Baked a Cake

Over the weekend I decided to put my caking to good use and hosted an afternoon tea fundraiser as part of the Red Cross Big Cake Bake. It was a great excuse to see some great friends, eat some delicious food and raise a little money for a worthy cause - oh and try out a new cake technique. 

And in the mornin', I'm makin' waffles!

I had been wanting to make another suspended cake for ages after making my Pipe Me Pretty cake in a class with Sharon Wee last year. While working full time, attending crazy early morning bootcamp sessions and planning and packing for an overseas holiday seemed like the perfect time not only this cake, but also a pretty cake for one of my Cacti. Well until I actually realised I didn't have time in between the aforementioned activities to make two cakes the the waffle cake became multi purpose - and the lovely birthday girl didn't mind at all. 

Having two older twin brothers, you could say I have a soft spot for twins - not that I even like to entertain the idea of having twins myself - so when I was asked to make the first birthday cakes for two little girls, how could I resist!

Earlier this month after delivering a pair of 1^st birthday cakes for two little girls and then headed off down the freeway to the Sydney Cake, Bake and Sweets Show to spend all my money catch up with lovely fellow cakers and learn some new skills. I learnt paneling techniques and figurine modeling with the fantastic Jacki of Blissfully Sweet and then made this beautiful watercolor cake with a stunning bouquet of water paper peonies and anemones under the guidance of Helena from Sweet Tiers. 

I had wanted to make this cake for ages, ever since I saw the Sprinkle Bakes version a couple of years ago but time, and lack of Pocky sticks kept seeing it get pushed into the back of my caking mind. That was until I finally tracked down the illustrious pink Pocky sticks from an Asian grocer. 

It’s been a while since I last busted out the piping bags (so much so that I only had one left – mental note: buy more piping bags) so I thought it was about time I brushed up on my skills. While I’m ok with buttercream, piping with a teeny tiny number 2 tip and royal icing was a bit of a different story, although I was pretty happy with the result. 

As any Caker knows, sugar flowers and rainy weather do not mix. What started out as a great week to reacquaint myself with my love of sugar flowers soon turned to a saggy mess with the arrival of the severe storms we have just experienced in Newcastle.  

This past week, my other fabulous workplace, Cactus, celebrated it’s 21^st birthday and to celebrate I thought I would make a sugar flower succulent crown to top a cute little cake, complete with rainbow sprinkles (what party is complete without rainbow sprinkles?)! 

I just love being asked to play a part in special occasions! 

You may remember the adorable flower garland buttercream cake that I made for Alice’s 1st birthday a few posts ago? Well, Amelia and her mummy were guest’s at Alice’s first birthday and asked me to create this cute little ombre cake and sweets for Amelia’s first birthday.

Hot cross buns (and bunnies),
Hot cross buns (and bunnies),
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns.

With only one sleep to go until the big man in red makes his way down the chimney you would think that I would be a little bit organised but this year I feel anything but. I am usually feeling pretty relaxed with all my presents wrapped and sitting underneath the tree but this year couldn’t be more different. So what do I do instead of wrap said presents? Bake of course!