Here's the final cake - with an inscription! I hope it gets lots of takers for the raffles - otherwise I'll look a bit dumb:(

Cake Note 30: "Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world" - Virgil A. Kraft

I, for one, am ready for the Spring - it's dull, it's wet, it's dirty and it's cold.

This cake is a very special one. I have been asked if I would make a cake to raffle off for our local charity, Aurora. Aurora is based on site at our District General Hospital, and it is a lovely place where the well being of patients living with cancer, can come along and have some pamper time - a massage, pedicure...that kind of thing.

So they are having a fund raiser and I was asked to make a cake. YES, I would love to. The theme was anything you like, but the raffle will be held around early April, so Easter was suggested.

What I decided to do was use colours that are my particular favourite, and rather than stick to the Easter themes ( Religious themes, eggs, rabbits chocolate etc) I thought I would concentrate on Spring.

So this cake is my representation of the long awaited Spring - lilacs and lemon colours, bright cheerful flowers and an oval shaped cake with a ribbon! It's a 10x8 inch fruit cake - soaked in Brandy (very soaked), covered with sugar paste and decorated with flower paste narcissi, primroses and foliage, and a few fantasy flowers and twirly bits!

I hope it raises a few quid for our cancer charity:)

Still haven't thought of an inscription - but there will be one:)

Cake Note 29: "A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year" Paul Sweeney

Wedding anniversaries - I never made it past my 16th but some people manage a lifetime together.

This is a special blog about a very special couple and therefore, a really special cake. When I started my cake decorating course in 2009, my first thoughts were  'who can I make a celebration cake for?' and the answer came to me - my eldest brother and his lovely wife - my sister -in - law Lilian are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversay on 18 February 2011.

An odd phrase, sister -in-law, to describe a lady who I have known since I was a very small girl, and who is just as much a true sister to me as my own two 'blood' sisters. She is genuinely one of the lovliest women you could ever meet and has been a part of my family so long - she is a very special person to all of us! Not many people can say that about 'in-laws'!

So, because she is so special and because she always takes the time to come and see me, even though I am the worst person in the world for returning the visit - I have planned this cake since 2009 and have loved every minute of making it and designing it - if I could wish them another 50 years of wedded bliss I would - so here is my cake - My personal tribute to my lovely brother Michael and his lovely wife, our 'sister'Lilian -

Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary!

Technical info! An 8 inch fruit cake, iced with ivory sugar paste and decorated with hand made flower paste roses and jasmine - the board has been decorated using Marion Frost's Patchwork Cutters 'Entwined Roses' then painted with edible gold dust colouring.

Cake Note 28: "If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough " - Mario Andretti (Racing Driver!)

Happy Birthday to my lovely nephew John - a few days late but better late than never:) My Nephew loves fast cars, fast motorbikes........and my chocolate cakes! In fact, ANY cake - all the scraps from my cakes, the bits of marzipan, and now he's a fruit cake fan.

Anyway, all that this is leading to is that instead of having to cadge the scraps, I made him a special cake for his 30th birthday. It's an 8 inch square Death by Chocolate cake, crumb-coated in white chocolate ganache - filled with raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream....and iced with white sugar paste.

The decoration is in honour of his obsession with fast cars and it's made using Marion Frost's Patchwork Cutters, racing car and Formula 1 flags.

Love him as I do, I will NEVER make those flags again - they're an absolute nightmare and I had to cut each little square to make it fit.....nightmare!

Many Happy Returns to my lovely  John Boy xxx :)

Cake Note 27: "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's more serious than that" Bill Shankly

Football......UGH!

Now football cakes?......well to be honest I think they are the hardest cakes to make - maybe it's because I'm no footie fan so can't drum up the interest. Anyway, this is the third football themed cake I have made - it was requested by my niece for her husband who is a Liverpool fan.....I originally got the team badge printed onto rice paper to put on the cake, as it's only a 6 inch cake and I thought a model would look too big...but I made it too wet and it dropped to bits before it got near the cake!!

Lesson learned there then:)

So, here's a Madeira cake decorated in LFC colours with a team scarf and my rendition of Chris!! He's tons better looking in real life - I hope yu had a lovely birthday -

Cake Note 26: "If you can dream it, you can do it: Remember, this all started with a dream and a mouse". Walt Disney

OK good afternoon:) Not such a relevant quotation but I needed one about a mouse!

My daughter has friend called Rachael - and when my Granddaughter saw her on the web cam, she remembered her as " the blue Rachael", nothing to do with Rachael's mood I hasten to add - no idea why but that's how she now refers to her - " Where's the Blue Rachael?"

My daughter has got into the habit of conning a birthday cake out of me for her friends and January has been no exception - except this month it was Blue Rachael's birthday. In an attempt to get my granddaughter to come to the web cam to talk to me, I told her I was making a birthday cake for the Blue Rachael, and asked her what I should put on it........served me right......"A blue mouse" she yelled......so Blue Rachael, I hope you like your birthday cake....cos here it is, Blue Mouse and all...!



Rachael's cake is an 8 inch chocolate cake with buttercream and raspberry conserve filling, undercoated with buttercream and covered with blue sugarpaste. The anemone flower is made from flower paste with diamante centre, and has a spray of gems behind it. The mouse......well, she's wearing a blue dress and is carrying a little bouquet of gem flowers for Blue Rachael's birthday:) The inspiration  for the mouse is taken from Debbie Brown's book, "Dream Wedding Cakes".

I hope you like Blue Rachaels' cake..I hope my Granddaughter is impressed with the mouse too!

Cake Note 25: "At Christmas, all roads lead home". Mary Holmes

Well yes I know it's over and done with - but I didn't get time to post beforehand as I was lucky enough to spend Christmas and New Year with my son, his wife and my gorgeous granddaughter in Australia - now that was a DIFFERENT experience! No barbie on the beach but definitely one in the garden! With turkey and beef of course!

A busy time altogether, even though it wasn't me doing the cooking - but I did get to make a couple of cakes and a bit of decorating with my lovely Tinkerbelle:)

Here's the cake I made for college - we had to make a festive cake in a shape we hadn't previously done, decorated with a wired spray of Christmas flowers: -

The cake itself was a 10 inch hexagonal fruit cake, covered with marzipan and white sugarpaste. I mounted it on a 14 inch board, and imprinted a greeting and snowflakes around it which I then painted with edible gold dust.

The flowers - well, I had decided to give this cake to my special friend who always takes care of my cats whilst I am away. She was hosting Christmas dinner for 14, and her colour theme was red and gold. My flowers were therefore the traditional poinsettia, mistletoe, winter jasmine and Christmas roses, with gold twirly wires to accent. I was really pleased with it - luckily, so was she :)

Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year xxx