ANo Jo no animals in that book but just bought anther book with some in.

Yes that the same mix I use for whatever I make, birthdays, wedding, etc.

AWell I'm sure I will have fun choosing ! I know you can look most things up on the web, but always nice to flip open a book whilst in the middle of something for reference ! Most of the pages in my books are filthy they should laminate pages lol ;-)

Pleased to hear someone actually successfully doing sponge in tiered cakes Nanny, I have to say even mine wasn't perfect by no means but the structure seemed good in the end so happily can comment to other tiered orders in sponge :-)

AGood for you Jo. That book I sent you pics of is always covered in something mucky, lemon zest it was this morn bless it!

I agree Jo they should laminate the pages I hate when my lovely books get covered in stuff.

Nanny is that sponge ok for carving to? The recipe I use is pretty much the same only instead of the baking powder you use a little extra self raising flour.

Hi ladies, did make me chuckle reading that 

I thought after yesterdays attempt at a spider mum I would be a bit braver and try some more. A dahlia and a gerbera. Still not loving making flowers but these were much easier than i imagined so maybe I will change my mind...go on be honest

There is a reason that theyre all green btw 

Wow there are lovely Tiddy I wish I could make them well done 

ATiddy they really are lovely honestly!

Roxylee, to be honest I dont do carved cakes but I know they have to be abit firmer so adding more flour is about right I'm guessing.

Aww thank you ladies.

The way I see it is that was a first effort so they can only get better! 

Not sure about this one - I am making a tall double barrelled 2nd teir on a wedding cake in advance.

2 x 15cm cakes which are 3" high.  I have sliced these up into 3 so 1" each.  I was wondering should I add another layer in the past I have always done 4 layers making it around the standard 4" height cakes which I understand is the industry standard on wedding cakes.  Will this be too short and dumpy when cut is I leave it at 3"? I have a feeling I should make it taller.

Also heres a good question that I have just asked myself.  The bottom tier of the double barrelled (cake card between and dowelled) will have a raw top wont it? how will this look if sliced up and served - odd? You know what I mean it wont have a sugarpaste top - or should it?  Bit confused - should I make a circle of SP.  I intend to chocolate ganache and SP the cake. I think it will have to be left just ganched but perhaps a tick top?

Can anyone help me with scaling up recipes my book only goes up to an 8" square and I need to work out how to increase or for say a 10 or 12 ".

Chasingmytail I'm not 100% sure but I don't think you would put sugar paste on the cake card I think you would treat it like a separate tier and just put the cake on the card and then cover the whole cake.

Nice flowers Tiddy - liking the green too!

Been reorganising my tool boxes and reacquainting myself with some of my "stuff".  Slightly worried that if anything ever happened to it all, I could never afford to replace it!  My daughter has taken over the kitchen - she came home from uni to make another chocolate shoe for a friend's birthday.  I will post a photo when it's all done but it's looking lovely - a Disney princess theme.....

AHi All :)

Ooh sorry I missed you Maisie, nice to see you popping by though I hope you keep checking in on us from time to time! :) x

Lovely flowers Tiddy, great for a first attempt the gerbera especially looks great. Flowers are scary, and time consuming, but so worth it when you get the hang of them! There are some good flower books out there, I have Lesley Herbert's book which although is a bit old school is great for showing each step. I've also got a couple of Paddi Clark books which are nice to follow.

Chasingmytail, so for the double barrel, that's going to be a total of 6 x 1" layers? I'd say that's more than high enough to be honest. I put a cake drum under every tier I do, just to add a little height and don't forget you will have your filling and sugarpaste in there as well so I'd reckon that's at least 8" total?! I've always wondered about how serving is done on a double barrel too though, I've not had any requests for one of those yet so would be intrigued if anyone knows?

DayCakes I know what you mean, I reorganised all my stuff the other week - had no idea how much I've accumulated! Hope your daughters shoe goes well!

Siany your dipped cakes looked amazing, I am so looking forward to seeing the finished article!!

I've had a great weekend, was my DHs Aunts 60th so we had a family day yesterday and the Owl cake I'd done went down a treat! Really funny as extra ppl turned up & I was so worried there wasn't enough cake (did a 5" & 7" tiered, for an approx 16ppl) and there was about a 3rd of the 7" left! Amazing how far a cake will go!

Sorry if I've missed anyone out! What's everyone got on this week? I've got a wedding consultation on Tuesday and then a wedding cake delivery Sat so that will keep me occupied making daisies, ranunculus and sweetpeas!

AOh and re modelling animals I love Ann Pickard, she's got some YouTube videos I think, really cute and simple! Someone was asking about eyes, and she talks about how they look better as little lines rather than dots, and uses a toothpick and black gel colour. It's the method I use most of the time :)

AHi everyone...

Chasingmytailtail, I have a double height cake and it will be 6" tall. I will be making 2 x 6" round cakes, each 3" tall. I also put a 3mm thick cake board under the whole cake and inbetween the two cakes and make sure you dowel the bottom cake before stack the other one. Then ganache the whole cake.

Roxylee, if you check on Lindy Smith's blog, she's got a scaling up chart. It is actually accurate. But you need the basic 8" round recipe to scale it upto other sizes.

AWhat you making Bashini? Saw your flowers.

AHi Barbara... It's for the wedding cake I am doing for this coming Wednesday. The flowers are for the top tier. :)

AI know you made fruit cake, is the top tier sponge?

ABarbara, the bottom and the top tier is fruit and the middle tier red velvet. First they wanted vases in between the tiers but last minute they changed it to just polystyrene seperators which I am glad, as that is what I used for my original design. :-)

ACant wait to see it, sounds lovely, when do you ever make a bad cake? Not!

Thanks Bashini

Havent read other posts on here I decided to scale mine up to 4" as per all my cakes otherwise a piece will be too short. So 4 x 1" per cake then cake card. A total of 8".The base is false at 2" and top will be a 10cm vanilla.  

Its a small wedding up in Scotland so travelling from South Wales.  I think there is about 40 people attending. So she'll have x2 15cm cakes and one 10cm. In my experience of attending weddings I think only one tier will be consumed.  I'm sure she will dish out the 2nd tier to family. The wedding is in a castle and looking at the level of food thats going to be served cant imagine anyone wanting cake after a posh 3 course dinner.

Again, I find hardly anyone touches the cake if its in an evening buffet.  The first cake I made was a 4 tier and hardly one tier was touched.  People are too busy drinking alcohol and beer n cake is not a good match.

The second wedding cake I made I had to wonder around forcing it on people otherwise it would of been left.  The cake seems to be something to look at now and forgot about.

Portions is interesting as that depends on the height of the cake and who is cutting it - it states 14 for a 6" - wouldnt be surprised 20ish.

AThanks Barbara but neither do you!!!!:smile:

No problem roxylee. :smile:

AThank you Bashini, lovely comment.

Oooo, chasingmytail, are you driving up from S.Wales?

Well I guess it depends, dont they normally come around with coffee and cake after the meal hence the tiny portions of wedding cake?

They did at the wedding I attended where I made the cake for last yr, in fact I practically had to beg for a piece as I hadn't tasted my own cake, by the eve there wasnt alot left, mind you half of my work colleagues came so there was no chance.

When is it for the wedding?

Morning all!

Nanny I found this on youtube, nutella ganache recipe.

AThanks Roxylee, just watched it, all I can say is glad I just had my brekkie!!.

Haha, I think I will be trying it myself in the next few weeks my daughter is nutella mad, I'm not a fan myself.

Nanny - no I'm no going to the wedding - too expensive to stay there its a long way up too!  The Bride is taking the cake up a few days before around 26th May.

My experience now for the last 3 weddings, when a three course meal, the cake hasnt been cut until the evening party.  I dont think anyone could face cake after pudding. I havent been to a wedding for years when the cake was cut with the champagne.

One wedding I went to last year it was a free bar I have never see people in such a state and the massive cake I made was left, they didnt care, I did feel a bit put out to be honest as most people didnt get a chance.  The B&G were drinking so heavily it was given any consideration and I felt for the expensive photographer who was battling to get control.

The last wedding at The Angel in Abergavenny the cake was cut at the beginning of the evening do and served with the buffet. I think only one tier was cut - this is the cake I said I wasnt impressed with too bland for my taste and was surprised as they are well known.

Is anyone following this lady on FB?

https://www.facebook.com/www.cakesbysamantha.co.uk?fref=photo

I am surprised how massive some of these wedding cakes are and how deep some of the tiers are.  She must be working on a 6" plus but I wonder how cakes this deep are cut - dont they look odd on a plate because you can only have a thin piece.  These cakes must feed hundreds and hundreds. What happens to cakes like this after a wedding?  Obviously freeze but unsure how SP freezes and it would go on for years! Or do you think its binned.

Beautiful yes, but just so big!

Morning all - busy day at work so probably not going to be on here much today.  Here is my daughter's chocolate shoe with a Disney Princess theme - Belle. 

She got me to do the signature on the inner sole - no pressure!