Well, I have 2 x 5" Christmas Cakes, 2 x 6" Christmas Cakes & 2 x 8" Christmas Cakes to marzipan, regal ice & decorate this week but the reason I am blogging is the delights that the end of the week hold in store for my adopted daughter Alison...
It is her 25th Birthday on Friday 23rd & as I love her so very much & she is spending her birthday with us at karaoke I thought it only right that I should make some Cupcakes for the occasion. Now she has decided that seeing as she never has a summer birthday the theme of her celebrations is: Hawaiian so the Cupcakes will be adorned with bright coloured buttercream & topped with a cupcake icing disc with a beachy/Hawaiian themed picture! But what flavours shall the cupcakes be?! Pina Colada, Margarita, Mojito, Strawberry Daiquiri, Mango, Banana, Lime, Coconut... the list is endless of what flavours to choose, Alison, what 2 flavours would you like hunni?!
Now, as Alison is soooo very important to me I am also going to try to find the time to make some bright funky Cake Pops too... I am thinking of making these in plain vanilla but covered in strawberry & orange chocolate with contrasting bright patterns on them - what do you think babe?! I just want to make it a little special for you.
Well, only a little cakey blog today... but I suppose it is better than nothing?! Until next time cake fans!!!
Saturday 17 December 2011
Saturday 10 December 2011
Christmas Cakes are now priority...
As the title suggests, Christmas Cakes are now my priority as far as cake life goes! I did have a few spontaneous Cupcake-oke's that I was going to create gorgeous Cupcakes for yesterday & this Friday coming but they have definitely had to take a back seat & be bypassed this time as there just is so much other stuff going on right now (few issues in my life that have put a sudden stop to this sadly) & with 6 x Christmas Cakes to feed, marzipan & ice, they really do have to be my priority only as far as cakes go.
I currently have 2 x 5" Christmas Cakes, 2 x 6" Christmas Cakes & 2 x 8" Christmas Cakes that have been mixed, baked, fed & wrapped sat in their tins maturing, waiting for their next Brandy feed - boy do they look & smell good already =)
I however did manage to get out two birthday cakes for my good friends that always request cakes from me for any event they have coming up, although decorating & distributing from another kitchen this week - I have also gained a new fan club in the process, who were astounded with my skills & wow'd with my work!
A short but sweet blog, but hey cakes can be small & are most definitely sweet so it is all good =)
I currently have 2 x 5" Christmas Cakes, 2 x 6" Christmas Cakes & 2 x 8" Christmas Cakes that have been mixed, baked, fed & wrapped sat in their tins maturing, waiting for their next Brandy feed - boy do they look & smell good already =)
I however did manage to get out two birthday cakes for my good friends that always request cakes from me for any event they have coming up, although decorating & distributing from another kitchen this week - I have also gained a new fan club in the process, who were astounded with my skills & wow'd with my work!
A short but sweet blog, but hey cakes can be small & are most definitely sweet so it is all good =)
Thursday 1 December 2011
Christmas is coming & the goose is getting FAT!!!
Not strictly true, but my waistline will expand that's for sure - not sure I would class myself as a goose though?!
Anyhow, haven't done a cakey blog for a while so I suppose I ought to before the year comes to a close... can you believe it's December 1st already?! Doesn't time fly when you have good cake??? I think it does!
Well, the next few weeks are going to be busy, busy, busy in my little kitchen - right up until Christmas we will be having Cupcake-oke at the pub where my lovely hubby does his regular karaoke slot: Last week a lovely friend was down & it was his first visit to this karaoke venue so I treated him with my Carnation Vanilla & Triple Choc Chip Chocolate Cupcakes they went down amazingly well & even another friend who is a pastry chef could not believe how good my cupcakes were & called me a name as they said even they didn't make cakes THAT good! This week is a friends birthday so again I am making cupcakes for her, another birthday celebration next week (although the birthday is tomorrow, but they are out with family), the week after my bessie is out to play so gotta do cupcakes then for sure & the week after that is my adopted daughters 25th birthday so of course she is getting cupcakes & cakepops (so long as I have time) & that is also Christmas Eve, Eve!!!
I also have 2 birthday cakes to make next week, 5 Christmas cakes next week & also a birthday cake for my adopted daughter to take up to her real parents for the 22nd - it's all go & the kitchen is going to smell divine for the next few weeks - I can't wait!!!
Oh, here's a couple of pictures of the cake pops that I made & blogged about previously (Oct 12th):
Anyhow, haven't done a cakey blog for a while so I suppose I ought to before the year comes to a close... can you believe it's December 1st already?! Doesn't time fly when you have good cake??? I think it does!
Well, the next few weeks are going to be busy, busy, busy in my little kitchen - right up until Christmas we will be having Cupcake-oke at the pub where my lovely hubby does his regular karaoke slot: Last week a lovely friend was down & it was his first visit to this karaoke venue so I treated him with my Carnation Vanilla & Triple Choc Chip Chocolate Cupcakes they went down amazingly well & even another friend who is a pastry chef could not believe how good my cupcakes were & called me a name as they said even they didn't make cakes THAT good! This week is a friends birthday so again I am making cupcakes for her, another birthday celebration next week (although the birthday is tomorrow, but they are out with family), the week after my bessie is out to play so gotta do cupcakes then for sure & the week after that is my adopted daughters 25th birthday so of course she is getting cupcakes & cakepops (so long as I have time) & that is also Christmas Eve, Eve!!!
I also have 2 birthday cakes to make next week, 5 Christmas cakes next week & also a birthday cake for my adopted daughter to take up to her real parents for the 22nd - it's all go & the kitchen is going to smell divine for the next few weeks - I can't wait!!!
Oh, here's a couple of pictures of the cake pops that I made & blogged about previously (Oct 12th):
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Cake Pops... The cakes of the future?!
What is a Cake Pop? A Cake Pop is a creative way to enjoy a little bit of cake in a fun way!
During the past 6 months I have heard & seen more & more of Cake Pops, so inevitably I wanted to do some research & try my hand at making some...
During the past 6 months I have heard & seen more & more of Cake Pops, so inevitably I wanted to do some research & try my hand at making some...
Pretty little things aren't they?! Now these are just a few examples of Cake Pops that I have found around the net (thanks Google images), I am yet to attempt to make any although I am going to attempt them & take them out to karaoke with me on Friday night so if you want to try my Cake Pops for yourself then come & join me =)
The Cake Pops I am planning on making are going to be mint-choc flavoured, a double chocolate cake crumbled & mixed with a mint-choc buttercream frosting to form the ball shapes... I will then be coating them in Wilton candy melts chocolate mint which is brown in colour & will be decorating the completed pops with bright candy decorating pens & various sprinkles to make them all pretty!
I will take plenty of pictures & re-blog about these very soon so you can see what my Cake Pops turn out like... I am hoping they will be a real success as I have promised my adopted daughter Alison that I will make her some for her Birthday in December this year, wish me luck.
Tuesday 26 July 2011
It's MY Birthday...
Yes, you read correctly... in a little over 3 days it will be MY birthday! Yes, Friday July 29th is my birthday & you've guessed it I will be making my own cake/cupcakes & eating it/them!!! What's wrong with that??? I know what flavours I like, I know what design I want & I know what I like - it's perfect if I do it myself isn't it?!
Now, last year I had a three tier stacked birthday cake consisting of a 10" square chocolate, 8" square coffee & 6" square caramel cake... it was divine if I do say so myself & was very girlie!
Now, last year I had a three tier stacked birthday cake consisting of a 10" square chocolate, 8" square coffee & 6" square caramel cake... it was divine if I do say so myself & was very girlie!
As you can see I also had a cupcake tower with 3 different flavours of cupcakes, last year I had Oreo, Vanilla 99 Flakes & Vanilla with Chocolate Chips topped with indulgent Chocolate buttercream!
Now this year, as my birthday is on a Friday & my husband does karaoke down a local pub that I always go to without fail... I am taking cake/cupcakes to the pub! On this years menu will be a chocolate birthday cake in the form of a very girlie giant cupcake, this will not be being cut but will be coming home with me, as it will have a candy shell which makes them not the easiest to cut & my children are away for my birthday so it's only right that they get to share my cake with me! Also though to keep all the guests happy at karaoke I am doing a selection of cupcakes again, we are having: Oreo, Peanut Butter, Espresso & Red Velvet (all particular favourites of mine) Just hope the guests are not too disappointed they won't be getting any of the giant cupcake?! Maybe I might do a small 6" cake to take to the pub instead & just leave the giant cupcake at home to have with the children??? I am thinking that sounds like the best plan to avoid anyone being disappointed in me.
Bit of a brief blog this evening, but not a lot else to blog about at present... I've blogged on my personal blog so am a little blogged out "/
Have cake & eat it!!!
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Giant Cupcakes... A new found passion!
Well what can I say??? I absolutely love Cupcakes, but now I am ecstatic about Giant Cupcakes!!! I recently purchased a much longed for Wilton Giant Cupcake pan for some birthday projects I have coming up & I Love It!
I made a St Clements Giant Cupcake yesterday to time trial cooking times for the two sides of the pan as on reading various forums a lot of people had said the top cooks a lot quicker than the base, I also wanted to trial out making a Candy Shell with the base as they look so much prettier than Buttercream or Regal Icing & set the Cupcake off a treat as if it was in it's own Giant Case =)
WoW... Is the reaction I got from everyone who saw the picture I uploaded to Facebook with 10 likes to the picture so far! I am now in the process of baking the base of a Double Chocolate Giant Cupcake ready for the first birthday - the batter smelt divine, so I am already very confident that it will taste exquisite... the thing is, when it's made will I be able to part with it?!
I've worked out that the base takes approx 1 hr to bake on 180° in a convection oven & the top takes approx 35 mins to bake at the same temperature, depending on what cake batter is used - so my tip for the day is: If you purchase new pans that are shaped/sized different to standard recipes always do a time trial first or you could end up with disaster on your hands! Lol
Now as I said I wanted to trial out making a Candy Shell, if you are intelligent enough (I'm sure that you are) you will know that Americans refer to Chocolate Bars as Candy Bars... so in fact this is a chocolate shell. Wilton produce a product called Candy Melts, little discs of chocolate to melt down & form in to your own chocolate shapes, chocolate pops or even chocolate shells, they come in so many colours too: Green, Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Pink, Lavender, White & Colorburst Brights (a white with coloured flecks) - these are all vanilla flavoured (they taste like white chocolate mice) but they also do a few different flavours: Light Cocoa, Milk Cocoa, Dark Cocoa, Chocolate Mint & Peanut Butter! The options are endless as what you can do with these, but currently I am using them to create cases for my Giant Cupcakes & they look amazing!
I made an Orange candy shell for my St Clements Giant Cupcake & it gave it the WoW factor for sure, they are very simple to make & I am thankful to Destini who posted the instructions in creating this gorgeous case on her Blog - Oh, Sugar! although credit goes originally to Wilton for firstly creating the melts & secondly putting this idea in the 2008 Wilton Year Book :)
I will be uploading pictures at some point, but have a ton of other pictures to put on Facebook first as I have been a little slack with uploading due to time constraints & being far too busy in the kitchen baking... got the laptop next to the oven as we speak!
Back to baking as the base of the Giant Cupcake is just about ready to come out of the oven... until next time Blog addicts!
Here's the long awaited pictures:
I made a St Clements Giant Cupcake yesterday to time trial cooking times for the two sides of the pan as on reading various forums a lot of people had said the top cooks a lot quicker than the base, I also wanted to trial out making a Candy Shell with the base as they look so much prettier than Buttercream or Regal Icing & set the Cupcake off a treat as if it was in it's own Giant Case =)
WoW... Is the reaction I got from everyone who saw the picture I uploaded to Facebook with 10 likes to the picture so far! I am now in the process of baking the base of a Double Chocolate Giant Cupcake ready for the first birthday - the batter smelt divine, so I am already very confident that it will taste exquisite... the thing is, when it's made will I be able to part with it?!
I've worked out that the base takes approx 1 hr to bake on 180° in a convection oven & the top takes approx 35 mins to bake at the same temperature, depending on what cake batter is used - so my tip for the day is: If you purchase new pans that are shaped/sized different to standard recipes always do a time trial first or you could end up with disaster on your hands! Lol
Now as I said I wanted to trial out making a Candy Shell, if you are intelligent enough (I'm sure that you are) you will know that Americans refer to Chocolate Bars as Candy Bars... so in fact this is a chocolate shell. Wilton produce a product called Candy Melts, little discs of chocolate to melt down & form in to your own chocolate shapes, chocolate pops or even chocolate shells, they come in so many colours too: Green, Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Pink, Lavender, White & Colorburst Brights (a white with coloured flecks) - these are all vanilla flavoured (they taste like white chocolate mice) but they also do a few different flavours: Light Cocoa, Milk Cocoa, Dark Cocoa, Chocolate Mint & Peanut Butter! The options are endless as what you can do with these, but currently I am using them to create cases for my Giant Cupcakes & they look amazing!
I made an Orange candy shell for my St Clements Giant Cupcake & it gave it the WoW factor for sure, they are very simple to make & I am thankful to Destini who posted the instructions in creating this gorgeous case on her Blog - Oh, Sugar! although credit goes originally to Wilton for firstly creating the melts & secondly putting this idea in the 2008 Wilton Year Book :)
I will be uploading pictures at some point, but have a ton of other pictures to put on Facebook first as I have been a little slack with uploading due to time constraints & being far too busy in the kitchen baking... got the laptop next to the oven as we speak!
Back to baking as the base of the Giant Cupcake is just about ready to come out of the oven... until next time Blog addicts!
Here's the long awaited pictures:
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| Not bad for a very first attempt, eh? |
Monday 11 July 2011
Weddings, Charities & Birthdays...
Well it is all go in my little cake world, since July started I haven't really stopped! The first weekend was amazingly busy, but the events that went hand in hand with the cakes were amazing in themselves. I first had a very chocolatey Hen Do cake to create for my friend Sam's hen do, then I had the 2-tier Wedding Cake & 100 x Cupcakes to create for my friend Louise's wedding, finally I had a birthday cake to create for my son's 10th Birthday! See the pictures for the creations for the 1st, 2nd & 3rd of July:
This is Sam's Hen Do Cake, I think she really, really liked it as While I was out at my regular night off at Karaoke I received this text: Thank u so so much for my choc cake. Love the pic and sparkles. Amazing. Thank u x
100 x Cupcakes on tower with bridal bouquet
My Son Cameron's 10th Birthday Cake, Dr Who themed as requested by him!
Now, as if that was a busy week?! Last week I had a Charity event, Belle's Boutique which was in aid of Cancer Research organised by a good friend of mine Nicholle... she had asked me a while back if I would have a stall with Cupcakes on, to which I agreed as it was for a good cause after all & in memory of her mum. So again I had a fairly hectic cake week as I also had a 10" Birthday Cake to make for a friends brother's 30th birthday party. I made 96 mini cupcakes & 68 regular cupcakes for the charity event, these then had to be divided up & packaged. 36 mini cupcakes went on my 2-tier cupcake plate stand, the remaining 60 were boxed in packs of 6 then tied with a cute cupcake ribbon. The 68 regular cupcakes were boxed in 4's, again topped off with a cute cupcake ribbon - I then inserted business cards under each ribbon! A big THANK YOU to a wonderful young lady Miss Megan Gunn (my friend Debbie's daughter) who hand-crafted me some wonderful Cupcake themed bunting for the event with my trade name So·phis·ti·cakez! It was a very busy 3 hours & I am awaiting the final amount raised for the charity to get back to me.
This week, I have a birthday cake & cupcakes to make for Thursday for a very special friend of ours & Friday I have a small birthday cake to make for my friend Aisling's boyfriend... it's all go at the moment, but it's great =)
Above are the 100 x Wedding Cupcakes, boxed & ready to be transported for the event...
The 2-tier Wedding Cake with Bride n Groom figures & Del Boy's Reliant (supplied by a friend)
100 x Cupcakes on tower with bridal bouquet
My Son Cameron's 10th Birthday Cake, Dr Who themed as requested by him!
Now, as if that was a busy week?! Last week I had a Charity event, Belle's Boutique which was in aid of Cancer Research organised by a good friend of mine Nicholle... she had asked me a while back if I would have a stall with Cupcakes on, to which I agreed as it was for a good cause after all & in memory of her mum. So again I had a fairly hectic cake week as I also had a 10" Birthday Cake to make for a friends brother's 30th birthday party. I made 96 mini cupcakes & 68 regular cupcakes for the charity event, these then had to be divided up & packaged. 36 mini cupcakes went on my 2-tier cupcake plate stand, the remaining 60 were boxed in packs of 6 then tied with a cute cupcake ribbon. The 68 regular cupcakes were boxed in 4's, again topped off with a cute cupcake ribbon - I then inserted business cards under each ribbon! A big THANK YOU to a wonderful young lady Miss Megan Gunn (my friend Debbie's daughter) who hand-crafted me some wonderful Cupcake themed bunting for the event with my trade name So·phis·ti·cakez! It was a very busy 3 hours & I am awaiting the final amount raised for the charity to get back to me.
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| Beautiful Bunting Meg =) |
This week, I have a birthday cake & cupcakes to make for Thursday for a very special friend of ours & Friday I have a small birthday cake to make for my friend Aisling's boyfriend... it's all go at the moment, but it's great =)
Wednesday 15 June 2011
weddings, Weddings, WEDDINGS!
Well, I am just so excited... in just a little over 2 weeks I have my first wedding cake of the year going out on display!!! This is for a very special friend of mine & it is such an honour to have been asked to do her wedding cake.
The wedding colours are orange & lemon, the round 2-tier cake is going to be very plain & simple, just double ribboned on white regal icing as the bride & groom have got their own figure topper to go on top (which I can't wait to see) which will set the cake off a treat! This cake is for the main reception immediately after the ceremony but for the evening there is another display... Cupcakes!!! 100 scrummy cupcakes on a cupcake tower stand in an even mix of orange & lemon cases with lush white buttercream & contrasting edible glitter.
Now as you can tell I am not giving too much away from this as I want to have something to blog about after the wedding don't I?! But the summer is all weddings from here, which is why I am blogging today! I have 1 wedding a month for the next 3 months & each cake theme is completely different... it really is exciting & I can't wait to create each & every wedding cake.
The wedding colours are orange & lemon, the round 2-tier cake is going to be very plain & simple, just double ribboned on white regal icing as the bride & groom have got their own figure topper to go on top (which I can't wait to see) which will set the cake off a treat! This cake is for the main reception immediately after the ceremony but for the evening there is another display... Cupcakes!!! 100 scrummy cupcakes on a cupcake tower stand in an even mix of orange & lemon cases with lush white buttercream & contrasting edible glitter.
Now as you can tell I am not giving too much away from this as I want to have something to blog about after the wedding don't I?! But the summer is all weddings from here, which is why I am blogging today! I have 1 wedding a month for the next 3 months & each cake theme is completely different... it really is exciting & I can't wait to create each & every wedding cake.
In just a little over 2 months I have my second wedding cake of the year going out on display!!! This is for a new friend of mine & it is such an honour to have been asked to do her wedding cake too.
The wedding colours are bordeaux & white, the round 2-tier cake is going to be very plain & simple, just double ribboned on white regal icing with confetti red hearts over the bottom tier... The bride & groom are going to get their own figure topper to go on top (which I can't wait to see, this is being supplied by a different maker than the previous listed above) which will set the cake off & is incorporating a very special member of the family! There is also another display alongside the main cake... Yes, you guessed it: Cupcakes!!! 80 scrummy cupcakes on a cupcake tower stand in an even mix of red & white printed heart cases with lush white buttercream & contrasting edible glitter on a heart shaped tower stand!
Finally, in just a little over 3 months I have my third wedding cake of the year going out on display!!! This is for a very special friend indeed & it is such an honour to have been asked to do her wedding cake as well, I really do feel so touched that my friends are asking my to do their wedding cakes... it is such a special day & everything has to be perfect, I do hope I do the girls proud!
The wedding colours are midnight blue, silver & white, the square 3-tier cake is going to be plain & elegant, double ribboned on white regal icing with butterflies, beads & diamanté! There is also other decoration but I cannot reveal too much as don't want to give the Wow factor away on any of these cakes! At this wedding there is an extra special surprise, but my lips are sealed for now - I can't wait though, as it's sure to be amazing!
Oh, before I sign off I have already got a wedding cake order for the end of January 2012 too... This is also completely different from any of the above themes a 4-tiered square cake in a black & white design!
Monday 13 June 2011
My first Cakey blog!!!
Hello blog followers...
I thought it was about time that I created a blog solely for the purposes of my ever growing cake business So·phis·ti·cakez! Now I say business but that is only cause it keeps me so busy... You see, I make cakes for family, friends & friends of friends from my humble little kitchen at home. However, I do one day hope to expand this as a business & set up professionally one day & hopefully be able to convert my garage (or afford an extension) to transfer it into a separate baking kitchen in which to create stunning cakes & cupcakes for a wider audience!
So what is currently happening in Lynda's Little Cake World?! This week I have a Father's Day Cake & a Little Girls 7th Birthday Cake to make both for good friends of mine that come back time & time again for my cakes... I like to have returning clients, it makes me feel like I am doing a good job at what I do.
The Father's Day cake is being picked up tomorrow evening, yes I know it's early but this was the clients request so who am I to argue?! They are having a victoria sponge with vanilla buttercream & strawberry jam filling which will then be regal iced & decorated perfect for Dad!
The 7th Birthday Cake is being picked up Wednesday morning & is a chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream filling & will then be regal iced with a personalised character icing topper - the client has requested High School Musical as a theme for her daughter, I just hope Lily likes it... although knowing the reactions of her siblings when they have received one of my cakes her face is sure to be a glowing picture =)
I also have another Chocolate Cake to make maybe this week if I can find time, it's a little thank you for my dear friend Elaine... we've known each other for years (since secondary school) but are ever so much closer these days & while my husband was away in France last week, she was my saviour of sanity so I promised her a chocolate cake & I keep my promises!!!
I have been busy planning a Wedding Cake enquiry today, these always take a few hours work as I like to make sure everything is perfect for the bride & groom... I am thankful to my very close friend Alison for promoting me to her friends!
I thought it was about time that I created a blog solely for the purposes of my ever growing cake business So·phis·ti·cakez! Now I say business but that is only cause it keeps me so busy... You see, I make cakes for family, friends & friends of friends from my humble little kitchen at home. However, I do one day hope to expand this as a business & set up professionally one day & hopefully be able to convert my garage (or afford an extension) to transfer it into a separate baking kitchen in which to create stunning cakes & cupcakes for a wider audience!
So what is currently happening in Lynda's Little Cake World?! This week I have a Father's Day Cake & a Little Girls 7th Birthday Cake to make both for good friends of mine that come back time & time again for my cakes... I like to have returning clients, it makes me feel like I am doing a good job at what I do.
The Father's Day cake is being picked up tomorrow evening, yes I know it's early but this was the clients request so who am I to argue?! They are having a victoria sponge with vanilla buttercream & strawberry jam filling which will then be regal iced & decorated perfect for Dad!
The 7th Birthday Cake is being picked up Wednesday morning & is a chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream filling & will then be regal iced with a personalised character icing topper - the client has requested High School Musical as a theme for her daughter, I just hope Lily likes it... although knowing the reactions of her siblings when they have received one of my cakes her face is sure to be a glowing picture =)
I also have another Chocolate Cake to make maybe this week if I can find time, it's a little thank you for my dear friend Elaine... we've known each other for years (since secondary school) but are ever so much closer these days & while my husband was away in France last week, she was my saviour of sanity so I promised her a chocolate cake & I keep my promises!!!
I have been busy planning a Wedding Cake enquiry today, these always take a few hours work as I like to make sure everything is perfect for the bride & groom... I am thankful to my very close friend Alison for promoting me to her friends!
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