Chocolate Cupcakes

This is a little gift box of 6 chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing decorated with an assortment of fondant blooms in lavender and pale pink. The picture isn't the greatest, but I think they looked lovely. The icing was the first time I have used my new wilton icing tip, and I am so pleased with the results. Actually, I have used a lot of new cutters, I bought them all about a month ago, but haven't had a chance to use yet, so it was great to get to unwrap them all and give them a workout.
Here are the leftover cupcakes which we get to have for morning tea! I need a little bit more practice to get the real rose look, but I think they look great.

1920's Cake

This week's cake was for a 1920's themed 18th birthday party. It as a hexagon shaped double layer chocolate mud cake filled and covered with chocolate ganache then covered in fondant. The decorations were black and white, with a couple of hot pink and black polka dot feathers. There were also some fondant stars, 18, and a large curly fondant letter D for the birthday girl. These were all covered in edible glitter. I do need to apologise for the photo - I couldn't add the feather and stars details until after I arrived at the party, and so the picture was taken in the direct sunlight...anyway, you get the idea!

heels and handbags

I had an enquiry for some "Barbie" themed cupcakes, and so I decided to see if I could make some stilettos and clutch bags to use as toppers....here is what I came up with! They were a lot easier to make than I thought, and so much fun...but then again, I enjoy making anything girly for a change!

Dainty little cupcakes

I had 9 cupcakes leftover, so I decided to have a little play. Vanilla cupcakes iced with fondant, and decorated with little white sugar blossoms with a pink pearl centre...very pretty!

Ooops I forgot the flags

This Lightning McQueen cake was made for a little boy's 5th birthday...of course... I also made some checkered flags which were in front of the stars. Thankfully I did remember the flags while driving down the driveway, so they were on the cake for Tyler, just not in the picture!

Chocolate gift bow

This week I was asked by a lovely lady who lives interstate to bake a cake for her son who has recently moved here, and was celebrating his birthday. Here was what I managed with only 1 day's notice. It's a chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache, decorated with a choc peppermint gift bow.
The best part was delivering the cake...none of his workmates knew it was his birthday, so it was a great surprise - for all of them!

I WON!!!!

I won 1st prize for my wedding cake and the cupcakes at the Yeppoon Show! It was a real thrill - and so great to have my cupcakes win - they really are.....too pretty to eat...too DELICIOUS not to!

Bitten by the biscuit bug

After looking at some of Glory's delicious cookies on her Glorious Treats blog...not to mention Cake Journal's I have been inspired to bake some sugar biscuits and this weekend's cold rainy weather was the perfect time to be in the kitchen!
They are so much fun to make, and EAT!!! That's the best thing about trying something new...you get to eat the results - all in the name of 'taste testing' of course! My next purchase is a biscuit decorating kit which will make the whole process a lot easier.

Another show entry

These cupcakes were for an entry at the Yeppoon show. After decorating the cakes I read the entry requirements and realised that there wasn't a section for 'decorated cupcakes' it was just 'cupcakes' and therefore they would be judged for their taste etc not just their looks. It wasn't a concern, but I would have taken a bit more care in the baking of the cakes had I known. The judging criteria is 3 points appearance, 5 points taste, 3 points texture and 3 points for originality. According to hubby, they are a great tasting cupcake, so fingers crossed. I am actually quite excited to be judged on how good they taste - not just what they look like.

I do love the design of these cakes... very pretty, yet simple and elegant! I think they would be lovely for a wedding, but also a ladies morning tea or baby shower. They remind me of my Grandma - I would have loved to have given her a set of these for her birthday.

21st Birthday

My cousin is turning 21 on Saturday and to celebrate her birthday her Mum is taking her, and one of her friends away to Airlie Beach for the weekend. She wanted a chocolate mud cake, and seeing it's just for the 3 of them a 6" is perfect. Iced in dark chocolate ganache and decorated with some simple ribbon roses, and a funky fondant 21.

Winning Wedding Cake!!!

Mum and I called into the Rocky show to see how my entries performed and I am so excited to say that I WON!!!! 1st place for my wedding cake, and second for my cupcakes. It has given me a real boost to my confidence!

Rodeo Cake

This cake was for a friend of my son who has just started poddy riding at the local rodeo arena. I haven't made many figurines, so I am loving the challenges that kids throw at me! The cake itself was a caramel mud cake with caramel icing.

Farm cupcake set

This is my other show entry; the category is for a set of cupcakes suitable for a birthday. I decided to go with a farm theme, mainly because I have been dying to make some of these adorable fondant figurines, and I wasn't disappointed. They were really simple to make, however they were extremely time consuming, especially the sheep - but they are so incredibly cute which makes it all worth while! I love these cakes, and I don't care whether I win with these, because as far as I am concerned they are the cutest cupcakes of all time!

Wedding Cake

I decided last month to enter a wedding cake and set of birthday cupcakes into our local show's cake decorating competition...and here is my wedding cake entry. It will also double as a display cake for a wedding expo in a couple of months. The colours were inspired by my logo, and the fact that 'tiffany blue' is my favourite colour at the moment. While I wasn't intending the cake to be quite this "pretty", (I actually wanted it to be really simple, sleek and modern) the requirements for the entry included piping work, so this is what I came up with. I haven't ever done piping work on a cake before, so that was a learning curve, but I am fairly happy with the result - and while I don't think I will be winning any prizes it was great fun and a great excuse to make another cake :)

a busy week

I have just finished baking 6 dozen cupcakes and decorating a 2 tier wedding cake... all to be entered into our local show "cake decorating" competition! I have never entered before, so I'm not expecting to win, but have been really enjoying the process, I can't wait to go and see my exhibit with all the other entries! Today I need to ice and decorate the cupcakes, then cook a caramel mud cake for an order on Sunday...the rodeo/bucking bull cake!

Free PDF tutorials

I have been a follower and fan of Cake Journal for a while now, and thought I would share the fantastic tutorials on her blog. You can either purchase one off tutorials, or if you have a blog you can create a link and get them for free! Here is the link... http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/how-to-get-cakejournals-tutorials-on-pdf-for-free
Check it out!!