Bride and Groom Cake Topper

Feedback: " Thank you for making the cake topper for Dani's wedding. The time effort and attention to detail that you have put in to it are very much appreciated and added that little extra to our special day"
The Ro.... family

AFL Engagement Cake

Seven days ago I was asked if I would be interested in making an engagement cake for Del and Rusty with the following specifications:

• Mud cake shaped like a footy oval
• Figures of a couple sitting on a bench with a rug over their knees
• Blonde hair on both figures and the man had to have a wink and be dressed in a Geelong [Cats] shirt!
• A trophy in the background or hoisted high to celebrate the Cats winning the Premiership in 2007.

So of course I said "No problem"! 

So here is the result with a few minor alterations and the figures a little cartoon like. I added a scarf to unite the two and gave Del a rose to carry and Rusty a Sherrin football.

On collection, the customer said " I love it" 

I hope she likes the flavour of the cake. Under the icing are two square cakes one is a rich mud cake [need only a small piece as deliciously decadent] and then a 3 tiered chocolate cake sandwiched with sour cherry conserve. Both cakes covered with Chocolate ganache [did I mention rich?]

Here is the feedback received:

Dear Janet
Just wanted to say thank you so much for taking on the challenge of doing my cake. Secondly putting so much love into it. you did an amazing job. So many people commented on how delicious it was and how amazing your icing was. I'm telling everyone how great you are! I will be back soon for my wedding cake.
Thanks again ..... Delvene and Russell

Engineer Cake

Mel, my husband has finally retired and has had in total six celebrations of this event. I decided to wrap this up by providing a cake for a morning tea! The cake was a a fruit cake topped with sugar fondant. I modelled a figure from gumpaste and placed him on the cake. The figure was complete with hard hat and safety vest. In 2003 when the drought was particularly bad he had been involved in a project in the Broken Hill [Silver City] region of NSW, Australia. I had the newspaper article enlarged and laminated then placed the cake on a glass plate on top of it.

Congratulations Mel.

Could also be used as a Father's Day cake for an engineer or similar

FairyToadstool Cake

The challenge to make a fairy cake for Rhianna, a 3 year old.  So the thinking process began .... I went straight to Google and discovered the Fairy Toadstool idea. Noted that one caker had reported that she had found it difficult to get a good finish on the roof of the toadstool ... ummm I don't want that! Suddenly I remembered that I had a polystyrene ball which if cut in half could be used for the roof. definitely a EUREKA moment!

I cut and covered the semi-sphere with red fondant and produced a dome ready to be covered with spots and a chimney. The cottage was a plain vanilla cake covered in a decorator buttercream which had been flavoured with caramel. Rhianna the fondant fairy was added to the scene and totally edible fondant [sugar- paste] flowers sprinkled around the board which had been first covered with the white fondant surrounded by hearts. Yes I loved making this cake. 12 cupcakes were also provided with the cake.

Comment from customer as she reported that her grown son who tasted one of the cupcakes said,

" Now that's a CUPCAKE." She also said that her granddaughter Rhianna loved the fairy toadstool. So everyone was happy!

Adamshurst Wedding

THE VENUE
A wedding at the beautiful Adamshurst in Albury was the setting for Lisa and Braden's wedding.The setting was truly magnificent but well the day was cold and wet. Now I come to think of it the last wedding cake I prepared was set against torrential rain. All the more reason to produce a cake which brings a smile to the eyes! Note I couldn't resist getting a photo in these surroundings!

PRIOR CONSULTATION

We had had a complimentary cake tasting and the flavours decided. The cake - rich chocolate mud and strawberry cake filled and covered with white choc ganache and finally topped with fondant. Cupcakes - vanilla / chocolate/ coffee/ banana. Lisa had requested a cupcake tower for 30 people and that she would supply the cake topper of a bride and groom. She added no love hearts but loved flowers. 

The flowers took some time to produce but i just love making edible decorations so it was no hassle. A dusting of pale pink was added to the dress of the bride [the topper not the real one] so that it toned with the large pink flower on the cake. The use of the lacy cupcake wrappers added to the style of the moment.

International Cuisine and Cupcakes.

Bruce and Jan came from Melbourne to lead the night. A harpist played who was being taught [via skype] by someone in Cornwall. A [Egyptian] koptic christian sang in Arabic. Two aussies sang about an "Old grey Fergie" ummm! The pictures say it all . ...... mateship across cultures.

We were treated to an aray of dishes - curries and bhutanese fare which were mainly vegetarian and spicy. All hail the slow cooker! A serbian cake by Hini was absolutely fabulous.

My cupcakes disappeared in minutes!

Golden Wedding.

Thank you, Janet. 

The cake was so special and really made the day.

"A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year."

Author: Paul Sweeney

Golden rose for a golden couple: About 40 friends gathered at Sunset Drive. People from way back - people from present. Very pleasant evening. Congratulations Ken & Mavis.

The love bird bench was inspired by the ETSY website. The date is the day they were married at Christ Church Chadderton , OLDHAM, UK.

Fondant Models

I love to model .... and add character to the cakes which I design:

The model (right) was of Kell who was celebrating her birthday and the imminent arrival of her 3rd baby. Again made with fondant but coloured with electric colours to add a cheerful brightness. On the left is one of my favourites - the figure  on a tractor is the characature of Mr Jones the grape farmer form Mildura. I loved modeling the tractor as it was simple ... and that means I like! All moulded from fondant.

Nev and Dulcie were celebrating their Diamond Wedding Anniversary.


The fisherman sitting in his boat was made from fondant strengthened with tylose powder. The boat or 'tinny' was shaped over some playdough until hardened. The tree was made with florist wire and then fondant was coloured and marbled and pressed around the wire form. 

Marbling Fondant.

The technique: I roll out two or three fondant sausages of differing shades. Lay them side by side and then plat them together and then roll ... fold over and role. Simple as that! You can vary the level of marbling by repeating the said process - it really is interesting to see what evolves. My advice is DON'T OVER ROLE' as you can get some murky brown or grey colour appearing!
There are some great videos on You Tube which give you the step by step info on getting it right. 'monkeyseevideos' are a great source of info. but there are really lots more. Just write in your browser "How to marble fondant" and hey presto you will find something interesting.

A Poker Cake

Dora the Explorer

New Year 2012 arrived and with it Charlotte's fourth birthday. A Dora cake was chosen for the party. Bright colours the order of the day together with the figures of Dora, Boots and Swiper [purchased not made - she was able to take the figures home]. Chocolate and strawberry cake covered with ganache and fondant. Base board covered in orange fondant.

I loved making this cake. On reflection - what I love about cake decorating is getting in on the party! Oh, did I mention about the SMILES?

Albury Probus

Asked to design and decorate the cake for the 20th Anniversary of the Probus Club in Albury. One of the members had baked the glorious fruit cake and I set about researching the emblem. Designing the logo from fondant .. ummmmm .....





And here is the cake. The fruit cake is covered with almond icing and finally topped with white sugar fondant. The fondant logo may be carefully removed prior to cutting. The cake is supported on its own board atop the plastic covered board beneath.


CONGRATULATIONS on the successful operation of the club for 20 years.

Peaches & Cream

Peach fondant covers the double tiers. A double row of white satin ribbon surrounds the cake, with silver cord between. Suitable for a range of celebrations even a small wedding.

Spirit-level and Straws!

Brides Mum, Liz rang me today and thanked me for the cake. 

She said it was "more than good ... it was magnificient. The ganache was especially wicked!"

Emma had purchased the cake stand and her grandmother had made the silk flowers (so beautiful) She couldn't find a suitable ribbon and so found some discounted wine gift bags from a store and cut them to size - it gave her the look she wanted at a fraction of the cost of bought ribbons. How clever - the pattern looked like it was embossed into the cake.Photo used with permission of the beautiful bride.

Now for the recipe: 

The 'bottom tier' - Dark Chocolate Jaffa Mud with Bitter Orange ganache filling-  and 'mid tier' - White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Mud sandwiched with Sweet White Choc ganache and Raspberry sauce . The top tier was extremely dry - so dry in fact that it is inedible ........ I trick you it was a dummy cake made from polystyrene!

Now for the levels:

I ganached, levelled and laid the fondant on the cake. No worries! I had to get the cakes absolutely level as I didn't want it to look like the leaning tower of ...... you know where! The spirit level was invaluable in getting the level accurate, I used straws inside the lower level of the cake instead of dowel to strengthen and prevent the cake sinking. Note: A Martha Stewart tip!

I went along to the marriage service at St Pat's in Albury and Emma was stunning in a beautiful gown. Definitely giving Kate and Pippa a run for their money! Privilege to be part of this happy event.

Christmas 2011

The house seems strangely quiet as the Rentons have gone home to Brisbane. Amy, Liam and the two twinkle sisters. What a great time it was. The family Christmas was especially sweet. Well the cake came out for the occasion - JOY TO THE WORLD: