Fishing cake for 60th birthday party - July 2016

Victoria Sponge birthday cake for a keen fisherman.  He didn't want any fuss... but that was never going to happen so his family organised an amazing party at the brilliant Long Furlong Barn and, judging by the reports, it was fantastic!

Got some lovely feedback as well, which always makes me feel happy 😃

Happy birthday Stewart!

Rananculus birthday cake - July 2016

Birthday cake for a special lady.

Brandy soaked rich fruit cake, covered with marzipan and finished with fondant icing.  Decorated with sugar rananculus, filler flowers and a message framed by trailing pink jasmine.  

Pretty happy with the finished cake, and was very happy with getting a slice of the fruit cake too!  

Hardly ever get a slice of my own fruit cake (I'm never at the parties) but I absolutely love it.  It's packed with fruit and cherries and almonds and orange and booze... 

 Happy birthday Nikki 

xxxx

Slayer cake - March 2016

Slayer birthday cake for 16th birthday.  

All sugar paste decoration.

The cake was ceremonially cut to the music of slayer and a little head banging was performed to mark the occasion.

The cake was actually a red velvet, but I tried out the tip I got from a fellow bakery I use beetroot powder instead of food colouring.  I was reliably informed that " it never fails"... Wrong!

The batter was acidic enough, the oven temp was low, the cake was only just baked and the layers weren't too thick... It just doesn't work.  At some point I'll have a chance to try out the raw puréed beetroot method, but I'm really busy and I'm not trying theories out on customer cakes so it'll have to wait for now.

Meantime the cake tastes great and B has decided not to hold against me that his cake wasn't blood red inside! 

Blue Ombré - March 2016

Simple blue ombre cake.

Happy birthday Luke!

Giraffe birthday cake - October 2015

Small three layer 6" chocolate fudge birthday cake with a theme... 

think you can tell what that might be!

NOTE:  This and many other toppers are available in my Etsy shop.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KasserinaHome?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Sharing the cake love...

Just registered with a charity who... well, I'll let them explain;

Baking A Smile is a VERY special cake store, we are a not for profit organisation that provides FREE beautiful custom made celebration cakes to children with life threatening and life limiting health conditions throughout the UK and Ireland.

We are committed to providing a smile and a little happiness to children dealing with illnesses by providing the child with a custom made cake free of charge. We not only provide this service to children with life threatening/limiting illnesses, but also to the siblings of these children, as we understand that it can be tough on them too.

We believe in the power of happiness and smiles and the positivity it can have. If we can bring a smile to a child & their family then hopefully, just for a moment, they can have something happier to focus on.

Baking A Smile was established In December 2012. We have a large team of amateur & professional bakers on hand, donating their time, experience & money to provide amazing cakes for ill children and to fundraisers - which are not only full of yumminess but jam packed with love.

If you're a baker too, why not register and help bring some happy into the lives of people who deserve it!

http://www.bakingasmile.org

The many different faces of the humble cupcake

A selection of cupcakes, with various different finishes.

2D piping nozzle (closed star)

070 Ruffle nozzle

128 large petal nozzle

9FT French star nozzle

Fondant rose

Pallet knife swirl

Hand painted fondant disks

Various

Sweet sixteen pink confetti cake - April 2015

Birthday cake for a "Sweet Sixteen" party.

4" top tier: lemon and almond sponge (my favourite) with orange frosting 

and pink sugarpaste confetti.  

6" bottom tier: chocolate fudge cake with white chocolate frosting and white fondant covering.  

Bomb cake - February 2015

Bomb cake for a secret agent birthday party. 

Obviously, putting a spherical thing on a flat surface has some issues when you want to pick it up and drive around corners.  I made the cake a slightly firmer chocolate Madeira sponge rather than my usual chocolate fudge cake.  I screwed a sharpened dowel into the board too.

I know some cake makers wouldn't split the cake but, while I understand the stability argument about not putting frosting inside, I'm not a fan of dry, 2 dimensional cake, and a cake should taste good above all. I think a cake needs frosting, cream or jellies to add flavour and texture.  This cake has 4 layers of cake, with 3 layers of real chocolate frosting in between.

I crumb coated the cake with a darker chocolate frosting to add stability to the sphere.  It looks pleasingly like a planet!

Covering the sphere in the oh-so-annoying-to-use black fondant wasn't as bad as I'd expected actually.  I just used a good quality paste, and some patience.

Thankfully, it's winter and not humid... If I have to do it again on an August night when there's a thunder storm outside I might have a very different experience! 

By the way, the bomb's fuse is a sparkling candle so should look pretty cool when lit! 

Thanksgiving Red Velvet cake - November 2014

Two layer red velvet cake, with cream cheese frosting, for a splendid Thanksgiving party. 

I do love cream cheese frosting with lots of cream cheese.  A Red Velvet cake with good cream cheese frosting is like a cheesecake in reverse.  Yum!  

A very happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it... and a happy Saturday to everyone else!

Rose's rose cake - November 2014

7" torted 2 layer cake with vanilla buttercream and home-made strawbery jam, plus 30 vanilla and almond cupcakes, some with jam filling.

Yum!