Everyone that knows me knows that I have been a big fan of steampunk for a very long time. Pretty much since before I knew what steampunk was! All I knew was back when I first started playing the Final Fantasy games, I was captivated by the imagery of the costumes, the whimsy of buildings and the awesomeness of the outfits! I loved the airships more than anything. I truly wanted to LIVE in this steampunk world!

I have always had a soft spot for pocket watches, bowler hats and ass-kicking girls wearing corsets and goggles for headbands. Steampunk has been in my heart for quite some time and it’s been really exciting to see the trend grow to almost main stream over the last year. I see more and more steampunk inspired clothing and not just for costumes! If I had been on top of things two years ago I totally would have done a steampunk wedding if only I had known it had a name!

My first clue that steampunk was going mainstream was when Cakecentral.com had their steampunk cake contest and people actually KNEW what they were talking about! Some of course where clueless but they caught on pretty well and dozens of entries were submitted! Some missed the mark completely and others were spot on. I even worked on my marshmallow fondant recipe to try and get it to handle certain features that would make making a Steampunk cake easier to make.

I worked very hard on my cake and was really thrilled to find out it won first place (pictured below)

Just the other day, I saw a twitter that linked to a steampunk themed wedding complete with steampunk cake. The design of this wedding was seriously top notch down to the smallest details. You can see more on the photographers site.

Two days later I was watching amazing wedding cakes on WE tv and I saw that one of the cakes was steampunk and being created by the one and only Christopher Garren from Let Them Eat Cake! It was the SAME cake that I saw two days earlier from the photography blog. I should have known such talent was behind the amazing design. Christopher Garren is one of my cake idols and is SUPREMELY creative in all things cake! The designer behind this cake is named Lindsay and you can see more of her amazing designs on her website A Wish and A Wisk

Aren’t those details amazing! AND she did all this in crazy humidity! So impressive. Humidity makes fondant very sticky and hard to work with. You would never know when looking at this amazing cake! Of course my favorite part is the air ship

Steampunk wedding cakes are popping up all over the place now along with sweet steampunk wedding cake toppers!

It is not so easy to define steampunk but it’s easy to recognize. Steampunk is basically a mixture of science fiction and victorian aesthetics. A pretend world where electricity and modern technology does not exist but rather, everything is powered by mechanics and steam power. There is a big emphasis on hand made machines and artisan work (are you seeing a trend with my website design yet)? I think the very nature of steampunk goes hand in hand with hand crafted items including cakes where traditional methods of creating cakes from scratch and also making them beautiful to look at is the very foundation of cakedom!

When you see something “steampunk” you will generally see a few defining characteristics. Goggles, cogs or mechanical machinery, copper and gold colors, wood, rivets, victorian scroll and imagery (such as top hats, pocket watches and corsets) as well as air ships and of course, steam. You will often see modern devices “steampunked” by gifted artists. I really enjoy the steampunk computer or “datamancer”

Steampunk can really be a wide variety of things and it can be confusing if you are looking to design something steampunk related but just keep in mind this idea. “How would this look if I had no electricity and only machinery to make this and the only tools I have are sewing needles, rivets, metal, wood, cogs and leather… oh and we live in victorian times where there are air pirates and mad scientists” and you’ll probably be spot on.