Tea time treat

This green and ivory handbag and shoe was for a friend's 40th. She wanted the colours to be ivory and green and since Chanel is one of her favourite designers, I quilted the bag as a nod to the classic handbag design. The cake handle was a challenge but I got there in the end. The bow I deliberately made a darker green shade than the handle so it could stand out. The inside of the cake was a superb triple chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache (for quality control purposes I had to taste quite a lot of the cake as you can surely understand :).

On a dfferent note, I am very thankful to God for the amazing friendships He has given me over the years. I was taken out for high tea by one such friend at Sketch - The Parlour (http://www.sketch.uk.com/) yesterday. There was a huge wait for a table but luckily my friend had made a reservation.

There was a lovely selection of teas from Assam to Lapsang Souchong (I simply love the way it sounds!) and the cakes, pastries and sandwiches were absolutely delicious! Sketch might just become my new favourite place to hang out and I am definitely going back for a visit. So Julie, thanks for the fabulous treat.

Wedding Cakes - A Design Source

I was very excited to find out that another of my cakes has been published in a magazine by Squires called - Wedding Cakes - A Design Source. It's one of the first cakes I ever made using my favourite flower (blossom) and dragees. The magazine features the best wedding cakes from cake designers in the UK as well as all around the world, so I am honoured to be in such esteemed company!

Inspiration

If you haven't guessed by now, pink is my favourite colour and the rose is one of my favourite flowers. That's why both tend to feature a lot in my work. Therefore when I found a gorgeous bag cake design that Icing Dreams created which had both elements I just had to try and make it for myself.

My efforts were no where as good as the original but I did learn a lot about structure, stability and use of colour, especially gold. I ended up making over 100 roses for this bag but most importantly I had a lot of fun!

I have posted some images of the bag, so do let me know what you think. Don't be surprised if I make this bad again but in a different form.

An attitude of gratitude

I thought it might be a good idea to thank a number of people who provided me with lots of support, advice and inspiration in designing and making my winning cakes for Wedding TV's The Great Cake Bake.

Particularly, I would like to thank Graham of M and B of London, who kindly and very promptly responded to my enquiry and then supplied me with all the sugarpaste I used for the competition. Their paste was a dream to work with (great textureand very pliable) which makes it stand up very well to the more tricky aspects of modelling. The company also produces a colour chart which is great when trying to match particular shades. I was particularly impressed with the fact that the quality of the paste remained consistent regardless of colour, as with some brands this does not always happen.

M and B certainly produce one of the best sugarpastes I have ever worked with in the UK and to know more about their products please visit www.mbsc.co.uk and contact Graham on 0208 801 7948 or email him at g.scott@mbsc.co.uk

Happy 2010 to you all!

Three days into the New Year and I haven't broken any of my resolutions. Well technically I haven't because I didn't make any! One thing I am determined to do, is make better cakes and try new techniques. I will also try and keep you updated with my progress (or lack of) over the next few months.

I have posted the second set of photos of the winning cake in the 'Safari animals' section of Wedding TV's The Great Cake Bake. The bride's fiance is from South Africa, her favourite animal is the Giraffe and they have a cute 18 month old boy. I came up with this

particular design as I wanted the cake to look elegant, avoiding animal print overload. I made a topper consisting of a family of Giraffes under a 'tree' and at the side of the cake were pairs of the big four safari animals.

While the cake design was easy to come up with, the execution was hard work but I thoroughly enjoyed making this cake!