How to celebrate a very special occasion during the pandemic? Karen Tyler, the owner of Cove Cakes, has figured out a way to offer her organic, dramatic, entirely hand-decorated and painted cakes for the smaller events that are required this year. Her confections are towering affairs, made in an Impressionistic style, etched with gold leaf and cascading with flowers (an absolute trompe l’oeil, so intensely real but sculpted with sugar and painted by hand).

Karen is no ordinary baker. Each cake is a work of art and a collaboration between Karen and her client. Color story, style, and flavors are considered, and the rest is left to Karen’s vibrant imagination.

For example, this towering wedding cake’s bottom layer pictured here is edible (and feeds up to 20). The rest is decoration, down to the beribboned and beaded custom cake board. Oh, and taste! The crumb, filling, and fondant is exquisite. Karen only uses the highest quality organic ingredients and her signature marzipan-flavored fondant. Depending on the size and decorative factors (the hand-sculpted flowers take days), the cakes run in the 500 to 600 range.

View the gallery and find out more here: covecakes.com

A close-up of the hand-sculpted flowers:

Main photo above and below is a cake I ordered for a tiny engagement celebration: