Press

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Kakes by Karen, LLC has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Kakes by Karen, LLC is one of the very best cake Designers and Bakers.

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

Kakes by Karen, LLC, would like to thank our past clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!

June 6, 2007
Section: NEWS

Every cake has its story
Kakes by Karen uses unique, original designs in her creations
Mae Yousif-Bashi

Cakes today are more than the mixtures of fruits, nuts and honey as in ancient Rome.

Before, they showed gratitude to the gods. Now, they're used to celebrate everyday life and once-in-a-lifetime occasions.

Karen Vazquez, owner of Kakes by Karen, uses unique and original designs to create the exact masterpiece her clients come to her in hopes of finding.

"The main rules here are safety and honesty," Vazquez, 30, said. "I'll answer all of my customers questions with honesty. If there's something I can't offer them, I will gladly refer them."

Although Vazquez just started the business last September, she's booked through the middle of July, and almost through the popular Florida wedding months of October and November.

Vazquez first learned to bake from her mother and grandmother, but the cake recipe that she uses was handed down to her from a baker in Puerto Rico who's been using it for 25 years. The recipe, which was also passed down to him, is between 35 to 50 years old.

Since Florida weather is so humid, Vazquez mostly uses a fondant icing on her cakes. The special icing doesn't melt like others and doesn't use raw and uncooked eggs. It's even kosher and vegan friendly.

In her sparkling bakery, Vazquez makes the icing out of a number of ingredients: gelatin, glucose, powdered sugar, flavoring and more.

When the fondant is finally put on the cake, it gives it a smooth and even finish.

But Vazquez' cakes are hardly finished at that point. Depending on the occasion, she can dye the cake to match the colors of the event.

Then the baker will add handmade edible seashells, flowers and any other original ideas a customer might have for the details.

"She has always exceeded my expectations," said Melissa Sapikowski, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, who has ordered a number of cakes from Vazquez. "I've always given her custom designs and she would always add extra stuff and make it look 10 times better."

"Everything about her services is great. She has some kind of a magic touch."

Sapikowski says that even though the drive is more than two hours to pick up the festive cakes, it's definitely worth it.

"There's so much competition in Broward County, but I won't go to anyone else. Her cakes are so delicious, she follows up with me and lets me know how it's going. I'll never get a cake from anywhere else but her."

Prices for Vazquez' creations vary and are priced by slice, which range from $5 to $15, but Vazquez says she works with her customers to fit their budget needs.

Cake fillings are thrown in as a freebie. "There's a satisfaction when you make a cake for someone and they enjoy it and it's exactly what they wanted," Vazquez said. "Every cake has a story and every couple has a story and for you to be a part of that, that's the very best pay you can get."

The Art of Sugar Flowers for your Special Occasion Cake

When artfully applied, sugar decorations can greatly enhance the look of your special occasion cake. Swags, bows, drapes, tassels, seashells, and pearls are just a few of the decorative choices available to the confectioner when completing a unique cake creation. Nothing, however, compares to the complexity and beauty achieved when delicate sugar flowers are used.

Although many times form cutters create the basic petal and leaf shapes, a skillful hand is required to transform these two-dimensional cutouts into realistic, three-dimensional flowers.

There are approximately 27 tools and materials that can be used in the elaboration of a sugar flower. Gumpaste is the most basic material; it is a sort of sugar clay made from vegetable shortening, gum tragacanth, warm water, liquid glucose, powdered gelatin, and egg whites. Before setting, its pliable consistency makes it easy to mold into virtually any shape, yet once dry, it takes on a porcelain-like nature. After being pressed, cut, and shaped with modeling tools one petal at a time, the flower is assembled using floral tape and wire, and allowed to dry at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours. Other parts of a flower’s anatomy (e.g stamen, carpel, pistil, etc.) can also be created to add detail and realism.

A flower’s color is achieved by tinting the gumpaste or brushing the assembled flower with non-toxic powders such as luster (translucent and shiny) and petal (opaque) dusts. Flowers can also be hand-painted by dipping, manually brushing, or airbrushing their surface with non-water based food coloring.

Once completed, the individual flowers can be used as is, or assembled into a simple arrangement or elaborate spray. Care should be taken when decorating a cake with sugar flowers as these break easily and are often unrepairable. For this reason, the sugar artist usually makes more flowers than required and keeps them on hand until the cake is safely delivered to its final destination.

Creating hand-made sugar flowers is laborious and time-consuming, therefore keep in mind their use can greatly increase the cost of your cake. However, sugar flowers’ decorative effect is unparalled, making them a stunning and memorable addition to your special occasion cake.

Icing on a cake

A cake icing’s greater task is that of keeping crumbs in place to provide a sleek look for both visual appeal and taste. There are many different types of icings, but fondant and buttercream are the most commonly used because of their endurance to our humid, Floridian weather. Other icings such as cream cheese, meringue, and whipped cream require added ingredients for stabilization and immediate refrigeration or consumption.

Buttercream is a sweet, creamy icing that is sugar, butter and egg white-based. It can be made in most any color and flavor, and applied in a variety of styles (e.g. smooth, rolled, piped, etc.). Keep in mind that egg white-based icings are perishable and require a minimum boiling temperature of 140 degrees to eliminate any possible trace of salmonella commonly found in eggs.

Fondant is a sweet icing with a pliable consistency made from sugar, light corn syrup, water, and gelatin. When correctly applied, fondant seals the cake, maintaining it fresh and moist over time. It can be dyed any color to match the wedding décor, and is commonly offered in vanilla and chocolate flavors. Known as the “wedding cake icing”, fondant’s most outstanding feature is its super-smooth, stylized look. Also important is its non-perishable nature and kosher/vegetarian friendly ingredients.

When choosing an icing for your wedding cake, please keep in mind all the factors that may affect its performance and share these with your baker: the time and month of your wedding reception, whether the cake will be placed indoors or outdoors, lighting, and the approximate time your cake is expected to be cut and served.

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