Yellow Teapot Cake

Yellow Teapot Cake 

A new teapot cake for Eloise's Great Aunt Beverly. I couldn't think of anybody who more fitted a teapot cake, I don't think I have ever been to visit without drinking at least one cup of tea. It was a small vanilla buttermilk sponge with raspberry jam and vanilla icing. The cake was sculpted then covered in sunshine yellow paste with white sugatpaste flowers and royal icing piped leaves and details. The handle and spout were also made from sugarpaste and stuck on with toothpicks and secured with royal icing, they were still a bit droopy and I was very worried they would fall off before we got to the party so I propped them up with tissue for the journey and they set just in time. I finished it about 5 minutes before we were due at the birthday party so in the rush this is the only photo. It was a super cute cake and delicious. 

25th Silver Anniversary Cake

A commission for a family cake to celebrate a silver wedding anniversary. 

This was a lemon buttermilk sponge with lemon curd icing and white chocolate sugar paste. The family is sport mad and spend a lot of time on their bikes so the idea was to put the whole family on one giant long bike. I had a photo of the family and the names of the kids so I could get the basic details right like Dad's glasses and the age order of the kids. I decided to put all the names on the top, Mum and Dad, Jim and Emma on the front and the kids names behind the silver 25. The 25 was made out of sugarpaste and painted with silver dust for the shine. The hardest part was deciding what to do with the faces, I tried drawing them on in edible pen but in the end decided simple was best and I etched the eyes and mouths on instead (apart from Dad and his glasses).

 

Blue and White Birthday Cake

A blue based cake with cut out flat white flower detail and a big curly N for Nicole on top. This was a birthday cake for my friend Nicole who is currently making my website. It was a wheat free elderflower and orange cake with elderflower icing. It was based on a stunning black and white cake I saw on line but the blue was a bit softer and matched the birthday girl better. I had a lot of fun getting the right shade of blue, bright but not too bright, dark but not navy so it would complement the white flowers. The finished N was stuck on with toothpicks and secured with royal icing so it would stay stuck during a bus ride for delivery. I also stuck a small fat blue heart on the top corner of the N at the last minute. It was delicious.

Sausage Dog Birthday Cake

First Birthday Cake

A birthday cake for one of Eloise's friends Lyra for her all important first birthday. Her Mum asked for a pink cake with a number one and name blocks. I added a tiny version of their Sausage dog Sally for fun and some flower details. This was a vanilla buttermilk cake with raspberry jam and vanilla icing covered in lightly flavoured vanilla sugarpaste.   

Birdie Love

A cake for a litle girl.

This is a pracise cake I made using the stripes idea from the last two, but this time I put flowers around the edge and a pink bird with a heart on the top.

Pink and Yellow Candy Cake

This is a cheerful Pink and Yellow Candy Cake. It is a mini cake only 6" across. It is layered pink and white vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream. It uses the same type of blooms as the yellow striped cake which were nice to make and very pretty.

Yellow Blooms

This is a cake I have made as a trial cake, it is a lemon syrup sponge with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream. It is decorated with yellow stripes and flowers and it is sitting on my brand new cake stand.

Cars

Cars

I was asked to help with a 4th birthday cake for Jesse. His Mum Liz wanted to make the cake and asked if i could make some CARS from the Cars movie for the top of it. With a bit of research I decided on which cars to attempt. I tried a new technique as well, the base of the cars is marshmellow and ricebubbles which is then covered in icing, this means quick to dry and super light. Once I finished modelling them I gave them all a nice shiny coat. The birthday boy was happy and most importantly recognised what they were!

Koru Wedding Cake

My younger brother (I can't call him little because he is definitely taller than me!) got married in the weekend and my present to them was their wedding cake.
They knew exactly what type of cake they wanted, right down to the recipe to use and had a basic idea on colour and design... white, green and simple.

The original idea was one tier chocolate with chocolate icing and one tier banana with lemon icing and when we discussed how much cake was needed Dave said " a piece for everyone and some of both for me" so I added a top tier of alternate banana and chocolate layers just for him.

The colour scheme was based around the bridesmaids pretty sage green dresses and the design was inspired by the couples love of the outdoors and the setting for the wedding and reception, the Marlborough Sounds.

I used an overlay texture sheet to make the pattern on the green shapes and cut them all out freehand so I could get the shapes I wanted.

The Bride and Groom loved the cake and it tasted delicious!

PINK PINK PINK

I was asked to make a cake for the celebration at a Naming Ceremony for Lyra. Her Mum had a few simple requests, that it was a simple sponge, would feed 55 people and was PINK.

My sponge recipe is great for small cakes but not really for big cakes as it would have meant I needed to cook 6 cakes to get the 2 tiers (each tier was 3 layers) so I tried a new recipe that looked great and would work for an 11" square tin. It was a buttermilk sponge from a Debbie Brown cake book and it was fantastic, a lovely moist butter sponge. Each cake was large enough to be able to be cut in half so I only needed 3 cakes and I turned them into 10" and 8" round cakes after they were cooked.... which saved on buying the specific sized cake tins and lots meant of yummy trimmings to eat.

I filled them with jam and vanilla buttercream then iced them in vanilla sugarpaste. The cakes were decorated in PINK, the bottom one in bright pink and the top in a marshmellow pink.
We decided on pink blossoms and butterflies and I added the white and yellow daisies for some contrast as it was looking almost too pink.

It was a really fun cake to make, and I'm sure there will be plenty of occasions for pink cakes coming up. Eloise is teething and a bit miserable at the moment and her Dad was away skiing in France so I had to do the icing with her in the frontpack, an interesting cake making challenge but it did keep her quiet as she was busy watching me and we got there in the end.

Hope the naming ceremony went well Lyra.

Cup of Tea?

Well time for the most important birthday cake of the year.... mine. I decided to try to make a teapot from in a book called 'The Birthday Cake Book' by Fiona Cairns and I think it turned out ok. I managed to cut and ice it while Eloise was asleep and then her dad took her for a walk while I did the finishing touches... perfect.
It was a vanilla sponge with raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream. With sugarpaste and royal icing decoration and it was delicious.