It's Competition Time!

 So I decided to take the next step in cake decorating and entered a decorating competition held by Cake Decor (a local cake store). I didn't think my style of cakes were the type to enter the wedding cakes or cupcake category so I went with wild and wacky; a perfect fit I think. My initial idea was under the sea themed, but somehow got diverted to a rock pool scene. And here is the finished article:

The finished cake

This has to be the one cake I actually love at the end of the creation process (unlike the others, which I want to throw out the window!). I do however wish I took more photos during the creation process but atlas, I only have the one:

I originally mixed rice krispies into my icing to try and create a pebble effect, but this just wasn't good enough so I started experimenting with different fondant idea. The simplest idea was the most effective! I just added a little food colouring to a ball of white or yellow fondant and mixed it in a little (not too much though). Several bowls of fondant later I started assembling them on the carved cake. I was really pleased with the result with the addition of a few shells and sea stars here and there. I used a shell tool to shape some of the pebbles as well.

A boning tool was used to add definition to the sea star

An octopus was probably a bad choice for a cake mainly due to the eight leg scenario. I left the assembly of the legs to the day before the competition and there were a few fatalities. But I prepared spares and had to cut back on the length of a few of them.

 

 The next problem I had to resolve was how to transport this incredibly heavy cake to the venue and then up two flights of stairs (whose idea was that!?). So, after a resourceful evening of brainstorming we set off with my cake in a bread basket, spare legs and any tools I might need for some touch ups. I got there quite early and was scared to assemble my cake with my cake neighbours watching me. 

The day itself was a great success. There were some impressive cakes and excellent demonstrations and we all eagerly awaited the results. I had entered the beginners category and there was some tough competition so I wasn't expecting much. In the end I got a gold award level and was the runner up in my category. Great success!

The judges comments included: very colourful, love the angry octopus

A selection of some of my winning!

 

Rack 'em up

Another creation from the Hello Cupcake app and book. Instead of buying all the different coloured sugar I dyed it myself. Inside a freezer bag I poured some regular granulated sugar; to that I added a little food colouring and shook it like a polaroid picture. This was also my first attempt at cream cheese frosting, which was probably a little too runny for this project but was so delicious it didn't matter! In order to get the striped balls you need some grease proof paper or baking parchment. Cover the top and bottom of the cupcake and roll in the desired coloured sugar. Then put them in the fridge; this gives a smoother line when removing the parchment. Remove the parchment and roll the remaining iced cupcake in regular granulated sugar. Simple!

As the Hello Cupcake gang are american, a lot of the little candies they suggest using are unavailable to us here, so the white bit is actually a trebor strong mint. As the cupcakes ages the mint of the strong mint infused into the sugar icing and made it nice and minty. Also instead of using cake safe pens I actually just used a sharpie (not recommended!) but I did warn people not to eat it.

Just like-a Mama used to make!

After scouring the app store for a decent cake decorating app I came across 'Hello Cupcake'. I bought their book years ago, but never attempted any of the designs. However this app gives you simple directions and even extra online video tutorials; a definite investment! 

I had a go at making the spaghetti and meatball cupcakes and here are the results:

For the first time in my life I bought pre-made cakes; I feel so ashamed. But as this project wasn't for anything in particular I cut a few corners. I haven't tasted them yet, but I'm not expecting anything. Although how nasty can a cake with a Ferrero Rocher on top be?

I fully recommend the Hello Cupcake app for some amazing and simple cupcake ideas that will go down a treat. Their book has even more adorable projects. 

Bon Anni-Vespa

This was probably my biggest/heaviest cake yet, totalling to 6 layers of cake. This request was for a Vespa helmet cake, which I initially thought would be relatively simple.

The actual helmet

However I was wrong.

Very wrong.

Carving a cake into a round dome turned out to be quite difficult although I definitely gave it my best shot! I used a pearl glaze spray to get a shiny effect and liquorice for the leather trimmings and straps.  

Sort of forgot to alternate the layers

Made the centre more interesting with some food colouring

Merry Craftmas!

I've been up to a lot this Christmas and preparations started early this year. I attempted to make my first ever Christmas pudding (or puddingsley as I named it) in October. After steaming it for 10 hours, soaking it in brandy and ruining 2 perfectly good saucepans (NOTE: remember to check the saucepan water levels regularly) Puddingsley was ready to be hidden away for 2 months. All that was needed was to feed him brandy every so often (the dream right there).

Next on the list of Christmas creations was a cupcake class at my local cake decorating shop. I wasn't sure what to expect other than a professional telling me I can't pipe swirls and I was right and then some! The class was excellent and gave me some great tips and ideas. Here are the results:

Rudolph had some minor transportation injuries.

It was requested by my Dad (demanded I would say) that I make a Christmas cake. So using whatever leftover dried fruit I had from the Christmas pudding (which was a surprising amount) I made the cake about a month in advance, this time baking it for hours! I was given complete artistic licence when it came to decorating the cake and decided to go with simple yet incredibly gay. So armed with all my new tools from the Cake International Show at the NEC I set to work! I'll let you decide whether I achieved my look:

To get myself into even more of a Christmasy mood I immersed myself in everything Christmasy. This included the Lakeland Christmas magazine (seriously read it or download the app if you haven't already!). The magazine included a recipe for nougat, which I have never made before so I thought I would give it a go. The recipe was quite precise in temperatures and measurements so I was a bit dubious with how the results would to turn. But armed with two little helpers and a never before used sugar thermometer we set to work. After overcoming the initial desire to stick our fingers in the boiling hot sugar we mixed the egg whites and sugar as the recipe stated. however the recipe suggested using a stand mixer and not an electric hand mixer and now I understand why. After 10 minutes of mixing a substance that could be likened to cement we gave up and left it to harden (and oh boy did it harden). If I can gave you some tips for making nougat they would be; have a stand alone mixer, have lots of helpers and use a spatula that won't break when trying to spread out the mixture.  

And finally. one more Craftmas instalment (just in case you haven't had enough already) again inspired by Lakeland. I would recommend this to everyone, it's so simple and quick and incredibly effective. All it is is a mould in which you can pour chocolate or use gingerbread with in order to create a cottage. I decided to go with chocolate; milk, white and dark. Once I left it to dry I had the trickier task of assembling it which, when you working with a product that is literally melting in your hands, is harder than assembling an Ikea cupboard without the instructions, or that little allan key thing. I'm of course exaggerating, but anyway, here are the results, complete with snowy windows and cranberry fence:

Impractical yet delicious

Congratulations Liv

Having recently graduated from her Chanel make-up course I decided to make my sister a congratulatory cake! And here it is. My attempt at her very own 2.55. By using a pattern wheel (meant for sewing) I created the quilted effect on the fondant with I think is incredibly effective. However, I ran out of time on the strap which I think could be better. I'll have to make some changes next time!

Butterfly Cupcakes

Bon Voyage Harriet!

Attempted to make some pretty cupcakes for once and I think these turned out pretty good! The butterflies initially were more upright but they fell flat as I added the glitter and didn't give them enough time to dry. The pastel shades of colouring make these cupcakes look so cute and match the stand brilliantly! All I need now is to master to swirly piped icing!