Christmas ice-cream cone cupcakes

Having been given several Christmas/winter themed cutters, we really wanted to make use of them during this festive time. So, we collaborated them all together and gave some flat-bottomed ice-cream cones a Christmassy touch. For these, I have to thank my brother Alex (The three leaf holly leaves and the snowflakes) and Sam (The individual holly leaves). Cant wait to use them again in the future! However my fondant plunger collection is getting pretty extensive :) 

Hello Kitty cake

 Having never done a cake that was particularly a child's cake, we were quite excited about this one. A simple concept: Hello Kitty. Along with the concept came the plea for as much pink and as much glitter as we could possibly include. So to complement the cake, we bought some glitter dust, not realising that when it said "Adable glitter" it didnt mean that the glitter was edible, just that was the name of the company. It was not supposed to be consumed in large amounts. However, thankfully it could be used sparingly, so we just added little amounts to some of the flowers around the edges. Like one of my previous cakes, "Cheesy but sweet" :) 

Guitar themed cake

With this cake, we felt a little bit of pressure to make the cake decoration decent, as we were given the cake in the first place. So, with no guarantee of what the cake would taste like, we had to make sure our decorations were simple but effective with the cake we were given. As impressive as the staves on the side look, they were not exactly simple, so we thought we would balance the complexity with the simpleness of the spread out notes on the adjacent sides. Also, along with this cake, came the catastrophe of writing 18th birthday when it was for a 21st, with black royal icing on white fondant. Thank goodness it wiped of cleanly :/ 

Hamburger cake

Considering that it was my brother's 18th, we wanted to make him another cake that was particularly descriptive of him. He LOVES his food and burgers are something which he has loved since the start, so we had some serious fun designing and decorating this one. With the yellow icing looking like real cheese and the tomatoes so red, we loved this at the end. Im thoroughly looking forward to making this one again thats for sure! 

Spain flag cake

It being almost exactly a year since i made my first proper fondanted (is that a word?!?!) cake, I thought it would be good to make my brother a birthday party cake that would look effective throughout the party. As the party was Spanish-themed, we thought a flag would be apt and even though the emblem was tricky, it was worth it! Next time, perhaps sharpening off the edges would be better... Ah well, always keen for improvements! 

Guide dog charity cake

I was honoured to be able to make a cake for a coffee morning for a guide dogs charity, so we thought about what sort of dog to try and make with fondant. Dogs are hard to do, but I felt I'd had some practice with the gromit from my previous cake. Overall, it was great to make it and I was thrilled to hear that it raised around 200 pounds when they raffled the cake! Although making fondant figures can be frustrating, it is certainly becoming something I thoroughly enjoy! 

Gromit and Shaun the sheep cake!

With a love for Gromit and Shaun the sheep, I was happy to be given a concept for this cake that was simple but looked effective! I thoroughly enjoyed making all the little models of the animals and the piping, and love the arrangement of colours, although we thought it a little weird that when we first did the grass, it was lighter than the base, and yet now its darker! 

A bouquet of flowers

At my church, we hold a woman's event event every couple of months for the women of the community to just relax, hear a bit about women in the bible or things that the bible has to say about women. Its an amazing evening, and throughout it, the women have a wide selection of cakes, brownies and other really nice desserts available to them. However, this time, they decided to have a cake which would act as a raffle prize and one of the ladies would win it at the end, and so I was asked to make said cake. Although it may seem like a lot of icing, it is very fun to do and extremely pretty to look at! Thanks to my mum for helping particularly with this one though, definitely a two person job! 

Autumn cake

As we draw nearer to winter and have to close the doors of summer, we get the stunning colours of Autumn and I love the amazing combination of leaves and stalks that the beautiful season brings! Therefore, I loved the chance to be let loose on my paint and go mental with colour! I certainly love this type of cake!

Tottenham Hotspur cake

What a tough cake this was. I can certainly say that making scarves is not my favourite thing! Through excitement to make my first cake of the new academic year, and the fun concept of another football team, we mistakenly overlooked the complexity of this cake. So, when we had made the scarf and everything else was done, we ventured into the task of placing it on the cake, at which point everything collapsed. However, after some much-needed repair, the cake eventually came to a hopefully presentable one.

Rosie :)

Fruits in the forest cake!

Although Nigella Lawson may be my favourite, Lorraine Pascale has to come close behind, and I thought I would FINALLY do this cake, as I've admired it for quite some time. This particular cake is slightly different, as it is a red velvet cake with creme cheese frosting and all sorts of berries, but the concept is originally hers and I give her all the credit! And although it used a lot of the chocolate swirls, there were enough left for us to  gratefully munch on!

Cheesy but sweet!

A cake, that at a first glance, may seem extremely cheesy, but upon reflection, might be concluded to be relevant. When asked to make an anniversary cake for the combination of two anniversaries, I decided that it would not necessarily be so awful if I made it cheesy, so with all the colours and hearts, it truly looks like an anniversary cake. And also, I have to thank my mum and sister for cheesy creative input in this one!

Island cake

I absolutely loved decorating this one, as there was loads of room for creative input! With a simple concept, a lot can be imagined, so I was glad to be able to run free and be completely creative with this cake! Although there was some difficulty when it came to the palm tree and how it would be held up, a little bit of wire and a cocktail stick helped to solve said problem!

Marshmallow icing!

To continue with my obsession with all things baked or torched, I decided that I needed to include something that I love, which is even better when torched. Marshmallows. So, we made marshmallow icing to go on top of these oreo based cupcakes, and then set the marshmallow alight with my blow torch. I have to say, it was jolly good fun, although this particular icing is certainly not at its best, the day after. 

The very hungry caterpillar cake

A story loved by many, and a story which I certainly loved the idea of making into a cake. A friend of ours was leaving from running a club for children after 30 years, so I was asked to make a cake for the occasion. This cake was so fun to make, as we could run wild with imagination and mixing the random colours together. I have to say, though, that my favourite part was making holes within the food that he had eaten! 

Crème brûlée

Although my blow-torch was my birthday present i.e. about 7 months ago, yesterday was the first time I finally had the chance to use it. Having never tried a crème brûlée before, I was extremely excited to finally make one and use my blow-torch on it. I have to say, that such an impressive tool made me feel extremely powerful and slightly dangerous, but still it was really fun! 

Diving cake

Absolutely LOVED the concept for this cake, as so many ideas and creative views could be taken on it. Due to the fact that we thought we would not quite be ready yet to make faces, we positioned the diver so that you could not see it's face. Also, we loved all the creativity available behind the fish, seaweed, shells and starfish and with such a striking colour of water, who wouldnt love a diving cake! 

Marathon Cake

Along with this cake, came many new challenges. First was the challenge of making a fruit cake, as in our family, it is not the most popular flavour, however, according to Iain and Fiona, it did not taste like a disaster. Secondly, was the concept of running and a marathon, which is hard as it is quite linear and does not leave much room for artistic creativity, but I think towards the end, it turned out ok, and the union jack ribbon really finished it off!! :P 

Tardis Cake

Wow, what a treat it was to be asked to make a cake which had to be Dr Who related. The whole world of Dr Who at my fingertips, so I decided to go for the iconic symbol which is, The Tardis. Through the technicalities, and the constant questions of whether we could make it bigger on the inside (We couldnt, so dont ask), we eventually managed a tardis cake - Towards the end, I was happy, although during, I was incredibly stressed! 

Happy Birthday Mum!

Seeing as my mum has a new found love for bunting, we thought it appropriate that her birthday cake should be something unique. I can certainly say we had fun cutting out the little flags and making them look like bunting, and the grass certainly took some creativity, so overall, this might just have to be one of my favourite cakes to make :) Happy Birthday Mum! 

Happy Birthday Lisa!

I got asked by a really close friend of mine to do her birthday cake and I almost did a little victory dance! However, there was a minor issue, as I often have difficulty with coming up with ideas,so there was a lot of time where we were just sat around thinking about what to do, but eventually deciding that Lisa's love for music was a good plan and to just go simple. So, here is the finished outcome! 

My first paid cake.

The exciting moment when someone asks to buy one of your cakes is pretty brilliant, however, it is also mixed with fear as you have no idea what to do! So, when I was told I had to make a cake for someone (and my only criteria being that it had hearts and stars), I panicked at the thought of it going wrong. However, I was delighted when it was finished, as I could officially say I had made my first comissioned cake!

Cookie cupcakes!

I love experimenting, so when incredibly bored, I decided to see whether I could combine my love for cupcakes with my love for Oreos! There are many different ways of doing cupcakes with cookies or other such things, but I chose to go for layers, so with a base of Oreos, then a cupcake then cream cheese frosting, hence becomes the Oreo Cupcake! 

The invention of Gracies.

In my household, the concept of a "Gracie" is not something particularly new, because for about a year, a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter in the middle has been known like so. It is called a Gracie because my Sisters two favourite things are chocolate and peanut butter, so it felt adequate to name the cupcake after her. So when it came to making her a birthday cake, there was really no option but to make a Gracie, but much, much bigger! 

T-shirt cake

I am always up for a challenge, so when the thought of making a t-shirt cake for my brother's birthday came to us, we leapt to it and did a little research. Due to his team being Norwich city, we found the most recent shirt available and tried to copy it as much as we could! I was extremely pleased with my brother's reaction, as he still talks about it now! :P 

Sunny days!

On a sunny day, am I the only one who loves to bake and then take photos of whatever it is, but outside? If I am then... oops :P Ah well, I just thought that these strawberries looked so gorgeous outside on top of some scones (One of my sister's favourites) that I couldn't resist a bit of food photography. 

3 layers of yum!

There is something so satisfying about eating chocolate with other things. So when you come across something which combines the likes of chocolate, shortbread and caramel, there really is no way to say no! :P And while your at it, why not make it look really fancy... or is that just my obsession...