Happy Birthday Dad!

I've been really busy with cake this week so only just now getting to put this post up. Last weekend I visited my dad for his birthday, which was actually wednesday but this way I got to spend the week with them in Southampton.

My dad is a very strange creature...he doesn't really like fondant...or buttercream. Madness! So when it comes to deciding what cake to make I knew there was only one choice, his favourite - my lemon drizzle! When I told him it must have been the only time I've ever heard him say he can't wait for cake! I did put him to work chopping the lemon zest as they didn't have a fine enough grater! :)

As it doesn't need decorating it meant I got to spend more time with them than in the kitchen, though of course my little brother wanted to help me make it, he's getting quite good now bless him - he was also having a pj day so did it all in his new Batman ones, complete with detachable cape!

You can find the recipe for my lemon drizzle cake here - I have to say, it's one of my favourites too. And while I couldn't decorate it properly, we did still add some candles and a little 'Happy Birthday' sign.

My little brother was a little grumpy this weekend (see above), but he loves it when I visit as I'm basically his toy. We play his games, have massive bubble bath fights and even had a dance off to 'Gangnam Style' thought somehow he ended up changing the words to 'Catch a star'.

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Another Birthday...Another Giant Cupcake!

You know I can't resist making my family and friends giant cupcakes so my stepmum's birthday was no exception! I don't think I've been able to make her a birthday cake before shockingly so I thought it was about time I rectified that.

This would also be a great time to squeeze in some cake time with my brother, he connects me with baking so I always try to get him involved with something every time I come down. I had to bake the cake before I arrived this time as I wouldn't have time to do it all there,  but he could help with the decorating, the best bit in his eyes as he gets to eat the decorations along the way!

I wasn't able to bring all of my decorating stuff with me obviously, so I took a few bits I thought would look nice but wasn't able to take any fondant, or buy any the next day so for the first time I decided to buttercream the bottom...it was a new experience and while it was tricky to get it looking neat, I thought it made it look a bit more like a cupcake case as you could see the grooves more.

I did the bottom in vanilla buttercream and the top in pink using Claret Sugarflair food colouring paste. It's really strong so I only needed a dab of it. I love how nice it looks when using the 1M Wilton nozzle, it may have permanently replaced my other nozzle I've been using...sorry other nozzle but you're out!

I wanted it to be cute, but quite simple for my brother to decorate as I wanted him to do most of it on his own for her. I brought some white and pink sugar pearls, ricepaper butterflies, white chocolate stars and gold cake glitter.

I did help a bit but mostly he put all of the bits on himself, I did most of the glitter as it's so easy for that stuff to go EVERYWHERE!

Bless I think he did a great job on decorating his first giant cupcake for his mum and she loved it. It's worth saying that my little brother cannot keep secrets....he can't physically hold the words in his mouth it's so funny, and even though his mum knew about the cake - he decided it was a surprise and didn't actually tell her one thing about it until she saw it so he was super chuffed he kept it as a 'complete' surprise! :) Pin It Now!