Christian Louboutin Shoe Box Cake

This cake took many hours to create. The shoe obviously took the longest. I had to make the shoe from a home made template as I do have the shoe sugar paste cutters but the heel on that is tiny which even if I had extended the heel, the insole would have been way short. So I started by making the heel, using a wooden stick to wrap the white sugar paste around so it had good support. While the heel was drying I cut out the insole twice as I used the cardboard cut out to go in-between the two sugar paste slices to create a sandwich so that it had a strong support. Before the heel dried too much I attached the insole to the heel with glue then left to dry completely with a support underneath the insole so that it would dry the right shape. I left the heel and insole to dry for a number of days.
Next part was the sides and front section. For the sides I started of with the sugar paste being quite high so I could use a Stanley knife to get the right curve without losing to much height as the pattern on the shoe was very intricate and detailed. After attaching the sides, I scrunched up a piece of kitchen paper to have ready for the front support. The front section I measured up so it would fit nicely without knocking the sides to much. With the sugar paste still soft I could mould the front and sides together to hide the seam. Then I left the shoe to dry completely for about a week.
With the shoe completely dry and solid I sprayed it red and left it to dry while I made the black ball details. Some of the detailing I had to do with a black pen.

With the shoe finished it was time to start on the shoe box. I covered the cake in a camel brown colour and added an inch trim around the top to give it a box lid effect. Finished it with the logo piped on in royal icing and added the roses to the box and board, as it was in the picture.

40 Birthday Cake

My next cake order was for a big number 40 cake. The lady who the cake was for loves old school disco and had the nickname MC Shar Shar so these elements had to be incorporated into the cake design. Main colour palette was purple, black and gold.
To make the cakes I hired the tins from my local Weighin shop, I don't get asked to do many number cakes so I tend to hire as the prices are reasonable and its an expense I can do without.
Once the cakes were chilled of I sandwich the two half together with butter cream, dirty iced them then covered it in purple fondant. To decorate I started with the records, changing the middles to add some contrasting colours. Next was the microphone another requirement to go with MC Shar Shar. To make the microphone I moulded some grey fondant so that it had a bit of a domed middle then used a circle cutter to get the smooth edge without losing the depth. I used the cutting wheel tool to create the mesh effect then applied a silver luster to make it look more like metal. The handle I made out of black fondant, placed the microphone head next to the fondant so I could work out how big and wide the handle needed to be.
The final part was the disco dancer in silhouette, this was my added extra. The top corner was missing something and I didn't want to put more records so I looked on the Internet for some images of dancers and this one popped up. I did my usual of making a template out of the print out. Finished the cake of with gold luster stars and gift label birthday message.   

Gardener Cake

The Gardener cake was originally going to be a floral design with a sugar paste poppy on the front that her mum could keep after the cake had gone, but after booking the cake we had to alter it slightly due to her dad buying an ornament that he wanted incorporating in to the cake design.

The first thing I made was the poppy so it could dry out in a flower foam mould before placing it on the cake. Then I made the cakes. After covering the cake in green fondant I placed the lady figure to the back of the cake top, then moulded a piece of brown fondant around the front section of the figure. On top of the soil (aka brown fondant) I covered it in different coloured flowers which I also placed a couple of the flowers in the two flower pots that were part of the ornament.

To finish the garden design of I used the picket fence cutter to create a fence to go around the cake, finishing of with the birthday message and sugar paste poppy.

I have to admit I'm glad the design changed, it ended up being a really cute design and the figure was a perfect size. I'll definitely being keeping my eyes open for other figures like that.

Fireman Sam Birthday Cake

I've not made many vehicle cakes so I was a bit apprehensive when asked to make Fireman Sam's fire engine, its usually the tyres that go a bit squiffy.
For the engine part of the cake I made it in a tray bake pan, once cut in half its the perfect size and starting shape for the fire engine. Before I started decorating the engine, I got the base cake decorated first. I wanted the cake to look like a scene shot from the new version of Fireman Sam, so around the side I built up the image of Sam holding the water hose tackling a flame. The hose I put on last with it being attached to the engine. For the top of the cake I laid a strip of grey fondant to look like a road for the engine to sit on.
With the base cake finished it was time to start on the engine. Before covering with red fondant I carved the top to create definition from the front of the truck which is slightly higher than the rear where the ladder lives. The other section I carved out was for the wheels. After carving and dirty icing I covered the cake fully in red fondant and then added the details. The only sections I cut out of the red fondant was for the windows, which I replaced with white fondant that I painted with light blue lustre dust.  

Liverpool FC and Mario

As you have probably worked out by now I'm very much in to the floral and pretty style cakes not football, so when I was asked to incorporate Liverpool's emblem with Mario and Luigi I was a little bit nervous to say the least. 
The specifications for this cake were red fondant to cover the cake with football shape on top along with the Liverpool emblem (the one with the Liver Birds on) and Mario & Luigi. eek
The first thing I made was the football shape, my thoughts were I could make the top part of the cake first so I could slip the design on top of the red fondant covered cake, simple. Once the football was assemble which I have to add was no mean feast, I started on the emblem. Thankfully the customer had provided me with all the necessary pictures so I had something to work from. The Liver Bird was the fiddliest part with all the small details that kept wanting to break on me.
Last part was Mario & Luigi were I did my usual created a patchwork design from print outs and built them directly on to the football.
With the topper finished I started working on the cake and then I started to worry that the topper, after all that hard work might not come of the cake board in one piece. Thankfully it did, woohoo.

Wedding Cake with Real Flowers

The cake is a chocolate cake in 10" and 12" with cream fondant and pearl detailing.
For this wedding cake I had originally been asked to make lemon and lime coloured roses for the top but about a month or so before the wedding the bride decided on real flowers. I have to say the flowers do work great with the cake. Its a simple but elegant looking wedding cake that fit the venue.

Piano Wedding Cake topper

I'd been asked to make a wedding topper for a couple who weren't wanting the traditional wedding and who had a love for music and in particular the piano. Another addition to the topper was to have a small boy figure hiding under the piano to represent their son.

With the topper I started with the piano. I bought some wooden dowels and cut them to about 2" in length, drawn an outline of the piano so I knew where to secured the dowels on the 6" cake board and then put 3 pins in. Next I cut the base of the piano out of foam board to give the main section support, as the bride figure would be sitting on top. Once secured with 3 more pins I placed edible glue around the legs and wrapped them with black sugar paste. Then turned it upside down and covered the bottom of the piano in black sugar paste, so that none of the foam board would be showing once it's all finished. After that I cut a thick piece of black sugar paste about half an inch thick and slightly wider so that it would cover the side of the foam board as well as the top.

Once the piano structure had dried I cut out a section at the front for the keys and then added a lid to the back section so that it had a Grand Piano look to it. For the keys I placed a strip of white fondant and then (with a picture of the keys in front of me) coloured in the black notes and scored the white notes, I couldn't quite fit the right amount of octaves on but it was near enough.

With the piano finished and drying I started working on the figures. I've spoken about figure building before, I'm not very good at getting the faces to look super realistic so I stick to a characterised face.
As I built each figure I always had the piano with me so that I could get the sizing right (not because I couldn't bare to be without it). I thought the most problematic part would be making sure the blokes arms didn't fall of mid ceremony but that wasn't a problem, I think its because I made them slightly smaller and made them look like they were bent slightly, also the piano helped keep them in the right position.

The finished topper was exactly what the customer had asked for and she was thrilled with how it looked, she even brought some photos in to show me the wedding cake all set up with the topper on. It looked really cool and fitted the theme perfectly.

The horse cake did have matching cupcakes but I can't find the photo's, which is rather annoying. The last time I made a cake for this little girl it was her with her pony having a picnic on top. This time with little girl being a little bit older I made the design represent that.
The image on top of the cake is a patchwork design that I made from a picture I'd found on the Internet with the addition of the dog as she loves the family dogs too. To make the hair look more tasselled I placed a rolled up piece of light brown fondant on the mane and tail areas and used the scallop & comb tool to give it texture.
To finish the design I added bunting around the edge to give it a birthday / celebration vibe.

Silhouette Cake

The silhouette cake has been a very popular cake this year. Its been a birthday cake and an engagement cake. Its one of those designs that everyone comments on, a lot of them say it reminds them of the film Up.

Elsa Frozen Castle Cakes

This year I've been asked a couple of times to make Elsa's castle from the Frozen movie. I've only seen the movie once so I had to go to the trusty Internet to get a couple of images of Elsa's castle to make sure its right.
The images below are from the first time I made the castle cake and the image above is the second version.
The first time I made the cake it was larger with 10" and an 8" cake that I covered in white fondant and decorated in light blue fondant shards and snowflakes.
The second version was with a 6" and a 4" cake that I covered in jade coloured fondant and then decorated it with light blue and jade fondant shards followed by snowflakes.
My personal favourite is the second version I think the colour changes work best and the jade colour is gorgeous.

Westwood Handbag Cake

For the Vivienne Westwood handbag cake I started of by making the handles, the customer specifically asked for the handles to stand up so in order for that to happen they needed plenty of time to dry. I made the handles by rolling out quite wide worms with white sugar paste and bent them round a bowl and then set them aside for a good number of days.
The cake was a madeira sponge, I always use this type of cake when carving is involved, I find Victoria sponge and chocolate cake to soft to be able to carve easily. Once I'd got the basic shape I dirty iced it and then covered it in white fondant. I also used white fondant for the piping work.
After inserting the handles I sprayed all of the bag in a hot pink. The air spray worked brilliantly as it created shadowing and made it look more life like.
While the bag dried I concentrated on the Westwood logo. I used a yellow fondant colour and then once on the bag I went over it with a gold dust.

Louis Vuitton Birthday Cake

For the Louis Vuitton cake I had been given a picture of what the customer was wanting and in this case it was a cake inspired by Louis Vuitton’s classic handbag design - the checker board and logo print.

Some of the components for this cake were new to me which I love. As a cake decorator you only improve if you keep on learning, which is why I very rarely turn down a cake order unless I have time constraints.

The first part I started with was making the bow. With it being made out of sugar paste and to hold its shape I needed plenty of time for it to dry thoroughly before constructing. I used Beau sugar paste (which is one of my favourites) in black and created the 2 loops separately, placing scrunched up kitchen paper in the middle of each loop to give it support during the drying process. I gave it a couple of days to dry, just to be on the safe side. Once it had dried I rolled out three 1” wide strips, two that were about 5-6” long for the bow tails and the other strip to wrap around the middle of the flat parts of the loops.

When it came to covering the cakes the bottom tier got 2 layers of fondant around the side. The first layer in the camel colour and the second layer in the checker board squares. To finish the tier of I put dark brown fondant piping around the edges, this makes it look more like a bag. The top tier I covered in the camel coloured fondant again and then hand painted the Louis Vuitton logo around it. I was going to make a stencil but after a bit of practise I felt comfortable enough to be able to free hand.

For the finishing touches the customer wanted the scissors adding to the side of the cake. To make them I printed out a picture of scissors and used it as a template for the sugar paste.