a big fat chubby cutie dino

And another seeing as how my sleep has off and run away with the spoon.

This cake was for my middle boy's 2nd Birthday.  He was so cute getting his cake! He was so excited but the then everyone sang him happy birthday he dissolved into a puddle of tears.  He was quite shy when he was 2, he certainly doesn't suffer from that affliction now!

I made the head and the upper body out of a marble sponge and the bulk of the body out of lollie cake.  Now for any non nzer's out there.  It pretty much consists of crushed malt biscuits, sweetened condensed milk, butter and lollies.  Here we use what used to be called fruit puffs (Im not sure you can get these over seas) but many people use pascall eskimos as well now.  They are this kind of stiff marshmellow thing.  I don't how to describe them.  It's kind of like trying to describe L&P (a nz specific soft drink) to someone.  Anyhow, lolly cake is delicious and loved by children everywhere.

This design is based on a Debbie Brown design so kudos where it is due.

I think it would be fair to say I almost threw this cake in the rubbish!  It was one of the very first times I had worked with fondant.  I thought to save myself time and effort I would buy some precoloured fondant.  I ordered online (I live rurally and there's no great cake shop anywhere near) and I for some reason didn't expect this shade of green.  I pulled it out and went WTF.  Once i got over that shock and was trying to cover the body I had problems with it tearing (novice me was the problem not the fondant) and cracking.  I removed the covering once and chucked it out and then recovered it.  By the time I decided that i didn't like that covering either it was too late to remove it.  Funnily enough didn't have a problem with covering the head.  The tongue was a bit of a problem as I hadn't learnt about tylose yet. But it sat ok in the end.

Just in case you all think I've been slack with the cake making (well I kind of have but you know....)  I have been busy knitting and crocheting as well.  I must say that I have been quite busy this term with all the kid commitments I have going on and next school term is a write off as I will be back into calving. 

A fourth Birthday Monster

This was my eldest sons 4th birthday cake.  We opted for a 3D monster.  It was a mix of both buttercream and fondant accents.  This cake actually wasn't too bad for troubles.  That is apart from the arms.... the arms are fondant covered dowels.  My lack of cake knowledge...  I had some real trouble getting them to look right so I ended up piping buttercream on top of the arms.  Plus seeing as how I had opted for a softish cake I was terrified that they would rip down the cake - they didn't.

Also seeing as how I can't seem to track down a digital photo of just the monster you all just kind of have to squint and look closely.  He was a very happy boy.

I must add that this design is a Wilton cake design.

My First Ever Gumpaste Roses

The cake itself was given to me to decorate.  It was quite a dense fruit cake, I would just like to say that between then and now I have learnt a whole lot more about how to cover a cake in fondant. Dont look too closely at the air bubbles, cracking and general uneveness! :) Every cake is a learning lesson. 

I approached a local acquaintance who I knew decorated cakes for her family and friends and was also attending her local cake guild at the time to help give me some pointers on making these.  I also have one of Alan Dunn's flower books so between the two I came up with these.

The first rose I ever made (the one in the center) took me nearly five hours to complete.  I can now say that they take me significantly less work time but now longer in general with learning about drying times etc.  I still think I dusted too heavily in the middle but that it looks ok.  As you can tell they are wired into position.




I made (and still do) more flowers than I would need a total of 3 full flowers and 4 half roses and goodness knows how many of those leafs.  I must say that now I know how to cut out and wire individual leaves better, they would be thinner.

And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.