Cake Cruise 2009 to Mexico

What could be better that spending a week cruising the Mexican riviera with 140+ cake friends. December 2009 the California Cake Club hosted the annual Cake Cruise aboard the Oosterdam, featuring cake demos, classes and the newest, cake challenge. We all had a fantastic time, met a lot of new cake friends and had a blast with all the events. Oh and the ports of Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta & Cabo San Lucas were great also.

Colette, Maria & Lori at the Lifeboat Drill aboard the MS Oosterdam

Zane Beg, Lori Vreeke & NormDavis enjoying one of many get-togethers during the Cake Cruise

Norm Davis & Colette Peters judging the Cake Competition. Love those headbands!

Judges Susan Carberry & Colette Peters interviewing the competitors. No stress, just fun!

For those of you who don't know about the California Cake Club, it is based out of San Diego California and currently has over 500 members. The CCC hosts Cake Camp every other year and a cake cruise every year. Next year they will cruising to Alaska.

Pauli Gardens Wedding!

The weddings at Pauli Gardens of Hartley Botanica are always so beautiful. After walking thru an arched lighted tunnel, the wedding guests arrive at a beautiful grassed area surrounded by trees and flowers. Stringed lights are strung over the entire area in the reception area and flowers adorn every table and surface.

Rebecca & Marc - November 8, 2009

There are sugar ladybugs on the top tier, waiting for the newleyweds to eat them up!

Note from the bride:
"Lori was easy to talk to, we felt like we knew her already. She was fun to plan with and listened to all of our ideas, creating a 5 tier chocolate frosted cake with a textured look,as the perfect back drop for flowers. She created two tiny lady bugs on the top tier to hide among the flowers.
We got to have three flavors of cake; she even made decaf mocha chip just for us. The mocha chip was amazing, which says a lot coming from two picky chocoholics. Even a few friends who say they "hate cake" came up to us at the wedding to say how much they loved the mocha chip, not too sweet but just right.
Thank you for your hard work and professionalism! " - Becky and Marc

Flowers By Stacey supplied the greenery and flowers for the cake and created all the beautiful centerpieces.

www.flowersbystacey.net

It's not to late to vote for us!

Pastries By Vreeke is currently in second place for the Best Bakery in the Los Angeles area.

I'm hoping to finish in 1st place this year.

If you have not yet voted, please help us out by taking a moment and casting your vote.

Voting ends November 6th

Thank you,

Lori V.

Tropical Wedding at Hartley's!

Oh, this wedding cake was really fun to create! After redesigning it with the big palm tree and all the flowers, I knew the reception would be beautiful! It was so colorful and the couple are both so sweet!

Alana & Randy's Wedding

Hartley Botanica, Somis, California

Another Great Topper from Toppers with Glitz


All the flowers were so colorful, which made Hartley's Palioli Gardens bright & beautiful!

Flowers by Yamaguchi's

Each guest received a color coordinated cookie favor

created by Pastries By Vreeke

Westlake Village Inn

This was a late morning wedding, which I don't get to many of.

The day was beautiful and was warming up nicely for the ceremony which was held outside by the lake.

This cake had a great marblizing effect that Jennifer did a great job creating!

Susan at Flowers By Susan did a great job with the flowers for both the cake and the reception. Everything looked beautiful at Westlake Village Inn when I dropped off the cake.

Flowers By Susan www.flowersbysusansimi.com

Oklahoma Sugar Art Show & Competition

Just got back from Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Sugar Art Show and Competition! With almost 500 entries, from beginner to Masters divisions and over 60 Wedding Cakes. The theme this year was "Of Sea and Shore" and the cakes were all amazing. There was a lot of cakes decorated with shells, corral, mermaids and all were stunning.

$96,000 in cash and prizes is up for grabs!!!

Grand Prize Winner - Mercedes Strachwsky

1st Place Winner - Robin Van Hoozer

Bronze Winner - Lori Vreeke - Pastries By Vreeke

A Day at the Races - Millinery Hats
1st Place Winner - Lori Vreeke

Best of Show Winner - Divisional Cakes

Lori Vreeke and the Three J's - Jason, James and Josh

Marylin's Wedding Cookies


Winning entry of the Spooky Rice Krispy Challenge

There were so many great cakes, these were just a few that I thought were so creative. The quality of work is unbelievable to see in person, these few pictures really don't due them justice.

Next years theme for the Wedding Cake Competition is Monasteries and Mansions. My mind is already spinning with ideas!

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers!

Saturday, September 5th

Two floral cakes....... Two different looks!

Westlake Village Inn

The bride wanted elegant, the groom wanted fun!

We designed a cake to fit both both styles.

This cake was set topsy-turvy with fresh flowers in between the tiers.

Message from the bride:

"our wedding cake was absolutely amazing! so beautiful and tasted wonderful."

The topper was made of sugar to represent the bride and groom.

Note from the Mother of the Bride
Thank you so much for the beautiful wedding cake for Jamie and Branden's wedding. Everyone loved the sugar-made bride and groom, and I heard so many people rave about their favorite piece.... was it the marble cake?... the chocolate cake?... the filling?... everyone loved all of it; it was really hard to go wrong!..........Alice

Calamigos Ranch - The Pavilion!

Note from the bride:
Our cake was everything we wanted: simple and elegant. It was so beautiful, and the strawberry shortcake and red velvet cake were insanely delicious! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect cake.
Thanks for everything! The cake was seriously a big highlight for us. Stephanie

Another beautiful floral arrangement & flowers by Floral Fields!

Yet Another Beautiful Wedding at Sherwood Country Club

Sherwood Country Club

This was a modern looking cake with clear acrylic blocks separating the tiers and an acrylic cake stand which allowed you to look under the cake at all the hydrangeas. Hydrangea bunches were placed between the tiers in small bunches but still allowing you to view thru the cake. The cake design was created to tie in with the decorations at the reception. The chairs were clear acrylic and the floral displays were all set in square vases.

Note from the bride:

"Lori Vreeke was my lifesaver. We had to change who was making our cake at the last minute and we were referred to Pastries By Vreeke. Lori's great ideas and enthusiasm to make my modern cake made my mom and I super excited to see the finished product. I absolutely loved the clear blocks separating our tiers it was like nothing I had ever seen before at any other weddings. My husband and I have heard nothing but raves from people who have seen pictures of it. We can't thank you enough Lori, you're the best!" -Chelsea

Busiest Weeks of the Summer!

Whew, this has been two extremely busy weeks working 4 decorators really long hours. In the past two weeks, we have created 7 wedding cakes. I couldn't have done it without the help from Jennifer, Shawna & Lo.

Hope you enjoy checking them out as much as we enjoyed creating them!

Friday, July 24th Westlake Hyatt

Message from the newlyweds!
Our wedding cake was amazing! It was the perfect match for our summer wedding.. Lori put tons of TLC into it.. her strawberry shortcake, and banana was so good.. We want more.. her touch with the limes, was a big hit.. our cake really pulled everything together..
Thanks again Lori.. You're the best...Cindy and Bill

Jennifer is the best assistant!

Saturday, July 25th Sherwood Country Club

Note from the bride:
The cake was so so so perfect. It was better than I could have ever imagined it.
xoxox Casey

Sunday, July 26th Westlake Village Inn

The Boopie Bears Cake!

Message from the Newlyweds:
We LOVED our wedding cake! It could not have been more beautiful! I wanted it to resemble our invitations and Lori matched it perfectly. The wedding cake was simple and elegant and it went beautifully with our garden themed wedding. The cake tasted amazing as well. I loved Lori's bubbly, fun, genuine, and passionate personality. Thank you Lori for making our day sweet. ~The Shipow's

Two cute bears in bed! This rehearsal dinner cake

was designed after the the Boopie Bears Bed.
Leopard print and a true Lakers fan.

Note from the grooms parents
Hi Lori - great cake! The Boopie Bears looked terrific, and the cake tasted wonderful. Lots of compliments. Everything else went very well also - a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Thanks for doing your part to make it so!
Mark

Friday, July 30th Malibou Lake Club


Note from the groom:
Loved the cake and the creativity of who made it. Lori's love for her job shows in her cakes.
Thank you so much, Justin

Friday, July 31, 2009 Spanish Hills Country Club

Note from the Newlyweds:
Oh my goodness Lori! That cake was amazing! I wanted to cry when we had to cut it because it was such a journey to get it all together! We could not have be happier with the final product! You were so fun to work with too! You devoted so much time and care to our vision of a Mario cake and that just meant the world to us!!! Lori, you are simply amazing! (as well as your staff and your supportive family!!!) *The b-day "manga- manga" plant for my Aunt was PERFECT too! Thank you so much!
With all our love, Candace and Skyler

The bride checking out her cake before the ceremony!
She is as pretty as a Peach :)

Check out more pictures at http://www.eight20photography.com/blog/

Saturday, August 1st Sherwood Country Club

Swarovski Crystal Topper by Toppers with Glitz!

Note from the Newlyweds:

In short, Lori V is a miracle worker. Two weeks before The Big Day, we were told that our venue's pastry chef was no longer going to be working for the country club. Luckily, they handed us over to Lori with good faith that she would be able to create what we wanted. Understandably, we were a bit nervous that Lori only had several days to hear our requests and make it all happen. But I have to say, she floored us! She created an absolute masterpiece. I was literally almost brought to tears when we walked into our reception hall the night of the wedding and saw our gorgeous cake. I highly recommend Lori to any bride and groom who want an absolutely perfectly gorgeous and delicious cake for their event. Thank you so much, Lori, for your professionalism, sense of humor, creativity, and talent. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with you. - Thank you, Lori :-)
Danielle & Andy

Sunday, August 2nd Calamigos Ranch

Note from the newlyweds:
Lori, The cake looked absolutely amazing, not to mention it was incredibly delicious! We got so many compliments on it. The polka-dots were adorable and matched our wedding theme perfectly! Thank you so much for everything, including recommending our awesome florist, reverend, and DJ. You all worked as an amazing team who made our wedding night truly magical. We can't thank you enough, and we hope to work with you in the future!
Love, Brianna and Dan

I named this cake "The Big Cheese". This reception really had a great theme going with the yellow and brown polka dots. From the table cards to the floral decorations. Jennifer from Belle of the Ball Floral Designs outdid herself once again.

Sabrina & Lars' Wedding

My latest cake was really a lot of fun not only to create but to deliver and put together. This couple was one of the friendliest couples I have met. Not only are the bride and groom wonderful but their parents are great also!
Both families are into dirt bike riding and when Lars mentioned he wanted a grooms cake, I jumped on the chance to create something fun. Why not roost Sabrina's beautiful blinged out wedding cake with a knobby tire completely made out of edible materials. The tire was a chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream, the knobbys were nuggets of chocolate. The entire cake was covered in chocolate fondant airbrushed black. The spokes were made out of a hollow spaghetti and the sprocket & brake was a hardened sugar paste.

This cake was delivered to Hartley Botanica. and as always, the reception looked amazing, thanks to Jennifer at Belle of the Ball Designs

Here's the work in progress! Jennifer is having a great time hamming it up for the camera, threatening to eat the chocolate nuggets we used for the knobbies.

Welcome to my new cake blog!

OK, I finally gave in and decided to create a blog to keep everyone updated on all the great cakes I am making for all the great bride and grooms I have been lucky enough to make their cakes for. (whew, that's a long sentence)

I have made some wonderful wedding cakes in June and this one that was delivered to Calamigos Ranch was set upon a clear acrylic base. The clear base, which is elevated from the table allows the rose pedals to be seen under the cake. The entire table was covered with rose pedals and was really stunning!
I was lucky enough to have Kimberlee Miller as the photographer on this wedding. She always takes the most beautiful pictures of my cakes!

Photo courtesy of : Kimberlee Miller Photography

Message from the Bride:
Hi Lori, The cake was absolutely perfect! With the petals under the cake it really brought out every calla lily and every color on there. I hope you've been able to see pictures! We loved working with you and will recommend you to anyone we know in the area!
Thank you again, Amanda and Geoff

This was another fun cake I created for Kellie & Brent. The wedding reception was at Maravilla Gardens in Santa Rosa Valley. The groom is a football coach and we designed the cake with details from football ie: the football on top, the goal posts on the bottom tier and the scoreboard with their names. Unfortunately, my cake picture wasn't so great due to the direct sun. Hopefully the photographer, Kimberlee Miller will get me a great picture to post in the future.

Message from the Bride:
"Well...where do I begin? I came across Pastries by Vreeke through this amazing group called WOW (Women of Weddings) and met with her about 9 months prior to our wedding. I was excited because everyone looks forward to the cake presentation at weddings and I wanted to do something different. So my fiance and I were supposed to meet with her for a consultation as well as cake tasting. Unfortunately, my fiance was unable to make the meeting due to his work schedule, which turned out to benefit me because I was able to discuss my thoughts and ideas about what I wanted for our cake. I wanted it to be a surprise Brent, but allowed him to pick the flavors. :) I gave Lori only a few ideas pertaining to football, since that is Brent's favorite sport and he is also a coach. Within 5 or so minutes she had already sketched our cake. I was amazed....just on paper it looked flawless and breathtaking. When it came time to cut the cake, I didn't want to because it was a masterpiece, but we did anyway and it was delicious. Brent was definitely surprised and I think I scored some points with his friends / coaches who attended the wedding. Thanks again Lori for all of the time and creativity you put into making our cake!! It was the best and definitely stood out at our wedding.
Love Always - Mr. & Mrs Shano"