Academy of Friends Gala

1200 mini cupcakes might seem like a lot of work, but imagine having to frantically repair more than half of them on-site because of damage during transport... now thats a nightmare! And thats exactly what happened February 24th 2008 the day of the Academy of Friends Gala. Academy of Friends was founded in 1980 as a private oscar party of 25 friends but has grown to become one of the largest contributors to Bay Area HIV/AIDS services organizations. The '08 Gala raised over 500,000 and AOF has raised over 6.3 million over the past two decades.


Our original goal was to make 1500 cupcakes as suggested by the event organizers but after an impromptu decision to arrive two hours early, 1200 mini cupcakes it was: 600 Vanilla Bean with Vanilla Frosting and 600 Dark Chocolate with Milk Chocolate Buttercream.

AOF Veteran/ Martini Stealer Michael and I holding
Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

The decor was beautiful and the guests were entertained by acrobatics, 007 sketches and singer Taylor Dayne. Just a few minutes of mini-cupcake touch-ups, and they were ready for display and eating, of course. After rhythmically shaking my head to Tell It To My Heart, Beautiful, and some other 80's hit I was unfamiliar with, the party was over with plenty cupcakes to spare. 

Susannah's Birthday Cake

Since Carl was organizing a birthday party for his wife, Susannah, at Home Restaurant, Carl commissioned me to create a cake inspired by her artwork. He requested a Vanilla Bean Cake with Vanilla buttercream as the smaller top tier and a Dark Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache as the larger bottom tier but left the design of the cake up to me.

After looking through Susannah's online gallery, i was inspired by her use of soft pastel colors and seemingly innocent characters contrasted by overtly erotic images.


Though the image I chose to recreate was more on the subtle side, it was one of my favorites! The expression captured by Susannah is right on. To check out her artwork, visit SusannahBettag.com.

-Susannah's Birthday Cake was created February.7.2008

Shinmin Li and IDC

Shinmin Li established I Dream of Cake in San Francisco's beautiful North Beach District in 2005, though she began work with custom cakes in Sydney, Australia in 2002. After her time at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, where she developed her skill in graphic design and further deepened her love of art, Li attended Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney where she earned her degree in Grande Patisserie in 2003. Shortly after, Li set out to combine her two loves into what is known as the first Gallery of Cakes.

Walking into her gallery, you are surrounded by a clean, chic elegance that is inherent to Li's style. Having ingeniously designed the space with a white and warm espresso scheme with sea-foam green accents, the main focus is drawn to the art, in this case, sculptural cakes.




Although all of IDC's cakes are exquisite, some of their most impressive cakes are their handbag cakes. Made indiscernible to the real thing, these edible masterpieces are my favorite.





On a personal level, Shinmin is the ultimate professional, perfectionist and is very knowledgeable when it comes to art and business. Having developed her company into one of the nation's best "bakeries," working at IDC is my dream job.

In a recent email I asked Shinmin where she saw herself and her company in 10 years. She sees a few more locations for IDC (might I suggest I Dream of Cupcake?) and a couple of museum exhibitions. How about a Beethoven bust at the DeYoung?


...Or how about a Jade Buddha?


...Or perhaps a (delicious and probably nervous) doe?


Finally, after being asked how she would describe her style, Shinmin replied, "Clean, refined and perfect! Blah blah blah ;) ." Kudos to you Shinmin Li and the IDC team- You go girl(s)!

Special thanks to Drew Altizer and 

Dwight Eschliman for all the gorgeous photography.

Photographs are used with permission and 

full copyrights do apply. 

Visit Shinmin's newly redesigned 

website www.idreamofcake.com and make sure to check 

out her blogspot @ www.sugar-moma.blogspot.com.

__________________________________

Update: I just found this video of an interesting series from CHOW.com titled OBSESSIVES. Li chats about wedding cake trends, spills cake secrets and confesses her obsession! Scandalous!

Frank's Donut

After searching far and wide for a giant donut for her boyfriend's birthday with no success,  Megan decided to commission her awesome friend (me) to make her an extra-large-donut cake. Megan knew right away that she wanted a key lime flavored element, raspberries and some sort of pound cake so i suggested a Classic Vanilla Pound Cake with Key Lime Curd and Raspberry Jam. 


The result was a cake that looked so close to the real thing, that i was left not craving a cake, but a huge chocolate donut!

-Frank's Birthday Cake was created December.29.2007

Photo Op.

I had to post this picture- Im no professional photographer but i love to take a pretty picture and i think this is one.

Black on White

This cake was VERY last minute (thanks Dad) but done with lots of love! The design was up to me so I decided to go with a concept I've had in mind for quite a while- here's its first manifestation. Im sure it'll make another appearance in the near future.


-Chocolate Fudge Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache was created November.16.2007

Bobby's 20th

Spending a weekend with the Collins was the much deserved mini-vacation i had been wishing for. And since Bobby's birthday had just passed the weekend before, Lauren and I (the dynamic duo!) scrambled to create a cake. Bobby is quite the athlete so L thought it would be an awesome idea to create a football helmet cake with B's favorite football team, the SF 49ers.


L and i had the most FUN making this cake! The process was as enjoyable as seeing the finished piece.

Lauren's abstract representation of FrankBank

The Moist Chocolate Fudge Cake with Nutella and Sliced Strawberries tasted amazing and, most importantly, Bobby liked it... and from what i've heard, he's quite the picky eater.

-Bobby's 20th Birthday Cake was created October.08.2007

Miriam's Birthday Cake

Where to start? Miriam is a long time friend, so for her birthday, i wanted to surprize her with a unique and special gift- Whats more special than a Dolce & Gabbana handbag made of cake and sugar?!

Although her cake was presented to her about a week after her celebration, it was received with loud claps and vigorous hopping.


The cake you ask? Moist Chocolate Fudge and nutty Toasted Almond Cake with red Raspberry Preserves. Yummo! (just kidding). Happy Birthday Miriam!

-Miriam's 19th Birthday Cake was created September.03.2007

Duckies and Daisies

I had the most fun making this cake. My sister-in-law, Gaby, had an awesome concept in mind when we decided on the design of her twin baby shower cake. Gaby wanted a Vanilla Bean Chiffon Cake with Blueberry-Strawberry Compote complete with daisy-accented hills, a jello pond and 4 rubber duckies.


The largest duck symbolized the mother with the 3 baby ducks swimming behind her, the last 2 being the new additions to the family. They are all swimming on a pond of gelatin complete with ripples and little waves.


This cake is the heaviest to date!

-Duckies and Daisies cake was created July.28.2007

Cheesecake Wedding Cake

After seeing this blog, Lea, my mother-in-law's co-worker, decided to alleviate her stress and have me make her a wedding cake. Right from the start she knew exactly the kind of cake she wanted for her niece's wedding. She requested a 2-tier New York Style Cheesecake- the bottom tier being Espresso Cheesecake with an oreo cookie crust and the top tier Lemon Cream Cheesecake with an almond cookie crust. Later that week she decided to add a middle tier and have it be a Classic Vanilla Bean Cake with Chocolate Cream filling.

She sent me about a 1-inch swatch of her shade of beige and asked that i used that in the design of the cake but left the rest of the details up to me.


Pulled an all nighter with this one!

-Cheesecake Wedding Cake July.7.2007