25th Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Becky! My brother requested this cake for Becky for her 25th bday, lucky we were both arriving into Christchurch at the same time so I could hand deliver it to him to give to her the next day, it survived the flight and the sliding around in the storage compartment, although a couple of the "pearl" beads came loose, they were easily stuck back one. This cake was one I had never made before, a chocolate caramel cake, mmmm caramel.
Unfortunately I didn't take many photos, so Becky and Karl if you took some would you mind emailing them to me :)

Lego Cake

This cake was very special to me, not because of what it was but for who had requested it. As you may look through the rest of my cakes to the first one I ever did (The princess cake), it must have been memorable as the couple who attended the birthday party of the 5 year old girl, rang me for an emergency 10th birthday cake. I was so pleased someone had remembered me! Of course at an already hectic time, I was back in the kitchen during my sleeping hours to get this done. The mother had requested a lego type cake with some circles and squares, she was absolutely delighted when she saw the cake, (even jumped up and down with glee). I guess the handmade lego pieces paid off!

Angry Birds Cake

Why not turn the latest and greatest game for kids and all ages into a cake? These two cakes were made for the same two boys I had previously made a tennis cake for. It was their birthdays once again (Has it been a year already??!). Instead of the swimming pool cake they had wanted so much all year, in the last minute they decided that angry birds would be much better. This year they requested chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. So I decided the TimTam tower would be great to munch on and play with. The characters were really fun to make, Bryce came up with a fantastic idea of covering the nest with chocolate hail so it gave more of a realistic look. Thanks Bryce! The boys had a lovely birthday party with friends in New Zealand where they were allowed to eat only one of the cakes as the other has recently travelled to Malaysia to be shared with family. I think that is a record for the farthest travelled cake!

Cupcakes - Trees for Babies

Now, my work colleague is absolutely brilliant advertising for me, she is always doing interesting things and lucky for me most of the time they require a cake or as in this case cupcakes! She put me on to a lovely lady who required 150 cupcakes for an annual Tree for Babies event on Mothers Day. People are invited to purchase a tree in remembrance of a loved one who has passed on or just to purchase a tree as a gift for anyone. When the planting had been complete each person was allowed to grab a cupcake.  I am really glad I got the opportunity to be a part of something so special.

 The "BABY" collection.

 A lined up and ready to go. Lucky I had a large kitchen area at work to decorate them all.

 An abstract rendition of tree sprouts.

This collection represents the Keep Dunedin Beautiful logo. Although the emblem has 6 blossoms, I felt all 6 was too much for the cupcakes and left it at three blossoms. (Sorry to those who had blue tongues and lips after eating these)

Quick cakes!

A couple of weeks ago, a student of ours was called back home immediately for her awaiting position at a research company, she only had three days to organise flights, pack her bags, clean her flat and do all those things you have to do when leaving a country, I repeat three days! Within those three days I received a phone call "Sarah! can you please make two cakes for a leaving morning tea for the department? " No worries mate! On top of the 150 cupcakes I was already making I managed to bake and decorate two cakes as well. A very busy weekend indeed! The entire department pulled a wonderful morning tea together. Someone bought cupcakes, another cheese, crackers and dips. I wish we could have this every morning. It was sad to see someone leave after four years of being in the department, but these photos are something special to remember her. 

These are the end results: Cupcake blog coming up next!

Football Cake

When my work colleague asked if I could bake and decorate a cake for his football club, I jumped at the chance to strengthen my cake creativity. He asked for a football field with his clubs crest for their 125th Jubilee party.

 I received a lot of ooohs and aaaahs when I delivered but was secretly disappointed at a large crack that had appeared from the weight of the cake during my walk with it across the football field. It was hardly noticeable but to me it was heart-breaking. Safe travelling with a cake like this is so important! I had to travel with it in my car, uphilll, downhill, through roadworks and potholes, it survived the drive but not the walk!

 I started with the crest, it turned out great! I was even more impressed with it, when I was told the crest has been kept and put on the wall to remember the evening. How flattering!! I ordered a football set from Kiwicakes.co.nz. The goals and the players really made the cake "come alive".

Strawberry Shortcake Cake!

 This cake was for a 1 year old gorgeous girl, her mum requested this strawberry shortcake cake like one she had seen online. The top tier was really easy to do, to my surprise! I used a polystyrene ball bought from Spotlight, then decorated it according to the picture online. The middle tier was a dairy free chocolate cake. The cake itself was very light but moist. I used a round tin and then cut the edges, my attempt of cutting parallel edges looks a little lopsided! I am sure I will do better next time. The bottom tier was a dense chocolate cake, covered with pink fondant icing. I used an impression mat for the first time, it was a bit difficult to use so any requests for a cake with impressions would be kindly accepted so I can practice this art!
Now, in New Zealand some toys are actually hard to get, a proper strawberry shortcake doll was very difficult to find. I eventually found the perfect doll on Trademe but to my disappointment, it did not arrive in time. I ended up searching the (3) toys shops we have in Dunedin and bought a Lalaloopsie doll, which I took home and painted to resemble Strawberry Shortcake. I hope you like it!!

Lady in the Cake

My work colleague wanted to something a little bit different for her sister in laws 50th birthday, she found an image online and I tried to recreate it. It turned out great, the lady was cake free so they could all hand it around the dinner table and look at it! I will definitely make one like this again.

Christmas Cakes!

This year I made the department Christmas cake, someone is nominated every year and although its the busiest time of year I thought why not! So two weeks before Christmas I am crazy in the kitchen making Christmas cake for the first time! I used Tui Flowers Christmas Cake recipe which had 20 or so different ingredients in it. The cakes worked out ok... a little bit crumbly but that's what you get for such late notice. These cakes need at least a month or two of feeding and tending to its needs, so just two weeks was cutting it pretty fine! I had fun making them, they looked good on the table so I cant complain.