February is a month of birthdays in my household and among several of my friends. February is also a time when brides-to-be are well into arranging the details of their summer weddings. So the subject this week is cakes—unusual and artful sugary ones.
Mike’s Amazing Cakes. I start here because Mike’s website gave me the impetus to surf for more cake artists of his class. Amazing cakes they are. Works of art they are. Once you see them, you may want to turn up your nose at any ordinary single, two-layer or more cakes for being too ordinary. The nicest part of browsing Mike’s and the other sites mentioned this week is that no calories are involved. We are just looking; maybe getting ideas for a future celebration. Who would want to slice up these art masterpieces?
Cakes by Design . Despite this slow-loading website, pastry artist Scott Clark Wooley has eyefuls of gorgeous cake examples to survey. Wooley’s cake masterpieces have donned the tables of a long list of luminaries, including Princess Aga Khan, Caroline Kennedy, George W. Bush, Erte, and I.M. Pei. Wooley’s site displays a Cake of the Month and many more examples in his online gallery. Wooley’s Academy of Cake Art gives classes on the art of making sugar flowers and molding gum paste. You’ll wonder how he managed to create the delicate lace designs on some of his cake sculptures. He will be happy to show you if you want to go to New York to attend one of his many classes. He provides a gum paste sugar dough recipe for those who want to experiment with sugary, edible art forms.
Special Occasion Cakes . Drop by this website to view the “Indian Love Song” cake, a fancy replica of the Taj Mahal. The Tower of Pearls wedding cake and Homer’s Donuts are interesting samples of well-executed design work.
Cape Cod Cakes . Most of the cake art websites I found are based on the East Coast, for some reason. Some unusual samples at this site include realistic-looking sandcastle and seashell cakes. The cake shaped like a handbag and textured like smooth leather is an interesting sample. As is a layered teapot in blue and white.
B Cakes by Keith . If the “B” stands for birthday, then Keith forgot to mention his line of wedding and novelty cakes. Two standouts are his cutout lace-tablecloth tea table and a lotus pond with flagstone rim.
International Cake Exploration Societe. The worldwide cake club was founded right here in the Midwest—in Monroe, Michigan. Photos of a few unusual cakes posted at this website include a whimsical teapot, a sweet little birdhouse, and a bride’s wedding dress fitting scene. Since this website is geared to membership news, let me be among the first to tell you that an upcoming Hollywood movie starring Hilary Duff will have some scenes about cake decorating in it. The movie’s title is “The Perfect Man.” Now, isn’t that something that you wanted to know?
Australian National Cake Decorators’ Association . Have a look at Australia’s National Competition Winners. My favorites are the pair of chimpanzees and the garden people.
Australian Cake & Sugar Art Museum . A museum of cake art? Yes indeed. Browse the gallery or check out the list of historical books about sugar art (Australian history). Also, the website provides information for brides about the cake part of the ceremony. Think about all the happy mice that might reside within the walls of this Aussie museum. And why don’t we have a similar museum here in the United States?
British Sugarcraft Guild . If you want to view over 100 more examples of unique and/or exotic cake designs, feast your eyes here. Be sure to look at the examples of modeling and the floral designs, too.
