Books

Hello again!

Yes, two posts in one day!

I thought I'd share with you my book collection:

Quite a few books there, and I may have ordered two more this week...

I would recommend the Peggy Porschen book (Peggy's Favourite Cakes and Cookies) and the Lindy Smith book (Contemporary Cake Decorating Bible) although they can be a bit in-depth for new bakers (including myself!) and I do love my "1001 Cakes, Cookies and Tempting Treats" book as it has some wonderful recipes for pretty much everything baking wise!

There are some amazing books on the market, but I'd say check out Amazon (see the ad above for books and on the left for sugarcraft equipment) and their "look inside" feature when looking to buy books, so you can have a look (if ordering online, and not in a shop) as you can see some recipes and some ideas on the net.

Also, I would recommend using "youtube" as there are some amazing videos online which give you step by step instructions on making anything!

Speak soon.x.

My Project - April 2012

Hi all,

I can now reveal my little project!

I spent a few days, a few tears and a few tantrums making an Arsenal cake for the fellas little brother whose 21st was on the 4th April.

Firstly I started by making a sketch on paper and buying the colours of fondant (I needed two strong reds so bought as otherwise it would have taken an age to colour white fondant!!). I then made a plaque with just the overall shape of the shield using white fondant and tylo to give it a bit of suport when I started to add the other fondant.

To transfer over onto the fondant, I simply placed the paper over some rolled fondant and used the scribing tool from my sugarcraft tools to make an indent into the icing, then cut with a sharp knife.

The tears came when I made the cake! I'm sure everyone has had a few disasters in the kitchen before, but I made a 9 inch madeira cake that could have been used to anchor a boat as it was so unbelievably dense and heavy!! That went straight in the bin and I restarted using an 8 egg sponge mix and using a flower nail in the centre on the tin (which you put in before adding the mixture) to ensure the cake was cooked in the centre (the flower nail acts as a convector and heats up helping to cook the inside of the cake so no hard crusts and sloppy centres!). I would recommend adding a flower nail if doing a cake larger than 7 inches as it takes a while for the inside to cook otherwise. Obviously remove before icing!!!

I'm pretty impressed with this considering the plaque was done in two sittings - without throwing anything away and starting again!

Speak soon.x.

New toy

Hi all.

Sorry for the lack of posts, my class hasn't been on for two weeks due to tutor illness and the start of the Easter break....but I have a new toy!!

Meet my new helper in the kitchen!

In my last class we learn how to cover cakes. I made this for my nephew to give to my sister for mothers day.

I have also been playing with the mixer and making cupcakes!

I've also been working on a little project which I can't reveal until after Wednesday, but I'm pretty chuffed with the outcome! I will upload a photo once its beven shown to the birthday boy!


If you have anything you want to try, let me know and I'll see if i can do a tutorial on it.

Speak soon.x.