It's been a busy time!

I can't believe my last entry was November 2010 - it's been such a busy time I haven't had time to catch breath so part of my New Years resolution was to make sure I update my blog and here I am.

There is so much to talk about so over the next few entries you will see all that I have been up to from November 2010 to now. Here goes....

A Surprise call from Wedding TV

During the summer I booked to attend a wedding fair at The Italian Villa in Compton Acres. The event was organised by Melanie Kiani from Bellissimo Wedding and Event Planners who was approached by Wedding TV to become a presenter on a show filmed during the summer. During this time I also attend a WIBN meeting where we talked about my cakes and my company. To my surprise, Melanie put my name forward for another show with Wedding TV called The Great Cake Bake, where 3 cake decorators are invited to meet with a Bride and Groom to discuss how they would make a 'dream' wedding cake for them. The couple then choose which cake decorator they would like to make their cake.

When I received the call from Wedding TV to see if I would like to be part of the show I was amazed and delighted, even though I am very new on the scene it was a fantastic opportunity. First of all I had a interview with the Richard, the cameraman who instantly put me at ease, we talked about my background and training and what kind of cake I might think about making for the Bride and Groom.

The theme for the wedding is Winter Wonderland. For the consultation I took along some cake dummies, sources of inspiration as well as some carefully made samples for the Bride and Groom to taste. The wedding is being held at Rownhams House in Southampton and even though I was incredibly nervous Roger and his wife Penny made us feel so welcome and they were so very helpful that I soon calmed down and enjoyed the day. The Bride and Groom were everything I could have hoped for - friendly, kind and full of fun. With lots of questions, cake and giggling - I almost forgot the camera was there!

My husband and I left Rownhams House and headed back to Poole with the promise of a call around 8.30pm to be told whether I was the lucky cake decorator, so when I received a call from the Bride at 6pm I was very surprised - her voice cut out slightly with the phone signal but I managed to hear 'to do our cake' and hoped that the words before that were 'we would like you..' I was absolutely amazed to be the cake decorator the Bride and Groom chose as the other cake decorators were very experienced and I never thought that I would get the opportunity. Needless to say I was (and am) delighted to be making the cake - the wedding is on 28th December so I am now working on designs and planning for the big day! The show will be out early next year - watch this space!

Special Cupcakes for a Birthday Girl

Last week I received an emergency cupcake order from a Mum at school who had seen some of my creations coming in for my daughters and wanted to order something similar for her daughter's birthday. Her daughter was very keen on the hand dusted butterflies I had created previously but as these are very time consuming I didn't think I would have enough time.

I baked vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and piped the buttercream to look like an open flower and made lilac butterflies with petal paste which I had painted and shimmered. I also made some little plunger blossoms and added them around the sides of the flower buttercream. The effect was finished with abundant sprinkles and glitter. It was wonderful to see her face when I arrived at school and to hear her say 'Mummy, look it's butterflies!'

Needless to say I loved my job that day!

Happy 1st Birthday Absolutely W.I. Ferndown

I was asked to decorate a fabulous fruit cake for the Absolutely W.I. in Ferndown for their 1st birthday party. Their leader Jacqueline entrusted me with a very special fruit cake she had baked for me to mazipan, cover with sugarpaste and decorate with moth orchids to match their logo.

It was a lovely challenge and I was so pleased when they were delighted with the result. I was unable to attend the party as I had an emergency cupcake order to fulfill but apparently the cake was well received by all!

Hello Kitty Birthday Cake with matching Cupcakes!

A few weeks ago, I had great fun creating a special birthday cake for my daughter Annabelle with matching Hello Kitty cupcakes to give out to all her friends at her birthday party.

I created the little kitty faces by making run-outs in Royal Icing and adding extra special pink sparkly bows to each one. The cupcakes were yummy lemon ones with hidden lemon curd inside and topped with lemon buttercream. Once the Hello Kitty faces were on I finished them off with a nose and whiskers in black Royal Icing.

The cake was a 6" round with pink sugarpaste and pretty flowers and a love heart chain. I made a mini Hello Kitty to sit on top with a pretty scalloped skirt and matching bow. She is still sitting under a glass cake stand in our kitchen - I just can't bring myself to throw her away. Annabelle insisted that she should have a smile and I think she was right.

All the children wanted to take the big Hello Kitty home but were very happy with their own Kitty on the cakes!

A dash to Melksham for a Summer Wedding

I had the great pleasure of making the wedding cake for David and Natasha in July. It was a beautiful day and their wedding cake consisted of 90 chocolate cupcakes with fondant icing in lilac and white with miniature roses on each one on a mirror tiered tower.

The display was finished at the top with a decorated 6" fruit cake, covered with sugarpaste and delicate swags with small lilac roses.

This was finished with a bespoke posy of roses, freesias and hand-made sugarpaste butterfiles.

As we had only had discussions via email and the phone in the run up to the wedding, I was so pleased when they expressed their delight in the finished result.

A Special Campervan for a 40th Birthday

I was very excited to create a Vintage VW Campervan for a special 40th Birthday celebration. After searching the internet and shops for inspiration, I ended up with pictures pinned all up around the kitchen for reference. The cake was a lovely lemon sponge with lemon curd and buttercream, covered in sugarpaste with the baseboard made to look like sand, with coloured sugar added for extra texture.

Even though it was quite a challenge, I was really pleased with the result, especially the bespoke Kayak on the back of the van.