Seeing as Halloween is coming up quite soon I wanted to share with you what I made for my son's party last year. I had great fun playing around with making spooky things, but didn't want to scare a house full of 3 year olds!
Black Velvet
These black velvets went down a treat with the adults that came to the party, they are simply a red velvet cake with black food colouring topped off with blood red cream cheese frosting. I opted for bat decorations that I bought at my local cake suppliers (Items for Sugarcraft in Kenley) to finish off the rose piping.
Witches Fingers & Gingerbread Skeletons
These Witches fingers were dripping with royal icing blood & I think the almond that I used for the gnarly nail made them look particularly gory! Both the skeletons and fingers were made from gingerbread with a good kick of ginger to warm things up a bit and iced with royal icing.
Vanilla Mummy Cupcakes
All the children loved these Mummy cupcakes! They were simple vanilla cupcakes with piped frosting & a black sugarpaste disc for the spooky face, they were a big hit with the children.
Rainbow Cake
The last bake that I'm going to share with you is this rainbow cake, it was my first multi-coloured cake & I was very happy with the result- a definite wow factor when the cake was cut! I decided against the traditional spread of colours and went for a random order, a 7 layer cake is on my to do list so watch this space!
I thought it was about time to update my Bloggle, its been neglected for far too long & I have pledged to keep it up to date. Over my next few posts I am going to share with you some of my favourite bakes that I've created for friends and family, with one or two requests from friends of friends. So here goes...
Last Christmas a close friend of mine was having her son christened so I offered to make his cake as a present. I love doing this probably because I get carte blanche on how the cakes can be decorated. I of course asked my dear friend if she had anything in mind, she said anything goes. Huzzah! So, being near to Christmas a penguin family was created, cakes made and decorated along with 24 snowflake cupcakes.
The large cake was made of three layers of lemon drizzle sponge sandwiched together with lemon buttercream. I placed the penguin family on icebergs made from blending together white and pale blue sugarpaste. The snowflake cupcakes were simple but delicious vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream with sugarpaste decorations.
Dear Blog,
I am sorry. For too long now I have ignored you, I have chosen to Tweet or update my Facebook page. I now solemnly declare to keep you updated and be truly loved and fed with delicious pictures of scrumptious goodies.
Yours,
Mrs Cakery x
P.S. Here's a peace offering: a beautiful Red Velvet cupcake bursting with deliciousness x
I love to bake. No surprises there! I have been baking since I was a small child, sitting on the windowsill watching and 'helping' my Mum as she made cakes, tarts, scones and buns ready for Sunday afternoon tea. I'd like to share with you three of my baking heroes that inspire, motivate & make things easier.
My first baking hero is of course my lovely Mum who led me on my first baking experience. Like so many of us my first bake was fairy cakes. The best bit being the obligatory licking out of the bowl before I ran off to play with ‘My Little Ponies’ whilst Mum washed up. One of my earliest school memories is coming home on a Friday after swimming (feeling ravenous) to my home filled with the aromas of baking: scones, tea breads, tray bakes. "Can I have one? Please?" "They're for Sunday tea." Oh the pain of having to wait as the baked goodies cooled on the windowsill. But, every Sunday it was worth the wait. The scones were warmed, the tea loaf had matured and developed in depth of flavour and the tray bakes had sustained their moistness. Yum.
An old favouite
My octogenarian Grandma is another hero and at 88 she is still baking and rustling up cakes, buns (always buns, never cupcakes!) and pies for when the family visits. She creates the flakiest of pastry and I am more than thankful that her cold hands have passed onto me. Cold hands make good pastry! She also introduced me to Mary Berry and one of my faithful books is one that my Grandma and late Grandad gave me, dated inside as Xmas 1996. Fifteen years on I still go for the same recipe book that by now has pages stuck together and flops opens at the favourite recipes (lemon drizzle & cheese scone round). It is still the book I go to try something new- my first pavlova I recently made and profiteroles that I hadn't made for about 13 years but knew the recipe came from this book!
The beauty that is my k-Mix
My final and most recent hero is not a person but my k-Mix. It is amazing and makes such a difference to my baking life! Before I got my mixer I had been using a Dualit hand held whisk for several years and I loved it. After baking more and more often my husband did the deed and purchased my mixer for me for Christmas- what a surprise! Quick as a flash it was taken out of the box, instructions (briefly) read, bowl and k-beater washed and American pancakes were rustled up to accompany the streaky bacon & maple syrup. Straight away I was converted. Now, I can be creaming butter and sugar together whilst weighing out the flour. Or making butter icing and leaving it to beat for 5 minutes knowing that the fluffiest frosting will be made ready to pipe onto cupcakes. I have the space to have the mixer out all the time and it is a stylish feature to my kitchen and, above all a gadget that is frequently used! Why choose a k-Mix over a Kitchenaid? The price wasn't the overriding factor, yes, k-Mixers are cheaper and some might prefer the design of the Kitchenaid but not me. My mum and Grandma have both had a Kenwood mixer for 30 and 40 years and they still get them out to use today. Design and longevity was the key for me. I love the design of the K-Mix, the fact that everyone else seems to have Kitchenaids puts me off a little too! I have never used a Kitchenaid or other brand so can't compare how they work. I love the idea of using my k-Mix when I'm old(er) and grey(er) rustling up family favourites. And yes, I will be making my family wait till Sunday tea time before they can eat them. Some things you just can't change.
