Cakes By Season
Cakes By Season
Colette Foley
Nothing says winter quite like snow and ice. This four-tier cake is whimsical but elegant at the same time, says Foley. Pearlescent appliqués punctuate the crisscross impressions on this fondant-covered delight.
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Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
This cake's crystal embellishments are not only elegant, they're edible too-they're made from molded sugar.
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Masse's Pastries
The henna-inspired piping add a subtle nod to India, while keeping the color palette subdued.
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Heavenly Cheesecakes & Chocolates
This decadent stacked cheesecake is topped with whipped cream icing, frosted snowflakes and real pine cones.
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Confetti Cakes
This cold weather confection is dark without being somber, thanks to whimsical and airy sugar flowers.
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Butterfly Cakes
Pearl piping isn't the only jewelry motif on this classic cake, it also takes inspiration from Tiffany & Co.'s robin's egg blue boxes wrapped with a simple white bow.
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Cakework
This whimsical design was covered in hand-rolled white chocolate pearls that were dusted with opalescent powder for a snowball effect.
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Town & Country Market
These billowing tiers of snow white hydrangeas are a light counterpoint to geometric layers of cake.
Cake by Town & Country Market; Washington, 206-842-0112.
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Christine Dahl Pastries
Hand-piped fiddlehead ferns create a tapestry-like covering on this winter blue cake.
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April Reed Cake Design
For a non-traditional yet delicious cake-covering, this ganache-topped pillar was dotted with hand-made truffles.
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Wedding Cakes by Jim Smeal
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Cakegirls
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Cakes to Remember
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Sweet Melissa Patisserie
I wanted this cake to be fresh and sophisticated," says Archana Rao of Sweet Melissa Patisserie in Brooklyn, N.Y. "It's very Carrie Bradshaw with the oversize bloom." The lifelike peony curled around this three-tier cake is simple yet oh-so-chic.
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Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
Give a chic white cake a burst of color with bright blooms in different hues.
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Petal Crafts
White fondant, green fondant ribbon and gumpaste hellebores dress up this two-tier confection of sour cream pound cake with blood orange buttercream filling.
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Confetti Cakes
Before launching Confetti Cakes, New York City baker Elisa Strauss designed textiles for Polo Ralph Lauren, which might explain her inspiration for this four-tier delight: a swatch of floral-patterned fabric. The cake, iced in chocolate and vanilla rolled fondant and decorated with flowers and twigs of royal icing, also features a sugar-dough border.
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Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
Contrasting colors carry a theme and add instant drama. The inside of this tuxedo cake alternates chocolate and vanilla layers with raspberry cream. Faux "wrought iron" lends an air of importance, says cake designer Ron Ben-Israel.
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Colette's Cakes
New York City cake-maker Colette Peters, whose clients include Sting and Whoopi Goldberg (as well as President Bush and Bill Clinton), says the idea for this old-fashioned design-covered in rolled fondant and accented with royal-icing bluebells and cattails made of sugar dough-arose from etchings of 19th-century pastries she'd seen in books.
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Elegant Cheese Cakes
Susan Morgan's California bakery may be called Elegant Cheese Cakes, but this confection is all about white chocolate, from the fondant icing and handcrafted ferns to the pink dogwoods and blue forget-me-nots. "I love placing a surprise on top," says the designer of the cake's crowning achievement: a tiny chocolate bird's nest.
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Cheryl Kleinman Cakes
"I think the carefree movement of a butterfly evokes springtime and brings the feeling of fantasy to mind," says Cheryl Kleinman of Brooklyn, N.Y., who covered this four-tier tower with rolled fondant and accented it with dainty butterflies crafted from sugar paste. To make the creatures lifelike, Kleinman embossed their wings with tiny veins, then added a sugary shimmer.
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Cakeline
Fuchsia and neon orange daisies line this cheery cake, fit for a garden party wedding.
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Lovin Sullivan Cakes
For a seasonal cake topper, a bride and groom were replaced with a couple of songbirds.
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Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
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Carrie's Cakes
Cascading gum paste daisies make an fuss-free statement on this pale pink cake.
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Montclair Baking
A pair of ladybugs are not only a whimsical embellishment, they're also good luck charms.
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Sedona Cake Couture
The intricate lace details (inspired by the bride's gown) and hand-piped monogram on this cake are enhanced with vibrant pink and fuschia flowers that matched the bride's bouquet.
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Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
Spice up a simple white cake with titled layers, alternating shapes and colorful spring blooms.
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Sweet Melissa Patisserie
The cheery paisley pattern is a fashion-forward take on the season's colorful blooms.
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Cakegirls
For this confection, Brenda and Mary Maher of Cakegirls created a baroque arrangement of shells on a simple monochromatic cake iced with fondant, since its thick consistency stands up better than buttercream to warm weather. The Mahers made these intricate treasures by pressing fondant into molds of actual scallop, clam and snail shells; faint lines of peach-colored iridescent powder add detail to each mollusk.
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Confetti Cakes
This three hexagonal tier confection is dressed up with rolled, pale cantaloupe-colored fondant, white dots of royal icing and a cascade of individually applied sugar-dough orchids.
Insider Tip: These are sugar flowers, but fresh dendrobium orchids are an excellent choice for cakes because they aren't quick to wilt.
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Cakegirls
For an elegant take on the bamboo torches and huts found at tropical locales, the Mahers rendered this minimalist interpretation by hand-shaping dozens of fondant reeds in varying lengths. The bakers then notched the stalks and affixed them in alternating directions to tiers of two different heights.
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Ruth Drennan for Tracy Reese
Adored for her feminine silhouettes and touchable textures, the N.Y.C. designer dreamed up this three-tier culinary masterpiece, inspired by a frothy watercolor-print dress, dubbed Pastel Garden with Flower, from her collection. "Their cake is the couple's moment to show their style, what their taste is. It's something everybody can enjoy," Reese says.
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