Christmas tree Xmas Cake

I made this Christmas cake for my parents. It is also my mum's birthday on Christmas day so another reason for a cake. This year I used Lindy Smith's recipe for the fruit cake .I made a smaller cake for my own family and having already tasted it, I guarantee that the cake is moist and delicious. I marzipanned and iced it and piped around the join between cake and board. I used a triple holly cutter to make all the leaves in three different shades of green then added small red and gold balls and a star fro the tree. I added a trunk, pot with ribbon and stars to finish it off. Also,I cut out smaller trees in two shades of green for around the sides. I embossed the board icing with a holly pattern rolling pin. It was fairly simple to make , and my two youngest children helped rolling all the balls. The idea for this cake came from a Christmas card my husband brought home from work.

Pony and rosette cake

This is an 8" sponge cake I made for a girl who was having a riding party. Her mum had ordered some pink and purple rosettes for the party so I wanted to include a rosette on the cake with the number on. I modelled the pony in sugar paste and also a wooden style fence around the sides. I made the horse shoes in grey sugar paste by cutting out circles then smaller circles within them, marking the nail holes with a piece of spaghetti, then dusting them with silver edible powder. The rosette was simply made from different sized circles, with the edges frilled using a cocktail stick then arranged one on top of the other. To finish it off I added some apples, grass and blossom flowers. You could alter the colours of the pony as you liked. If I did another pony I might make the tail,fringe and mane in black instead. I brushed over the eyes with confectioner's glaze to add a little shine.

Fairy Castle Cake

This is an 8" sponge cake I made for my daughter's birthday. As you can see from the photo I crimped the top edge of the cake and made lots of flowers and blossoms to cover the join and also to make a border around the fairy castle. I created a cobblestone pattern on the board which is covered with a swirled mixture of pink and white icing. I dusted the cake with snowflake lustre powder and also sprinkled the top with a tiny amount of neon pink disco hologram dust. The fairy castle is a ceramic money box that we wanted her to have as a keepsake.

Bratz Birthday cake

This is the cake I made for my niece's 5th birthday. She is all into Bratz this year so I looked up some pictures on a colouring website and we chose one for her cake. I did a run out of the picture and also one of her name in a Bratz style font. I wanted to include the little stars around the 'halo' so made more stars of different colours and sizes to spread around the cake. The join between cake and board is covered with some rope icing and a sparkly star stuck to each corner to finish it off neatly. The stars and number five on wires I made from Mexican paste and stuck them into a posy pick within a larger star. The cake itself is a 10" x 12" sponge with jam and butter cream layers. This is only the second time I have used run outs on a cake but I am always relieved when they stay in one piece ! I can't wait to see her face when she sees it.

Engagement Cake

I made this 12" square cake for a friend's grandson, who was getting engaged. They didn't want anything too fussy or OTT but rather preferred a quite simple but elegant design. I made icing ribbons to create a parcel effect and supported the bow with sponge while it hardened. I dusted the edges of a sugar paste plaque with Royal gold powder and put the happy couple's names on it.

Polar bear cake

Last Christmas I made two of these cakes as presents for friends. The cake was of course Christmas cake laced with brandy with marzipan and fondant icing. Someone asked me about how I did it so I am putting it on my blog for them to read. This cake design is from one of Karen Davies books 'A Cake for Christmas'. The board is iced and then textured by hitting it all over with a brand new nail brush. I then made the peaks of ice from Mexican paste which dries very hard. They are dusted at the tips with blue edible powder then all over with snowflake lustre powder before being left to harden on a sponge pad. The polar bears are just modeled from sugar paste and positioned on the board with Royal Icing. The join between the cake and board is roughly covered with Royal Icing then sprinkled with Magic Sparkles before it set. To create the colour change on the cake itself I sprayed the 'snow' with PME pearl edible lustre spray but tilted the cake board slightly so that some of the spay wafted upwards onto some of the blue 'sky'. The snowflakes are also from Mexican Paste stuck on with Royal Icing. The great part is that because you halve your cake diagonally you can make two cakes from the two halves.

80th magic theme cake

Last year I made my dad a birthday cake on a magic theme, this year is his 80th birthday so once again I needed to create a cake with cards on it. I used an idea of an exploding parcel from the Planet Cake book but adapted it for my own purposes. Marion Frost's new Card set of Patchwork Cutters came in very handy too. Although you cannot see from the picture angle, each white ribbon has a club, heart, spade and diamond on it. I scanned a photograph of my dad 'Bob Ostin' as a young magician to add to this entry. He has written a couple of books, the first of which is dedicated to me and my brothers, so here I want to pay tribute to my dad and his contribution to magic over the years.

Jetsetter's 40th cake

This cake was for a lady who loves going away on foreign holidays. It needed to be a pink and white cake with a model plane on it too. I decided to make a suitcase cake and modeled the plane on the Britannia colours. To bring those colours down around the cake I made some flip flops in red and blue then added pink and white flowers. I made Mexican paste for the straps as it is strong and also hardens quite quickly, supporting the straps with pieces of foam until they had hardened completely. The 'post' that goes between the toes is a short cylinder of Mexican paste with a piece of raw spaghetti inside inserted into the soles to provide the support needed to attach the straps to. I embossed a flower pattern onto the flip flops for extra detail and also modeled a bottle of suncream to fill space on the opposite side of the cake board. The luggage label is made from sugar paste then I piped on the message with blue Royal Icing.

Funny face cupcakes

I wanted to spend some creative time with my daughter,who loves baking too. We were inspired by a page in the "Planet Cake" book by Paris Cutler. It was very simple to cover each cupcake with butter cream and a circle of flesh coloured paste. Boys got ears and girls got hair accessories. Emily was keen for each one to have a different look and expression, although she did get rather carried away with the freckles which she painted on with a brush and one of those bobble hats looks like it has a pokemon ball on the top.

Silver Wedding Anniversary cake and cupcakes

I was asked to make this silver wedding anniversary cake for a family friend. She had browsed the web and emailed me a couple of designs they liked so we agreed on this design. The original design had roses and crocus flowers but as it is August I made carnations instead of the Spring crocus. The corner flower arrangements consist of looped ribbons, clear hearts on silver wires, roses, rose leaves and carnations. Each side of the cake has four icing drapes joined with silver hearts and four piped dots coming down from each heart. I made the plaque separately and piped the message on in lilac Royal Icing then later attached it to the cake with a little softened sugar paste.
To decorate the cupcakes I rolled out lilac icing then rolled a scroll pattern onto it. I cut circles from this for each cupcake then dusted it with snowflake lustre powder to show up the pattern more. I added two pink hearts and two silver hearts on top in a four- leaf clover pattern .

Wedding cake and cupcakes

A lady asked me to make their wedding cake. They wanted a chocolate cake at the top and 40 cupcakes for the wedding guests. I was given a sample napkin so that I could match in the colours with the tableware. Turquoise, ivory and brown for the chocolate theme. I bought a mirror plate and smaller sized glass plates and bowls to make my own stand. Each bowl contains some blue gel balls and silk ivory roses and pearls on wires to complement the design. I made roses in ivory and dusted them with 'pearlised toffee 'powder,ivory gold edged ribbon loops,pearls on wires and blue fantasy flowers with pearl cotton stamens. To add extra blue I used blue beads and threaded them onto wires which I shaped to add to the top. More blue was used as I made the scroll patterns to create a border around the side.
The cupcakes were also chocolate with chocolate buttercream swirls. I modeled 40 sugar paste flowers in blue and ivory with 'ivory disco hologram' sparkles brushed on the centres. I placed a single flower on the top of each cupcake.
The finished cake worked well with all the colours on the table and I'm sure any chocoholic was in heaven because the smell of chocolate was delicious.
Congratulations to Steve and Clare on your marriage on Saturday 25th July 2009. All our best wishes for your future together.

21st birthday cake

I was asked to make this cake and model the girl wearing a dress that she is fond of. They wanted stars and the number 21 on wires too. I used pink and lilac sugar paste as they had also ordered balloons in those particular colours for the night. I got a firework candle to go on the cake but left it for them to decide where to place it. On top of the cake I modeled some 'ghd' straighteners, make-up bag,mobile phone,ipod,brush,towel and bottle of wine. Kayleigh is sitting, nails painted, with her handbag by her side, ready for an evening out. As the dress is a halter neck style, I had to make her in three separate pieces, torso and legs, shoulders and arms, then finally the head.

Christening cake

hThis is a 12" sponge cake for a little girl's christening. I embossed the board with Patchwork Cutters Nursery Lion set then dusted it with snowflake lustre powder. I made six frills to go on the sides and added bows at each join. The top edge of the frills and the join between the cake and board are piped with a shell pattern using softened sugar paste. I used a Jem mould to make the sleeping baby ,dusted her cheeks,painted her eyelashes and eyebrows then added sugar paste hair in strands . Her dress took a while,adding layers then giving the top of her dress a silk texture and brushing over it with white satin powder. To finish it off I made some thin ties and a bow for the back. Babies always look so sweet, especially when they're asleep!

Pig themed cake

Joseph is mad about pigs and wanted a pig cake. I made two cakes, a round and a smaller square cake, then made them into the number nine. The cut out circle in the number is only half the depth of the cake and I used melted chocolate to create the mud bath and splashes. As you can see they are sunbathing and relaxing while their 'piglets' play and snack below. I modeled some doughnuts for 'mum and dad'. I made the pig pen from Mexican paste shaped and dried to look like corrugated metal.
The cake is entirely edible. We had leftover coloured icing so I baked some cupcakes and made some pig faces to top them, with some help from Joseph and his sister Emily. They were very simple and quick to make. The board is covered with yellow icing then I marked lines randomly all over it to look like straw then later brushed over it with darker yellow food colour. The apples and sunglasses are painted over with confectioner's glaze to make them shiny. I think mother pig should reapply her suncream because she is starting to burn. As Joseph is always saying "PIGS RULE!"

Ballerina cake

This is the second ballerina cake I have been asked to make. I decided to use a petal shaped drum board this time and think it complements the shape of the dress much more than a plain circular board. I still need to practice modeling hands but I prefer the face on this one.When I was making her shawl I rolled the icing using a silk textured rolling pin then dusted it with white satin powder.
Her ballet shoes were painted on with Raspberry shimmer powder and the straps I made from thinly rolled out strings of icing.
Next week I am going to make an original pig-themed cake for my son's 9th birthday, so watch this space...

Rose cupcakes

This was an idea as a little extra gift for a friend's birthday. She really likes roses so I thought they would make a nice surprise. They were very quick and easy to do using a cupcake mould. I then dusted the roses and leaves and added 'magic sparkles' around the edges.

Xbox Guitar Hero cake

I was asked to make a cake to celebrate a 21st birthday. It was a choice between the cake as the numbers 21 or an xbox rock band theme. We chose the latter because I thought it would be more fun to personalize.
The logo in the middle is from a band he likes and I had to work out the best way to do this. Eventually I made a stencil and coloured royal icing to use over it. I added the sparkly number 21 after it had set.
The guitar was made using a patchwork cutter of an electric guitar then adding the coloured buttons to the neck of the guitar,the trickiest part was trying to colour it. To decorate the sides I wanted to match in the orange and made circles on the corners like buttons on the xbox guitar. I cut musical notes from Mexican paste in between.
James is modelled sitting on a box playing on the xbox drum kit. It was difficult to know exactly what it looks like because I don't own one and the pictures on the box in the 'Game' store are not detailed enough, however a bloke in the shop at the time tried to fill in the blanks for me.

Beetle car wedding topper

This was what I made at a Debbie Brown workshop yesterday. There were twenty of us all making a Beetle car with a bride and groom. It was hard to get it all done in the time we had so I had to finish it this morning at home.The design is in her new book "Dream Wedding Cakes". Mine looks like it's got a flat tyre because I should have left it longer to harden more before I attached it to the car. Adding the boot and cans to the bumper with thread was extremely fiddly and time-consuming,but definitely adds to the charm of the piece. I reckon my couple must have parked up,otherwise he certainly isn't keeping his eyes on the road! It is hard to see from the photo but I dusted the car with snowflake lustre powder and added some white magic sparkles to the headlights too.Debbie Brown makes modelling hands and faces seem so simple but I've got years of practice to get to that stage...

Easter Cake

I made a lot of the pieces for this cake at cake decorating class. It is from a design by Maisie Parrish. I didn't want a fruit cake so I only made the cake itself three days before Easter.The basket is made with 9 short lengths of raw spaghetti pushed into a disc if icing then long strings of icing woven between them. I filled mine with mini eggs for the children to share. The daffodils on the top were also made in class and I used a flower pick to add them to my cake. It is my sister-in-law's birthday on Easter Day this year so I put her name on it as the family will be all together on Sunday. All the chicks,mother and foliage is made from modelling paste, half sugarpaste,half flower paste so that it holds its shape better. The small daffodils took a while to make but were very effective on the sides.

Sea Cadet cake

This is the cake I made for my son's 11th birthday. He attends Sea cadets twice a week so I wanted to do a nautical theme. I piped a 'runout' of their emblem which says Blackcap, the name of their unit. The board is iced with chocolate flavoured icing and embossed to look like the deck. I made the figure in uniform saluting with neatly pressed trousers and used confectioner's glaze to give him very shiny boots, as Owen is forever polishing his boots.To finish it off,although not clear from the photo angle, I modelled from icing some rope,a quayside bollard,a seagull,and the obligatory mop and bucket to keep things shipshape. A sign on the 'stern' points up with an arrow and reads 'this way to the poop deck'.The cake itself is chocolate flavoured.

Mothers' Day Cake

I made the bell at cake decorating class and then used the flowers I had made previously,together with some newer ones and bows to fill the bell shape. To make the 'lace' trim for it and also to place around the edge of the card, I piped the pieces onto a sheet of acetate. Once they were completely dry and hardened, I very carefully peeled them off and attached them with a little Royal icing, some as a lace trim for the bell and some to go around the card to finish off the edge. It will be possible to remove the cake card from the top in order to keep it before eating the cake itself. My daughter was playing with some spare icing and my cutters and she said Grandma would really like some hearts on her cake too,so that's what we did.

Playboy Bunny cake

This was for a girl's 18th birthday party. They asked me to make a cake in the shape of the playboy bunny and something glitzy. I made a 12 inch square cake and cut out the head/tie and ears separately. The trickiest part was icing it in one piece ,especially around the ears and tie. Icing the board too was challenging as I wanted a good join so that there would be no need to pipe around the join which, I felt , wouldn't look as good. The lettering is from the funky set and the new lower case set.The stars are dusted with flash white, the bunny and lettering with disco hologram "way too pink", and the bow tie with disco hologram "midnight". I managed to purchase some jazzy pink ribbon as a trim for the board so it only really used three colours in all.

Rag Doll cake

We were asked to take a muffin and a pudding bowl cake to our cake decorating class. This was what we managed to create in one evening. Her body is the pudding bowl cake and her head is made from the muffin. It was easier to make the hands larger and with less detail as she is only meant to be a doll. The edges of her dress are just crimped and some patchwork cutters used to emboss a bit of detail onto it. I painted stripes on her tights later with dusting colour raspberry shimmer. Next time I think I will spend more time on the hair and perhaps make plaits.

Pokemon cake

This was for my son's birthday. He was mad about Pokemon and wanted this particular character on his cake. I traced the picture from one of his magazines then used it to make a template for the cake. I tried to mix the right colours and this was the result. All his friends knew straight away who it was so that was reassuring.

Basket of chocolates

I was asked to make a birthday cake for a lady. As it was close to valentine's day I thought it would be rather sweet to make a basket of chocolates. The brown sugarpaste actually tastes of chocolate and the cake itself is chocolate flavoured. I used chocolate magic sparkles between the chocolates and on the numbers too but you can't really appreciate them in this photograph. When the cake is under a light they look lovely. I made a gift tag for her name and dried it over some foam to give it some shape. I made an icing cord and bow to attach it to the side of the basket. This way she can eat the chocolates and the cake too, double the treat!

Hippo in a spa

As a member of the British Sugarcraft Guild you can attend monthly demonstrations, and also you can pay to participate in workshop days run by various talented sugarcrafters. Yesterday I spent a most enjoyable day at a Maisie Parrish workshop. This cake was what each of us made, although every one looked slightly different. Maisie was a lovely lady with a great sense of humour. I have admired her style and in fact the cake on my blog heading was based on one of Maisie's designs from one of her books called Cakes with Character. My hippo is a bit darker grey than I wanted so I would make it lighter next time, although I would worry about insulting someone by giving them a fat hippo cake!?She is sweet though, I think I'll name her Harriet.

Stargazer lily

This was a project at cake decorating class. It took quite a while to make all the petals from flower paste and then I left them for a few days to completely harden before I dusted them and taped them together. One of my friends is a florist, and she immediately recognized what flower it was, so that was good.