With the Rain, Comes the Frogs

Happy New Year to you all - 2012 and the Year of the Dragon!
It's been way too long and I've finally put my feet up; it's Sunday with no cakes due until tomorrow and a busy year ahead.

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. Business has boomed, we've moved houses (not far, only to Cannon Hill) and cake classes have recommenced.

So I thought I would use this Blog as a kind of tutorial as many of my students have requested I show them how I cut a 3D Novelty cake to shape.

Most of you will have watched cake shows on television to some extent and have your favourites. Personally, I love seeing how other cake decorarators work but I'm let down by the amount of 'rice treats' or wood/piping in their work. I think as cake professionals, we should be dealing more with food products to construct or cake rather than plastic, steel or foam.

Therefore the following "Frog" cake is 99% cake with 2 skewers inserted to provide structural elements to the head.

 1. Start with a 10" square cake. Usually most shapes can be cut from a square. This would be the smallest I would start with as ultimately, you still have a cake big enough to make an impression and yet small enough for details.

 2. Always have a refernce on hand - photos of the frog's left, right and top views are always good. As you turn your cake you can make sure the Frog looks correct from all angles.
  Cutting the cake in half on an angle gives your frog a larger front and a smaller bottom.

 3. Cut the slope down the back of the Frog: this will give you the first few 'extra' pieces' you can work with for other parts of the frog.

 4. Cut in the back bottom section to have a flat point for the frog's bottom.

 5, With the 'extra pieces' slice them in quarters - using two to achieve the shape of the back legs. Make them look as similar in size and shape as possible.

 6. With the other 2 pieces left over, cut the top half of the back legs.

 7. Cut into the front body of the frog. If you cut too far the head may fall from the weight so always cut in smaller pieces. You can keep cutting but you cannot add cake back to the structure if you remove it's strength.

8. Pull the parts apart and keep them in such a manner so you can easily remember where they all fit - just like a jigsaw puzzle!

 9. Using ganache, start "glueing" your pieces together. You want to make sure the cake is all one solid piece before covering in fondant. The thicker your fondant, the harder it will dry so make sure you have fondant that won't remain too soft and will set.

 10. The whole frog need to be completely covered and tacky all over for the fondant to stick to the cake.

 11. Roll your icing out and using a rolling pin unroll slowly over the frog using you hands to smooth the fondant out as it adhere's to the cake. Cut off any exces left on the board. Using your hands make sure all the fondant is as smooth as possible and firmly attached.

 12. Roll out a piece of icing into a thin rope and then indent in the centre and approximately 1" from each end. Fold in half and add a c entre piece to make each of the Frogs feet.

 14, Attach to the two hind legs first and then add the two front feet as well.

 15. Using your fingers, indent the line for the mouth of the frog with the two dimples on either side for the mouth to curve into a smile.

 16. Roll out two black modelling paste balls and attach with some water for the eye balls.

 17. Cut out 2 circles the size of the width of the eye ball and cut in half, Attach to the frogs eye's with a touch of water to give the effect of eyelids.

 

 18. Cuttin two more strips per eye, attach and fold over the eye to create folds of skin and cut away any excess with a scalpel.

19. Using an airbrushed start colouring your frog. Lighter colours first.

 20. Add darker colours and keep layering to achieve a more realistic colour hue. Darker shading around joints and to accent parts like eyes, feet etc.

 21. With a paint brush colour in the eyelids and the mouth.

 22. Using a piece of wire attach the tongue to the inside of the mouth and allow to dry.

 23. Paint the tongue red and the details on the blowfly. Add other small element - some leaves the birthday message...

VOILA! Here is your finished Frog masterpiece!

I hope you enjoyed and have fun making your own amphibian!

When it Rains, It pours

With every day, Brisbane becomes more and more like Melbourne - six seasons in one day. But it's not just the weather, all the cake seasons are becoming more and more mixed up as well.
  It used to be that you would have specific months where there would be an onslaught of birthday cakes and of course your wedding weekends... the weeks and weeks of never-ending matrimonies. Maybe it's just me and as I get older I start to generalise the specifics and it's more a 'feeling' than an actual occurence.
  Who knows?
As I look over my up coming orders, I realise that each week is a mix of occasions:
Traditional birthday cakes of cream, nuts and chocolate have now gone out the door...This particular cake was a gluten/nut/dairy free cake for my client to take to her daughters' playgroup centre.

 

  And for the Foodies Network lovers who will purchase anything that is shown on their latest program -
  It doesn't matter that in Brisbane the humidity will play havoc with your cake. Toffee will melt, sugar will disintegrate and chocolate soft. Food is food and we have to keep up with the trends.

Then the fancy all out iced cakes make a show. Whether it's a masquerade ball with people dressing up in their finest gear,

or a cheeky play at your loved ones' favourite things.

 That is a cow poking it's head out of the rose bush! And at the back of the cake there was a swinging tail.
  Childrens' novelty cakes for the ultimate little gamer

 
to the 'wicked' little theatre lover in all of us.

 For the young boy wanting to get out

and the music lover.

And then there's the lover's all 'round:
the purple themed nuptials

some roses of red:

to the purist:

Of course the best designs are the ones where the client lets me do what I want.
This last cake was a special delivery all the way down to Sydney. A close friend of mine was getting married and any excuse to get away - even if it was for more work. I'm sure Ede's and Rachaels' lovely day was an exquisite memory for all of the attendees.
  With a beautiful view of Sydney Harbour from the "Sergeants Mess" at Chowder Bay - the music in the background supplied by a passing P&O Cruise ship playing YMCA. Lol

  The couple said their vows and we were ushered inside to a superb menu for gastronomy lovers everywhere. Service was not to be out-done by the food. Generous pourings of wine to make sure no-one's glass was ever empty and laughter all around. We all caught up and when the groom got up to say his speech there wasn't many a dry eye left in the crowd.

  Being of Asian descent - my friends translated their names to English and used this as the theme for the union: "Plum Country". The invitation was a folded square of plum/eggplant and black colour with pointilist plum images on the front.

  What an inspiration! My only criteria was that they wanted individual cakes per guest...

  I created small cubes of chocolate cake with chinese plum wine and a layer of plum jam. Each cube was then iced either in white or a matching colour from the invitation. Then small plum tree blossoms were appliqued to the sides and finished with a piped border. All the cakes were boxed in clear acetate and then finished with another bowed ribbon.

  The stand was purchased especially with black perspex tiers to accent the cakes. On top of the mignon's was a larger version cutting cake to be shared with family at their convenience. A spray of plum blossoms decorating the top.
  I was extremely happy with the finished product and Ede and Rachael were too. I'm glad they made me a part of this moment in their lives and will never forget it.

Corporate Contingent

Every now and again, there is a gathering of executives in offices who decide they should celebrate a special occasion with cake.
  This is their story...

The first cake I ever laid hands on: I worked at a wonderful Patisserie called Mezzapica in Leichhardt, Sydney where I realised I had a passion for cake decorating. My mother almost died from fright. She knew I loved eating but actually feeding other people? Who would have thought?
I was working in the kitchen of the restaurant when the pastry chefs who worked in the Bakery let it be know that an order had been taken for Arnotts to celebrate their 130th Anniversary. They had, up until this time, re-created images on cake with a process called KopyKake art. Using a projector, they would throw the image onto the surface of the cake and pipe a chocolate outline which would then be filled with colour from either an airbrush or with coloured piping jelly.
Never, had they encountered a difficult image such as the Arnotts' logo. I, however, knew I could draw/paint it but could I do this on a cake? I asked them what they used for colour and I was shown the edible airbrush colours. I thought I would give it a shot.

Arnotts rang after the event congratulating the staff on a job well done - exceeding expectations. Personally, I was stoked - and a monster was born!
Each weekend after working in the kitchen or in spare time, I would throw myself into the ordered cakes with images....the Spice Girls were the bane of my existence...but that's another blog.

Anyway, over the following years I completed the following cakes:

When MP3 players were only new!

 The new company of rental vans making their way through Brizzy - great branding!

One of my best clients...

 This one brought tears to my eyes and I loved appliqueing the logo

More work than it looks! Especially hand-painting all those logo's.

If you guys get the chance to drop into Alberto's down at West End - it's a must! Great, friendly service and fantastic food and coffee to die for. And Alberto is an entertaining hoot!

I thought this cake for Press Club looked fantastic - I don't think the camera does it justice.

Urban Circus is another fantastic client of mine - great bunch of guys and girls who have had more than a few of my cake creations over the last couple of years.

Another return client of mine whose hubby was opening his own dental practice in Mount Gravatt.

And last but definitely not least - the exhibition cake which tells the life story of the artist Emily Fong. From her Asian heritage with red and gold at the base, inspired painting from her Boondall Wetlands, Sirromet Winery, sketches from her travels abroad and the wall which inspired her invitations to her masterful exhibition. Emily sits on top of the world with her canvas for her next great showcase.

That's all folks for now but I'll be back soon with more from the world of the cake girl

xx

Queen For a Day

It's not very often that I can say I took a day off to work...Huh? That's right. I was asked back at the beginning of the year if I would be interested in doing a small video clip for Queen. No - not Queen the rock band or Queens of the Stone Age.
  Queen is a Brisbane family owned company who have supplied home cake decorators for years. You know, when you're making a cake at home and you pop into the supermarket to pick up supplies? Well, most of the time you end up buying something from Queen - they have those great food colours, essences and flavours. They also have Royal icing and icing tubes for decorating. As these are new to their business they like to help their customers out by having a video they can click onto on the internet to show them how it's done.
  Well, I have to say - I had a ball. Livewire productions filmed the clip and they were great. I arrived early and had my make-up and hair done and some short instruction as to how to talk and move on camera - it's harder than it looks! Nigella eat your heart out! They were easy to talk to and I felt comfortable at all times - even hours later they still managed to make me laugh when I was tired.

I've even had customers asking me if it was really me! So if you're at home and have a minute to throw together a cake for a special occasion - check it out!
http://www.queen.com.au/products/list.php?categoryid=4 and you won't be dissapointed.
 

Everyone Wants to be a MasterChef!

Yes - you heard me correctly! With all the foodies out there wanting to try their hand at cake decorating and some of my clients requesting to be taught, I too have now fallen into the trap of teaching.

Why? I hear you ask. Well, it's simple - the cake decorating industry has always been governed by little old ladies working from home with lots of time on their hands. I realise this sounds like a generalisation and you can probably pick one or two family members who are not old and who would love to show off their cake talents. However, it's only recently that the younger generation are wanting to put in the hard yards.
  Everyone thinks they can just pick up a recipe, bake off a cake and voila! instant success. It does come easy to some but others have to work hard at it. And anyone who has tried to make a cake will know that the time and expertise required is a lot more than your average baker.
  Don't get me wrong - I love the fact that they have tried...sometimes it's the act of attempting something that makes you realise why there are people who do this for a living. Everyday becomes an instruction into a new way of creating.
  So here comes 'the cake girl'- into the fray I go! I will only be teaching at the most 2 students at a time. This will make it personal and I can devote my attention to the person more so than a class of 5 or more.
  Classes will involve students in beginners' tutorials through to making your own wedding cake for advanced pupils. Party cake decorating also available.
  Anyone who is interested need just go to my website and I can email them a copy of my PDF pamphlet with more details or see Cake Decorating Classes Pamphlet -
  Alternatively, if there is another aspect of cake decorating you would like to learn eg. biscuit decorating, gingerbread houses then just let me know! We can discuss what you already know how to do so we can add to your extensive foray into the art of baking and decorating!

  

Failure Notification

What with this fantastic weather we have been having of late - and yes, most of you think it's too cold but for cakes..............puuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrfect! It's been a fabulous and busy couple of months and I've only just had the chance to sit back on a Saturday afternoon whilst waiting on clients to pop in.
  The sun is shining and warming through the venetian slats in my office. I could almost have an afternoon siesta but no time like the present to organise myself and at least let everyone know that yes, beneath all the cakes, orders and icing - i am still alive and not a complete failure to the human population who manage to write their blogs weekly or god-forbid even daily.

  Where to start? May as well throw myself into the deep end and just keep going.
  This lovely creation on the left was an addition to a family and having made his older sister's first birthday cake, Mum thought it only fitting Jack's was made in a similar style but for a boy instead.
  I was extremely happy with the outcome of the teddy bears and thought they added character to a simple design.
  The stripes on the board were an addition from Jack's pin-strip outfit for the special day.



  Above was Mum & Dad's Anniversary cake...no - not mine but a customers'. The lady requested a campervan as they love to take off and have some 'alone' time now that the kids are old enough. Puppy can't miss out so he was made to be included too. Good to see the romance is still alive.

This cake has been extremely popular of late with cocktail style weddings. The guests can help themselves and there's something for everyone - from chocolate dipped strawberries and custard filled profiteroles through to jam bulls' eye biscuits and vanilla butter cream patty cakes. MMMMMmmmmmm.

Sometimes a gesture of a wedding cake is enough to tantalise the taste buds. Below, was a small wedding cake for a couple who had already married overseas and their parents were holding a small celebration in honour of the union.

With most animal novelty cakes, happy and fun is usually the way to go. However this is not always the case. A happy crocodile still looks mean and although you should never smile at one, I just can't seem to help myself.  This was originally a "Cake Star" design which the client emailed me and I reproduced it to the best of my extent.

My next door neighbour's little girl has a complete fascination with ducks. In the late afternoon, you can hear her calling out to them for feeding time. I thought this an apt design as she even has one called "Elvis". Being a huge Elvis fan - I almost included his coif but then thought he may look too masculine. So Rayban's eat your heart out!

Elegant and sophisticated - sometimes a small touch of bling is enough to sparkle up a cake.   The best thing is the topper is a keepsake for the birthday girl.

Who isn't a fan of the Fender base guitar when they look awesome in red?  Mind you, the bigger the cake needs to be - the bigger the board - and that's the biggest board I can get commercially.  Maybe I'll need to start cutting up my own Masonite? But where does it end? The boxes will then need to be made bigger and the customers will need to show up in small trucks - just to take their cakes home!! Lol.

Classically traditional bible cakes have been made since I started into this industry. But at least they can have a  modern twist with brighter colours.

I thought this cake was a bit of a catch-22 when I was first given the order. For a kid who loves to eat his fruit, this cake had a lot of sugar! Maybe a way around it would have been to use real fruit with faces appliqued onto the front?

The concept was novel though and it was fun to try to recreate the fruits with their texture to imitate real life.

 I love hearing the back stories on some of these cakes. You have everything from clients who call and want traditional standard cake designs to parents in another State who want to remind their children that they are still special.

Grant was one lucky guy who's mum rang from Melbourne to organise his chocoholic surprise at his work! I delivered during a meeting no less so now the whole company knows it was his birthday!

 Hawaiian luau. Apart from the palm trees which were so hard to find at the last minute - this cake has all sugar items. The small intricate Hawaiian dancers were all made of sugar and placed into position around the cake to create a full effect.

 For some special children, parents go all out. Daddy proudly did right by his daughter with this fantastic work of art. With a 70's hippy theme there was one very happy little girl! The marble effect on the kombi van with the "Peace & Love" signs and extras made this cake a visual stunner from all sides.

 Tiger Island - Dreamworld. It's been ages since I've been there and I used to be a complete adrenalin ride junkie. Even down to the Wonderland pass when I lived in Sydney during late high school days. When i delivered this cake it was great to have a behind the scene's look at the park after closing.
  The couple had chosen Tiger Island and I was sooo jealous. I love cat's of any size and could just imagine having them with me on my special day.
 had a ball.
 

Medieval Dragons have always been a huge part of me. When this gorgeous couple came and told me of their idea to incorporate them into their wedding cake, I was stoked at trying my hand at making them. It was the first time I have ever used edible casting gel and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, at all.

Making the first two took a bit of time but then it was smooth sailing. The concept of the border was taken from one of their favourite illustrated books. Using a Celtic style border painted gold and the green ivy to represent growth and union.

On my Facebook page they posted a photo of the finished cake. One of their close friends and gusts at the wedding uses "World of Warcraft"  style figurines and personalises them. She created the Bride & Groom with their own Dragon as a small token on top of the cake. What a lovely idea and you can't top that for a memory of a lifetime.

 For most women, dancing stops when you get older - for some it just keeps on going! What with the Dance flick craze that mostly everyone seems to be following today - who wants to be a star/dancer/model etc...it's harder to escape than ever before.
  Parody shows take the mickey out of the dance movies and yet we can't keep falling back onto old classics. Some which are currently being remade (like "Footloose") should be left as reminders that cheesy is great once - not twice!

 "My Little Pony". Never a big toy for me personally but cute never-the-less.  They appear so easy to make yet the shape is hard to re-create in icing. You live and learn, I guess.
  The final cake design was pretty and likable for a little girl.

 Yum - who else eats Nutella by the spoonful straight out of the jar????

  One of my worst habits that my Mother is still disappointed about. My niece's and nephews seem to take after me though as they do it too.

  So who better to reproduce the jar they love soo much than me? I loved making this cake and the birthday girl is also having her wedding cake made by me.

  How sweet!

 

That's the end for today my deviant fiends. Hope you like the onslaught of photos and stories and I will(fingers crossed - hope to die) try to not fail in posting again tomorrow.

That way we can all catch up on some well earned rest!

Sleep well.