More than meets the eye

Well, then! Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to lately; I've been baking so much it's been hard to keep up with posting them on the blog! Good problem to have though, I reckon ;-)

A simple RVCC cake (red velvet & cream cheese) for a last minute order.

 

And last weekend was my son's 5th birthday!

He wanted this:

Um, no.

So I made this instead. I really wanted a black cake board for the backdrop, but didn't have enough black fondant, or even black construction paper in the house! In the end, I just settled for baking paper.

I'd printed out the logo, used it to cut out thick fondant pieces, 

and bevelled the edges for more dimension. Big thanks to hubby for the suggestion!

And for his kinder party the next day I made these cookie monster cupcakes that have been popping up on cake blogs everywhere! Here's my take:

Meee....wantt....COOOKIEEE!!

 I'll post a tutorial on it soon, it's super easy!

And since we're on the topic of Super heroes...

All the designs were supplied by the client; I believe the cake pops were from Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats, and cake from Unique Creations by Angie.

And something different - a red and gold themed Oriental cupcake tower!

RVCC cake with encased in white chocolate ganache, and sprayed in edible gold paint

 Made the branches from chocolate fondant; hand-cut flowers and hearts.

The cake atop the tower - 200 RVCC babycups!

I loved making this cake, I think I really am at my happiest sitting at the bench molding fondant and creating things...anything fiddly that I can make with my (blessedly small) fingers I just love to do! Fine motor skills FTW!

Reebonz Roadshow

*This post has NOT been paid for nor endorsed by Reebonz.*

A couple of days ago, I had the privilege of supplying Babycups for the Reebonz Australia roadshow event at Melbourne Central.

They wanted Black and Gold themed ones, so I came up with a Black Velvet cake topped with Cream Cheese icing, and gold-dipped chocolate flakes. All FIVE HUNDRED of them which took me almost 2 whole days to prep and bake (and I still have 100 leftover which were "rejects"...anyone wanna come over and help me finish them up?!)

They had a beautiful marquee setup, with fresh cut fruit, champagne at the bar, our babycups, and mini macarons from Little Feat.

Black Velvet babycups with cream cheese icing and gold-dipped chocolate flakes.

I also took some happy snaps of the bags and the event: 

 The Reebonz Australia girls.

Hmmm...black & gold, just like my babycups. 

I'd have happily accepted this as payment!

 

     

I got a chance to hang around a little, and was really excited to overhear people people commenting about the cupcakes! Everyone seemed to enjoy them and were raving about the icing so I must be doing something right...a little bit of encouragement goes a long way!

Boozy Baileys & Dulce de Leche

Here's a little bit of what I've been up to in the last month or so.

Made some new flavours:

 Boozy Baileys cupcake:

Rich moist espresso-infused cake, topped with Baileys buttercream. 

*WARNING* It's an Adults-only cupcake!!

 And this is my Dulce de Leche cupcake:

Chocolate-fudge cupcake, with Dulce de Leche (an Argentinian caramel) on the inside,

topped with whipped mascarpone, a slice of banana and more Dulce de Leche drizzled on the top!

This went gangbusters at the Southside market where we debuted it.

Speaking of which:

 

Happy 1st Birthday Southside Market!

This was the Boozy Baileys ribbon cake I made for them to celebrate their 1st anniversary.

Surprise!!

(PS. I made the bunting too, real easy, will post a tute on it soon.)

 Our little cupcake stand.

And the setup with Peek! Sweets.

And finally, did a lovely vintage-themed rustic cake for Ben and Jerica. It was held up at Mount Dandenong, so you can imagine my nervousness driving up the windy mountain roads to deliver the cake! But the layers made it all there in one piece, did a quick touch-up, added the flowers from the bride and her cake toppers and voila! Gorgeous cake!

Don't you just LOVE the wood-cut figurines??

Joy

Before I go ahead with the latest post, thanks to the lovely Kate & Rose, I just found out we had a teeny tiny mention in yesterday's Sunday Age!

You can read the full article here: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/about-town/ware-to-go-20120602-1zof3.html (scroll down to the "Arts and Crafts" section). Our friends from the Southside Vintage market and North Melbourne Market got a lovely mention too!

Now back to cakery!

I got a lovely "thank you" recently from a lovely client, Shikha, for whom I made cupcakes for her mentor as a goodbye present.

"Your cupcakes were amazing, they were a HIT and all the teachers were so impressed that they've taken your phone  number...I've passed out your number and your website as well to them. Thank you so much!"

It's ALWAYS SO GREAT to get positive feedback, and NOTHING makes me happier than to make something I love for people who appreciate them as well! 

 These cupcakes were Red Velvet with cream cheese, and topped with black & white fondant birdies.

Nothing says Thank You better than a baked treat don't you agree?!


Ooh and in case you're wondering, these are the cookies-and-cream babycups the article was talking about!

 

Cookies and cream soldiers! Tennnnn HUT!

Spots and what-nots

I got a call a couple of weeks ago from a friend of a friend who wanted a cake for her daughter's first birthday.

Just as a little glimpse into my process, this is how ordering a bespoke cake with me usually works:

1. I get a call/email from a client.

2. We discuss themes, colours, budgets.

3. She sends me some pictures and ideas that she likes.

4. I do some preliminary sketches.

5. We go back and forth until we finalise a design, flavours and size/quantity.

6. I give a quote, and if she's happy we go ahead!

It does take a small amount of effort, but I love seeing how it comes together in the finished product.

So with this cake P liked the colours pale pink, black and white, and bows and spots. After a little discussion, I drew a sketch and sent it to her, and she liked it :-)

Here's the final outcome:

 

The cake was carrot cake (I make mine with walnuts, sunflower seeds and sultanas, all the yummy goodness!) 

with cream cheese between the layers, and surrounded by white chocolate ganache.

The cake weighed a tonne!

Decorated with spots and balls for the trim

 And an oversized bow. Cute!

She also ordered an assortment of babycups along with the main cake, and I just thought these red velvet ones were just too adorable!

These would be perfect for Mother's Day (in 2 weeks time!) ;-)

On a side note, Celine from Peek! Sweets and I will once again be selling our wares at the North Melbourne Market this Sunday April 29! It's 10am - 3pm at the Lithuanian Club on Errol St. - indoors, so we're sheltered from the freezing cold!

xoxo