Sugar Paste Flowers: Gerbera Daisies

I love the process of flower making and so does our resident arist: Jodi. Although her original mediums of choice were clay and acrylic paint she has adapted well to sugarpaste and edible paint(food colors mixed with lemon extract).

Here are some pretty gerbera daisies she was in the process of making today....



Although she can spend up to 4 minutes on these little flowers and 2 hours on one large magnolia blossom, don't let her time fool you....she actually has the best spot in the bakery: climate controlled at 63 degrees with 50% humidity. And by the way, the rest of the bakery was running around 87 degrees today with 80% humidity.

The Artisan Kitchen @ Plato's Harvest

Plato's Harvest is a small organic farm in Middleboro, MA. Sasha & Dave, owners and farmers, invited us to their farm to do a "Bread Share" in their CSA (community supported agriculture, basically you "buy a share of the farm" and get a basket of veggies each week in return.

Here is a great shot of todays CSA Share for July 29, 2009- our Grain and Seed Loaf is right there on the left. Who could resist the whole lot!?



Thanks Dave & Sasha for inviting us to your farm and for allowing us to share in your CSA! If you have any questions regarding CSA or Plato's Harvest visit:
http://platosharvest.wordpress.com/

Seasonal Decor: Sunflowers

Well, it's summer here in the South Coast of Massachusetts and the sunflowers are blooming at the farm down the street. As I looked at the vase of them sitting on my front coutner today I realized-- we should really make some of those for birthday cakes.

College Graduation Horse Cake

Katie is an accomplished equestrian and now college graduate- Congrats Katie on your graduation from Johnson & Wales University!




Actually, I can remember watching her walk around, on a tiny pony, when she was a just a very little girl about 12 years ago (yikes!)...




Her mom asked us to create a simple "flat art" equestrian, horsey themed cake for her party with a splash of her college colors mixed in (navy blue and grey).

Monsterous CupCakes

We created these cupcakes for a Kids' Table at a wedding recently held at Wamsutta Club in New Bedford. I love the idea of a kids' table and for that matter "Kid's Only" CupCakes - can't you remember going to weddings as a youngster and waiting for the cake to be served and falling asleep well before the ceremonial cake cutting!

Lemon Meringue Bombe: Birthday Cake Alternative

My aunt, a.k.a. The Artisan Kitchen Secretary, always has a wild blueberry with a hint of lemon in the filling for her birthday "cake". It honestly throws everyone off that she wants the cake baker to make her a pie.

However, this year she threw me for a loop when she said "Meri, I think I'd like something lemon for my birthday"--WOW I thought! Then, I remembered my last trip to California and the wonderful lemon meringue cake I had at the famed San Fran bakery Tartine.



So we recreated this tangy dessert which we will enjoy at the brand new Mezza Luna Restaurant this evening- check out our holiday menus on the website www.theartisankitchen.com for our new Lemon Bombe!

Tinkerbelle Themed 4th Birthday

Fairy dust, mushrooms, whimsical flowers and leaves adorned this two tiered Tinkbelle themed 4th birthday cake.



Each year we create a spectacular cake for Ava- and this year she was able to choose her own theme-- Tinkerbelle! Jodi (our resident artist) created the mushrooms, daisies, and ribbon roses as well as trays and trays of leaves to cover the cake. My favorite part was the bow- a simple two loop classic bow in a pale lavendar.




Actually my most favorite part of the cake was Ava's individual cake- I think it would make a great topper for a cupcake stand with mushroom and daisy cupcakes below-- watch for that on the blog soon- I think we'll make a sample up for the studio!

Egg Free CupCakes

Our egg-free chocolate cupcakes were on the menu for a birthday this weekend, decorated with yellow crowns, orange and yellow daisies and pale green leaves we're sure they were a hit.



Our egg-free cupcakes are featured in a dark chocolate flavor with a bakery style icing- yum yum! No one can tell we left out the eggs!

Starfish Cake @ New Bedford Yacht Club

Our friend Lyn Keith from New England Clam Jams http://www.neclamjams.com/ and It's Thyme Catering sent us a wonderful photo of a cake we did quite a few years ago at the New Bedford Yacht Club in Padnaram. This three tiered buttercream cake featured a starfish topper and accents of tiny red starfish. The color scheme was a gorgeous ruby red and teal blue which we accented with a eight pointed napkin under the cake.

Lyn's events are always flawless, displays are gorgeous, and most importantly her food is to-die-for!

Two Happy Princesses

We received the most adorable pictures from a customer who ordered a cake for her two princesses- twins Sophie & Bella!



Their cake, featured a BIG pink crown with red accents wrapped around the entire cake. I love these cakes for little ones- first of all they have the appeal of a fondant cake without the fondant but they are totally adorable!

The cake flavor was altnerating layers of chocolate and vanilla cake with bakery style icing- yum!

Custom Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Althouth Wedding Cakes have become quite elaborate we're seeing a rather large trend in wedding dessert displays. We recently created this assortment of chocolate covered strawberries for a wedding tasting. They included chocolate dipped bride and grooms strawberries, sparkling pink chocolate covered strawberroes covered in white and dark chocolate, and finally milk chocolate strawberries striped in white and dark chocolate.



We choose only premium, completely unblemished berries for their superior flavor and use only couveture Callebaut chocolate for dipping which we temper by hand.

A chocolate covered strawberry bar is a fun alternative to a traditional cake or the bar can be accompanied by a small two or three tiered cake for the traditional cake cutting ceremony.

Here's the great note we received from the bride who ordered an assortment of chocolate covered strawberries for her wedding reception at Rotch-Duff House in New Bedford, Massachusetts....

Hi Meredith,
I just wanted to let you know that your strawberries were a big hit @ my wedding reception. Several guests commented that they were the best that they ever tasted.

They looked and tasted delicious! Thanks again.

Take care, S.