Trains, Figurines and Macarons....with friands.....

I am so behind with my postings... my cake mojo has taken a serious battering lately and I'm just coming up for air now, so please bear with me whilst I take a few deep breaths.  

First up, some really cute circus trains with Handi.

 A great pic by Diana via facebook - so adorable, dont you think?

Even cuter all finished!!  

Handi's cake with the help of ToyBox International, went to the Ronald McDonald house for families with littlies receiving treatment at PMH.  We're delighted that they enjoyed a special weekend treat.

~~~~

Next up of course were the beautiful couture figurines from our advanced class.

And look at them....just so cute all lined up.

And some close ups of the stunning details.  As in any work of art, the small details are always going to be what makes the work far more interesting and unique.

Even the queen seemed to make an appearance.

And because this is a food blog of sorts, food has to make an appearance!

Over CHOGM weekend we had resident head chef Nik Duncan (who's worked with the likes of Steve Szabo and Greg Doyle) multi tasking in the background.

and even let us be the first to taste this yummy chowder.  Nik must really be used to a crowd of delighted girls making all the right noises around his food.

Not to be outdone, our faciliator Rebecca, who is a vegan showed us how exciting vegan food can be with these amazing morsels.

Vegan cream cheese on garlic French baugette with pear, rocket & balsamic.  Oh boy!  I now only eat Tofutti.... dont knock it, till you've tried it!

~~~~

Enough for the distraction, moving onto our Marvellous macaron class that turned out rather interesting.

I also had Handi who was also enjoying class until it was time for his plane to take off.  So, MY teacher and world class cake artist (who I immensely respect) = no pressure, whatsoever.........

Perth was struck with one of those freak humid weeks, when the water just seems to hang in the air...another perfect day for making macarons...NOT!

Aha! The minute it all went pear shaped...... too much egg whites into the batter....and none left for meringue.....whoops!!

So, what does a girl do?  Make friands of course.  A quick check of an online recipe, thank you Apple.  And we split up into groups making macarons...and groups making friands.

Team macaron got things moving with perfectly fine caramel and chocolate macarons and team friand, hacked into the butter and made green tea and blueberry firands!

Who would've thought we'd be so happy to see a batch of friands??? 

At the end of the day, we stuffed our tummies full of freshly baked goodies (and some properly matured macarons) and we all had fun - which is more important than any macaron....even if it's French.

~~~~

Later that same afternoon, after all the excitement had started to wear off, we launched into our last cupcake teaser class of the year.

The cupcakes turned out superbly and we had lots of giggles.  It certainly helped that trainee Jason was dared to don a chicken costume.

Photographic evidence that he did it and there's nothing like a bunch of hot chicks!!!

Love,

Handi hits town

Handi arrived an hour ahead of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.  What were the chances of having the a real Queen in town....and our very own Queen of cakes?

No sooner had we settled him into the trendy surrounds of Leederville, we were off with classes!

Peering into the fridge, this is what it looked like

Full of the yummy brownie chocolate cakes that Sous chef Carl had baked.

 

First up with the very elegant Double barrel and beautiful peonies to go with it's flawless pearl finish.

Stunning aren't they?

It also happened to be Handi's birthday as well as a long weekend so of course we had to have some sort of cake for him to cut ;) and a flower for the birthday boy.

On top of that, the chefs at Panorama were busily preparing food for the Maltese prime minister (here for CHOGM) and we got to sample some of those yummy dishes!!

Including this divine panacotta with pomegranate molasses and salted white chocolate. Mmmm... totally passed the boobie wobble test. 

~~~~

Then over the long weekend we made Madhatters!  Now, a madhatter is made in shape that no cake can ever be baked in.  So, its a long and precise technique to get a cake to defy gravity and yet look wonky, but in a way symetrical.
 

The carving begins........

We were delighted with the design elements that our students had obviously spent a lot of time on, and the preparations done before class to add those great original touches.

The cakes were completely awesome and Handi was so impressed.  See!  Perth fares pretty well for creative talent!

 Amazing work!!  Not a bad way to spend a long weekend at all!

Stay posted for the even more amazing figurines and circus train, as well as the Marvellous macaron class that kinda took an interesting turn.  :)

Love,