With a kiss & a hug on St.Valentines' Day

Having made deliveries all around Brisbane of late: sometimes all in the one day - it's good to see the city getting back to normal and underway again. With the floods making such an impact on business' everywhere and the price of flour and sugar rising with the waters, we're finally starting to see things level out.

Between cakes for functions on the north side and then dropping and setting cakes up down the coast, I've felt like a veritable yo-yo.

Found the above photo on the Internet whilst perousing through photos of flood affected areas... says it all really.



 Parties did still take place. I think a lot of Brisbane saw the chance to lift their spirits with family get-togethers and festive occasions. Just a way to forget their circumstances I suppose.
  There were a couple of cancellations and I hope that those families were able to get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
  It was great to see the way Brisbane supported it's fellow countrymen in this time of need.
  I made a trip down to West End to see if they could use a hand down there and took 2 cakes with me which were devoured within moments.
  But the thing that struck me the most was that whilst working and cleaning, people talked with each other and smiled and swapped stories.
  It's moments like these that I'm glad we moved to Brisbane.

  The Barbie convertible on the right was a surprise birthday cake for a lady from a friend who wanted to remain incognito... I delivered the cake to the lady's office in town where it received many a grin from colleagues. 

 These two little girl cakes were a pleasure to make with Strawberry Shortcake making a comeback and Tinkerbell being the belle of the ball.

 This was definitely a first - I've done divorce cakes in the past but never something so risque!

  There's always a new theme for a cake. I even dream about them!

 

   All the details on this cake were hand-painted to recognise the voyage of a lifetime the clients' father had taken to start his new life here in Australia so long ago. The client found passport and birthda certificate photos alonmg with newspaper clippings of the boat he travelled on for me to use as reference for this cake.

 Childrens' cakes always keep me going - what with new themes and old ones which have both parents and children in awe of the cake.

  Then there's moments like this 'bread tag' cake...WTF? I say in jest!

  I was completely thrown with this concept. A lovely girl turning 21 with a collectible hobby for bread tags...yes, I repeat again bread tags.

  She collected them from bread bought for home originally but has since expanded her reportoire to now include bread tags from elsewhere.

 Keeping it simple is always a plus. Repeat customers of mine Carly and Michael were celebrating their daughters Christening. Using wire swirls with iced baubles on the end modernised the theme for this cake and made it stand out more than usual while still incorporating the invitations filigree work.

  Last of all I would love to say a HUUUGGEEE thank-you to all my clients who find the time after their big event to write back to me regarding their cake.

  Whether it's a quick line to say 'thank-you' or a lovely sentiment with photo included, it is always appreciated. It means that I'm doing something right and that I'm making their day that extra-little bit special.

 

 

 

 

Hi ho, hi ho - it's into the New Year we go!

I hope you all had a wonderful start to 2011 with family and friends. It was a quiet one for us on the home front - struggling to keep our eyes open for the New Year fireworks. Whatever happened to partying all night long?

  Mind you, it was probably because I had been up since 4am finishing off last orders for 2010. Xmas week flew by and cakes went out as quickly as the orders kept coming in.
  The thing is that most people don't think further ahead - the amount of clients calling for last minute orders because they hadn't considered that most cake deocrators would close for a Xnas break is amazing. Or that most of my suppliers close down for this period too so orders need to be well planned out and placed ahead of the normal time consideration.

  Between the gingerbread orders, fruit cakes and then the additional ordinary birthday orders, there was little time for sleeping. I'm sure I heard Santa's sleigh pass by in the middle of the night!

 With birthday cakes for those families who need to extend party invitations to the next level - celebrating not one, not two but three events at this time of year...and we thought the rest of us had lots to do!

  Kids cakes, teenagers' and parents. Even my partners' family has three late birthdays just prior to the Xmas festivities.

   

With Summer bringing on the butterfly cakes - birthdays and Christenings for the little girls....

 

teacups for high tea celebrating a young lady's kitchen tea...

and white chocolate slats for the weddings are always fashionable. They provide a happy compromise for the couple who believe the cake is less edible if it is covered in fondant.

  A Brazilian lady who works at Mundo (Bardon: http://www.mundochurrasco.com.au/) - a wonderful churrasco style restaurant ordered the one below on the right and the reports from guests on how wonderful the cake tasted and looked were fabulous.

 Then on the other side of town - the Manager of Chumley Warner's in Birkdale (http://www.chumleywarners.com.au/) came to see me with his fiance to order this lovely black and white creation. He was nice enough to take time out the day after the wedding to ring and let me know what a big hit the cake was. I always appreciate feedback.

   For my landlady - she ordered this cake to celebrate her mother's 80th birthday. A lady who seems to have done just about everything!

 Having seen the last Twilight movie and anxiously awaiting the last: reportedly not coming out until next November!) a client requested this cake for her friend who is also a bit of a 'twi-hard' like me!

Then last but not least...was the above cake. A take on a Julie Whitehead design. Unfortunately, she was not available to make the cake for Boxing Day and so I took on the job. The cake was delivered to Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast. With all the rain that came down during the drive, it was a cake to be prayed over to make sure it got there all in one piece...A single drop of rain on the hand-painted flowers would have streaked the cake design. The room looked extremely impressive with the cake to match.

So let's hope the New Year continues along this vein and we all remain healthy and happy. Think of all the towns that have been flooded out and keep our general safety and good luck with us.

Speak soon.

A.



It's begininng to feel a lot like Christmas!

  Less than 1 month to go until Xmas people! I can't believe time flies so quickly when you are having fun. The orders just keep coming in and I have cakes booked in until November next year and enquiries for 2012!!!

  Before you know it, we'll be drinking and partying with the best of them.

Kids cakes have really taken off and more than ever with parents buying cakes for their kids using their favourite toys or tv shows as inspiration.

  Ben 10 for the boys and Dora the Explorer for the girls! And yet, within minutes of presenting these cakes, they are demolished beyond recognition by the birthday child and guests.

  It's why I love doing what I do. The look on the kids faces and the following phone call thanking me for a job well done by the parents makes it all worth while.

But don't get me wrong - it's not just the kids that enjoy the custom made cakes. Now they are for every age group from the littlies through to the adults.

 With the latest addition to the Harry potter movie season - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (which I went to see with my niece last week), there's been an influx of movie related cake themes.
  Many of which will be part of costume parties with guests of all ages.

 

"Sex in the City" was the main attraction for this cake above on the right with shoe fetishists' throughout the world rejoicing. With less intricate designs of similar themes for the cakes on the left.

  Or for the boys - UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champonships) has seen the latest boom. Bye, bye world wrestling :(

  The cake below made for 200 guests contained a UFC octagonal ring and 2 fighters (one made to look like the birthday boy) with a bikini clad girl. Seats, supporters logo's and clothing gear all represented.

 

And for something a little bit different - one for the escapist in all of us. A sailing boat off to see the world.

   With this next cake, there was a funny story behind the laptop cake including a work colleague who remains single searching the web for the woman of his dreams!

  Someone was trying to give the poor guy a hint!

 

And last of all the novelty cake for the wedding couple. A small token wedding cake made more for the groom than the bride... a true football fanatic!

  I hope she's still grinning like this after a few years!