Prikaz objav z oznako birthday. Pokaži vse objave
Prikaz objav z oznako birthday. Pokaži vse objave


It's my baby's birthday! I really would not be me, if I didn't take advantage of the fact that he has not yet reached that stage where he starts getting weird or elaborate ideas of what kind of cake he wants for his special day. I have no doubt that next year will be different. So his star sign is right in the between leo and virgo, but if you knew him, he is definitely a leo. So why not make a lion cake for my little lion?

I quickly typed "lion cake" into Pinterest, but I really didn't get any "wow" ideas with the exception of this cake, which is totally insane. But the thing is that as much as I love working with fondant, because it is a great medium for this kind of masterpieces, no one in my family really likes it (does anyone like it?!), so I try to challenge myself and create cakes without fondant. How about chocolate?

So, step one - three types of ganache! Dark chocolate ganache (use ratio of 2 : 1 for chocolate : cream), milk chocolate ganache (ratio of 2,5 - 3 : 1 for chocolate : cream) and white chocolate ganache (ratio of 3 : 1 for chocolate : cream). Ganache will need some time to cool and thicken, especially in the summer temperatures, so in the meantime, let's go to the next step - defrost leftover cake.

When I bake I always have some leftover cake. Usually it is the top of the cake, which I remove to get the cake completely flat. What do you do with it? Please don't say you throw it out. OK it is partially acceptable if you eat it, but if you bake a lot, these leftover tend to pile up. Regardless of the amount, I just wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer and then use it later to make cake pops. So ... defrost the cake, crumble it into small pieces and add some mascarpone cheese or melted chocolate. The amount of extra ingredients to add varies depending on the cake I use, some are a bit dryer and may need more, some are more moist and may need less; I just go by my feeling. Mix everything together, I just use my hands and squish the mix until it kind of resembles modelling clay.
Print out a photo or a sketch of what you are modelling, just make it as big as your model. This way it is a great reference for proportions and final look. And let the modelling begin ...


At this point, a warning ... learn from my mistakes. The lion face was kind of heavy in the end and it sagged the cake on one end, when I put it on top. The cake luckily didn't collapse or fall apart and in the end all was well. Even better, because of the sagging the muzzle sat more low on the cake and the proportions were more realistic this way. Nevertheless, think about one of the following preventative measures:

1. leave the cake to sit a couple of hours in the fridge, even better over night; I was in a hurry and I decorated my cake immediately after assembling it. 

2. use support; model the face on a cardboard and support it with straws; basically like assembling a tiered cake.

I frosted the cake in a thin first layer of ganache, only the snout and the eyes are fondant. The mane is dark ganache, piped with the grass tip (tip # 133). Because the head is so irregular in shape, it was harder to smooth out the ganache, but I managed and then put another layer of ganache with a brush. Because I used a brush, the ganache seemed more fur like.




And the reaction? He cried. No, not from excitement or joy. Apparently this little monster was too realistic for a 3-year old and he needed a minute to calm down. I think it helped that his older brother started picking of the chocolate mane :) In the end I was happy with how the cake looked and I made it up to the little guy with the next cake (link soon, check back soon!).

avgust 21, 2016

If a friend asks me to make a cake for their kid's birthday I would always go out of my way to make that wish come true. Partly it's just because of my nature and the impulse to please others and partly because of the fact that I just don't get around to making as much cakes as I would wish, at least not such that are more intricate and with figurines. In a 4 people household there are still only 4 birthdays a year and only two of those require a kid cake. Unless I succumb to the temptation and make myself one as well.

So when I learned that this cake was needed just two days after we get back from our 2 week Boston trip, I wasn't exactly thrilled, but I just didn't have it in me to say no. I just hoped that the jet lag won't be too bad and I compromised a little. The cake can be made in advance and frozen, the dinosaur was also finished before we left, so this left me with a day and a half to defrost the cake, make the filling and frosting, finish the cake and cover it in fondant. I would have wanted some more time, but hey not all orders are perfect. 

The extra request on this one? It had to be dairy free. My usual vanilla sponge recipe is dairy free anyway, because it uses oil instead of butter (same as here, just triple the amounts for a standard size cake). For the filling I usually use coconut whipping cream (same as in my Tropicana cake), adding dairy free melted chocolate or chocolate chips to get a chocolate or Stracciatella variation.

The dinosaur was just a matter of current inspiration, but it seems that I was sneaking peeks at my boys' latest cartoons, because this dinosaur turned out a bit like Arlo from the Good Dinosaur, don't you think? 




julij 29, 2016

If you say unicorn, I think off all thing pretty, sweet and happy - warm colours, hearts and rainbows. I was in a time crunch with this one, so there was no time for any rainbow-ish add-ons. Istead I opted to cover the sides of the cake with rainbow coloured small sugar pearls, which was just fine because not everyone is a fan of fondant. Two birds with one stone so to speak. 

And even my horses are getting better ... yey :)





julij 23, 2016

I am not a Star Wars fan. Not even in the slightest. Actually I have not seen any of the movies.  None. Zero. But at the same time I don't know anybody who would not recognise at least some of the characters of this franchise. Even me. Maybe it is because of the Darth Vader costume that my son chose for last masquerades (which is kind of like our version of the Halloween) or because of the lightsabers that we haaaaad to get (seriously it was like their lives depended on it).

So if a kid wants a Star Wars cake, I think of exactly that: lightsabers and Darth Vader. Oooh and Yoda of course. But my extensive knowledge ends there.

Although I was already provided with a rice paper transfer of some sort of space ship (I am telling you I am clueless), I couldn't resist adding a few of details, to make the cake feel more mine.

Sweet little Yoda looks complicated to make, but it really isn't, take my word for it. I sometime struggle with a character, which just would not look like I want it, but Yoda is luckily still so popular that someone tackled this task before me and was kind enough to give a step by step tutorial on how to do it. A nice Dutch girl, who uses the name the Cake Duchess, was of immense help to me and her tutorial was super helpful.


I opted to only ganache the cake without any fondant and here is the final result. In the word of Yoda: "Cute cake, this is. Yes, hmmmmmm."






julij 21, 2016

Human features are notoriously hard to master in fondant. I usually rather do a simple face and body, and I still have a Craftsy video on standby, if only a day would have more hours. But if a kid asks for a Real Madrid soccer cake, complete with Ronaldo, then you find yourself looking at a Ronaldo picture way too much time for your liking. So I did my best and hoped that the children's imagination transforms this guy into a Ronaldo look-alike (which I am pleased to report it did :) )

Add a soccer ball and the logo of the team and you have a truly great soccer cake.




julij 21, 2016

Hiccup is still gonna need some time to look like himself and some serious cosmetic surgery (well actually just some extra time and practice), but at least I got Toothless flying this time. I was in a hurry and I am now kind of regretting putting Hiccup up there, but hey it is what it is and I will probably look at this some time in the future and hopefully consider it just a stepping stone.

For the pastel sky (which turned out great, but frankly does not even show now on these photos ... sad face) I first marbled some white and dark blue fondant. I then opted for the Sweetness and bite tutorial for the water-colouring, just because it uses dusts instead of liquid colour. My cakes tend to take forever to dry if I paint on them and I am not entirely sure why. Maybe it just always takes so long and I just didn't notice this when others wrote about it on their blogs. Given that our tastes are a bit different from American ones and I never use buttercream or ganache as filling and usually opt for more perishable fillings, I also refrigerate my cakes from start to finish, which I am sure is one of the reasons for long drying times. You really do not need a whole bunch of kids touching wet food colour :) Small kids' birthdays are messy enough as it is, so dusts it was.

My choice turned out to be as simple as it promised and I just dusted the cake with white dust food colour (edible one of course) using a big powder brush, applying more in some spots and just blending it out in horizontal strokes. 






julij 20, 2016

Make way for Noddy! Noddy! He toots his horn to say beep, beep, beep. Make way for Noddy! Noddy! Come on out to play! ... oh the memories. This was a regular at our house for some time way back (ok, ok, not that far ago, it may just be that it seems to me that way) and I think that there is a case of that kind of amnesia going on with this one, similar to the one related to birth or early days of newborns. You know when you forget the hard and painful and not so pleasant parts and replace them with fonder one. So while I may go "oooooh" now, when I hear this, I am sure I was going "ooooooh no" at some point from overdosing on the same cartoon over and over again.

But now this theme song hasn't been heard for some time, since the boys are a bit bigger now and I find myself in the worlds of Star Wars, Slugterra and similar weird creatures. The little one might even still be of "Noddy age", but since he worships his older brother like a king, he too now demands "teja, teja". It took me a while and in his mind probably waaaaay too far, to figure our that I need to search Youtube for these slugs.

Well anyway as I am a part of a charity organisation that bakes charity cakes for disabled and underprivileged, it is nice to sometime get an order for a cake that features a character that is unlikely to be demanded from my boys. It was an added benefit that my older one remembered Noddy immediately and said that I made a beautiful cake. And here I go again ... oooooooooh




julij 16, 2016
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