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.