Saturday, November 21, 2009

It's a hippo in a tub!

Had a request from my mum for one of our amazing cake creations - to be auctioned off as part of a charity dinner for homeless youth. Put some thought into it and decided to do a character cake - a hippo in a bath tub getting primped for a big nite out!



The cake was a 6 inch mud cake on a 12 inch base. We spent hours painstakingly creating the various elements of the cake. We created the hippo first, Lidia working on the head and I worked on the body. There were so many minute, meticulous details but - - the devil's in the details! Check out Lidia's steady-handed work with the eyelashes!



Then there were the million (okay, so I exaggerate) bubbles that we had to roll one by one! We also took a lot of care with the accessories as it really added to the overall effect.



It was quite daunting starting out this cake, but I absolutely loved the outcome :)

Golf themed birthday cake

Another request from my mum, a birthday cake for a family friend. I decided on the golf theme because, like my dad, Uncle Eddie lives and breathes golf!




I had initially wanted to create a mini golf course on the cake, but as it was only a small cake (4 inches) I didn't think it would make enough of an impact, so I decided to go with a golf ball on a tee. I covered the cake in green icing (a la grass, of course) and made a golf ball out of white sugar paste. I bravely tried to make the golf ball feature double as a candle, by pushing a candle through - which of course ruined the round shape of the ball and made it kind of oval-ish! But hey, at least it looks hand made! I finished with a Happy Birthday message on the top and front of the cake, and for the sides, I added bouncy golf balls. I added some "grass" at the bottom of the cake and around the tee - and voila!



Tuesday, November 3, 2009

T's baby shower cake and cupcakes

It was really exciting (and nerve-wrecking) working on the cake for T's baby shower. I wanted something pretty that would tie in with the 'high tea' we were throwing for T, and thought it was a good opportunity to practice sugar paste modelling. I opted for a 5inch mud cake for the top tier, with two kinds of mini cupcakes - cookies & cream and chocolate madness. Again, it took me an entire day to bake the cake and about a million cupcakes.. then Lidia and I spent an afternoon modelling the bears and making the baby-themed cupcake toppers. As it's a GIRL, we decorated in tones of pink and white.

There were a couple of near disasters... I nearly ripped my hair out when I broke the pram for a second time and especially when I accidently squashed my mama bear's head when packing for transport! But, managed to fix it all..

Of course T loved her cake, and so it was worth the stress!


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Last minute Hen's request

My darling friend Izzy decided to put in a request for Hen's cupcakes.. 3 days before she needed them. And while 3 days may seem like a lot of time, when you're new to decorating and you're working with an oven that can only fit one tray at a time - 3 days isn't much!!

But, eager as I was for the opportunity to do naughty cupcakes, I dove in! The request was for 14 cupcakes for morning tea, and a dozen 'naughty' cupcakes for afternoon tea.

For morning tea, I decided to go for a 'spring' theme - various flowers and bright, cheery colours! Very pretty!


I had a little more fun with the naughty cupcakes.. the pictures say it all!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Birthday cakes for the boys!

Fresh with the knowledge from cake decorating classes, and armed with new cake decorating tools, I offered to make birthday cakes for a couple of friends who are celebrating with a joint birthday party. And, thanks to momentary insanity, I decided to make two cakes, one for each birthday boy. Stressful, considering how new we are at cake decorating!

I spent all of Thursday baking (with one disaster before - thankfully!- 2 beautiful cakes). It took all of Friday to decorate the cakes (ALL of Friday with both Lidia & myself)... no easy task on such a HOT day as everything kept melting!! We decided to go with "neon" colours as it was an 80s themed party. Hours of eternal patience later, both cakes were done! And looked pretty damn good, we reckon! Happy Birthday Jason & Ngu!