Pecan-Topped Bundt Cake

Who doesn’t love a beautiful Bundt cake?

They’re such easy and attractive desserts.

Now, as delicious as this cake looks, it also has an interesting backstory that I’d like to share with you.

Yes, cakes can have a backstory.

A few weeks ago, Oster brand contacted me about partnering with them to promote their new Hand Mixer with Heat Soft Technology.

I was exited about the collaboration and I eventually settled on making chocolate chip cookies to use in my photo shoot.

You may be wondering what chocolate chip cookies have to do with a Bundt cake… but I’m getting to that.

The styling for the photo shoot was entirely up to me.

However, there were two requirements.

1. The exclusive product had to be visible (of course)
2. The product needed to be shot in a kitchen atmosphere.

OK, that’s simple enough, right?

Well, the photo below was my first attempt at the project and I have to say, I wasn’t happy with it at all. 

This just didn’t work… not to mention, my chocolate chip cookies looked more like oatmeal cookies.

I didn’t think the cookies or dark kitchen setting made the hand mixer shine in any way.

The only thing I really liked about the picture was the sprinkled flour, the broken egg shells and the stick of butter that I positioned off to the side.

Everything else about this shot, just did not work and much of that had to do with the fact that I really don’t get great natural light in my kitchen.

Then, it occurred to me that I could re-create the look of a kitchen with just a few simple backdrops that I already had on hand.

So, I moved everything into my dining room which not only has much better natural light but it’s also where I take most of my food photos anyway.

That’s when I also decided to switch the cookies for a pretty Bundt cake.

How about this setup?

If the kitchen location doesn’t work… just move the “kitchen”.

So, here’s my makeshift kitchen which you can also recreate if you need to for some reason.

The base board is an $8 dollar white-board from Home Depot and the marble backdrop is a piece of foam core board ($3 at Michael’s Crafts) that I covered with marble contact paper (which you can find on Amazon).

Here’s the final photo.

With this setup, the hand mixer looks so much better…. and so does the dessert. 

This was also a good reminder that if I don’t love the photo (especially if shooting for a brand partnership) it’s unlikely anyone else will love it either.

It was totally worth recreating the appearance of a kitchen because I ended up getting a shot that I felt really good about.

Here’s another view of my setup which illustrates how I now get my overhead shots.

My sweet hubby gave me a “C-stand” for Christmas which I absolutely love and recommend.

The stand has a horizontal arm that you can attach your camera to, in order to get really good overhead shots (up to 10.5 feet high).

I used to have to put my food on the floor and straddle it to get a decent overhead shot.

That approach always just killed my back but with my new C-stand there’s no more need to bend over like that.

You can find my C-stand HERE and you’ll need this ADAPTER  for it as well as a tripod quick release attachment to go with whatever type of tripod you have.

I have a Manfrotto tripod and the quick release plate I purchased to go with this C-stand can be found HERE.

Meanwhile, I can’t wrap up this post without giving you a closer look at the inside of this beautiful Bundt.

It has a wonderful pecan and cinnamon-filled center.

Every slice gets a bit of this delicious nutty mixture.

As you can see, it’s oh-so pretty when you slice it. 

Just look at all that interior goodness.

I think the center makes this cake even more special and a little bit fancy too.

Imagine what your dessert guests will say when you hand them a slice of this.

Thanks for stopping by.

I’ll see you back here next time.

Have a wonderfully creative and delicious week.♥