Ombre birthday cake

Hello squirrels. 

On the eve of a terrible, terrible essay becoming due, I decided I'd rather bake a cake instead (as you do). I will be regretting this decision in about 6 hours when I'm still up writing about the evolution of the seed. Oh well, who cares when this beautiful cake will make one little girl's birthday even more special. I've been wanting to make an ombre cake (or gradient cake, as I like to call them) for a while. I discovered that it's actually very easy to make. 

Here's how: 

 

1. Go exceptionally nuts and bake 3 sponge cakes. Make them each a different colour using gel food colouring. Stick with a nice colour palette. 

 2. Lose the plot a little more and make one giant batch of buttercream icing. Divide this into 3 parts. Colour each lot of icing and then start stacking your cakes. Make sure you get enough icing on top of your bottom layer so that your top layer sits secure.

3. Once all your cakes are on, you can go over them again with icing. It can be a bit rough because you'll add another layer of icing on later once the first layer is dry. Use your knife to blend the icing colours together. 

4. As with anything for girls, sprinkle on lots of edible glitter to make it a bit special. 

I'm in love with this cake. And I can't wait to hear about the surprise on discovering the gradient layers inside. Fun times!

Now, I really need to return to this blimmin essay. Wish me luck. 

x

Cupcake bouquet

Hello cherubs

I've had plants on my mind lately so thought I'd make a bouquet of cupcakes. I think these would look lovely at a wedding.  ;)

I've created a little photo tutorial to show you how to make hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, peonies and a pretty rosebud cupcake. 

For hydrangeas, start with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe a large dollop in the centre flower. 

Start working from the outside and continue piping those dollops around the centre. 

When you close the circle, find any gaps and pipe smaller dollops in between to close them up. You should end up with something like this. 

Chrysanthemums are just as easy, but a bit more labour intensive. Use a Wilton 81 tip (I couldn't find one in my blimmin set, so used tip 98). No big D. Pipe around the outer edge of the cupcake, turning upwards towards the end. When you've completed the circle, start again. Keep going until the whole flippin thing is iced. You may not want to make too many of these ones because they are tedious. 

They should look something like this, maybe even better if you actually have tip 81. 

For peonies, ice the whole cupcake with a thin layer of buttercream. Then using tip 123, start from the middle of the cupcake and pipe a dot. Start working your way out, piping along the outside of your dot. Keep going and as you do, increase the length of your petals. 

Hopefully you'll start to see something like this forming. 

Keep going until you get to the very edge of the cupcake. Try to open the flower up a bit by angling your hand outwards away from the petals. If your buttercream is thick enough, it shouldn't droop. 

For this tasty morsel I used a 1M tip and just created a buttercream tower. I then cheated (shamelessly) and used store-bought rosebuds (from Countdown). As a side note, have you seen their baking section lately? It's amazing for a supermarket!

I love love flowers and I'm looking forward to trying a few other petals soon. 

Enjoy x 

Animal Portrait: Red Fox

Hello friends

Meet Vulpes vulpes, the red fox. In keeping with my new obsession for foxes, I felt it was time to have one on our wall. I found the beautiful photo here and painted this little fella. He looks a little sly, like he's outsmarted everyone and yes, Sir, chickens do just vanish into thin air at night!

I'm going to place him on the wall alongside the other little fox by birdinabunnysuit. He's a clever fox in a disguise. Chickens aren't scared of squirrels because they only eat acorns...

Have a good night, clever foxes, and keep your wits about you!

x

Moss cupcakes

Hello friends
Semester two is around the corner and the time of plants is upon us. As was the case with insects last semester, you will be seeing and reading about the amazing green stuff all around us over the next few months. So to start the semester off with a bang, here's some moss you can eat. Moss cupcakes. They were so easy to make and they look so real. Here's what to do: 

1. Bake some cupcakes. Put aside enough batter for about 3 cupcakes and colour them green with some  food colouring gel. Gel works best because it gives a brighter colour compared to liquid colours.
2. Once they've cooled, take the green ones and break the cake up into fine bits until it looks like moss.
3. Ice your cupcakes in buttercream, then dip them into the cake moss. 

And that's it. You can put whatever you like on top. A little edible critter, like an insect. A chocolate pebble. A little plastic tree (but, uh, not for children under 5, please). Even one of those paper windmills would look cute. I used the fondant mushrooms I made last week. 

I love, love cake moss. Heck yes, anything to bring a bit of nature back into my home. And into my belly.
Get in my belly, nature. 

Enjoy! x

Magical mushrooms

Hello cherubs

I've always been a fan of fungi. They're delicious, go with pretty much anything, and they remind me of the earth. They're also the number one enemy of my lovely fella, so I've had to limit their appearance in our home. And that's not even a joke. 

Fondant ones, however, are completely harmless. So this evening I felt like making some mushrooms for my next batch of cupcakes. They're so easy to make so if you're pressed for time you can whip them out fast (I made these in about 20 minutes). Follow the easy visual tutorial to make your own. They come in all colours, shapes and sizes, so go nuts. Cultivate. Create fields. And don't stress about making them look perfect. The peculiarities of fungi are what makes them so special. 

I'm going to place mine on a bed of homemade edible moss on top of a lovely cupcake - all of which I shall show you next time... 

Enjoy. x 

Fantastic Mr Fox

Trust, by Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

Klaus Echle

My beautiful new notebook

Hello friends

This afternoon we went to the Auckland Museum to see some photos from Wildlife Photographer of the Year. There were some amazing photos (I especially liked the insects). I thought I'd share with you my favourite - it's called Trust by Klaus Echle. I liked it so much that I bought a little notebook featuring the wonderful creature. I think foxes have become one of my new favourite animals and I look forward to a whole new ceramic collection. 

I've included other photos of this fantastic little fox taken by Klaus Echle, which can be found at his website.

If you're in Auckland between now and 26 August, go to the Museum and take a look. It's free and you're bound to find that one picture that inspires a love for something new.

Enjoy xx