Better late than never...

Ooopsie, a month since my last post? I'm a terrible blogger. As I know you're sick of hearing, I'm just awfully busy at the moment trying to finish uni. Good news - only 2 weeks to go and then I'm done! The past month has been a whirlwind of essays, photography, catching up with friends after New York, oh and of course the odd baking order ;)
So the day we got home from our trip, probably not much longer after I last posted actually, Jim and I found out that our family friends would like to offer us their flat they rent out. After 5 years together, we naturally jumped at the chance to finally live together and start an exciting new chapter to our life! We've been shopping around and taking advantage of the great event days homeware stores have been offering, and can safely say that we barely need much more for the new place - Asda have been cleaned out of their kitchenware. I thought Jim might start getting pains in his chest at the amount of stuff his baker girlfriend was picking up for the trolley!

Your blogroll is going to be chocka with a few posts from me now, sorry. But I've been doing loads, and they need to be separated accordingly :P

EASTER 2011

Easter has always meant a slap-up meal at the in-law's every year. As a thankyou (and dessert!) I baked a chocolate fudge cake decorated with icing and a chocolate cornflake nest with Mini Eggs. Not very adventurous, I know. But mother-in-law was very keen to try this recipe as I had raved about it after using it for wedding cupcake favours, and was annoyed that I just kept raving and not sharing :P

I did try my hand at making easter eggs this year, too. But the layer of chocolate inside the mould was too thin and my patience was wearing it aswell! So the melted chocolate went towards the cornflake nests :P

Also, my business - Cakes by Kirsten - is now up and running on Facebook! Please take a look around and feel free to "like." Plymothians - you're more than welcome to place orders! Haha!

Happy Baking x

Pussy Galore: Bumper Post

Hi y'all! Back from the Big Apple today so I just had to tell you about the recent cake extravaganza I embarked upon 24 hours prior to departure :)

I couldn't really say no to doing two cakes just before I set off on holiday - both were family orders and plus I really really wanted to do them. I was commissioned to make a Hello Kitty cake for my second cousin's first birthday, and a triple-whammy-James-Bond-themed-birthday cake for my other cousin's friends' party.
Phew.

So in a mere 48 hours I took upon the challenge of baking, icing and decorating two cakes, and here's the final results. (I haven't done a progress post this time as I was sooo strapped for time what with packing and uni-working too, so the final product is what you see is what you get.)

James Bond silhouette casino cake - Madeira Sponge with vanilla buttercream and jam filling.

Hello Kitty character cake - Devil Food Cake with chocolate buttercream with edible SPARKLES for decoration (note: no glitter - sparkles!!)

And remember the failed Red Velvet cupcake post I did last year? I tasted my first American-style cupcake from a little cupcakery on the stylish Madison Avenue and oh-my-goodness they are heavenly. Literally velvety, a hint of chocolate, and very frothy frosting! I HAVE to find a good recipe soon!!!

Happy Baking x

P.s I hope to set up a Facebook page soon for my 'Cakes by Kirsten' business. Link to come soon, I'd love your feedback!

When You Wish Upon a Star...

...Little Willow's dream's come true!

Remember the Peppa Pig cake I made a few weeks back? The owner's older sister, Willow, got her dream cake for her birthday on Sunday - a Princess Tiana cake! ( From Disney's Princess and The Frog.) Now, we had a few problems with trying to work out the design of Miss T, and I was originally going to make a doll cake with a cake doll pick pushed into the cake (which is effectively her skirt.) Unfortunately, for some idiotic and racist reason, LOADS of cake suppliers don't stock black doll picks, and the ones that do charge through the roof for them. So it was on to a flat design for Tiana, where my biggest problem was getting proportions right. Disney has the same motive as Barbie, where the ladies are all skinny, tall and gorgeous. This makes cake-making very hard, as skinny princesses are extremely delicate, and frankly won't feed a party-full of screaming kiddywinks. So, yes, she has a bit of a...ahem... full... neck, and my mum decided to tell me later on it would probably have been easier to just mould a head and neck out of cocoform. Thanks for telling me AFTER delivery, mum.

Anywho, despite this, she turned out okay, and the owner was very, very pleased with results - but then again I am my biggest critic. Also, I should make a note of telling people now - edible glitter is not actually edible. It's actually 'non-toxic.' Which in other words means it won't harm you, but it won't get digested either (sparkly poop??)
If you're thinking it looks fabulous on cakes and cupcakes, think again. It's messy, and used incorrectly is a huge pain is the bum. I managed to use it okay for Tiana's flower feature on her dress, but it just gets EVERYWHERE. Think I will make a note of banning it for future use. Hmm. Food for thought...

Look out for a chocolatey post at the end of the week - I'm back on the chocolate roses again for some wedding favour cupcakes! And stay tuned for a Hello Kitty cake next week before my jetset!!

Happy Baking x

If I Ever Made My Own 21st Birthday Cake...

This would be it!

Unfortunately, it's not for me. No one will be making me a birthday cake in 3 weeks time seeing as I will be away in New York (yes, I will mention it again :D). This cake has been made for business purposes! My gorgeous best friend Abby has kindly offered to help me with the advertising side of my 'Cakes by Kirsten' business once it's up and running, and I wanted a logo that would help define the company and myself. This is me all over - pastel colours, girlie, and BOWS! (I have a bow tattoo for a tramp stamp.) So this will be plastered all over my business cards, leaflets and website when I buy a domain.

This cake is also being used as part of my degree. One of the module I'm studying requires me and other group members to create a 32-page magazine from scratch, and then it gets sent to the printers! We're doing an article on independent business women, and who else to interview but moi! So a good friend Jodie will be doing the photography of this cake with me looking spanking in heels and an apron a la Bree Van De Kamp.

Anywho, the cake is entirely covered in white icing, using lilac, baby pink and baby blue ribbons and polka dots to finish. This is the first time I've actually been really pleased with the outcome of my bows. My mum's cake was too thick and didn't co-ordinate size-wise with the ribbon to match. The bow on Grumpy's christmas cake cracked on the knot, making it look silly :( I used the ribbon cutter tool to make everything even, and inserted a cake dowel right through the centre of the three cakes to hold them all together, aswell as the usual dowels in each layer (this prevents them from sinking into one another). The bows are made out of a combination of sugarpaste and Gum Tragacanth which helps harden icing to make it easier to mould into flowers etc. I used a few odds and ends to help keep things intact until they set properly though... Apologies for the crudeness :P

Remember back last summer when I did a few posts on Wedding-related happenings? The bride in one of the pictures, Laura is now pregnant! I wonder if she'd like this kind of cake for her Baby Shower? One can only ask.... ;)

Any questions feel free to ask!

Happy Baking x