Bumble Bee

Behold my latest creation!  A birthday cake for a 6 year old boy at the school where I work.  I used the Wilton butterfly moulded tin for the wings.  I know that bees have different wings, but I'm pretty sure that this is ok for a 6 year old.

I piped the edges and clouds in royal icing, and made the body from fondant.

The little bugs, grass and name I made from fondant.  If I may say so myself, they are so cute!  This was a very fun cake to make and I'm looking forward to making the next one.

Images of Bridezilla

I really, really want to make a wedding cake!  I have visions of the happy couple exclaiming with joy at the sight of a beautiful cake made just for them on their special day.  But then, this nasty little thought creeps into my mind and nudges me, "Um..." it says, "What if you get a Bridezilla?", and that's the end of that happy dream.  As far as cakes go, I can't really imagine much worse than having someone hate your creation, other than perhaps dropping the cake on the way to the reception.  All your hard work, and artisitc talent (and when referring to myself I use the words "artistic talent" very loosely) wasted.  All those hours and hours of planning, rolling, kneading and moulding and sculpting for nothing. 

My other worry is being asked to make something that I really, really hate.  I can't think of an example now, but there must be cake designs out there that I don't like.  No wait!  Actually, there is a very good example of a cake I would refuse to make.  I would put a picture here, but I would hate it if somebody thought I'd made it, so if you'd like to see what I think is probably the worst cake in the whole world, click here:  WORST CAKE EVER!  Please note:  I did not make this cake, and I never will!

Then of course there's the worry of what on earth to charge for a wedding cake.  I've heard experienced pastry chefs on TV say that it can 20 hours to complete a wedding cake, and I'm certainly not experienced - well not yet anyway, so I'm guessing I should double that time.  Nevermind that, they have assistants and huge ovens, kitchens & workspaces - I do not.  How do you put a price on hours and hours of time?  For me in particular, time is the most difficult thing about making cakes, what with a "real job", 4 demanding children and a husband.  I wish I was brave enough to just quit my job and stay home making cakes all day - but I'm not.  Maybe one day, but not today.

But still, I really really want to make a wedding cake!

Quickie Cake

It was my brother-in-law's 50th birthday yesterday.  He lives in Durban, about 600km away, so we didn't get to celebrate with him.  So I decided to bake him a cake and we could have our own celebration in honour of his birthday.  I decided this while I was cooking dinner, and in between dinner preparation, I made the cake.  I decided on a rainbow cake (just because I've been looking for an excuse to make one). 

I made all the decorations from fondant, and iced with butter icing.  Then I posted pictures on FaceBook so that Tian could see his cake.  Yes, and I know it has a rose on it which may not seem very manly, but at least it's blue ok?

Then we ate it, and it was good.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIAN!

Giant Cupcake Birthday Cake

My first paying customer - WooHoo!  A lady at work ordered a giant cupcake birthday cake for her daughter's birthday this week.  To be honest, aside from the elation of having a paying customer, the request filled me with dread!  I had no idea how on earth I was going to pull this one off.  I know that you can buy moulded pans overseas for this type of cake, but not here is South Africa (believe me I searched).  I therefore had to build this cake from scratch, which was not easy.  However, I am very pleased with the result.

The request was for pink & silver.  I've never worked with silver before, and was a little nervous of it, but I'm very pleased with the result.  I made all the decorations, except the ribbon.  The 'cup' is made from fondant stips that I painted with silver powder mixed with alcohol to make a paste.

This cake was quite difficult to photograph because the silver tended to reflect, which diffused the details.

Winnie the Pooh

This is definitely my most ambitious cake so far.  The lady who works with me in the school office was celebrating her 50th Birthday and I decided it was a perfect opportunity for me to try a stacked cake.  She is crazy about Winnie the Pooh, hence the theme.

This cake took me around 10 hours to complete.  I made everything out of icing.  The Pooh bear presented the biggest challenge, and the one you see on this cake is Pooh the 4th!  Sherae helped with the piping round the edges, and my youngest son Tyler helped cut out the butterflies, colour the fondant (a very messy job), and cover the cake board.

My First Attempt - Lolo's Lion

Just after I decided to try my hand at some serious cake decorating, my daughter (who works as a teacher's assistant while she studies) asked if I would make a birthday cake for a little boy in her class.  His birthday had been that week, and he had been very sad because he was the only child not to bring a birthday cake to class on his birthday.  His parents are very poor, and couldn't afford a cake.  I jumped at the opportunity and the lion cake above is the result.

I used a sunflower moulded cake tin for the shape.  I had to bake two cakes to get the height & 3D effect.  I made the face and ears from fondant, and covered & decorated the board in fondant.  The mane is buttercream icing, and the piping was done by my daughter, Sherae.

Lolo was thrilled with his lion cake, and didn't want the rest of the class to get too close to it!

Passion Takes Hold

I've always liked cake decorating.  Ever since my children were born I've always made them birthday cakes.  I've made a bunny, a teddy, a steam engine, a pirate ship - just to name a few.  This may sound impressive, but the truth is that they were pretty basic cakes.  I bought books on cake decorating, and read them from cover to cover, but I was always too afraid to try making all the beautiful cakes I drooled over.  I was fascinated by fondant-covered cakes, but when my first attempt to cover a fruit cake about 6 years ago went awry, I never tried it again.

Then something happened.  I accidentally tuned into a cake decorating competition on TV, and was riveted.  I watched those talented professionals decorate the most incredible cakes and something inside me said, "You can do that!".  So I mustered up all my courage, spent a fortune on cake decorating equipment, and went for it. 

This blog is a record of the results of my decision to try my hand at cake decorating.  Enjoy!