Austin Chronicle write up

I don't have any pictures ready to post for this week, but I wanted to share the "aw shucks" write-up in the Austin Chronicle about me and Coco Paloma Desserts. I met with Virginia Wood a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time talking about food, dessert and the craziness of working in kitchens. She seems to know everyone in the Austin food scene and does a great job of staying connected with them as well as sharing their talents with the Chronicle readers.
Next week is Valentine's Day, so I'll be busy with the lovebird cakes. I'll have some new pics up by the end of the month.

Valentine's Day Cake

Valentine's Day is coming up in 2 weeks! This year we are making an adorable lovebird themed cake to celebrate Valentine's Day. It's a 6 inch chocolate cake layered with vanilla bean ganache and vanilla bean custard buttercream. The cake is covered with chocolate fondant and decorated with the 2 lacey fondant birds. There's enough to save for leftovers the next morning!
Please contact me at paloma@cocopalomadesserts.com for more info.

Winter Cake

The couple wanted a wintry cake design for their early January wedding that evoked the clean iciness of winter without being too obvious. Who knew it was going to be 85º on their wedding day? Hopefully their guests got a little chill as they walked by the cake.
The cake is an icy blue with pearly white sugar flowers and royal icing dots cascading. A few silver dragees are scattered around the flowers.

Math Cake

The holidays were super busy with decorated cookies and random cakes. January isn't slowing down, either. That's good for business, but I am looking forward to a 3 week lull coming up.
Part of this surge in business is due to an article about my business in the Austin-American Statesman in December. "Putting the Wow in Pastries"
The math cake was ordered as a mini wedding cake by a woman who had read the article. Her daughter and son-in-law are both math PhD's so she wanted to surprise them with a cake with a math theme. Yes, that is pi on top, in case you were wondering.

Holiday Goodies

I used to create truffle boxes for past holiday seasons, but they were so time-consuming and a hassle. This year, we're going to offer cute holiday cookie bags and fancy present cakes. The cake flavor options are Egg Nog, Chocolate Hazelnut or Chocolate Mint. Hopefully people will enjoy eating and giving these for their holiday parties and dinners!

Junior League Tea Room Table

Every year, the Junior League of Austin throws together a Christmas Affair where you can go shopping and have lunch in the tea room. I was asked to design a table setting for the tea room incorporating the theme of Christmas in Paris. It ended up being quite an endeavor! Even though the cakes weren't real (it was going to be sitting on the table for 5 days), it still took days to complete. Everything on the display is edible - the roses, the handdrawn base, the bows, etc.
There were 30 tables overall, some with just amazing table displays. Here are 2 tables that I thought were just stunning.

Bird Cake

Often a client will want to incorporate a single element from the invitation design into the cake design, such as the swooping bird above. I found the pillow design by Thomas Paul and thought it would work well in a cake design. If you don't know about Thomas Paul, he is one of my favorite designers! http://thomaspaul.com/
The couple also wanted to keep the cake clean and modern while maintaining an element of whimsy. The birds and leaves are all fondant. The 3-d leaves are raised to give some depth the design since the birds are flat. The lighting was a little dark in the ballroom, so please forgive the weird shadows.