Holmes Chapel Cakes Rocks!

So a while ago I had an order for a guitar cake, but no ordinary guitar, oh no! This is Billie-Joe's guitar from the band Green Day and he obviously like to put stickers on it. Lots of them.

This cake was a deceptively large amount of work since the stickers had to be hand-painted on with food colouring, but I love a challenge! I also love how this guitar looks so well-used and worn, like an over-loved teddy bear. It was unusual to make a cake look aged and a bit battered (!) rather than obsessing over a flawless, smooth finish!

Here is the cake version of Billie-Joe's guitar (without the neck, that would have been a BIG cake!). The aged look was achieved with a bit of diluted brown food colouring and a sponge!

Happy 21st birthday, Alison!!!

Swinging Sixties

This has been a swinging 60's week with two 60th birthday cakes! The first one was a lovely moist chocolate fudge cake basket- and the "chocolates" on the top are actually cake too!

I actually think this would make a great Mothers Day cake too! I have just started making these little "cake bites", they're a mix of crumbled cake mixed with a flavoured buttercream and dipped in dark chocolate. The cake bites for this cake were mint chocolate flavoured and toffee/fudge flavoured. I shall post more "cake bite" pictures later in the week.

The second cake was for a sixties-themed 60th birthday party in Warrington.

The bottom tier was vanilla sponge with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream, the second tier was chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling and the third tier was, of course, this...

... complete with purple vanilla buttercream filling!

This week, I'm making a replica of Billie-Joe's (from the band, Green Day) electric guitar for a 21st birthday. I can't wait to do this one, it's totally going to rock!

What did that chocolate cake become?

First off, I did a sticky toffee sponge and coffee buttercream cake this week for an engagement party ordered by a lovely lady for her Sister (and new Brother-in-law to be). It was the first time I'd made the recipe for this sized cake- and I think I made too much! Not only was the cake bigger than expected but there was enough left over for 14 cupcakes! Oops!

(Excuse the bad picture, it was taken in 6am light before I was rushing out of the door!) It was more shimmery silver than dull grey in real life.


What became of the chocolate cake?

A quick reminder...

well...

.. you know where this is going...

... et voila. It's a bustier/corset cake for my awesome friend, Andrea's, hen night. It was a debauched affair comprising pole dancing lessons (which I am still very sore from, that is a SERIOUS workout!), a 'fireman' called Fernando ( I suspect that wasn't his real name) and burlesque/moulin rouge fancy dress. This cake, therefore, fit the theme perfectly and incidentally was surprisingly to-scale for our stunning hen!!

See, I did say it'd become something a whole lot more interesting!

p.s. this chocolate cake has magic hangover-curing abilities!

Experimentation

I've had a few last minute cake orders so the 60's cake isn't the next on my agenda after all. I'll post about the other cakes when they're finished but in the mean time I've been doing a spot of experimentation with regards to the 60s cake.
When I said I was toying with the idea of a tie-dyed tier, I did mean on the outside but I came across a post from a cake-blogger in the US who'd done a tie-dyed effect INSIDE the cake. I had to have a go at that! Since the lovely people who will be eating the 60s cake may have issues with it being funny-coloured, this is a tiny tiny cake that I will just sit as the top tier- I don't intend for anyone to eat it.

First, split your cake mix into as many bowls as you want and colour with food colouring. (Note, I wouldnt recommend the types of colouring you get in the supermarket- to get colours this vivid you'd have to use 8 gallons of that stuff- and no one wants to eat that many chemicals). I used the colouring that you use to colour fondant, and I literally only had to use a bit the size of an 1/8 of a fingernail.
Dump it into a greased & lined cake tin. Apparently to get the best tie-dyed affect, blobs forming concentric circles are the best, but really, life is too short. Just chuck it in.
Bake as per usual. Remove from pan and....

Yuk. That looks gross.

Cut it open though and you might get something like this....

Hmm... it does look kinda cool but I wish I'd used some pink and purples, it's just a bit too "primary colours". It did leave some of the prettiest washing-up ever though....

So the next time I post, this humble chocolate sponge will become somethng a WHOLE lot more interesting...

..but for now, you'll just have to guess.

Tracey