ROLE Cake designer/decorator/server
TASK Design and Execute 4-tiered cake and sheet cake for Portland Museum of Art’s Color Bash
TIMELINE 1 month
MATERIALS Swiss Buttercream
DESIGN PROCESS Stakeholder Interview, Market Research, Mood Board, Design Sketches, Technique Testing, Build and Assemble Product
Every winter, the Portland Museum of Art hosts a large cocktail party for its Contemporaries — the museum’s members under 40 years of age. The event is a chance for the museum’s younger members to gather together, celebrate, and of course, raise money for the museum.
In January 2020, I was contacted by of member of the museum’s board, asking me if I would be interested in creating a cake for the event, the theme of which was color.
The event, which was called The Color Bash, was meant to be a celebration of color. COLOR COLOR COLOR
The cake would be served at an after party with champagne pouring and music playing, and it would serve up to 100 people.
My motivation for doing it. Agreed to provide and serve the cake at cost, only charging for ingredients and supplies.
Total creative freedom was at the same time liberating and challenging. How would I fill this gigantic canvas? How would I make it bright and celebratory and fitting of a color bash? About a month of planning went into the design and planning the assembly of the cake. I wanted to make sure every detail of my first four-tiered cake went off without a hitch.
Client Meeting
Met with members of the museum board in the museum cafe. I learned more details about the party, heard their ideas for the cake, drew initial sketches, and bounced ideas off of them. Regarding the design, they were very open and wanted to give me complete creative freedom.
Requirements
• Colorful but not rainbow
• “Decadent and celebratory,” dramatic
• “Huge but not huge” - Four layer cake with two false layers
• Include additional half sheet cake for serving to the crowd
• Crowd-pleasing flavors
• Candy decorations suggested but not required
Mood Board
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The Recipes
The board members wanted crowd-pleasing flavors, so I suggested party cake (white cake with colorful sprinkles mixed in) and chocolate (not just any chocolate, the best! — Magnolia Bakery’s super rich chocolate cake.)
I covered the cake in silky Swiss buttercream, which is made by heating egg whites and sugar, then whipping up a meringue and adding butter. It makes for perfectly smooth sides and sharp corners, and can be made in advance, which helps when planning such a big cake.
The Assembly
I asked a dear friend and fellow baker to help me transport the four separate decorated layers to the site and assemble them.
This video shows a similar process to mine.
