Happy 80th Birthday!

Here's the latest...a numbers cake to celebrate an  80th Birthday!

This was only my second numbers cake so some trial and error was done on the computer to get the right size for the numbers. Filling and layering the cake came first, then cutting around the templates. Once the shapes were created, crumb coating was next, followed by a stint in the fridge to firm up.

To cover the cake, I decided to go with a cream/ivory tone for the fondant; a bit warmer than white! This was also my first time using The Mat. It made transferring and applying the fondant so much easier! It also meant I could roll the fondant that bit thinner without having to worry about it sticking to the counter!

Finally...the flowers! For most of the roses, I used a technique from Youtube. For more, I used some PME cutters and plunger cutters and stacked the layers. Then for a few I just did some loose folds in fondant and formed some flowers. Originally I had hand made some leaves but they weren't great. I purchased the Blossom Sugar Art leaf cutter and mould set which worked really well in the end.

Orange Cupcakes!

Just a snap of some orange flavoured cupcakes for Dad's birthday :)

Basic vanilla sponge recipe with grated orange zest and a splash of freshly squeezed orange juice.
Topped with a swirl of buttercream with orange zest and juice.

Final touch; a sprinkle of finely grated orange zest!

"I am your father!"

Here's the latest cake! A very specific request this time for a Darth Vader cake! 

I worked with the cake mainly from online images of an actual Darth Vader tin Wilton make. I used it as a gude and reference for carving the cake and later adding the details. This was definitely a cool one to make, and not as stressful as I anticipated! One of the most enjoyable parts was actually in covering the cake board. I decided that rather than doing one solid colour I would try my hand at marbelling. So I took some strips of dark blue, light blue, black and white fondant, sprinkled in points with silver dust. With a few twists and turns and then rolling it out, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It really made the cake stand out and also added some nice additional detail. For the Birthday message, I used the Clickstix Groovy lower case letter cutters I recently got.

All in all, a very enjoyable cake to make, and it looks fairly cool!

Belated Happy Easter!

Just a short post with a snap of the small cake I made for the family for our Easter Sunday meal! Quick few details...chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream. The outside of the cake was just chocolate buttercream...left the fondant out this time. Had a first attempt at a buttercream smoothing technique using paper towels. It worked out okay but the paper towels weren't smooth enough so left a bit of a pattern, but it looked alright in the end! As a small decoration, I covered a cupcake in twisted strands of fondant using the Sugarcraft gun to make a little Easter basket, filled with some mini eggs! I cut an oval of yellow fondant and used letter embossers to write Happy Easter. Finally, I used the Blossom Hydrangea mould for some flowers, and hand cut some leaves.

Happy Birthday Grandad!

Just a quick post for the latest cake. This occasion; my wonderful grandfather's birthday! This one was a small square 2-layer vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and a layer of raspberry jam. I covered the cake in light blue fondant & the theme of the cake was a crossword, given his love of puzzles! The Happy Birthday message was displayed as words in the crossword, and had the added decorations of a fondant pencil and rubber. The finishing touch to the cake was a border to the bottom of the cake. Having recently purchased a sugar craft gun, this was my first opportunity to test it! I made two strips of different strengths of blue, and twisted for a two-tone rope affect for the border.

Good Luck in Australia Cake!

The latest cake was a good luck cake for someone making the move to Australia. This is the second cake now that I've covered with Covapaste fondant. Jury still out on how easy it is to work with! I was excited to do this cake...the fun is in doing something completely new! I must say I may have gone a little overboard with the decorations but why not! Most fun was probably the kangaroo! Biggest challenge...the motorbike...not too bad for a first go, I hope! I originally tried it with rice krispie cereal bars. They were easy to mould into the necessary shapes, but proved very awkward to cover in fondant..might be slightly easier with a thin layer of buttercream. In the end, I made it completely from fondant. The bike sits on top of an outline of Australia itself, although it is a little crowded around it! In terms of visual impact, apart from the finished cake of course, the flag stands out! The cake itself was a 2-layer vanilla sponge cake with vanilla buttercream. The suitcase is also a small single layer of vanilla sponge. This was also my first time stacking cakes. Although it wasn't a major undertaking it was a good starting point. I covered the suitcase with the sponge sitting on a thin cake card and then supported by some small pieces of wooden dowel in the cake below.

Watch This Space!

Just a brief post with a snap of some of the decorations due to go on the next cake! Check back at the weekend for photos of the finished cake! Excited about this one!