Lego Cake

I made a Birthday cake for a friend who likes Lego (who doesn't?!)

The first thing I had to do was make the Lego bricks. I coloured flower paste to match the main colours of Lego bricks; red, yellow, green, blue and black. This was then placed in a Lego brick mould (dusted with corn flour) to make 1 brick at a time.

Once the sponge cake was baked and cooled, I layered it with jam and buttercream then iced it with white regal icing. The bricks were placed on the top of the cake (front and left) then a layer of icing was placed on the top to level it out. Small brick 'sides' were cut out of the coloured petal paste and stuck on the side of the cake.

Then, white petal paste was rolled out and cut to go in strips around the side of the cake. One was left folded over and a Lego man was placed as if he was putting it up. On the top of the cake, 4 strips were placed and 3 were rolled up to show the top of the bricks and again Lego men were placed as if they were doing the work.

This was a fun cake to make! The little details really helped to pull it together

Train Christening cake

This was an enjoyable cake to make. 'Building' the train was fun and it all really came together when it sat on the track.

The train, blocks and track were all made from regal icing that I had coloured using sugarflair paste and it was attached to the cake using edible glue.

Numberjacks Birthday Cake

As you may have guessed this cake was for a 3rd Birthday. The birthday boy was a fan of the children's TV programme 'Numberjacks' - so a big 3 was put on the top. This was made out of icing and was surprisingly more difficult to shape than I expected! It wasn't until the eyes and nose went on that it actually looked like the character.

To make the little Numberjacks I used my usual number cutters and put eyes on the icing. This was fiddly to do but not as bad as if I decided to shape them all too! The balls around the side of the cake match the colours of the 10 Numberjacks characters.

70th Wedding Anniversary

I was asked to make a cake for a couple who were celebrating their 70th Wedding Anniversary. When they got married in 1943 rationing was in place and they therefore had no wedding cake. This was to be their cake - 70 years late!

After looking at many designs, mainly based on 40's themes in which flowers, ribbons and piped icing were popular and cakes were simple in design, the daughter and granddaughter decided to go with a ruffle cake. These cakes are increasingly growing in popularity due to their vintage appearance and was a perfect choice for a 40's cake in 2013.

Carnations were used in the bouquet and the bride wore blue - which is the reason that blue sugarcraft carnations decorate this cake.

After marzipanning the cake, I placed a layer of ivory icing over the top of the cake and about 1 inch down the side. I then created the ruffles by rolling out long thin 'sausages' with the icing, rolling it flat and then using the end of a thin paint brush to 'ruffle' the edge. I placed these individual ruffles on the cake in rows - from the top down.

This is a time consuming technique but certainly worth the effort. I am already trying to think of an excuse to make another!

30th Birthday Cake

I insisted on making my own Birthday cake this year. I had a design planned (Rennie Mackintosh) however after an impromptu visit to the Cake and Bake show in Manchester only 3 days before I had to make the cake, I had a quick change of plan! I treated myself to a Sugarveil mat - it makes edible lace icing. I was desperate to try it out and so decided to make one of the designs that had been on the stand in Manchester.

The circles around the side of the cake were covered in a variety of things including edible glitter, edible gold powder and edible lustre dusts. They were then stuck on using edible glue. I made my lace and then sprayed it with edible gold. When it was dry I used a small amount of water and attached it to the icing. This was then used to create the bow - I found it difficult to create the shape of the bow as the icing was wet and sticky from the water, but also starting to dry and crack when folded. It was definitely a learning experience!

Overall I enjoyed making this cake and it went down well with my family. I can't say I enjoyed blowing out my candles - but at least they were kind enough to only put 4 on the cake!

I'm looking forward to my next practice using sugarveil and would love one day to be making beautiful vintage design wedding cakes.

Spring Daffodil Cake

 For over a year now I have had a plan to make a cake with Daffodils. This style of cake isn't exactly appropriate in the middle of winter - so I've been waiting until spring to make it. (As Spring hasn't yet arrived I decided Easter was the next best thing!)

I baked a giant cupcake and covered it in buttercream and green regal icing. I then used three shades of green sugarflair paste to colour sugar paste and created thin strips for the 'stems'. The daffodils were made from more sugar paste and I used daffodil cutters to create the shape before frilling the edges with a ball tool and then using edible glue to stick them together

The daffodils were stuck on the cake using green royal icing, which was also used to create the 'grass' effect on the board. For extra detail I made little daisies and a ladybird.

I was very happy with this cake - and was very glad that I finally got to make it.

Star and building block Christening cake

The idea for this cake came from the mum of the little boy being Christened. She knew exactly what she wanted on the cake and she has a good eye for design as it came together well. The lemon sponge was iced in white and then snowflake lustre dust was used to give the cake a shimmer. The stars of varying size and shade of blue were also coated in the edible lustre dust. The icing balls around the side of the cake were arranged in colour order; white, light blue, blue, dark blue and the lustre dust was again incorporated into the design.

The blocks were made out of icing and were surprisingly difficult to shape - but I got there with a bit of determination, an icing smoother and a bit of cardboard! All the stars were made out of regal icing and the letters were made out of petal paste. I got a chance to use my new letter cutters and I have to say I prefer them to my other 'script' lettering (thanks to my friend Sarah for the tip on which ones to buy).

One thing I have learnt from this cake - lustre dust adds a good effect! Especially to the balls around the side. You are likely to see a lot more of that from now on.