Sweetest Cake of the Season Part 2

I'm happy to reveal that our mysterious guest blogger is none other than Rosie from Sweetapolita. I've been a fan of her work ever since I found out about her and blogged about her here. Enamored by all her pretty creations, I immediately asked if she would love to create something exclusive for us. Her answer? An immediate and exciting "YES". We went back and forth on types of cakes to inspire all of you by, and considering the season we thought it would be fitting to do something festive with a wedding twist. So, this morning when I opened my e-mail to read her post, well let's just say I was completely blown away. I'll let the other Rosie do the talking on the makings of this gorgeous cake:

Hi! I’m Rosie from Sweetapolita, and I am so thrilled to be writing this guest post for Weddingbells. Goodness knows that talking weddings always adds a skip to my step, and, well, talking wedding cake makes me downright giddy. So, thank you Rosie (I love that her name is Rosie!) for asking me to stop by and share my thoughts and inspiration for a wintery wedding cake.

Now that the holiday season is in full swing, I’ve been thinking about how much I adore winter weddings, particularly those that embrace the holidays in theme and style. I do believe, though, that a holiday wedding cake doesn’t have to be traditional or predictable. My first thought about the theme of my cake, when Rosie mentioned winter weddings, was holiday candy, of course!

For this Peppermint Twist wedding cake, I took my love for traditional-yet-striking red and white peppermint stripes found in candy canes, holiday mints, ribbon candy, and even my favourite maraschino baker’s twine, and twisted it all in a way that is festive, but perhaps a bit more unique. What really excites me about creating cakes, is taking some unexpected elements around me as inspiration, and this design was no exception.

I incorporated the peppermint stripes into the rosettes (with which I have an ongoing, passionate love affair), rather than the cake tiers themselves, marrying it with hints of bright pink, for a less traditional, more contemporary look. No matter how much fun I have with a cake, I tend to like the overall design somewhat simple, bright, and clean.

The maraschino “twine-wrapped” top tier was like knitting onto the cake, and it was strangely therapeutic! It adds a woven texture, which also contributes to the wintery feel.

Here are a few of the “pepperminty” bits of inspirational goodness that guided me along the way:

Photo via TwoBackFlats

For the love of stripes! I discovered this absolutely adorable and unique “Peppermint PrettyMini Top Hat” while browsing the TwoBackFlats shop on Etsy, and, I have to say, it made designing this wintery cake even more exciting. See, I just knew peppermint stripes and weddings were meant to be! Gorgeous and whimsical—love that.

Image via FlourishbyLauryn

I also fell in love with this trio of peppermint-striped rosettes, also found on Etsy (who doesn’t adore Etsy?). The bold red and white colour combination is stunning, and as I mentioned, I have a real thing for creating sugar rosettes. These, and their varying sizes, were a big part of my inspiration. When I look at this photo, I’m not sure if I want to wear the headband or eat it! It just shouts “cake!” to me.

Image via The Twinery

Twine, twine, twine! I love baker’s twine: it’s gorgeous, bold, and can be used in so many ways.  I have it in an array of bright and cheery colours, but this was the first time I’ve ever used it as cake inspiration—I’m not sure why I waited so long.

Image by A Fanciful Twist

This is possibly the most delightful photo I’ve ever seen, and when I saw it, I just knew my colour scheme had to be pink, red, and white. Who knew ribbon candy could be so magical? A Fanciful Twist blog is a positively endless source of cake inspiration for me.

So, let’s see, I used confections as my inspiration for my confection—I think I see a pattern here! Honestly, though, with such cheery inspiration along the way, creating this cake was so much fun and unlike anything I’ve made so far. A big, sweet thank you to Rosie and Weddingbells for allowing me to share my winter wedding creation!

I wish everyone the happiest of holidays and a New Year full of love, happiness, and yes, you guessed it--cake!