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I’ve joined another blog circle called “The Inspired Plate”, as you may guess, this one is for food photography! I’ve wanted to take my own food photos for some time, but been to scared to make the leap as I am not a chef or cook of any description. Photographing restaurant food is one thing, but cooking and styling up your own food is a whole different ballgame.
This month’s exercise was to recreate a food cover and I chose Donna Hay’s 10th anniversary cover. It’s a chocolate layer cake with cream cheese icing. I thought it looked challenging, pretty and tasty so I tried my best to emulate the cover in terms of food, text placement, lighting and styling. Here’s my effort:
Here’s what the original covers looked like, there was a flip cover so you could “open” the cake:
The main things that stand out to me between my attempt and the real cover are:
- My cake is not as clean – I have crumbs in my icing layers whilst Donna Hay’s looks like it was made with near-inhuman laser precision.
- My icing is noticeably yellow, however I followed the recipe exactly from the magazine which contained a large amount of butter. I suspect the magazine’s cake icing may not have followed the recipe exactly.
- There is more backlight in the magazine cover, whilst I’ve used more of a sidelight with too much fill so it appears a lot more flat than the magazine cover.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with my attempt though! Below are some “behind the scenes” shots I took whilst cooking and icing the cake, proof that I made it from scratch – although I don’t think anyone suspected otherwise. Behold, a selection of ingredients (note: sour cream in chocolate cakes is good):
Cutting the layers – I measured them with a sanitised ruler before slicing!
Piling the layers with cream cheese icing:
I’m definitely going to choose something less challenging to make for next month…
To continue along the blog circle, please visit Cayce Wegman | Southern MA Food Photographer to see what magazine cover she reproduced, it’s sure to be amazing so check it out :)
That’s it for now – feel free to leave comments / feedback / tips!
- Sab :)
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cayce - you did an amazing job Sabrina!! I would have never had enough guts to pull a cake of that stature off. well done!!!
Steph - WHY DID I NOT HELP YOU EAT THAT?
xx
Sab - Thanks Cayce! I often bite off more than I can chew, I figured that even if it didn’t work out, it would taste good :)
Sab - I AM SORRY NEXT TIME I MAKE THIS CAKE I WILL BRING YOU SOME
:D
Debbie Wibowo - My..you are good! I don’t think I have the patience in the baking and icing department :) Looks yummy and you did great!
Sab - Thank you Debbie! This was definitely a test of patience :)
Stacey S - Holy cake batter Sabrina! This is amazing and gorgeous – I am in awe.
Allison Jacobs - I am so impressed that you took on such a big project! I think your cake looks delicious and your behind the scene photos are my favorite!
Kay Pickens - Wow, that looks yummy! And a lot of work for a cake!! Love the behind the scenes photos too!
Tiffany | Develop - Wow, way to jump in with both feet for your first challenge! I have to be honest, I actually prefer your shot of the whole cake more than the original! I find the yellow color to be far more appealing to my tastebuds exactly because it DOES hint at the copious amounts of butter inside!! I can’t even begin to imagine how they managed such neat clean slices. Makes me wonder if there was a different recipe used altogether that may hold it’s shape better when cut? In any case, fantastic job!! Can’t wait to see more from you in the coming months.
Laurie - Sabrina!! Way to jump in and introduce yourself and your amazing work!!
I love your cover.. your copy texts are hilarious.. “Donna Nay”.. 10th Birthday “amateur Edition” :) :) I’m so glad you’ve joined us.. you are a perfect fit for our team and I am so looking forward to the following months with you!
By the way.. that is a LOT of layers.. and it looks so scrumptious as well as beautiful!!!!! xoxo
Laurie - P.S. I agree with you and Tiffany, they probably used a crisco type shortening to get that white and clean iced look. Shortening is much more stable than butter. :)
Tammy Bilodeau - How beautiful is that!! Sabrina you really knocked this one out of the park. I am so impressed with your precision and dedication. It must have taken a FULL day to bake, ice and shoot this yummy, multi layer cake. Awesome work. :)
Jen | Localette - Sab!! I am so impressed!!! (Even that you would be so brave as to attempt this!!) I really love your photographic style and am so glad that you have joined our group. Awesome job, lady!!
Skye - Wow! Your cake looks amazing :O I’ve dried making far less ambitious cakes, so I know how hard that must be. I think it is highly likely the original Donna Hay image was de saturated or colour balanced to appear such a cool white.
Kat - Sabrina…WOW…that is a major undertaking and you rocked it! I agree with the others that I like your version better. I am left salivating after seeing your cover where the other is beautiful, it’s almost like you don’t want to eat it. I wonder did you use regular vanilla extract? That and the butter might contribute to the less that pure white, but it definitely adds to the taste. You did an amazing job replicating–way to knock it out of the park on your first time at bat with us.
Sab - Thank you Stacey! :)
Sab - Thank you Allison! Good to know you liked the behind the scene photos too as they’re weren’t a copy of anything else :)
Sab - Thank you Kay :)
Sab - That is a huge compliment Tiffany, thank you! Interesting what you said about the yellow looking more tasty, that makes sense :) I went into the challenge not expecting to make anything that looked very good (starting out in food styling with a Donna Hay image is pretty ambitious) so I’m pleasantly surprised it wasn’t a huge disaster :)
Sab - Hi Laurie, thanks for your kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed the copy ;) I’m often pretty self-deprecating as a form of humour, thank you for making me feel so welcome in the group!
Sab - Thanks for the tip Laurie, I’ll look into this for next time I make a layered cake – hopefully not any time soon ;)
Sab - Thanks Tammy!! It actually took me two days – I baked the cakes one afternoon and iced it the next morning. I didn’t really think through exactly how long everything would take, plus there were a few strange mishaps along the way… I’ve heard chocolate cakes taste better the next day anyway? :)
Sab - I’m so glad to be a part of the group also, thank you for making me feel so welcome as a newcomer :) Thank you for your compliments Jen!
Sab - I’ve already talked to you in person but thanks Skye!! <3 I tried desaturating the image actually and it went a very unappetising shade of grey / the shadows looked unnatural. I tried a few different photoshop techniques to the point where I am now convinced they must have used different icing or had some kind of white butter!
Sab - I put vanilla extract in the cake, but there was none in the icing (just butter, cream cheese and sifted icing sugar mixture) so the colour must be from the butter and cream cheese :/ Thank you so much for your kind words Kat!
Kim - Liv Life - Sabrina… you have my ultimate respect! I have no patience for cakes… the baking, frosting, decorating… all that. What you did is positively fabulous! I hope that cake tasted as good as it looks!!!
Liz - I make cakes often….( for weddings / birthdays etc) and there is NO way you could get a pure white icing from those ingredients….have you ever talked to a food stylist????…you wouldn’t want to know what really goes on!!!…we don’t stand a chance of replicating anything in a magazine!!!!!