Last night was a long, long night. I got to bed at 3.15am.

But the cake looks great and the customer loved it! :o)

I was really, really struggling. I was starting to seriously panic about the pointy roof bits (what is the proper word for them?). My original plan was to cover ice-cream cornets in lots of small circles of sugarpaste, to look like tiles. Well, I started to do one of them. a) they weren't sticking particularly well, b) they didn't look good and c) it was taking forever. When hubby came to in to say goodnight I told him and he said 'why don't you paint them?' I thought that I'd show him what a silly idea that was and mixed some shimmery luster dust with a little confectioners glaze and painted one of the cones. IT LOOKED FANTASTIC! So I did them all like that and whilst the glaze was still tacky, I sprinkled over a little edible glitter. They really did look so pretty. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't do it justice. The pink cake was also dusted with a little shimmery luster dust.

Again, because it was the first time I've done this cake I've learnt a lot. I realy don't think it would take me quite as long next time.

I hope there is a next time, because I did enjoy doing this cake. However, I would like to find another way to do the pointy roof bits.

Fairy Princess Castle

So, what have I already learnt? That when you slice off the corners of a square cake so that the turrets can snuggly sit there - MAKE SURE YOU CUT THE RIGHT AMOUNT OFF AND THAT IT'S DEAD LEVEL.

Ho hum! I'm not worried. I can fill it and it will be fine. It's just annoying.

I bought a length of plastic tubing from B&Q that hubby was going to cut to size for me, but the cheap junior hacksaw I've got wasn't strong enough and they weren't straight! So it was on to Plan B.... the cardboard tube from inside kitchen roll that I've cut to size and covered with sugarpaste.

The customer asked for the cake to be pink and lilac and glittery and girly! It's pink alright! I'm going to do the pointy roof of the turrets in lilac and also the... the... oh what's the word? The bits that go around the top edge of the castle? Battlement? Oh, you'll see for yourself when it's done.

Better get on!

Suzanne x

Number 6 Cake with Figures - Finished!

I've finished the cake.

It's fine.

I'm unhappy with the modelling, in that they look 16, not 6. I hate, hate, hate doing hair. I've learnt how to do faces and , if I do say so myself, they're quite good now. But I feel the hair always lets them down. I mean, they don't look bad. It's just that the woman I learnt from does such amazing, fantastic models. I always want to be as good as someone else... whoever it is I admire at the time! You can see her work at http://www.lorraine-icingonthecake.co.uk/

Anyway, I'll upload the picture of my finished cake onto my other blog http://www.patacake-parties.blogspot.com/

Suzanne x

Number 6 with figures

I'm doing a number 6 cake with figures of a boy and a girl, which is being collected tomorrow.

Yesterday I baked a 12"x10" cake. Once it was cold, I levelled it, filled it with jam and buttercream, then cut it into the shape of a number 6. I also marzipanned and iced it and got the balloon decorations around the side done.

Today, I "just" have to make the figures of a girl and a boy to sit on the top, pipe around the top and bottom edges of the cake and do the inscription. Whilst I'm definitely improving, modelling doesn't come naturally to me and so it takes a while.

Oh, and this morning I've also baked 8" square and 5" round cakes, which are going to be a fairy castle, for collection on Friday! So the plan is to finish this cake late afternoon (ha!) and then this evening I want to fill, cover and stack the two cakes, ready for finishing tomorrow. Thinking about it, because of the time, I will probably just get as far as covering them with marzipan, because I want to use my stone wall impression mat on the cakes and I don't want to be too tired and ruin it. So I may just do that part tomorrow. But I also have to cover some plastic piping in sugarpaste, for the towers and then make the pointy roof things (turrets?).

It's Oh So Quiet....

I haven't had any new cake orders since the wedding cake. But I thought I'd add a sort of update.

I have two cake orders right after each other soon (literally - one's being picked up on the 23rd and the other is being picked up on the 24th August).

I'm going to have to plan carefully. The first one is being collected on a Thursday - and I think the party is on the Friday. So I can bake that late Tuesday evening, decorate all day Wednesday ready for collection on the Thursday. There are a couple of figures of a boy and a girl which I'll need to do a day or so in advance. The cake which is being collected on the Friday isn't needed until the Sunday, I think. But there's not much I can do... I will have to bake it on Wednesday and decorate all day Thursday and Thursday night, too. It's a 2 tier castle cake. Ideally, I'd bake a Sunday cake on a Friday, decorate Friday night and Saturday, ready for collection on Sunday morning. But customer has a 30 mile journey and 3 young children.....

After that, I've got a 50th wedding anniversary cake for early September. That's a fruit cake, which I've already baked. I 'feed' the cake weekly, by inserting a fine cake tester skewer and then generously brushing the cake with brandy! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. I LOVE fruit cake. It's in the shape of a 50. They'll be fun to cover. I don't yet know exactly how they'll be decorated. The customer wants me to give them a couple of options and then they'll choose. I'm still thinking about it!

I've then got a 70th wedding anniversary cake - but that's quite a simple cake (simple, as in elegant!) for the 25th Sept. And on 27th Sept. it's my mummy's 65th birthday, so I've baked her a fruit cake and I'll decide how to decorate it nearer the time.

Then there's nothing until November when I have a Mr Happy cake to do.

So, that's my update.

Suzanne x