More Chanel and a Big brief case

This week I had the great pleasure of making this giant cake for WAC - otherwise known as Perth Airport.  

French vanilla tea cake with dark chocolate ganache, DEI (digitally enhanced image) printed on edible fondant in the likeness of the annual report.  Handpainted finish with gold accents.

Pardon my ignorance, but up until last month, I didn't even realise that the airport was a public company.

The new general manager is a bit of a Planet Cake fan, and wanted a cake for the launch of their annual report.  Planet Cake were kind enough to refer them onto me, talk about pressure!

 

 The CEO of Perth Airport & Mayor of Belmont, with the big cake!

The cake took 2 to carry and fed 220 guests gathered at the WA Museum for the evening soiree.

Anna (who commissioned the cake) said via email:

The cake was fantastic - thank you so much for making such a great cake and our event went really well.

photos courtesy of Anna via email  

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It appears that Chanel is once again the height of fashion.  With several orders this month for Chanel themed cupcakes, all of a sudden, I seem to be seeing C's everywhere!

 

Chloe's cupcakes for her birthday dinner.  Hope you had a marvelous birthday week!!

 

Just goes to show, that understated elegance is timeless!  Viva le Chanel!!

November heatwave

I am definately a winter sort of gal.  I've always said that my ideal life would be to spend 4 months of the year somewhere on the South island of New Zealand when the Australian summer kicks in.

39 degrees celcius is too hot for November by any standards!

In that sort of temperature, anything other than sitting by a large body of water with an ice cold drink in your hand, in my opinion, is too much work.  So imagine my joy at having to produce several cakes in the heat, with a dead airconditioner.

When the climate gives you lemons like that.....you can try to make lemonade, but basically, there is nothing you can do.....not when you're working with chocolate and sugar!

Working progress of Jen's birthday cupcakes decorations.  This is a continuation of her ongoing birthday theme - things Jen likes.

Last year, Jen requested for shoes and cupcakes cookies.

 This year we had chic cupcakes with cocktails, high rise buildings and of course, shoes.

I hope Jen colleagues (most of whom are architects) spoilt her with some of her favourite things too!

~~~

Second off the block was a romantic wedding cake.  Luckily for the dreamy couple, the weather went down a few degrees in time for their outdoor ceremony at Kings Park.  The bride was so concerned that all her wedding photos would show her and her guests batting away the flies! 

Due to the intense heat, the building of this cake was pretty dramatic.  The icing was soft, the chocolate was soft.... sigh...

 Make sure that everything was level and the top tier wasn't going to sink into the bottom one....

 Barely had enough time to take a quick pic, before running out the door to deliver it.  

Chocolate and Marble cake tiers with dark chocolate ganache.

Congratulations Waisim and Nick.  Wishing you both much warmth and happiness in your life together.

postscript 1/12/10
Wai Sim via email

Thanks for delivering the cake.  The cake looked really nice.  The day went really well and the weather was good to us after the heatwave during the week. We had many compliments about how good it taste as well as the look.

~~~

And lastly, a wonderful wedding for Tracy & Geoff at the Mosman Park golf course.

Chocolate and French Vanilla cakes with a selection of whipped topping or embossed fondant.  Traditional fruit cake for the bride's cake.

 The beautiful view the cake sat next to!

Didn't even have time to take a photo of the cute customised toppers and was very sad about it until this morning when Tracy posted them as her profile picture on facebook.

Talk about making my day!!

The bride is holding a bar of chocolate and the groom is holding a newspaper with Andrew Bolt written on it.  After much consideration, the happy couple decided that this is what they brought into the marriage. 

I love it so much when a cake can reflect the personality of the happy couple.  It makes what I do so much more meaningful.

Tracy said : 

They were a HUGE hit! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
 We look just like the cake topper! I think Mr Jones is rather proud!
 pics courtesy of Tracy via facebook

Postscript 24/11/10

Andrew Bolt @ Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph blogged about the cake here too!  How hilarious!

More exciting cakes to come next week!  So keep posted!

Partying with Mickey Mouse

Isn't it wonderful when characters endure the test of time?  Even though we have all these fabulous new characters like Stitch, Woody & Buzz (Lightyear - not Aldren) and a whole host of beautiful princesses.... that the old crew of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy haven't been forgotten.

I love animation.  A couple of years back, a dear friend asked me what I wanted to be when I was a little girl (he wanted to be a tycoon - or an international playboy)......my immediate response was that I wanted to be a lawyer, which was what I wanted to be from age 11.  I never became one, after taking a few units in university.....and promptly decided it was not for me!

After dwelling on the question for a few days....wondering how it was that an 11 year old would've wanted to be a lawyer??  I remembered, that what I truly wanted to be when I grew up - was to be a cartoonist.  Pity that I never really had the talent.........

So imagine how delighted I was when I was asked to make a Mickey Mouse cake for Hudson's 2nd birthday.

 Mickey in progress. 

'Tada' I said (on adding the ears)

'Too big....' said the chorus of onlookers.....

Isn't it great to work with onlookers with opinions *heavy sarcasm*

Whilst waiting for Mickey to firm up, I had to console myself with some comfort food

A giant loaf of banana bread.  No I didn't eat the whole loaf...just a really big slice! 

The sugar cheered me up enough to start working with the dreaded red fondant

Mickey joins the party!

Happy birthday Hudson!  I hope you grow up to be as happy as Mickey always is!!

Cupcake Couture

As far as crazes and fazes goes, it appears that the cupcake one seems to just keep getting stronger, and increasingly sophisticated.

The latest of course is the release of the Planet Cake book

Planet Cake - Cupcakes

With cupcakes retailing at $15.00 each, they really are simply too good to eat!

I am eagerly awaiting my book to arrive from Sydney headquarters!

Creations from the new book!

Cupcakes can be very fussy to make, and I know some gorgeous cake artists who simply loathe to make cupcakes.  I on the other hand, would never have started cake decorating without the humble cupcake

These were the very first cupcakes I made that I took money for.  I made them for my darling friends Mandy and Joachim. I've made a fair few cupcakes since then, but I still remember how gracious my friends were in trusting me with their wedding cake - as well as truly appreciating me for making them.

Hopefully, my skills have improved a bit since then!