Couture Cakes & Confections

Jeremy & Madison Wedding @ Camp Dixie

2011-06-29T20:29:00.003-04:00

We would like to congratulate Jeremy & Madison on their recent marriage. We thoroughly enjoyed making Madison's wedding cake. When we met with Madison to design her cake she had ideas about certain elements she liked on cakes but couldn't quite visualize how the final design would look in cake so it was a great treat for us to get to see Madison's reaction when we delivered the cake. It's not often we get to see the bride when we deliver cakes so it was awesome to see Madison's face light up as she looked over all the different elements we included in her cake. This 5 tier cake was huge...it's hard to tell the scale in the photo... it was 32" tall...The bride chose 3 tiers of Almond Cream Cake filled with fresh Organic Strawberry Coulis and Almond Italian Meringue Buttercream and 2 tiers of Dark Belgian Chocolate Cake with soft creamy Caramel and Caramel Buttercream.
Photo by Justin Wright Photography

Monkey Themed Baby Shower Cupcakes

2011-06-27T09:23:00.003-04:00

This weekend we made some monkey themed cupcakes for a baby shower. The customer brought us in a napkin with polka dots and whimsical monkeys for inspiration. She chose three flavors for the shower...banana cream cupcake with banana Italian meringue buttercream, vanilla almond cupcake with Tahitian vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream and Belgian dark chocolate cupcake with chocolate Italian meringue buttercream...remember we can make custom cupcakes to go with any party theme so if you are looking for the best cupcakes in Chattanooga visit us at 5228 Hixson Pike, next to Abba's house.

Thomas The Tank Engine Cake

2011-06-20T19:13:00.003-04:00

Last May for Devin's 2nd birthday we made a Thomas The Tank Engine themed cake which was designed like the train station with all the trains peeking out of the side. This year for Devin's 3rd birthday he decided he wanted another Thomas cake so to step it up from last year we decided to make him a 3d Thomas the Tank Engine cake. I think this is probably one of my favorite birthday cakes we have made and love how it turned out. We were worried that Devin might want to play with Thomas since he looked so real but instead he was fascinated by it and decided he needed to sit and guard the cake instead of playing outside on the bounce house with his friends! Devin was also quick to point out that Thomas is number 1 and not number 3...we knew that of course but thought since Devin was turning 3 it would be a good way to include it on the cake.

Joel & Candace Wedding @ River Inn, Chattanooga

2011-06-16T09:55:00.005-04:00

We would like to congratulate Joel & Candace on their recent marriage at River Inn, Chattanooga. To compliment her organic green wedding Candace chose a 4 tier wedding cake with branches & leaves climbing up the side. For Joel we created a World of Warcraft cake. Thank you Joel & Candace for letting us be a part of your special day.

Chattanooga Cake Ace Contest

2011-02-24T21:40:00.006-05:00

Well the long awaited, highly anticipated Chattanooga Cake Ace Contest finally arrived this past Sunday. After many hours working on our cake (unfortunately we got a very late start on our cake and had a few obstacles to overcome which led to us working all night Saturday to finish in time for the show on Sunday) we are very proud of the outcome. As you can see we made a replica of the historic Tivoli theatre for the bottom tier of our cake, it was comprised of 6 – 16” x 16” x 3” square cakes, on top of the Tivoli we have the Lookouts home plate, a hand-sculpted Lookouts baseball cap cake and a hand-poured and painted regulation size Belgian chocolate Baseball. The next tier was a replica of the original chocolate Moonpie box and we topped our masterpiece with a hand-poured sugar Coca Cola bottle. The cake itself weighed well over 150lbs (the Tivoli tier alone weighed 120lbs!). We are very proud to say that everything on our competition cake was edible made with actual cake, chocolate and sugar. We refuse to use rice crispy treats on a cake!!! The billboards on each side of the Tivoli are made from edible sugar paper as is the Coca Cola label.

In case you’re wondering or haven’t heard yet, we didn’t win. Well officially that is but of course we are a little biased and believe we had the best cake at the show (as did many of the vendors and hundreds of the general public who kindly offered their feedback) but we'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We are very proud of the fact that we made a true competition style cake, hit the theme spot of “Chattanooga Groom’s Cake” that we would happily put up next to any cake we’ve seen on Food Network, TLC or WEtv. We do have to say that Jennifer & Chad at Cup-a-Dee cakes also brought it with an awesome cake (I'll post a picture shortly). We knew Jennifer would present the strongest competition and hoped that she would rock and awesome cake, which she did…you go CoCo! (lol).

Although to us the whole Formal Affair/Cake Competition seemed to be unorganized and poorly supervised/time managed causing the bakers way too much lost time out of our very expensive booths away from potential customers this year (issues we are all addressing one by one) the highlight of the day was to when we got to meet the Ace of Cakes himself, Duff Goldman. Duff made our day when he told us, “Your cake is freaking bitchin’, flawless and better than any competition cake I ever made.” and it totally blew our minds when he asked us how to make the sugar coke bottle. I thought surely he was joking but he said he was serious. How cool is that? The Cake God himself…Ace of Cakes…Cake Master…Duff Goldman asking two small town bakers from Chatt Town how to make something?!!! Duff was gracious enough to take time to chat with all of our staff and take lots of photos with all of us and even asked the photographer to take a photo of just him and Erin (our 14 ½ yr old adopted daughter/intern who really is the one responsible for us making Duff style cakes to begin with), he autographed a few of our chocolate boxes. It was great to know that Duff really is the cool, down to earth, funny & friendly guy that we get to see on TV. Thanks Duff for the laughs and the memories forever etched in our minds and hearts! Rock on Ace of Cake…Rock On!

We served 1600+ cake samples and received wonderful feedback from dozens of other vendors and hundreds of people attending the show.

We have more photo's to post when I have more time but for the moment they are available on our facebook page.

Formal Affair 2011 & Cake Competion

2011-02-13T08:30:00.002-05:00

We are now just one week away from the Formal Affair 2011 Bridal Show & Chattanooga's first Cake Ace competition. We are all extremely excited to be entering the competition which is going to be judged by Ace of Cake's Duff Goldman. Our Chattanooga themed grooms cake design is top secret and we can't wait to display it for everyone at the show as well as well as getting to meet Duff himself.

We have been working hard on creating some new wedding cake designs to display so if you will be attending the Formal Affair be sure to stop by the Couture Cakes booth to see some of our new wedding cake designs and sample some of our all natural cake.

Happy New Year's Eve!

2010-12-31T07:34:00.004-05:00

Well I can hardly believe that this year has come to a close. The months seemed to have flown by in an instant. Looking back over some of our favorite cakes this year I've decided to post a few here.

Here is a 3 tier cake we created for a beautiful little princess named Hadley's 7th birthday party. It's hard to tell by the photo but it was huge, the bottom tier was comprised of 6 layers of Belgian Chocolate Truffle cake, and alternating layers of chocolate buttercream and organic raspberry coulis. The middle tier was comprised of 8 layers of the same and the top tier was 4 layers. Their whole family loves our chocolate raspberry cake! The mom wanted a sort or topsy turvy cake without losing too many servings of cake so we might it just slightly turvy. We covered it in our wonderful fondant and decorated it with whimsical princess tiaras, hearts and flowers in an array of pastel colors.

Hand-painted Christmas Tree Cake

2010-12-31T07:27:00.004-05:00

Another wonderful Christmas cake I created for a long time customer out of state. It was comprised of 4 layers of cake, filled with white Belgian chocolate ganache and eggnog buttercream. I covered it in white fondant, hand-painted sparkly white snowflakes in the background and a large decorative Christmas tree. I added some 2d touches with royal icing poinsettias and holiday presents and a red fondant ribbon and bow.

Three Snowmen

2010-12-29T22:27:00.001-05:00

Here's a cute cake we created for a wonderful long time customer with three little girls. It was a Belgian Chocolate cake with dark chocolate buttercream inside. They served it for Christmas dinner.

Let It Snow Cake

2010-12-29T22:24:00.002-05:00

This is one our most popular winter time cakes which we ship across the nation. It is 4 layers of Tahitian Vanilla Bean Cake with 2 layers of peppermint buttercream and one center layer of Belgian dark chocolate ganache.

Santa's Village Cake

2010-12-29T22:17:00.004-05:00

We created this cake for a long time customer who's family was traveling to Florida from New Jersey to spend the holidays with her husband's very large Italian family. They wanted to bring a little snowy holiday cheer to south Florida. Although you can't really tell by the photo this cake was huge! It was a double half sheet cake with 4 alternating layers of Tahitian Vanilla Bean and Belgian Dark Chocolate Cake filled with Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream. The cake was enjoyed by all!

2010-12-29T22:04:00.002-05:00

Here's a Nutcracker Cake we did for a women in New York City who was hosting a Holiday Party themed, "The Land of Sweets". We also created her a custom gingerbread mansion for the same party.

Holiday Break!

2010-12-29T20:35:00.002-05:00

Well friends it certainly has been an incredibly busy and eventful year here at Couture Cakes & Confections. We apologize for the lack of posts here this year we've had a lot on our plates...from building out our new space and moving facilities to many special events and holidays. We closed out the year with a couple non-stop months of 18 - 20 hr days/7 day weeks. While we are recouping and enjoying a bit of time off with our families I thought I would post some photos of various cakes we have made throughout the year. It would be nearly impossible to post them all so I will sift through and pick some to post.

Gluten Free, Wheat Free All Purpose Flour Blend

2010-08-31T08:41:00.002-04:00

We are finally ready to launch our new blend of Gluten Free, Wheat Free All Purpose Flour. Available in 3lb bags. Click Here to view and purchase. Our Gluten Free All Purpose Flour is great for all kinds of baking from cakes to pancakes.

Healthy Living Expo Chattanooga

2010-08-25T09:25:00.002-04:00

We have signed up to participate in the Healthy Living Expo Chattanooga on October 1st & 2nd. We will be sampling some of our delicious cake. Come visit us. Click here for official website.

Gluten Free Bread

2010-08-14T09:59:00.005-04:00

Well my friends it has been another very looooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngggg day at the bakery! A hotter then heck one at that! Bring on the snow I say!!! On the bright side it was also a very tasty day...fresh baked gluten free pizza pepperoni and ham and pineapple, the most DELICIOUS gluten free bread that will ever cr...oss your lips...multi grain with fresh thyme and white...check out some of the photos.

Chattanooga Best of The Best 2010

2010-07-01T20:19:00.002-04:00

Customers & friends. We have been told by a number of our customers that it is time again this year that the Chattanooga Times Free Press takes votes towards their Best of the Best awards. If you have yet to vote please log onto the link below and help Couture Cakes by A Bountiful Harvest, Chattanooga's only all natural bakery, by voting us best bakery in Chattanooga and also best dessert. Time is running out. The deadline is July 6th and your vote could win you $1000.

Go to Chattanooga Best of the Best and fill in the form.

Riverdance Cake

2010-06-09T21:31:00.002-04:00

So a couple of weeks ago the Riverdance show came to Chattanooga and we received a call to make a birthday cake for one of the lead dancers Marty. Asked to design the cake around the Riverdance story we chose to sculpt 2 dancers out of fondant as seen in a famous Riverdance image. The cake was delivered to Memorial Auditorium just before the show and it was a huge hit!!

Guitar Cake for Graduation

2010-06-05T18:11:00.003-04:00

In the middle of the craziness of May weddings we proudly had the high school graduation for both of our sons. We threw a big party and of course made them cakes! Kyle is heading to MTSU to major in recording industry and appropriately we decided to make him a guitar cake that was a life-sized replica of his own guitar. I think the guitar came out looking really good and everybody was amazed by it but unfortunately, we were so busy that week that we didn't have but a couple of hours before the party to actually cover the cake and add the details. A cake of this scale really needs way more time but considering the time we had it came out good. I would have liked to have made edible strings with gumpaste or sugar but time was against us so we had to use real wire which proved impossible to straighten the kinks out of and there were a lot of details from the headstock that we didnt have time to add.

Cute as a bug…Ladybug Birthday Cake

2010-06-05T17:53:00.000-04:00

We got a call from a sweet young lady named Victoria looking for a special cake for her little princess Calleigh who was turning and she was on the hunt for someone to make a really great tasting cake for her to enjoy. Due to some medical issues mom was a little delayed in ordering a cake but she apparently found us through a google search fell in love with a lady bug cake we had previously made and read all the reviews about us and really wanted to have this cake made for her daughter. I was able to squeeze her into the schedule and this is the end result. The sheet cake was vanilla bean cake with fresh raspberry coulis and Italian meringue vanilla bean buttercream. The two lady bugs were Belgian chocolate cake with Italian meringue vanilla bean buttercream. The lady bugs, flowers and banners were all covered in or made out of our yummy vanilla fondant.

As you can see by the second photo, Calleigh was checking out her own little lady bug before diving in. It looks like she wasted no time digging in! How sweet is this next photo…this little princess is indeed Cute as a ladybug!!!!!

Old MacDonald had a Farm…Farmyard Cake

2010-06-05T17:50:00.002-04:00

So we got a call during the insanity of the Christmas rush with a request to make a barn yard cake for a sweet little girl from Florida who would be turning 1 just after the new year…Yippee not another Santa or snowman! Don’t get me wrong I love making Santa and snowmen but after weeks on end of holiday cakes it was a nice change. After speaking with both her parents about what they wanted this is what I came up.

Everything was edible, the barn was constructed of Belgian dark chocolate cake with fresh raspberry coulis and chocolate buttercream and the base was vanilla bean cake with Italian meringue vanilla bean buttercream. All of the animals, flowers and farm bits were hand sculpted from our yummy vanilla fondant.

As you can see by the look on Princess Ella’s face she really enjoyed her very first birthday cake! Isn’t she just adorable!

More Dairy Free Milk Chocolate Options

2010-06-05T17:50:00.001-04:00

We have added more dairy free milk chocolate products including dairy free candy bars & dairy free chocolate discs. They can be found on the Dairy Free Gifts Page. More dairy free candy bars and gift items are available and will be added as soon as possible. If you have any special requests that you cannot find on the website please call us.

X-Box 360 Cake

2010-06-05T17:45:00.000-04:00

This week we created an X-Box 360 Cake complete with edible controller & games for a Groom that is a big fan of the Fable game & Football games. The game covers were printed on edible paper with edible ink. Check it out.

Vegan Wedding Cake & Vegan Grooms Cake

2010-06-05T17:43:00.000-04:00

We would like to congratulate Greg & Katie on their recent marriage. Greg & Katie were married at the beautiful Wild Moon Ranch in Rising Fawn, GA and requested a Vegan Wedding Cake & Vegan Grooms Cake. Katie wanted an earthy looking ivory cake with branches rising up with dogwood flowers to co-ordinate with their wedding invitation. On top of the cake we sculpted 2 birds in a nest, also to match their invitation.

For a Groom's cake Katie surprised Greg with a tree stump which had their initials painted on top to match the design Greg drew for their wedding invitation. Both cakes were dairy free & gluten free. View larger pictures at www.customcouturecakes.com

Joe & Lauren Wedding Cake & Pez Grooms Cake

2010-06-05T17:19:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Joe & Lauren recently married in Atlanta, Ga. Joe & Lauren are living in China but married in Atlanta. Although nobody was Celiac or needing a gluten free wedding cake Lauren was looking for an all natural cake and so we designed Lauren's wedding cake around the beautiful green silk fabric she had purchased in China for the Bridesmaids dresses.

	We also had a blast creating Joe's Pez Candy Grooms Cake. Lauren had surprised Joe with the design for his grooms cake as he is an avid Pez collector and has a set of collectible Bride & Groom Pez Dispensers, which we set on top of the cake. Joe's favorite cake is strawberry so he was surprised that we made his grooms cake a strawberry cake.
Thank you Joe & Lauren for letting us be a part of your big day. It was a pleasure making your wedding & grooms cakes.

Kimberly's Storybook Birthday & Graduation Cake

2010-06-05T17:16:00.001-04:00

One of the most fun cakes we have made recently was a combination of Birthday & Graduation cake for Kimberly who was going to be visiting Chattanooga from Atlanta and spending the weekend at the Chattanoogan. We made a 2 tier hexagon cake which was decorated with a different aspect of her life on each side. We sculpted a miniature Kimberly out of fondant and dressed her in a black dress but put a softball glove on her hand to represent the years she has played the game. On each side of the cake we included various interests and achievements such as her recent graduation from Georgia Southern University, her new career as a teacher, her love of fashion and shopping, music, surfing, sports and her puppy Bella.

View more pictures here

Dinosaur Cupcakes

2010-06-05T17:08:00.000-04:00

Some updates on recent creations. We recently made some dinosaur cupcakes for Ike who was turning 4. We made both chocolate & vanilla bean cupcakes and topped each one with miniature dinosaurs made out of fondant.

Chattanooga Cupcakes, Gourmet Cupcakes.

McClain Wedding Black & White Wedding Cake & Nintendo Grooms Cake

2010-06-05T14:10:00.000-04:00

We've been a little behind with the blog updates! Congratulations to Mr & Mrs James McClain on their recent marriage. James & Jamie were married at The Grandview on Lookout Mountain and Jamie wanted a modern looking square wedding cake with black painting and red roses on the top tier.
	James wanted a Nintendo NES cake with the classic controllers. We surprised James by also adding the gun for Duck Hunt and a Tetris cartridge box made out of fondant with the cover printed on edible paper. Both cakes were a huge hit! View larger pictures at http://www.customcouturecakes.com

Moving Blog

2010-06-05T14:08:00.000-04:00

So the old blog wasn't really working the way we wanted it to so we are switching over to this one. We have a lot of new cakes to blog about and will put them up soon. In the meantime we will move some of the older blogs over also.

We've moved!!!

2010-06-05T13:50:00.000-04:00

We are excited to finally announce that we have moved. Our new bakery & store is located at 5228 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. For local customers we are right next door to Central Baptist Church/Abba’s House across the street from Maxi Muffler.

Get Married Magazine Feature

2010-06-05T13:40:00.000-04:00

It's been a very busy holiday season with little time to post updates and pictures of any of our new cake designs but they will be uploaded soon. We are very excited this month to be featured in the new issue of Get Married Magazine. Check it out. It's in stores now.

Introducing Sugar Free, Gluten Free Marzipan!!

2008-02-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

Here at A Bountiful Harvest we are finally excited to launch our all natural Sugar Free Marzipan, which also is Gluten Free. Yes…you read that correctly an all natural Marzipan that is SUGAR FREE!!! Since I’m from Europe and grew up enjoying traditional European marzipan candies as well as marzipan on most cakes this is extremely exciting for us and we have received numerous requests from our loyal customers for sugar free marzipan. We have been taste testing with some of our customers that are both diabetic and have no diet restrictions and the feedback has been very positive. Even non-diabetics have commented about how both the taste and texture compares with a premium grade marzipan made with sugar. Our marzipan is a 66% almonds marzipan and is initially going to be available in 1lb tubs. Click here to view the marzipan on our website.

We will also be offering chocolate covered marzipan in 16pc & 25pc boxes and both milk & dark chocolate. These will be added to the online store shortly.

We hope you try it and would appreciate any feedback.

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes!

2008-02-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

Wow! We started baking cupcakes just six months ago after repeated requests from our loyal customers who were enjoying our gluten free cakes. Since then the response has been overwhelming and we are so excited that everybody is enjoying our cupcakes as much as we are baking them.

Every day we are receiving requests to bake certain favorite flavors, we now have 24 flavors we are baking regularly! Don't worry we are keeping a long list of these requests and when time permits we will work on developing the recipes for the new flavors. In the meantime we are excited to let everyone know that we have added 5 more new flavors to the website. We are also excited to now have our Gluten Free Non-Pariels & Gluten Free colored sugars that are all natural and colored naturally instead of artificial colorings. So now we have our new Gluten Free & Wheat Free White Chocolate Confetti Cupcakes with non-pariels and Gluten Free & Wheat Free Sparkle Cupcakes with colored sugar sprinkles. Then there is the delicious Almond Truffle Cupcakes that has a dark Belgian chocolate truffle in the middle, Chocolate Bliss for the chocolate lover and for something a little more fruity and fresh check out the new Peaches & Cream which has morsels of peaches throughout the mousse. All are available baked either sugar free or with sugar, except the non-pariels and sugar crystals are not available in sugar free.

From hearts to bunnies with a few shamrocks along the way

2008-02-21T21:19:00.000-05:00

So another crazy busy Valentine’s Day passes us by. It’s been an extremely busy week at A Bountiful Harvest making countless chocolate roses, boxes & truffles for sweethearts everywhere. Thanks to all of our customers for making this a successful holiday! We’re proud of everyone who ordered early….those of you that left it to the last minute….just remember earlier next year! Now already we are changing into bunny making mode with Easter early this year. Not to mention St. Paddy’s day which is just a week before Easter!
We have also been busy baking some new flavors of Gluten Free Cupcakes which will be added to our online store very soon.

5 New GF Cupcakes Addded!

2008-02-21T20:41:00.000-05:00

As promised new gluten free cupcake flavors are on their way. The first 5 new flavors have now been added to the website and are now available for ordering. The 5 added are Caramel Dream, Pomegranate, Pistachio, Grasshopper & Black & White. Check them out at Gluten Free Cupcakes. Also available baked sugar free.