CHARITY BALL - CAKES!

Cancer Research is a very important Charity to me. Bowel Cancer is hereditary in our family and without the research done by this charity, my mum probably wouldn't be here today.

I have been approached by a lady who has suffered from Cancer and survived. She is organising a massive Ball in Sutton Scotney early next year to raise money for this Charity and has asked if I would donate a cake.

After some discussion, I am to make 250 fairy cakes to be placed at each table setting. Each cake will incorporate their logo.

I am really excited about doing this as I have never made that many cakes all in one go! If you want to take a look, her website is www.partyforlife.org.uk

I will post back after the event with pictures of the cakes!

NEW - WEDDING CAKE TOPPERS

Need a Non-Edible Bride and Groom Wedding Cake Topper? Look no further....

Today saw the launch of my new non-edible cake toppers. Crafted from a Polymer Clay they are the perfect keepsake of your special day.

They are much tougher and stronger than the sugar toppers, although, they should be placed on a perspex board before placing on top of the cake.

Just as the sugar toppers, these can also be dressed to the customer's requirements and the detailing is just the same.

Hopefully, they will prove to be a big success at a reasonable price...

HOW TO MARZIPAN A CAKE

Usually it is only fruit cakes which are marzipanned. Although, I do like to use marzipan, if my customer wants it, on madeira cakes. Marzipan provides a stable base for icing and you do tend to get a better, smoother finish.

1 Your cake should be spread with boiled apricot jam.

2 Knead your marzipan on a lightly dusted surface (dusted with icing sugar)

3 Roll out the marzipan to about 4mm thick. Dust your rolling pin with icing sugar and roll the marzipan up on to the rolling pin and lift carefully on to the cake. Start at the "front" of the cake and roll to the "back". Trim off any excess.

4 Now re-knead any usable marzipan and roll into a long strip, wide enough to cover the sides of the cake.

5 Roll the marzipan up and starting at the corner of the cake (if square) unroll onto the edge of the cake. If necessary, cut a straight edge at the end of the roll and re-roll some more and join the marzipan together by rubbing the seams in a circular motion with icing sugar.

6 Trill off the marzipan at the top and rub the edges using your forefinger in a circular motion with icing sugar to make a neat seam between the top and sides.

HOW TO ICE A CAKE

This takes practice! I would suggest starting with a smallish cake, about 6 inch square or round is best to start with.

Before you start, your cake should be free of crumbs. If it is a fruit cake which has been marzipaned, then the marzipan should be dampened slightly with a little alcohol or boiled water. Do not make this too wet else you will get "bubbles" in your icing. If you are icing a maderia cake, then you should coat the cake lightly with buttercream.

Any gaps between the board and the cake should be filled with a little sugarpaste. If your cake has risen in the middle, then you should level the top with a cake leveller. Always use the bottom of the cake to ice so as to ensure a flat finish.

1 Start by dusting your rolling pin and board or work surface with a little icing sugar. Not too much or you will dry your icing out too quickly.

2 Knead your sugarpaste so that it is soft. Shape it into a round blob. You are now ready to roll.

3 Roll the icing out evenly. If you are covering a square cake, try and keep the icing in a square shape when rolling out, if it is a round cake, then try and keep the icing to a circular shape.

4 The icing needs to be about 3-4mm thick. You can use marzipan spacers to get the right thickness. It is important that the icing is not too thick or thin. Too thick and it will crack, too thin and it will tear.

5 Using a piece of clean string, measure across the width of your cake and then make sure that your icing is big enough to fit over your cake. The icing should be slightly bigger. If you have too much "overhang" then the icing will pull and you will end up with splits and cracks.

6 Once you are satisfied that you have the correct width and length, gently roll the icing up on to the rolling pin. Carefully lift it and roll over the cake. I always start from the "front" of the cake and then roll the icing towards the "back" of the cake. The icing should now be laying loosely on the cake.

7 You now need to smooth out the icing. If you are icing a round cake, you need to lift the icing slightly away from the edges and smooth down with your hands, lifting and smoothing as you go around the cake so that you don't get any creases. If you are icing a square cake. Lift the corners out on each side and smooth down. This will stop it from creasing up. This is quite a hard technique to master and takes a bit of practice.

8 You can now use your cake smoothers to smooth and shine the icing. Trim the bottom of the cake against the board. Take care when you do this that you do not cut the icing too short. It is a very easy mistake to make!

Why does Wish Cakes not have a Shop?

Can I come to your Shop? This is a question asked by many of my customers. The answer to which is, I don't have a shop, I am home based.

Some customers seem confused when I reply with this answer. Let me explain why I don't have a shop.... It's simple, the first reason being that I can't afford to lease a shop as I do not make enough profit. Secondly, I feel that if I were to move into business premises my whole business ethos of providing a intimate and personal service would be lost. If you look at many of the cake businesses running throughout the South, they don't offer the extensive range cakes (especially 3D) which I provide. Indeed, if they do, then the cost to the customer is higher.

Running my business from home means that my overheads are lower, therefore my prices are lower and I feel that I can give my customers the one to one commitment for their order.

I do not employ anyone either. This too is simply because Wish Cakes is "me". Cake decorating can be likened to art, Da Vinci paintings are different to Dahli, so my cakes are different to others. I am not, of course, saying that mine are better than anyone elses, I am merely stating that our styles would be different.

Even though I work from home I still have to be checked by Environmental Health, so there are food safety issues in place to ensure that my working environment is clean and tidy. (Believe me, I would not eat from a dirty kitchen myself, so it is definitely clean!)

I will continue to run my business from home for as long as I can. I feel that there is no reason for me to expand at the moment!

CHRISTMAS CAKES!

We are about to display our range of Christmas Cakes on the website.

If you need your Christmas Cake, please order early to allow time to mature!

Theses mini cakes make fabulous stocking fillers and gifts for Grandparents and people living on their own. They are individually packaged in their own gift bag too!

Charity Events/Fayres

I was approached earlier in the year by Rainbow Childrens Trust who were running a fundraiser in Petersfield. They asked if I would donate a "party cake" to add to their cake stall.

After checking the Charity out on the internet, I saw that they were fundraising for a fantastic cause. I felt that a normal party cake would not suffice. Instead I produced the Cinderella Carriage Cake for them to raffle. The Organisers were over the moon and it apparently helped to encourage people to buy more raffle tickets!

This is still one of my favourite cakes.

I have also donated cakes to the local schools for their raffles at Christmas and for one schools' summer fayre