Monday 31 May 2010

How to make a Ferrari cake


I thought I would write this how to as I found this one quite a challenge and couldn't find any advice or how tos out there, so now there is!

Firstly, bake a 10 inch square sponge, mine was vanilla. I find it is best to then leave this over night in an airtight container as the sponge is a lot easier to work with the next day.

Take the sponge and carve it into the shape of a Ferrari, I took a picture of an actual Ferrari and tried to copy this, this is the tricky bit but absolute crucial part so take your time over it, getting your desired shape. Once you have achieved the shape you want, slice the cake in half horizontally, ready to buttercream. I use a bread knife to make the cut definition in the sponge, then take some cotton thread and use this as a cheese wire, if you know what I mean; you get a really even cut then.


This is the sponge, carved and waiting for the final coat of buttercream


Even out the fondant icing by using a pallet knife and smoother





Sandwich your cake with buttercream, then buttercream the whole of the outside, make sure its very smooth and even as this is the base for your fondant. Leave the buttercream to form a 'crumb crust' then take a pallet knife dipped in boiling water and smooth over the whole cake, this then makes it super, super even and smooth.

Next comes the fondant icing... the key part and the part that I find the most nerve wracking when icing any cake never mind a novelty shaped one like this. Take your red icing and knead until it is nice and pliable, then roll it out to the size you need to cover the cake in its entirety and a little bit more. Place the icing over your rolling pin and lay over the sponge, then using your hands smooth it down around the shape of your cake, really getting the icing stuck down firmly. Now take your pallet knife and chop the excess icing away. Smooth the icing down with a plastic smoother. Just keep repeating this until you get the icing as you want it.

Now its time for the decoration and final touches, I wont go into too much detail here as this is the fun part and something you can do to the minute detail or not, its up to you. I will let the pictures do the talking from now on!



Ball tools are ace!




The car now has wing mirrors, front and back grill plus front lights


The finished cake, complete with man driving it, I seem to have made him a wee bit smarmy...!



Hope that helps anyone out there wanting to make this.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Vintage and Cake



Hello, I felt inspired last night by all things vintage, flowers and cake, no surprise there then! So my lovely boyfriend took some photos of one of my vintage teapots filled with Peonies, I felt inspired by Kerry at The Blossom Tree as she arranged some gorgeous flowers for me to display at the summer fete by Fabulous Places. I obviously cant arrange them as well as Kerry but they do look lovely in this teapot, which is purely for flower decoration now.





I bought the bird from a fantastic company called Kitty and Dude, they make such beautiful vintage inspired pieces, my friend and I came across them at an arts and crafts fair in Nottingham last year. I was completely inspired by what they do, I also bought the Keep Calm and Eat Cake vintage plate too, love it!

On the feeling inspired note I am very excited to start making Elderflower champagne this year, we are just waiting for our kit to arrive and the flowers to bloom and then we are off! I will be serving it in pretty teacups at Vintage and Cake's Birthday party in June.

Monday 24 May 2010

An ode to SATC and shoes!





I made this cake for someone and thought it was very apt as this week sees the release of the new Sex and the city film. I can not even express how much I cant wait to see this film, I am a huge, huge fan!

Hope you enjoy the pics x

A seaside wedding




A seaside themed wedding with shells in little bottles and buckets with chocolates for the favours.



The cakes were all topped with a shell, starfish or a seahorse. The bride and groom met on the beach so thought this was a nice way to go for their wedding theme. A rich fruit cake served as the top tier and 60 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.




I loved the way the room had been set out, very simple with the white bunting and little seaside details.



Monday 17 May 2010

Fabulous Summer Fete





I held a stall at Shottle Hall yesterday for the first summer fete this year. It was an amazing day, I completely sold out within four hours so I had 2 hours to enjoy the event. I only wish I had made more cakes but you just never know! It was such a great event run by Deb at Fabulous Places, I urge you to check this website out if you are looking for some great things to do this year in and around Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.






There will be more exciting events coming up soon for some brilliant charities!



x

Thursday 13 May 2010

Fabulous Charity Ball for Born Free



I will be attending an amazing charity ball in aid of the charity 'Born Free', it is a wonderful charity. My dance teacher Val has organised this Ball for 11 years and has raised a phenomenal amount of money for it;it is something so close to her heart and a big heart it is at that!

I will be auctioning off a celebration cake as part of the huge and exciting auction that takes place, one of the prizes is afternoon tea at the Ritz!



I really hope you will come along and help raise money for a great cause. It will be an evening of dinner, entertainment and of course my favourite thing of all time... old time dancing! and of course there is dad dancing aloud its not strictly ball room! There is also a live band and a stream of entertainment all through the night with a chance to win £100 whilst you eat, brilliant, I hope that's me!

It is on the 12th June which is a Saturday evening and will be held at Pride Park Stadium, hence its name Pride in the Park. To book your tickets all you need to do is visit the Born Free site at this link

I hope to see you there, it really will be an amazing night.

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Hazy, summer days


Another Vintage and Cake production...

Please click here

Monday 10 May 2010

Vintage picnics



A vintage picnic - what a romantic, original way to propose to your loved one! Just picture a lovely sunny day, a picnic basket filled with delicious food and sparkling wine, bunting in the trees and no sound apart from the birds and perhaps a babbling brook nearby, ok sorry that was a little cheesy but still very lovely!



I am now offering a vintage picnic service, you can hire all of my lovely vintage china to take on your picnic, plus a set up service at the location of your choice (or ours if you wish!) and gorgeous food too; consisting of salmon and cream cheese bellinis, sandwiches with a choice of 3 fillings, a cupcake, a pot of tea, milk and sugar, scones with jam and cream, elderflower cordial and a punnet of fresh strawberries. All you need to do is chat to us about your menu and we can put it together for you.







All of the fruit is home grown by us at the Vintage and Cake allotment and everything will of course be home made, so you can guarantee fresh, lovely, home baked tastes.




It is a novel way to propose to your loved one or even for a hen do, no matter what your occasion a vintage picnic is the way to do it this summer.