Funky 16th Birthday

Funky 16th, a photo by Coco Jo Cakes on Flickr.

My second last cake for 2011, was this triple layer vanilla butter cake, filled and iced with vanilla buttercream and decorated with fun and funky fondant flowers. The cake was finished off with some royal icing detailing. I think the flowers have a bit of a 1970's style...very funky!

40th Birthday Party

This week my best friend, and husband turned the big 40. While he didn't want a big party, he did want to have a small get together with our closest and dearest friends. Now this sounded like a great idea to me (as now I didn't need to plan a huge party), we catch up with these friends once a month, so I was faced with the challenge of trying to make this particular one stand out from the rest. I decided to set up a beautiful table of finger food with a blue white and brown colour theme. Behind the table hung beautiful paper pom poms, with a couple scattered on the table. I also used by gorgeous glass candy jars to hold marshmallows, macadamia nuts and chocolate wafers.

Vege shots
(Carrot, Yellow Green and Red Capsicum in French Onion Dip)
Beside were some Kabana wraps
(Cream Cheese, Tomato Relish, Lettuce & Kabana in a Lavish Bread)

Mini Quiches are always a hit with the kids...
Quiche Lorraine
Tomato Salsa
Corn & Capsicum
Beside is a cheese and cracker platter

Good old fashioned Chocolate Spiders
(made by my eldest son)

And the cake!!!

A four layer chocolate cake, filled with chocolate ganache, iced with meringue icing

How to make Candy Cane cupcake toppers

Candy Cane, a photo by Coco Jo Cakes on Flickr.

I recently made 30 gift boxes of Christmas cupcakes, with 6 cupcakes in each, all with their own decoration....Candy cane, Snowflake, Christmas tree, Christmas wreath, Holly and Stars. Here is a quick "how to" make the Candy canes.

You will need:
50g red fondant
50g white fondant
a little CMC

A hint to make red fondant, colour your fondant as red as you can, then leave it overnight for the colour to darken.

Mix your cmc into your red and white fondant, this will help it dry.

Roll out half of your white fondant into a long sausage, then do the same with the red.

Pinch the red and white sausages together at one end, then twist them together until they look like a candy cane, and the two colours are stuck together.

Cut your stripy sausage into equal lengths (how long depends on how big you would like your candy cane) Mine were approx 6cm, then shape into the candy cane and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper to dry.

I like to leave my toppers for at least a week to dry completely which will help them to keep their shape after being placed on wet buttercream icing.

Happy Christmas baking :-)

Glass of Beer

Glass of Beer, a photo by Coco Jo Cakes on Flickr.

I made this cake for the dad of one of my son's kindy friends. He (the Dad of course) is a big beer drinker and his wife asked for a cake shaped like a glass of beer. I must admit I wasn't overly happy with the shape, I would have liked it a bit more tapered in at the bottom, but I was worried that the whole thing was going to start looking more like the leaning tower of pisa.
It is 3 x 7" cakes, but the bottom board is a 6", and the whole thing stood around 30cm tall.
The white icing at the top is meringue (my favourite).

Cakes, Cupcakes and Cookies Market Stall

Last weekend was a very big first for me...my first ever stall at the local markets. A lovely lady has started a market called Mammas Fair, which is a market solely aimed at products for Mum's and their Bubs. Having never even attended one, I was very nervous, and unsure what to expect.
In preparation, I baked a toblerone mud cake for display, and decorated two fake cakes. I had seen some beautiful little car cookies here http://www.flickr.com/photos/42134065@N04/6019914446/in/faves-56138306@N07/ and decided to bake some similar to this, and sell them by the bag, and for the girls I baked daisies. I'm a bit cranky I didn't get a chance to photograph them...I think they looked great. For those wanting to have a go yourselves, here is the recipe I used from fellow blogger Glorious Treats http://glorioustreats.blogspot.com/2010/03/making-sugar-cookies-recipe-and-tips.html
Then came the cupcakes....Choc Choc, Choc Vanilla, Vanilla Choc, Vanilla Vanilla and Red Velvet - over 200 in total and they all sold well before the finishing time.
Overall I had an amazing morning, it all went like a bit of a blur but it was so much fun and I am filled with ideas for the next one!

Up up and away

Up up and away, a photo by Coco Jo Cakes on Flickr.

This was a last minute display cake I made for a local market. All of my design ideas were for girls so I wanted something for the boys. Some of the inspiration came from the amazing Bella Cupcakes. It was a huge hit at the markets, and I even had several little girls saying they wanted it for their birthday cake :)

40th Birthday Gerbera Cake

From the pictures you can't really see how big this cake actually was....it was huge, and extremely heavy! Both tiers were caramel mud cake, with caramel filling iced with white chocolate ganache then covered in fondant.

The birthday girl's favourite flower is the gerbera, so she wanted some on the cake, along with other flowers and some lady bugs. She also requested that the cake be bright, colourful and cheery - and this is the design I came up with.

21st Birthday Star

Well, I have been a little slack with my posting....but I will endeavour to get back up and running.
The two tiers of this cake were chocolate mud and white chocolate mud, both filled and iced with delicious chocolate ganache before being covered in fondant.The design of the cake was inspired by the wonderful Inspired by Michelle Cake Designs....I was fortunate enough to travel to Sydney recently to attend one of her classes, it was a fantastic day, and a great experience to meet Michelle as she has been such an inspiration for me.

Hot pink glamour cake

Hot pink glamour cake, a photo by Coco Jo Cakes on Flickr.

This was a bit of a thrown together last minute cake, that I donated to our local Kindy where they raffled it off at their annual ladies Melbourne Cup dinner.
The cake was a triple layer chocolate mud cake filled and iced with chocolate ganache, then covered in fondant before being decorated with (all first attempts) a full fantasy flower, high heels and handbag all hand modelled from flower paste.
I wanted to add some feathers to give it a bit more of a "facinator" look, but couldn't decide where to put them....and also ended up running out of time.
The cake was a big hit with the ladies, and a fun night was had by all :)

Wedding Cake

This three tiered wedding cake was covered with over 200 mini fondant daisies. I thought I had made way too many daisies and would be left with a huge pile left over....in the end I used every single white daisy I had made, and was left wishing I had more to add. Although, in saying that, I think I am glad I ran out, because in a design like this it is hard to know when to stop...so running out of flowers is a good sign that the time is NOW!!!

The cake was a dark chocolate mud cake bottom tier, white chocolate middle tier, and marbled white and dark chocolate mud cake for the top tier.
The ribbon was navy blue to match the bridesmaids, and the bows at the back of the cake matched the bows on the invitations.

Funky 30th Cake

I love this cake...the colours...the design...the bow!
It was my first attempt at making the topsy turvy style cake, and it took a lot longer than I thought, but I was really happy with the result. Inside the cake was a 7" chocolate mud cake, stacked 3 layers high, then carved to create the mad hatter style.
I have a two tiered version of this cake to make later this month and after making this I am really looking forward to it (but a little bit scared as to how long it is going to take me).

Melting Moments

Melting Moments, a photo by Coco Jo Cakes on Flickr.

I have been eyeing off these beautiful glass candy jars for a while now, and finally while on holidays I found this beautiful one in a lovely little gift shop in Airlie Beach.
As soon as I got home I just had to whip up something to fill it. I can't believe that I have never made melting moments before, they are so quick and easy...and yummy!!!

Pink Petit Fours

Today I thought I would try my hand at making Petit Fours, after admiring so many here on the online community. I had a leftover red velvet cake in the freezer so I defrosted it and cut it out with a small circle cutter. After trawling the Internet searching for an icing recipe, I made a poured fondant and started. It was a lot harder than I thought...I think the glaze or poured fondant needed to be runnier. They were fun to make, and next time I will make the Martha Stewart icing recipe, as I have heard it covers really well.

These will be devoured for morning tea tomorrow....I can't wait!!!

Fushia Fantasy

This is a small 6" square fruit cake which I decorated to add to my wedding cake portfolio. A very simple but effective design.

Birdcage Cake

I must admit, that on first impressions, I wasn't very keen on the idea of a bird cage for a wedding cake, however over the past few months of pondering over the design (mainly contemplating how I was going to tackle the cake) I fell more and more in love with it! The whole wedding had a bird theme, which was carried out beautifully. The table centrepieces were twigs with twinkle lights, with little birds in the "trees", and the place settings doubled as favours as they were delicious sugar cookies each piped with the guests names.

The cake was a three tier chocolate mud cake, which stood 30cm high. I LOVED the cake, it was dainty and feminine with a lovely vintage feel. The design was based heavily on the cake in the 'Wedding Cakes - a design source' magazine. To make the cake large enough to serve almost 100 guests, I made it taller including 2 full height tiers, then the top dome tier. I also did my own thing with the flowers and vines, and added the little pink ladybug on the top.

The biscuits were a custom design, my husband made the cutter and the piping detail was added to compliment the detailing on the birds on the cake.

*Wedding cakes a design source, Squires kitchen magazine publishing. Issue 38, Spring 2011, page 106, Based on the design 'Songbird Sanctuary' by Zoe Clark

Caravan Cake

For my Father-in-law's birthday, G decided that I should make him a cake modelled on his caravan. He bought the van a couple of years ago, and we are planning a big road trip together later this year, so I agreed that it was a good idea (and seemed like a fairly easy cake to make). It was a combined effort, G cutting the board, and calculating the scale. It was cut from a 9" square chocolate mud cake, with the details made from fondant.

Dinosaur Cupcakes

Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosauruses, Pterodactyl and Brontosaurus...yes I had heard of all of these dinosaurs before, but ask me what they looked like, and I wouldn't have had a clue...until I embarked on these of course! I made these cupcakes for a little boy's 3rd birthday, and he is absolutely dinosaur mad, and although he is only just turning 3, he knows each dinosaur by name, what they eat etc etc etc. I had alot of fun making all the dinosaur figurines, little dinosaur bones, and eggs to decorate the 54 cupcakes pictured, but the best bit was seeing little Lachlan's face as I pulled each cupcake from the box and have him tell me all about them as I set up the tiered display. The cupcakes are chocolate with a vanilla buttercream icing.

Perfume bottle cake

I really enjoyed making this cake, it's not something I would have ever thought of, but I think it turned out really well. The cake was for a lady turning the big 4 0 whose favourite perfume is the fragrance DAISY by Marc Jacobs. The cake is a white chocolate mud cake which was carved from 2 x 7" cakes.

School Logo Cake

This cake was made for a school reunion. It is a 6" chocolate mud cake iced with chocolate ganache then covered in black chocolate fondant. It is my first attempt at replicating a logo, and I was really happy with the results. My biggest concern was the bulls head, but I think it turned out really well. To accompany the cake were 50 cupcakes, all in black cases, half iced with white buttercream, the other with red buttercream. I ended up running a bit late, so I didn't get a chance to photograph them.

Horse Cupcakes

1 dozen cupcakes for a little girl who is horse mad! The horse was a lot of fun to make...again - I am loving the figurine modelling. The other decorations included some daisies, blooms, horse shoes and lady bugs - all pretty pink.

80's Theme Cake

Designed for an 80's themed birthday party, this rubik's cube cake was made with chocolate mud cake. The Prom Queen figurine topper was modelled to resemble the birthday girl who was wearing a tiara, and sash. I love making the figurines...this time I added pupil details to her eyes.

21st Purple Cupcakes

These vanilla cupcakes are iced with two shades of purple buttercream and decorated with some simple purple and yellow blossoms. The design is based on some I had made earlier this year...I love the purple foil cases of these though.

Guitar cake

This week I made an electric guitar cake...this is actually my second guitar cake, the first was one I made for my son last year which I iced with buttercream (before I was brave enough to use fondant), so it was nice to have another go...this time with fondant! The cake was carved from an 11" square chocolate mud cake, then iced with ganache before covering with fondant. The birthday boy's grandaughter was also celebrating a birthday, so I made this little 6" cake for her. I love the little teddy! The cake was a vanilla butter cake iced with swiss meringue buttercream.

Pink Birthday Cake

This pretty pink cake was created for a beautiful little baby girl who turns 1 today. The design of the cake was "In the Garden" and was based around the tree. I have seen a few fondant trees similar to this online, and I wanted to create my own - and the design grew from there. The cake is a 7" chocolate mud cake, with chocolate ganache, then covered in baby pink fondant. I was really happy with the design of this cake, and every time I look at it, it makes me smile :-) Happy Birthday Sadie!!

Mermaid Cake

This under the sea themed cake was created for my beautiful niece's 6th birthday. She really wanted a mermaid on top, and this one was made to match her invitations. The cake is a 7" chocolate mud cake, and I finally managed to perfect not just beautifully smooth fondant, but nice sharp edges too! YAY!!!! All of the decorations were hand made from fondant, and included fish, an octopus, coral and sea weed.

Surfboard Cake

Here it is... the finished double barrel cake. I have added the lettering, made with my groovy patch cutters, and the hand modelled surfboard, made with a lot of assistance from my surfer husband :-)

Coconut Ruffle Cake

A really good friend of mine makes coconut cake all the time, and I have wanted to give one a go for a while, so although I didn't use her recipe, yesterday I baked my very first coconut cake. I cut it into 3 layers and after doing some googling as to which filling flavours compliment, I decided to go with 1 just filled with swiss meringue buttercream, and the other with lemon curd (my favourite). I also tried a new swiss meringue buttercream recipe, which I was really happy with....finally!
As for decorating my coconut cake, I fell in love with this ruffle cake design here, well actually I fell in love with everything in this picture, but especially the ruffle cake, which is actually a Martha Stewart cake design. Anyway, I didn't have the right tip to do this exact design, but I really like the effect that I got from the tip I used anyway (Tala #11). It is quite different, but effective in it's own way. I added the fondant rose to give it a more romantic look.

A work in progress

I have had so many friends ask me how I make my cakes, so here is a sneak peek at what I have been working on the last couple of days. This cake is for my eldest son's 11th birthday. I could not seem to come up with any ideas or designs for this cake, I think sometimes you can just over think these things. I wanted to try something I hadn't done before, and was tossing up between a double barrel and topsy turvy...obviously the double barrel won.
It is two 7 inch chocolate mud cakes filled with chocolate ganache before being covered in white fondant. I then used a ribbon cutter (bottom left) to cut red and blue fondant stripes. These are attached using a tiny bit of water to get them to stick.
I am still contemplating what decorations to add, but I think I will keep it fairly simple....stay tuned I will post a picture on Monday of the finished product.

Assorted Flower Cupcakes

This is a mixed dozen cupcakes, 6 caramel with lavender caramel buttercream decorated with purple and yellow blossoms and 6 vanilla with vanilla bean buttercream decorated with an assortment of various flowers, roses and daisies. The caramel cupcakes were a big hit with the boys, they were so yummy - and I'm not usually a big fan of caramel, but these were GOOD!

Pink Baby Shower

My very first baby shower cake was a bit of a rush job, but I am really happy with the fondant pram I made to top the vanilla butter cake. It was based on a similar design I saw somewhere on Flickr, which I can't seem to find to give credit - sorry.

Hot Pink Disco Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made for a beautiful little girl's 7th disco birthday party. They are vanilla cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream icing and were a big hit at the party. The fondant stars and mirrored balls were modelled from grey fondant and covered in edible glitter.

18th Birthday Cupcakes

I made an assortment of cupcakes to celebrate an 18th birthday on Friday. I made a dozen chocolate with chocolate ganache decorated with butterflies, 6 caramel with caramel buttercream and 6 vanilla with vanilla bean buttercream both decorated with fondant blossoms and flowers.

1 dozen chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache

Cake Pop

I have been dying to make cake pops for months now, but just haven't had the time. This weekend I had some leftover mud cake and ganache from the car cake, so I crumbled the cake, added the melted ganache then rolled them into balls. After putting them in the freezer for a few minutes to set, I tried dipping them in some melted Wilton candy melts...unfortunately the melts weren't anywhere near runny enough to 'dip' so I ended up giving up trying to dip them completely, and just settled for doing the top half of each pop. They aren't anywhere near as perfect and round as the ones I have seen in Bakerella and many other blogs, but the are YUMMY!!!!!!
I must admit, I always thought they were a bit silly, and required way too much effort, but now... I am hooked, and will definitely be making them again.

Oooh, I forgot to mention that the photo was taken in my new photo light tent!!!! I can't wait to put a cake in there!

Ben 10 Cake

This cake was for Jaxon's 5th birthday who is the biggest Ben 10 fan. It is a vanilla butter cake with vanilla bean buttercream icing. I modelled the "Goop" figurine from fondant, along with the letters and the 100 green and black balls (I don't know if there was 100...but it seemed like a lot) I am really enjoying making figurines at the moment, they are a real challenge, for me anyway. I am currently working on a mermaid for my niece's cake and a little girl for a friend's baby who is turning 1 in a couple of weeks....pictures will be posted soon!

Car Cake

Believe it or not, I have never made a car cake before...you would think having 3 little boys I would have made one in the past 10 years, but it seems I have made everything else...truck...backhoe...plane...anyway to make it even more overwhelming, I was trying to model the cake on a real remote controlled car. In the end it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I was really happy with the results. The whole thing was carved from an 8" square chocolate mud cake, then iced in ganache before being covered in chocolate fondant. The decals was just a matter of adding a stripe here and there until it resembled the real thing.