Still Alive and Kicking

   My clients certainly bring out the best in me. This cake was made for a lady who loooves the Tasmanian Devil. She has everything from license plates and kitchen ware to collectibles so when it came time to decide what she wanted for a cake - there could be nothing else. Sure, I vamped him up a little and personified him to be more like her eg. the jewellery, the long nails and the wine glass but who doesn't want to see their favourite character made like them? It's the best time to make a cake when you're pretty much allowed to do whatever you want along the theme.

  I love it when I can still bring a tear to the eye - a happy one that is!!

This following car cake was a child's favourite toy brought to life. I was hoping he wouldn't notice that it was gone from his collection in the week after the order was confirmed and I needed the toy to give me the three dimensionality to make the cake correct. Because of this cake I have another lady who has brought me her childs' favourite toy to copy. So life goes on!

With Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton hitting DVD's, a lot of fans have commented on creating theme birthday cakes around the dark movie concept. Of course Johnny Depp was involved with Burton's wife - Helena Bonham Carter and with both of them being favourites of myself who could possibly turn down this project? 

  I had to include the Mad Hatters' hat with the cheshire cat, one of the cakes from the tea party, the teapot Alice hides in - with Alice climbing up in her curtain frock, and the mushroom with Absolom smoking his pipe. For the evil character I used one of the red queens' playing cards hiding around the back of the cake. I wanted to make the Rabbit too but time was against me so I placed his fob watch on the board instead. Sometimes I need to know when to stop!

 

  Funnily enough my neighbour across the road was given my number by a friend of hers. She was having a arty for her partner and wanted to incorporate the football team he loves - so Brisbane Bronco's also get a mention in this post with this football cake. His name was signed on the top as if he was the star of the day.

My uncle and his grandson also had their birthday party together this last month. So I tried to incorporate the two ideas together. My Uncle Giuseppe is a formworker by trade and so I used some images of a layout as the base on a wooden floor with two stacked bricks as the actual cake - made of 'Brick cake" too. Then scribbled Isaac's name across them as if he'd been playing near his Uncle causing mischief. I also used cake to create the beer as it was time to relax and not work!

Another customer asked me to create a pirates treasure chest for her little boy. Having only ever made a simple one before I thought that it was time to go to town on the decorations. I added the pirates map, his birthday note as well as lolly jewels and iced jewels to create an over the top effect. She was very happy.

With Debbie Brown in town giving lessons, I had to book myself in. I have all her books and fell in love with her work from many years ago. She's so fast and such a great teacher, the smile on my face says it all. I chose her Ganesh figurine class for two reasons: the first being that it was the most difficult and I love a challenge. The second, for time - it was on a Monday which is my quietest day. Also, I'm glad to see many more cakes made with a distinctly Indian flavour in the design. 

  Many years ago, I had created a dummy cake for the shop I decorated for which i absolutely loved. Unfortunately, orange was definitely not a colour most brides would choose and the design disappeared. I must have been ahead of my time!

  The Ganesh figurine has inspired me to make more cakes with interesting themes.

Well that's all I have time for - but I'll be intouch as soon as I can. A.

Delectable Dedication

 Five minutes to sit and down and give you all a quick update on 'the cake girl' world... between emails and quote requests I feel like I spend too much time on the computer of late. For a piece of technology which was created to apparently keep us all in touch and keep us up to date, the PC can feel like a cage at times - keeping us all apart -locked away in our towers and behind schedules with the amount of glitches.
  For the past few weeks, creating cakes has certainly taken a turn. I keep trying to find time to design more cakes but only seem to manage a quick sketch here and there. My mind plagues me with more and I dream of working in the kitchen continuously - or should I say I have nightmares? It never stops and I wake up feeling as if the cakes should already be made considering I was just there!
Chocolate goodies and sweets to tantalise the senses - just like "Chocolat" the movie...cones of wafer with a chocolate coating within then kirsch cherry swirl decorated with fresh strawberries and chocolate filigree. Accompanied by cones filled with gianduia cream and a candied heart make a great wedding cake with all the trimmings and best of all - your guests can help themselves!

One cupcake standing alone rather than a multitude - these cakes have become very popular of late...I wonder if the trend will stop? I've made them for young and old, male or female and everyone seems to love them. They're a classic!   There are shops and on-line places selling moulds to make these at home now - but I still enjoy making my novelty cakes from scratch. This way I can make them large or small according to the amount of guests you need to feed without constricting the serve.

For little girls, Tinkerbell is fashionable. Although her story has been around since days of Peter Pan, having her own movie I suppose has helped. The little girl whom I made this particular cake for, apparently pulled Tinkerbell straight off the cake after her exclamation of delight. It always makes this job the best in the world when stories like this come back to me.   I think I enjoyed making it as much as they enjoyed eating it.

A close-up detail of a cake for a surprise party at the races was a hit. The horses race each other around the cake on all sides with no end in sight. The horses were hand-painted with piped detail on the jockeys to add extra dimension.

  For a slight variation on the usual Dolly Varden cake, I attached a cake to look like a stepped floor in Barbie's bedroom. All dressed up after the ball, she had her change clothes in hand and make-up, hand-bags, mirror etc strewn across the floor - just like any young girls' bedroom before Mum's come in to clean.            

Down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland! With Tim Burtons' latest edition, Alice had been insppiring to say the least. This cake was a recent creation and I've posted it today to dedicate it to two of my favourite clients and family who unfortunately had a dearly loved member pass away recently. I barely knew her but of the little I spoke to her - she was a wonderful lady, taken away far too soon. I hope the rabbit hole shows her wonders she had never seen and treats her well.

And on that sad note - I bid you all farewell for another time.

Crazy Cake Week

Hello All! The last few weeks have passed and the time has presented itself for me to post another item. You all have to find some time to check the following blog out: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/  I can spend hours looking at the photos on his site and feeling sick that there are people out there destroying the name of "cake decorator".
  Mind you - over the years I have seen many cakes: both by clients who have brought me their bought disasters to fix and by pastry chefs who didn't have the time or the inclination to do things right - yes...you know who you are!

  My latest edition to the cake world of note was a copy from an American bakery called: http://www.pinkcakebox.com/ - I had clients contact me to see if I could reproduce their cake design. Strangely enough it wasn't because they were Tim Burton fans or had even seen the movie "The Corpse Bride" but more because they liked the design of the cake! They told me it was down to this cake or an "Aliens" cake! Personally, I looove Burtons' work and cherish the thought that people out there are getting married to his work!
  At the moment I'm designing a Jack Skeleton birthday cake from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"...this is what makes my job all the more worthwhile!
  Even though not all cakes are this creative - there are others like this chocolate design which are pretty and have people complimenting the work when they pop by to collect their own cake orders.

The client who collected this cake had the most extraordinary reaction ever - she screamed at the top of her lungs and I was sure she saw something she detested. However it was the complete opposite - she explained how she had been worried about the cake design and this cake was perfect - everything she had wanted. This makes my day when I get feedback immediately from the customer as well as emails or cards thanking me for a job well done.

For the following cake, the customer contacted me on-line expressing her wishes to give her husband a cake relating to his love for his favourite team. She sent me the link to their website and I found the squad logo. I was impressed with the colours and the way the cake worked out as I originally wanted to applique all the items on the cake - sometimes it's good to have artistic skills and to revert to the original way I was taught to decorate a cake. Using my creativity rather than cutting and pasting or what a lot of bakeries do now with rice paper and edible inks. Personally the flavour of rice paper is equal to the 'bread' handed out during church - it sticks to the roof of your mouth and tastes gross!

  I believe the human race relies too much on quick easy fixes rather than cultivating the original methods which were used for years before technology took over.
  We've given up teaching our apprentices and work staff to use more than 100% of their imaginations and skills - to strive to be better rather than relying on computers or bought supplies to do the work. The younger generation gets lazier and has more attitude towards us than I ever remember having when I first started in the hospitality industry.
  But then do you really care about my opinions of the 'WHY' generation?
  I'll be off and post some more asap. Have a fantastic week!

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

  It feels like ages since the last time I posted but when busy - the orders come first! No rest for the wicked as they say.
  The last few weeks have been filled with wedding, christening and birthday creations and with the weather holding out in Brisbane - I've been fortunate enough to have the cakes made and ready to go on time.
  As some of you know, when the rain comes down so does ths icing on the cake - so many of these were last minute creations so the weather had little chance to play havoc with my work.

With a small wedding cake - the details need to be perfect. The flowers supplied by Jill Pettit of "Lilly Pilly's" (http://www.lillypillys.net.au/) provided a  complete finish. Prompt delivery with a smile was also a plus.

For another special moment - check out this Christening cake:

The Holden racing car was picked up by a happy customer who believed it would have been too hard to apply the wording to the vehicle. As usual it's the challenge that excites me in what I do!

  They say I shouldn't condone gambling but why not when the cake is great fun to make? I almost wanted an "Ace of Cakes" moment with the roulette table up top...if I had time to make it spin - that would have been the 'piece de resistance'.

  I promise to post more as soon as I can stop the cake decorating for a minute.
 A.

An Egg-cellent Easter

Another Easter has come and gone...it feels quicker every year. This year was filled with Wedding cakes and Chocolate wonders. Even R2D2 made an appearance!

  With the economic crisis slowly disappearing, customers are merging out of the woodwork and buying up for their special occasions. But the money situation has definitely made them more discerning. No longer will they just dish out money for their local bakery or chain store if they can get personal service and value from elsewhere.

  Please forgive any blunders made on this blog - I'm still getting a feel for it and how it all works.

Fantasy - the sky's the limit!

Day 2 of my new found blogging. Already I feel addicted and can see why so many people have turned to it as a new found diary entry re-invented for the new millenia.
It's been a day of baking and playing catch-ups as I'm still behind on computer work since having a pulmonary embolism. Instead I'm here playing with my new found friend and have decided to dedicate a few hours each week to keeping up with the X-gener's. This week involves an R2D2 tribute for a little boy, a couple of "au natural" wedding cakes and a jukebox for a 50th birthday.

"Natural Beauty" - just a token photo of what I mean when I say a "natural" cake.

It's a Sweet Day!

Well, this is the first of many blogs to come. I thought what a brilliant way to keep people updated on what's going on in "the cake girl" world...and let the world see what's being created each week.

Of course some of the cake photos will be edited - either for PG reasons or because the cake has been made before but generally my cakes will be updated.

"Contrasting Fantasy" At the moment my favourite cake - even though I'm sure there were more than a few guests sporting black teeth at the photographer for that magic shot!