Happy November! Opening up another session of the FNCC! Everyone is welcome to come share their week, their work, ask for help or give help if they can!

Cat

No cake for me this week. It was all popcorn balls and roasted pumpkin seeds for me this week! Hope everything went great with everyone's Halloween! I have a 12 year old son who deemed it too babyish for him to dress up this year. I figure we have a couple of years before the parties begin and he wants to go there instead but I think trick or treating is over for him.

Cat

I'm new in here but I'm in.

It's Saturday, but last night I was baking a cake and cupcakes for my friend's son's first birthday.  It's a monster theme, so it will be fun.

Hi Goodygoodies! Sorry you arrived on such a slow night! The night after a holiday is usually pretty empty here because people were involved with the holiday and not baking. I hope you will come again next weekend and meet everyone!

Hi Norasmom! I'd love to see the monster theme when you get done! I'm about to do one myself and would love to see what you come up with too!

Cat

AHey everybody!!! Well this is my second square cake, it was my nephews birthday cake. Red velvet sponge with whipped cream frosting and fruit.

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3132224/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3132227/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

Cakealicious! I'd never thought of using kiwi's on a cake! Do they run into the frosting at all? Is there a trick? My son's fav fruit is the kiwi so I'd love to know how to use them!  

Cat

AHi

See! I knew there had to be a trick! Would you glaze them on the cake or before placing on the cake? His birthday isn't until April so I'm not in a hurry or anything but this would be great for his cake!

Thanx!

Cat

AI think I would glaze them after putting on the cake, because I wouldn't want to ruin the effect of handling them. If you have time practice- get a feel for it and try out different fruits, it's so much fun!!

I did two cakes this week.  The first was for a big party for the children who are turning 18 and aging out of the foster care system in my city during the fall months.  The agency hosts a huge birthday party, and I donated the cake.

 I was pleased with how it turned out, except the gift bag cake.  It was 4 layers of 1.5" x 3" x 6", and it started to lean even though I levelled it and skewered it.  I turned it so it leaned into the cake, but then the next day the fondant was puddling (you can see it on the side).  I tend to have structural issues on cakes that are tall and think - any suggestions on how to improve my technique so it doesn't happen again?

This is the second cake:

 I was very please with how this one turned out!  The customer specifically wanted a Barbie sitting on the cake, and every image I could find on google looked horribly awkward as Barbies don't sit straight, they lean like they're in a sunbathing chair.  I got a Barbie pick and built up her up underneath with fondant so she looked like she'd be sitting on her knees to make the proportions correct, and then did the dress.  It turned out way better than I had hoped - I almost refused the order because I didn't want to attach my name to an awkward Barbie pose!

Hi Cat and everyone , I know I haven't been in for a while , but life kind of takes over. 

I did two  cakes this week , Both for the Year 12's that were finishing High School this week. One for a Maths class and one for a biology class, I forgot to get a photo of the maths one , but it was a simple rectangular cake , with an integral sign in black with the words , Don't Hate Integrate underneath it. The biology one was a cross section of a cell . 

last year I did Calculator cakes for them. 

My niece is the teacher , who knows what she will come up with next year. 

Great cakes guys. 

No pics for me this week. 

I made ghoul biscuits and I made severed finger biscuits off the tutorial here.  Unfortunately the batter swelled and they ended up looking like very fat fingers but they tasted absolutely delicious.  My trick or treaters were obviously not too discerning aboutauthentic looks cos they absolutely loved them. I think everyone else around the place had just done bought stuff and one Mum on the street wouldn't let the kids eat their bikkies until she took pictures. A work mate who bought her kids around laughed and said they looked like her fingers (she is rather overweight).  It was much more fun than when I just do ordinary stuff.

luvmykids: Love the cakes. Kinda sad about the kids aging out but happy they got those cakes. I make a lot of purse cakes and what I do is stake them in 3 places. Not just the center but also the outer edges too, all the way down into the cake board. 

Chelle: I'll take you word on it for the cell cake! LOL! LOVE the calculator cake..amazing!

Cazza: the only homemade goods I got to give out were the popcorn balls to close friends. We can't hand out homemade goodies to the neighborhood kids here in the US..the parents would just toss them. Packaged store bought candy is all people will keep. The popcorn balls went over huge with my family/friends tho' so it was all good!

What ever is the world coming to, Cat.  The day they expect me to go to the shop to buy for strangers in no need is the day I stop handing out.

Sadly we've had too many incidents where people handed out poisoned goods (yes, obviously mentally ill people) to kids who got very sick or injured so now part of the Halloween ritual is going through your kids candy to see if any looks tampered with and toss any that does. Because you really couldn't tell if a home made treat was tampered with or not you would automatically toss those. It's really sad! So I make treats for the people we know...kids and grown ups alike...and we deliver those and hand out packaged candy to those we don't. And, indeed, in many places trick or treating has stopped being from house to house. Cities organize events for kids to attend and shop keepers to hand out candy in a "safe and well lighted" environment. This is how my g'daughter went this year. Their suburb town organized a downtown trick or treat for the kids. So it's pretty hard to get all worked up over H'ween unless we are having a party which I think we will do next year now that our son has decided he's too old for trick or treating.  I'm sure there are plenty of small towns in America where this isn't the case but it is here.

Cat

sorry I am late was to busy making these and taking my kiddies out for candies!

Karina...I saw these somewhere and wondered if it was worth it to go to the sugar trouble. Funny for a H'ween party too! What was the response when you served these???

I actually have a question for everyone...how does isomalt taste? With regular sugar you can't get that clear look that you can with isomalt but real sugar can taste really good and I'm scared to spend the money for isomalt and have it taste bad???

isomalt doesn't taste bad--it's good--but it can lead to gastrointestinal issues--florian bellanger, one of the judges on cupcake wars 'fails' isomalt decor--it could be a big problem to peeps with pre-existing tummy issues

 Here's the monster cake and cupcakes.  I hate fondant…!  But it came out fine.

I'm working on two cakes this week. One is a pool table and the other one is a basket ball. They are both to represent Puerto Rico. I have made a lot of cake so far never a ball. Hope that turns out well. I made the bottom of pool table and all the decorations. Tomorrow I'll be baking the cakes.

Noras mom! I simply adore the monster cupcakes! What fun!

Goodys, I find balls to be easier than I always think they are going to be...hope it goes perfectly!

AHey all, I'm new to this site and just wanted to say hello! Even if it is after Friday night!

Hi Lady Macca! Welcome to the FNCC! And, yes, the forum I start on Friday nights extends till the next Friday night so feel free to stop in any time!

Cat

AThat's good to know! And thanks for the welcome :)