Another Birthday Present!

Ok just had to share with you all my latest birthday present! This was on the top of my birthday wish list and I really had no idea I was getting it. Another one of my best friends Natalie bought this for me and I really didn't know until I saw the box said John Lewis on it.

It's by Mason Cash and in a beautiful lavender colour. I have a bit of a mixing bowl fetish and even nearly bought one in Brighton at the weekend so I'm glad I didn't. This one is a bit smaller than my red one which is good at that one is huge and sometimes you do need a more 'normal' sized one.

I'm doing a post for BakingMad tomorrow so I'll put up some action shots with this beautiful bowl in use. She also got me some really cute oven mitts as all I've really done is burn myself lately! So hopefully this will stop now, and they have cupcakes on - yay :)....God I'm such a girl! Pin It Now!

It's My Brithday!

Today is my birthday! I'm the grand age of 24 and I never grow tired of looking forward to my birthday. A lot of people as soon as they're about 16 or so, end up knowing exactly what it is they get for their birthday as they simply ask for it. I've actually been really lucky and almost always don't have a clue what I'm getting! You may think this is a dangerous tactic but I do always hint heavily or make general wishlists so people have a rough idea, and by the time my birthday comes around I have completely forgotten what I've asked for.

This year again I had forgotten most of what I had asked for, so it was mostly a surprise. I say mostly...my mum has accidentaly included a picture of one of my presents in another picture she sent me! I kept schtum until she gave it to me though as it was something I actually really wanted (the cupcake carrier)

So here most of them are, in their beautiful glory! My mum wanted to give me my presents last night as she couldn't wait - but I was firm and said no as I love opening them in the morning, that's called willpower! I now understand the reason, she wanted me to have the cupcake carrier as I was making them for work, but I ended up making so many that I wouldn't have been able to fit them in anyway! For work I made my lemon drizzle, brownies, sweet and salty chocolate cake, Norwegian shortbread, choc chip cookies, toffee apple sausage rolls, cheese and onion puff pastries and victoria sponge cupcakes - I will get up the recipes for the ones I havn't put up before. They need their own post I think!

Now back to the pressies! I actually got my first ones when we went to Brighton this weekend,  again this needs its own post as there's so much food to talk about, and of course - my visit to Choccywoccydoodah! I was like a crazy stalker/paparazzi - I had NO shame. Anyway, here's a quick look, my mum had some money from my nan in Norway to buy something I'd like, I usually always need this money to survive, but for once I didn't so I really wanted to actually get something with it. So we were in Choccywoccydoodah and I saw a gorgeous red apron with the logo on, I have a bit of an apron fetish so that was a must. She also really wanted to buy me something that I could eat, at first she did say she was going to buy me a cake until she realised how high the prices were and it's not like it was a special birthday so I would have killed her if she got me one. So we settled on a chocolate lolly. I did really want something with glitter on but they were all sold out! But then I saw this massive one with their logo on, to match my apron so I couldn't resist. I still haven't eaten it though...it's too beautiful and then I will be gone forever! (I know...I'm crazy)

So then there is my lovely cupcake tin and carrier for 12 cupcakes, big ones (yay) which is really good for transporting ones that are decorated so that they icing doesn't get messed up when they touch.  I was so happy that I did actually get this as I was a bit worried she'd put it back, which she nearly did! So I can't wait to try it out. I also got a multisize cake pan, I first saw this on The Great British Bake Off and fell in love with the idea of it. You can make it up to any size of the actual pan, in a square, long rectangles (perfect for a battenburg) or even 4 equal square which will be great for small individual cakes. This came from Lakeland and it's nice to have an actual tin, because as most of you know I always end up baking in biscuit tins!

Another thing from my mum/nan was the mock croc purple patent placemat and coaster set. This may seem like an odd choice but they're so glam! The purple doesn't look too bright here but it really is! I looooooove purple at the moment so can't wait to make a posh dinner and get them out.

I also got a nice little Christmas cupcake book from Norman (our baby tortoise!) haha my mum is crazy bless her : D. But they're so many cute ones in this book they'll be some posts up soon enough don't you worry.

Right, sorry stay awake we're nearly done! I got this really unique cake stand from my brother and his fiancee, made out of recycled vinyl records, they even came in their own recycled packaging of sleeves and newspaper. I loooove records and was told I saw this ages and loved it, so they bought it for me from a lovely cake shop in Lyme which I can't wait to visit. See I do forget what I want to it's like a double surprise. I need to think of something really unique to bake to display on this though, it has to be special!

Last but not least my best friend of 9 years came around yesterday, we really go all out for each others birthdays and this year she really raised the game! As I opened the gift bag I instantly recognised the name on the bag inside....PANDORA!!!!!! We actually both nearly cried because we're losers and it was such a lovely moment. It's a proper grown up present, and a far cry from our Lion King fluffy pens (although we do still buy them for each others at Christmas!) and it felt like a little landmark in our friendship,  I really didn't expect it. She got me the lovely snake style bracelet and also a super cute butterfly charm. It's so me and I can't wait to build on it!

My brother made me an amazing cheesecake for today as well, his present hasn't turned up so I happily accepted this in the meantime, he has also sent me the recipe so I will have to write about it, there are no words for how incredible this tasted....I might actually even have to dig into another cheeky bit!

I've really been spoiled this year and still have a couple of presents to come! So thanks to everyone that bought me a pressie and said happy birthday each year gets better and better! Very lucky indeed :)

Sorry I know I've rambled a lot but I've such a great birthday!

Nom! Pin It Now!

Bleeding Heart Cake

This weekend was my brother's 30th birthday. I've kept his cake a secret for a loooong time as I really wanted it to be a surprise. He's always said he wanted this cake, he's been asking for it for what feels like forever, but I've always said know because it's a bit disgusting! But since I did the brain cake I realised I quite liked making some gore...so I thought I'd have another go!

I'd seen this cake on the Lily Vanilli blog. It did tell you how to make the hear but I didn't really understand the instructions so I kind of winged it. I'd told him so many times that I wouldn't make this cake I knew he wouldn't suspect that this is the cake I would actually make.

The cake itself is a two tiered vanilla sponge cake filled with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream. Which my lovely mother actually made as I had so many cakes to make this week I just didn't have time! I iced the the cake with plain white fondant as I wanted the heart and blood to really stand out, it almost had to look a bit clinical.

For the heart, I used a block of cake and sculpted it into the shape of a fist, as that's what they say your heart looks like. I kind of just did it until I thought it looked right as human hearts aren't something that I'm really that used to looking at. I made the red fondant with lots of Christmas Red sugarflair colouring paste and didn't mix it all in as I wanted some bits to be a bit darker in places.

I made it a lot bigger than it needed to be, laid the sponge in the middle and wrapped the fondant cup almost in a parcel type way and joined it at the top. I used the excess fondant to make three valves at the top, the folds from these in the icing then actually looked like veins too, I even added some extra colour to them to make them look naturally darker.

To make the blood I bought some strawberry golden syrup and added some extra red to make it a bit darker and realistic. I brushed this all over the heart before putting it on the top. I then drizzled it all over letting it slosh over the first tier dripping down. When it had dripped down into puddles I edged it over the next tier to make it look like it had glooped all of the way down.

We did have candles to put on it but we let him see it without first so he could see the full effect. Luckily he absolutely loved it - he's not a psycho I promise! He really hadn't expected to get it so that was a major bonus. I really think I've started something now and that there may well be a lot more gore in the future....

 

Happy 30th Mike!

Nom! x


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Girly Cameo Giant Cupcake

Yesterday was my future sister-in-law's birthday, and of course she had to have a cake! Last year I made her a sushi cake, it was OK but I was till newish to it and wanted to make something better.

The girly theme is everywhere at the moment so I thought why not, I knew she'd like it it's so pretty!

I love using cameos on cakes, the last one I did was the birthday cake to one of my best friends at the start of this year. I loved making this cake and couldn't wait to make something similar. This is a smaller version but just as cute!

The bottom I used the quilting technique, I love this it makes it look like an expensive bag and gives the bottom some really nice detail when sometimes it can look a little plain. I also didn't have any ribbon in the right colour so I thought this would make it a bit more special looking. I do sometimes add silver balls where the quilting overlaps but I though it might look a bit busy on a smaller cake.

Using my Wilton moulds I added a fondant bow in the same colour as the border to the cameos rather than leaving the bottom plain.

The top was iced with pink buttercream and topped with the cameos. To make the cameos I used a silicone mold I got from eBay, pushed fondant into it and put it in the freezer for ten minutes unti I could pop it out. This time I cut around the actual cameo rather than leaving the background of it white. I placed it on a pink fondant circular base and wrapped a thin sausage of brown fondant around it and finished each off with a bow. I got this idea from a Peggy Porschen book called Cake Chic.

I kept it quite simple and it ended up looking like it had little pieces of jewelry on it. I actually love it so much I'd be happy to get a cake like this, that's how I know I'm proud of a cake, if I'd be happy receiving it, and I'm a perfectionist!

I seem to be doing a lot of the pink/white combination at the moment. You just can't go wrong with girly cakes :) Pin It Now!

50th Golden Wedding Anniversary Giant Cupcake

Another giant cupcake! I know I've done quite a few recently but there's a lot of demand for them which is great, so of course I will supply : )

This one was a bit different, it was for a 50th golden wedding anniversary. I got a lot of free reign with this and all they said is they wanted it to feature gold and '50'. I loved the idea of the gold, it would give me a reason to try out my gold Dr. Oetker spray.

A lot of the time when I get a free reign order I don't really know how I'm going to do it just as I do it. And this one was do different. I tried to make a couple of roses and spray them gold but as I only had red gum paste...it didn't really work. I then saw a cake that had two little love birds on, and I thought this was really nice and perfect for an anniversary cake.

I made them out of ivory fondant, I made the wings and nose seperate, I sprayed some of the gold on a plate, it turned to a powder form, this then meant that I could brush it on so it had a nice golden coating rather than being slathered in it. To make the eyes I simply used a black edible pen and made two cute little dots. I didn't want over detail them as it can soon go so wrong.

For the numbers, usually I use my cutters, but they can be a bit bulky for delicate cakes like this, so I thought I would try to make some pretty curly numbers, I left them to dry for a bit and them dusted them with the gold again.

I iced the bottom of the cake with ivory fondant and the top with rose buttercream style icing. For a bit of extra detail and some signs of a happy marriage I added some gold hearts with some white royal icing polka dots around the edges.

I'm really loving the big bows on the cakes now, especially when someone has ordered the cake as a present. My lovely mum picked this up for my from the local garden center, I wasn't sure about the glittter aspect at first but luckily it fitted in really nice with the gold on the cake.

That's is for giant cupcakes for another week or so, I have a little cake break coming up...except for this weekend, it's my brothers 30th this weekend and I have a special cake planned, so stayed tuned.... Pin It Now!

Halloween Baking

I have to say I love Halloween, last year was a bit rubbish as we didn't get any trick or treaters! Luckily I hadn't even made anything, so I got to munch all of the sweets for the next week!

This year however it was on! I had collected some ideas/moulds etc in preparation. We now live in a different area too..full of kids so I was really hoping for some knocks on the door.

I even carved a pumpkin, I hate gutting it out mainly because of the smell...no words can describe it...I'm sure you all know what I mean. But I saw a really good design online and wanted to copy it - a VW camper van! We love these in my house so I had to give it a go. I didn't use a stencil...and you can tell, but I was still really happy with it.

I decided to make bags of treats this year and toffee apples. I can't pass this time of year without making toffee apples, it's that simple, so this was the perfect excuse! I used my Fairground Toffee Apple recipe and added some more red liquid food colouring to make them a bit darker for the occasion.

In the treat bags I made up some biscuit lollipops, pinwheel biscuits, pumpkin chocolates and I also added in some gummy worms for the extra scare factor.

I actually stole the idea for the lollipops and pinwheels from Butter Hearts Sugar, I loved the idea of these and just adjusted the colours to orange and black. The only thing I'd do again is definitely leave them in the fridge/freezer for longer as the first batch didn't keep their shape, I did get the firmed by the end so they did look more like rock.


I made smalled one for the pinwheels and they all came out great as they took less time to firm up before putting them in the oven.

The pumpkin chocolates were actually just white chocolate melted down and mixed with Sugarflair colouring paste in Tangerine. I wish I'd made them a stronger colour but I'll remember that for next year. I think they're really cute though! I put them in the freezer to set and they took hardly any time at all.

I tied them up in clear gift bags and filled my halloween bowl with the treats. I did wonder if I'd made too many, but I thought I'd just take them to work if I did.

It was already dark when I got home and they kids had already started doing the round so I quickly lit my pumpkin, placed it in the window and hoped for the best!

It wasn't long before I started getting knocks, everyone absolutely loving the pumpkin (yay!) and equally loving my homemade treats! I was all out in less than 40 minutes! I did nearly give all of my treats to a little brother/sister duo who couldn't have been older than 4 and 2, vampire and witch - so cute!!!

I then had to close the blinds and pretend to be out so not to disappoint any more trick or treaters! Next year I will remember and double up on everything. I'm loving reading everyone's halloween posts and have definitely gotten some great inspiration.


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Las Vegas Giant Wedding Cupcake

So last week the wedding order took up a lot of my time, but I still managed to sneak in a cheeky giant cupcake order of course!

This one was quite different, it was to celebrate a wedding, but the happy couple got married in Vegas! Amazing right? So this was a little celebration cake for them to have when they got back which I think was a really sweet idea so everyone who may not have been able to go got to share in something weddingy.

So of course the theme was Vegas, which was brilliant. There's so much you can do, one thing for certain was that there needed to be the famous sign with 'Danny & Rochell' and 'Just Married',  I'm a little annoyed I didn't leave enough space for one of the names but I just got it in! It was hard to do the sign as fondant doesn't really dry flat but I placed balls of fondant under the ends of the sign and filled it in with buttercream to balance it all out.

I used the lovely Tala squeezey decorating bottles again, I think I may have fallen slightly in love with them! To do the edging of the sign I rolled out a long thin sausage of fondant and sprayed it all over with the Dr.Oetker gold spray, let it dry for a minute and then stuck it around the sign, I used some edible glue just to make sure it really stuck.

I took on the whole Vegas/Gambling theme as it is the main one isn't it but tried not to over-do it. the bottom I did in ivory and laid strips of red fondant and long thin sausages of black fondant around it as it reminded of the colouring of a deck of cards. To tie this in I also made up some bits from the suits of the deck to dot around the side of the cake. I kept the rest of it pretty simple as with the big sign and the stripes on the bottom I didn't want to make it look too full on, it was still a cake for a wedding as such.

To really give it some glamour I tied a big red ribbon around the bottom and gave it a really big bow so it looked more like a gift.

I'm really pleased with how it came out, actually how it was supposed to look!

Sugarflair colouring pastes used: Christmas Red, Licquorice and baby blue.

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