Alleluia! Alleluia!

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

Maria

A Sweet Respite from Winter

The calendar tells us that spring has arrived, but it sure is dragging itself across the threshold. I am weary of winter and long for color, yes, even the ubiquitous, gaudy forsythia. So I offer a small respite from dreariness in the form of a bouquet of sugar flowers featuring a Gerbera daisy, hosta leaves, a few rose buds and a sprig of variegated ivy. The petals on the Gerbera have been individually wired so as to allow movement of the petals as well as stability. In other words, there's less chance of breakage. The wire used, of course, was a # 32 or 33, white so as to be barely visible in the almost paper-thin petals. Hope my little offering cheers you up a bit and hopefully I'll have something major to post soon.

Maria

It's Mardi Gras!

I can't let this day go by without acknowledging it. Since I don't have a new sugar piece to post celebrating the day, here's a couple of links to past posts:
Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez
More Mardi Gras Madness

The Diva has a musical Mardi Gras post at her blog Antonia's Music Notebook

Maria

And Now for Something Completely Different...

Not to be outdone by the Diva, I have also created a new blog. This one is meant to showcase my religious statuary restorations such as the rennovated Baby Jesus statue pictured to the left. There are plenty of before and after pictures as well as the stories of each of the statues and some of the techniques employed in the repairs. So please have a look: Statua Rinnovata

Maria

The Diva Launches New Blog!

I cordially invite you to view my new blog, Antonia's Music Notebook. Posts will cover my musical interests including tips and resources for the amateur musician. Don't forget about my websites The Music Classroom and Musical Theater World for additional resources.

-Antonia

A Valentine for Eileen and Eddy...

This cake represents my one and only foray into cold porcelain cake decorations. The dove, flowers, pearls and quilted ribbon are made from cold corcelain, a clay-like substance similar to gumpaste developed in South America and spread to the British Empire where it has become hugely popular among cake and sugar artists. Although it has a similar look to sugar work, is is synthetic and will last forever. It is worked like sugarpaste with slight differences; one has to keep separate tools for the cold porcelain and when placed on the cake should have a separator between the cake and the decoration. It can also be painted with oil paints. I have used only a slight touch of magenta coloring at the rose centers and overdusted the decorations with a pearl dust.

The pearl heart and the small dish on top of the cake are made of gumpaste. The dish and the separator heart-shaped disk have been painted with silver lustre dust. The heart-shaped cake is dense almond with an egg yolk rum buttercream, a lemon curd filling and a layer of almond dacquoise under the filling. It is covered in marzipan paste and finished with a citrus flavored rolled fondant. Because I chose a black foamcore base, I opted not to cover it with fondant. Instead, piped royal icing "doodles" decorated with silver dragees highlight each corner. At the back of the cake royal icing leaves finish off the cold corcelain rose. Large silver dragees stud the fondant which has been given a sheen with pearl dust.

Happy St. Valentine's Day to Eileen and Eddy and Lovers Everywhere! And a Happy Anniversary to Theresa and John!

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