Alleluia! Alleluia!

In the Name of Our Risen Lord, a Blessed and Joyful Easter to All!

Maria

Happy 30th Birthday, Antonia!

In celebration of the Diva's milestone birthday, we look back to her Senior Recital on May 1st, 2005 at Monmouth University. And since no birthday is complete without cake, we give you her recital reception cake featuring a sugar piano, roses, orchids and jasmine.

Maria

Happy Birthday Aquarians!

I designed this sugar centerpiece for our annual Aquarian birthdays celebration. No cake involved here; a flourless chocolate cake was made separately. The sugar fish swimming across the back bottom of the lower tier represent the birthday celebrants. So, Happy Birthday to my friends Ray, John, Maureen and Jim. And a special 30th Happy Birthday to the baby fish, my niece Antonia!

Maria

A Look Back...to Easter

The "cake" pictured above is actually a display sugar piece only. I know that it seems out of sync with this time of year but it was one of only two projects on which I worked this past year and I was not able to post the pictures during the appropriate season. It was created for the 2008 Easter Vigil/RCIA at my church. Because I was working on this project while still undergoing medical procedures, I decided to skip the baking of cakes and concentrated my strength on the decorative aspects. I even borrowed the lamb from a previous cake. Most of my energy, such as it was, was channeled into the sugarpaste flowers which included narcissus, freesia, forsythia branches and variegated ivy. The "water" spilling from the overturned urn was created with piping gel and represents the Sacrament of Baptism. The Lamb represents the Sacrament of the Eucharist while the Dove represents the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Gothic style Cross and draped cloth represent the Resurrection. The cake dummies (styrofoam forms) and the foamcore base are covered in rolled fondant and edged in purple and yellow ribbon.

Maria

"A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time"

I have been out of pocket for quite a while now due to a serious medical problem. But, by the grace of God, a whole lot of prayers, the support of family and friends and some extraordinary medical care, I return to my sugar art once again with gratitude and thanks.

My most recent project was a replica of the Taj Mahal created for a 60th birthday party; cakes were made separately from the sugar sculpture. The entire piece measured 3x3 ft. and was apx. 30 in. high.



Maria

Happy 1st Birthday, Chaeli Jayne!

Antonia and I would like to extend our best birthday wishes to little Chaeli Jayne and her proud parents, Patty and Sean, by offering a glimpse of the cake created for her on the occasion of her birth one year ago.

(The theme of the cake was a celebration of the Jersey Shore, complete with paintings of four of the many lighthouses which dot the shore. The new baby arrives in a sugar sailboat festooned with a sugar sail bearing a painted scallop shell. A tern keeps her company on the bow of the boat while sugar pillows and blankets keep her compfy and toasty. Sugar shells, molded from real sea shells and starfish, interspersed with sugar roses, anchor the corners of the shimmering, sea-blue, fondant-covered cake. Each cake side features a painted sugar plaque of a Jersey Shore lighthouse. Photo number six is the yellow and black Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City. Since it is located in the midst of a group of apartment houses, I chose to paint it surrounded by the ever-present phragmites on our coastal shore. Photo number seven is the red and white Barnegat Lighthouse on Long Beach Island. Number eight is the top of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse while number nine is the Twin Lights or Navesink Lighthouse of Highlands.)

Maria

Church of St. Mary, Mother of God

This is a replica of the front of my architectural-jewel-of-a-church, St. Mary, Mother of God, executed in sugarpaste. It was the prime feature of the back of the RCIA cake. The original church has beautiful dormer windows on either side. It was built in 1900 and boasts magnificent Tiffany stained glass windows. Much to Antonia's delight, the main window is a representation of St. Cecilia. Perhaps when time allows, I will complete the back of the church and paint in the windows on my sugar replica.

Maria

Sweet and Blessed Inspiration

I have reshot the sugar decorations from the RCIA cake for better viewing.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the cake, for which I created these sugar decorations, was made for the RCIA at the Easter Vigil in my church. RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It includes adult converts to the Catholic faith as well as those who have not completed the sacraments of Holy Communion and Confirmation. My niece, Antonia, was to receive her Confirmation as part of the Rite and I was her sponsor. Her chosen Confirmation name is Cecilia, the patron Saint of Music. We have spent a good part of the past year in Sunday morning classes and have participated in numerous special Masses and events. This has been a very important time for both Antonia and myself in our spiritual growth. And it has been my great honor to be able to contribute my talents to celebrate this momentous event. And we are both deeply grateful to those members of our parish who made it all possible, especially our pastor, Msgr. Walsh, our director, Sister Gloria, our wonderful hospitality team, especially Carol and Karin, and our prayer partners.

The culmination of the RCIA initiation was the absolutely gorgeous and moving Easter Vigil Mass. From the lighting of the bonfire, to the sea of lit candles in a chasm of darkness, to the extended readings from Genesis and Exodus, to the first ringing of bells since Ash Wednesday while the lights slowly began to illuminate the hall, to the baptism of our elect, the spiritual rituals of Our Church moved me deeply.

And I felt truly inspired and blessed in my sugar work. The Sacraments of Holy Communion, Confirmation and Baptism are represented, respectively, by a 24K gilded chalice complete with a representation of the Host with rays of light, Communion Wine, and a Cross, a dove representing the Holy Spirit with seven flames representing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and stylized flowing water with gilded fish. The gumpaste flowers are Madonna Lilies (Lilium candidum) and Lilies of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) with leaves, thirty of each. I chose these flowers because they represent Mary, the patroness of our parish church as well my own patron Saint. Although they look very much like Easter Lilies (Lilium longiflorum) they are not quite the same. For one, the trumpets are much shorter. At the back of the cake is a representation of our church and will be discussed in the next post. And I almost forgot the sheath of wheat next to the chalice.

As for the cakes, there were four different kinds: The largest of the cakes was a 16 in. Diva Cake (see the Sweet Harvest, Nov. 2006, post for a detailed description). A 12 in. Meyer Lemon Vodka Cake with Meyer Lemon filling and Meyer Lemon buttercream came next. The next tier was a 6 in., fondant covered styrofoam dummy used only to lend design integrity to the tiered cake. The top cake was the 8 in. Southern Delight cake consisting of a Hummingbird Cake with fresh bananas, fresh pineapple, pecans and a touch of cinnamon with a filling of rum soaked Bananas Foster and Praline and a brown sugar buttercream. There was also a 12 in. cake, not part of the the tiered cake, made of dense almond cake, filled with kumquat conserve, and layered with a yolk buttercream. All cakes were coved in a lemon flavored rolled fondant except the almond cake which was covered in marzipan.

Finally, I wish to dedicate my sugar work to my niece and Diva Delights partner, Antonia Maria Cecilia Rosenberger with all my love, best wishes and congratulations on her full entrance into Our Community of Faith. And I wish to thank our friends Terry and John for their constant moral and spiritual support.

Maria

HE IS RISEN! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

A Blessed and Happy Easter to all my friends and bloggers! I am posting a sampling of the pictures of the cake made in honor of the RCIA at my parish church of St. Mary and served at the post Easter Vigil buffet. Tomorrow there will be additional pictures with commentary.

Maria

More Mardi Gras Madness

As promised, the star of the day, the King Cake, makes its appearance surrounded by the acoutrements of the day (executed in sugar, of course). The Diva (Antonia) wanted y'all to know that SHE made the purple and gold sugar beads and strung them. She now claims she's ready for the Oklahoma Sugar Show.

The cake is fairly traditional; mine has a cream cheese filling with chopped pecans, orange and lemon zest and a touch of cinnamon (Vietnamese is my favorite). For those of you who've never had the pleasure of the King Cake experience, it is not unlike a yeast coffee ring, with or without a filling (fruit, marzipan, cream cheese, etc.). I play with the ingredients for each year's King Cake and this year's was particularly tasty (Remember, the first cake was consumed on Sunday). The harlequin diamonds of purple, green and gold on top of the cake are a thinned royal icing liberally sprinkled with colored sanding sugars. Usually, I don't make such a fuss about decorating the top of the cake; a drizzle of confectioners sugar glaze followed by a sprinkling of sanding sugars in the traditional colors in wide bands is the extent of my decorating. However, this cake had to be a bit more photogenic so out came the piping bag and royal icing. The Sugar Mask was described in yesterday's post.

The true pleasure of the King Cake is not in its taste or even its appearance. It is quite ordinary in the first and gaudy in the second. It's pleasure is in the celebration of tradition, and a religious one at that, not the Bacchanalian one we've come to associate with the celebration of Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) in New Orleans. The name is derived from the Three Kings (Wise Men, Magi) whose journey in search of the infant Jesus is celebrated on January 6th, the traditional day of the Epiphany of Our Lord. It marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of the Carnival season culminating in the frenzied celebrations of Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday and the fasting and abstinence of Lent.

Although the King Cake dates back to 12th Century France (the Galette de Roi of France is a more elegant pastry affair with an almond pastry cream filling traditionally served on 12th Night-the evening before Epiphany), its incarnation in Louisiana is steeped in the rich culture and tradition of that region. The official colors of Mardi Gras which decorate the cake were first chosen in 1837 and symbolize justice (purple), faith (green) and power (gold). A small figure of a baby, representing the Baby Jesus, is usually inserted into the cake; the one whose piece of cake contains the baby has to throw the next party or make the next King Cake. This goes on all through the Carnival season with King Cakes being consumed daily. This of course does not apply to me; whether or not I get the baby, I still have to make the next King Cake. Usually I provide some kind of prize for the lucky finder of the baby.


Maria

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

Mardi Gras Mask, with feathers and ribbons, in sugarpaste. Sparkly stuff on the mask is Moondust. Never again! Everything within five feet of the work area was sparkling (like Tinkerbell gone berserk).

Where's the King Cake, you may ask. Consumed. New cake is rising...will be ready for Fat Tuesday and more celebrating. For the Mardi Gras uninitiated, I'll post the meaning of the colors, cake and other symbols, tomorrow.

Maria

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear...

"...Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
'Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'"
Luke 2:8-14

(Sugarpaste bas relief angel. Background of Nativity scene is painted on sugarpaste; stars are piped royal icing with silver dragees. Inspiration for the blue angel was a Christmas card received from my friends Terry and John. I made this piece so that I might satisfy my desire to have a creche or representation of the Nativity in every room of my house. This one is for the dining room which is blue and white in its color scheme. The Christmas tree for that room is the Cookie Tree: blue lights, copper ornaments and blue and white sugar cookies adorn the tree. I'll be posting pictures of it soon...as soon as I finish decorating it. I'm still making the cookies.)

Maria