As we arrived at the week before the delivery, I started to assemble all of the components for the tea table and bring the design together. I stuck all of the different pieces onto their plates, including the slices of cake, cupcakes, macaroons and cups to the saucers.
I used the edible glue to stick everything together, and managed to assemble a little tower of macaroons which I thought looked very sweet.
For once after baking, filling and crumb coating my sponge, I managed to cover it evenly with very few creases which I was very happy with.
Once smoothed and stuck to the cake board, I then attached a pretty cream lace ribbon to the cake using the edible glue.
I then got to have a play with my stitching wheel! I have had this in my tool pot for a few months now, but haven't managed to use it, but I thought that for the edge of the table cloth it would be perfect.
I gently pressed it around the edge of my icing tablecloth and the effect was very pretty and exactly what I wanted. I think a little more practice may be needed to get an even line an exact distance from the edge, but I shall keep practicing!
When I draped the tablecloth over the cake, I realised that it may be a little thick, however as it wasn't going to be stuck down all of the way around, I didn't want the weight of it to pull it and tear it. I decided to go a little thicker that I would have thought, but if I do this design of cake again, I shall make sure this piece is thinner.
Once the icing had dried a little, I painted little blue flowers around the edge and then placed the letters onto the cake board to check the spacing. I was very glad that I had made extras of every letter as they were so fiddly and so prone to breaking. I eventually got them placed, but sticking them was even more tricky! I had to gently prod each one out of the way, paint the shape of the letter onto the board and then gently poke them back into the glue. It was time consuming and nerve-wracking but the finished effect was delicate and perfect for the style of the afternoon tea theme.
Once the table cloth was finished and the letters were attached, I then arranged all of the afternoon tea pieces on top. I had made extra sure that all of the pieces had flat bottoms, and the top of the cake was a flat as possible, however even so one plate of cake did slide off the back! However after a few seconds of holding it behaved itself and stuck itself firmly to the top.
The flowers were then added in little clusters around the base of the cake and around the letters which tied the whole scheme together. I was so pleased with the colours and the finished appearance and despite the added fiddliness of the moulding, painting and the letters, I was really proud of every part of the finished cake.
Part of the order was also 36 mini cupcakes in lemon, chocolate and vanilla flavours. I used some of the spare flowers to decorate the vanilla cupcakes, and used a star nozzle to pipe the lemon buttercream and chocolate ganache butter cream.
I found that the key to mini cupcakes was not to overfill the tiny cases, as the mixture was liable to go out and over the sides rather than up into a dome. I also found them a little top-heavy once the buttercream was added so they tended to be a little wobbly. However they are the perfect two-bite morsels to add to any afternoon tea table spread.
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