It's begininng to feel a lot like Christmas!

  Less than 1 month to go until Xmas people! I can't believe time flies so quickly when you are having fun. The orders just keep coming in and I have cakes booked in until November next year and enquiries for 2012!!!

  Before you know it, we'll be drinking and partying with the best of them.

Kids cakes have really taken off and more than ever with parents buying cakes for their kids using their favourite toys or tv shows as inspiration.

  Ben 10 for the boys and Dora the Explorer for the girls! And yet, within minutes of presenting these cakes, they are demolished beyond recognition by the birthday child and guests.

  It's why I love doing what I do. The look on the kids faces and the following phone call thanking me for a job well done by the parents makes it all worth while.

But don't get me wrong - it's not just the kids that enjoy the custom made cakes. Now they are for every age group from the littlies through to the adults.

 With the latest addition to the Harry potter movie season - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (which I went to see with my niece last week), there's been an influx of movie related cake themes.
  Many of which will be part of costume parties with guests of all ages.

 

"Sex in the City" was the main attraction for this cake above on the right with shoe fetishists' throughout the world rejoicing. With less intricate designs of similar themes for the cakes on the left.

  Or for the boys - UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champonships) has seen the latest boom. Bye, bye world wrestling :(

  The cake below made for 200 guests contained a UFC octagonal ring and 2 fighters (one made to look like the birthday boy) with a bikini clad girl. Seats, supporters logo's and clothing gear all represented.

 

And for something a little bit different - one for the escapist in all of us. A sailing boat off to see the world.

   With this next cake, there was a funny story behind the laptop cake including a work colleague who remains single searching the web for the woman of his dreams!

  Someone was trying to give the poor guy a hint!

 

And last of all the novelty cake for the wedding couple. A small token wedding cake made more for the groom than the bride... a true football fanatic!

  I hope she's still grinning like this after a few years!

  

Back to School

Yes, yes, I know most of you out there are thinking...what? It's Christmas holiday time not January - back to school. Sorry to confuse but I actually meant that some of us cake decorators got together during last weekend in Toowoomba to hold a workshop class.
  Mary Reid of "Merivale Cakes & Crafts"  (http://www.merivalecakesandcrafts.com.au/) organised for us to come out to Toowoomba for a visit and we were graced by the presence of John Quai Hoi - "My Cake Delights" (http://mycakedelights.com.au) , Melbourne. It was an honour to have Mr. Quai Hoi show us how to create extra large flowers on wedding cakes for which he is known, world-wide.Preston
  It wasn't all business of course and we had an absolute ball, socialising, hanging out and talking shop.

  Within the group there were over 12 ladies within the industry both from Brisbane and Toowoomba businesses'.

  I think the class was fun and considering how much of what I have created over the years has been sel-taught through trial and error, it was great to see new methods and see the creationary process through a new perspective.

 To make it in time many of us were running around trying to make sure cake orders were finished and delivered on time.

 Clean, simple cake designs with large embellishment - flowers, diamates or ribbon are really coming into their own at the moment.  Some of the cakes even have absolutely no other colour on them except for a single flower to enliven the room.  Interesting to see after making so many with all sorts of piping and appliqued work.

The cake to the left was a strange but beautiful design picked out by a young bride from a wedding cake magazine. It was definitely different. Covered in beatiful lace and gathered around each tier with a diamante strand, ribbon and buckle. I felt like a dressmaker putting it together!

 The end result was definitely worth the time as once I place it onto the table at the venue - it looked fantastic! The mirrored table added to the effect making the cake seem extremely tall. It's good to see a venue that thinks about where the cake is going!

Between these and the novelty cake work which is always so diverse, the job is keeping me busy. I have clients who ring up asking for cakes or cake ideas they have seen on Foxtel television shows such as "Ace of Cakes" or "The Cake Boss". This following cake spurred on the idea of having a cake when you find out a family member is going to have a new baby.

  You've got to love television and technology for moments like these.

  "MasterChef" brought on a whole new load of 'requests'. Suddenly everyone wanted croquembouche (chantilly filled profiteroles coated in toffee). The trouble with that is, I live in Brisbane...not necessarily the most humid free environment around. It's supposed to be like the tropics here! And let me tell you, toffee does not react well with humidity!

  So here's my version of the same cake - coated in chocolate this time so the client can either store it in a coolroom or an air-conditioned room until time for their event! Chocolate dipped strawberries and chocolate filigree on top are always winners'.