Shalott
Tiramisu Birthday Cake
I decided to make a tiramisu dessert for my mother's birthday this year and I also wanted to try out iambaker's rose cake idea. I was reasonably pleased with the outcome because the cake did not came apart after I pulled the springform away (as had happened to my cousin!), and I was able to get the roses to form despite the fact that my whipping cream wouldn't whip for the longest time and ended up being full of little bubbles. The tiramisu is made the traditional way with expresso, kahlua, ladies' fingers, marscapone cheese, and heavy cream flavoured with instant coffee.
Shalott
My Mum's Mehndi Cake
My sister and I made this cake for my mum's birthday. My sister made the bottom (devil's food cake with chocolate filling) and I made the top (lemon cake with lemon curd filling). Sadly my sister didn't have a cake board for the bottom layer, so she had to improvise. Also, we had wanted to use real marigolds to decorate the top and sides, but when we went out to buy some none were available, so we had to substitute artificial flowers at the last minute. My sister made the fondant (marshmallow) and I did the royal icing mehndi design. Um, yeah, I still need practice working with the stuff, but it was fun!
Shalott
A Wedgewood Pudding For Jane Austen
I made this for a Jane Austen Tea I was attending with some former classmates and professors. It's not a cake, it's a steamed treacle pudding! The look I was going for was Wedgewood since Josiah Wedgewood created his business around Jane Austen's time and there are records in her letters of shopping in his store. The pudding was covered with a layer of marzipan and then a layer of marzifon (marzipan mixed with fondant). The piping is royal icing with some piping gel mixed in. This was my first time using royal icing and my first attempt at brush embroidery. I definitely need practice! The roses on top are fondant with some gum-tex mixed in. Thanks for looking!
Shalott
My Father's Homegrown Vegetables
This is a cake my sister and I made for Father's Day. My dad's an avid gardener and also a big fan of streusal kuchen. We made two layers of kuchen covered with one layer of chocolate streusal for the "dirt". The cake was filled and iced on the sides with whipped ganache. The fence was Italian icecream wafers. We made the basket out of sugar cookie and then covered it with homemade marzipan. The vegetables were also made of marzipan. We discovered while making this cake how different from fondant marzipan is to work with! We have fun making the cake and it was a hit, especially the yummy marzipan veggies. The Happy Father's Day label is not edible (an afterthought).
Shalott
Floral Cupcakes
My first attempt at buttercream flowers. I tried to make hydrangeas, but failed miserably. The roses took me FOREVER! I forgot to take a picture until most of the cupcakes were eaten. I'd also made some that spelt out a message accented with flowers, but never got a picture of those. I enjoyed doing these and would like to make more, but first I have to get more and better piping tips!
Shalott
Lost Party Cake
Cake made for our LOST finale party. I divided a blueberry cake recipe into two small layered cakes because of friend of mine was supposed to come over before the party and decorate with me. She ended up coming just as the show was beginning. I had to slap this cake together very hurriedly after the party had already started, so I didn't even bother trying to smooth the edges or give the silhouette much detail -- not that I'd know how to do that. Inspired by mariac38's beautiful cake.
Shalott
Mother's Day Cake Disaster
Ok, where to begin? I'd decorated two cakes prior to this. I was asked by someone who'd seen the [simple] cake I'd made for my daughter's birthday to make a hat cake for the church's Mother's Day event. She gave me some books with pictures, and the only hat in there was a bonnet done in a very old-school Betty Crocker way. I was over ambitious and attempted a Regency bonnet without many of the proper supplies (i.e. support, piping tips, cutters for the flowers, etc.) and little know-how. The only real tool I had was my mum's old star tip and some 20-year-old decorating bags. Those I used for the base. I used a [cheap] sandwich bag for the bc lace, and the hole I made kept changing shape and widening. I didn't know about red dye fading, so a pink and purple bonnet turned a yucky brown and blue. I didn't use any real support for the second layer, so the layer underneath began to collapse. My fondant was overly dry and it cracked. Additionally, my proportions were completely off. What a mess!
Shalott
Roseanna's First Birthday Cake
This was my second attempt at cake decorating, and, well, as you can see I had trouble with getting the fondant to lie smoothly along the sides -- lots of nasty bulging! I was also forced to roll out the fondant on my mother's warped table, which led to un-evenness in the fondant. Despite all that, I was really quite pleased with the outcome given that I was imagining a much worse catastrophe! The cake was chocolate with a vanilla cream filling and vanilla buttercream icing. The fondant was home-made marshmallow. I couldn't get the butterfly to stay up so I had to prop it with a couple of roses.
Shalott
Easter Cake For A Family Gathering
This was my first-ever attempt at cake decorating. As you can see, it's pretty basic. The fondant was home-made marshmellow and the cake itself was a very moist carrot with cream cheese icing. I didn't roll the fondant thin enough for the cross (I didn't have any gum-paste), so it cracked a little along the edges.
