Mermaids, Medals and More

I've not had time to blog recently. Been busy with cakes and preparing for my first cupcake decorating class (I'll write about it in the next blog!).

I had great fun with these recent cakes. Was very excited about a mermaid cake order. Been wanting to make a mermaid for yonks. Then I got a Star Wars order too- I was very keen to make a galaxy/space background for the cake and cake board. It's fantastic fun splattering white paint (mixed with pearl for some sheen) onto pink, purple, blue & black spray painted background! And the construction cake- turning Oreos into 'soil' is really hard work, I kid you not. It was very very difficult not to eat the 'soil'.... But I digress...

The gymnast and construction themed cakes were good fun too. I thought it was sheer geniusness on my part to make the business logo (Inspired Gymnastics) into a gold medal. It was very tricky business making this gold medal:

First I rolled some yellow fondant and let it dry until it was 'leathery'. While that was drying, I printed out and cut the templates for the figures. When the fondant was dry enough I put the template on top and started cutting with my uber sharp craft knife. As you can see from the photo, the leg of the figure on the right broke. But all good as you can see, it's attached! I also cut the letters with my letter cutter and let those dry for a bit. The circular disc was ready and dry, so when the letters and figures were dry enough to be handled, I placed them onto the disc and glued them on. When all dry and firmly stuck to the disc, I painted on some gold luster. Wella! We have ourselves a gold medal made out of sugar :)

Have a fun day everyone!

A Lovely Wedding Fair

I had the most enjoyable day at a wedding fair at the Hilltop Country House in Prestbury yesterday. The event was organised by Brides Up North, who are pretty great at what they do! It was a very busy day, with brides and grooms coming and trying out my cakes and discussing their cake designs. Hopefully I get to meet them all again for a consultation! I was very very tired afterwards and was half asleep on the sofa at 5.30pm :O :D

Little Girl's Cakes

  

I had the honour of making some special cakes lately: a christening cake for Lucy Isabelle, and a princess carriage cake for Paige.

Both cakes were a joy to make. I loved the sugar baby booties I made for Lucy (see photo above). They're just the sweetest.

The carriage cake was fairly straightforward, though I did have to figure out how to get the carriage to look like it's off the ground. It's resting on a thick disc of fondant, topped with a rectangular piece of white fondant, and the cake on top of this. Nearly everything on the cake was handmade without molds except for the tiny flowers and the pearls surrounding the door. Truly bespoke!

Netball Cake

Yes, it's cake! A commission for a netball cake got me quite excited to make another spherical cake. I had quite grand plans for the cake but due to lack of time ended up simplifying the design to just the cake and the floor boards.

The netball is 'handstitched' with tiny holes created by using a cake tool. I could have used an actual stitching tool but from photos of netballs I'd seen, the stitches looked quite prominent so decided to make them individually. The ball is dusted with silver grey to give it dimension and an aged look (but not too aged!). The floorboards were embossed and handpainted then finished off with 'nails' which were created using a small round piping tip.

The Frog Prince Selfie

My frog prince cupcake topper couldn't resist taking a sneaky selfie on my phone! Here he is with all the other froggies and some crowns sat on plum purple satin cushions. Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream- seems a popular flavour combination these days!

Next post: The Netball Cake!

Thank You Teacher Cupcakes

It's that time of year again when teachers say goodbye to the kids and the kids give them presents. A teacher was the lucky recipient of these cupcakes, complete with tiny apples and books. Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.

:)

The Bird on a Tree Stump

I was a bit stumped (har har) for ideas for a theme for my friend's birthday cake. The tree stump cake was on my list of 'cake themes to do' so I thought it fitting for a nature lover! The cake is vanilla sponge with French buttercream and covered in chocolate ganache. 

The top of the stump is handpainted, The rest is made with sugarpaste. The bark of the tree was created by hand with my modelling tools. I added the holes to give a lot more texture, interest and realism. 

The bird is modelled out of sugarpaste, and attached to wooden skewers. All in all, a cute cake and my friend loved it :)