Cake Note 22 "It's a helluva start,being able to reconise what makes you happy. Lucille Ball"

...and it's easy to recognise what makes me happy - apart from my lovely granddaughter, my daughter and my son and his lovely wife - it's making and decorating cakes! To be honest, I found this cake absolutely exhausting - why? No idea. The owner described the design she wanted, and the colour scheme, and apart from using five decorations from her first christening, the rest was carte blanche.

I loved making it, from the sugar paste blocks (seen earlier) to the roses and butterflies. It took some work getting the grey teddy to fit in with the colour scheme but the teddy had to be on the top. Anyway, I learned a lot with this cake.....like how NOT to make sugarpaste look LILAC when you really needed it pink! I had to strip back the bottom 10 inch cake a re-cover it with a new batch of pink paste.

Well, I took it to the owner today, drove at 20 miles an hour to avoid potholes and bumps - was so worried that the butterflies would fall off. But no - arrived in time and intact! See what you think!

Cake Note 21: "Babies are such a nice way to start people - Don Herold"

Aren't they just, ans my family seems to be moving onwards creating new generations. I am now a Great Great Aunty to our latest little chap and am going to meet him tomorrow - he's a week old, and born on 5 November - one day after my birthday which is the 4th!

Today's blog is about christening cakes - not for my great, great nephew (!)  - that's later in 2011 and I am so pleased I  have been asked to make his cake. No, this cake is for  little girl who is being christened next Sunday - I'm in preparation for a two tier cake - ten inch vanilla Madeira cake topped with an eight inch chocolate cake - pink and white with building blocks spelling the baby's name. There will be a 'fluttering' of butterflies on it too! The actual cake won't be ready for posting until next weekend but here are the bricks I have made for it - I'm really pleased with them because they were harder than they look! Thank you to Marion Frost and her amazing Patchwork Cutters, which made the blocks easier to do than if I had had to mark the lines etc myself. The PW cutter set also comes with little pictures to stick on the sides of the blocks. I'll post the finished cake next weekend.




The blocks spell the baby's name - and have little toys/motifs stuck on them

 

Just trying the blocks for size and display using cake dummies

 The second photo is just me trying to work out the best lay out for the names - using 2 cake dummies of the right size as the christening cake will by. I think I'll be pleased with this one

Cake Note 20 - "I would hate for someone to look at my shoes and say....Oh my God! They look comfortable" Christian Louboutin

mmm? Now know why Louboutin shoes are so high!! Right, this quote is a bit irrelevant to today's post as the cake I have just finished is.....a Handbag! This is for my daughter's gift  to her friend for her birthday and I have really enjoyed making it. Credit goes to the fantastic Planet Cake book, which has a really gorgeous handbag cake in it, and this was my inspiration, so thank you Planet Cake!

The cake is a chocolate mud cake, tastes fabulous, even though I say so myself, it's filled with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam, and the crumb coat is also buttercream. I usually use white chocolate ganache but I wanted the sugar paste layer to have a bit of softness to it.

I made the handle by rolling modelling paste into beads and threading onto a bent cake wire 18g! and what should have been the Chanel back to back 'C' logo, is 'NC' for the birthday girl.

Hope you like it ?

I'm off to the NEC tomorrow to the sugarcraft exhibition.......hope I don't spend too much:)

Ciao :)

Cake Note 19: "It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs" Margaret Thatcher

I never thought the day would dawn that I quote Mrs Thatcher - my mother would turn in her grave! She always blamed her for ' Stealing the milk from the bairns' mouths' .....not that my Mam was one to hold a grudge:)

But, I've found a site with her quotes on it and you know, she said some very profound things! Sorry Mam:) Anyway, my daughter is home and well, my credit card it saying ouch and I feel a lot happier to have her home! The only cake I have to show is the wedding cake demo I  did for my great nephew's fiance, and I never post cakes until after the owner has received them, so, you'll have to wait till December for that. So what you have here is a very small spray of dianthus made in flower class, and thinking of me Mam and milk, and me Mam and tea - here's a teacup of flowers - just for you Mam - always loved and very much missed!

Jeannie xxx