Damask skull cupcakes - June 2016

Simple but effective cupcakes for a special lady.  Happy birthday gorgeous girl xxxx

Golden blossom cake - March 2016

A blossom cake for my wonderful mum.

Happy Mother's Day to every mum, but especially to mine who is the best ever.

Mum, you're a crazy loon who never stops trying to make the world a better place for everyone around you.  You're my inspiration and teacher as well as my friend. You are so loved by us all. Stay being you, you rock! xxxx

Bajan chevron and Pom-Pom baby shower cake - July 2015

Some old friends of mine, Hilda and Mitchell, are having a baby... very soon now.  

As Hilda and Mitch hail from Barbados, the colours of the party are based on the Bajan flag and organiser Joan's brief was chevrons and pom-poms.

Since early on the baby's been known as the Cocoa Bean, shortened to CB in all communication.  

Hilda's lovely friend Joan organised a baby shower from across the Atlantic, which was impressive.

At one point though, I really didn't think it was fated that I would get to the party.  I was stuck for hours between junctions when the M23 was shut down, had to go cross country to get around (had to navigate a couple of ditches and a gravel road on the way to the A24), diversions on the A24, very heavy traffic on the M25, severe delays on the M4 so went for the M40 only to find that was shut down for 3 junctions too.  Eventually got there just as the guest started to arrive rather than the very, very early arrival I'd planned for... thank god for my OCD contingency time scales!  

This was my first chevron cake and I used the Jessica Harris, waxed paper transfer method (see her craftsy class @ http://www.craftsy.com/class/clean-and-simple-cake-design/209?_ct=sbqii-sqjuweho-dum&_ctp=4&rceId=1437656063514~ohxnsua5).

The thing I would change for next time though is that I mixed Culpitt gold flower-paste with the cocoform. I wanted the yellow to be irredescent but didn't want to screw up the straight lines by painting it afterward.  That gold flower paste is so ridiculously hard to use and it made the cocoform much less stable so I had to make the chevron's thicker than I would have liked and it bugged me every time I looked at the cake.  

Congratulations H&M, 

CB, really looking forward to meeting you, 

Joan, it was lovely to meet you, 

Jason, Happy Birthday, 

Everyone else, it was great to see you 

xxxx

Pink & gold buttercream finished cake - February 2015

Gold rose on a pink and gold smooth buttercream finished 8" three layer dummy cake.

Funky orange birthday cake - January 2014

Birthday cake for a lovely young lady, who just turned 8 and is having a party with an orange theme.

Top tier orange and raspberry, middle tier chocolate fudge, bottom tier vanilla, all with white chocolate butter cream frosting.

More photos to follow...

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For the bottom tier I stacked thin layers of pink and orange sponge (forgot to take photo of stack before I started to crumb coat it though, doh!).  See below for a post-cutting and singing photo of the inside layers.

Middle tier was chocolate fudge cake.

Top tier was orange sponge with fresh raspberries.  

I used a white chocolate butter cream on all three tiers.  

My kitchen with cakes in various stages of setting up.

After the buttercream was set up and the fondant on all three tiers, it was time for an airbrush make-over.

I got a rather attractive false tan in the process… the cakes… me... the kitchen... the whole ground floor of my house... everything round here now has that "just spray tanned" look about it.  

Only just got rid of the red film over everything after the Halloween cake!

Once the colour had dried, I stacked the tiers.  This time I used foam core cut to size as cake boards and used a dowel through all three tiers to pin them together for the long rush hour journey.  Far less stressful that way.

Had already made flower and left it to harden for a couple of days.  The foil reminds me of the boredom when you get your hair dyed at a salon.

Used a straw as a reinforced place to put the flower.  Travelled with flower safely in a bowl, then pushed wire stem into straw when setting up at the other end.  Held it beautifully, and any cracks in the airbrushed surface are hidden once the flower is in place.

Didn't end up too badly.

The usual post cutting carnage...  sounds like the girls had lots of fun though!