Spectacular Bride & Groom Gondala Wedding Cake For Woodborough Hall Reception

This unique bespoke 3 tier wedding cake is inspired by the day the groom proposed to his bride on a gondala in the romantic city of Venice.

Inspired by a Venice proposal

I was supplied with photographs of the bride and groom, flowers for the brides bouquet, colours and an idea of a gondala complete with the bride and groom to sit on top.

At first I sketched out a preliminary design that was 2 tiers for the bride and groom to approve. Eventually they changed it to 3 tiers as the wedding got bigger.

All the decoration was made in advance ready to be applied to the cakes which would be covered a few days before the actual wedding.

 

3D Gondala made of modelling paste

This gorgeous cake topper was made separately from the cake. I like to make it this way so it is detachable from the cake and can be kept as a keepsake of their special day.

When designing this topper, I focused on looking what a gondala really looks like in photographs, and in doing this I found out that if I created one true to an original it would be very large with very small people on it which wouldn’t work.

So this gondala is a stylised version to create impact and therefore characters that are a good size for the cake.

Making sure the figures and gondala are the correct size for the cake is important

 

‘Blue Moon’ roses, white roses, Lavender, Gypsophila and ‘Dusty Miller’ silver leaves (all in the brides bouquet) were hand made. The Lavender and Gypsophila were created using florists wire and was removed before the cake was cut.

The bottom tier comprised of an elaborate quilt effect on which the delicate flowers sat.

Roses, Lavender, Dusty Miller and Gypsophila flowers adhorn all side off the top of the third tier

It was safer to take the cake and topper in separate boxes so it was assembled at Woodborough Hall, Nottingham ready for the evening reception.

Wedding cake taking pride of place at Woodborough Hall

My original sketch outlining the design for the bride and grooms approval.

A sketch of initial concept

Pretty Rag Doll Cake Topper

Well I am back. It’s a while since I posted anything on my website.

So it’s sunny outside and I think I may go out in the garden and mow my lawn so this will be a small blog.

I just thought I would have a go at making a rag doll that would be perfect for a little girls birthday cake. It’s around 5 inches in height and took around 4 hours to create.

Designed and created by Copper Top Cakes

This cute little rag doll is made entirely of modelling paste. I first started with the legs then attached the feet. Putting a stitch effect around the booties to emphasize that is a rag doll made of fabric.

I used a lollipop stick to hold the body to the top of the legs and hold the body up straight.

Using embossed rolling pins I then dressed the model body with a pretty skirt and worked upwards towards the shoulders.

Just getting the basics down, I moved on to the arms and hands with more stitching embossing using another lollipop stick to hold the arm up (I had to prop this up for 24hrs to dry and hold).

Detail of back of model

Making the face was fun and enjoyable – just to see what I could do – I surfed the net to get an idea of what rag doll faces were attractive and put my own stamp on it.

All the pretty flowers, dots and detailing were the last job of the day.

I also am thinking of making a little boy rag dog in blue to match at some stage.

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A Beautiful Golden Anniversary Cake

I was commissioned to create this wonderful Golden Anniversary cake for a couple celebrating 50 years of wonderful marriage. Congratulations you both.

 

This couple are a real inspiration and so they required a beautiful fruit cake decorated in gorgeous gold flowers to signify their 50 years together.

I really enjoyed creating these little flowers using specialist cutters and veiners and then finished these by painting them gold once they had dried.

 

When searching for the correct ribbon I had my gold lustre dust in my hand and the ribbon in the other as I wanted a good match (there are a few different golds – two different golds would clash and not look beautiful enough).

And then with a steady hand I piped the wording onto a pre-hardened plaque I had made. Once that was dry I used the finest brush I had to painted the piping in the same gold.

If you’d like me to decorate a cake in a similar bespoke style for a special occasion then please feel free to contact me for a quote. Copper Top Cakes is based in Nottingham and delivers to the East Midlands area. I am reachable between 1.00pm – 2.00pm in the day and evenings. Leave me an email or a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Painting On Icing Part 2

Well here I am again with the second sample for ‘Painting on Icing’ I used at my demo.

I like to have a go at what is on trend but it is nice to come up with something original. It’s amazing all the inspiration that is around you to help you design something different to what everyone else is creating.

I found a pattern I liked but changed it to be my own and the colours I loved so I picked similar colours to the original pattern. Another pattern with different colours on could have been used for the inspiration instead. I started off by painting a watercolour version with my changes on watercolour paper to see if I liked it. Drawing around my cutting tools on the paper to see how the final version would look helped too.

The flower shapes in the middle are different flower shapes to the original pattern – I just looked in my tool box and used a flower and scalloped edged cutter I already had and a piping nozzle was used for the small circles.

My special mixture of edible food colours were made to create a thick paint that dries slowly in the palette but quick on the sugarpaste. The edge of the scallops and the flowers were painted in a dark brown with a very fine artists brush and the swirls were all painted free hand. Also I painted some pretty flower shapes in pearl lustre that show up when they catch the light.

I feel that this was a very attractive,  modern and was far different from the original inspired pattern I found and turned into my own design. This unique sample looks amazing and could easily be applied to make a spectacular multiple tiered wedding cake..

If you’d like me to decorate a cake in this style for a special occasion then please feel free to contact me for a quote. Copper Top Cakes is based in Nottingham and delivers to the East Midlands area.