These pear themed artisan desserts are sure to inspire: beautiful wedding cakes with matching sugar cookies, cake pops inspired by flowers, mini cheesecake caramel bites, decadent chocolate-dipped pears , dark chocolate barks and miniature pear-shaped fondant are nothing short of works of art. It is a sweet source of wedding inspiration for a bride planning her outdoor wedding in Southern California. It was an absolute pleasure working with the artists who collaborated the The “Pear-fect” Pear styled wedding dessert table. It takes a village– in this case a passionate group of creative women to present a true inspiration for a bride (and groom) who have impeccable taste and sweet tooth.
After photographing the styled wedding dessert table, I took some time to speak with each vendor about the Pear–fect Pear styled shoot to learn more about their craft, their creative vision, and to hear about the artistry that they contributed to make the pretty happen. Here are a few behind-the-scenes details about the styled pear themed dessert table and outdoor wedding decor:
From Roxy Davis + Sharleen Avina (Cake Designers at Something Sweet & Lovely):
Q: What was the inspiration for the styled pear themed wedding dessert table?
Roxy: If you think about it, no pear is perfect–they are lumpy and never quite the same size or shape as the other ones… but despite imperfections, they’re beautiful. I guess that is what marriage is all about, finding your perfect pear. I wanted something represent the groom. I noticed that in most wedding dessert tables, the design is almost always very feminine. I wanted to add a twist and also celebrate the groom (why not, he’s in the wedding too!). I made sure that the femininity and elegance of a bride was presented with flowers that where delicate and soft, yet colorful! I also wanted to make sure both elegance and antiquity were captured. I decided to use platters and vintage books to bring it all together!
Q: Each of the three wedding cakes represent someone in a bridal party. Tell me about that!
Roxy: My business partner, Sharleen, sketched out what turned out to be our center stage cake: “the groom” (the blue cake with the white anemones). I completely fell in love! The blue cake truly represented the groom! I designed the pear cake with the touches of yellow and created “the bride”. For the smaller cake, we thought a bride can’t do without her bridesmaids and decided to create something sweet and simple. We used both the pears as well as the anemones to connect the pear theme and the three wedding cakes together.
Q:Those mini cheesecakes look almost sinful! Can you describe them and the main ingredients in them?
Sharleen: The cheesecakes are an unexpected surprise. These sweet velvety bite size morsels are quite the treat! You don’t see them being the stars of the wedding dessert table world… but that’s what I love about them! They don’t compete with the other sweets, they just compliment them. A ginger snap cookie crust, a touch of almond extract, and a generous drizzle of caramel set these babies apart! They are by no means plain!
Q: The cake pops blend so well with the floral designs. Can you tell me about the cake pops?
Sharleen: Who doesn’t love a cake pop? Cake and buttercream all rolled into one. It’s your very own present all wrapped up in a pretty little chocolate shell. These lovely cake pops were crowned with sugar anemones. It seems fitting that anemones are a symbol of anticipation, we want you to anticipate how the cake pop will taste. I truly enjoy taking a simple sweet such as a cake pop and making it an individual piece of art that can be enjoyed through sight and taste… And the best part…you don’t have to share!
The sugar cookies look like mini replicas of the cake! I love that!
From Sarah Coplen (Floral Designer at Truly Fancy):
Q: What flowers did you use for the pear themed dessert table?
A: I used white anemones, yellow billy balls, white peonies, white ranunculus, yellow ranunculus, queen anne’s lace, white garden roses, lisianthus, dusty miller and eucalyptus. I wanted to make sure there were flowers of varying size and texture so I added a larger flower (peonies) and a filler flower (Queen Anne’s Lace) to contrast. With the rustic but elegant outdoor wedding decor I wanted to keep the flowers unstructured and romantic.
From Nicole (Chocolatier at Lovesome):
Q: Tell me about the different chocolates you made for this pear themed dessert table.
Nicole: The two flavors of bark featured in this shoot were Sea Salt Caramel and Candied Walnut Pear. I only use high quality 65% Guittard couverture extra dark chocolate from France, which is a supreme chocolate. I enhance it by melting it down, bringing it to temper, and then embellishing it with my signature toppings to create sweet, salty, savory, and spicy flavor combinations. The pears were dipped in Salted Caramel Chocolate and in Candied Walnut Chocolate. I used both Bosc and Green Anjou pears. They were half dipped to allow the contract of color to come through.
Q: Any struggles while preparing for this shoot?
Nicole: The biggest challenge was preparing the pears. Because their skins are covered in wax, the caramel didn’t want to stick to the fruit. I didn’t want to use a wash to rinse the wax off, because the slight gloss adds to the elegance and enhances their visual beauty, which would translate well during a photo shoot. So to counter the caramel slipping problem, I had to heat it to a high temperature or hard crack stage. This presented a new challenge because caramel at this temperature hardens really quickly, so you have a small window of about 2-3 minutes to get it on the fruit before it stiffens up completely.
Q: What’s your inspiration?
I consider chocolate my canvas. It is my art. It is my passion. I find inspiration in many things: The change in seasons… A scent that lingers in the air… A floral arrangement… A dessert or cocktail I’ve savored… A song or memory… As well as the vision and creativity of other designers… There is an emotion I want it to convey to you when you enjoy it. For that brief moment you taste it, you melt away and feel blissful.
From Vicki (Furniture Designer and Rentals at My Lovely Events):
Q: I love looking for old furniture with great bones at antique shops and thrift stores. Can you tell me about the table? Where did you find it? How long did it take to refinish?
Vicki: I found the little sideboard while thrifting last year. It was pretty worn and needed some TLC, but it had so much character. When Roxy came to me about rentals, I knew this piece would be a perfect fit. I went straight to work. it took about 10 hours over 3 days to turn the piece into what you see now.
Q: Wow! You really transformed that old table into gorgeous decor for an outdoor wedding. I love the color of the table. What’s the paint called?
I used a color called Observatory by Behr. To enhance the paint, I went over it and added a dark wax by Annie Sloan which gave it a deep weathered look.
Some behind-the-scenes from our Pear Themed Dessert Table styled photoshoot:
As promised, here is a surprise recipe for the sugar cookies that I photographed. Thank you for sharing this cookie recipe with us, Roxy!
Orange Zest Sugar Cookies:
1 cup of margarine
1 1/2 cup of white sugar
1 tablespoon of fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon of fresh orange zest
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Cream the margarine and add the sugar gradually. Beat until light and fluffy (for decorating cookies don’t beat as much to prevent over sized cookies). Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.
2. Stir in the vanilla, orange juice and zest. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt gradually to the creamed mixture, stirring in by hand. Cover and chill dough overnight. (to decorate cookies, cut with cutter and freeze for a 10 minutes and place in over to avoid expanding).
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut into your favorite shapes. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 6 to 8 minutes or until cookie has a golden appearance.
This is absolutely beautiful!! I love the images and the colors!
Thank you, Shani! It was awesome to hear the artistry behind it all.
is this the link?https://www.kristinemariephotography.com/
It's so inspiring to see such beautiful work – the details, the craftsmanship , the passion – beautiful!!!!
Beautiful details, beautifully captured!!