Early 2013 update!

HELLLOOOoooOOOoooOoooo....

I know I know, its been a while since my last post. I do apologise.. yes its the usual "sorry I've been busy" line I'm gonna throw at you ... but its true! I've been meaning to get a post out but everytime the thought of having to collate, review and edit pics etc was just too much, so I probably went and baked, ate or slept (seems all I've been doing lately).

So, enough whinging about nothing... Life's been great lately actually.. let me show you some seriously cool cake designs that have kept me on my toes :)

Arianna 

 

This was such a sweet cake, the bunting was made from entirely edible gumpaste and prints. It was made for a garden themed party.

Lion King

One of my childhood favourites!! Hakuna Matata!!! ♥

Hootabelle

The first I heard of this sweet little owl was when I was asked to make this cake.. I'm thinking to myself.. who is Hootabelle? What happened to good ol' Sesame Street? ... guess I'll be kept up to date when I have a bubba of my own. 

Rubber Ducky

Funnily enough, this ducky coincided with the giant ducky that was on display in Sydney Harbour at the time...but that wasn't my inspiration for this cake.. it was the request of a bubble bath/rubber ducky loving toddler :)

Netherlands Soccer Fan

I dont really know anything about soccer, but I hope I did the team and their jersey justice!

All Stars Cake

This cake was super cool!! I was quite stressed out about it to be honest. Mainly thinking how am I going to balance the ball and more so the football on each tier of cake! After alot of engineering thoughts I managed to stabilise each tier.. hardly moved at all during delivery! Not to mention the whole thing was edible!

Sweet Girly

Loving the colours on this cake. There's only one word which comes to mind - "sweet"!

Police Hat Cake

Before you ask, yes it was for a real cop! And no, he didn't come in uniform to collect the cake... much to my sisters disappointment lol!

Hope everyone has been well and enjoyed the break. I know we're in February already and lots of events have passed but still wanna wish everyone a...

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Hei Fat Choi! xxx

Harry Potter!

Hello Peeps!!

Remember when I mentioned in a previous post that I had an upcoming cake that I was very very excited about?? Well I did it!! And for all those who's a bit of a Facebook junkie like me, you would have already seen all the pics plastered up.....

It was my Harry Potter cake!! Most certainly the biggest cake that I have made to date, it was such fun to make! Bradley and Hansen from Anime at Abbotsford contacted me way back at the beginning of the year about this mammoth cake. From the word go I was quite giddy at the thought of making a Harry Potter themed cake (because I am such a secret HP nerd fan). At first I thought that they meant they needed a 300-400 serve cake for a little boys' birthday who was having a Harry Potter themed party, I was thinking omg thats one popular kid...but then upon clarification I realised it was to celebrate Harry's birthday for a cosplay event.

The inital design was meant to be a Hogwarts Castle but we then decided to change it to something smaller. I was given free reign to do whatever I wanted, which was awesome because I really did go all out trying to incorporate as much HP stuff in the cake as possible.

I decided we needed a trunk, Hedwig, the sorting hat and some books. To add to the over look of the cake Harry's glasses and wand along with the Snitch and some potions were also a must. What is a kid that doesnt like sweets? So I incorporated all the funky gadgets and lollies from the movie for the final touch. I had Bertie Botts every flavoured beans, chocolate frogs and of course a Weasley & Weasley naughty gadget! - The Jinx Off.

Everything on this cake was edible. The hat was sculpted, even the box of Bertie Botts was made from edible gumpaste. I loved making this cake because of the amount of detail I could put into it.

The day went really well, Wobbles and I were dressed as Gryffindor students and ready to rock and roll!! It was such a great turn out and was such a joy to see little kids running around "attacking" the dementor hehe. There was a raffle organised where the prize was to be on TV with channel TVS cutting the cake and they also got to keep the snitch. In the end, one woman won and she had the hard job of to choosing between her 3 boys for this task.

The cake was the centre piece of the whole event and it was quite funny to see people ooo and ahhh over it. There were constant crowds surrounding the cake and through out the day you could hear people say .. "GO LOOK AT THE CAKE!!"& "OMG the cake!". There was one girl who forced her brother (who was not too interested). It was awesome to see such a positive reaction :)

When the time came to cutting the cake, I swear it felt like I was in a mosh pit. There were so many people and so many kids around that I just could not move!! Eventually, the 3 little winners of the raffle cut the cake with the TV crew exclaiming it "would be easier to film in a war zone".

I dismantled the books first, which were chocolate flavoured with chocolate ganache. Then moved onto the owl which was vanilla flavoured with white chocolate ganache. The suitcase was a hazelnut flavour. The cake served at least 450 people and there was still half of the suitcase left and the whole sorting hat left. Im sure Bradley and Hansen are still having cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

It was awesome to be apart of such a fun event! A big thank you to Anime at Abbotsford for organising and to Suiyi and Victor of Suictor Photography for the photos!

I'm actually currently at the airport waiting for my flight to London for the next 3 weeks... just trying to get this post done before I leave lol! So.. there wont be any cake updates for a while. But stay tuned for some London & France highlights when I get back! :)

x


Anime at Abbotsford
318 Great North Road
Abbotsford NSW 2046
(02) 9712 1418

Suictor Photography
http://www.facebook.com/Suictorphotography

Black Star Pastry

I'm having a really bad day. Like you know one of those days where one shit thing after another after another just happens and you can feel your blood pressure getting higher and higher? Well thats me right now. I don't really know how to settle myself down so I'm going to try and distract myself by writing a review post. Something I haven't done in ages!

A pastry shop I've been dying to try is Black Star Pastry. I've heard so much about their watermelon cake, it both intrigued and astonished me that someone could use watermelon in pastry! And boy am I glad that they did!!

It happened on a sunny but wintery Saturday when Wobbles and I decided to make the journey into Newtown to grab some brunch. I haven't been there before so didn't really know what to expect, except that traffic would be bad! lol When we finally got there (might have missed some turns) we found that it was more a walk in bakery with no real sit down seating. There was a giant bench outside but it was kinda crowded so we decided to get take away and settle down in North Sydney oval for an impromptu picnic.

I was like a kid in a candy store when I got inside.. which lead to me pretty much buying everything they had to offer.

Savouries

Serrano Ham Sandwich on Olive Rustic Bread - this was Wobbles but I managed to get a bite before he devoured the whole thing! The Olive bread was wowsers!! loved the subtle saltiness that came through which paired very well with the ham

Chicken, Spinach, avo and aioli on fresh bread (can't remember the actual name lol!) - Again wowsers to the bread. I think im a bit of a sucker for fresh bread and this really hit the spot as I didn't want anything too filling or would make me feel too bloated. The aioli was super yummy making the whole thing a hit combo!

Sweets

Short bread with lemon curd - I could eat a whole box of these! The tartness of the curd paired with the buttery melt in your mouth texture of the shortbread was really orgasmic. Its perfect for a small pick me up!

From top left going clockwise: Strawberry watermelon cake with rose cream, Lemon meringue with basil jelly, Bread and butter pudding with anglaise & Raspberry creme brulee tart

The basil jelly inside the meringue was such a refreshing surprise! It was a little awkward to eat though because the meringue kept touching the tip of my nose! haha

Unfortunately, the strawberry watermelon cake didn't really make the journey. As you can see half of it slipped off onto the creme brulee :( We ended up saving this along with the bread and butter and creme brulee for later. When we finally had the strawberry and watermelon cake... omg God Damn! it was sooo good!! the refreshingness of the watermelon followed by subtle floral rose flavours made me giddy and took me to Spring!! :D

We heated up the bread and butter pudding before we poured the anglaise over it. It had bits of chocolate laced through the pudding which was yummy but I thought the pudding a little dry for my taste.

I didn't get to try the creme brulee as I gave it to my sister but from her mmmss and ahhs I'm guessing it was pretty good.

Now I've just gotta go back and try the rest of their collection.. hopefully they'll have that lamb shank pie available too!!

Then and Now

So about a year ago to this day, I had done my 2 weeks of travelling around NYC, Toronto, Montreal, Washington DC etc and now it was time to get down to business and start what I had gone half way around the globe for. School.

I still remember how nervous I was! I had my Chefs uniform on and ready and I was anticipating how the school would be like and the people that I would meet. Time seems to go so fast, it hit me like a tonne of bricks to think that was a year ago, so close yet so far. 

I like to think that I've come a long way since that day. I've learnt so much and had so many life changing experiences in such a short period of time. "Then", I was learning the basics of baking science. "Now", I'm learning how to conquer my baking feats that come my way, replicating edible versions of things I've never even seen in real life! lol "Then", I wanted to get away from Sydney and didn't really know my direction in life. "Now", I'm home and happier than ever and have a business that I love and am devoted to. 

Although I moan alot I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the great friends that I've made during my Notter days and my friends and family back home who have been my strength and support through such an important time in my life. I am where I am today because of you all and all your words of encouragement and unfaltering faith in me mean more than words can say. 

haha so I've become a little emotional in writing this post lol On the brighter side, here are some more "nows" that's occurring in The Dainty Baker's Life. Hope you Enjoy! xx

Ombre Fantasy Wedding Cake

This was the first proper wedding cake I made for a Client. She came to me with those cute elf cake toppers and wanted a tree/fantasy like wedding cake. The cake was chocolate and hazelnut flavoured with a beautiful light meringue icing on the outside. Different to the usual fondant covered cakes I make and I absolutely love the ombre look!

Chelsea Premier League Cake

My entire family (except dear old Wobbles) are Chelsea fans, so when my cousin turned 18 and requested a Chelsea Premiership league cake I just had to make the trophy! Initally I was going to make the whole cake in the shape of the trophy but decided that they might want to keep the trophy as a token so I altered the design, where the rest of the cake is edible and the trophy could be kept as it was made entirely of gumpaste.

Corolla Cake
This was my first ever 3D car cake! It didnt occur to me that I had never made one before until a Client requested this souped up Corolla her beau used to own. It was so much fun sculpting and making this cake! 

1961 Cadillac Cake

I must have spoken too soon! Funny how I dont get any car orders then in the same week I get 2! I had a last minute order for a 1961 Cadillac. I was like whats a "1961 cadillac?!" at first but then after much googling I was able to piece together enough angles of the car to make this cake.

xxx