Cake Tuesday: flights of fancy.

People who only see me at the kitchen might be shocked to know this, but I lovelovelove high fashion. I avidly follow the shows of my favorite designers and save up for key pieces that I just can't live without. Although it has sadly become my uniform in recent years, I do NOT love my cruddy jeans + batter-splattered t-shirts + professional kitchen clogs (although the latter are quite good at what they do and I would never wear anything else to work).

The fabrics and textures, the attention to detail, and the creativity involved in making breathtakingly beautiful things - wearable art. (A tiny bit like wedding cake design, I suppose - edible art.) 

So when a bride asked me to do a take-off on an Alexander McQueen headpiece, I was thrilled. First of all, my McQueen gladiator flats from a couple of summers ago are still in my pile of favorites despite the wane of the gladiator - I am wearing them OUT. Secondly, Lee McQueen was an amazing talent (check out the stunning slide show in this retrospective), and the world is certainly less bright without him in it. Thirdly, this was sitting on my office desk when she called to discuss this design:

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The cover of the New Yorker's Style issue in March was an illustration of the very headpiece my bride called to discuss, called "Homage", by Ana Juan. The headpiece itself was McQueen's tribute to Isabella Blow, his best friend and muse who took her life in 2007, so there are many layers of homage here. And I was captivated with the headpiece - the ethereal, floaty feel of it - which is why this cover was still in plain view three months later.

So I got to work. The color had to match the swatch the bride sent to me, which featured prominently throughout the wedding. I hand-cut each wing, painted every line and dot, glued each one together with royal icing, glued each butterfly to a single wire with MORE royal icing. The cake itself was relatively plain (elements from the bride's lovely, simple gown), but the topper is one of the most challenging things I've ever done.

But it worked. The same floaty, fluttery quality came through, as the butterflies swarmed the top of the cake.

Mr. McQueen, this one's for you.