The Blue & White “Porcelain” Birthday Cake!

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The Teen took on the difficult task of coming up with an idea for the birthday cake. The celebrant had a keen interest in ceramics and is a member of the Oriental Ceramics Society, so the Teen had a brilliant idea that she wanted the cake to look like a piece of antique porcelain. We thought it was an inspired choice. Elegant, stately, unique and very appropriate for the dinner. We discussed some of the possible types of porcelain, and quickly discarded gourd shaped spotted vessels, celadon incense burners and other rather difficult to execute shapes. She settled on a simple round shape with a beautiful blue & white design…

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The Teen chose her favorite fancy cake shop, Marta’s, and Mrs. MM and our friend’s husband ordered the cake, leaving a picture of the ceramic piece. The cake that arrived weeks later was simply marvelous! Stunning in fact. The designs were accurately replicated and the scale and overall impact of the cake was exactly what we had all hoped for. There are some things I cannot do, and a cake like this is certainly one of them.

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Inside was a layer of butter cake and a layer of chocolate… surprisingly good, though substantial in order to “hold up”… A single slice was almost too much to eat in one sitting but it was delicious nonetheless.

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And the celebrant, probably mortified I have posted this photo :), paused with face covered to make a wish before blowing out the single blue candle on her birthday cake.

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50 Responses

  1. Whoa!!! It took me awhile to realize that the cake was also on the first picture. Awesome!!!

  2. Wow! That cake is simply marvelous.. I would not dare eat that cake.. Probably just stare at it ’till it melts.. Simply stunning…

  3. Wow! Very intricate cake detail! Martha’s very good at what she does, obviously. I wonder how she made that?!

  4. breathtaking, actually….how did the celebrant react to this masterpiece, MM?? i would have loved to be a fly on your wall..i bet the response was priceless!

  5. amazing wedding cake, gives me an idea on what to do for my parent’s wedding anniversary

  6. such a beautiful cake!!! whoever made it had a lot of control on the piping bag to do the intricate details.ANg galing!!!

  7. I love the intricate details on that cake! I love baking cakes and pastries and I just recently bought a deluxe set of Wilton cake decorating tips and that cake encouraged me more to study cake decorating. That design looks hard to replicate though for a novice like me.

  8. Wow, the dual magnificent power of sugar and butter. Best birthday wishes to your Friend.

  9. I hope you don’t mind, marketman, this is off-topic but I just wanted to give express gratitude to the people who helped me.

    To Maria Clara, Betty Q and Apicio: Thank you so much for responding to me about the macarons. I tried it again this weekend and it was a success! I was shouting when my macarons came out of the oven. My kids thought I went crazy. My macarons had those glorious wonderful feet and a delicately smooth domed top and a soft and moist interior. You’re right Maria Clara, no need for the italian meringue version because I followed the french meringue version of Tartelette and it worked! I also followed Helen’s tip in mixing. It was perfect! I used the italian meringue buttercream though for the filling flavored with rose water. Tonight I will make again with chocolate ganache. Betty Q, thank you for the tip in adding the almond/sugar in thirds. It surely helped keep the meringue stable. Apicio, I plan to do Pierre Herme’s Vanilla Macaron soon since I love vanilla. Also, tartalette has a recipe for pistachio macarons with creme brulee filling. Sounds delicious!

  10. Oops, just wanted to correct my mistake, I meant express my gratitude and not give express (wrong english, sorry)

  11. We are accustomed to serving cakes for most celebrations but more specially for birthdays but the truth is even half a slice of cake at the end of a lavish and rich repast (that has been well washed down with wine no less) can be a tad too much (unless you chase it with good espresso and cognac). I can see why In the recently held WH correspondents’ dinner, they decided to skip dessert. Now, that is what I would consider a thoughtful and meaningful gesture. It should be obligatory, I think, with well publicized public events held during uncertain times.

  12. Lilibeth: I’m so glad it worked well for you. My successful macaron blueprint is the article Helen/Tartelette wrote in Desserts Magazine Issue #2 entitled Macarons 101 which is linked to her site. Another tip, I can share with you is if you like your macarons chunky and bulky piped them high like 3/4 inch. I make them chunky since I do not fill them. If you want them thin piped them close to the lined baking sheet.

  13. Wonderful cake, first time I’ve seen one. Now back to the action in the earlier BNPP post..

  14. Maria Clara: Thank you so much for the additional tip. Actually, I must have done it because it came out chunky, exactly the way I wanted, that’s why I was so happy. It was a beauty!

  15. I love marta’s cake… its always always a beautiful work of art… all details are perfectly done!

  16. the Teen must be a fan of the cable show, Ace of Cakes, of Food Network. coz i am too. they make wonderful, out-of-this-world cakes just like this one. a sight to behold. happy birthday to your friend.

  17. Well, everyone’s said what I would’ve wished to say, but here I am. It is indeed a wonderful creation! Magnificent! Beautiful! Stunning! Truly a work of art!… Marta’s a genius, the Teen a creative thinker and the celebrant is very lucky to have you and your family host a birthday dinner in her honor … and yes, I wish a fly that got to land on the cake, and have the first taste of it before it was served.

  18. i agree with jun b…i would also just stare and stare at this cake

    reminds me of college days when we would watch the HRM students in one of their baking contests

  19. It really looks so wonderful…you’d not want to cut it up…Great idea Teen…!!!

  20. Terrific artistry on the part of the cake decorator! And also, what incredible insight and thoughtfulness, to have thought up this design.

  21. Was looking for a birthday cake for a friend back in Florida, I asked if they can make a beer bottle with heineken on it…

    This is one terrific cake, what details. One craft I want to learn.

  22. That would be the perfect birthday cake for my mother. She collects blue & white oriental pieces. She would purely enjoy that piece of yummy art.

  23. this cake is so BEAUTIFUL….

    pls can someone send me contact details of this cake’s baker?

    im fancying something for my husband. his birthday is on june.

    its also perfect gift for our folks. the details…the om my gosh…it just so simply beautiful.. :)

  24. marta matute is a genius! we always get cakes from her. such a pretty cake. ;)

  25. I think the icing on the cake was intricately done. Very creative and very attractive. It must taste so good!

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