Saturday, June 25, 2011

Hydrangea confections




This day of sweets is about summer flowers, an over the top combination of flavors, and an upcoming wedding.  My son Drew and his fiance Genevieve are here for the weekend, and we are not only discussing the big event, but also doing some wedding dress shopping. 


That sound you just heard is me cackling gleefully. 


Anyway, I am not the first person to make a hydrangea cake by any means.  I think the first time I saw it was Amanda's gorgeous take on it at I Am Baker.  I am not worthy enough to clean this woman's icing tips. 





Now that I have freely admitted to not being in the big leagues of cake decorating, lets talk about flavor.  This cake is a rich chocolate with a kahlua mousse filling, and slathered with Swiss meringue buttercream. 











Heavenly (or is it sinful?).  However you want to look at it - this is one delicious cake.  The baking and filling of the cake is quite simple.  I used a chocolate box cake mix and added instant coffee to the water along with a box of chocolate pudding mix.  For the filling I whipped heavy cream with powdered sugar and flavored it with kahlua.  I used Martha Stewart's recipe for Swiss meringue buttercream.  You can find the recipe here.  To get the two toned look of the petals, I just loaded the piping bag with two colors of the buttercream.  One bag had blue and lavender, and the other bag had pink and lavender.  To finish it off, I added soft green dragees for the centers.






I had a few spare cookies, so these got the same treatment.






I just wish my hydrangeas in the garden were blooming.  They will soon enough, so for now I settle for roses, coneflowers, daisies, daylilies, asiatic lilies, wandflowers, wall flowers, yarrow, lamb's ear, salvia, butterfly bush, foxglove, and more.






I had intended to have our little party outside in the garden, but traffic delayed Drew and Genevieve's arrival so we ended up in the dining room. 






Its going to be a fun year of wedding talk and planning for these two.  The cake and cookies are sweet, but I think these two are sweeter.











Mad Tea Party 2011 Blog Button



I am joing the Mad Tea Party at A Fanciful Twist


You have to stop over there and see the fabulous fun.


Happy Pink Saturday too!


I am also joining
House of Hepworths
Chic on a Shoestring
French Country Cottage
My Romantic Home
Between Naps on the Porch
Somewhat Simple
Carolyn's Homework
Savvy Southern Style
Lady Katherine's Tea Parlor
Sweetology 101
Today's Creative Blog
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Skip to my Lou
Making the World Cuter
I Heart Naptime
The Tablescaper
























































26 comments:

  1. That is a GORGEOUS cake! I found you through Pink Saturday and had to look into that pretty picture. The butter cream icing is a keeper. Have a pink Saturday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my dear giddy aunt I love that cake!
    MMMMM I bet it was scrumptious!!!
    Happy PS

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWIE...and btw LADY..you are more than worthy for anything anytime! This cake is stunning and I am partial to those cookies for sure. They look so pretty Lisa. Your son and his lovely fiance are quite the good looking pair ~ you must be so proud. This is a great post!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How pretty. Thanks so much for sharing. Don't sell yourself short, you have a talent that far exceeds many (including myself) in decorating!
    Aimee

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow until you said that you had piped them I thought that the petals the top of the cake were real, it does look beautiful.

    Good luck in all the wedding preparation.

    Please visit my tea party if you get chance http://phoenixra.blogspot.com/2011/06/wonderings-on-tea-party.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think I visit your blog every Pink Saturday because I love your amazing creations. Your cake and cookies are so beautiful! Hydrangeas are one of my favorites and your cake looks so realistic! I hope you all have fun getting things ready for the upcoming wedding! Happy PS!
    Tammy

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a lovely cake! It looks delicious! Thanks for telling us about Pink Saturday! I will be sure to wear my brightest pink shirt today!!

    Stop by for some tea at my party!
    Tabitha of
    http://pabkins.blogspot.com/2011/06/mad-tea-party-my-wonderland-wedding.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now that is a cake! What a beauty and it sounds like it is absolutely delicious! Congratulations to the happy couple! Have fun talking wedding : )
    Hugs,
    Terri
    http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/2011/06/mad-tea-party.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Really delicious looking cake. I have to say, I thought they were real petals to begin with, they look very good!

    I'm also taking part in the Mad Tea Party blog hop and hope that you'll visit my party to have some fun there too :)

    http://modernwomans.blogspot.com/2011/06/welcome-to-my-english-tea-party.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yummy! That cake and those cookies look delicious! Thank you for sharing and inviting me over to tea. I hope you'll visit my tea party, too.

    http://scrapvamp.blogspot.com/2011/06/mad-tea-party-2011.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. Every time I visit you surprise and delight me. What will you create next?

    Please come visit my tea party too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I want, I want!!!! Looks and sounds wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  13. oh my goodness, this is beautiful! & i bet it tasted delicious too, that kahlua filling probably tasted even better if it was anything close to the kahlua buttercream you used on alec's birthday cake (:

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow what a beautiful cake!! Thank you so much for inviting me to your party :) ~Lauren

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gorgeous cake! Congratulations to the happy couple. You are going to have a lot of fun with wedding plans.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yum, yum, yum! That cake sounds DELICIOUS!!!! I remember making hydrangeas with my mom when she was doing cake decorating! I had totally forgotten that! Best of luck to the happy couple. I'll be back to see the wedding dress! Linda

    ReplyDelete
  17. Definitely so sweet! How lucky you are to be gaining a new daughter-in-law!
    That cake is heavenly! WOW Very impressive!

    http://www.inthelandofspice.com/spiceblog/spiceblog/Entries/2011/6/25_Mad_Tea_Party.html

    ReplyDelete
  18. Looks and sounds delicious! You two are cute together!

    Have a mad party!
    Erin :)

    http://www.fairiemoon.typepad.com/weathertop

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow! What a cake, auntie...you're great, it's beautiful with the hydrangeas on it. Such a lovely couple, wish them the best of luck on their upcoming wedding. Hugs, FABBY

    ReplyDelete
  20. How gorgeous cake you made! and yummy :)

    Karla,
    www.dreamaginarius.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sweet LOVE and a beyond beautiful confections!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. What an incredibly lovely cake. I'm drooling over it right now! Thanks so much for sharing, Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  23. The cake looks wonderful! Mine are blooming right now.
    Here from Pink Sat and Seasonal Sundays.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Beautiful cake (and the Kahlua filling sounds marvelous)! What a lovely couple and such a fun little gathering. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a beautiful cake. I would have hated to cut it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Such a beautiful cake.Thanks for being a part of Seasonal Sundays. So sorry that it took me so long to visit as I've been away.
    Hope to see you this Sunday.

    - The Tablescaper

    ReplyDelete