Sweet Sixteen
I am way behind the game getting this post up for our daughter's "Sweet Sixteen" last November. I took a long break with my family over the holidays. But I also could not let this pass since it is a cake that holds a very special place in my heart. I really wanted this cake to capture her through the years as I have had the wonderful honor of watching her grow into the incredible woman that she has become. She chose an Alice in Wonderland theme with a focus on the Mad Hatter for her party. We spent hours over the months before putting our fun twist on the decoration planning. It is a long standing tradition now that our children help make their cakes. I used to make their birthday cake and surprise them, but over the years they really started enjoying the process behind helping in the kitchen and making beautiful desserts with me. It seemed a natural transition for them to start planning out and executing their creations, bringing them to life. They really enjoyed this so much more and I saw they were learning so much in the process that the idea just sort of stuck.
Our beautiful daughter, Lourdes.
The idea for the base of the cake to be in the diamond shapes came from her formal invitation that we sent out. We opted for an elegant feel sticking to the black and white since we knew we were going to have that gorgeous pop of red from the infamous red roses with our Alice in Wonderland theme.
To incorporate my mother's heart I focused on building frames from a fondant gum paste mixture to capture my baby girl growing through the years. Of course I love this more than anything else on the cake. It is my absolute favorite part and an intended focal point. The mold from the frame was very small so I spent time cutting them in the right places to be able to glue them back together. Once they were assembled, I alternated between a distressed gold and a full gold frame finish to add balance while keeping things uniform.
We absolutely loved the sparkle and elegance with how everything came out. The red beautiful roses provided the perfect flare and balance around the frames. It was the perfect way to mark this special milestone in her life.
~ Enjoy!
