Chive Blossom Cake

I was asked to design a cake for New York Magazine Weddings, based off of something inspired by a bridal theme, such as flowers, ribbons, flatware, etc. I thought about my own August wedding, that took place seven years ago in the country.

There was something so lazy, sunny, and worn about nature by that time, everything past its full bloom but still lush and buzzing.



The cake I sketched was based off the idea of flowers at a country wedding, and the kind of ideal table setting that one has at long old farmer's tables with antiques and handmade linens.





As for the cake, I keep trying to think of ways to make a cake 100% organic. My decorations are all natural gumpaste, but not officially organic, so the only way to do so is to use buttercream.

My hesitation is with dimension- buttercream is so soft it can only hold a small peak. So I decided to build up flowers on a cake to see whether I could get a more structured feeling.

To give some dimension to the piped leaves and flowers, I tinted a few batches of buttercream in three shades of green, and two shades of purple. I piped the base of the stems and flowers is the darkest color, then using the same piping bag, filled it with the lighter shades. What happens when you do this, is that the edges of the piping tip will pick up some of the darker shade, creating a shadowed flow of frosting.

For the flowers, I built up with the darker purple base with the small star tip. Then after I filled the lighter purple color, it created the perfect shadow to mimic small chive blossoms.
I kept building on the circle shape until it became a semi-circle.

Ahhh summer love.