Winter babies

 It seems that a lot of people I know have birthdays in July, August and September.   I read somewhere that it has something to do with which seasons we are more likely to make babies.... ;) and hence a lot of winter babies.

I had a great time this week making adorable cakes for some littlies turning 1.  Firstly an adorable tiger cake for Jensen.  Jensen is was born in the year of the tiger - which naturally makes him a born leader!

A yummy white chocolate & raspberry cake was made for a lovely family lunch.  

Too cute to eat?  Luckily he's made for keeping and not for eating ;)

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Enough blue?  Well how about some pink?

Well........more like a whole LOT of pink!

This massive cake was made for little Ayda at a big birthday celebration.  And there was enough malted marble cake to feed 50 people!

A lot of pretty girly details and hand painted to match the theme of the garden party, along with astro turf placemats.  The little ladybird was a bit lonely, so I added some friends for her.

It sure was hard to part with the cake!  But yummy mummy Donna, who was so excited about the cake, told us that Ayda loved eating it.  Which really, if you ask me....is what it is all about!

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What is so great about being able to make special cakes is seeing how different we all are.  I love making cakes that show personality and are meaningful to the people who receive them.  We may not always know what we're passionate about, but it is important to have passion in life, be it cooking, singing, reading, dancing, travelling and the list goes on.   It gets us through the day and makes life far more interesting.

So, on that note, it was really interesting to make a Poker inspired cake for Nimitr.

A small cake for a family gathering.  This cake sure had a lot of interesting things on it!

For me who has never played poker, or smoked a cigar, it was kinda fun to do some research on what would be most meaningful for someone who loves the game.

I hope all the cakes were eaten with much laughter and the birthday boys and girl were surrounded and spoilt by the people they love.

One year ago.......

What were you doing one year ago today?

Maybe its the cold weather....maybe its age slowly creeping up on me, maybe a combination of the two?  But the lovely Clare posted comment on facebook last week and once the thought got in my head....well, it was kinda hard to shake it. 

So, here it is, what I was up to a year ago, with never before publicly seen photos!!  Heeheee.
Photos courtesy of Linda Harden.

So here I am, July 2010, at Planet Cake headquarters, in the Basic Series Masterclass along with some really, really cool cake artists. (I don't look so great in this pic.......um....a bit out of my depth....?)

The beautiful Linda & Anna Maria.  A year later, Anna Maria is still teaching a whole new line up of cake enthusiasts and Linda is still jetting around the world as well as teaching in between exotic locations.

 Taa daaa! My topsy turvy cake that ended up in the display window of Alex & Alex Shoes in Sydney.

A year on, what we're all up to....

Mary is making the most beautiful & romantic cakes under her own label Couture Cakes in Sydney and Leonie is being kept very busy with making cakes for family and friends.

Effie is making bold and beautiful cakes under her own label Designer Cakes by Effie as well as joining forces with the very talented Fran at the soon to be up and running Cake School in Melbourne.

Sharon is making pretty and elegant cakes under her own label Sharon Wee Creations in Sydney.  (Yes, we were very stressed out making hundreds of sugar petals!)

 

Sam is still ultra passionate about her cakes and makes them under her own label Sweet Sovaria.

Lesley's landed a dream job and is now a permanent fixture at Planet Cake Sydney.

 Clare has also realised her dream of a opening a studio in the gorgeously breathtaking town of Wanaka in the south island of New Zealand- aptly called Cakes of Wanaka

Kanissa, along with little Amerah is making fabulous cakes under her own label The Sweet Design Company in Wellington New Zealand.  

 And me, well, you all know what I get up to........

What I remember most about this class, are the great friends we made, how we all still keep in touch (thanks to social networking).

 

....and all the food that we ate during the 4 day sugarfest!!

Yep..... cake is VERY good for you!!

Love,

Lots of pink

Boy!  It's been a busy week!

Last week I had the great pleasure of making a really happy cake for Deanna, who was celebrating her 21st birthday.  As a graphic design student, she was very keen to design the cake for her milestone birthday.

The brief was simple.  Lots of pink, some bling and lots of flying hearts.  I was a little concerned that we might have too much pink.....but as I added the bits of bling, the cake really looked amazing.  Very happy and bright.........a lot like Deanna!

The lovely 21st pin was supplied by the birthday girl and I hope she had a really memorable night!  As you should when you're turning 21!!

Moving onto another lovely pink cake, this one for little Monica's christening.

We had a few bumps organising this cake, but, we finally made it to the church =)

And then there were some cupcakes for a few lucky recipients.

Seems like my cheeky little monkeys are getting a real reputation!

And then, between all of that.....we hosted out Classic 102 class!

Lots of smiles and really beautiful cakes!  Our cake went to ToyBox International for Tina & her friends at the Centre for Celebral Palsy!  I hope they enjoyed eating it as much as we did making it.

Lego at any age

At the beginning of the week, I received a call from a very panicked newly wed bride who needed a cake for her hubby's 40th.  "I know I'm running out of time...." she says.   Naturally, she wanted it to be meaningful and a bit of a surprise, as you do.  So, as he was a big fan of lego, it was an easy choice!

I'm a huge fan of lego too.  When my sister, the UAA, spent hours dressing and re dressing her barbie dolls, I spent hours teaching myself to build little lego houses, with doors and windows on lovely green lego boards...complete with those little pine lego trees out the front.  Ah, life is a lot better when you're young and easily satisfied!

 

Here is Lego-ised Derrick with his big 4-0h sign and some of his favourite building blocks. The cake was a real hit, especially with the birthday boy.  Yes, I definately aim to please!

I hope Derrick forgives me for giving him great 70's hair!!

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Cake Love was also very excited to be at Epicurious again for our winter classes.  Our Classic 101 - Buzzy Bees and Designer Cupcake classes were filled with cheerful cake enthusiasts.  Amongst them, lawyers, dieticians, auditors, mum to be....and the list goes on.

Our weekend in pictures.

Such beautiful cakes.  Makes me sooo happy!!

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Moving onto cupcakes!

The designs UNVEILED......!  Such interesting responses captured!  Beware of the candid camera......

*Contented sigh*  Such beautiful cupcakes!  What a great way to spend a weekend!

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And lastly, a special shout out to Kate

3 days to due date.....and still cake decorating!  What a champion!  I hope by the time this is published Kate will have her hands full with her gorgeous new bundle of joy!