To Margaret...my hero

The picture above is a cake I made for my cousin Jenn's wedding....look familiar?  It was based on Baroque in Patent Leather, a cake that graces the cover of this beautiful, inspiring, and (at least for me) life changing book.....

I made Jenn's cake when I was a baby cake designer.  I was living in New York at the time and was totally obsessed with the woman I call my hero.....Margaret Braun!  If you don't know who Margaret Braun is....first of all....shame on you!...and secondly...she is the woman who changed my life.  I know that sounds dramatic, but it is true.

In 2002 (I was in college a the time), I found this book.  I must have read the book 100 times in the first week.  I was consumed with ideas and found myself practicing my piping skills everyday.  I would tape a piece of parchment paper to my dorm room wall and practice over and over using toothpaste.  What?  Listen, I was a poor college student and toothpaste is cheap....and it actually looks and pipes like royal!....but you have to get the super cheap, pasty kind.

Now, 12 years later.....here is what my book looks like today....

She's been through it....just for the record, I eventually bought another copy so I could try to preserve what was let of this one.....because it is SIGNED!!

...and yes...I have had many, many adventures in sugar!  She signed my book at a demo at Macy's in NYC.  As a young cake designer....it was one of the best days of my life.  So naturally, much of my early work looked very Margaret-like......

God this picture is old!  Sorry for the quality..I think I used a disposable camera.  

The best thing about Cakewalk, is that it taught me to be fearless and try to push the limits of cake design.  It gave me chance to understand the importance of detail and develop my own style!  This is when I understood that MY cakewalks were the fashion shows, magazines, and pop culture I loved to obsess over.  I started to pull inspiration from everything around me.

Okay enough about me....let's talk about the work.   Here are a few of my favorites from Margaret...

Seriously, she even managed to reinvent the polka dot!

   Chalice toppers are a signature Margaret statement.

I love this fashion cake by Margaret....

Gorgeous!  It was inspired by Italian designer Rene Caovilla....check out this shoe he designed...

This is everything!...cake inspiration for days!!

And we can't forget her movie work...

Meet Joe Black

Bride Wars

And this showstopper from Rachel Getting Married....

That could not be more awesome!

A couple weeks ago, a friend asked me to create an over the top baby shower cake....something that didn't scream BABY!  Ha....so no blocks or strokes.  I was looking though my fashion archives and realized this was the perfect time to pay respects to the woman who I have always looked up to!

Margaret is known for her sculpted tiers, hand painted cakes, and signature cake toppers.  I have to get all three things on this cake.....and my added touches with some fondant texture.

I started by sculpting the top edge of each tier...

I run my knife along in a wave pattern.  Then I coat the cake in white chocolate ganache.

I know...it looks funny....stay with me...

Next I smooth the ganache, cover in fondant, and use my fingers to pinch and define this top edge.

I add some texture...you guys have seen this before in my Stella McCartney cake....

It's time to paint....

I am using pink food coloring, white to tone it down, and then a lightly damp craft sponge to wipe the color off.

I paint color into the lines....

Then I use the craft sponge to wash the color over the surface...

I added some embellishments.  Once again....it still looks a bit crazy...stay with me;)

Let's talk about the topper.  I need to make an ode to a chalice without actually making a chalice.  I am gonna try to make a golden rattle.  I start by making a chocolate piece from my Pavoni mold.  It needs a hole though so I can feed it through the dowel.  I am gonna use a bubble tea straw.

I dip the straw in chocolate...

Place it into the top of the mold and hold it to dry so it remains level....

Then I popped the top off and filled the mold with chocolate....

Okay I got a couple air bubbles but I'm gonna gold leaf this thing so it won't matter.....

The cake is stacked and ready to paint....

With the middle tier I wanted to add some polka dots but in a different way than Margaret does them.  So I gave them some texture...

I also added some bows based off this cake Margaret made for Puff Daddy's baby shower....

It's coming along!!  Here is the finished topper....

I just continued to paint until there was nothing left!!!

And here she is all together....

Yay!  I love her!  And she made it on TV!.....

The cake was for Kim Z. from Don't Be Tardy on Bravo!  I also got the chance to meet Margaret again in person!

Here was my cake from her class.

I would like to send a huge thank you to Margaret Braun for being my hero, giving us this amazing book, and allowing me to do this blog post.....because....by the way....Margaret is super down to earth....watch this Master Class....

That's all for now;) Bye!!

Aaaahhh! Zombies got my cake!!!

So judging from the picture above, you are probably thinking that this will not end pretty.  And you are right...kind of;) 

Late last year, my friend Kimber asked me to make her wedding cake.  It was to be a fun and shabby chic kind of event.  The venue was a farm north of Atlanta (Cagle Family Farms)  which made for a beautiful back drop.  If you have never been to north Georgia.....let me tell you, it's really beautiful, especially in the spring and fall.

But before we go any further, let me say.....Kimber is not your traditional bride!  Mostly, the wedding was to be like any simple DIY style wedding. However she wanted the cake to reflect a different side because she creates the Halloween haunted farm at the location.  So zombie cake was the order;)  And though it is not really my style, I was super excited to do something different!

Plus, before we "zombiefy" and cake, we have to make a pretty cake with lots of piping.....what I love most.  So I figured why not make a blog post of it!

And here we go....

First I cover all the cakes in fondant.  It's a four tiered cake....12, 10, 8, and 6 inches round, all 4 inches tall.

It's pretty much all piping.  And the way I like to map it out is to paint it on first.  For those of you who have my Craftsy class Modern Piping, you know that I like to "ghost paint" before I pipe.  If you don't have the class, you should!  Lol!  The top link on the right side of the screen will guide you to the class:)

Basically, it's a mixture of black piping gel and vodka (mostly vodka!).  This creates a very faint paint that will serve as my guide for the piping.   I do this so that if I don't like how the painting looks, I can clean it off and start over before I commit to the piping.....

 

Here is the solution.  So you can see how light it is.

 

So I paint it on and it just gives me a faint guide to follow with the royal.

 

See, then I just follow the lines with the royal.  I am using a number 2 tip.

After the frame work is piped, I go back and add embellishments.

 Looking good!!

Here is the cake all stacked and ready.

 

And a close up.

 

 Oh and I also made some sugar flowers to match the ones being used at the event.

 

 

 

So before we get to the "gore"ification of the cake (if that's even a word), let's look at some shots from the wedding....

 

 

Aaawww.  So cute...

 

This picture is really tiny but beautiful.

 

 

And this.....

 

Ahh!  I think she's had too much to drink!  Lol.  Put on some make up girl!  And brush your teeth!  This a wedding for the love of God!

This is a shot from the show ....

 

also filmed in Atlanta. Just for the record, once I was driving down the street close to the set and I saw a zombie on his cell phone!  It was pretty funny.  I guess the "undead" extras on the show have a bunch of down time.  No pun intended.

Okay the time has come.......if you are squeamish, this might hurt a bit!

Before.....

After!

AAAAHHHH!!!  I didn't take process pics of the bloody part but it was just a mixture of corn syrup and red food color....oh and because I watch Dexter I knew exactly where to place it;)

Here are some other shots.

 

The topper was handmade to look like the couple!

 

 

Creepy one from Instagram....oh and you can follow me!  @joshuajohnrussell

Also, there was a grooms cake.  She wanted a diver's hat or helmet.  Here are a couple pictures of the target;)

And here is the cake

Pretty cool!  I was proud of how it turned out!!

I think that is all for now!  I have a couple of announcements though....

First, my friend Elisa Strauss has a new Craftsy class that will teach you how to sculpt a dog out of cake!!  God knows you will never learn that from me!!

Here she is...

 

If you have been doing cake for a while I am sure you are familiar with her books Confetti Cakes and Confetti Cakes for Kids

 

 

And here is the dog:)))))

 

This is a link to the class for 25% discount!  It's well worth the money....trust me!!

 

 

http://www.craftsy.com/ext/JoshuaJohnRussell_DogCake25

 

 

 

Okay for real that's all.  Follow the blog for more updates....I have some good stuff in the works with Cake Decoration Heaven, Cake Central Magazine, and Grace Ormonde!!!  Just found out today and I am dying!!! ...no pun intended again;)

 

Follow me:)  www.facebook.com/joshuajohnrussell or www.twitter.com/joshuajohncakes

 

Add a comment below and let me know what designers you love or techniques you would like to see.

 

Bye!