Cookies!

Has it really been over a month since I last posted? Ooops!

What have I been up to?

Cookies!!!!

I've had an order for 1020 cookies.

Fortunately, they weren't decorated and they weren't all at the same time, either. It's for a party organiser who is doing some corporate Christmas parties (for children). One of the activities is cookie decorating. So I provide the cookies and everything else that's needed to decorate them.

I'm just preparing my last batch. The thing that takes the longest is rolling the dough and cutting out the shapes. So I've been doing that and then open freezing them. Once they're frozen, I put them into freezer bags. They cook beautifully from frozen. So that saves a lot of time.

My last lot is being baked on Sunday, ready for collection on Monday morning. I've got 345 to do.

I've also got a cake for 29th December. Had it not been for the ruby wedding anniversary of a family friend, I wouldn't have done it.

Then a cake for 3rd January. I've had an enquiry for another cake for 3rd January - just waiting to hear back on that. Then 60 cupcakes for 11th January (same customer that's order for the 3rd Jan.)

So already a few things on order for the beginning of the year. I had an enquiry for 30th December, but I turned it down. I need some "me time". We're not doing anything New Year's Eve, so I guess I'll have a couple of days to myself then.

If I don't update before-hand, I'd like to wish you a Happy Chanukah / Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

"See" you in 2009

Suzanne x x

Shhhhhh!

Shhhh! Don't tell Steve I'm here posting a message. I should have finished tidying up ages ago. And I should have had a shower and been in bed by now. But as he's working nights, he'll never know (because I certainly don't think he reads this blog!)

I decorated two cakes today. One's being collected in the morning and the other one I'm delivering tomorrow night. Both are for Saturday, but I had to bring them both forward a day, because I'm going away for the weekend! :o) It's "work" related. I'm going here:

http://www.ichf.co.uk/cake/

I'm leaving home at 6.30am on Saturday morning and driving to St. Albans, where I'm meeting someone I know through the British Sugarcraft Guild. OK, so when I say I 'know' them, we haven't actually met before. But she sounds normal on the phone... You know... she doesn't sound like a mad, axe-wielding murderer, LOL!!!

From St. Albans, she's driving us to Birmingham. We're staying in a B&B, 'cause we're going to the exhibition both Saturday and Sunday. I've got tickets for a workshop and a demo whilst I'm there, so I'm really excited. Hopefully on the Saturday night we'll meet up with some other people from the BSG for a meal or something. And I've found out that a friend I met through Babyworld is going again this year! It'll be lovely to catch up with her.

Got a busy time coming up.

Back from the NEC on Sunday evening.
Monday 17th, decorate a cake.
Tuesday 18th deliver a cake in Hemel Hempstead!
Friday 21st I've got a cake.
Tuesday 25th meeting a friend in Bluewater
Saturday 6th Daniel's birthday
Sunday 7th Daniel's party

Then, I've got a LOT of cookies to do. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Between 12th and 23rd December, I've got 1020 cookies to do. Thankfully, I'm not decorating them. But I DO need to make a start on the cookie dough. It freezes beautifully. I can and will cut out a lot of them and freeze them raw (subject to space!) But, thinking about it, I won't have space for all of them.

I think that's everything for now.

I'll report back after the weekend. But now, I'd better tidy and get to bed!!!!

Fame Again!!

You know the football shirt cakes I did for the 90 year old twins?

I got a phone call from the customer earlier today to say that there's a small article about them in the Jewish Chronicle and that my cake's in the picture!

This is the photo:

And this is the article:

http://www.thejc.com/articles/spurs-fan-twins-do-party-double

Shame I didn't get a mention, LOL!!! But, coo, look at me... published twice in one week!!! :o)

Fame!!!

Well, OK, not quite.

But I'm so excited... like a kid at Christmas!!!

There's a magazine called "Wedding Cakes - A Design Source" and I sent in my wedding cake photos. And some of them have been used in the magazine! And I'm just so proud of myself. Nothing like this has happened to me before.

Lots and lots of people get their cake pictures in this magazine. I'm not unique. But I used to buy it and look longingly at the cakes, wishing I could produce things like that (I still do look through it, wishing I could produce some of the amazing cakes). And now, my cakes are actually in that very magazine!!!

I was working at the youth club today (making lunches for the children) so my mum went to buy the magazine for me (it was only published today!) I got three copies! LOL!! One to keep in pristine condition, one to show off with ;o) and one I've sent to my Auntie in Canada.

And the best thing is that I get my business name and website details listed in the magazine. It'll be wonderful if I get some business from it!

Week Of Twins!

I realised I had cakes for twins on Thursday and then cakes for twins on Sunday.

I got a lovely email with photos, from the family of the 90 year old twins:

"Many thanks for the cakes, they were much admired and enjoyed.

Jo & Philip"

and

"What can I say, the cake was absolutely amazing and what a lovely function.

Natalie"

Cookies & Cupcakes - Done!

I have a large roll of cellophane... like the stuff florists use to wrap bouquets.

I cut some of that and made a sort of wrapper/envelope/bag thingy for the 4 remaining cookies.

I could have sworn I had more bags, though. I did look last night.

I was right. I did have more bags. Found them this morning. After I'd finished wrapping the cookies, of course. Grrrr!!!

Anyway, I was up at just after 7am this morning to bake the cupcakes. Customer collected them at midday. I finished with about only 20 minutes to spare.

After lunch, I'm going to start the two football shirt cakes that are being collected in the morning.

B*gger!

And I was doing so well.

OK, so it took me a LOT longer to get the cookies done this evening. But that's not the problem.

The problem is I've run out of bloody bags. I'm 4 short. And I had everything timed perfectly. Sh*t!

I'll sort it out in the morning... either beg my mum to go to Romford to get some for me, or else I'll have to go myself. But only if I get the cupcakes done first.

*sigh*

A Bridge Too Far!

"A bridge too far!!" - That was what my cleaner said, when I told her that I finally got into bed at 2.30 this morning!!

It does look good, though! :o) It needed to be in the pastel colours that I've done it in. I originally did a brown, wooden looking bridge and it just wasn't right. So I looked on the ITNG website and the bridge is cream and blue. It looks much better.

I'm going ot photograph it very shortly!

Time For Bed??

The thing is, I know that, really, I need to leave it all to set solid before I can try to do any more to it. And it is 2am.

But I'm worried that if it all goes wrong when I assemble it in the morning, then I don't have time to re-do one.

It's a risk I'm going to have to take, though.

Good night.

Where Did My Post Go?

I made a posting at 12.30 to say I was all but finished and that I just had to do the bridge. Hmm... the bridge. The bridge. Why did I say I'd do a bridge?

When I did the bridge on the Winnie 'Pooh Sticks' cake, it was easier because it was two round cakes that were much closer together. For this order, there are two number one shaped cakes. So they have to be further apart.

Now, it's coming up to 1am and I waiting for some pastillage to be ready. Only a few minutes. Luckily, pastillage dries quite quickly. But it's going to take me a while to get this right. I can tell.

*sigh*

I'm so tired.

My cleaner's coming tomorrow and - just for a change - I haven't tidied up. At the risk of repeating myself, I don't clean before the cleaner comes, but I do like to tidy! Otherwise, she'll spend all her time tidying before she can actually get to things to clean them!

Going to Plan

Well, I'm pretty much on-course. And that's not bad, considering that, yesterday, when I was working out what I'd do when, I forgot that I had a hospital appointment today.

Both cakes are covered and on the board. Now, I just need to make the characters, pipe around the cakes and do the inscriptions.

This Week

I did a football shirt cake for a friend's little boy whose party was on Sunday. They loved it. In fact, they refused to cut it on Sunday! I told them yesterday that they had to cut it!!! If they'd wanted to just look at it, I'd have made it out of polystyrene! Besides, if they didn't eat it soon, it would be stale.

Yesterday I went to the cake supply shop to get a few things and to meet a lovely lady called Beckie. Beckie is a cake maker and also makes the most delicious cupcakes that she sells at a couple of markets. As I have a cupcake order this weekend, I asked if she'd sell me some boxes... she brought me 3 boxes and wouldn't take any money for them. So thank you again.

There was no school today; I drove the boys to my MIL, went shopping for eggs (and bought a couple of other things whilst I was there), came home, baked a 7" square (one of the two cakes for order for Thursday), had some lunch, covered the 14" x 24" cake board, made the bridge for the cake (and I'm keeping everything crossed that it will set by tomorrow) put another cake in the oven, went to collect the boys, came home, took the cake out of the oven, made dinner. No wonder I'm too tired to make the figures for the cakes!

So, tomorrow I've got to completely decorate the cakes and make the figures. I should be able to do that OK.

Thursday night I'm going to make the cookie dough for Saturdays' cookies & cupcakes order.

Friday I'll bake, decorate and bag the cookies, and I'll also bake the two football shirt cakes that I've got on order for Sunday.

Saturday morning I'm getting up EARLY to bake the cupcakes... I want them to be as fresh as possible (they're being picked up at around midday!)

Saturday afternoon and evening I'll decorate the football shirt cakes for Sunday morning.

Phew!

That's the plan.

Aaaaand.... Relax!

Phew!

As my most hectic week ever closes, I can take a deep breath and relax.

Maybe stress suits me?? I really pulled it out of the bag with the other two cakes this week, too!! I have to say I surprised myself with the LV handbag... all that free-hand painting in gold and it looks fantastic! (if I do say so myself!!! AND the customer sent me a lovely e-mail.... so it's not just me, LOL)

The 8" cake I was woried about was a bit duff in the middle, so I had to bake another one.

I did have to go to the cake supply shop. And I also ran some errands whilst I was out and about (eg I took my mobile phone to the Car Phone Warehouse to be repaired, filled the car up with petrol... that sort of thing. Nothing life-changing, but things that add precious time onto your overall journey!)

So Friday morning I baked the 8" cake. I also covered the large cake board on Friday. In the evening, I got as far as marzipanning the 3 (well, actually 4, if you count the tiny half-ball cake on top!) cakes.

Yesterday, I covered them with sugarpaste, stacked and finished the decorations.

I ABSOLUTELY BL**DY LOVE THIS CAKE.

It's so pretty! It turned out so well!! I can't wait to photograph it shortly (although it's cold, wet, grey day out there, so there won't be very good light :o( ... it's not fair!!)

The most amazing thing is how absolutely relaxed I was doing this cake. I felt totally in control of it... not it in control of me! I got into a routine of how I made the flowers, 8 at a time (that's the number of holes there are in my shaper tray!) and I just got on with it!

FYI, there are 42 daisies around the bottom tier, 33 around the middle tier, 22 around the middle tier and 33 larger daisies covering the top dome of cake!!! Only had 1 breakage and that was when I dropped one of the larger ones! :oD

Photo to follow very shortly! See my cake photos on my other blog:

http://patacake-parties.blogspot.com/

Best Laid Plans and all that.....

Well, the plan was to bake the 8" and 5" cakes this evening and make some daisies.

I've baked the cakes. But - and I won't know for sure until I cut it through tomorrow - I have a horrible feeling the 8" cake isn't a good 'un. I'm not sure why. Every now and again, these things happen (usually when you're working to a really tight schedule!).

So tomorrow morning I'll cut it through and if it's no good, I'll have to whack another one in the oven.

Also, I haven't even started the daisies.

:o(

And I've also realised that I don't know if I have the box/cake drum for this cake. So I could also end up making a dash to Romford, to the cake supply shop!

Busy!

Oh boy!! What a week.

Saturday 27th Sept - my mum's birthday cake
Monday 29th Sept - 10 people at my house for dinner
Tuesday 30th Sept - to my mother-in-law's house for dinner
Wednesday 1st Oct - Cake order being collected (tin of peas cake)
Thursday 2nd Oct - Cake order being collected (Louis Vuitton handbag cake)
Sunday 5th Oct - Cake order being collected (3 tier christening cake)

Everything going to schedule at the moment. Handbag cake just been collected, and after I've had a cup of tea and then cleared the kitchen, I'll bake the bottom tier (11") of the christening cake and then this evening I'll bake the 8" and 5" cakes. Tonight, I'll also make the hundreds of daisies that I need to go around the base of each cake!! Friday and Saturday will be spent decorating the cake.

So, it's all in hand.... watch this space!

Stuff

I've been very lax with this on-line diary blog thing!

Last week, I did 30 baby shower cookies. The invitations and napkins were of this design, so she wanted them in colours to match. So I did purple, orange, yellow, green, pink and blue!


Customer was really pleased and emailed me to say " Wanted to let you know that I have recieved the cookies and I am very pleased with your work thank you very much for making all the effort."

Last night, I did another 30 cookies, for my "on-line" friend Hannah, whose baby was due YESTERDAY! I haven't heard from her, so I've no idea whether or not baby is on time or not. But the cookies are done and they look sooo pretty. I'll be posting them first thing tomorrow morning.

Yesterday, another friend of mine picked up the birthday cake I made for her daughter. It was a High School Musical themed cake... her daughter, Lucy, helped design it, too! :o)

I don't have any more orders now until towards the end of the month. Can't say I'm not looking forward to the break, because I am! I've got tendonitis in my feet again and just standing or walking is agony :o(

So, ttfn!

Favourite Things Cake - Finished!

It came together really well in the end! :o)

Spidey was climbing out of a hole, just in front of the cake. I couldn't get him climbing the side of it... his legs kept breaking! LOL!!

Customer was really pleased when she collected it. I sent her a message today to ask if she's got an email address (so I could send a link to the cake on my website) and when she replied she said "Cake was amazing. Everyone loved the cake!"


Currently got an 8" round choc cake and a 6" heart vanilla cake in the oven. I rather filled the tins a bit more than usual, plus the extra pinch of baking powder in the choc cake... they're MONSTERS!! LOL!!! Huge. Really deep!


I want to order some new cake tins. I want the range of heart shape tins (5" - 12" inclusive.. except the 10", which I already have), plus the 3 sizes of rectangular tins. I can't believe how expensive they are!!!! Not sure if I'm going to order them. Will have to think about that one. I wonder if people take into account that sort of expense, when they order cakes. I've got round and square tins from 4"-13" inclusive. They cost a fortune. Plus all the equipment I've got for the decoration of cakes. All this sort of thing has to be factored in. So it's not JUST butter, sugar, eggs and flour that you're paying for. It's all the equipment, too. And the electricity to bake the cakes (I like to cook them for a longer time on a low heat... I just prefer the results that way). And then my time to decorate them. And the cake board and the box... and foil for when I wrap the cakes overnight before they're decorated. And sillicone baking parchment to line the tins. And all the other bits and bobs I've probably forgotten. It all adds up.

Favourite Things

I CAN'T FIT THEM ALL ON!!!

I've still got to make Spiderman and a drill.

I've done the CD covers... remember, art was never my strong point! They're representations. Promise you'll remember that. I mean, actually, they're not bad. I'm not as happy with the bottle of Leffe lager, though. It's trickier than it looks.

Seeing as I can't fit Spidey on the cake, I thought I might have him climbing up the side of it, instead! :o)

Anyway, I'm going to clear down, tidy up, feed my family, then start work again.

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

....Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favourite things! So the song goes, anyway.

But on the cake I'm doing for Sunday, the 30 year old birthday boy's favourite things include:

• Spiderman
• CDs
• a Power drill
• a Bottle of Leffe beer
• Dumb bells
• a Crown with 'Princess Katie' (that's his girlfriend, who ordered the cake!)
• a Playstation
• a Lawnmower

And all of these things are going on the cake!!! I'm making little models representing them all. As usual, not scale models - but things that are a representation! I've done the dumb bells, crown and lawnmower. I've done the beer bottle, but need to do the lables for it.

The cake is baked, filled and marzipanned. The cake board is covered. It's being picked up on Sunday morning, so I've all tomorrow to work on it (well, all tomorrow except for when I'm out from 9.30am - 11.30am for the boys' swimming lessons and then out from about 1.20pm - 2.15pm for Matthew's piano lesson!!) I'm out tonight so that's one whole evening I wont' have.

Football Shirt Cake

I did a football shirt cake for this Saturday just gone.

I presume that the customer was pleased with it, because I got a phonecall yesterday from someone who was at the party, requesting the same cake for her son's surprise 21st birthday party in November.

I did the football shirt ever so slightly differently from the last time. Last time, I did the name on the back with an edible print. This time, I did order an edible print with the name, but I forgot to put it on a red background. The letters were too small to cut around and it wouldn't hae looked right with a big white band on the cake, with the name on it. So I abandoned that and just did the name in white paste, using my letter cutters. They looked just fine! :o) I'm now looking for some large number cutters (I'll have to see how much detail cookie cutters have) for the number on the back! Then, I'll only need a very small edible print of the club logo. I could order 1 sheet with lots of small logos of different clubs! As long as they're kept cool and dry and out of direct sunlight, they keep and keep!

I've got a cake with lots of different models on it for this weekend - lots of the birthday boy's favourite things! Then I've got a 2 tier cake for Wednedsay (nice to have a mid-week cake for a change!).

2 Cakes

Firstly, I can't believe I didn't make a blog diary entry about last week's wedding cake.

I must do that. But not tonight... I'm tired.

Late Wednesday night, I baked the cakes for this weekend; an 'In The Night Garden' cake and a 'Deal or No Deal Box' cake.

The ITNG cake is a 10" round chocolate cake. The DOND cake was supposed to be a 9" square vanilla sponge. However, for some reason that totally escapes me now, I decided that the box wasn't quite square - that it was wider than it was deep. I've actually no idea why I thought that. But I did. So to ensure the customer still go the right number of portions, I baked a 10" square and just cake a bit off of the front. Still with me so far? However, I then decided that the cake was nowhere near tall enough... it was the 3" that my cakes usually are (and that's about a third taller than supermarket cakes!!) . But it wasn't in proportion to the box. SO yesterday, I baked another 10" squre and stacked it on top of the first cake. So at no extra cost, the customer has ended up with double the amount of cake she ordered!!! (wonder if can drop that into conversation, LOL?!)

I did the DOND box in a completely different way to the last time I made one. This time, I covered each face of the box seperately. Whereas last time, the edges were all very rounded, this has lovely crisp corners. If you look, then, yes, you can see where they join. But it really is waaaaaaaay better. I'm going to photograph it tomorrow morning. I'm really happy with it.

I've had to put a little thingy on my website saying I'm fully booked for July & August. I'm getting enquiries on a daily basis now and I'm turning away so many orders. It busts me to have to do that, LOL! But it's unbelievable the amount of enquiries I'm getting.

Anyway, before I sign off, I thought I'd post this link that Steve forwarded to me:

http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/inpictures/2008/07/04/8

Wonder if the oven was big enough to do it in one go?? LOLOL!!!!

Bye-bye Tumble Tots Cookies

I got a fairly stroppy email this morning, telling me either remove the Tumble Tots cookies from my website, or pay royalties for using the image.

So they've gone :o(

I did reply apologising, and pointed out that I'd actually made them as a 'thank you' for the Tumbletots staff, when my son left (couldn't continue going, as he started school).

I was proud of those cookies - they were lovely. And I have such wonderful memories of taking first Matthew, then Daniel to Tumble Tots.

Feedback

I've just had a lovely phonecall from the Bat-Mitzvah girl's mum about the cake.

She was absolutely thrilled with it. She said that everyone commented about how beautiful it was and how absolutely delicious it was... she said it was 'so scrummy and moist' and that she would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending me to people.

Now, her younger daughter is in the same class as my older son, so she could have just told me at school tomorrow. But she made a point of phoning me to say 'thank you'. And things like that really do mean a lot.

:o)

Cake Photo Options

So, here are the options.

1. leave the photo as it is.

2. have my website strategically placed.

3. as above, but a bit more substantial.

The thing is, this is as risque as I'm prepared to do. Boobs, ok. But I won't do "men's parts" or, G-d forbid, other "female parts" (gross as it sounds, I've seen those types of cakes!)

This is only a quick photo... I'll take a proper one tomorrow, when there's better light.

Perfectionism?

I'd almost finished the 'boobs' cake.

But 1) the cake board was grubby from where some black powder had spilt and found its way onto the board and 2) there was a crack in the icing, in the cleavage!

I briefly toyed with the idea of putting glitter all over the cake board. But that wouldn't have solve the cracked cleavage problem! And I just felt sick thinking about knowingly letting a cake go out that I was unhappy with.

So I completely removed ALL the icing and ALL the marzipan and started again.

*sigh*

Better get on and finish it! I've baked the two cakes for the BatMitzvah cake for Sunday and I'd been hoping to start that tonight. Probably won't now.

To post, or not to post? THAT is the question!

I'm doing a cake for Saturday. Boobies.

Do I put the photo on my blog and - more importantly - my 'proper' website?

I don't know.

Opinions, please?!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Look at this gorgeous cake that Steve, Matthew & Daniel made for me. Aren't I the luckiest wife and mummy in the world? Because there's not just icing on this cake. Nope. There's lots and lots of love. And that's what makes it special. I baked the cake in a tin I haven't used before - a domed heart. Despite greasing it really well, the top layer of cake stuck to the tin!!! So it was rather an uneven cake for them to decorate. But I think they did a wonderful job!!

And look at this piping around the bottom (that Daniel insisted it had ot have!) I made up the royal icing, made up the piping bag, put the nozzle in and then showed Steve just ONCE how to do it. I think he did an amazing job for his first time. Maybe with some practice, I could have an assistant???

Back to the Drawing Board

I made my nephew's cake yesterday....

I needed something that would a) be very quick and easy to do ('cause of my other cake commitments) and b) would still be appropriate.

Well, Alex eats more than anyone else I know. He's going to be 14 tomorrow, is skinny as a rake, yet can eat my 16½ stone husband under the table... and then still ask for more! It's just not fair! LOL!!

Anyway, I decided I'd do a cake depicting food. A spaghetti and meatballs cake came to mind. I don't know why, but it did.

So that's what I made. I used Ferrero Rocher chocolates for the meatballs, pale yellow royal icing for the spaghetti (piped using a number 3 nozzle) and a pouch of raspberry coulis for the tomato sauce.

It looked fantastic... Until about 20 seconds after I took a photo of the cake. The sauce started to dissolve the royal icing.

By the time I got the cake to Alex's house last night, it looked more like someone had thrown up on a plate, rather than spaghetti and meatballs.

Poor Alex. This is the first time I'd made him a cake (I haven't made one before - our birthdays are on the same day, so I don't usually fancy baking on my birthday, LOL!!)

Now, I admit, I did rush this cake. I was so short of time. I don't know if I'd been able to leave the royal icing to set, whether it would have made a difference? Somehow, I don't think it would. Maybe, if there's a next time, modelling paste would be better than royal icing? A heck of a lot more work though, using the sugar shaper gun! Or someone else suggested colouring some piping gel and using that instead of the raspberry coulis. Maybe that's the way to go??

Anyway, pic of the cake is on my blog, and on my website. And on Facebook, LOL!!!!

Suzanne x

Which is Which?

Would the real Roberts Radio please step forward!!! Customer was really pleased with it... and, I have to say, so was I! :o)

ITNG Cake - Finished!

I did the Haahoos in the end!

LOL!!

Customer came to collect it this morning and he was really pleased with it!

Right. Onto the radio cake now. I'm looking forward to this!

:o)

In The Night Garden Cake

No, the computer's not playing up. It really is twenty past one in the morning.

I've almost finished the ITNG cake which is being collected on Sunday morning. I have to get it finished ASAP, because I've got another cake to do tomorrow, which is being collected on Monday.

I really like how this ITNG cake is looking. I've done a stepping-stone path on the cake and Iggle Piggle is sitting on the path (on the official ITNG website, it says that Iggle Piggle is the only character to walk on this path). And around Upsy Daisy are little daisies (again, on the official ITNG website, it says that only Upsy Daisy is seen in the daisy patch). And Makka Pakka is... well, he's also there! :oD

I wish I had more time to 'play'. Around the side of the cake, I'd do a washing line, where the Tombliboos hang their trousers up and/or I'd do some little Pontipines and Wottingers. And I'd love to do the Haahoos, too!

But, alas, not this time.

Anyway, as it's half past one and I need to finish this cake first thing, when I get up (and how the heck I'm supposed to do that when hubby is working nights - which means Yours Truly will have to take ds1 to piano lessons at 10am and then after lunch, take both boys to their swimming lessons - is anyone's guess!) I'd better clear the kitchen then go to bed!!!!!

Cookies!

I'm about two thirds of the way through doing the cookie order that I want to post off tomorrow morning.

The customer asked for 30 cookies, made up of bottles, prams, baby-grows and rocking horses, in assorted colours suitable for a boy - so no pink!

I've stuck to blue, white, yellow and green.

They're looking so pretty!

I tasted one yesterday - purely for quality control, you understand - and it was delicious! :o)

Update

I haven't posted for a while.

I've either been really busy, or really exhausted!

I've got a busy time coming up.

Next week I've got 30 cookies to do. I'm looking forward to those, as I have a bit of freedom with the colours. I'm doing 8 baby bottles, 8 rocking horses, 8 baby grows and 8 prams (I know that's 32, but the customer rounded up the price and paid me a bit extra for the postage, so I don't mind doing a couple extra!) They've asked for assorted colours - but no pink - suitable for a boy. And they're being personalised, too.

Then I've got the following:

June 1st - In The Night Garden cake
June 2nd - 3D radio cake
June 4th - Lazy Town cake
June 4th - cake for my nephew (doing a cake that looks like a bowl of spaghetti)
June 14th - boobie cake
June 15th - 2 tier Bat Mitzvah cake
June 20th - musical 'burst' cake
June 28th - 4 tier wedding cake

Wow! when you look at it like that, that's a lot of cake!

The plan is that I make the models for the ITNG cake and the Lazy Town cake during this coming week. That will help. I should also do the burst for the Bat Mitzvah cake and the musical cake ahead of time. Again, all these little things done in advance help to cut down on my stress factor.

Done and Done!

The gardening cake is done. I'm really, really pleased with it. The customer ordered a 7" square, but I actually made her an 8", because it was going to be too tight a squeeze to get everything on!

The handbag cake is also done. Phew! What a to-do. I baked the cake, then carved it and covered with marzipan. But I was desperately unhappy with the shape. So I quickly whipped up another one, baked it, let it cool (learnt a handy tip today... if you need to cool a cake quickly, once it's started to cool down, you can cut it into layers and then seperate them and allow them to cool seperately. It really does speed things up a lot!) and then I re-did the cake. It's not quite in the same proportions as the picture of the bag I was copying, but the cake is a representation, not a scale copy! It's turned out well. The customer sent me a text message this evening to say she'll be with me by 10am. Gulp! So not only am I going to bed at stupid o'clock (you should see the state of my kitchen! It's going to take at least half an hour to clear up!) but I've got to be up early, to ensure I've got time to photograph the cakes, too.

Dib Dib Dib... Dob Dob Dob

No, I haven't joined the boy scouts. But I am taking a leaf out of their book... well, using their motto, actually. Be prepared!

So, to that end, I've made three ikkle flower pots from modelling paste, for one of the cakes this weekend (gardening theme). I've also made part of the hand-fork and the trowel that are going on it.

My niece's cake is baked. I learnt, today, that you can actually freeze a fully decorated cake. The trick is to let it defrost slowly, and not touch it at all whilst it's defrosting - so that the condensation is re-absorbed back into the cake and won't mark it. So I may decorate it tomorrow, wrap it well, then bung it in the freezer. Or I may just fill it and marzipan it, then freeze it. I'm not sure yet. It would be good to try, as an experiment... and as it's "only" family. ;o) As I may have said before, I'd never ever freeze a customer's cake. But this is for my niece. LOL!!

The tendonitis in my feet is still agony. It's been about 4 weeks now. I think a trip to the doctor might be in order. But let's get these cake orders out of the way first, eh?

Suzanne x

Ouch

There's a reason I haven't updated for a while.

I've just been so darn busy! :oD Unfortunately, the upshot of that is I've been on my feet A LOT and I have tendonitis in my feet. It's agony :o(

I'm getting enquiries almost on a daily basis now... people are not only hearing of my by word-of-mouth, but they're doing Google searches for the type of cake they want, I'm coming up on the first or second page a lot of the time. So that's fantastic!!!!

I was up until quarter to four this morning, finishing the wedding cake that's on the 'other blog'. I can hardly see straight, if I'm honest. In fact, as soon as I've finished this, I'm having a wee snooze!!!

The bride was really pleased with the cake.

I really like how the roses turned out - I'm not a confident rose maker. But they look lovely.

I've got a busy week, so I have got to REALLY plan my time well.

Wednedsay I'm meeting a friend at Brent Cross.
Friday I'm meeting a friend at Bluewater. I'm especially excited about this, because she's a friend I haven't met before (no, I haven't gone mad! She's a friend I made via the British Sugarcraft Guild website.) Oh, and did I mention I've got two cakes for Saturday?????????

Oh, erm... and it's my niece's birthday on 2nd May and I promised her a SpongeBob SquarePants cake! Eeeeeeeeeeek!!

I'll be fine. I can do it!!!!

Mind you, it wouldn't have been that long ago that I'd have been panicking, wondering what on earth I'd done, taking on two cakes for the same day and also arranging to meet a friend the day before. Hmmm.... well, maybe it was a wee bit 'lacking in planning'?

The week after that, I've got a First Holy Communion cake. That's a fruit cake and is already baked. The week after that, I've got a make-up bag cake. And then nothing until the 27th, when I need to have made 30 cookies for a baby-naming.

Cakes, cakes, cakes

I've done all the baking for the teddy cake.

There's a cake which I baked in a large pyrex bowl for the face. There's an even larger cake which I baked in an even larger pyrex bowl for the body. There is a 6" round cake which will make the arms. There's a mini semi-sphere for the nose. There are 4 x 2½ rounds for the legs.

I've marzipanned the face. I'm just having a five minute rest, 'cause my legs are aching - which is why I'm on the computer! LOL!!

Then, I need to put everything together, pipe the chocoalte buttercream all over, then make a pink bow and pipe the inscription!

Right... better get on!

Funny Poem

Someone showed me this poem, and I think it's so apt that I wanted to put it on my blog!

ONLY A SPONGE

You're ever so clever - I'll get you to make
for my mother's birthday a beautiful birthday cake
Only a sponge - that's all I need
('only a sponge', I thought, 'only' indeed)

Make it look pretty, she'd like it in pink
put one of those frills on - no - two frills I think.
Insert some ribbon and cover the board
remember to put 'Happy birthday to Maude'

As for the flowers, her favourite's sweetpea
and orchids and roses - well just do all three.
Mustn't forget some embroidery things you know,
flowers and ribbons and birds on their wings

You'll charge me 'nine fifty'?
Well that's a bit steep
It's ONLY A SPONGE
and they're ever so cheap!!

IMBC

IMBC - Italian Meringe Buttercream.

I made some for the first time last night.

I'm not sure about it. I'm just not sure. At first, I thought it was really sweet. But thinking about it, is it any sweeter than 'normal' buttercream? Probably not. It had the most unusual texture... almost like a mousse. Really, really silky. In fact, I would probably serve it as a mousse at a dinner party!

I made it into chocolate IMBC. And it was a delicious, sweet, chocolate mousse!! I put it in the fridge overnight and it's set really hard - as you'd expect.

But I don't think I'll be doing the teddy with it. It's way too soft.

Might take a wee bit out to have a sweet snack later.... just a little bit in a bowl, as some mousse (once it comes back to room temp, that is.)

Now, can someone just remind me why I'm 2½ stone overweight?????????????????????

Biiiiiig Cake

Well, quite a big cake!

I've got a cake to do for Sunday... a teddy (like the one below, which was originally done by 'Magical Myschief on the BSG website - and a HUGE thanks to her for all her help so far!) to feed 70 people, plus an 8" square cutting cake.

I couldn't get a cake board big enough, so I bought a piece of 9mm MDF at B&Q and had it cut so that it's approx. 30" x 17". I bought some really pretty sticky-back plastic and have covered it. But now I'm worried about how the cake will stay on the board, because of the plastic!! I mean, I'll be putting the cakes onto gold cake card, but I usually stick the card to the board with either royal icing or buttercream... but the board is usually covered with sugarpaste, not sticky-back plastic!!!! I'm going to ask for some advice on this one. I'm just not sure.

I'm making the teddy thus: the head is a pudding basin, approximately equivalent to an 8" round tin. For the body I'm using an even larger pudding basin which is roughly equivalent to a 10" round. For the legs, I'm baking cake in some of the 2½" mini cake tins. And the arms will be a 5" or 6" round, cut in half, and one half put either side of the body. The nose/muzzle will be one of the mini half sports balls!

Then the whole thing will be covered in chocolate buttercream. That's a lot of piping!! I bet my hands and arms will be aching afterwards! :o)

Should be good, though. The customer didn't want plain sponge; she's requested sponge with both chocolate chips and pistachio nuts. Sounds nice! :o)

Thank Yous

I got the most beautiful card in the post this morning, from the customer for whom I made the number 1 cake with the building blocks.

It says:

Dear Suzanne

Thank you so much for making the most amazing cake for my lovely Millie's 1st birthday.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, had a photograph taken next to it!

Thanks again, and I will most definitely be back to order her christening cake.

Lots of love

........

I really am touched. Not only did she love the cake, but she actually took the time and trouble to send me a card to say thanks. I love making cakes anyway - and especially this one - but when someone says 'thanks' it makes it even more worthwhile.

Lovely Commission

A customer's just collected a cake and it was such a joy to make.

She's a foster carer and had a little girl in her care for 10 months, since she was a couple of days old. The baby is now with adoptive parents, but they very much want to keep the foster carer as part of the little girl's life.

The foster carer told the adoptive parents that she would like to provide the first birthday cake.

She told me that too much is not enough, LOL!! She wants a BIG cake, with lots of pink, lots of lilac, lots of hearts and lots and lots of edible glitter!!!

So the cake was 15" in length and sat upon a board that was 24" (yes, 2 foot!!) long. She really wanted to incorporate two of my cake designs - the number 1 that I frequently do and the building blocks cake that I made for my niece's 1st birthday in 2003 (http://www.patacake-parties.com/Emily's%20building%20blocks%20cake.jpg) so we decided to do blocks of sugarpaste, instead of more cake.

It was a b*gger to get those building blocks done. I'm going to have to come up with some other way to get perfect cubes. The ones I did were OK. But they weren't all perfect cubes and not completely identical in size. I spent, literally, hours doing the building blocks. You'd never think it! I got to bed at 1.30am and then still had to do the inscription this morning and make the teddy bear!

Still, she was thrilled with it when she collected it and at the end of the day, that's all that matters to me.

Suzanne x

I Forget...

I forget that it's not only me who reads this blog.

It's not 'just' a blog. It's a diary... and sometimes when I sit down at the computer to write I'm happy. Other times I might be just plain tired and irritable. It's pot luck, I suppose. I do wear my heart on my sleeve.

But what I hope I'd never do is to upset someone.

One of my customers read my blog and emailed me to let me know... and was concerned about something she'd read. I sincerely hope that she wasn't upset. I would never, ever want to upset anyone. Customer or not. It's just not in me to do that to people.

You see, I write as I speak. So, it may be that I know what I mean... but it can be misconstrued, because I haven't explained myself properly. And that's often because I frequently sit down and write a few lines, just before I go to bed at stupid o'clock, having just finished the cake.

So, if you're reading this - and you know who you are - I hope I didn't upset you. I truly enjoyed making your cake.

Suzanne x

Starting Young!

Customer came to collect the ITNG cake this morning.

She was in a bit of a rush - so it was literally an 'in and out' visit! However, just as she was leaving, Daniel - my 6 year old - pipes up in a little voice "Mummy, did you tell her about the sticks in the people?"

Goodness me! I'd forgotten to tell her that there was spaghetti through the centre of the characters to help keep them stable.

I'd no idea that he'd taken in that sort of information when previous customers had collected cakes!

What a star!

I forgot to say.... Before and After

My Auntie Linda was over from Canada a couple of weeks ago. She was here for 3½ weeks, but unfortunately, she went back home just before her birthday.

A day or two before Auntie went home, my mum popped round. "Are you busy?" she asked. "No. Why?" "Can you do something with this? They didn't have much at all to choose from. We're having a little birthday get-together for your aunt tonight. I don't know what you use... maybe some spray or something? But it needs some colour, don't you think?"

I hadn't started dinner yet. Matthew had club that night. I didn't have a chance to do much. This is the best I could come up with, under the circumstances! I 'painted' the scrolls already on the cake. I already had the hearts and stars on wires, so I lightly brushed them with confectioner's glaze and then dipped them in edible glitter. I piped the inscription in white and then painted over that, so that it would match the scrolls. And the whole thing had a light spray with the spray on pearly stuff!

It was a bl**dy horrible thing to work on. The first 'posy pick' I used (that's a little plastic thing that you put the wires into, then you put that into the cake... you mustn't put wires directly into a cake!) was deeper than the flippin' cake was! I had to use a teeny-weeny one.

ITNG Finished

It's done.

I'm really happy with how the models have turned out, but I'm just a bit worried about one of the things sticking out of Upsy Daisy's head. It looks as if it may drop off! But if I don't touch it, maybe it'll be ok by the morning? Fingers crossed.

I'm going to photograph the cake in the morning, so check out the blog and my 'proper' website for pics!

I'm happy I got it all done today - even the inscription - but I'm still a bit unhappy that I spent the entire bank holiday doing it.

Suzanne x

ITNG

I forgot to say, originally, the cake was supposed to be for Wednesday 26th. Then the customer emailed me to say 'can I pick it up on Saturday?' So I said 'is it actually required for Wednesday?' - thinking that it would be getting stale by the Wednesday. She replied back that, no, it was for Sunday. So I said that she told me she wanted it for Wednesday 26th (that's what's on the order form), but I could do it for the Saturday. However, what I hadn't remembered is that Friday (today) is a bank holiday. So Steve's off work, the boys are off school AND I'M WORKING!!!! Not happy at all.

We have been out for a couple of hours. But we couldn't really 'do' much, if you know what I mean?

Anyway, the cake is covered. Iggle Piggle is made. Now I just need to make Makka Pakka, Upsy Daisy and do the inscription. Doesn't sound a lot, when you put it like that, but I won't get to bed until stupid o'clock again. And I'm really tired already.

ITNG Cake

I've got a cake to do. 10" round, with In The Night Garden characters on top. I've baked the cake, but can I find the energy/motivation to start the characters? Nope! :o( It's being collected on Saturday morning, and I'm out for a while tomorrow, so I really ought to pull my finger out.

I will.

Eventually.

Oh Ye of Little Faith

I should have more faith in my abilities by now.

The cake turned out great. Well, I think so.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HZtk9YeHrTI/R9u3bHt77GI/AAAAAAAAAP4/5Q1Jm7ZHncs/s1600-h/Bridge+Cards+cake.jpg

Hubby suggested I put a wide band around the bottom of the cake, to hide where it had torn. So that's what I did, and then added cut-outs in the shape of the 4 suits of cards, in gold. Because I did this, I left off the gold swags. It would have looked too much. I haven't heard back from them. But I hope they liked it.

Why oh Why???

Why do things never go smoothly when you really need them to?

Baked the 12" square cake last night. Fine. But it didn't rise quite as much as my cakes usually do. This morning I torted it, filled it and then covered it with marzipan. It didn't look 'flat' but it didn't look as impressive as my cakes usually do.

Anyway, I'd promised a friend of mine that I'd go to lunch to celebrate her 40th birthday.... it was only a casual thing with a few of us, and it was in the pub restaurant that's right near the boys' school. So instead of working right through from about 10am - 1.30pm, I finished at 12.15pm so I could meet her.

Anyway, once we were home from school, I discovered that I didn't have any of the varnish thinning stuff that I needed. So I had to round the kids up into the car and then drive to Romford (a good 20 minute journey each way). Thank G-d for my mum! She had the boys for me (because they really didn't want to come). Considering I only needed a few quid's worth of stuff, how did I manage to spend £26? I always do that! :o Anyway, whilst I was there, I bought a 12" square cake drum and I put the cake on that and then iced it, right the way down to the bottom. It definitely helps in giving it more height! It's a bit naughty and it's not, if you know what I mean? I asked the lady in the cake shop and she said people do it all the time. (But to my mind, I shouldn't have to, if you know what I mean?)

Oh yes, on the way back from Romford - seeing as Mum had the boys for me - I stopped in at the police station to report my phone lost. I WAITED OVER AN HOUR. And when I was seen, I was told that I needed my IMEI number. The PC kindly said that I could do it over the phone, if she got me to sign the declaration now. So that was another hour down the pan! Agghhhhhhhh!

Anyway, cake is covered. It looks shite. At the moment. But then, at this stage, it frequently does. The icing has ripped near the bottom, so I'm thinking of how I'm going to disguise this. I don't need this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm tired. I have prepared absolutely sod all for dinner, so it's take away - again. I feel like such a bad wife and mother right now.

Anyway, I'm sure it will all be ok in the end. I bloody well hope so, anyway.

Mmmmmmmm

Have I mentioned how nice my house smells, when I have a fruit cake baking?

9" round fruit cake, for a first holy communion in May.

I put it in the oven at 10.30 this morning. So it's had 4½ hours so far, at 125c. I should be back from picking the boys up from school at about 4 o'clock, so I'll check it then.

Tomorrow night I will bake the 12" square cake that I need to decorate all day/night on Friday, and deliver on Saturday morning. I've done the playing cards for that cake. They look quite good. I'm going to attempt swags on that cake. Watch this space!!!!

Suzanne x

Chocolate Cake Cooking.....

Good grief! How long???

I put it in the oven at just before twenty to ten.

I've just this second taken it out (ten to one!)

It's all very well and good baking cakes at a lower temperature (I much prefer the texture) but I didn't think it would take over 3 hours to bake a 10" square chocolate cake. I did put rather a lot of evaporated milk in it... maybe I'll try a wee dram less next time?

Right, my bed is calling me. I'm shattered.

Night-night!

Makes it all worth while!

Look at her little face! Bless!!

Carrot Cake - The Final Verdict

They went mad for it!

They couldn't get over what a beautifully moist cake it was!

ROFLMAO!

It was a huge success! And, actually, it was very nice indeed. I can honestly say I've never seen birthday cake disappear like that. There were 12 of us, and the cake went in about 5 or 10 minutes! The picture below was what was left. That was a 7" carrot cake, a 4" chocolate cake and a 4" lemon cake. Admittedly, my aunt and her friend who were there, wrapped a couple of bits up to take home! But even so!

I'm a very happy bunny!!!!

Sarah's Birthday Cake

It's finished.

I'm soooo pleased with it.

OK, so there's a chance the actual cake may taste like kak, but at least it looks good! LOL! ;o)

I'll photograph it later and put it on my website and the other Blog!

Suzanne x

Bl**dy Carrot Cake

Nope.

It didn't work.

It's slightly wet and it's heavy. And it just looks 'yuk'.

Oh bloody, bloody hell! Sh*t! B*gger! F*ck!

My sister has a 'thing' about my cakes, anyway. So now this will give her even more to moan about. I'd like to point out that I think my mum and my sister are the only two people who don't like my cakes. Everyone else raves about the taste of my cakes. But not Mum and Debra. And they certainly won't be raving about this f***ing carrot cake.

I am so peed off right now. So upset. And I do not have time to bake another cake, as I need to start decorating it now.

F***ING HELL!

Carrot Cake Troubles

I can't make carrot cake!

I don't think so, anyway. I tried one a while ago... I got the recipe on-line somewhere. It was revolting. I've just tried another one, and although I haven't tasted it yet (it's still hot and still in the tin... it's just come out of the oven) I'm not sure. When I put it into the cake tin, it was a VERY wet mixture... I probably should have added a bit more flour. And I know I've used too much orange zest, 'cause that's all I can smell. This carrot cake is for my niece's birthday cake, for Wednesday. I've baked a 7" carrot cake, a 4" chocolate cake and a 4" lemon sponge. She's having a Minnie Mouse cake. That's the plan, anyway. So I need to spend all day tomorrow decorating, so there's no time to bake another cake instead of the carrot cake. I'll let you know.

On a better note, the Pikachu cake, being collected tomorrow morning, is ready.

Orders

I got me another wedding cake order!

Yayyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's for the end of April.

The bottom tier is a fruit cake, so I'll get soaking the fruit for that tomorrow and will bake the cake during the week.

I'm still a bit rubbish at charging, though. She asked if I could make a bride and groom cake topper... and I told her I wouldn't charge her for it. Oops!

And another one!

Hubby is just delivering a cake for me. Another number 1 with Winnie & Friends picnic! Aaaand, I've just had an order for another one :oD Remember the castle cake with Cinderalla and Prince Charming that I did at the beginnig of January, followed by 70 cupcakes 2 days later? Well, the customer phoned me directly a couple of days ago (the previous order was through a party planner) to ask if I'd make a cake for her son's 1st birthday in April. She said all she knows is that she wants Winnie-the-Pooh. So I described the cake.... a large number one, on top of which is Winnie, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet sitting on a blanket having a picnic of cake, jam tarts and sandwiches. She said "I want it!" LOL!!

I've also had quite a few other enquiries. So things are looking fairly good right now.

Suzanne x

Christening Cake and photos...

The cake came out well in the end. I think so, anyway. She got a LOT of cake for her money! To give you an idea, it's on a 18"x14" cake drum. The cake is approximately 14"x9". So most certainly more than the 18-20 portions she needs.

I'm getting really frustrated with taking photos. I can't get the lighting right. Often, I can compensate for that using brightness or colour adjustments on my photo editing software. But it's frustrating that I have to do it all the time. And a lot of my cakes aren't shown off to their fullest, because of my limited photography skills and equipment.

Steve spoke to a photographer yesterday (ok, so it was a police photographer at a post mortem) and he said the best light to take photos in is natural day light. He reckons that if you look at a lot of good food photography nowadays, it's done in a natural light. But I don't always have the luxury of that. I often finish cakes at stupid o'clock and then they're picked up first thing the next day.

Anyway, customer will be here soon to collect the cake, so better finish up now.

Suzanne x

Christening Cake and Other Stuff

I'm currently working on a christening cake which is being picked up tomorrow morning. So, in actual fact, I shouldn't be on the computer, I should be doing something. Anything. But not on the computer.

Anyway, it's a book cake - the same as the one I have on my website, but in pink.

It was a last minute order... I only got the order yesterday and the christening is on Sunday. How can you leave it 3 days before an event to order a cake???? And then she had the cheek to try and get me down on price. But I stood my ground. That was my price and she could take it or leave it. Luckily for me, she took it! :o)

Anyway, rather than the 20 minute drive to Romford to hire a book shape tin I decided to just use a small roasting tin I have and then carve it. After all, the extra bit of cake mix is a lot less than the time, petrol, tin hire charge, then return trip to return the tin when I've finished! So I baked two cakes in small roasting tins, then very lightly carved them. It's looking fine. Not quite as deep as the cakes I usually make. But good.

The three cake enquiries I mentioned in my previous posting didn't come to anything... I now think they were from other cake makers, wanting to know how much I charge?

Oh, and the person who used my photo on her site.... I must admit the email I sent her was a little on the sarcastic side:

Dear XX

I have just been visiting your very impressive website, imagicakes. I was particularly impressed with the single tier fairy castle cake pictured second in on the bottom row of your homepage. In fact I am amazed that it is identical to a single tier fairy cake that I made for a client. Yes, identical, and I have copyright of the image you are using to promote your business, as that is my cake and my picture.

And whilst I am very flattered that you admire my work, I would be very grateful if you would remove it from your advertising material forthwith.


This is the ridiculous long, waffly reply I got from her:

Hi Suzanne,

Thanks so much for your lovely comments about our website.
Sincere apologies if you thought I was plagiarising your cakes. When we were first setting up the website, we did a Google image search for some cake pictures to use as a collage background and yours was just a random choice as a generic example. I had no idea that it was a unique or special cake and, as there was no circle C mark or Copyright Registration Number beside it, I assumed the image was in the public domain and not subject to assurities.That withstanding I apologise for using your image without your knowledge.

It was always our intention to update the home page collage with live bakes as our portfolio expanded but the rapid growth of our business and increased volume over Christmas stretched us almost beyond capacity. We therefore took the decision to shelve website updates and assign all our resources to order delivery.

The email that I received from you today and your friend Chris has prompted me to address the website issues and I can confirm that an immediate fix has been implemented replacing all P.D. / generic catalogue with bespoke images. Any outsourced adverts containing same will be changed as soon as is practical.

It has never been our intention to pass off other companies' products as our own and although I don't believe our website has done this, your comments have identified an area of improvement for us and for that we are grateful.

The success that imagicakes has enjoyed has been greatly enhanced by our fantastic relationships with
other organizations within and outside sugarcraft (similar to the links on your website) and to this end we proactivley seek and support businesses that offer a reciprocal arrangement.

Imagicakes offers a totally bespoke cake making and decorating service so we rarely make the same cake twice.

Please feel free to replicate any of the cakes on our website.

Once again we apologise for using your images without your consent.
If you have any other concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me personally.


Cheeky bloody cow! "Please feel free to replicate any of the cakes on our website" Grrrrrr!! I don't know why, but I just have a feeling in my water that she didn't word that reply to me.

Anyway. Better get on with the cake.

Suzanne x

Bloody Cheek!!!!!!

I was searching the interweb for some ideas for a cake enquiry I've had, when I came across a site that was using my photo! I have no problem whatsoever with someone copying any of my cakes - heck, that's how I get half of my ideas - but using my actual photo is another kettle of fish! I'm going to contact the person and tell them to remove it... I'm just waiting for some advice on how to word it.

On a brighter note, I've had 3 cake enquiries today :o)

Sugar Ice

I bought a rubber ice cube tray from Tesco for a quid.

I made up a small amount of the boiled sugar/glucose to see if I could make it in ice cube trays (in case there's a next time!) Because I was worried the rubber may possibly melt, I put it in a roasting tin and put a little cold water around it, too. I very, very lightly oiled the ice cube tray - I just dipped a small paint brush in some veg oil and then brushed the inside of each little section.

Fab result!!!!!!!! And they popped out so easily.

Steve's cake... finished!

I'm really rather pleased with it.

Last night, I made a whole load more of the 'ice' because I'd let the first lot boil for a minute or so too long and it had a very, very definite yellow tinge to it.... it looked like frozen wee! (sorry...tmi?)

Anyway, this lot is just right. I've smashed it up again (note to self... it was much easier second time around when I smashed it in the roasting tin, rather than just on the work surface!)

The overall effect is very good. If I'm being picky, then the bottle doesn't have quite enough shape; the bucket could have been a bit taller and carved more (I did carve it so that the bottom was a smaller diameter than the top, but you really don't get that effect very much); the bottle could have been at a slight angle, so it looks like it's leaning back a bit.

But that's only if I'm being picky. The overall effect is very pleasing.

I'll take pics once Steve's taken the boys swimming this afternoon.

Also, because we're supposed to be going to my Uncle Harold's birthday party tonight, (of course, that's just the rouse to get Steve to the hall for what is his surprise party) I thought it might look suspicious if I didn't make a cake - like I originally told Steve I was going to do. So I've just re-covered my old cake dummy! LOL!! Poor Uncle H. My sister said I should in fact give H a little cake, as he does enjoy a slice of an afternoon. I think I have one in the freezer which I'll take out shortly and just buttercream for him!

Done the tricky bit.

I've done the bottle bit of Steve's cake. It's ok. Nowhere near as good as the one I'm copying, but it's passable. You'll definitely get the gist.

However, I've already made a boo-boo. Although I've put a dowel through the middle of the bottle, I've put the bottle on a very small card (same diameter as the bottle). So that means that I've stupidly only made the dowel the same height as the bottle... it should have been much, much longer so that it can go into the cake to keep it stable and in place.

Now I'm not sure what to do. I can try and remove the card from the bottom of the bottle and try and remove the dowel. However, what I don't want to do is to crack the paste - or, more accurately, the glaze on the past. It has several coats of confectioner's varnish to give it a shine, like a glass bottle would have.

Hmmmm... I'll re-assess the situation in the morning and make a decision then.

Oh, one more thing. I smashed up the sugar/glucose that I boiled up earlier today. O.M.G. It shatters like glass and goes everywhere!!!!!!!!

One down, one to go!

I've finished the anniversary cake which is being picked up tomorrow afternoon. The brief was two hearts, joined and they also wanted a little green incorporated into it somewhere, because the family is Irish. I think it's turned out well. I'm going to photograph it properly later, then I'll put it on my other blog and also my proper website.

I now have to start Steve's cake.

I've begun by making the 'ice'. Good grief, that stuff gets HOT! I'm sure it would strip several layers of skin of you got it on you. Sugar boiling at 150c is serious stuff!!

Right. I think I'm going to clear down the kitchen, so it's nice and tidy to start on the cake. But before that - LUNCH! I'm starving.

Suzanne x

Cakes!

I've got a 50th wedding anniversary cake for Friday. Two hearts, joined. One heart has been baked and the other is in the oven, as I type!

I also have a birthday cake for Steve, this weekend. It's the big FOUR-OH. I'm doing this:

I saw this cake on the British Sugarcraft Guild forum. It was made by Kelly. She's been very kind with giving me help and tips on how to achieve it. Thank you, Kelly! For example, the 'ice' is made from liquid glucose and sugar. You use equal amounts, heat so the sugar disolves, and then boil until it reaches 150c (hard crack stage). I've actually bought edible gold leaf for the top of the bottle. It's not cheap! But, hey, he's worth it. I've only bought 2 sheets (at three quid each) and now I'm looking at the cake again, I'm not sure I've got enough. Hmmmm.... I'll re-assess once the cake is made and covered and if I don't have enough, I'll just use gold lustre instead.

That's it, for now.

Suzanne x

Hysterical!

Do you remember the 50th anniversary cake I did? The one that caused me to shed blood, sweat and tears? (well, ok, no blood was lost in the making, but sweat and tears aplenty!)

They emailed me today:

"this is a photo of the 0 of our cake incase you do not recognise it, 2nd time around!!!!"

and here's the picture they attached (click on it to enlarge!) :

I haven't laughed so much for ages!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year

Well, Christmas is well and truly over now. We had a quiet new year's eve. Now it's back to work.

I've just covered 4 ice cream cones with really small circles of sugarpaste, to look like slates on turret tower roofs for the castle cake I've got later this week. I've made the towers - I made some pastillage and this is BY FAR the best medium I've used to make them. It's quick drying and strong enough that once it's dried I don't need an internal support (ie cardboard kitchen roll tube!) Tomorrow morning I'll bake the 8" square and 5" round cakes. I'll start to cover them tomorrow evening and then finish it off on Thursday, ready for delivery on Friday. There are at least 100 'tiles' on each tower roof!

I also need to make a Cinderella and Prince Charming for this cake. Hmmmm...... wish me luck. I don't know if there's time to make it - or even room for it on the cake board - but I bought some polystyrene ball things from Hobbycraft... they way they have grooves in them makes them perfect to cover and use as the base of Cinderella's pumpkin coach! :o)

Anyway, time to clear up the kitchen, me thinks!

Suzanne x