06 August 2011

Failure Notification

What with this fantastic weather we have been having of late - and yes, most of you think it's too cold but for cakes..............puuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrfect! It's been a fabulous and busy couple of months and I've only just had the chance to sit back on a Saturday afternoon whilst waiting on clients to pop in.
  The sun is shining and warming through the venetian slats in my office. I could almost have an afternoon siesta but no time like the present to organise myself and at least let everyone know that yes, beneath all the cakes, orders and icing - i am still alive and not a complete failure to the human population who manage to write their blogs weekly or god-forbid even daily.
  Where to start? May as well throw myself into the deep end and just keep going.
  This lovely creation on the left was an addition to a family and having made his older sister's first birthday cake, Mum thought it only fitting Jack's was made in a similar style but for a boy instead.
  I was extremely happy with the outcome of the teddy bears and thought they added character to a simple design.
  The stripes on the board were an addition from Jack's pin-strip outfit for the special day.



  Above was Mum & Dad's Anniversary cake...no - not mine but a customers'. The lady requested a campervan as they love to take off and have some 'alone' time now that the kids are old enough. Puppy can't miss out so he was made to be included too. Good to see the romance is still alive.

This cake has been extremely popular of late with cocktail style weddings. The guests can help themselves and there's something for everyone - from chocolate dipped strawberries and custard filled profiteroles through to jam bulls' eye biscuits and vanilla butter cream patty cakes. MMMMMmmmmmm.


Sometimes a gesture of a wedding cake is enough to tantalise the taste buds. Below, was a small wedding cake for a couple who had already married overseas and their parents were holding a small celebration in honour of the union.





With most animal novelty cakes, happy and fun is usually the way to go. However this is not always the case. A happy crocodile still looks mean and although you should never smile at one, I just can't seem to help myself.  This was originally a "Cake Star" design which the client emailed me and I reproduced it to the best of my extent.
My next door neighbour's little girl has a complete fascination with ducks. In the late afternoon, you can hear her calling out to them for feeding time. I thought this an apt design as she even has one called "Elvis". Being a huge Elvis fan - I almost included his coif but then thought he may look too masculine. So Rayban's eat your heart out!

Elegant and sophisticated - sometimes a small touch of bling is enough to sparkle up a cake.   The best thing is the topper is a keepsake for the birthday girl.

Who isn't a fan of the Fender base guitar when they look awesome in red?  Mind you, the bigger the cake needs to be - the bigger the board - and that's the biggest board I can get commercially.  Maybe I'll need to start cutting up my own Masonite? But where does it end? The boxes will then need to be made bigger and the customers will need to show up in small trucks - just to take their cakes home!! Lol.
Classically traditional bible cakes have been made since I started into this industry. But at least they can have a  modern twist with brighter colours.






I thought this cake was a bit of a catch-22 when I was first given the order. For a kid who loves to eat his fruit, this cake had a lot of sugar! Maybe a way around it would have been to use real fruit with faces appliqued onto the front?
The concept was novel though and it was fun to try to recreate the fruits with their texture to imitate real life.



 I love hearing the back stories on some of these cakes. You have everything from clients who call and want traditional standard cake designs to parents in another State who want to remind their children that they are still special.
Grant was one lucky guy who's mum rang from Melbourne to organise his chocoholic surprise at his work! I delivered during a meeting no less so now the whole company knows it was his birthday!

 Hawaiian luau. Apart from the palm trees which were so hard to find at the last minute - this cake has all sugar items. The small intricate Hawaiian dancers were all made of sugar and placed into position around the cake to create a full effect.

 For some special children, parents go all out. Daddy proudly did right by his daughter with this fantastic work of art. With a 70's hippy theme there was one very happy little girl! The marble effect on the kombi van with the "Peace & Love" signs and extras made this cake a visual stunner from all sides.
 Tiger Island - Dreamworld. It's been ages since I've been there and I used to be a complete adrenalin ride junkie. Even down to the Wonderland pass when I lived in Sydney during late high school days. When i delivered this cake it was great to have a behind the scene's look at the park after closing.
  The couple had chosen Tiger Island and I was sooo jealous. I love cat's of any size and could just imagine having them with me on my special day.
 had a ball.
 
Medieval Dragons have always been a huge part of me. When this gorgeous couple came and told me of their idea to incorporate them into their wedding cake, I was stoked at trying my hand at making them. It was the first time I have ever used edible casting gel and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, at all.
Making the first two took a bit of time but then it was smooth sailing. The concept of the border was taken from one of their favourite illustrated books. Using a Celtic style border painted gold and the green ivy to represent growth and union.
On my Facebook page they posted a photo of the finished cake. One of their close friends and gusts at the wedding uses "World of Warcraft"  style figurines and personalises them. She created the Bride & Groom with their own Dragon as a small token on top of the cake. What a lovely idea and you can't top that for a memory of a lifetime.

 For most women, dancing stops when you get older - for some it just keeps on going! What with the Dance flick craze that mostly everyone seems to be following today - who wants to be a star/dancer/model etc...it's harder to escape than ever before.
  Parody shows take the mickey out of the dance movies and yet we can't keep falling back onto old classics. Some which are currently being remade (like "Footloose") should be left as reminders that cheesy is great once - not twice!
 "My Little Pony". Never a big toy for me personally but cute never-the-less.  They appear so easy to make yet the shape is hard to re-create in icing. You live and learn, I guess.
  The final cake design was pretty and likable for a little girl.
 Yum - who else eats Nutella by the spoonful straight out of the jar????
  One of my worst habits that my Mother is still disappointed about. My niece's and nephews seem to take after me though as they do it too.
  So who better to reproduce the jar they love soo much than me? I loved making this cake and the birthday girl is also having her wedding cake made by me.
  How sweet!
 
That's the end for today my deviant fiends. Hope you like the onslaught of photos and stories and I will(fingers crossed - hope to die) try to not fail in posting again tomorrow.
That way we can all catch up on some well earned rest!
Sleep well.



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