Berries and white chocolate

The theme chosen for this cake was shabby chic to suit the venue, a converted barn.

The cake inside was a genoise sponge with raspberry flavours going through it. All the chocolate curls and cigarettes were handmade so they don’t look uniform like ready made ones do.

The chocolate cigarettes were made using the standard technique – spread on the marble and roll with metal scraper.

The other pieces proved to be more difficult to make. After struggling with acetate and warm trays,  I seem to have discovered a very effective and easy technique.

Instead of using acetate to create the shapes, I used rectangular strip of parchment paper. The tempered chocolate was spread unevenly on each strip and shaped just as it was setting. This method gave me the flexibility to mould them into curly shapes even after the chocolate had just started setting. All I had to do was rub them between my palms. This created enough heat to twist without breaking.

In all, I created around 250 pieces of chocolate and nearly all of them were used in the cake.

Each cake was assembled like this:

In the groom’s own words ….. “All I can say is WOW! It really looked amazing thank you so much. … All those who ate it said it was out of this world.”

Ordered for a gentleman’s landmark birthday, this cake is based on his most prized possession – his boat, a Scand 7800 Nautic.

The cake was made from a 12 inch & a 8 inch square Victoria sponge. The template for cutting the base was created using the measurements of the boat, but with a slightly broader base for stability.

The base was carved out of the bigger sponge using the template.

The top part measured about 2/3rds of the boat’s length and about half the width. It was cut out from the smaller sponge and carved to accomodate the shape of the cover.

The entire boat was put together and carved out to match the proportions of the boat.

It was then crumb coated & iced.

Each finishing touch was added. The top of the boat had several panels and windows. The sides were made out of thickly cut sugarpaste with coloured strips stuck on.

Finally the railings were fitted. I tried to make these out of modelling paste to start with but ultimately settled for silver florist wire as this looked the most realistic.

Boat cake

I am hoping this will bring in waves of enquiries!

Easter Hamper

Everything inside is handmade chocolate – the flowers, the grass, the butterfly, Easter bunny and of course, the Easter eggs.

Chocolate butterfly on white chocolate flower

There’s nothing like a “Spring in a basket” to beat the cold wintry blues.

This cake was ordered for a young lady who is surrounded by fashion all day. She works in an upmarket boutique and has a keen eye for clothes and accessories. Naturally, the theme for her birthday cake had to be fashion.

The jade green colour of the cake reflects her name.  Each topper represents something you would find in her boutique.

Dress: An elegant dress in shell pink sugarpaste, with an edible bow
Shoes: Pretty pink heels with pearls encrusted on the strap, handcrafted in edible modelling paste
Handbag: A classic tote, handmade in sugarpaste
Necklace: Antique gold necklace & pendant with edible bead embellishments
Scarf: Gold ribbon made in crepe

Perfect for the girl who likes to make a fashion statement!

With Christmas just 2 weeks away, here’s a great recipe to get you baking.

Every country has it’s own version of the Christmas cake & every family probably has their own special variation.

My recipe is a rich moist fruit cake packed with fruit cooked in brandy.
You won’t need to keep feeding this one … Cooking the fruit in brandy keeps them deliciously soft and moist even months after baking the cake.

The fruit and cake take quite some time to cook, cool & bake so make sure you plan your time accordingly. Give yourself at least 1 week for the cake to cool down before decorating and serving.

Here’s what you would need for a 7″ round cake:

120g butter
120d soft dark brown sugar
3 medium eggs
150g flour (I prefer self raising as it makes the cake less dense)
480g mixed fruit (sultanas, currants & mixed peel)
60g glace cherries
10g mixed spice or cinnamon
50g dark treacle
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
zest & juice of 1 orange
zest & juice of 1 lemon
150ml brandy or dark rum

Cooking the fruit:
I prefer to do this the night before I bake so they are cold enough to mix into the batter in the morning.

- Measure out the brandy, mixed fruit, glace cherries, zest and juice of orange & lemon in a pan.
- Cook them on low heat until the alcohol is almost completely absorbed by the fruit.
- Pour them out onto a tray & leave to cool completely

Mixing the batter:
- Sieve the flour & spice together
- Cream together the butter and sugar

- Pour in the treacle & vanilla extract
- Add the eggs, one at a time
- Fold the flour + spice into the mixture.
- Add the cooked fruit a little at a time and mix until it is evenly spread into the batter. Repeat until all the fruit is mixed in.

- Line a 7″ cake tin with parchment paper. Pour the batter into it.
- Place the tin into the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill the batter further.

- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150 deg C for at least 1 and 1/2 hr, until done (it takes me approximately 2 hrs in my oven).
- Leave to cool for at least 8 hrs

Pack the cake in parchment paper & store for at least a week, until you are ready to decorate.

To decorate:
200g marzipan
apricot jam
250g sugarpaste

Seal any holes left by the fruit with small balls of marzipan.

Lightly coat the sides & top with apricot jam.
Cover with marzipan & smooth over.
Turn over & cover the bottom with marzipan & smooth over.

Cover with sugarpaste and decorate with cutouts or sugar sculptures.

And here come the brides…

The first one was inspired by an all time favourite wedding dress style:
Lace applique.

Each piece of lace is edible and made using special lace moulds.  A single large sugar flower is used to add a bit of colour.

The second one is based on the popular vintage theme.

This pale pink cake has silhouettes of the bride and groom dancing. The chandelier on the top tier has been piped free-hand using black royal icing.

The last one is in keeping with the latest wedding dress trend. Blue is touted to be the colour of choice for wedding dresses in 2013. This cake is inspired by a dress from Oscar de la Renta’s Spring 2013 collection.

The lace design on the middle tier was created using patchwork sugar flowers and piped royal icing. Took quite a few hours of intense work but worth it for the effect.

The fair will be held between 11 am and 4 pm on Saturday 22nd September at the Radisson Blu hotel in Guildford town centre. The entry for this event is free and if you/any of your friends are planning a wedding, please make it a point to visit this fair.

I will be displaying a few of my cake and favour designs in line with the current trends in cakes. Visitors would also be able to sample some cakes.  I will be taking bookings for further consultation and of course, there will be a discount for any orders placed on the day.

To celebrate this occasion, my friend threw a party at her community centre this afternoon. It was a great opportunity for everyone to hold the torch themselves and get themselves photographed with it. The Mayor and Mayoress of Woking attended as did the local press.

She wanted to have a very special cake for her big party … something involving the Olympics as well as a depiction of her holding the torch.

Keeping this brief in mind, here is a picture of the cake I designed for her.

The cake was a rich chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache. The sugar figure was made keeping her torchbearer uniform. The colours used can easily be identified as the ones seen in the venues, tickets and signboards of the 2012 Olympics. The London skyline was widely used at the venues and TV coverage, so I decided to throw in an icing silhouette of the same.

The cake was on display throughout the party and almost all of us who attended took photos of it together with Sara.

Those of you who attend her parish will get a taste of it tomorrow.

Ordered for a customer who loves pink shoes, this was one fun girly cake to make!

As recommended by several fellow bloggers, I referred to the excellent tutorial by PinkCakeBox for instructions.

For a start, I went down to the shops and bought a pair of high heeled shoes. The straps of the left one were cut off to give me the base I needed for shaping the shoe.

A paper template was made from this shoe and was used to cut out the pink and black gumpaste to the right shape and size.

The gumpaste was then left on the base to dry out for about 3-4 days. The strap around the toes was placed around some crumpled clingfilm and stuck on to the base with royal icing. The strap was left to dry in this shape for 2-3 days.

The heel was made from gumpaste using the measurements of the shoe. A barbeque skewer was passed through it and the structure was left to dry on a cake dummy for a week.

Shoe and heel left to dry

The cake was made from 2 halves of a 10″ square chocolate cake stacked up to give the correct height.

Chocolate cake

To give it a box like effect, the 4 faces of the box were cut out from very stiff sugarpaste (lots of CMC added) that was left to harden overnight.

The edges were placed alongside the box and gently pressed to stick on to the ganache.

The lid of the box was made from sugarpaste mixed with a bit of CMC to allow it hold its shape better. It was rolled out such that each side was 2cm more than the top face of the box. This allowed it to be folded on top like the lid on a box.

The shoe was assembled just before placing on the board. The heel was stuck under the base using royal icing. The skewer in the heel was cut down to size to help it stay stable on the board.

The shoe is edible as it is made entirely from gumpaste. The next time you say “I’ll eat my shoe” just think of this one and you won’t regret it!