A few weeks ago, when it was still Summer (doesn't it seem so long ago?) I made a very, very special special VIP birthday cake. It was for my Mum who turned seventy (if you could all please leave comments saying you can't believe it, and that she looks so young, you will make her giddy with happiness!). I had planned a Frida Kahlo inspired cake, but then I received directions (via my Dad) that she wanted a cake that would make reference to various times of her life. Mmm... I thought, a fussy client!
So I decided to paint some vignettes of her garden, which has been transformed from a literal wilderness to a beautiful, peaceful haven by both my parents.
My Mum's early career was as a jazz and blues singer, she had a couple of albums released and still loves to sing at any opportunity to this day. So I incorporated some lyrics from one of her songs, fittingly enough they are about a garden. She has since trained and worked as a fine artist, so I copied one of her paintings onto the cake.
Just as she was born a butterfly flew into the room and my Nana always called my Mum her 'butterfly', so I had to include that in the cake.
(My Mum's photos from her Facebook page that I used to create the design)
Finally, on the reverse, I created a slightly unusual family tree made made up of penguins, my Dad is a potter and these are one of his best sellers, every member of the family has received one of these beauties at some time or other.
She was delighted with her cake, and as all three tiers were made from fruit cake my parents are still eating it!
xxx
