Death of a cake = Birth of a smile!

People often ask me "Doesn't it kill you to cut into this??" or "How could you dare cut this?" - my answer is always the same "But eating it is part of the experience!"

How could you NOT eat the cake?? Why wouldn't you?
All that hard work was done for 2 reasons:

1) to create an amazing centerpiece for your special event - one that will make your event memorable

2) to create an amazing dessert for your special event - one that will make your event memorable

Did you notice that the reasons are: Centerpiece & Dessert??

It doesn't matter how gorgeous or amazing that cake is, I expect you to eat it because bottom line - it's a CAKE! What good is it if you don't eat it?? My job as a cake artist is to make amazing custom cake centerpieces that taste as good as they look - if you don't eat it, you won't know if I'm doing my job!

So to all of you that have been fortunate enough to have a Flour Confections centerpiece at your event, I hope that you had the strength to cut into it - as eating it is all part of the experience!

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Flour Confections featured in BRIDES magazine!

We are excited to announce that the new issue of BRIDES magazine has now hit the stands - it features some incredibly stunning cakes, including one by none other than Flour Confections!
Be sure to pick up a copy of the March/April 09 issue of BRIDES magazine or visit their website http://www.brides.com/brides/ (that's our cake on the feature page)

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Tips For Saving Your Top Tier

Since a cake by Flour Confections contains real butter, it is at it’s best when eaten at room temperature. Therefore you should remove your cakes from the refrigerator at least 60-90 minutes before you plan to eat it. If you are going to keep a cut cake, make sure you have plastic wrap up against the exposed cake, keep it refrigerated, and consume within 2-3 days.

Saving the top tier:If you want to keep to tradition and save your wedding cake for your 1st anniversary, you need to follow a few simple instructions in order to ensure that you will be eating the best tasting cake possible. You can store your wedding cake’s top tier or a slice in your freezer, and keep it for up to 1 year.

1. After the wedding reception is over, remove any fresh flowers or gumpaste keepsakes, and place the top tier of your wedding cake in the fridge overnight.
2. The following day, tightly wrap two layers of plastic wrap around it. Then place it in a zip top bag, label it, and put it in the freezer. Keep it in a box if possible to avoid any damage.
3. Be happy – you married your true love!
4. A day before the anniversary date, take the cake package from the freezer and place in the fridge to thaw 12-24 hours.
5. The following day, un-wrap the cake and place on the counter. Allow 2-4 hours for the cake to come to room temperature.

Have a Sweet Anniversary!

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Simply The Best!

Congratulations Flour Confections!!!

I'm proud to add to Lisa's thunder. I received notification that I had been selected for the Wedding Wire Award in the Consultant Category and our very own decorator extraordinaire, Vivian from Vivian's Décor & Design, has been as well!

You know you're reading a blog with the very best of vendors when you see this happening. It also goes to reiterate when your time is finished with a vendor, please make sure you give them a review and testimonial. One never knows what kind praise will come along and it really does further our businesses ... not to mention it makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside ;)

And again, if you have used any of our services in the past, please head over to .: Wedding Wire :. and help us out. Almost all of the guest authors on this blog have a profile!

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2009 Bride's Choice Award for Flour Confections

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Flour Confections has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US.
That means Flour Confections is one of the very best Wedding Cake Vendors. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews. “We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

Flour Confections would like to thank our past clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award! Your continued support is always appreciated, if you would like to write your review, be sure to go to WeddingWire

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A Slice of Advice

Choosing your wedding cake should be one of the most enjoyable aspects to planning your wedding. Here are a few details to consider before you get started:

Be prepared:

Before booking your appointment, you will need to spend a little time researching not only cake designers, but designs as well. Find out from recently married friends who they would recommend, get referrals from your other vendors, search wedding forums and blogs. Word of mouth is often the best way to find your ideal cake provider.
To help you figure out your design, search the Internet & clip pictures from magazines. Get a good idea of what you like and what you don’t. Make sure you bring along any images you find so that your designer can see what style of cake you are wanting. Also bring along any fabric swatches that you may want to coordinate, dress images - basically anything that inspires you. Your ideal wedding cake should not only reflect you as a couple, but should also reflect the theme and feeling of your wedding.

Know your limits:

Weddings can be expensive, and staying on track with your budget can be difficult. Make sure you have a budget in mind before meeting your cake designer. Designer cakes will cost designer prices. Our cakes start from $6.00/serving and can go upwards of $20/serving. Our average cost for cakes that serve 100 people is between $600-$850. If your budget is an important issue, make sure you discuss that with your cake designer. Then they can provide you with some options in order to try to reduce costs.

The Bait & Switch:

One note about saving costs: getting a smaller display cake (be it real or fake) and having additional kitchen cakes for the extra servings does not always save on costs despite what the magazines state. A kitchen cake still needs to be the same in appearance as the main cake (ie: same number of layers - it's not simply a single layer sheet cake like you can get at the wholesale food stores). Most private bakers only supply kitchen cakes when there is the need for the additional servings above and beyond what the main display cake will yield, and in most cases they will not supply the additional cakes if the main cake serves 100 people or less.

It’s all in the details:

Order your cake as early as possible. Anywhere from 6-9 months or more in advance is preferred. Some months are busier than others – prime wedding season will book up early – so plan ahead!

Know how approximately how many guests will be attending and be sure to have a good idea as to how you will be serving the cake: as the main dessert or later with coffee on the sweet table. These details are important to determining the size of the cake.

Think about how you will be displaying your cake. Today the cake is seen as the centerpiece of your reception, so proper display and placement should be considered. Most cake designers do not include table arrangement, decoration or design in the costs of the cake. So if you want something special for the display, be sure to consult with not only your decorator and florist, but your cake designer as well so that the ideal presentation can be created on your wedding day.

Decide if you want to save the top tier. This tradition was fine during the days fruitcake was the common wedding cake choice. But with today’s butter cakes, buttercreams, and other finishes, the idea of saving the top tier has become less important. If you still want to keep with tradition, make sure to tell your cake designer. They will need to size the cake accordingly.

Be prepared to pay a deposit once you decide upon your cake designer. This is necessary to guarantee your date. Due to the amount of time involved with custom wedding cakes, many cake artists will only take on a few bookings per month, so they book up early. If you want a custom and unique wedding cake, be sure to book early!

Make sure to find out if there are any delivery fees, set up costs, or other additional fees. Delivery fees are common, especially if the baker needs to travel a great distance from their studio. Set up fees are sometimes needed when the cake design is one that must be set up on site. Additional fees would pertain to cake stand rentals or other display materials that must be secured with a deposit and returned. Please note that in Ontario, there should never be any taxes applied to the sale of your wedding cake. Therefore you should not be charged either G.S.T or P.S.T on the sale of any whole cake in Ontario.

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The Icing On The Cake!

When sitting down to talk cake with your designer, it's good to know what's on your plate before you eat it! Here is the bride's guide to all things sweet: the most popular icings used on today's wedding cakes

Fondant:

This is a sugar dough that is rolled out and applied over the cake, creating a matte smooth sugar canvass which allows your cake designer to create many wonderful designs. Fondant can be tinted any colour and flavoured with things such as vanilla bean or white chocolate. It is the ideal medium for many complicated cake designs and for cakes being displayed during the warm summer months. The fondant keeps the cake inside insulated and moist.

Ganache:

This is a sinfully rich icing that is made from chocolate (white, milk or dark) and heavy cream - just like the inside of a truffle. It can be shiny or matte and used as a filling or an exterior finish. Because it is so rich and dense, it is best not to pair it with a delicate cake.

Modeling Chocolate/CocoaDough/Chocolate Plastique/Chocolate Paste:

This is a mixture of chocolate (either white, milk or dark) and corn syrup which creates a wonderfully pliable substance that can be tinted many colours, used to make edible decorations and flowers, and even to cover cakes.

Royal Icing:

Traditionally used to finish fruit cakes, royal icing is a sugar icing made from egg whites and icing sugar. It is the ideal icing used for intricate piping and detailing, and can be used white or tinted to any colour needed. When dry, it is very firm and fragile.

American Buttercream/Frosting:

This is the traditional style icing that you would find in a grocery store bakery. It is a frosting made from icing sugar, shortening or sometimes butter, and sometimes a liquid such as milk or hot water. This icing is firm, very sweet, and holds up very well in hot weather if made with shortening. It is very white in colour and can be tinted to any colour you can imagine, it can also be flavoured with extracts or chocolate.

Meringue Buttercream:

A soft, satiny, luscious icing that can be used as both a filling and an exterior finish. The 2 most popular styles of this buttercream are Italian or Swiss. Both are made with egg whites, sugar, and unsalted butter, however the method of preparation differs between the two types. The flavour possibilities are endless, as are the colour choices. Due to the fact that this icing is made with butter, it is very firm when refrigerated and it does not hold up in extreme heat or sun, but is fine in air conditioned environments.

Gumpaste/Sugar Paste/Flower Paste:

This is a special sugar dough similar to fondant however it has the addition of additives that allow it to be more elastic and dry very firm. This is the ideal medium for making life-like flowers and other sugar decorations, it is not to be used to cover cakes.

Marzipan:

This is a paste made from ground almonds and sugar. It is traditionally used to cover fruit cakes prior to being covered with royal icing. It is also used to mould flowers and small fruits.

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Do your guests a favour

If you really want to do your guests a favour and have them be supremely happy - then give them an edible gift favour at your wedding or event.




Why not treat your guests to something sweet that ties in to the theme of your wedding or event, matches the monograms on your invitations, or acts as a place card?




Offered in vanilla, chocolate, gingerbread - or even custom flavours, decorated cookie favours are a sweet treat that everyone will love. Packing in clear cellophane bags tied with satin ribbon, Chinese take out boxes, or clear pvc boxes available.

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A Slice of Advice

Second only to the gown, the wedding cake is one of the most memorable aspects of any wedding. Today, cakes need to be stunning to look at and taste even better. Here are some tips to follow when looking for your ultimate wedding cake!

• Order your cake as early as possible. If you are looking to go with a custom cake designer, then you should be contacting them as soon as your venue is booked. Cake designers generally limit the number of cakes they create due to time involved, therefore they book up very fast and early. In general, anywhere from 6-9 months or more in advance is preferred. Some months and weekends are busier than others – prime wedding season (May - October) will book up early – so plan ahead!
  
  
• Talk to your friends who recently got married, look at the links associated with other vendors you have booked - these are great ways to find the right person to create your wedding cake. The Internet allows brides&grooms instant access to the portfolios of all the talented cake designers in the area. Be sure to look through all the galleries to get a sense of what they are capable of. You may be wanting a sculpted or novelty cake for your wedding, so looking at all their work will let you know if they are capable of creating your dream cake. Remember in most cases the galleries simply represent the scope of the designer's past work, it is not a menu. They will want to create something unique for your special day!
  


• Make sure you have a budget in mind before meeting your cake designer/baker. Designer cakes will cost designer prices. Wedding cakes are not simply flour, sugar and eggs. They are an edible memory that you and your guests look forward to and remember. Most of the costs associated with designer wedding cakes lie in the time, expertise, and labour involved in creating the finished design, although quality ingredients and size also play an important role. Pricing varies from designer to designer; some price per tier, others price per cake or per serving. If your budget is an important issue, make sure you discuss that with your cake designer. With a budget in mind, they can then provide you with some options in order to try to reduce costs.
  


• Do some research before your appointment. Search the Internet, clip pictures from magazines. Get a good idea of what you like and what you don’t. Make sure you bring along any images you find so that your designer can see what style of cake you are wanting. These pictures are not so that the designer can make a copy of that design, but they are a great way to express what you are looking for in a cake design. Also bring along any fabric swatches that you may want to coordinate, dress images, invitations - basically anything that inspires you.


• Decide if you want to save the top tier. This tradition was fine during the days fruitcake was the common wedding cake choice. But with today’s butter cakes, buttercreams, and other finishes, the idea of saving the top tier has become less important. If you still want to keep with tradition, make sure to tell your cake designer. They will need to size the cake accordingly.
  
  
• Be prepared to pay a deposit once you decide upon your cake designer. This is necessary to guarantee your date. Due to the amount of time involved with custom wedding cakes, many cake artists will only take on a few bookings per month, so they book up early. If you want a custom and unique wedding cake, be sure to book early!


• Make sure to find out if there are any delivery fees, set up costs, or other additional fees. Delivery fees are common, especially if the baker needs to travel a great distance from their studio. Set up fees are sometimes needed when the cake design is one that must be set up on site. Additional fees would pertain to cake stand rentals or other display materials that must be secured with a deposit and returned. Please note that in Ontario, there should never be any taxes applied to the sale of your wedding cake. Therefore you should not be charged either G.S.T or P.S.T on the sale of any whole cake in Ontario.

Flour Confections

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