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Bobby Buttons Cake

Bobby buttons cake This was the cake I decorated in 15 minutes in fresh cream for my dad. It was his 71st birthday. A tailor by trade, hence all the buttons. 
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First birthday lady bug

First birthday cake This was a special time when my niece turned one in 2014. It was supposed to be a cold winter May in South Africa, but the day turned out so bright and sunny for this little one. The cake was a two tier stack cake. The bottom tier was vanilla with pink ombre, filled with fluffy vanilla flavoured frosting. The top tier was chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache. (Yes pure indulgence for the parents who were going to have to finish that cake) It was my first time making a two tier cake without any professional assistance. And the largest cake I had to cover with fondant. It took a lot of muscle and energy rolling out the green fondant. And to get it over the cake. The days theme was lady bugs in pink. The little birthday lady bug had a blast of a time sampling all the deco and the cake even before the party started.

Welcome Baby Cake

Welcome baby cake Chocolate cake layered with strawberry icing covered in chocolate ganache... Hmmmm! My obsession with covering a cake with chocolate ganache started about 6 months ago. I tried finding tutorials out there to assist me in perfecting this process. I finally stumbled upon the tutorial by simply-ganache-a-tutorial . The first time I tried it out my ganache was too soft and would not harden. The second time around was more successful.  I made a lovely welcome cake for my little niece's naming ceremony. I tried steaming the ganache to get the shine but ended up over steaming over the welcome sign so the ganache turned frosty.

Topsy turvy cake

I discovered this wonderful bakery in Centurion, South Africa.  Schweetemporium  offers hobby classes on baking and I joined the topsy turvy class in June.  I had so much of fun as they thought us how to carve and frost the cake. Once the cakes were frosted we rolled out the fondant and covered the two cakes individually. We doweled the bottom tier and stacked the cake. The bottom layer was vanilla with chocolate frosting, and the top layer was chocolate with vanilla frosting.  The class was for around 3 hours and by the time we got to decorating there was only 45 minutes left. So I decided to make my cake simple. I knew I wanted to make grass and flowers at the beginning of the class. So in the 45 minutes I put up my grass strips and made a little bee and ladybug. :-) Here are a few tips to follow when attending cake baking or decorating classes: Always take a pen and paper with you to take notes. Always ask whether you need to bring anything along. Some classes

New York Cup cakes for my birthday

I had a New York City themed birthday party this pass May. We had an awesome dinner on the cold African winter evening at a restaurant named Grand Central in Johannesburg. As a little treat to all my friends I made some New York themed cupcakes. We placed edible bracelet sweets around the cupcakes. Thank you to all my friends and family who made my birthday so awesome!

Custom made cup cakes

  I always admired the cup cakes made by the professionals where they cover the cupcake with fondant. My opinion was that it will be too pretty to gobble down, or it would be too sweet to eat.  I decided to give it a try and pleasantly surprised. I made chocolate cupcakes and coated them with some ganache. I placed in the freezer for around an hour for them to set.  Method: Roll fondant out on powdered surface.  Cut with a scone cutter, either the smooth or frilled edge. I used the frilled edge in these. Lift and place on ganache coated cupcake.  Smooth the fondant over with your fingers so it is flush against the ganache. I used all the little fondant art I made to top it off. Painting with gold: Use gold dust Add some rose water / clear spirit alcohol Mix together and apply with paint brush. Indent on fondant: Roll out fondant on powdered surface Run indent roller of fondant Cut with a scone cutter. The ALFA Romeo sign i

Christmas cupcakes

  HAPPY HOLIDAYS Hi everyone. I wanted to post my christmas cupcakes before I go off on holiday. I played around with the fondant and came up with a snow man with a scarf and christmas father.  I made some red velvet cup cakes and made some home made frosting.  Frosting recipe 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter 3 cups icing sugar 1tbl spn water 2 tbl spns rose water (can use milk) Beat the butter until white and fluffy. Sift the icing sugar to get the lumps out. Gradually add the icing sugar to the butter while beating. With about a cup of icing sugar left add the water and rose water. Continue beating until fluffy. Here are some pics of my completed cupcakes.