Sunday Sweets Is Coming Up Roses
August 4, 2013 Sometimes with Sweets I get so caught up with arranging fun themes that I neglect to show off more traditional stuff - cakes that are "just" gorgeous, if you will. So today I have a relatively boring theme: roses - but I promise there's nothing boring about these beauties:
;)
Looking at this, you can almost feel the crisp Autumn air, am I right? (Or is that just wishful thinking from a currently roasting Florida resident?) It's perfect for a casual outdoor wedding - and can you believe those wood barrels and stapled straps are all edible?
Or, for a more traditional design:
;)
While the rich purple roses are the show-stopper here, if you look closely you'll see that "ribbon" is actually all hand-piped. Wowza.
You're going to think I mixed up my roses with my daisies again on this next one, but look closer:
;)
Chocolate roses! YES. And the daisies give it the perfect pinky pop of color.
(I'd also like to point out that "pinky pop" is super fun to say. Pinky pop. Pinky pop. Pinky pop!!)
(Ahem.)
Sometimes all your cake needs is a single perfect rose:
;)
By Flickr user Meggs
But others you might want it to have nothing BUT roses:
;)
It's like a rose tower topiary!
(Also, I give up: how do you cut this? And more importantly: how could you?)
Think roses are too old-fashioned? Then how about a more stylized approach?
;)
Modern, elegant, and yet still still funky cool. I like it.
Here's another modern style that's a bit more casual, and more importantly, actually doable by some of us non-pro mere mortals:
;)
By Cakes By Kim
The ombre colors really set off the rosy swirls perfectly, don't you think?
Of course, you can also do fun things with traditional roses, like arrange them into Hidden Mickeys on the side of your wedding cake:
;)
The Dizgeek in me wants to go back in time and do this for my wedding. So fun!
And for you icing purists: yes, it IS possible to make stunning roses with buttercream:
;)
By Arti Cakes
I think this is my new all-time favorite fondant-free cake. LOVE.
When it comes to realism, though, you just can't beat gumpaste roses. In fact, in all my 5+ years of looking at pretty cakes, these are the first roses to fool me:
;)
Let's take a closer look at this rosy ruffly goodness, shall we?
;)
That's gumpaste, you guys. For realz. And the rose pattern is hand-painted.
What's even more astounding is that this cake was Tonya's first time hand-painting roses, and her first time making gumpaste roses. HER FIRST TIME, you guys. Excuse me while I scoop my jaw off the floor.
Say, I just realized we haven't seen any rosebuds yet. FIXED:
;)
D'awww. It's like a delicate embroidered baby's blanket made all 3D and delicious and stuff! (Really, bakers, you should hire me to write your menu descriptions.)
And finally, I'm going to end with a rainbow swag of roses and soft watercolor tiers, because looking at this cake makes me ridiculously stinking happy:
;)
RIDICULOUS HAPPINESS. 'Nuff said.
Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com! Also, be sure to check our Sunday Sweets Directory for a listing of all the bakers in your area that we've featured here on Sweets!
Reader Comments (37)
As an icing purist I LOVE the fondant free cake :D it's yummy and pretty. The rosebud cake is cute and sweet and the painted rose cake is BEAUTIFUL
What I don't really get is why it has to be either fondant or buttercream. My hubby and I dislike either. So for our wedding, we had our cake decked in marzipan and it was both really pretty and delicious. When I find time to dig around our fotographs I will send you one.
Maybe this could even be a SSS (Sunday Sweets Special), Marzipan decked cakes. Because this is an option often overlooked by bakers and customers.
I really love the one with the purple roses and the hand piped ribbon. So pretty!
How? How do you do it? Every week you amaze us with incredible creations. I applaud your commitment and energy - you're awesome!
And I've got to say, flowers aren't my favourite but that hand-painted cake... it is just fabulous!
I love the buttercream rose cake! It is, simply put, stunning (but then again so are all Sunday Sweets cakes!)
I also really love the title because it makes reference to one of my favourite musicals "Gypsy!" and one of the best songs in it "Everything's Coming Up Roses". All in all, the cakes are stunning, the comment are funny and the title is creative. Wreck on!
Also, as I neglected to mention I now have "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy stuck in my head. So thank you (non-sarcastically) for that. Off to go listen to Everything's Coming Up Roses for the umpteenth time.
OMG...these are so gorgeous. That first one with the baskets. The gumpaste roses. THE HIDDEN MICKEYS!!!! So much pretty in this post.
(The Hidden Mickeys are my favorite.)
Oh. My. Goodness. These all were so very stunning. The last 3 blew me away...and the rainbow tiers of pastel colors with the amazing spray of flowers put me in a happy mood. Thank you Jenn, for making my Sunday morning a whole lot happier and brighter. If I had a cake business I'd definitely hire you for my descriptions. :)
A rose…simple, yet stunning…absolutely beautiful…
A dozen of these for you, Jen: @-->-----
(now I’m off to say “pinky pop”…..)
Are the flowers on the last cake edible? They REALLY don't look edible. And even if the flowers are sugar, then surely the greenery and other floral stuff isn't.
O Jen! They're just gorgeous. Just gorgeous.
These are all gorgeous, but I fully expect to see a weekday post full of bakers who attempted the ombre cake. Complete with garish colors and ugly plastic butterfly kites.
I think the sixth one down is quite unusual; the way the white roses are drifting downward below the stand is really nice!! The overall effect looks almost like a big, glamorous hat. I think that Her Majesty the Queen would like that one.The "wood" looks actually woody on the first one, and the last one appears to have real ivy...It's elegant! They're ALL elegant.
=^~.~^=
The second to last one...THAT is a Baby Shower CAKE. A PROPER Baby Shower Cake. All you baby shower throwers, take note:
From now on, if you want to go all cute and pretty, no mommy's tummy cakes will do, EVER again. You MUST insist on that cake you see here, no other. Grandma's the world over are very tired of Cake Wreck worthy baby shower cakes. So before you decide to put the mom's breasts and belly on display, or a fondant baby face from (shiver) where ever they come from. PLEASE, please we beg of you, have some class and do it right. Like the one here.
<getting off my soapbox on the corner>
Thank you and good day.
I said GOOD DAY!
I just OD'd on these, my favorite ~ rose cakes! Everyone a masterpiece. I'm a sucker for the rosebuds/sweetheart roses over all the others.
*pinky pop* just might be my new screen name.
""What I don't really get is why it has to be either fondant or buttercream. My hubby and I dislike either. So for our wedding, we had our cake decked in marzipan and it was both really pretty and delicious. When I find time to dig around our fotographs I will send you one.
Maybe this could even be a SSS (Sunday Sweets Special), Marzipan decked cakes. Because this is an option often overlooked by bakers and customers.""
As a baker, I can say that most people I've asked actually dislike marzipan, too, and will try to scrape it off if used on a fruitcake.
Marzipan is also much harder to work with, it doesn't have half the elasticity of fondant or modelling chocolate, and the benefits of the latter two far outway the taste of marzipan. You can flavour fondant with almonds, or putting a marzipan layer under your fondant layer, and the taste seeps into the fondant.
Everything is subjective, though, and everything has cons to go against the pros.
Today is my birthday, and I would LOVE any of those cakes! Beautiful!
For those who don't like fondant because of the taste, there is a recipe floating around on the internet that is very simply made with marshmallows, powdered sugar, and a little bit of water. It works just like the icky-tasting stuff, but this tastes WONDERFUL! I actually make balls of it and let them dry, and they're like candy (guilty grin here).
Oh, um, the 4th one, with the "single, perfect rose" - I may be wrong, but I think that's actually a peony...
Happy Birthday Michelle!
I'll take a chocolate rose or 12 please :-)
Happy Birthday Michelle!
I'll take a chocolate rose or 12 please :-)
Oh, Jen. Your posts always make me unbelievably happy. And I know we don't actually know each other, but I think of you as a friend (that's not weird, right? Please tell me I'm not weird) Anyways, point being, I absolutely love that last cake, it definitely made me grin. Like giant, ridiculous grin. Thanks for all you do!
That one solid white cake, with the smooth swag of 'fabric' lifting to reveal the pure white roses underneath is truly a thing of beauty. It takes great talent and skill to do something so seemingly simple this well.
How... HOW?? How on Earth do you cut into ANY of those and eat them?? ( I mean, heck yes I will but still..) They are amazing works of art!
I don't know which one is more beautiful! I love the ombre, and it's in my favorite color.......but the all white modern one is stunning, and the last cake, with adult tones of rainbow.....I'd want them all! The baby shower cake is wonderful, too. And the rant, TOTALLY FREAKIN' CORRECT!!!
I want a dress like no. 6! Wedding dress or prom dress or just wear-around-the-house dress humming "Whistle as You Work." And a cocktail dress like no. 2, and a cocktail party to wear it at.
BEAUTIFUL!! I particularly like the painted cake with the 2 gum paste roses. I wouldn't be able to cut it (for a shile...).
I agree with DD, though. Speaking from a florist's viewpoint, I believe that the majority (at least) of the flowers on the last cake are real.
On the subject of marzipan: I think it's delicious, but I also know that it's got properties that make it less than ideal as a medium for decorating. Primarily, the problem is the oil content in the ground almonds, which affects the flexibility, elasticity, and cohesion of the paste itself. Marzipan is ideal for covering cakes and making small decorations, but because it doesn't dry out the same way as fondant or gum paste, you simply can't do larger and delicate floral work with it, and getting decorations to adhere to one another is a challenge as well.
Re: peony vs. rose: That's what I thought, too, although the conical center is more rose-like than poenific. Also, the Dutch word for peony is "pioenroos", pronounced Peon-rose. So it's kinda both. I'll take the Dutch word on flowers any day!
While these cakes were fun and cute, I had been looking forward to Neverland. Will those be next Sunday?!
Jess, Sara, judy:
About fondant: it's not just the lack of taste that makes me dislike fondant, but I'm a vegetarian and most fondant recipes contain gelatin, including Sara's marshmellow-recipe. So that was a no-go for my wedding cake. And with buttercream: I can tolerate it in small amounts, but my hubby will scrape every last fleck off a cake before eating it. It's so rich it's almost inedible to us.
With the marzipan: I think it depends on the recipe. I'm not a professional baker and only make cakes for family birthdays, but I've decked/decorated some of them with marzipan and it worked great. I just knead a lot of confectioners sugar into it before decking a cake, and i stick parts together with small amounts of water.
The local bakery that made my wedding cake does a lot of marzipan cakes and decorations. My cake is not on their homepage, but I'll insert two links that lead you to some of their marzipan designs. Most of them are pretty basic, and some a bit strange, but then it's a small family-owned business. Plus my cake was more pretty than most of what they have on their page. I think I will send THEM a picture too.
http://www.fahrnberger.com/3/2.htm
http://www.fahrnberger.com/2/2.htm#
((overheard in front of bakery display window)): Person 1: "Gorgeous cakes! Works of art...! My Mom-bless her heart-made my brother's and sister's and my birthday cakes using Betty Cracker or Duck'n Hide's mix, and canned frosting! They ALWAYS came out lopsided, uneven, and sometimes even broken! We kids loved them!
Person 2: (giggling): "Oh, mine, too! The only real, bakery cakes WE ever saw were on television, and we always thought that those were made out of Styrofoam!"
=^~.~^= mmmmm...caaake....
I also agree with DD about the last cake. Flowers and greenery are probably real. If you go to their website, the picture immediately following that one is a cake with rhinestones (I don't think they've invented edible rhinestones yet) and feathers between each layer. Yes, feathers. It looks kind of cool, as does the one here, but if it's not edible (or sanitary once you pick off the inedibles), you might want to go a different way.
The rest are all gorgeous! :)
Every one of them would make me proud to have for any occasion. GORGEOUS one and all!
I am so glad to see Arti Cakes in the list. I have her in my Facebook feed and I am ceaselessly amazed at her beautiful cakes made with only buttercream icing. She is in the U.K. so ordering a cake from her would be difficult, but I wish I could!
Beautiful workmanship, but so many of the roses are in odd colors. While a bright purple or beigey pink (even brown) rose might be interesting, I'm more impressed by the blooms that fool the eye with natural coloration. The others look too much like silk roses. My first instinct was that the red one looks more like a peony, but there are roses with ruffled petals, so it could be a rose. I'd have a hard time picking a favorite, but that last one is just great.
First of all, what beautiful, beautiful cakes. All of them.
Secondly - my, there are a lot of purists on today's post. Frankly I don't care if it's a rose or a peony (and there are roses in my garden that look very like that fella) or what the icing is made of (although I will be checking out the marshmallow recipe - thanks Sara) or whether those are real flowers or not. I will be focusing on the awesome. Because look at it. Look at the awesome, people. Soak it all in.
Wonderful.
These are all simply stunning. I am always pleased to see the proper use of chocolate on cakes! : )