Graduation cake

This is the cake that I made for my brother for his graduation. It is a chocolate cake, with chocolate buttercream and is covered in black icing to represent the graduation gown. The purple edging around the base represents the colour that went round the border of his hood. He didn't wear a mortar board which is why there isn't one on the cake. The stars and letters are made out of icing and painted using metallic colours. The scroll is made out of petal paste, which is also used for the covers of the books (to help them keep their shape). The books were made from Kellogs Rice Krispy Squares. I was pleased with this cake, however in future when using krispy squares to make things I will put 2 layers of icing on them to avoid having the 'bumps'. The writing on the books (representing his subject, name, year and University) was written using edible ink pens that are available in a variety of colours.

Gerbera Cake

I completed my Gerbera cake this week. It is decorated with stripes of icing along the side - in matching colours, along with matching balls of icing to go along the bottom. It is another vanilla sponge with jam and buttercream. I think the pink and orange stand out very well against the white icing, however this cake is really effective with any bold colours. Gerberas are very popular on wedding cakes and despite taking me 2 hours to make 5, I think it was worth it!

Fathers Day Cake

This is a cake I have done for Fathers Day but really it could be used for any occasion. It can also be personalised with different colours, company logos, school badges or even a message. Inside it is a sponge cake with jam and buttercream layers, however this can always be changed to your favourite filling. Simple but effective :-)

Work in progress.....

These are some geraniums that I have made for an upcoming cake. It took 2 hours to make 5 flowers, but I imagine that I will be able to speed up with practice. I really enjoyed making these and I am trying to think of any excuse I can to make more!!! Geraniums look really effective on cakes, especially when bold colours are used. I will post the picture of the cake when it is finished.

Cupcakes

These were some cupcakes that I made to take to work. The ones on the left are caramel with a caramel buttercream and dime bar on top. The ones on the right were rose with a rose icing. The flowers on top were left from my Royal Wedding cake (I still have some left now!)

Spotty cake

This was a very easy cake that I made for a friends birthday. Another sponge cake with jam and buttercream (there seems to be a patten here!) It can be personalised with any number of colours and shapes. (I was going to use hearts but thought he wouldn't have been impressed!)

Handmade roses

I made roses from icing in order to decorate this cake. I also made some pink butterflies and green leaves. The roses were quite tricky to make but I found it relaxing and I especially like the effect of the edible glitter. The side of the cake has frilled icing, which was very difficult to do! It is something that I want to practice more of in order to get it right.

Royal wedding cake

Unfortunately I had to work on the day of the Royal wedding (boo!) however we decided to have a Jacob's join (buffet) to celebrate the happy couple. I made this cake to take to work and thankfully it went down well! It was a sponge cake (with jam and buttercream) with flowers, letters and numbers made from icing. It took me ages to stick them all on, but I was happy with the outcome. I even got a clap from all my work colleagues :-)

Easter cake

This cake took longer to make, however I feel that it was worth it. It was an 8" square fruit cake, covered in marzipan and green icing. I then used icing to make bunny rabbits, flowers, ladybirds, leaves and letters. It went down very well at work and I still have the white rabbit on my window ledge - I couldn't bring myself to eat him!

Chocolate box cake

This cake is great for chocolate lovers; Chocolate sponge, with chocolate buttercream, chocolate icing and chocolates on top (in this case from Thorntons)!. It is finished with a rope edging, ribbon and a bow. This cake can be personalised in two ways 1) the choice of colours for the ribbon, rope and bow and 2) the choice of chocolates on the top. It was VERY tasty!!

Football cake

This was the football shaped cake that I made. I was very impressed with how much it actually looks like a football! The coloured coconut around the board make a good grass effect. It's also good that you can personalise it by making the scarf the right colour for the recipients football team (in this case Preston North End). Again it was a basic sponge cake with jam and buttercream layers.

My first cake

This was the first cake I made; it was a basic sponge cake (filled with a layer of jam and a layer of buttercream) and after using regal icing (roll out icing) I 'flooded' a picture of the Union flag using royal icing. This is a great method of putting a picture on a cake. I then used the same colours to do a rope edging for the bottom of the cake. I know it's not perfect - but you need practice for that, and having done it once I now know how to make it even better!