Head over to the newly relaunched chatterberries.com and catch a video we shot at the shop. I talk about all sorts of things including how we started, our experiences shooting for Food Network and our favorite cakes.
Over the years, we’ve seen our wedding cakes used in a variety of weddinginspirationboards. These boards offer a great way to help coordinate the details of your wedding including colors and theme.
To help inspire other couples, we’ve included a new section on Pink Cake Box that allows brides-to-be the ability to quickly thumb through our hundreds of wedding cakes to find the perfect cake for their own inspiration boards.
Give our wedding cake inspiration board a try and send us along any inspiration boards and we’ll post them in our gallery. Thanks!
Ever wonder where we taped and created our most recent Food Network Cake Challenge cake? Or ever wonder if we’ve ever delivered a cake to Atlantic City? (Yes and it was a cake disguised as Tom Jones).
Through the magical technology of google maps, we can now plot exactly where our cakes were delivered and enjoyed. Take a spin here:
We’ve hidden some of our popular cakes in the map including our Yankee Stadium Cake and Party Dress Cake. Enjoy and check back frequently as new cakes and cupcakes will continuously be added.
Pink Cake Box now formally offers private cake decorating classes for small groups and individuals. While we’ve been teaching classes for the past three years, we haven’t formally advertised classes until now!
Classes are perfect for bachelorette parties, bridal showers or a gift for a friend. Classes start at $100 per hour for individuals and $65 per hour for groups of at least three. We will tailor your class based on your interests and experience level. Classes can include instruction in cookie, cupcake and cake decorating. Children’s lessons are available based on availability.
So how many of you use Twitter? If you do, how often have you wished for a way to send your twitter friends a virtual birthday cake to celebrate their special day? Probably not to often…
However, with our new SweetTweet app you can now easily send one of our cakes or cupcakes via Twitter to help celebrate that special someone’s birthday. So now, even if you don’t live in the New Jersey area, you can still have one of Pink Cake Box cakes…
So one of the questions I get all the time is, “why aren’t you enormous, cake lady?” Ok, well, maybe it’s not phrased like that..but you get the point Besides trying to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, lean meats and fiber, I try to run or work out 3-5 times per week. This is necessary to work off the cake I DO eat
A few months ago, I started working out with a trainer one day a week to switch up my routine. I wasn’t sure I would notice a difference since it’s only once a week. But one time a week, I get my cake lady bum kicked by my trainer Damien. He has also introduced me to kickboxing, as he dubbed me the cake batterer. haha..he’s witty too! I definitely feel stronger, firmer and am even improving my balance!
Anyway, I wanted to write a post to promote Damien and his services, as well as a great anti-oxidant rich product called Mona-Vie.
Whether you are a bride or groom that wants to get in shape for the big day, a mom who needs to get back into working out, or a regular gym rat that just needs a new routine -- Damien will definitely help you see results! Damien Larson has 16 years of martial arts experience, and 8 years of teaching experience. He’s available for those in the North Jersey area including Morristown and Somerset. You can see his site here http://www.damienlarson.com/ or contact him at directly at 908-370-6561.
Or if you want to improve your health -but can’t train with Damien -- check out Mona-Vie. Each of MonaVie’s health minded products feature a blend of the Brazilian acai berry, one of nature’s top superfoods and 18 other body-beneficial fruits, including cupuau, camu camu, aronia, acerola, blueberry, bilberry, and pomegranate. We purchased a case for my mother-in-law and she loves it.
Lastly, here’s a short video of me displaying my new kickboxing moves
Let me preface this post by saying that I love my brother. I really do. With that being said….
Over the years he has consistently teased and tormented me….for just about everything (in a loving brotherly fashion of course !) Naturally when I dove into the world of pastry, he heckled me…always questioning why I wouldn’t make him a bakery cake with ‘those great buttercream roses’. He also has commented on more than one occasion that he’d love to see a cookie with his face on it….just because that would be fun.
Each year, I try to think of a great cake concept for my bro…. last year was ravioli….(his favorite meal). So obviously the family expects a lot from me. Well, I decided to really wow them this year…. we bought the largest rose nail we could find…and I learned how to make GIANT buttercream roses….which I learned is NOT easy by the way! Cathy had to teach me – and I made a LOT of roses before I got a few that resembled a flower. haha. Who knew?! So we blended these beautiful buttercream flora with some Serge cookies – and finished it off with the message , “It is your birthday.” (a line I stole from The Office).
The end result…a hideous yet hilarious (well at least I think so – but it’s my brother’s face on those cookies!) looking birthday cake. Here’s a short video where I interview Kristen during the arduous decorating process:
Almost two years ago we received one of our first requests for what would become one of our most unique wedding cakes – the Corpse Bride wedding cake. The bride and groom were looking to do something different and asked us to to incorporate colors and styles from Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas movie. Over the years, this wedding cake has spawned several other Tim Burton inspired cakes and has become one of most popular wedding cakes. Well we’ve kept in touch with the bride and groom and are happy to announce they opened up their own restaurant called the Orange Squirrel located on Bloomfield Avenue in Bloomfield, NJ. The restaurant has a NYC feel and is headed up by Chef Francesco Palmieri. Chef Palmieri was trained at Culinary Institute of America and has worked at several top NYC restaurants before deciding to bring his culinary vision back to his hometown of Bloomfield. Visit their site here to see their lunch and dinner menus. If you live in the area, we suggest you give the restaurant a try.
As a cake designer, you generally do not look forward to any email that starts off with:
“Hello, I saw one of your cakes on a website call Cake Wrecks…”
We received this exact email last week and with great trepidation I quickly browsed onto Cake Wrecks to find out which of our cakes had been shamed…(For those who aren’t familiar, Cake Wrecks is a humorous look at professional cakes gone bad)
Fortunately to my surprise and relief Jen had spared our cakes from her witty wrath. Instead, Jen had done a weekly cake themed spotlight based on reader feedback and for that particular week she spotlighted our Winter Wonderland Sweet 16 cake.
Disaster averted. In the meantime, if you are looking for some laughs I strongly suggest checking out other humorous posts from Cake Wrecks.
As we close out 2008, we have one last best-of list. This list is a best-of compilation across all cakes and cupcakes we posted in 2008. The cakes were chosen based on a combination number of views and number of comments.
We want to thank our families, friends, employees, customers and visitors to this blog for helping make 2008 a great success. There were many highlights in 2008 and my favorite moments would have to be the two Food Network challenges we competed in and our appearance on Martha Stewart Wedding Cake special. All in all it was a successful year for Pink Cake Box and I want to thank everyone for their support!
I was really impressed with the entire setup for this Bar Mitzvah at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ. The event’s theme was “pen & ink” and we hand painted panels on the cake with designs and numbers to resemble a calligrapher’s work.
Okay we may be getting carried away with the best-of lists, but I couldn’t let 2008 pass without paying homage to the cupcake. The cupcake had another strong year despite continued predictions by some that cupcakes are just a passing fad.
Cupcake blogs like Cupcake Takes the Cake and All Things Cupcake are still going strong and customer interest in cupcakes and stands continued to show strength in 2008. Here’s to another strong year in 2009 for the almighty cupcake.
As with all our lists, this best-of cupcake list was compiled based on number of views and comments. We did not include any wedding cupcake stands in this list, because those confections will be included in our final top ten list for 2008 set to premiere tomorrow.
Groom’s cakes continue to be popular ways to represent the groom’s taste in a confectionery work of art. Continuing our best-of 2008 list, here are the top 5 groom’s cakes from 2008. As with our other best-of lists, this list was created based on a combination of number of views and comments. Enjoy!
Continuing the best of themed posts, here is our list of best-of baby shower cakes for 2008. As with the other best-of lists, this list was compiled based on a combination of number of views and comments throughout the year.
Our baby shower package with cupcakes, cookies and cake topper was a popular item this year. I especially like the color scheme for this cake topper. And of course, this topper also includes our popular pregnant mother-to-be.
Last year we did a top ten cakes post for 2007 and decided to keep that tradition going again this year. For 2008 we are going to do a few best of 2008 cake posts – including top wedding cakes, top baby shower cakes and an overall best cakes & cupcakes post.
We’ll start first with our top 5 wedding cakes list which was compiled based on a combination of number of views and comments throughout the year.
The cake is decorated with crystal brooches and blue ribbons on the bottom and top tiers. The middle tiers include hand painted gold swirls and a monogram celebrating the couples union.
It’s that time again – top ten cakes of the month for October. As with September, Fall & Halloween themed cakes again dominated the top ten. What’s in store for November? You’ll likely see Christmas and winter themed wedding cakes start to appear as couples prepare for winter weddings. Stay tuned!
I am remiss that again this post is so long over-due…
The featured Pink Cake Boxer is Beverly Brimmer. Beverly joined Pink Cake Box in January 2008. She too studied at the French Culinary Institute and completed an internship with Ron Ben-Israel Cakes, in NYC.
Beverly has become our ‘cake monitor’….we gave her a hall badge and everything No, but seriously – she is the cake ‘go-to’ person in regards to filling, carving and squaring off cakes. She has a great ability to turn sheet cake into items like cars, boats and helmets, and is a great teacher to newer employees. Not to mention, she is a very talented decorator as well – whether it’s creating detailed monograms or miniature golf bags!
Since starting with Pink Cake Box, Beverly has grown immensely and is an extremely devoted, loyal and responsible individual. She is almost ALWAYS happy (even when provoked lovingly by her co-workers) and takes on even the most dubious cakes with grace. Beverly is extremely patient and hard-working and she continually finishes beautiful creations…sometimes those that painstakingly take HOURS!
I am so impressed by her dedication and willingness to help, stay late, or lend a hand when needed. Through blood, sweat and tears….(No literally – she recently had 5 stitches in her finger!), Beverly has demonstrated what Pink Cake Box is all about – A passion for cake, and a dedication to the art form.
Congratulations Beverly! You deserve the recognition!
We are happy to announce a new feature at Pink Cake Box Blog – our Top Ten Cakes of the Month! At the end of every month (or close too), we’ll post our most popular cakes for the month. We are kicking it off with the most popular cakes for September. Not surprisingly, you’ll notice a Halloween theme this month – 3 out of the 10 cakes are from our popular corpse bride series of cakes.
We want to acknowledge Giz from Equal Opportunity Kitchen for awarding us the “Blogging with Purpose” award. Giz and her family have put together a great selection of interesting food related blogs that are worth reading.
Also, on a related note, Giz is running a series of contests asking contestants to submit their health-promoting tried, tested and true recipes for judging. The second round just ended and there were some great dishes to choose from. The cause is especially important because it is also bringing awareness to the cause of organ donation.
Here’s a wrap-up of wedding related news that caught our attention this week:
Brides.com WeddedBits Blog has a cute story about a cake and cupcakes we created for a bride’s wedding shower. The cake included a “surprise” visit by the couple’ 3-year-old Airedale terrier, Clyde. Read the entire story here.
Stacie Tamaki from the FlirtyGuide has compiled a great list of wedding blogs both nationally within the US and internationally. We are proud to be listed with some fantastic wedding blogs. Also, if you are looking to start a blog, this site offers some great tutorials to help you launch.
We recently celebrated our 1 year anniversary at the cake shop in Denville. In honor of the anniversary, my husband surprised me with this cake ornament from Camille Maddock of Pretty Girl Things. The ornament is a replica of our grand opening cake. Camille does lovely work and her ornaments make great gifts for wedding anniversaries.
I do love ALL of my Pink Cake Box family…but in April I started Pink Cake Boxer of the Month (read employee of the month with a twist ). I am a little delayed in putting up posts about the past three month’s winners – but I would like to now take this opportunity to spotlight the first…(stay tuned for May and June’s profiles!)
April 2008 Pink Cake Boxer of the Month
Tara Johnson ….Baker at Law
You might wonder why Tara Johnson is Baker at Law…well see she was a lawyer in her previous life…clever, huh?
I met Tara while I was still working out of my mother’s house. She emailed me saying how she was thinking of embarking on the pastry arts adventure. We met and chatted and off she went to ICE in NYC. During her time there, she’d email me pictures of her pastries, and notes of how she loved what she was learning. Months later she emailed again…asking if she could do her externship with Pink Cake Box. Luckily we moved into the store just in the nick of time!
In July 2007 ,Tara began at Pink Cake Box as an intern. From the very beginning Tara was extremely diligent and hard working. Her math skills were obvious as she was a whiz at multiplying recipes, altering formulas and baking to perfection! Tara became our baker extrodinaire, developing new recipes and perfecting the ones that we were already using.
Now a year later, Tara has been promoted to Manager and is responsible for the baking and production of Pink Cake Box. She is a wonderful teacher and is highly respected by all of her co-workers. Tara was chosen as Pink Cake Boxer of the month because she is a great team player. She will come in early or on her days off to help out if needed, and she is always thinking about the betterment of the business. Tara truly cares about her job and Pink Cake Box.
She is a valued asset and I am so happy that she is a part of our family. Thank you Tara!!!
Julie Masse from Paper Pretties emailed me today to let me know she used on of our cakes as inspiration behind an invitation for her friends virtual birthday party. I loved what she did with the invitation and wanted to share it with everyone.
Here is the cake:
And here is Julie’s invitation:
Julie is part of a whole group of Stampin Up Demonstrators who create all sorts of lovely hand crafted cards, memory albums, invitations, & announcements. Here are a just a few I found through her site:
So I’m leaving in 1.5 hours for the airport….and I’m procrastinating from packing. I really despise packing. It was bad enough packing up all of the cake supplies…and I had tons of help! Now as I sit staring at my empty suitcase and a pile of clothes on my bed…I find myself looking for everything and anything to do other than pack. I’m only going to be gone for 3 days….it really shouldn’t be that difficult … one might say.
So to continue my procrastination…I’d like to mention that there is a holiday on Monday called National Pink Day. After some google searches I’m 75 percent sure this is a ‘faux’ holiday…but I choose to recognize and celebrate it anyway for obvious reasons…. It also is the day of the Food Network Challenge…so I’ll use all that pink power to keep me cool, calm and collected. (Ha. that’s amusing…I’m sure if you know me you are shaking with laughter). But I will try to channel some pink if I do become stressed during the challenge….
I welcome you all to celebrate Pink Day…eat some pink ice cream, or buy a pink shirt…or drink a pink-tini! Ok…now I’m really babbling and time is ticking so I guess I should get moving…
But before I go, I want to take this opportunity to thank my entire staff, (including Papa Norton) and my family for helping me get ready for this event. I would be nowhere without you
Polka Dot Bride is running a wedding dress giveway for Australian brides to be. The contest is only available to Australians, but surprisingly we get a good amount of Australian traffic so I thought it would be worthwhile to post about it. So if you are from Australia go ahead and enter!
My name is Anne Heap
and I'm founder of Pink Cake Box - a specialty cake shop in Denville, NJ.
Our blog includes a sampling of our latest cake, cupcake and cookie creations. Enjoy!