Cupcakes everywhere!

Christmas is a crazy season.  We're all so busy with our usual lives that for some strange reason, the impending approach of the end of the year seems to signal some sort of "Gee, I've got to catch up with so and so, before Christmas!"  and all of a sudden you have a whole score of people you haven't spent enough quality time with during the year!

I am in the exact same position.  When my supplier accidentally delivered 10kgs of almond meal instead of the 2kgs that I had ordered, I set about making an insane number of flourless chocolate cakes......hopefully my friends will like me better if they get chocolate cake......

So, if you to have quality time with friends debt, be like my client Nuong, and gift cupcakes to your friends!

Cupcakes for a couple one who is a mechanic and along with their 3 pets.

 Some cupcakes for her friend Niyaz who's birthday is on Christmas day.

For a family who just celebrated the arrival of a baby girl.

 and then mini cupcakes to share for a cocktail party!

I was seeing cupcakes everywhere!!

 Also congratulations are in order for Ling getting her new shop up and running before Christmas.

 AEC specialises in Education consultancy, advising hundreds of students each year on the best courses suited to their interest and talents.  These were gifted to some current students.   The mini books are printed in edible ink on rice paper.  Computer science, business management and quantum physics featured as the covers.

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And then of course there was the 'big cake' of the week.

This was made for the wonderful Gino and Maria.   The cake is missing a giant ring that is to sit atop the cake - hopefully Maria will share a pic.  The wording is replicated from the invitations and cut from fondant.

The filligree design and flowers were inspired by the placecards.

I hope they had a lovely day and maybe I'll get to make the wedding cake next year!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas and look forward to seeing you all next year!

Inspirations

Inspirations can come from the strangest places.  Only 10 days to Christmas and I am finding my inspiration is running low.   So, I thought I'd share with you some images that have inspired me this year, just in case yours is running low too!

Beautiful images

 

Wall painting by Shona Heath at Twig and thistle

The deligthful work of Dazey Chic

This "So very happy" card really made me smile!

Illustrations and all sorts of pretty things by JooJoo

Stunning dusk photos of the family Fuji orchard in Japan by She who eats

 Beautiful shots by Jacinta at Bawkbawk

Beautiful places

Laurent winery, Margaret River

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Morning fog in Oslo, Norway.  Photographer unknown

 

I don't know where this is, but its the sort of place that I'd imagine where all the stresses of life would cease to exist.  If you know where it is, please let me know!!

Beautiful Sweets

Vogue Korea

 The Picasso of pastry - Pierre Herme Collection

The Dalloyau Christmas Catalogue

with over 200 years of pastry making experience!

Lenoire Christmas Collection, Paris

and of course the hallowed macaron

The store pictures are from the famous Laduree in Paris.  The macarons and macaron trees are from Bobbette & Belle, and the beautiful dessert displays are from Amy Atlas.  Collage by Cookie Creatives.

and of course, beautiful cakes

Ben Ron Israel

 

 

 Cake Opera

I dream of cake creations, collage by Something old, something new
 

Couture cakes by Faye Cahill.
Collage by Petitmode

I hope you enjoy looking at these pretty things, as much as I enjoyed putting this post together.

Making adorable cakes

It's so lovely when you are able to make cute little figurines and decorative sugar work to adorn your cakes. Such was this week's brief when Ann asked to make some cute penguins for a baby shower. 

 Such a refreshing change, that the mommy to be has chosen not to find out the sex of the baby opting for a happy surprise on the big day.  So, pink and blue penguins it was!

All ready and teetering delicately to go off to their new home.

Ann said via email:

  All I could hear was ooooooh and aaaaaaah.  Not only did they look amazing, but they tasted great too!  Thank you so much – they were a real winner!

Penguins at the picnic.  Photo courtesy of Ann via email

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Onto the larger cakes this week.....

There is something satisfying about seeing a table of ganached and ready to be covered cakes.

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It turned out to be a beautiful weekend for Carolyn & Ezra's wedding.  A whole team of friends worked hard to coordinate the reception.  I've never delivered a cake to a venue, with so many people offering to help!

Carolyn initially came to me with a Peggy Porschen designed quilted cake in black and white.   The black was vetoed by the mother of the bride, and so we opted to go for a dusty pink with black details as a sort of middle ground.

I thought that the combination of romantic flowers, dusty pink bows with A diamond brooch fit just nicely into the shabby chic category.

I'm sorry the photo is not very good, but by the time the flowers arrived, the lights had been dimmed and generally speaking, not the best for photography.  Perhaps Carolyn will have a better pic when she returns from her honeymoon!

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Lastly, the touching occasion of Isaac's baptism.

Father Michael presents baby Isaac after the service and the family heads off to celebrate with food, wine and cake!

The Elite Cake inspired design, complete with sugar booties commissioned by his doting godmothers.

And a little rubber ducky for good measure!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!  Less than 3 weeks to Christmas.  Where oh where did the year go??

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!

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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.

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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!