All about Birthdays!

It isn't that often that I have the opportunity to make birthday cakes- often because I am well and truly booked out- by the time I get an inquiry. But this week I had a beautiful 16th Birthday Cupcake tree to make for Lauren! Celebrating this milestone was done in style- at the Stamford Plaza hotel. Each little cupcake was filled with white chocolate and Macadamia mud cake, topped with a vanilla butter cream, and sugar frangipani.






This next "Retro Bug" design was created for a great and long time friend of my brother and sister in law- Nicole! She is soon to have a baby, and this cake was for her baby shower!
Gone are the pale muted colours, and teddy bears- with Nicole Loving "retro" style, this cake had a tri-colour scheme, and funky circles to cover the cake. A cute little caterpillar bug on top to finish it all off!

This weekend has been fantastic! Gorgeous cakes, and a Wedding to attend- More on that Later!- along with a magazine photo shoot! It is all going too quickly!
Toomorrow brings my first Monday Wedding- so its back to business for me!

Themes and Traditions

Well this certainly has been yet another big week!
To start things off- I had yet another gorgeous four tier cake.
Fitting in with the couples Chocolate and Baby Pink theme, this four tier beauty was simply that. Each tier features a double banding of ribbon- in the theme colours- with sugar roses and lilies in pinks, dotted across the design. Having created this design for a couple who reside overseas- it was a delight to finally meet them when they arrived to collect their cake.This cake, was then transported to beautiful Noosa- where the couple held their reception.




With a real international feel for this week- I also had a traditional German Marzipan cake to make. The base layer of this cake was a white chocolate and Boysenberry Marzipan cake. Tis cake is made with Almonds and Marzipan beaten through the mixture. Knowing how much the groom loved his Marzipan, I placed a layer of freshly made marzipan through the center of the cake too. Topped off with white chocolate covered marzipan truffles ( that my wonderful mother covered for me- didn't she do a magnificent job!!)- this cake was a marzipan lovers delight. Until you try freshly made marzipan- you will never appreciate how great (and non-manufactured) it can taste.




Lastly this design was created for my husbands cousin's engagement. With a Blue black and white theme, this deign took on a life of its own. Mixing styles and techniques- created this fun design with a touch of class. White sugar roses, combined with wired hearts and a striped overlay- bring this cake together. Congratulations Julie and Tim!

This coming week is one I have been waiting for! My very good friends are getting married on Saturday! So I will have a another big 5 tier design for you all to see!
I am also creating a cake for a fantastic wedding planner I met when I had first started "Cake That!" who has given me great support over the years!
Wish me luck!

Guessing Game!

Other than this cakes immediate beauty- have you noticed how many little flowers are covering this design?

This cake should be called "The Challenge"! After almost eight- yes eight- straight hours of cutting and applying these little Jasmine flowers to this cake, my mind began to wander back to school days where they use to have jars of Jelly beans- that you would guess how many were inside.
I started counting these flowers but lost count after 1500 or so- but I am sure there is close to 2000 or more on here! The end product- was just beautiful!

This is the month of the big cakes- with a Five tier design on order each week! I am going to have great muscles by September!

Birthday Season!

This month is filled with family and friends birthdays!
To start the month off was my Nieces birthday- followed by my sister Alex, then tonight is a friends birthday, then my other sisters birthday is on Sunday- then at the end of the month is two more of my very good friends birthdays- on the same day! Not to mention our very good friends wedding thrown into the mix.
So after my holiday- I have been thrown back into work and socializing at full pace! Being the resident cake maker- I am always happy to provide cakes for special occasions. Unfortunately I was unable to create my nieces 1st Birthday cake- but her mum did an awesome job- perhaps so good that I won't be called upon again!


I created a "piece of cake" for my little sister Alex this year! Having seen the design been created by other decorators before- I wanted to have a go! So a layered vanilla sponge with a berry butter cream hid inside this comical design!


Tonight I am headed out with this cute little handbag design- filled with a marbled chocolate mud- it is almost too cute to eat! I often find myself making bag designs that I wish I owned in real life- but hey- that is a whole other story!!

So apart from my wonderful clients I create cakes for each week- I have a fantastic set of friends and family- who I am able to try out designs on!

Back to Reality

Well after a two week holiday I was thrust back into work straight away!
This week was a mixture of Big weddings and Birthday celebrations!

To start the week off- I had a mammoth Five tier White wedding Cake!
With three layers being a traditional fruit cake, one tier a Gluten free fruit cake- and the base being a vanilla white mud cake- the final product weighed in at over 30kg!!!
This cake was for a wedding Yesterday- so being a Friday I didn't have my husband to help me carry the cake! Using all my muscles I got the cake into the car- and set off to the Stamford- where I let the Concierge help me from there!

With a heap of deliveries today- I will report back soon- with my favourite of the week!

Testing Strength!

This week is my last week of cake making for two whole weeks!! My husband and I are off on a holiday for the first time in 2 1/2 years!!
This week I have been challenged and my strength- emotional and Physical- has been tested! I have had two cakes this week- whose end result- justifies all the challenges.
The first pictured cake is of one of over 100 individual box cakes that I made today! There were two designs for the tower- white or teal blue- both with sugar bows and ribbons. With this large amount to do- I called in my back up support- my Mum and Sister- who helped out where they could. My sister (Alex) mixed the wonderful teal colour for the icing ( it took 5kg of icing for these little cakes!!) and my mum was on the fine task of making the bows!- I iced and painted the cakes- with an edible silver lustre- and the end result is too cute! My mum will also have the task of setting the cakes up for display too! I can't wait to see a finished picture!

This next designs beauty- more than makes up for the 5 1/2 hours of patiently applying each individual silver cachous in place. I thought I was going blind!! only joking!! I used around 400g of cachous on this cake- of which I am sure I vacuumed up at least 50g!!! In the end this large scale three tier design weighs in at over 20kg! A whopper! I had to use all my muscles to lift this one!

So this week I am signing off for now! Back in August with some fabulous designs ahead!
'Til then- Happy Baking!!

Published Cake Designs

This Week- the 23rd Edition of "Wedding Cakes- A design source" arrived in Brisbane Newsagents!!! I have been waiting for this Magazine to arrive in Australia- as I knew I would have a cake picture published in it- to my surprise- after purchasing the magazine on Friday- I had seven wonderful pictures in this fantastic magazine!!
I had received various emails from UK based decorators commenting on my cakes over the past months- the magazine came out in April in the UK- so I was almost bursting with excitement to see it! I certainly wasn't disappointed- and I look forward to the next issue- which also has some of my designs in it- and a couple of my past clients pictured with their cakes!
Knowing that some of my past designs may inspire other Brides, Grooms and cake decorators alike- is great!

Lucky Sevens!

This week has been my biggest yet!
With a record breaking number of couples tying the knot in Queensland today (07/07/07)- some of this frenzy of course had to trail down through to all the wedding suppliers out there.
Brisbane turned on a perfect winters day today- warm enough to go without a jumper- barely any wind and a vast blue sky!
I have had every type of cake flavour, style and design to create this week. From the prettiest cupcakes, through to bright novelty designs- Chocolate creations, classic styles, and a true "designer cake" thrown in for good mix!
Starting Yesterday- I had a soft classic three tier design that just made you go Ahhh- when you saw it. The soft icing folds, that floated down and across the design, along with the pink centered ivory sugar roses- completed this classic design.


Then today my day began at 8am. With our newly monogrammed "Cake That!" shirts on- My husband and I set out delivering the 7 (yes 7- freaky I know!) wedding cakes I had on order for today!
We had to make multiple trips to deliver the masterpieces! Driving around all day today- I began to ponder- once again- all those mouths that will be sampling a little bit of cake tonight! It is really exciting!
To throw a bit of spice into my already hectic week- today is also my grandmothers birthday! I love making cakes for my family- especially because I can make whatever I like- and normally whatever I feel like eating too!! So a layered sponge filled with a vanilla bean, honey and ricotta cream, and cinnamon poached pears slices! Yum! I can wait to cut it tonight!


Having to pick a favourite from all the cakes I have created this week is very hard! But purely for the uniqueness of the design I have chosen the cake below! This cake was designed incorporating elements of a design the bride found on the web- the delicate sugar Arcs and monochromatic colour scheme really draw me to this design. I am sure the guests of this wedding will remember this cake for years to come.
I can't wait to deliver this cake tomorrow and see the reaction of the reception venue!
Until next time.....SJ

Dietary Requirements

With the increasing instances of food allergies and intolerances- I am often asked to create cakes that suit these needs.
Being a Chef- I am happy to create cakes to suit the dietary requirements of my clients- and their guests. Whilst Coeliac- or Gluten intolerant- is the most common- I can help with Dairy free, Egg free, Nut free,Vegan- you name it!

This weekend I had a lovely bride- whose niece traveled all the way from Canada to be a flower girl in her wedding. The little girl had a severe allergy to Eggs- and in keeping with the cake design- I created a batch of egg free chocolate cupcakes- so she too could enjoy the wedding cakes on the day!
These cakes were light and fluffy- with a rich chocolate flavour! If you didn't know any better- you would never know that they were missing eggs.
Gone are the days of awful cakes to fit dietary requirements! I really enjoy creating decadent flavours- with real ingredients- not chemical substitutes- so my clients can eat their cake without worrying about their health issues!

So if you are looking for a fabulous tasting and looking cake- to meet your diet needs- Just ask- you will be pleasantly surprised by the wonderful- and sinful- flavours I have to offer!

Sweet Week!

Once again my beautiful clients have given me a wide variety of designs to create this week! Starting on Friday, I had a wonderful four tier cake- that weighed the earth- to Deliver out to Glengariff at Dayboro. If you have never been out there it is just glorious!
I made the trip out on my own- and using all my muscles- transported the cake from the car- out of its box and onto the table- without a hitch!




Then Yesterday I tripped around Brissy delivering more cakes- then headed up to Clear Mountain to set up another Favourite- this chocolate cake smelt better than it looked! I even saw the Bride to Be getting ready for her big day!




Then today- leaves the last cake of the weekend- a beautiful christening cake- for an even cuter little boy! When I was first contacted to make his christening cake- he was only 3 months old- now 6 months old he has one of the biggest baby smiles I have seen!
His two tier cake featured a muted teal tier with a white design- and a white tier with sleeping baby cuddling his teddy!!

So thats it for this week... Until next week 07/07/07 When EVERYONE seems to be wanting to be married!!