Cake, Decor and Cairns!

"I have crossed the horizon to find you I know your name They have stolen the heart from inside you But this does not define you This is not who you are You know who you are" Lyrics from "Moana" Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina Ahhh Moana! Such a feel good family story and definitely our family's current favourite Disney Movie! And I will say, my niece is just the cutest when she is belting out songs in the backyard: "My name is Moana!" So it was no surprise that my niece wanted a Moana themed cake! We brainstormed a few ideas which included a quick Google - and anyone who has asked Google for a Moana Cake would have most likely seen the amazing Cynthia White 's Moana inspired Cakes including the most beautiful Heart of Te Fiti  (and not to mention several replicas by other cakers!) To say she is amazing just doesn't seem to give her enough justice. (Oops I feel a cake crush coming on!) Now if anyone knows my cake style by...

Aloha My Cakey Friends! I cannot believe it's been almost TWO YEARS since I last posted on my blog! Yes that's right 2 whole years! Have you missed me?  I have most certainly missed you! If you're new to my little cake corner of the world - welcome! I have come back online because I wanted to share with you what I feel is my best cake ever!  My niece's Luau Tropical themed Engagement Cake. What started out as a simple idea to cross off making sugar / fondant frangipanis from my "cake bucket list" turned into a fully decked out Luau themed cake with all the tropical trimmings! Miniature fondant coconuts, flower lei necklaces, pineapples, Tiki mask, hibiscus and even a ukulele!  Aloha! Luau Themed Engagement Cake. All the tropical fondant trimmings! Now I will not tell a lie - this cake took an incredible amount of time. As I said, it's the best cake I have ever made! And you know that "The Best!"  isn't something I can pull o...

Happy Mother's Day lovelies! I have been ridiculously busy as usual (the life of a mother is never a dull one!) But I managed to find time today to bake these cute little love heart chocolate and strawberry cupcakes with the help of Lil Miss 5! Because they are so quick and easy they are perfect for kids in the kitchen. Quality time with my little princess - sharing the love of baking - what a perfect mother's day! I know right?! (And yes it was!)  An adult cuts the "top" off the cupcake with a bread knife. The kids then cut out heart shapes (or any shape really) carefully in the removed top. Kids can then dollop some coloured buttercream on their cupcake. Place  top back on. Now the pretty heart shows through!  Bake, cut, frost and eat!   Do you bake with your kids? What do you guys make? Let me know in the comments section below! (I love comments!) Share  heart emoticon  Inspire  heart emoticon  Motivate...

Happy Birthday Gabriella the biggest Kardashian Kollection fan I know! Naked Black Chocolate Ganache, with Edible Leopard print courtesy of The Cupcake Orchard. Kardashian Kollection inspired logo and accents handmade with fondant and lustre dust by me. In a last minute rush it was decided that my niece would be in town to celebrate her 21st birthday and I wanted to make something special. I was inspired by Gabriella's favourite Kardashian Kollection leopard print purse. I am not that confident with my chocolate painting skills so i thought it would be a great excuse to try an edible image from my local cake supplies shop. Alexi was a fantastic help and had printed out a custom image for me in no time. I was really impressed with the quality, and found it much easier to work with than wafer paper and it sure did save me a lot of time! No hand painting all those leopard spots! It was so easy to peel and trim to size. I brushed a little piping gel...

This was really the first cake I had ever made that showed signs of getting into decorating seriously. May 2013. It was my first time to ganache and fondant cover a mud cake using Planet Cakes beginners book for the Recipe. Lots of flaws and lots learned as I put my idea in my head into place but overall I was happy with my effort.  Here's a few action shots : Making the Figurine was a challenge and I have Lots to learn on how to cover with a smoother finish.  I had so much fun designing and making this cake, including the homemade cupcake picks and tiered stand. This was my moment that I thought hey - if I can pull this off now and make my friend so happy with her cake, then imagine what I can do equipped with some real skills. So that's my goal for 2014 - I want to learn some real skills and techniques.  My favourite part about this cake: The Birthday Girl Matched it! This year I am going to practice my existing skills but also seek out...

I was asked 2 days before the Wedding to make some cupcakes for the dessert table at a family wedding.  Eeek 2 days didn't leave me much time to get too detailed so I had to come up with something that was simple, easy to mass produce and still look elegant. I made 150 of these lovlies and they were a hit! The visual of all 150 out on the table was really special and worked out as planned!  Now it wasn't all easy, I must admit, I made a huge mistake in the morning and baked 80 of these sad sunken cupcakes! To my horror I realised all too late that the 6th cup of flour to be folded in was in fact still waiting and sitting on the bench all the while the cupcakes were almost finished baking!! Eeeeek! What a disaster!  But what's a girl to do? Feed the rejects to her husband and kids and keep on baking!! Luckily I had enough ingredients on hand to make another batch! The topper designs I chose were simple cutters a heart and flower. But to dress them ...

Mother's Day Edible Gifts : Raspberry Buttercream I always love an opportunity to home bake gifts for my lovely friends and family,  and what better excuse is there to try Nutrafresh  Raspberry fruit powder than on Mother's Day? I made a normal batch of butter cream and at the end added a packet of Raspberry fruit powder and omg what can I say except YUM! The raspberry flavour was an explosion of yumminess in my mouth!  In true fresh raspberry fashion it had that distinct flavour and tang you would expect when eating fresh off the bush. Pair it with a moist chocolate cake and they marry perfectly on your palate!   Go on, order some and try it yourself. Keep in mind that it is a dry powder so once you add it to your icing it may need a little warm water added to it to bring it back to a silky consistency.  Here's a few photos of how I put it all together...