Cake International 2016

Following on from my previous post, I wanted to share a few (ok, a lot!) of my favourites from Cake International 2016. I was completely blown away by the incredible entries from bakers and sugarcraft artists from all over the world showcasing their amazing talent. From whole movie scenes to four foot tall wedding cakes, there was a spectacle in every colour, shape and size.

Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter's tea party scene - Parts of the feast rotated which added to the presentation

Characters from the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film - My favourite was the Niffler with his cute little face and penchant for shiny trinkets.

Beautiful dusky pink frilly peonies and a lovely gold, dusky pink and white colour scheme.

This chalkboard effect on cakes is very fashionable at the moment, and I loved the dark plum colours against the blackboard finish.

A simple green and white scheme, but so effective with a clean and crisp finish.

I loved the textured Blu-tit against the bark textured stump and the plump golden apples.

One of my favourite sections was the cakes from around the world, as some of the techniques, finishes and ideas that they had used were amazing. 

I think the above used blue piping gel to give the effect of running water 

The beautiful bright cherry red really made the peacock pop.

The dragon handles on this vase defied gravity as they snaked their way down the sides.

If I had to choose one cake from the event that was my favourite, it had to be this entry from Taiwan. The colours, the detail and everything about it were just fantastic and I loved the shades of blue used in the curled patterns at the base.

A Parisienne Metropolitan scene.

 A gorgeous red and gold Chinese sedan style chair complete with intricate scroll work.

White chocolate and gold dragon

Siamese ballet style character.

My next favourites were this range of gorgeous Harry Potter owls. There were a whole range of them for all of the characters but I loved this Draco Malfoy owl for his detail and the expression on his face.

On the left you can see the Voldemort skeletal owl, and on the right the plump and comforting Mr and Mrs Wealsey owls with a small model of The Burrow.

The snake detail from the Voldemort owl, down to individual scales and fangs.

Straying away from the wonderfully carved and fantastical shapes, I was also very intrigued by the wedding cake section, as it gave me a change to gather some ideas for my own cake.

I loved the design and the colours of this cluster of flowers.

The sheer height of this cake and the gorgeous anemones, roses, dahlias and hydrangeas really stood out for me.

I loved the mixture of the sparkly golden ribbon and the frilly pink dahlias 

This cake defied gravity with its miniature cakes in the centre and its lovely silhouettes.

The gorgeous midnight blue and gold of this cake stood out a mile against the pale pastel shades, for all the right reasons

The French scene cake had a beautifully lacy scalloped bottom, a tranquil lavender field scene and lovely lavender sprigs for the butterflies to settle on.

I picked this snowman from the Christmas table for his cheeky face and lovely finish, and his lovely little red mittens.

The Stitching, Sewing and hobbycrafts show

Last week my friend and I took a trip to the NEC in Birmingham to attend the Knitting, Stitching and Hobbycrafts show. Staged by ICHF Events it also included Art Materials Live, Crafts for Christmas and Cake International, which was great as we were able to fulfil our love of cake at the same time. 

I went to the Knitting and Stitching show earlier in the year with my mum, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to attending another crafty event. Taking up a whole hall of the NEC it was packed with fantastic companies and artists showcasing new products and ideas and holding workshops and demonstrations. 

There were far too many companies to name all of them, but I have listed some of my favourites below:

• www.stitchdotcom.com - A new company specialising in cross stitch kits. Their lovely branding features dot the elephant, and the link will take you to their Typewriter Keyboard Kit, which was so eye-catching and different with its monochrome scheme when displayed on their stand
• www.3bluestars.co.uk - An art company that features quirky and unusual pieces of art in all different styles and genres
• http://www.historicalsamplercompany.co.uk - When you think of cross stitch samplers you may think of something quite twee and muted, however the original designs, quirky sayings and bright colours of the Historical Sampler Company bought the art form right up to date.

• Fabrics Galore and M Rosenberg & Son - Both of these stalls were a fantastic treasure trove of fabrics, and I couldn't resist picking up some for future projects. I already have a pattern in mind for the navy pansy floral print, and I love the cream and blue fishes, which is a Ralph Lauren linen. I am thinking something simple such as palazzo pants or a simple dress would be perfect to show off the large scale fishes. 

• The Spellbound Bead Company - This company had a fantastic stall showcasing a huge range of make your own beaded bauble kits that were absolutely gorgeous. Had our tree not already been full to bursting last year I may have bought some to decorate with, but the sheer number and variety that they had on their stall made it look very inviting.

I remember seeing Alpaca teddies at a show I went to see in Alexandra Palace with university a few years ago, but there are now so many companies that have caught onto this trend that the fluffy critters are everywhere! They are the cutest and softest teddies you will ever cuddle and the restraint I had to exercise not to come home with a hug bear was incredible. 

• The Toft stall is always full of quirky and unusual crocheted animals, and this big beast was no exception!

As with any show I can never resist coming away with a few things, and this time it included some more embroidery thread, some fat quarters, thread, lacy ribbons and trimmings and a box for tidying away threads for current projects, which has already been pressed into action.

A weekend of baking...Individual present cakes

This past weekend I was working on two individual 4 inch cakes that were to be given as presents for my Nan's friends. I haven't made many small cakes before and I enjoyed getting to grips with baking in a smaller scale. Like my bitesize cupcakes that I made for the Afternoon Tea Cake, I have learnt that it's just the same as large-scale baking, only any mistakes look much bigger!

After I had baked the cakes, I made a start on the decorations. I wanted to do a mixture of floral and stripe decoration for the cakes, so I decided to do a stripy cake board and icing top. I used my tappit stripe cutter to cut strips of icing...

...and then cut each strip into three again using the cutter to get nice sharp and straight edges.

I then rolled out the base colour to a little thicker than normal and laid the strips evenly over the top.

I then simply rolled the strips into the icing until it was the correct thickness. I was a little worried that they wouldn't stick and would peel, however the moisture that remained in the icing helped the two colours to stick together.

 Once I had the correct thickness and size, I gently brushed a layer of water over the top of the cake board, and draped the icing over the top, trimming the excess with a sharp knife.

I did the same with the pink cake board, and then edged both boards with complimentary ribbon attached with double sided sticky tape.

Once baked, I trimmed the cakes into two layers (I noticed I got a very good rise using a deeper but smaller cake tin) and then layered and filled them with vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam.

I wanted to mix the smooth fondant top and board with a naked cake texture, so I left the sides bare. I was a little unsure of the mixture of textures when I had finished, but apparently they went down very well, so maybe I should experiment more in the future!

For the top of the cake I repeated the striped process and cut out a circle for the top using a 4 inch circle cutter.

I placed the disk of striped sugar paste on top of the cake...

...and then put the cake on the cake board, trying to make sure that the stripes were at right angles to add a little interest! (I may, possibly, slightly, almost have dropped the cake on its side on the counter whilst moving it, but we don't have to talk about that, shhhh!)

I used my tappits again to create the letters and I had a little more luck this time using them. Thickness of the sugar paste and time left to dry is definitely the key, and they appeared to be a little neater than before, which I was very pleased with.

I made the flowers for both cakes the week before and set the large daisies in my new paint palette, which gave them a lovely cupped shape. I then added a smaller daisy inside and sat a sugar pearl on top which I was really happy with, I thought they looked very sweet!

I then repeated the process with the pink cake and attached my hand moulded miniature roses to the top with edible glue and around the bottom of the cake using buttercream.

I was really happy with my finished cakes and I was very glad to hear that the recipients loved them. I really hope they tasted as good as they looked, but I was very happy with their pretty floral and bold stripe decorations.

A stitched message

As my first task as a fiancée I needed to choose the person who would be tasked with helping to plan the wedding, my Maid of Honour! My friend and I had always talked about being Maid of Honour for each other, however I wanted to make it a little more official, so I decided to give her one of my stitched pictures as something to remember it by.

I embroidered the message in the colours that I am thinking of having for my colour scheme in dusky pink, navy, and sage green. 

I also wanted to add in some decorative elements to the picture for this one, so I added in some leafy twigs with little pink blossoms in a circle to frame my words.

I think I need to work on the spacing of my words a little more, as some are larger than others and a little closer together than others, however I liked the little flicks at the start and also the way the letters joined together. I think this says more about my calligraphy than my sewing however, so I think I will need to practice the formation of my words to make my pictures better.

My finished piece was framed in a white frame and I wrapped it with some silver and white butchers string, brown paper and hand-stamped tag to complete the present. I was really pleased with the final piece and luckily my friend was too as she said yes! 

Let the planning commence!

A weekend of baking - Afternoon tea cake - Part 3

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.