T-Rex - The Conclusion!

Unfortunately, my T-Rex cake didn't quite come out as planned....

I was rather disappointed, but after several days of leg preparation and several nights of no-sleep worrying, the standing T-Rex had to be put on ice :(

Quite reassuringly though, my friend, for whom I was making the cake, was in my kitchen the morning of the disaster and was quite relieved that the he turned into a sitting dino as she was concerned she wasn't going to get it to Marwell Activity Barn in one piece.

After trying to stack the cake and supporting board on top of the dowelled and iced legs, it just wasn't going to hold his weight.  The legs kept giving way, and despite my fervoured attempts to make him stand come what may, I had to admit defeat. 

Not something that I like doing, but, quite reassuringly, my friend, whose son the cake was for, was totally in agreement that I'd tried everything to make him stand. I think she was probably quite relieved that he then became a sitting dino, as she had to travel several miles with him in her boot!   I think transporting the standing one would have given her a nervous breakdown!

So, here is my very fat, very sitting, but nonetheless 3D T-Rex........

and of course, for my friend's daughter, teddy

www.wishcakes.co.uk

Thanks!

Cathx

BABY SHOWER CAKE - The Conclusion!

I had a lovely message from my customer who ordered the coloured sponge which I blogged about the other day. 

He was totally and utterly over the moon with the cake -

I just wanted to email to say that the cake was perfect.  It was absolutely delicious – most people wanted seconds!! 

It was a nice surprise – worked really well – as the colour didn’t transfer onto the knife, so the cuts came out clean – meaning we had to wait to actually pull the slice out to find out – which kept the surprise right up to the last moment.

We didn’t take pictures as we were cutting, but a few of my friends did – so if I see any really good ones, I will forward.  I attach one that I have seen already – but it’s not the best!!

Thanks for everything – obviously the cake was the main part of our party – and it was perfect.  I would defiantly recommend you again – and I will be in contact in about 6 months for the christening cake (and seeing the job you did on the Yoda cake – probably for many birthdays to come!!)

I think it's fair to say that this is a pretty good testimonial!

So, should you need to colour a sponge, make sure that you use the SugarFlair Paste.  It works wonderfully well.

 

Standing 3D T-Rex Cake....Ummmmmm

Amongst this weeks cakes are birthday cakes for my friend's twins who are turning 5 at the end of the week.

The little girl is easy, as she wants "Billy Bear" who is not too difficult to do.  However, the little boy has asked for a dinosaur cake, but it MUST have teeth and be scary....he'd really like a T-Rex, but I am a little indecisive about how to create this as, as my husband has told me "dinosaurs don't sit down!".

OK, so I'm left wondering how on earth I create a standing cake.  I've googled this, as I have been asked many times for a standing horse, etc, etc... but the physics of making cake stand on it's own just don't add up. 

It seems that this can be done, as some cake makers do it, but you need PVC plumbing parts and sometimes metal pipe which is bent into shape.  I'm not too sure about using metal pipes as support structures in my cakes, as it's not particularly hygienic and I don't think I'd want to eat cake which has been around a metal pipe!

Also, I have to bear in mind that my friend has to get these two cakes up to Marwell Activity Barn, down bumpy lanes, without the whole thing collapsing!  I live on my nerves enough when delivering normal cakes, without adding delicate cakes into the mix!

The other concern, is that the little boy is egg intolerant.  I've managed to find a recipe which I think will stand up to the job, so atleast that's the baking part sorted out.  I will post the egg free sponge recipe later on.

I'm never too keen on taking on cake for allergy sufferers, but it seems a shame, as so many children are now plighted with such intolerances or allergies, and why should they miss out on a lovely birthday cake because of that. 

So, my next venture, will be into sourcing and making gluten free, egg free, diary free cakes so that these little kids, and sometimes adults, don't miss out.

But, watch this space for what becomes of my T-Rex!

YODA!!!! Et al from this week!

Well, it's been the end of a busy week here in Wish Cakes' kitchen.  With 5 cakes this week and only me doing it, plus a poorly daughter in tow, it's been a bit of busy one.

But, that said, I'm pretty pleased with the results of each cake. Yoda, A present with a sugar shoe and mirror compact, a cricket themed cake, a baby shower cake, and a cake to celebrate my Aunt and Uncle's 25th Wedding Anniversary.

I called up my Aunt a couple of days ago and can't believe that they have been married for 25 years!  It seems like yesterday that I was in a puff ball (very 80's) dress with my lovely Deidre Barlow glasses doing my duties as her bridesmaid, along with my cousin, her daughter.

She pointed out to me that she was the same age as I am now when she got married, and it just seems unbelievable and quite scary.  So, to celebrate such an occasion I have created her a lovely cake.  I can't post the photo on here yet, as she may well read this, but once Sunday has come and gone, it will be posted for all to see.

I'm hoping that I will have 5 very happy customers.......let's see when they collect them tomorrow!

Yoda's Head Close-up

Baby Shower Cake...but is the sponge inside pink or blue?

Full shot of Yoda

For a Cricket Fan

Sugar shoe, sugar compact and label

Close up of compact and hand painted label

Colouring Sponge Cakes

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to create a baby shower cake for a new customer.

The whole idea is quite American, but seems to be hitting our shores with full force.  The idea is that, at your 20 week scan, you ask the doctor to write down the sex of the baby, put it in a sealed envelope and then deliver it to your baker asking them to bake a pink cake for a girl and a blue cake for a boy.  Now, whether or not you decide to know the contents of the envelope is up to you, but in this case, I am to be the only person, other than the doctor to find out the sex of the baby before everyone else.

At your baby shower, you then cut the cake and everyone finds out, at the same time, what sex your baby is going to be.

I was quite excited to be given the opportunity to make this cake.  However, my customer was a little concerned about the vibrancy of the colour of the sponge.  If it's a girl, it's not too bad, as pink is a pretty easy colour to work with.  Blue, however, is slightly different. 

From experience I can say that it is one of the most difficult colours to match.  Now, I'm not an artist and I don't know much about the "Chemistry" of colours, but I do know that when a bride has come to me asking for a certain shade of blue, matching it up can be a complete nightmare.  I usually get there in the end, but can be sure to have added all other colours to achieve the matched result.

So, the blue sponge may have proved to be a little difficult to reach.  However, I always work with paste colours.  There are infinitely better than the liquid colours.  They deliver a higher pigment, so usually only a small amount on the end of a cocktail stick with be required, and they don't taste.  Perfect!

My customer was concerned, as he had made coloured cakes before, and I think had probably used liquid colouring, and had never managed to achieve the right colour or the right taste.  Leaving me feeling a little uneasy and slightly unnerving my judgment, I decided to call up one of the Distributors of my lovely little pots of SugarFlair Paste colouring http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/sugarflair-food-colourings . They were able to reassure me that the sponge would colour beautifully and that there would be no taste. 

As customer satisfaction is paramount, I then whipped into the kitchen, and knocked up a batch of both pink and blue cupcakes.  I then split the cakes in half and photographed the finished article and popped it through in an email for him to see.  A message came through a few minutes later to say that he was really pleased.  Good news.

All I have to do now is wait until tomorrow to find out the sex and bake the corresponding cake.  I feel privileged to be able to create such an element of  surprise and suspense for a customer!

Big Board - Mayflower Theatre Cake

MAYFLOWER CAKE!

The week before last I had a call from the PA to the CEO at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton.  Their CEO was retiring and they were holding a big party for him on Sunday, and they needed  a cake!

I've made cakes for the Mayflower in the past, the last being a Mayflower Van cake, but this one was to be bigger and better.  They asked me to create the front of the Mayflower on the top of the cake - it had to be for over 100 people!

Never one to turn down a challenge, I accepted and then went about planning how on earth I was going to make this as the largest cake I bake is a 12" square.

I spent the weekend re-creating Blue Peter with lots of paper, pencils and sellotape, working out proportions, how many cakes I would need and how to cut them to create the finished article.

In the end, I fashioned it out of 2 x 12" square cakes.  Using 26 eggs, approx 2kgs of flour, butter and sugar and around 6kgs of icing,  I barely managed to carry it through my kitchen and on to the dining room table between each icing session!  

Luckily, my husband was on hand Friday morning, when it was collected, to carry it to the car.  It's just amazing how heavy even the smallest of cakes can be, let alone one of this magnitude!  

I am pretty pleased with the finished result.  I had a lovely email this morning to say how happy they were with it.  The daily echo had also been present, but I didn't manage to get a picture of it in the paper :(  However, I understand that their photographer may well have taken a picture of the CEO with his cake, and I am hoping that I might well be able to get a hold of a picture.  

I hope that you like it too!

Oaty Chocolate Caramel and Pecan Bars!

Over the last couple of weeks I've been craving the oaty sticky taste of cake bars!  No, I'm not pregnant, but I do tend to go through "phases" with my cooking.  Once I find a decent recipe, I usually bake it to death until I find another one to suit my ever-changing taste buds!

Red faced I make this admission....I've never been very good at flapjack, which has always proved rock-hard or too soft to stay together.   I can't seem to find a decent recipe, and the one I did think was decent, has let me down, by coming out like house bricks!  So, in pursuit of another way of feeding my craving, I came across the recipe for Oaty Chocolate Caramel and Pecan Bars.  It was an American Recipe, so I had to convert it to Llbs and Ozs, which is what, I'm afraid I generally work in.  Although I am from the metric age, I was taught by my mum to work in imperial, so grammes and kilos don't mean much to me.

I would like to share with you my lovely recipe.  It's not too much hard work and relatively quick to make up, which is always a big bonus to any time restrained mum!

 

Oaty Chocolate Caramel and Pecan Bars

9 ozs Flour (I used Plain, but I guess SR would be OK too)

6 ozs  Oats

6 ozs  Brown Sugar

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

12 ozs Margarine

6 ozs  Chocolate (chips or chopped from a bar)

4 ozs Pecan nuts (roughly chopped)

Tin of Carnation Caramel  

13" x 9" tin (or smaller if you want it thicker)  The tin must be atleast 2" deep.

Place the flour, Oats, Brown Sugar, Bicarbonate of Soda and Margarine in to a bowl and "rub" together...so fork the mixture together as though you were making a crumble mix.  It will look a bit gloopy and it won't be as fine as crumble mix, but don't worry.  You do need to break it down as much as you can, and if that means cutting it with a knife, then do that.

Line your tin and take HALF of the "crumble" mix and press really, really firmly into the base of the tin.  This is really important as it needs to stay together when baked

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes on 180C

After the 10 minutes are up, take out of the oven and spread over the chocolate chips and pecans (or indeed any other fruit you'd like to add at this stage).  Then, mix the caramel in the tin and tip over the top of the whole lot. 

Then, add the remaining "crumble" mix to the top and press down a bit.  You won't be able to press too firmly else the mixture from underneath will squirt through.  

Bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the top is golden.

Et voila, your cake bar is cooked.  Allow to cool and slice into bars.

QUICK TIP -  If the Caramel sauce is too runny, try mixing it with a tablespoon of flour to thicken it up before cooking.

My daughters and one of their friends were my guinea pigs for this recipe.  They loved it!  However, it is quite sweet, so bear that in mind when cutting the bars.  

Perfect for lunchboxes or in the evening if you need a sneaky nibble.....and, if you pack in enough fruit you'll get atleast one of your five a day!

Happy Baking

Cathx