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)