Cakey Perry

Hi all,

It's only a week before the amazing Cakey Perry high tea experience, and I have been spending this week with Miss Cakehead, making and crafting and sticking an awful lot of sweets onto various different surfaces.

You can keep up with progress on the event here, but I thoughtyou might like to see some of the things I've been up to...

I have made two dummy cakes to be used as centrepieces, and I'm hoping that the press night doesn't get too out of hand and people try to eat it...

The tickets are selling fast, so if you want to share in the sweet fest, get you tickets from here now! 

xxx

When Good Cakes Go Bad!

Warning!!!! Contains images that may shock!

If  you are a blogger I'm sure you can sympathise with my plight. I've had a crazy few weeks recently and when I look at the pictures on my camera I can see at least nine or ten blog posts that are stuck in there waiting to get out. There are many more in my head that haven't even reached the 'ready to be photographed' stage.  so while things are a little calm I will rectify the situation. Some of these may stretch back into the mists of time but I'm sure they are still relevant. (I refuse to give up on a good post!)

So first out of the camera, a horror story...cue scary music and upsetting images.

Sometimes when I'm making sweet treats they need to harden over night.  As you know fondant doesn't cope too well in an air tight box so my solution is to leave them in the oven...can you see where this is going?

I had a last minute order for fairy wand cookies that needed to be posted with next day delivery.  I only had time to make them the day before and leave them to harden over night ready for posting.

I got up early and put on the oven to cook small kidlet's pizza for her lunch box.  After half an hour of checking my e-mails I wondered what the smell of burning sugar was.  Honestly it took me some time to remember.  

Do you ever do something so stupid that you want to hit yourself?  This is how I felt, I think I may actually have tried to hit myself over and over again.

I started panicking, I didn't think I would have time to make the cookies again, decorate them, let them harden and package them up in time for the 11.30am deadline for next day posting.  

So, after dropping off the kidlets at school, I raced to the post office to find out about timings.  Fortunately my information was wrong and the deadline was 4.30pm, phew.

However next problem, I had used my last little bit of royal icing on the first batch and for some reason both the supermarkets in my town had sold out, (was everyone starting their Christmas cakes early?)

Time was pressing and I wasn't sure if I would be able to get to the next town's shops.

So I called in on a friend who is also a baker...sure that she would have some she could lend me.

Unfortunately she didn't...she had stopped using royal icing  and her new type of icing didn't harden...nice for cakes but very squishy for posted cookies.

As I was about to leave though she remembered a tub of merriwhite tucked away at the back of a shelf.  So I clutched the small bag of powdered egg white like it was gold dust and raced (within the speed limit ) home!

Three hours later, and with a wave of a magic fairy wand the cookies had dried sufficiently and were sent on their merry way.

The client was really pleased and I was very relieved.

I also went out and bought a pack of post-it notes to stick on the oven to prevent future cake trauma..

xx

Birds and roses wedding cake

Things are going a little crazy around here at the moment but I've managed to find a few minutes to show you last weekends wedding cake.

The bride had a picture of a cake for reference (I think it was by Mich Turner).  It had tropical flowers and birds painted on.  But she wanted a more shabby chic English version, which is what she got!.

I hope you like it.

xxx

ps hopefully when things settle down we can catch up and I can share the exciting things that are happening.

Painting on cake class

Just over a week ago I had the pleasure of teaching a group of lovely cake makers how to paint on fondant.

The class took place in my local arts and crafts shop, but they came from near and far, with one person even travelling down from Scotland.

I eased them in to the technique by starting small. They each had four fondant discs to paint a spray of roses.

Then straight into the deep end with a dummy cake.

I gave them a demonstration of how I do it first and then armed with crib sheets they began painting themselves.

Most of them had never attempted this before but they were all very pleased with their cakes and hopefully we'll be seeing some of their own soon.
I will be teaching this same class again on the 27th September and also a gingerbread house painting class on the 26th November please e-mail me if you would like details; nevie-pie@hotmail.co.uk.

More Painted Cookies

I have been on a painted cookie roll this week after my marathon Snoop Dogg session.

Here is a quick peek of what I've been up to.

A picture of Brighton Pier as part of a 40th birthday present.

Captain Jack Sparrow, for a birthdaycake.

xxx