This week was amazing! A product launch in New York City seemed appropriate, and to debut Haute Stacker at the Event Planner Expo was the perfect platform. There were event planners from all over the world...and the response was incredible! We had a constant crowd of people around our booth...it was so fun to see the genuine expression of amazement as people approached the display of Haute Stackers.
I loved watching people's expressions when we showed them how simple Haute Stacker is to use... The initial comments that people had were all the same, "How to you get the doughnuts off?" or, "How does it work?" There were three of us there demonstrating how easy it is to twist the topper off and slide the stacker plates on or off the post to serve...simple!
The coat rack with hanging Haute Stackers stole the show! I literally took the coat rack from my front foyer and suspended eight Haute Stacker...two from each hook...and the effect was beautiful and dramatic. So many people wanted to buy my coat rack that we joked throughout the show that we should be selling coat racks too!
At the show, I wanted to demonstrate how versatile Haute Stacker is, so we displayed cakes, truffles, cookies, and doughnuts (both fancy and casual). We even partnered with Du's Donuts of New York to showcase how simple white doughnuts can look fancy once stacked. Thank you Tyler, of Du's Donuts, for sharing some of your amazing pastries!
With all the excitement and nonstop flow of attention, unfortunately, I wasn't able to step away long enough to even snap a couple pictures of the event in progress. But I was able to grab a few pics of our display before the show started...
I want to say thank you to all of the event planners who stopped by my booth...everyone was kind and encouraging. It was so fun to visit with all of you about all the possibilities for Haute Stacker. And, a special thank you to Margaret for going out of her way to give our card to Barbara Corcoran, who was the keynote speaker for the event.
As soon as I get back to Omaha, I'll resume putting out tons of ideas for you on our blog and social media!
We're hoping to launch Haute Stacker this July!
Sign up below if you'd like an invitation to know when
Haute Stacker becomes available!
Kransekake is a Danish and Norweigian cake often used at weddings and holiday celebrations. I LOVE the look of a kransekake tower...it's so simple, yet grand. The traditional white icing details can be elegant loops or elaborately piped swirls and patterns. And, if you search online you'll find all sorts of creative ideas for decorating them. The picture below was found on Pinterest at reveriegallery.com and I used it for inspiration in designing my Kransekake-style doughnut tower...
The lacy details remind me of the summer dresses my grandmother used to make for me when I was a little girl...they were always trimmed with eyelet lace and pretty ribbons.
While a traditional kransekake has a tiered effect, I thought the ring design lends itself nicely to creating a kransekake-inspired stacker. For this Haute Stacker, I just ordered Old Fashioned doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts. They're very simple and have no frosting or icing, which makes for a perfect canvas to pipe your frosting or in my case, melted white chocolate.
I think I had the most fun coming up with all the different patterns. The sky is the limit with design options...next time I want to try using different colors and candies to create Scandinavian floral patterns. This is also a great style for kids to try...even a very simple or random pattern will look beautiful when stacked all together.
I decided to use the 3" stacker plates so that they sort of "disappear" within the overall display. One thought is to use the larger 5" stacker plates and decorate or spray paint (with edible paint of course) to create a more elaborate look. It's a little overwhelming actually, thinking of all the possibilities!
A simple white satin ribbon bow tops this Haute Stacker. The overall look is a tower of feminine and dainty doughnut cakes...a look perfect for a breakfast tea party or bridal brunch.
Just before I ended my photoshoot, I thought I'd try incorporating white paper doilies...just to see how it looks...and Oh My Goodness! The doilies elevate this stacker to a whole new level! They look like little lace skirts for each doughnut...I LOVE this look! Start to finish...this entire stacker display only took my about 20 minutes to decorate and assemble! I'm definitely keeping this idea in my back pocket for the next time I host a last minute get-together!
We're hoping to launch Haute Stacker this July!
Sign up below if you'd like an invitation to know when
Haute Stacker becomes available!
I LOVE my job! Sometimes I walk into the shop, pause for a moment, breathe deep and say a prayer of gratefulness that God has blessed me with so much joy in my work. I get to imagine beautiful things every day, and then create them with my own hands, and then share them with people all over the world! It doesn’t get any better than this! Sometimes my ideas are BIG…so big that they take nearly two years to create and sometimes they’re tiny…like my newest cordial cherry design: my Easter Flower Patch Bunny. I know bunnies actually have nothing to do with Easter, but they’re certainly a sign of Spring and have brought my kids and me much joy over the years watching them play chase in our back yard. Once, I watched one of these bunnies stretch up as high as she could to nibble the petals right off of an unsuspecting flower…it was adorable! So this newest cordial cherry collection the result of that day’s inspiration.
Unlike most chocolatiers, our pieces are often a multi-day process of punching out specific shapes, sculpting various parts, dipping, and finally assembling all the pieces and applying the finishing touches. On day one of production for our newest design I punch out “V” shaped sugar pieces and let them harden overnight. These will become little bunny ears. I also pipe by hand, tiny little flowers. Once set, they can be painted with shimmer spray and then dotted with their center detail.
Day two, requires sculpting the head out of a rolled fondant and shaping it around the “V” from the day before. It’s important to set these on wax paper to create a flat bottom so they don’t roll around and also that they lift off easily when ready to dip. These will set overnight as well to allow them dry enough so they will dip easily.
Day three…it’s time to dip our bunny heads into a white chocolate. This process is delicate and must be conducted within about 10 seconds. I use two of my favorite chocolate tools (reshaped paperclips)…one is used to lift the fondant head and the other is used to push it onto the wax paper. Once the white chocolate sets up these sweet little bunny heads are ready for their hand-painted faces.
We use white chocolate cordial cherries to be the body of our Easter Bunnies. The cherry stem is removed and a dollop of chocolate glues the bunt head to its body. The stem of the flower is painted and the flower attached. The final step is to pipe the little bunny feet and arms. And that's it...three days later...our sweet little Easter Bunny cordial cherries are complete.
