I’d been looking forward to creating this wedding & groom’s cake for many months. I have a ‘thing’ for owls. My cat Rocky, a Ragdoll, looks so much like an owl in his face!  I have wanted a pet owl for a long time, & now with studying the precious little saw whet owls to make this cake, I REALLY want an owl!  If you follow my personal page on Facebook, you’ll see lots of owl posts.

So when I had a bride & groom request a stacked wood wedding cake with realistic saw whet owl toppers, my heart jumped for joy!  Creating realistic animals is my passion & specialty, & I absolutely LOVE creating all types of wood grain on cakes, from bark to planks, to fine wooden objects like cigar boxes.

The wedding venue was the Canyon of The Eagles outside of Burnet, TX, on the shores of Lake  Buchanan.  I had never been out there before, & I loved everything about it!  It has a lovely restaurant with expansive water views, the wedding ceremony site overlooks the water, & it has lovely cabins.

After I had finished setting up the cake, I walked around the grounds, where I caught a glimpse of the bride as she prepared to make her grand entrance!

I sat down by a roaring fire pit & enjoyed the view & the moment. What a gorgeous day & setting!  It’s truly a blessing of my occupation that I have the opportunity to visit so many beautiful places. I am so fortunate!

Whoooooo’s that on the cake?

Back to the cake. I had SO MUCH fun with the staff at the restaurant. Everyone had to come take a look at it, & the head chef gave me a very high compliment, saying of hundreds of weddings out there, that was one of the best wedding cakes he had ever seen!  The owner, Cindy, & her staff are all truly warm & wonderful people. I enjoyed every moment while finishing the cake with its fresh fruit & succulents.

The cake was 3 tiers–the bottom & top tiers were White Chocolate Mud cake with Strawberry buttercream filling, & the middle tier was Strawberry Fields Forever cake with White chocolate buttercream filling. The groom’s cake was Dark Chocolate with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough filling.

I created the owls from rice krispy treats covered with chocolate ganache & a thick layer of fondant. The thick fondant gives plenty of carving potential & allows lots of time to work before it sets up & dries out too much. Making the bodies didn’t take very long, but the details took hours & hours, especially the fringe around the eyes & the eyes themselves. It took me a few tries before I got the lifelike, authentic wide-eyed look that I was after.

I am so bad about forgetting to take pictures while a project is in progress. I get so caught up in what I’m doing that I completely zone out. But I did manage to get one shot of the finished body before the details.

And here is the finished cake!