Big boys' clothes

Football fanatics eat cake too! Here's one for an All Blacks fan (sorry about the flash). It went much smoother than I expected cutting out the shape of the jersey - paying close attention to the rounded collar and longer sleeves - it's all in the details! Painting was the real fun part. Instead of kneading black colouring into the fondant which would have taken forever and only amounted to a dark grey at best, I painted the colouring on instead (handy tip I got from my awesome local cake shop Cake Decorating Central). Used half the tub but it was worth it! And I didn't even make too much of a black mess on the kitchen counter, hehe.

There's something about clothes that draws me in... wonder how I'd go with Love and Clothes... hmm.

Baby, it's all wrapped up

A remake of my very first cake! This time with much more experience and a few handy tips ;) The footprints represent the baby's first steps, leaving his mark before he's born.

I don't usually use more than three main colours but these four worked well together! The baby shower itself carried all four colours consistently the whole way through so it was nice to see it tie in neatly (hehe).

Boy cupcakes unlocked

Before anyone mentions the lack of boy cupcakes, here are some created for a birthday boy who's a locksmith by trade - hence his 2 special lock & key cupcakes. I had to hold back on the usual polka dots and stripes... well just a little, hehe. I hope they turned out sufficiently boyish! Comments or suggestions welcome as I'm sure these won't be the last boy cupcakes I'll do (and I know there are some tough boy critics out there)!

Sushi on the chopping board

Here is that sushi cake I was talking about, my first 'food' cake. This was just too much fun! It was a birthday cake for a friend who celebrated over dinner at a Japanese restaurant - the Japanese says "Happy birthday! Melissa-san".

I hope you can recognise all the different sushi, I think the birthday girl + friends did. When I went searching for inspiration, I found loads of sushi cakes on Google so I had no shortage of ideas... seems to be a popular theme. Glad I have now made my contribution to the array of sushi cakes flying around cyberspace!

Big boys' toys

Here's a boy cake for ya... in response to a comment on "Confessions of a cupcakeaholic"! Can't get more manly than a shiney black Ducati! I do like the boy cakes as much as the girl cakes, in case I haven't mentioned that before. I love the challenge and with boy cakes, I've almost always got a blank slate to work with since I seem to do many more girl cakes. But at the end there's always a sense of accomplishment, knowing I've decorated out of my comfort zone!

Confessions of a cupcakeaholic

Pretty cupcakes for a pretty lady who has great taste where it matters - clothes, shoes and bags! ;)

The before shot

'Tis a good week for special occasions! Spent quite a few hours in the kitchen baking the last coupla days. These are the 'before shots' of cakes getting all dressed up this week. With any luck, you'll see the 'after shots' soon!

First anniversary cupcakes

Their ‘first anniversary’ cupcakes and my first ‘anniversary cupcakes’ – does that make sense? Hehe. Maybe I’ve sniffed too much icing sugar.

I’ve worked out that I prefer variety. Even if there was some smashingly cute design, 16 of them wouldn’t look as pleasing to the eye as maybe 4 of them complemented by some simpler ones (in my humble opinion). Does THAT make sense? Ooh I think I better go lie down. Hehe

PS. There are three flavours hidden under all that icing - mud choc, vanilla and peanut butter. And the choc icing is Tia Maria. Hope they liked them!

The cat sat on my cake

The brief for this cake was 'blue' and 'he likes cats' - so I hope I did it justice! It was my first time trying my hand at an animal figurine (except for the lil bird, bee, butterfly and beetle I made for a garden cake once) - which was quite fun especially when it (luckily) turned out like I'd hoped. Don't know how I'd go if I had to make multiple ones! I'm thinking of taking a proper course in creating figurines... of all sorts of things including people, animals, food, vehicles. Speaking of food, stand by for a sushi cake next week!

Mixed bag of cupcakes

Cupcakes all round - celebrating a lil guy's birthday, a chick who passed her driving test and a new car in the family. How versatile are cupcakes that you can hit multiple milestones in one go!

Business or pleasure?

Guess which one was for the business meeting and which was for the Friday afternoon tea? Same same inside but different outside. Give you a cupcake if you don’t get this right in two guesses – don’t say I don’t give out free samples! ;)

Petal power

I was woken up by a call this morning... my friends needed a cake for tonight. TONIGHT! That was enough to make me jump out of bed and kickstart my brain into gear! Lucky they gave me free rein over the design, I can't normally take, bake and deliver orders in the same day (note to readers :p)!!
Cupcakes are small size in assorted flavours with chocolate/vanilla icing on top

Dora explores again

One thing I’ve learnt – Dora is a real popular gal. This is my second Dora cake in less than a month! I don’t blame her, she is rather cute (did I mention earlier she could have been me as a kid?). Here she is again with cupcakes to match this time!

Kinky kupcakes

These were by far the most fun I’ve had with cupcakes to date. I’ve always wanted to play around with feathers and pearls so this was my lucky day!! They were requested for a hens night - I hope they served the night well. (And I hope the girls were sober enough to pick the feathers off before tucking into them!)
One of the cupcakes is missing a big heart that says “Bride to be”. I provided this separately to be placed on just before they gave these to the future bride, but I heard it didn’t make the journey into the city, lol. At least it’s got a special pair of horns to compensate (bit hard to see).

Mud chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate Tia Maria (left) and buttercream (right) icing

Easter cupcakes galore – place your orders now!

Add some colour to the Easter season with adorable Easter cupcakes! They will brighten up any Easter feast you’re planning to have over the long weekend.
With the official release of this blog, grab these specials:
Only $2 for any Easter cupcake (small size), buy 20 and get 4 free!
Pick and choose to create your own Easter selection, they can be packaged in lil boxes of 4 as gifts (left) or in bigger boxes, depending on your order.

A little piece of MU

There wasn't a big celebration but I thought he deserved a lil cake anyway... so instead of the whole Manchester United logo I used just a small feature, probably the easiest feature. Anyone recognise it? (He thought it was a netball.. tsk tsk)

Maybe next year he'll get the whole logo :)

How to place an order

If you have a special occasion coming up and would like to place an order, or if you just have an insatiable craving for a cake, please drop me a line at loveandcakeshop@gmail.com. We can have a chat about any ideas you have... I'd love to help you bring your cake dreams to life! (Metro Sydney region only)

Also, $5 from every cake will be donated to WSPA - the World Society for the Protection of Animals http://www.wspa.org.au/. The fight against animal cruelty is such an important cause and one that I wholeheartedly support. WSPA is one organisation that does great things when it comes to saving animals who can't save themselves. Thank you, WSPA!

The yellow brick road to cupcakeland

I’m so grateful to be living in the age of cupcakes… have you noticed cupcake shops popping up around Sydney overnight? Pay you a dollar if you can walk through the city and not stumble across at least one!

Cupcakes were a natural next step in my cake-ing venture. They’re almost a force on their own I couldn’t resist or steer away from no matter how much I tried. I admit I didn’t actually try, I fell straight into the cupcake trap *heeeelp*!

For a special occasion, cupcakes can complement the main cake or be the cake on their own. Yes, these days, cupcake towers are quite popular and have worked their way up the cake status ranks to sometimes even claim the coveted spot of centrepiece of a party. No need for messy cutting up, they’re individual little cakes every guest can have on their own - no sharing!

I love working with a theme or just scavenging around the house for anything and everything to add on top… fondant shapes, lollies, M&Ms, jelly beans, chocolate flakes, chocolate bars, anything your mind can create. There’s almost no way you can go wrong!

Pay you another dollar if you dare say no to a cupcake! (and will book you into a mental facility a.s.a.p.)

Cupcake frenzy 1!

Cupcakes can carry names, numbers or a message…

Cupcake frenzy 2!

Or shapes…

Cupcake frenzy 3!

Or a variety of lollies and chocolates!

Candles make the cake

How many of you have made a silent wish before blowing out your birthday candles and then tried to blow them out all in one go so the wish comes true? Or cut the cake without touching the bottom because you didn't want to kiss the boy/girl next to you... (or maybe you did hehe).

Well the theme of 'wishes' goes back a long way. There are various beliefs about how candles first found their way onto birthday cakes. Some believe the Ancient Greeks thought that the smoke of the candles carried their wishes off to come true, high above our mere physical locations here on earth could reach. Others believe the Germans were at the root of this tradition, their candles symbolising the light of life.

For me it's enough that it signifies your very own momentous occasion and is something you can count on every year... one more candle on your cake declaring another triumphant year of your life.

As for the second tradition (not cutting all the way to the bottom in case you have to kiss someone) - I think that was created just to have a bit of fun at your expense! But if you know about how this started - it's cupcake prize time again!

Horsing around

This was a collaboration with a friend for her uncle’s birthday. The order of the day was a racecourse, the Mauritian beach theme was a plus. A good lesson learnt in laying such a large piece of fondant… mental note, have at least two people handy!
Boy were we thankful we managed to find toy horses. Little coloured blankets transformed them into racehorses. Also very lucky we found mini fences which we painted white.
It was great to have a partner in cake crime for this cake, having a cuppa tea and a good chat while decorating... Let's do it again sometime!

And all cupcaked up too!

Can't forget the cupcakes... the ones on the left are topped with soft buttercream icing and Christmas M&Ms while on the right, hard fondant icing was used to cut out the shapes.

Christmas all caked up

I love Christmas and if I was going to go all out at any time of year, it'd be Christmas time! These were some of the edible festivities.

Love-inspired

Love was on the menu for this engagement turned surprise wedding, with a side of elegance and subtlety.
The process of creating a wedding cake is even more meaningful when I can draw inspiration from the couple themselves – and what an inspiration they are!

Many firsts in this cake including dealing with metallic colours on a large scale and covering not one but two heart shaped cakes!! Oh, and I couldn’t resist the cupcakes.

Stay tuned for their baby shower cake!

For the fun of it

Simple yet says it all - who can look at a smiley face and not smile? (Perhaps those of you who saw your fair share of smiley faces in the 80s).

With the striped cake – I wanted another simple design but with a cool 'tood for a cool guy. This shows what you can do with a couple of stick figures if you think between the lines!

Mad Hatter madness

The inspiration for this blog was the inspiration for this cake. Shared interest in pretty cakes, shared interest in polishing off delicious desserts!

Admittedly, I’d also been looking for a good excuse to do a mini mad hatter cake myself. To me, mad hatter cakes are the ultimate - three delicious layers, complementing colours, it's got the sweet, the swirly and the stripey - everything you'd want in a cake, it's just so complete!

This cake was so much fun to do, I couldn't have had more fun than if I'd been eating it at the same time!

Icing on the top, literally

These days we generally use soft icing (eg. ganache or buttercream) or hard icing (eg. marzipan or fondant) to decorate with. Soft icing has been around for a long time but I believe hard icing that resembles play-doh has only become popular in the past few decades (please correct me if I’m wrong). Incidentally, fondant ready-to-roll is the only icing I use for my cakes - cupcakes are another matter. That makes me think… if cake decorating is still evolving, what kinds of cakes are we going to see in the next 10, 20 years, or even the next century. It boggles the mind!

Have cake, will travel!

What to give a fashionista who already has everything money can buy?… A cake replica of her favourite Marc Jacobs bag! And matching suitcase for her husband (another couple with birthdays close to each other… seems to be a rising trend!). This was by far one of the most challenging cakes I have made and by the same token also one of the most satisfying. Part of the fun was finding my way without a road map. Knowing I could actually do it was the icing on the top!

Caked forever in time

This is a cake with a secret… it’s styrofoam inside instead of real cake! Meaning it will stay on our display shelf till the end of time, unless some hungry unsuspecting cake-eater comes along. So I used my personal favourite colour combination: taupe brown, mint green and baby pink, and topped it off with a generous serving of ribbon. *aw*

And the rest is history

Cakes have been around for as long as any of us can remember now. These days they are a staple item at any party or special occasion. Back in the olden days they graced the banquet tables but were more rare that they also signified wealth and luxury.
However, we take cakes for granted. Or maybe I do. But there was a time when cakes DIDN’T EXIST! *faint*
It is generally agreed that cakes first came into being when the ancient Egyptians developed the expertise to bake, but their cakes were more like bread than cake, distinguishable only by a few different (finer and more expensive) ingredients.
I mentioned earlier the French were the ones who started creating all sorts of pretty and exquisite designs. In fact, Europe in general had a lot of influence in evolving cakes into what we know them to be today. Traditional has given way to all sorts of crazy inspired designs, some so disguised they don't even look like cakes anymore! Funny world we live in, but I can't complain, I would be without such a fantastic hobby if it wasn't so!

Giant ribbons, tiny cake

One of my favourite designs I found in a cake magazine was this little number with loopy oversized ribbons. Big challenge in making them stand - if only certain things could be immune to gravity!
I was surprised how much easier it is to create the soft drapey finish for the fondant than having to give it a smooth flat finish. Added some shimmer with pearl paint.
Hurray for matching cupcakes!

Stuff cakes are made of

Polka dots, stripes, squares, hearts… bows, diamontes, ribbons, cashous… just a few simple things you can design an entire cake around. The combinations are endless!

Easter Show cake competition

If any of you are at the Easter Show this year, have a look at the cake competitions... there's bound to be some realy amazing creations there!
http://www.sydneyroyalshows.com.au/sydneyroyalcomps/arts/index.html
(And let me know what you think, I don't think I'll be able to make it there this year!)

Sparkling in blue and silver

In a metallic twist, bright blue is combined with a steely silver to match the theme of this 50th birthday. The cashous (little silver balls) are also an easy way to add a bit of all-over sparkle.

The shooters here are accompanied with wire shapes, which can be bent and coloured to any design.

Keeping the cake simple lets the shooters stand out!

(Lesson learnt in painting on metallic shades: use a soft brush)

Pink and white tower of love

This was my first crack at a three-layer cake.
In a combined effort with the bride-to-be, we tossed around a few ideas for three different-looking layers that matched using just white and pink. This is what we came up with!
Shooters were used here to add an elegant touch in white. They also add some good height to the cake.
Ribbons always make a cake look grand. I love that fondant can look hard as rock but also hold that soft flowy effect!

Theme: Shooters

Easy way to spice up a cake! These shooters grab your attention for a few seconds before your eyes travel down to the rest of the cake. They add so much to a design that might otherwise look really simple.

They can suit pretty much any design, either being the main attraction or complementing the theme.

Four thumbs up for shooters!

Mini cake

I savoured this challenge… I wanted a small cake that represented a Mini for a true Mini fanatic, but not actually be the car itself. I thought the main round bit of the Mini logo was just perfect for a lil round cake, and I was thinking of having the wing bits (so technical) stick out the sides but this was just easier to handle. A cake can be a representation of a logo rather than 100% realistic (I love this job!).

I love creating cakes that are specially designed for the recipient that depicts their passion or something dear to them… can’t get much more personal than that!

More caked objects

A tiny ambulance and a giant Coke bottlecap.
My first automotive cake provided challenges in figuring out how to raise it up off the ‘ground’ and write ‘AMBULANCE’ backwards. I never took such notice of ambulances whizzing past as I did leading up to this cake (thank goodness I didn’t end up needing a real ambulance myself!).
In the case of the Coke bottle cap, you don’t always have to use the entire object. Surprisingly this took much less time than I thought! And it was fun to play around with the iconic Coke brand. Once I got my head around cutting out those letters it was all smooth sailing from there! Must invest in alphabet cookie cutters.