: This seven-tiered traditional wedding cake features intricate buttercream piping over fondant.

It's Getting Hot In Here

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

Maybe it's just that our offices are hot, but I'm ready for an icy treat.

We just came back from shooting Grace Bonney's wedding, where she provided something very sweet to keep her guests cool before the ceremony. You'll have to check out our Fall issue to find out the details (I know, I'm a tease). But while I was there, I started thinking about other things that could be provided to guests as they wait—before a ceremony, during a procession back to a reception site, or during an outdoor cocktail hour. Well, how about a popsicle? The picture above is from a great story on homemade popsicles from the Martha Stewart Kids magazine (click through the image to get some recipe ideas).  And if you aren't up for making them yourself, or even asking your caterer to do it, you could always just buy your guests some paletas, Mexican popsicles with really interesting flavors (like cucumber chile, mango chile, mexican papaya, etc). They're easy enough to find in most Southwestern cities, and this Travel and Leisure article has some good sources for them. Also, the Palapa Azul website has a store locator for their paletas and other frozen treats. (You may want to try the delicious sweet corn-flavored ice cream and their hibiscus sorbet). 

What are you doing for your guests to help them beat the heat?

White Wedding

Posted by Jennifer Miranda, Associate Editor

Admittedly, I'm not much of a dessert person (I choose Buffalo wings over cake any day!), but even I can appreciate that sheer moment of joy every bride must feel when, bogged down by vendor appointments and dress fittings, cake-tasting time arrives. In our latest issue of Weddings, we feature whisper-light white cakes that are sure to please even the most savory palette.

You can find the full story on our website by clicking the link above, but here are a few outtakes from the shoot, including one towering confection that sadly didn't make it into the magazine.

Meringue is an unexpected choice of frosting. Choose the cake and filling you like best, then cover it in these pillowy peaks.


A slice of coconut cake contrasts the fruit's nutty shavings with a sweet, light, creamy filling.


I LOVE the mod, geometric look of this truffle cake by Fritz Knipschildt. Unfortunately, we couldn't fit it into the magazine, but it was an all-around staff favorite! Just beautiful.


Once the dancing is done, treat your guests to a midnight snack of milkshakes and beignets, complete with tuile cookie straw. Whoever said you can outgrow milk and cookies?

Strawberry Desserts

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

It may be a bit early in the year, but my favorite street fruit vendor (yes, in NYC we get our fruit from a cart on the corner, not the supermarket) had some pretty good looking strawberries today and reminded me how much I love them. Like almost everyone else. I mean, really, is there a fruit more appealing than the strawberry? So, I dug around in the Martha Stewart archive (pretty handy tool) for my favorite desserts we've done—most of which I was lucky enough to taste when the test kitchen brought out their leftovers!

 

From top: Individual Strawberry Jam Cakes, Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberries, Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream, Almond Macaroon Galette with Strawberries,  Almond-Cornmeal Strawberry Shortcake, Frozen Strawberry Souffles, Strawberry Granita, Strawberries-and-Cream Cheesecake

Now I'm getting hungry. I'm going to have to make one of the individual jam cakes or the panna cotta.  Some or all of these would make a super fun dessert buffet for a summer wedding or a shower. Do you have the dessert menu set for your summer wedding? 

The Enduring Candy Bar

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

Last night, I was talking with a friend about the new Snickers ads—you know, the ones with all of the plays on words, like "Snacklish," the name of the new snack-centric language they've invented—and it got me thinking about the candy-gram signs from my youth. A classic? "For my Big Hunk, I will love you Now & Later." (If you want to send one, check out this great selection of verses). This is all just to say that candy bars have pretty enduring appeal, and they're super easy to personalize; just re-wrap them in papers or scraps of fabric to coordinate with your wedding theme, monogram, or color palette. I went back into the MSW archive and found one of my favorite iterations of this idea:

These are simple candy bars covered in sweet wrapping papers. Of course, their slimmer size makes them a bit more interesting, too. And your standard bars will always work, but imagine your guests delight (sheer ecstasy, I'm guessing) if you wrap up one of the BonBonBar's handmade chocolate bars. (They offer bulk discounts and are open to special orders.) I'm a big fan of the caramel nut bar

and the orange candy bar, with its combination of pecan nougat, orange blossom-infused caramel, and dark chocolate:

So, are any of you considering re-wrapping a chocolate bar? 

Idaho Sweets—or 47 States To Go!

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

I gave myself the challenge of finding great candies from each of the 50 states as favor suggestions, and I'm working on Idaho this week. My sister lives there and has started the tradition of giving my dad (by far the biggest sweet tooth in the family) a bag of Idaho Spud candies—chocolate-covered marshmallows and the first candy I've heard of with a fan club (the spud club)—every time she visits him. Here's a picture of an early spud wagon:

I have to second the suggestion on the wagon (look closely, it's there): try it frozen. That's my favorite way to eat this sort of spud, which is why they aren't quite my top pick for Idaho, though they're a close runner up. The winner (in my book, at least)? Cowgirl Chocolates Company. The Cowgirls make chocolates and caramels that combine the spicy (habanero, chipotle chiles) and the sweet (chocolates, caramels).   These are the habanero caramels and spicy truffles:

 

Sugared Flowers

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

Around here, we often end up with sugar flowers on our wedding cakes, which can be beautiful, but I've always been partial to a sugared real flower on a cake. There are a few flowers that should be avoided (poison + wedding guests = bittersweet memories), some of which can be found here.

You can sugar flowers yourself using these tips (here's a shot of the process):

Or you can buy them already sugared from Meadowsweets.  Here's are some of their options:

A rose, pansy and daisy selection

 

Roses, daisies, cornflower and lavender

Roses

I love the idea of using sugared rose petals in a very loose way on an otherwise simple cake, which could be buttercream- or fondant-covered—maybe a variation on this idea.

Which do you prefer, the sugared or sugar variety? 

Butterflies and Rainbows

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

By now I hope you've all had a chance to pick up our winter issue of MSW. We've had quite a nice response to our butterfly cake cover, and even some questions about how to get the same effect. Well, I'm here to give you the how-to.

We wanted to create the rainbow on a cake, so I bought several multi-color packs of butterflies from Floraltrims.com and picked from those to get the colors just right. Then, we stuck them on a basic (read inexpensive) fondant- (though buttercream works fine, too) covered cake and voila. If you're thinking of recreating this cake, there's a simple variation you might want to consider: you can personalize the butterflies to match your wedding colors. Most of the multi-packs I came across contained a range of neighboring colors, like blues and greens, so keeping the palette limited will save you even more money (which is always a good thing). Otherwise, you'll just have a bunch of unused butterflies floating around.

So, what do you think of this cake? Are you considering recreating it for your own wedding? If so, will you go the way of our cover, or will you consider a personalized variation on it?

Southwestern Sweets

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

When you think about favors for your wedding, naturally you want to give your guests something that makes sense for you and your groom to give. That's why the regional favors story in our Winter 2008 issue was so great. So, I'm starting a push to find candies indigenous to all 50 states (my version of Sufjan Stevens' 50 States Project). First stop: Arizona (my home state) for cactus candy:

These are lemon-, pomegranate- and jalapeno-flavored, respectively, and I can vouch for their tastiness.  And while I love the old-school illustrations on their packaging, they could easily be customized for your wedding by just stapling a folded rectangle tag over the existing ones.

Are you considering incorporating regional or local delicacies into your wedding? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Chocolate Favors

Posted by Katie Hatch, Style Director

During the holidays, I came across the Chocolate Vault, where I bought my nephews the chocolate cell phone and tool sets:

Naturally, I thought the Chocolate Vault could be a great source for a wedding favor. Maybe you're thinking that's not so natural a thought based on a miniature chocolate hammer, but have a look at the extensive selection of molded chocolates they make. One of my favorites? The tic-tac-toe favor: 

 

They also make darling chocolate cake toppers...

and tons of letters that could be packaged together as a favor.

 

The company is happy to customize any of their molds, using dark, milk, or white chocolate, and can collaborate on packaging details sure to make your guests smile. And who doesn't like takeaway chocolate snacks?