Good Morning Everyone.

Thank you all for your patience in waiting for me to post pictures.  I thought, before I get too busy today (Still have a couple of Figurines to make for Saturday).  I best post the pictures of cakes that I have done in the past few days.

So first up:  I got to do a Princess Crown cake again (Yippee!)  I totally love all the glitz, shine and shimmer I get to put on these cakes.
This one was also for a special Princess who turned One.

And than for the same day, I got to make a very special Barney Picture Cake (4 baby Barney dinosaurs on each corner as well!).  With the cake came a bunch on Mini Cupcakes in Edible cups.  Which I think is soooo perfect for little fingers.  I am surprised people don't order them more often.  I think they are just gorgeous (Plus you don't have to worry about paper wrappers lying around - or been chewed on by little ones).

And yesterday I got to make a Spiderman/Batman Cake.  Yep, half & half.  Seeing Jude's face when he saw his cake last night was just too precious.  I don't think he could have smiled any wider, or any harder.  So this is why I do what I do.

The original design is from:  Celebrate-with-cake.com.  I made a couple of changes, but generally kept it the same.  Thank you to the original designer.  A lovely cake (And a lot harder than I thought).

Phew!  Still have a few more (okay a lot more) for this week.  And than I am taking a mini Xmas break to be with my family.  In-between the break I have a Wedding Cake to prepare for in January, as well as another girly cake and cupcakes.

So until later in the week.

Have fun

Mandy-Jane

Good Evening All,

So I am typing away covered in Cocoa!  Being baking all day, but just had to stop for a second and post some pictures of a couple of cakes and cupcakes I did for Tuesday for a little boy who turned 1.

I was very happy with the little figurines, thought they all came out well.
So please see below a couple of pictures and a little detail on each one.

First up:  The cupcakes.  They the easy part as these were just picture cupcakes of Happy Feet Penguins

Than I did a small 20cm square cake with a picture of the Birthday Boy surrounded by little penguins I had made a few days earlier.  (Threw in a little Snowman, Snow balls, and Snow flakes)  Came out looking very cute.

And lastly a small 18cm Round cake with 2 little Penguins Ice Skating, and of course the Snowman.  I also added a little "lake".  Pretending the ice had melted (Which is why the penguins weren't skating) Lol.

The design of the Penguins I got of a book called:  100 Fondant Models for Cake Decorators.  By Helen Penman.

I really enjoyed doing the Happy Feet and Penguin cake.  Just perfect for a little 1 yrs old.

Will have more to show on the weekend, and than next week is very busy with 5 cakes and 1 cupcakes to do.

As usual there are more photos of the above in my gallery.  I do hope you all like the Penguins, and that some of you have tried the Tutorial I posted a week back.

Until next time.  Have fun.

Mandy-Jane

Good Morning All,

It seems like absolute ages since I last posted a cake to show!
So today I finally have something.  As you all know, the past couple of weeks I have been doing prep work for a bunch of cakes I will be doing for the coming weeks.  And this is the first of many to be coming your way.  This week I will have 6 (Yes 6!) Cakes and Cupcakes to show during the course of the week, so hold on to your hats!.

Okay, so today I got started off with a Bachelorette cake on Saturday (don't worry, it's not X-Rated! Lol).
I had fun and frustration doing this cake.  As simple as it looks, I had a little problem with sticking the darned Fondant onto the side of the cake! (My fault, I don't know where my head was when I planned the cake).  You see, the cake is a Red Velvet Cake with a Cream Cheese Frosting (Yip, I colored it Pink!).  Now any baker will know that Cream Cheese and Fondant are not the best of friends (Which is normally why I tell my clients when I do a Red Velvet design, that it is best to go with Buttercream).
You see, Cream Cheese makes Fondant, Sticky and soft and soggy!, so putting the fondant on the side of the cake just makes the fondant slide down.
I did manage to save the cake, and came up with a solution of painting the Martini Glasses (Not shown in this picture).  But I did give the client new cut out pieces of the Martini Glasses so that she could put them on the side of the cake a few minutes before if she wanted to.
So enough waffling!, here is the picture.  I hope you all enjoy.  And I do hope the client enjoyed her Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese frosting.
The original design is not mine, but I don't know who's it is.  So when and if I do find out, I will credit the designer than.

There are more pictures in the gallery.

So until next time.  Have fun

Mandy-Jane

Good Morning Everyone!

So this week, I put aside to do a bunch of pre-preparation for a ton of cakes I have to do for the upcoming weeks!  So no cake pictures today.  Sorry.
Instead, though, I thought you all might like a little Tutorial that I made up.  It is a description with photographs of how to make a little PENGUIN!

Now anyone can do this, even if you are a first timer.  So don't be afraid to give it a try.
Photos to follow, with a description of each photo under.
Enjoy!

So this is the cutsey little Penguin you will be making.  This one is very small (Doing them for a cake I will do in a couple of weeks).  But you can make them any size you want.

So This is what you need:  Some Black Sugar Paste, A smaller amount of White Sugar Paste, and an Even Smalller amount of Orange Sugar Paste.

You also need, a small pair of sharp scissors, Some gum glue (Water also works just fine). A sharp precision knife, some Black Gel (Or a Black Edible Pen). a couple of Paint Brushes, and some Mazeina (In a cloth for dusting).

So the first thing you do is:  Roll you Black Sugar Paste into a Ball, than thin out the top into a "Skittle" shape (For those that don't know what a Skittle is, it's the things you knock over in Ten Pin Bowling).  You can also call it a "blunt" tear drop.

Then, with your small sharp scissors, at an angle from the bottom, cut/slice two little wings (One on either side).  Then with your Thumb and any other finger that you deem comfortable with, push out the wings, and rub to flatten, pulling a little to make them longer.  (don't be afraid, you shouldn't break it too easily).

Take a small ball of white Gum Paste, Roll it into a Oval shape, than with your finger, gently rub it flat.  Measure it onto the front of your Penguin until you are satisfied it covers the whole tummy area.  Stick on with Gum Glue or a teensy weensy amount of water.

Take two small pieces of White Gum Paste, Roll into an oval shape and very gently flatten them.  Glue them onto your Penguin for eyes.

Now for the Orange Gum Paste.  Take one small piece and roll it into a ball.  Cut it in half, and than roll it into a sharp teardrop shape.  Flatten by rubbing gently with your finger, until you have a flat tear drop shape (for the feet). 

With your sharp precision knife (Using the back of it - it is more blunt).  Gently push into the feet to create little toes.  Push your two feet together, and measure with your Penguin, until you are comfortable with the size of the feet.  Glue the feet onto the Penguin.

Then take an even smaller piece of Orange Gum Paste.  Roll into a teardrop shape, measure to your Penguin, and cut the "back end" off as shown in the above pictures.  Glue the Beak to the Penguin.

AND FINALLY!  Using either your black edible pen, or the black gel paint, and a really thin paint brush.  Paint on two little eyes (Try make them look wonky to give it a funny look).  You can then adjust you Penguin wings to the way you want.

Phew!  Hope you all enjoy making your Penguins.  These little ones you will get to see in a couple of weeks on a cake.

So until next time.  Have Fun

Mandy-Jane

Good Evening All,

So this weekend, I got to do a real girly cake for a little 1yrs old.  With lots of Pink, shimmer, Shine and glitter.  (Note to self:  Don't wear black pants when shimmering and glittering!).

I absolutely loved doing this cake.  And finally I finished a cake and was totally happy with it.  Normally I always look at my cakes, and find all sorts of things wrong with them (Even though the clients don't see it).  This one, I tried to find something wrong, but was just totally happy, and satisfied.

I do hope you enjoy the pretty pink colors.
Credit for the original design belongs to: "Harts Delights"

So until next time.  Have Fun
Mandy-Jane