Snag

I knew it was too good to be true. Things were going really well. The carving of the cake (which I hate doing) went well. I covered it in marzipan OK. Despite forgetting to cover the wooden blocks of the plinth in black sugarpaste before sticking it to the cake board, I managed to cover them.

I wasn't worried that I needed to take time out of my working day to go and watch my youngest in one of his lessons at school (there were only 4 mums in total who came, so he was so proud).

But can I covered the flippin' thing with sugarpaste? No. I've tried 3 times. I'm worried that I'm going to overwork the sugarpaste and each time I roll it out I use so much icing sugar that it's going to get really dry! I'm now contemplating doing it in sections. I'd rather not. But if I have to, I will.

I put a message on the British Sugarcraft Guild website on one of their forums, asking for some advice.

Ooooh.... I've just checked and there's a reply:

"This is very similar to the VW Campervans I have done recently. I also find it very difficult to cover this shape in one go. I do it by leaving the paste slightly thicker than I normally would and as I work it into place it thins slightly. I am sure you are finding that it is tearing as you put it in place and try to shape it. The extra thickness allows for this. It makes it a heavier piece of paste to lift into place but it is well worth doing. Good luck!! "

Thank you, Mark. I'll colour up some more paste and give it another go!

OK... I'm off to colour sugarpaste.

Suzanne x

Whoops!

Oh bugger!!!!!!

I've just glued the plinth on to the cake board. But I forgot to cover the bottom bits of wood in black sugarpaste. Oh poo, poo, poo!!!!! I can't get it off now. That's going to be a right pain to cover now. I'll do it next, before I put the cake on it, so at least I can turn it upside down or whatever I'll need to do.

Also, it would have been much better if I'd have somehow put some little indents in the wooden plinth, where the wheels are going to go... I don't think I describe what I mean. But I know what I mean! :op

Also, my next job will be to make the wheels, so that they can dry before I put them in place. Otherwise, they'll sort of sink a bit... look like flat tyres!

I'm also in the process of deciding whether to cover the cake once it's on the plinth, or whether I should cover it, then move it? Hmmmmm. Not sure.

Right. Gotta get on!

Stuff

It was really strange last night... from the centre of the cake being completely gooey and covering the knife with a thick coating of cake mixture, it went to being cooked in just half an hour more.

Already today I've got as far as carving the cake. I'm just beating the buttercream to cover the cake and then I'm going to marzipan it.

It's a heavy beastie!

Baking

It's now ten to midnight.

I've had the 13" square chocolate cake (for the Mystery Machine cake) in the oven since 9pm. I checked it a little while ago and it was still completely raw in the middle.

It's going to take forever. I'm going to be up until stupid o'clock and I haven't even started decorating yet. :o(

Both boards are covered and I've made the raised plinth for the van cake to sit on.

November

Yay! Looks like another good month. I have to say, though, it would be a lot more helpful if people could have their parties mid-week, instead of all at the weekend, LOL!

November now looks like this:

Friday 2nd - Mystery Machine
Friday 2nd - Barbie Doll
Friday 9th - Can of beer
Saturday 17th - Rocket ship
Sunday 18th - Number 1 with Winnie & friends picnic (what's the betting they'll want this for the Saturday, too?!?! But, with a bit of luck, the rocket ship cake will be wanted on the Friday!)

:o)

Suzanne x

www.patacake-parties.com

I've updated the Children's Parties page. Up until now, it just said 'under construction'.

What do you think?

http://www.patacake-parties.com/Children%27s%20Parties.htm

My husband walked in and saw me doing it and very helpfully said 'Why are you bothering? It's not like you do any parties any more'.

Erm... no, maybe not. But if I update my website, then I increase the chance of me getting some orders. Thanks for nothing.

Panic setting in

I'm starting to really worry about the cakes for next weekend. (Have you noticed this is probably a continual theme in my diary?)

I know, in theory, what I'm going to do. There are just a couple of things I'm not sure about. Like, I'm going to raise the Mystery Machine cake slightly to give it a better appearance. You do that by putting some wood underneath it (making sure the cake is on a piece of food grade card!) and then cover the wood in black sugarpaste. Well, I MUST make sure it's going to be stable, so I'm not sure what size bit of wood to use. The cake is going to be very approximately 12" long and 6" wide, by 6" tall. So I thought if I use a bit of wood that's 10" long by 4" wide and about 1" high. Or should it be taller? It's hard to get an idea of the scale/perspective of it, until it's in front of you. But I don't have a saw, so I'm going to have to go and get some wood cut! Also, when I cut the 12" square cake in half and then stack it, will I need to dowel the bottom of the cake, or will it be OK without? It's these things that can make the difference between success and failure.

Plus, delivery has changed on the Barbie doll cake. The order form said the cake was for Saturday 3rd. So, I thought that I'd have the Scooby van cake finished on Thursday night (again, probably at stupid o'clock) and then I'd decorate the Barbie cake all day and all evening Friday, ready for delivery on Saturday.

Well, the party planner e-mailed me and said 'the cake is going to be delivered on the Friday, isn't it?' And I had to reply and say that, no, it wasn't! It was going to be delivered on Saturday morning, as per the order form! I'm already doing a cake order for their company for the Friday. She replied 'ok'. Then she replied again and said the customer is having a complete panic and if there is any chance whatsoever that it could be with them on the Friday..... So I said that I will do my very best, but can't guarantee. And if so, it won't be until about 8pm or so. It's being delivered to Tunbridge Wells, Kent. I'm not doing it. My brother works for a car service, so I asked him for a quote. As it happens, it was the cheapest of the quotes I had. And he is going to deliver it himself - not get one of the other drivers to do it.

So, in theory, I should be able to do it. As long as the cake is baked on Thursday, ready to start decorating first thing on Friday, then I should be OK. It's just my procrastinating!!!!! I'm going to cover both of the cake boards on Monday or Tuesday so they're nice and set for when I start to do the cakes.

Wish me luck. ;o)

Pic

OK. I lied. Or, rather, should I say that I changed my mind. It's a lady's prerogative, don'tcha know! ;o)

I just couldn't let it go without taking a photo of it. I'm proud of it. I'm not big headed. I know full well that I'm not the best cake maker. I'm OK. I've seen plenty of amazing cakes on some cake forums that I go on.

But what I do, I do to the very best of my ability. I put a lot of me into my cakes. They're almost like my babies - so, yes, I am proud of them.

So here's the latest one.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HZtk9YeHrTI/Rxm7Vavu90I/AAAAAAAAAKo/qxDqWGDxD8Q/s1600-h/Winnie+Pooh+hexagon.jpg

(I don't know why the picture is such a poor quality... it's very grainy!)


Suzanne x

Winnie Cake - Finished!

Well, it's gone 2am and I'm shattered.

Cake is done, but kitchen is a bomb-site! I haven't photographed it 'properly' because I already have a cake like this on my site.

Modelling, again!

Oh blimey! Eeyore is somewhat bigger than the others!

Ooops!

Modelling Pooh & Friends

Why do I feel like I've been making these models for the last week and a half? It's only been today.

They look really nice. Because I've got the luxury of them going onto a 12" cake, instead of squeezing them onto a number 1, I've been able to make them ever so slightly larger - which makes it easier.

They're all finished now.

I've still got quite a bit to do... I still have to make the picnic blanket and picnic food to put on it; pipe the inscription; put balloons around the side of the cake; pipe around the base of the cake; photograph the cake.

It's ten to eleven now... I don't reckon I'll see bed before 1am. Let's see.

Better get on.

Suzanne x

D'oh!

When I make edible models, I use a piece of dried spaghetti. It goes right through their body (often right down into the cake for extra stability) and up into the head.

I have to make Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. But I used the last of the spaghetti for dinner tonight! D'oh! Anyway, all is not lost. I've filled and covered the cake, so tomorrow I only need to do the modelling and inscription. "Only"? Ha!!

I baked the cake this morning and it was still ever-so-very slightly warm in the middle this evening! I levelled the top, then cut it through twice and let each layer air for a few minutes to finish cooling down. It should be lovely for the party on Saturday.

That reminds me... When I went to the cake supply shop a little while ago, someone came in asking about them making a cake for an 18th birthday party the following Saturday (it was a Friday that I was there... the cake wasn't for the next day, it was for the following Saturday). The customer was told they could only have a fruit cake, as they'd just finished baking the cakes for next week. That's an entire week. I don't know if they freeze them? But for a Saturday, I bake on a Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the cake. If it was something like a wedding cake with a lot of decoration, I'd probably bake Wednesday morning, possibly make a start on covering the cakes on Wednesday night, so that I have all day Thursday and all day Friday to decorate. Personally, I never freeze cakes, either. But different strokes for different folks.

Right, I'm going to clear the kitchen then go to bed!

Suzanne x

Forthcoming Orders

So, the 12" cake with Winnie & friends picnic has been confirmed for this weekend.

November 2nd I have the large Mystery Machine cake. November 3rd I hav a Barbie doll cake. November 18th I have a large number 1 with Winnie & friends cake. I did also have an enquiry for a rocket ship cake for the 17th November, but haven't heard back yet.

I have to learn to be more disciplined - not to stop half way through a cake and browse on Babyworld or Cake Central or the British Sugarcraft Guild website. I could easily save a couple of hours that way! And going to bed at 11pm instead of 1am would make a big difference!

I tried a couple of new cake recipes today. I made a chocolate torte cake, from Mich Turner's Spectacular Cakes book. I haven't tasted it yet. It smells divine. But it's a completely different texture to what I'm used to - more like a brownie. It's not really suitable for the cakes I do, but it does smell gooooood. I'm going to slice it through and fill it with chocolate ganache tomorrow. I also tried a carrot cake recipe (Jamie Oliver). Not sure about that, yet. There's an overpowering smell of orange at the moment (it's just been taken out of the oven). I'm going to make some cream cheese frosting for it tomorrow, so will save judgement until then. Cara (a friend I met through Babyworld) is coming over as my guniea pig. I hope she isn't disappointed!!!!!!!

Talking of friends from Babyworld, Hannah e-mailed me to say she's going to try and come to the Sugarcraft show at the NEC, Birmingham next month! Hannah - you HAVE to come!!!!!!!!! It'll be so nice to meet.

OK - I'm going to turn the carrot cake (or, if the smell is anythin to go by, orange cake!) out of the tin, then go to bed.

Underground Tube Train Cake - Finished!

I'm really pleased with how the cake turned out. http://www.patacake-parties.blogspot.com/

I e-mailed Katie a pic of it and said 'I think you'll agree that it's a good copy of the original?' to which she replied 'I think yours looks better'.

:o)

So I hope the customer is pleased with it. I certainly don't feel I could have done any more.

I'm just waiting for an order form to come back to me... I had an enquiry for a 12" cake with a Winnie-the-Pooh picnic on top, for next week.

Plus, Katie has confirmed the Mystery Machine cake. Yay!!!!! I've had another enquiry from her for a rocket cake for 17th November. Yes, things are going OK at the moment.

:oD

Suzanne x

Tube Train in progress, update

Shhhhhhh! Don't say anything, but it's going really well.

I don't have too much more to do. Which is good, because I don't have tomorrow afternoon to work on it, so it has to be completely finished tomorrow evening. I dare say that means I'll be going to bed at stupid o'clock! Tomorrow, I have to take Daniel for an ENT check-up, but it's a good hour's drive each way. I'm picking him up from school at 12 o'clock (his appt. is at 1.30pm).

For the driver's window, I actually managed to just push the icing in to make a small indent. It looks fine.

Tube Train Cake in progress

I'm currently working on the tube train cake.

I baked 3 x 5" round cakes, then cut a little off. I stood them onto the flat, cut edge, then sandwiched them all together. I marzipanned them then covered them in white sugarpaste, except the two ends, which I covered in red.

I've inserted the windscreens into each end of the train. And I've just done the doors. Now, I have to put the windows in the side of the train. Not looking forward to that.

I'm a bit nervous, because Katie sent me an email... the customer wanted to know 'will it be exactly like the picture?' I replied "Obviously I didn't make the original cake, but I will certainly do my utmost to replicate it as exactly as I can." I can't really say more than that, can I?

Right... better get on with it.

Oh bugger! One thing I didn't do is to make a little indent for the driver to be leaning out of. Hmmmmmm...... What am I going to do?

October & November Forthcoming Work

I just thought I'd post a quick update.

At the moment, I only have 1 cake for this month. But I don't mind, to be honest. Yes, we need the money, but sometimes it's just nice to have a wee bit of time and space for yourself. This cake is for 12th October. I'm a bit gutted about how much I quoted for it, to be honest. I got an e-mail from Katie, the party planner, with the following picture attached, asking if I can make the same cake and how much?

I quoted £60 for 25 portions and £85 for 40 portions. They've gone with the smaller cake. Fine. I thought I recognised the cake, so I went on-line and sure enough I found it. I'm a bit sneeky, 'cause I asked my sister to phone them and give them a line about how her husband/brother/uncle/friend is retiring from London Underground soon and she's interested in the cake for a retirement party. Guess how much? Go on... guess. Nope, more than that. Go higher... It's more than that. 25 portion cake is £205. No, you didn't read that incorrectly. TWO HUNDRED AND FIVE POUNDS for a 25 portion cake. And a 40 portion cake is £240. I mean... come on!?! Please! Even as a cake maker I can't see how she can charge that much. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely cake, nicely done. Last time Katie collected a cake from me, she told me to put my prices up. She wasn't kidding. But not to that sort of stupid amount.

Anyway. November is going to be an exciting month for me.

So far, I've got:

3rd - Barbie doll cake - which is being delivered by minicab to Tunbridge Wells. The delivery is only a few quid less than the cake itself! Go figure!?!

3rd - LARGE Mystery Machine Van (Scooby Doo van!) - that's for the same family who ordered the Harry Potter Hogwarts cake that I helped to salvage! :o)

10th - cake that looks like a can of Stella Artois lager

10th - I'm staying overnight in Birmingham because I'm going to the NEC on the 11th to see the Sugarcraft and Cake Decoration Show.

Imagine... all that space dedicated to trying to sell me stuff! :oD In fairness, it's not just selling stuff. There are workshops and demonstrations. But I'm so excited. I was supposed to go last year, but ended up in hospital the night before we were due to go. So I am determined to go this year.

And that's it from me, for now.