Tent Cake

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This is the first anniversary cake I have made.  It is perhaps not the most conventional for an anniversary, but it was for a couple who, with their two children, are into outdoor pursuits.  It is a tent shaped from an 8″ vanilla madeira cake with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam.  It was good fun working out the measurements for carving the cake, and I was really happy with the proportions of the final cake.  Perhaps next time I’ll try a dome tent or a full campsite!

Happy Anniversary Rachel and Pier.  I hope you enjoyed your cake.

Rubber Glove Cake

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It was my dear friend Wendy’s fortieth birthday last week and we had a fabulous
night out at the Pines Hotel in Chorley where we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her
with the cake I made for her. She is famous amongst her friends for her
house-pride and cleaning skills and another friend gave me the idea of a rubber
glove cake which was a challenge I couldn’t resist! Word has also got out
recently that she is a bit of a David Hasselhoff fan so I brought this into the
cake as well as her orange crocs and a cup of coffee. She loves her brews.In fact,Wendy is my car-boot buddy and makes the best flask-coffee I know! 

I often make madeira cake for birthdays and celebrations but Wendy and her
husband are big chocolate cake fans so it had to be chocolate didn’t it?! The
cake is carved from a loaf cake and layered with rich chocolate buttercream.
Happy Birthday Wendy!

 

Floral Giant Cupcake

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Last week I made a giant cupcake for a fiftieth birthday for a local lady and I thought I’d share some pictures with you.  It is a chocolate sponge layered and topped with a serious amount of white chocolate buttercream and trimmed with sugarpaste flowers in a pink theme.  

I really love this white chocolate buttercream but if food can be described as naughty, then this is definitely very naughty.  It certainly does not make for an everyday cake so maybe it is just as well you don’t celebrate your fiftieth birthday every day!  It would be equally delicious accompanying a vanilla sponge, layered with some raspberry or blueberry jam.  Yummy!

 

Lemon and Lime Double Drizzle Cake

I thought I would blog the cake I did as the prize on my Facebook competition this week.  It is a Lemon and Lime Double Drizzle Cake, so called because I drizzled it twice!  The cake recipe is based on the lemon drizzle cake in the Great British Book of Baking but with the addition of lime and a lime glace icing drizzled on top when the cake was cool.  The winner was local and told me that she wanted the cake delivered to some friends she used to work so I popped some simple sugarpaste flowers on top too so it looked the part of a surprise gift a little more.  Their colour gave a little clue as I totally forgot to say what flavour the cake was on delivery – whoops!   

I did this recipe earlier in the week to try it out and I really loved it – very moist and fresh with the lemon and lime syrup gently permeating the top of the cake without making the whole thing soggy.  I went one better with the prize and treated myself to some organic, unwaxed lemons and limes to get the best flavour possible.  A lemon flavoured celebration or wedding cake would make a lovely alternative to vanilla, especially at this time of year and lemon is one of those flavours that most people do like.  This is definitely a cake I will be making again.