Dad's 70th

My Dad's 70th was coming up and a big party was being planned at his house. I volunteered to do the cake. I decided to go for a case of wine. My brother sketched a label for me.

Originally I had thought of doing the case in fondant covered boards, but this would have been impossible to transport. Luckily I had a couple of empty wine cases. 

He wanted fruit cake but acknowledged that chocolate cake might be more popular. Aside from the type of cake it was all a surprise. I decided to do three bottles of fruitcake (my normal Christmas recipe) and three of chocolate cake. Here is the prototype with the label drawn on with an icing pen. 

The cakes would have been too low down in the wood case, so Ian made a surprisingly strong support out of cardboard triangles. The fondant icing was a real palaver. I ordered some from the cake workshop and the colours weren't quite right, so I ended up ordering online with very expensive express delivery. Here they are pre labels: 

I then had a hectic two hours of piping to finish the labels. My hand was wasted at the end. 

I used some shredded brown paper to fill in the gaps. The whole thing survived the drive up to North London and he seemed pretty pleased with the result. Happy Birthday Dad! 

Eve is 11!

A multi coloured sponge with butterflies, owls and hedgehogs. Not bad for a mum with a very hectic schedule this week! 

Grandma is 100

I tried my hand at sugar roses to make this cake for my Grandma Joan. I used buttermilk sponge as it is quite solid and can hold plenty of weight of icing. My Grandpa used to grow yellow roses and would put one in his buttonhole and one on the mantlepiece for her. 

Gingerbread house

Not so much baking, more of an assembly job.  Four very happy children ready to demolish it. 

Christmas cakes

Two Christmas cakes, one for my Mum (gluten free) decorated by Eve and another for everyone else. Usual boozy soaked fruit, heavy on the cherries and pecans. Royal icing with a touch of glycerine to save on the dental bills. I love my playmobil Father Christmas! 

Halloween cupcakes

This was a bit of a rush job, but Eve and I got 24 cupcakes baked and decorated while Leo was out at cubs. Blob of runny icing then star punches of fondant and a sprinkle of edible glitter. 

Lego brick

This was for Leo's 8th birthday. He requested two LEGO blocks, which was surprisingly straightforward to create. I used my favourite cake recipe- Nigella's Buttermilk Birthday Cake (Domestic Goddess). The  'nobbles' on the top of the bricks were cut out of cake off cuts. 

I also made a stripy jelly for the party with submerged LEGO men and a crocodile.