AAw I'm glad you're friends again nanny. :-) I did re read your post before I posted and you didn't technically let the cat out of the bag, you could've just been sympathising with one bad bake or mishap.

You mean regular sized for the less Maisie- like don't you Jean! :-D I think grays idea was good too, I'm glad it's coming together for you. Lovely Macmillan cake, I did laugh when you said "lips", seems we all taste as we go.

If anyone's still up, will my frozen ganache and buttercream be ok til tomorrow evening if I take it out now? Well it'll be Friday morning actually but I'll be using it tomorrow evening. I haven't got enough room in the freezer for them and my cakes. And when would you take the cakes out for decorating tomorrow evening? I can either take them out before 10 in the morning or when I get home at about 4pm.

AAh yes Maisie, I meant the less Maisie-like :D

Yes defrost them overnight if you're decorating tomorrow. They both have long shelf life out of the fridge. Is the cake due to be eaten at the weekend?

ALmao Jean! :-D They'll probably be eaten Friday morning, they're for a fundraiser, being sold with coffee. Some people might take them home I suppose. I still can't see them hanging around long tho. Thanks Jean. :-) I'm off to bed now, night all. :-)

AMorning all! Got a busy one today sending out the invites for the staff Xmas party - and we've got over 200 staff! So the countdown begins!

What the heck is my other bag doing on FB????

Gray please tell Mrs Gray she's a genius!

Have a good day everyone. Kathy

AMorning all.

Maisie, who said we were friends? He's trying bless him! Annoys me so much, sometime he's still thinks he's he a teacher, Garr, no offence to Marvel tho.

Lmao at that Kathy.

Are you making a choc cake Maisie? If yes add some ganache to your BC, I do it all the time in, in fact I am tonight.

AMorning all.

Nanny I added SMBC to my ganache, about 100-150g DMBC & 450g ganache but it seems very soft. I put it in my green cake for tomorrow's mcmillan coffee morning tomorrow. i think I'll have to put itin the fridge and take it out an hour before the event.

Can't understand why it's so soft. You'd think the ganache would stabilise it. I've no problems with SMBC or ganache on their own, but mix them together they are too soft!

AMaisie I can top your car park fiasco. My hubby went to costco, came out and car was gone. 45 mins he was searching the carpark for it, a police car happened to pass and he flagged it down, I think my cars been stolen. Gets in the police car, policeman drives maybe 4 ft and says 'is that your car there sir?' And it was, husband was looking in the wrong bit of the carpark. Hahaha he was shamed that day PMSL.

ANice colour cake btw Jean.

Not had a problem yet doing it like that, I've even piped it in swirls on cupcakes, theres always a first time tho,lol.

AOMG Gray!! That's amazing, seriously, he is going to be over the moon, the shape, the detail!, the blueprints!! Well done to Mrs Gray too for the idea, fantastic (love that you want to show her off as well, so cute!) :)

Jean I love the colour you've ended up with, it's lovely!

LOL re loosing cars, I do it all the time with my new one. My last car was a bright red golf, very easy to find in a car park. I've now got a grey qashqai and I'm forever forgetting where it is!

Such a shame about GBBO, but not a surprise really, they had a bad day and I think that's all it takes at this stage :/ I really craved doughnuts last night though, Richards Rhubarb ones looked amazing!! The Cookie Monster bit made me laugh too!

Question, do you think I can add pearl lustre dust to white cake lace mix, rather than order the pearl tub? Or should I dust it after it's made?

Edited to ask another question, need to take a quick poll, which mat do you guys prefer - Chantilly or Serentiy? :-)

AMorning campers :-)

Siany I laughed at your husband losing the car! Is it terribly ***ist to admit I find it funnier cos he's a man?!:-D Tell him the resident doofus of the thread said he's a doofus!

Yes nanny I'm making some chocolate cakes and I'm one step ahead of you there. The buttercream already has ganache added to it (remember when I tried it a while ago and I was chuffed cos you all told me I'd made mocha buttercream?) :-D Aw I feel a bit sorry for john. I know you're easy going but I get a very strong feeling you can be formidable when you want to be. And he is trying, love him. In his own hapless bloke way. Aw go and give him a cwtch and a kiss, put him out of his misery![IMG]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3288423/width/200/height/400[/IMG] Look what came this morning. £10 free P&P from eBay. I wasn't impressed at first but it's been sat on the table an hour or so and I think it might be growing on me.

Handbag on FB Kathy???

ADidn't see your post mel. Can't help but didn't want to ignore you. :-) I've yet to use my cake lace but I'd probably dust it after it's made. Don't know why, just seems easiest and most logical to me.

AIsn't it Lush Maisie? I'm straight in there with my spoon.

OK, I'll try, only for you tho, he's out delivering leaflets this morning for me, awwwwww.

AAwwww nanny he really is trying bless! :-)

Yep, lush, I eat more than I get on the cake! That's why I laughed when Jean said green lips yesterday.

What do you think of my stand? There were prettier ones for three times the price, I'm not a skinflint but do have to think about how much I'm spending for a one time use item.

AI like that stand maisie. I think if you went for something fancy it would District from the cakes. I'd rather have a nice plain stand and make the cakes the focal point. Do you have your designs set for the cakes yet? Are you going to go with a design that blends in with the stands or just 3 separate cakes? Either way I can't wait to see him.

Aww nanny bless John, he's being a good boy now! I completely missed why he ended up being called Gumpaste John though, have no idea what that is all about?

Can't help with the cake lace thing Mel sorry I've never used it.

Laughing at all of your car stories. I don't think I've ever lost mine for more than 15mins or so and that was in the Trafford Centre car park which is huge and so confusing! Found it eventually after wandering around though.

AThe stand looks good Maisie! Those ones are funny, they always look much better once the cake is on! Plus you can always decorate the stand itself - I've seen some with ribbon wrapped around them and they look quite pretty. My sisters wedding cake (my first one ever - no pressure!) was on one of the S versions of that (she's coeliac so I wanted to keep the GF tier separate!). The only thing I would say is test the weight of the cakes on the top 2 layers, Especially if you are doing fruit. I'm sure they will be fine, but better to check before the day!

[IMG ALT=""]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3288425/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

Hi Maisie - I like the stand - I thought it might be one of those "wavy" ones that are all set at different angles - I couldn't handle one like that.  I think it's going to be a lovely cake.  Oh - re my bag on FB comment....just scroll back to Sugarluva's post!  Haha.......

Glad you've made up with John Nanny!

I have Chantilly lace Mel - so maybe I'm biased!

Kathy

AWow I missed a lot in a few hours, and I really thought I was keeping up :D

Gray. Wow. Just Wow. I actually had to get off my ar*e and find the laptop to look at the images properly as I couldn't see on the phone, but it's really brilliant.

Maisie - big granny pants? YES! I have one pair I love. Hubby hates them, but that may be because they're older than our relationship (and we're coming up 18 years :D) TMI? :lol:

I think I like the Chantilly better Mel, if that's any help to you :) I've lustred the lace once it's made which works well, the only thing is the colour sometimes sits in the tiny pinprick airholes you get. I doubt it would notice in a pearl colour though.

Who do we want to win Bake Off then? I really like Chetna. She's so sparkly all the time and she keeps trying different things. I also really like Nancy too though - I love the way she just bats PH's criticisms away, she makes me laugh. What was the Cookie Monster bit? I missed that!

We're making doughnuts this weekend :D We were both watching and that was it, it has to be done. I had a phase a while ago of trying to get something to be like a Krispy Kreme glazed one, and sadly for my waistline I got pretty close. I'll be hunting the recipe out again for a little batch :D

Lol at all of you nutters 'losing' your cars :lol: I haven't done that, but years ago when the kids were toddlers, I had taken them to a soft play centre and parked a five minute walk away. We were in there with friends for nearly 3 hours, and when we finished I walked back to the car with the kids to find the keys on the roof of the car, exactly where I'd put them so I had both hands free when I was helping the kids get out of the car 8O I've never felt such panic and relief at exactly the same time :D It took me about a year to 'fess up to hubby - especially as at the time we actually had money (ahh, money, I remember that stuff) and the car was a year old top of the range Lexus (and the first and only car we've ever bought from new)!

I hope you're talking soon nanny :( It sucks when you can't natter away aimlessly to each other.

Ooh, the covered stand looks purdy, I'd never have thought of wrapping it with ribbon!

I really like that cake too, it's so simple and pretty.

AThe submarine cake is Fab Gray. I'm very in awe of all the clean lines on the blue base and the sugarpaste details being so clean. I haven't reached any where near that level yet. Well done :)

When growing up we always teased my Mum for having a suitcase and not a handbag...now me and my sisters are of a similar age; we also have similar sized bags :) Mine is large enough for a drink, and a sometimes 2 reading books.(..one I'm about to finish plus the next one!)...not forgetting all the pens, polos, tissues, purse, phone, MP3 player, headphones, keys, handcream, lipbalm, chargers, sometimes the satnav, pills/meds...and random scraps of paper/receipts!

I'm up in Stafford over night so I might go home via the National Arboretum Memorial.

AThree seperate cakes I think sugarluva. The only one I liked where it blends in with the cake is the one with flowers wrapped around the cake and the stand and I think that's a bit beyond me.

I don't like the wavy ones Kathy, I like the s shaped or the e shaped and that's it. A wedding cake, to me anyway, should be one on top of the other whether it's on a stand or not. Bag on FB, yep, I get it now. :-D

I had that same stand at my wedding Mel (lovely cake btw, can't believe it's your first one!). They're brilliant for a GF tier, I never thought of that.

OMG Lizzy, I was reading your post..... "Never lost my car......... Kids were little....... Took them to the park......... Blah, blah, blah......" I thought you were going to say you lost a child! My heart was in my mouth! :-D You were so lucky! I've said Richard from the start. Louis looked like he was going to overtake him but I think Richards picking up again now. I wouldn't mind or be surprised if chetna wins tho, I really like her and she's been consistent. Big pants lmao! Not TMI but like I keep saying I forget what's normal conversation in polite company!

Gota go, busy today, see you all later. :-)

lol maisie :D Not on that occasion, but have lost one or other of them 3 times!

Once with eldest (about 6) at the beach for about 20 minutes (cue me in tears)

Once with youngest (about 3yo!) at Chessington for about an hour (cue massive panic, but found him in the medical hut curled up on the floor not speaking to anyone)

Once again with youngest at Disneyworld (where the little sod was watching us frantically trying to find him, including me sobbing to a security guard that we'd lost our 7 year old, from a play tube about 10 feet away) He was having a whale of a time playing hide and seek with us...

Kids are going to make me die young(ish).

I like Richard too, but the ladies have it for me this year :) His doughnuts were far and away my favourites though - apple and salted caramel? YUM!

ANow I'm waiting for one of you to come up with a price .

Maisie I like stand too.

ALizzy, your good with prices, how much do I charge for a figure, in fondant I mean?

AOoh er nanny, it depends on the detail. Mine start at about £30 for something with a bit of detail, but if it's really simple it may be a smidge less. If it's detailed, (bride and groom for example) it will go up.

AMy mum left my brother in his pram outside the chemist, came out walked home and the realised she'd left him there. Luckily he was still there when she got back, none the wiser lol

AThat's spooky Siany, my mum did that with my eldest sister!

AYou guys are so lovely thanks for all your nice comment :-)

[@]maisie73[/@] (tagged you to make sure you get to see this) I have that stand too and I really like it but is does bow forward slightly when laden and it can even bounce a bit when people walk past so you absolutely must glue smaller drum boards under your cake boards so they sit inside the rings and hold the cakes on, if you don't they will definitely slide off! Hope that makes sense :-)

A

Really glad you said that lizzy... So many people scoff at my £35 a figure price and most of my bride and grooms end up at £90... They take ages tho so not reducing my prices!

This'll cheer you all up.....not!  For heaven's sake........is all I can say!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11113913/How-hard-is-it-to-make-a-wedding-cake.html#disqus_thread

I really must stop googling cakes in my lunch break.

Kathy