Random end of 2011 baking

Because I have been slack (again) I am taking the easy way out (again) and doing a general update.

**Robot Cake**

This was for a friends child and I had a picture they had found on the internet to base it on.  It was reasonably simple to bake & carve etc but for some reason or another I just wasn’t happy with the finished product.  The birthday boy thought it was good and I guess that is all that matters!

**School Baking**

I made some snowman cookies for my son to take for his end of year class party.  I saw these on Bakerella’s site and even though mine aren’t as perfect as hers the kids ate them in a flash!!

I also made the whole class some reindeer food to help entice Santa to stop at their houses.  I had seen this idea ages ago in a scrapbooking magazine and after searching google I found the instructions and the poem and set to work.  After making about thirty of them I was wondering what I had been thinking!  It was worth it though as the kids were really appreciative which was nice.

I also made biscuits and brownies to give to the teachers and the staff in the office.

** 60th & 90th Cakes**

In November I had two extremely important cakes to create.  One was for my Mothers 60^th birthday and the other was for my Grandmothers 90^th birthday.  Oh, the pressure!!  To add to the challenge I was using my Mums kitchen (some 5 hours away from my own kitchen) and the weather was hot.

Mums cake was a Mad Hatter style cake, three tiers – chocolate mud, caramel mud & white chocolate mud.  It was my first attempt at one of these and it went pretty well.  Next time I would go a little bit smaller though and make sure the height was better.

Grans cake was supposed to look like a stack of presents but again I think I would make the tiers a bit smaller and have a bit more height.  When we took the cake down for the party it was 38 degrees and the cake also got a little squished during transportation!  The “icing on the cake”, so to speak, was when the power went off for about an hour and a half – we had to cut the cake by candlelight anyway....didn’t really matter what it looked like LOL!

The biggest lesson I learnt from creating both these cakes is to **always** check the size of your oven before ordering cake tins.  In my head the 12x12 inch square cake tin was the perfect size for the bottom tier.......unfortunately not the perfect size for my oven {insert red face here}.  Another point to consider is how on earth would you turn a cake that size out of the tin anyway?  I sure don’t have a cooling rack that is 12x12 inches!!

Teapots & Apples

These are the teapots I made for a friends daughters party.  It was a tea party theme.  I used marshmallow fondant for the handles but next time I might try candy clay.

I also made some apples for my son’s teacher for Teacher Appreciation Day.  I think these turned out really well.  I used marshmallow fondant on these too.  I love that they look really glossy in the photo.

Fire Truck Themed Birthday Party

My littlest boy turned three!  He decided some time ago that he wanted a fire truck cake.  I had a couple of designs in some cake books but I googled and found one I liked here.  I then had to figure out dimensions and cake pans and recipes etc.  It was a big task but it turned out really well and I don't think it was as hard to make as it probably looks!

Fire Truck Cake

My biggest drama was that I had no cake board when it came time to put the cake together - it's something I keep forgetting to organise *before* I start on the cake!  I had to trim the cabin cake a little to fit the board that I could find and that meant the run out icing windows etc were a little too big for the finished cake size.....but it's all good :)

Yes I did cake pops too......

Fire Hats

Flames

And I even went further and added some sugar cookies.....

Fire Vehicle Sugar Cookies

The party boy had a fantastic day and the look on his face made all my efforts completely worth it!

Pirates and Owls

I did a "pre birthday" cake for my littlest boy and my Mum.  I had to use cake pops, of course, so I decided on Pirates and Owls.

Pirate Cake Pops

These were pretty easy.  I debated about using fondant for their bandana ties but went with a mini m&m instead.

Owl Cake Pops

I needed to take just a little more time with the eyes for these.  Next time I will slow down and try to make them a bit more smooth.  I need to say that I pinched the idea for the white spots on the belly from someone.....but I can't find who it was at the moment!  Once I find the image, I will link to it!

Here are the pops on a simple round buttercream cake - they look quite effective, I think.





Princess Castle, Cookies & Cake Pops

I was asked to do a cake for a friends little girl, turning three, and I suggested a castle cake.  I found one that I really liked here and set about working out sizes and recipes etc.  I decided on three different varieties of mud cake - chocolate, white chocolate and caramel.  I baked two trial cakes, just to make sure the recipes would work in the size tins that I had - I sent these of to work with my hubby as I didn't need two yummy cakes staring at me everytime I went to the kitchen.

I ended up using a 10" round tin on the bottom layer; a 6" round tin for the middle and a stack of two 7.5cm cakes for the top.  Although it's a little (LOT) more pink than I intended it to be; and it's a little (LOT) wonky, especially in some places; I'm pretty happy with my attempt overall.  I've decided that professional cake decorators can truly charge any price they wish......it's sooooooo hard for us humble Mum's to replicate their artwork!!  They really are so very talented at what they can do with some cake and some icing LOL.

Of course, it wouldn't be a princess party without the addition of some Princess cake pops.  My first attempts worked really well (they have the gold crowns) and then I decided that since I had a ton of pink icing, I would make the crowns pink.  I think they look good either way.

Princess Cake Pops

I also tried my hand at some Sugar Cookies.  These are a basic cookie dough that is cut to shape and then decorated with royal icing.  I was happy with my trial batch and then I got a little impatient with the batch for the party and ended up with air bubbles.  They still went down a treat though.  I don't think anyone really noticed the bubbles!

Snowmen

Ironically, it was quite warm while I was making these.  True to form though, it turned bitterly cold again within a week!

Snowman Cake Pops

I used dark chocolate piped onto baking paper for the arms.  I also used dark chocolate piped over the top of a mini m&m for the hat.  I'm not overly fussed on the hat because I can just see it falling right off and, of course, the arms would be quite brittle too.  If I was making them for family, I would probably add the hat; but if I was making them for someone else, I think I would leave the hat and the arms off as well.  I think they look cute without them.....but they do look cute with them as well :oP

Chickens, Roosters, Pigs and Bears!

I decided to tackle chickens again because I wasn't overly happy with my first attempt and I would like to avoid using fondant "accessories" where possible!

This time I molded the cake into the shape I thought best resembled a chicken and then added features after they'd been dipped.  This process ended up being quite easy.  The added bonus is that there are less parts to fall off during packaging and transportation.

Chicken Cake Pops

The roosters were quite similar but with an added peak (or mohawk) at the top.

Rooster Cake Pops

I think the pigs can do with a little more fine tuning as I would like the nose section to be a bit less subtle.  I did dust them over with some pink lustre dust but I will experiment a little more with them.

Pig Cake Pops

And finally, the bears.  My two darling boys tell me they are dogs so perhaps there is a little more work required on these too??  I'm thinking some textured "fur" might just do the trick!

Bear Cake Pops

I've also discovered that it is quite easy to just use dark cooking chocolate for the eyes, rather than trying to dye the melts to a suitable black colour.  It's also easier to dot them on using a skewer or toothpick, rather than trying to pipe them on (which is why my bears (dogs!) eyes look a little funny!