Pretty with Pink

This was a cake order for a very traditional cake with Pink being the theme. The bride wanted all the flowers to be pink or have shades of pink on them. At first I wasn't sure about all the pink even though pink one of my two favorite colors. The bride had a list of flowers she would like on the cake and I chose the ones I thought would fit together nicely and would look fantastic in pink.

I made Calla Lilies with the yellow centers which looked very elegant, all pink Alstroemeria, Dendrobium Orchids, Tulips with many shades of pink and yes White Stepanotis filler flowers which balanced out the pink very nicely. The cake was stunning as you can see from the picture. It was designed and made by Simply Layered Cakes with the gumpaste flowers I made.

The Daily Pilot Article about me

I haven't been this excited in a long time.. I was written up in the local paper for Newport Beach and Costa Mesa called the Daily Pilot. It tells a bit about me making gumpaste flowers.. It was very nice of them to interview me and share the gumpaste flowers I love to make.

Please click on the link below to read it and  don't forget to click the gumpaste flowers in the article

Daily Pilot Article

The Orange County Fair 2011 Final Post

Hi Everyone,

Well August 14th was the last day of the fair. I know I have been posting quite a bit about what has been going on so this will be the last post.

I had a fantastic time and experience. Besides the daily demo on gumpaste flowers each day for 4 hours I also did one presentation on the stage, entered two, one day food contests where I won in both 1st place and Best of Show in my category. I was fortunate enough to work next to Chef Ray L. Duey a fantastic vegetable carver. You must see what he creates it is really amazing  http://www.chefgarnish.com/. I will post some pictures in another post.

I have a class coming up in September you can find under classes here on my blog and my website http://www.shailesedibleart.com/.  I had the class info posted during the fair and I am very happy to see the interest in learning custom lifelike sugar flowers.

I think just one of the memorable parts of this experience was being written up in the local Newport Beach/Costa Mesa paper The Daily Pilot  (please click on the link). I came to find out it is part of the LA Times so people saw it there as well. My friends were very excited to see me in the paper. I know I already mentioned I met so many wonderful people interested in knowing what gumpaste flowers are and how they are made. Many have seen them on the Food Network but told me to see them in person was very exciting. I met florists, artists, woodworkers, decorators, and many who were just interested in looking. It was an overall fantastic time. Thanks everyone and hopefully I will be part of the fair in some way next year...

My Experience at the Orange County Fair

Well, the Orange County Fair is almost over, this is the last week. It has been almost a month and it flew by much too fast.  This has been the first event like this I have been part of and I had no idea what to expect.

Remembering my very first day, hoping I brought everything I needed and wondering if anyone would actually stop to watch someone making flowers in sugar. I was very surprised and happy Edible Art was a very big hit with everyone. It was non stop the entire 4 hours and after the 1st hour I became quite relaxed and no longer nervous.  I have been enjoying doing a daily demo from the first day.

The flowers I create are very realistic looking and most people walking by would often say what lovely flowers not knowing they are in sugar. That was my cue to tell them they are made of gumpaste which then had people looking more closely at them. I would explain what gumpaste is made of and what the sugar flowers can be used for.  There are many people who don't know about gumpaste flowers and have never seen them. Then there are the many who watch the food channel and see them on the cake shows, either way people are very excited to see them in person.

What I have found very interesting is how many kids ask their parents to let them watch me make some petals. The kids ask all sorts of questions and want to know what everything is I am using. So many of them watch the food channel and want to go home and make some. Yes, spread the word of sugar art. I have met all sorts of people and some repeat visitors to the fair come back by.

Just a few days left and I will write more about my experience at The Orange County Fair very soon.

My gumpaste flowers on cakes

I have been working with my friend Christy Platt who owns Simply Layered Cake Design www.simplylayered.com. She makes and decorates fantastic cakes and I make the gumpaste flowers. We have teamed up and how lucky for both of us since she loves to bake and decorate and I love to make the gumpaste flowers. What a team we make!! 

 Here are a couple of her cakes I with my gumpaste flowers 

One large gumpaste white peony

Gumpaste cymbidium orchids