after being near to tears yesterday with a cake I have never been so happy to see a cake go!!

Just about everything that could have went wrong did!!!!

The weird thing is things I do all the time just didnt work, think I was too focused on the shoes not the cake!

anyway here is a pic of final cake (felt I needed to post it)

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1841760

Sorry for all your troubles in making this one, but it sure turned out beautiful in the end!

That is really a nice cake. I know all your work was hard but it paid off in the end. You may not have made a profit but you have a happy customer, which means more business via...word of mouth.

thank you

Lilly you are totally right it was lovely to see how pleased she was with the cake!! and she said that everyone at party was looking forward to seeing the cake!

Hey pincjacs!

I just had a look, and i think it's awesome. You did a great job on all fronts, the colour combo is fab, the shoes and handbag, ditto, and I dont think there's anything wrong with the height of the base cake, its just fine.

your story struck a chord with me, the tank cake that's in my pics was one of those for me. I also had huge issues with the fondant, elephant skin on corner bits, ripping in some parts and just overall dry and one huge PITA!!
I remember saying the exact same thing, sooo glad to be rid of it!

what type of fondant do you use out of interest?

I've just in the last couple of cakes I've done, switched to a brand called Covapaste, and its absolutely brilliant. I was able to roll it out with a sillicone rolling pin, and didn't need to use icing sugar or trex or anything!
It rolled out beautifully, was not sticky or dry, and takes colour well too. I had no tearing issues, and can't believe the difference! I really enjoyed the last two cakes I did.
I got mine from www.cake-stuff.com They're a company in Lesmahagow, (apologies if you're already familiar with them) i'm not sure what part of Scotland you're in!

Mamad77 thank you

I use tesco fondant and its normally really good and tastes nice too, but I will defo try the link I am in North Lanarkshire so its not far away from me really. The elephant skin comment yeah thats the look I was getting not nice is it.

trouble is I have 2 cakes to do this week (may not sound alot but I work so hard to fit it in) I think when you have a cake that doesnt go as planned your confidence takes a knock.

I like your golf cake its really cool!

Yeah, got the comment re- golf cake, thanks for that!
I'm a bit peeved, because i worked hard on that cake, and my dad popped round the other night, and handed me back the board, the wrapping it was in, (fair enough, I can use those again) AND the TOP TIER! i thought he may have wanted to keep it! Waaahhh! He just sort of shoved the whole lot at me.
Upon inspection later it was evident that some clown had dropped it! probably one of my little cousins after we left. Grrrr.

It was Tesco fondant i was using too, and I thought that up until I found and tried the covapaste, that it was my skills that were not up to par, but not so, it was the fondant all along. I will never ever use the Tesco stuff again, if I can avoid it that is! It did taste good though.
honestly though, the difference with this stuff i'm using now it's like night and day. i didn't appreciate how bad it was until I switched. The covapaste is like play doh. the tesco stuff is so much more sticky.

It had really given my confidence a knock too, the new stuff is like an epiphany!

Only trouble with the cake-stuff supplier, is that it can take ages for an order to be delivered, (usually at least around a week) so you really need to try to plan ahead and bulk buy, to get the stuff on time, and to take advantage of the flat rate shipping of £5:99. I've searched around, but can't find any other supplier who are cheaper, either for the products or the postage. They sell stuff on ebay too, under the name of knightpilgrim.

it would have been great for you if they were still doing the collection in person option, but they have stopped it now, as they're too busy.

I had a look at your pics, and your cakes are lovely!

Thank you I am new to this cake thing so its nice to hear you say that about my cakes!!

I can see why your dad will have handed you it back he will be thinking that he was doing you a favour lol not thinking that it may hurt your feelings. parents are funny arnt they I showed my mum and dad a pic of the shoes I made and they were saying oh they are real you didnt make them no way... I was trying to convince them then i clicked they were talking to me like I was a kid lol so funny!!

where in Scotland are you from?

Your cake is awesome Sorry you had a hard time with it, but i really love the shoes! ive beeen dyyying to do a pair, but ive never had the excuse lol!

Can you get Regalice up in scotland? im from the uk and its all i use and ive never had any problems with it, ive heard of covapaste, but its a bit more pricey than i thought it would be so ive never tried it yet!

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1637543 thats one of my cakes i had covered in Regalice, i sometimes use asda's but its soo soft and squidgy it can be hard to work with!

oh I love that cake so pretty, Yeah we get that there is a cake shop near me that sell that brand. I figured the tesco stuff was a cheaper way to go but not now I think I am going back to the brand stuff.

Thank you for the compliment about my cake!! I really enjoyed doing the shoes they took a while though but I recommend having a go!

thanks for advice

Hi pincjacs,

I'm in West Lothian. Yep, parents are funny, I hope i'm not like that with my kids when I get older!
The shoes n' bag are fab though, you did a really good job on them. You'd never know that you were new to caking.
I'm new to this too, only really been doing this seriously since May this year.

Caths-Cakes, I got the covapaste because it was on a special price deal on the cake-stuff website. It worked out almost the same as the Tesco stuff, almost nothing in it if you buy more at a time. it was cheaper than the regalice too.
i figured when you factor in the amount of wastage both in terms of time and money, it really was worth trying something else, I've had nothing but grief with the Tesco stuff
Good if you can get the professional regalice locally though. I'd do that if I could, but I can't find any cake decorating supplies shops near me.

Pincjacs, I've left a couple of comments for the kids on the cupcakes, thought they might like that.

I seen you had left comments for them thanks they liked them.

I did my first one last december with a little help from my friend then in February I did my niece and nephews cakes (the princess one and Mickey mouse one). I would like to do some sore of course there are things I just cant get to grips with like making people they drive me up the wall!! and would like to learn how to pipe well. I really enjoy it its a good outlet isnt it.

I am so glad the cake shop in my local town sells bits and bobs for caking he isnt helpful though so you cant get tips off him lol its very handy!!!

I've not tried the figures yet, it seems a bit scary! but, I think I'll be giving it a go this coming weekend, i have a fishing theme cake to do for my hubby's nephew who's turning 21, which requires a wee fisherman on the top, if it all goes to pot, i can just wing it and do without!

Its gonna be busy for me this next week, as I also have a candyland theme cake to do for hubby's neice too! Somehow my SIL managed to have two of her four children with the same birthday! So both cakes need to be ready for Monday.

I'd looked into the course thing, i can't do any just yet, as I have 3 boys and my youngest is almost 18 months, and needs mummy at bedtime! So evening classes aren't an option for me at the mo. i need to be here.

One thing i did discover is there's a lady from near me (West Calder) called Lorraine McKay, (who goes by the name of aine2 on here) she does day courses from her shop in west Calder, specifically on figures. She's absolutely ace at it.
unfortunately though she's become reeallly popular, and has now gone international with her classes, including London, The U.S. and Australia next year. I'm really gutted as that would have been perfect for me.
She does however, do online tutorials, both on her own website, (some you have to pay for) and on youtube, which are worth having a look at.
It's quite appealing to me to hear it in a Scottish accent, something reassuring about it
I'll be keeping a close eye out though, to see if she lists any classes for the west Calder shop, oh I hope she does! The business is called the Icing on the Cake.

I have heard about that woman. I help a charity night in June and had a chance contact with the woman who works in my local cake shop she came along and donated her time to do demos of flowers on the night (I was so busy I never got a chance to watch but everyone loved it and loved taking their flowers they had made home) anyway I have a few friends who do cakes and we had had the idea of approaching her to come along to my house and do a figure demo and we would pay her for her time. I am sure she would do it so will perhaps look into it after Christmas.

I have 2 cakes to do this will a princess castle and a tinkerbell one two big cakes and a reallly busy week at work.

good lick with your fisherman!!!

Phew! Its taken me ages to find this post, I had to scan pages and pages in the forums, couldn't remember where it was!

This is about my sixth attempt to post reply, the wee man has a cold and has been really unsettled in the evening, the past couple of days.

That sounds like a great idea with the figures demo, I didn't know she did that. How exciting! Please share with us if it goes ahead, I'd love to know how it goes!

Thanks for the good luck wishes regarding forthcoming cakes, look forward to checking out your pics too to see yours, they sound lovely, good luck to you too!

regards,
Mrs D'

sorry it was not the woman you know its a woman from the shop near me.
Hope your wee one is feeling better. looking forward to seeing your cakes.