Wine Bottle Birthday Cake

Today's cake was a last minute order for a 3D wine bottle. It was created out of vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and covered in fondant. I surrounded the cake with modelling chocolate wood shavings and created a faux-bois box out of gum paste. There were a lot of fun elements to make on this cake and I was thrilled to be able to learn how to make my bottle shiny with edible varnish.

Giant carrot cake with sugar paste bunnies

Today's cake was 3D giant carrot cake with large sugar paste bunnies created to look like the client's pet rabbits. The interior of the cake was chocolate with chocolate buttercream and a surprise filling of homemade caramel and pecans. This is one decadent cake. Enjoy little bunnies.

Shortbread wedding favours

Last weekend I had a little bit of a different order and I was asked to create cookie favours for a wedding. The bride had said she wanted shortbread and that she would have hearts as part of  her theme.

 Shortbread is one of my absolute favourite types of cookies and it always amazes me how only few ingredients can change the style and flavour of this classic cookie. I tested out a couple different recipes and decided on using my absolute favourite that I  have adapted from my Five Roses cookbook. This shortbread is buttery and soft yet firm enough to roll and cut out. Flavoured with just a hint of nutmeg, these cookies as SO addictive that I have to bake only a small batch or I will eat them all.

Did you want to get a taste of these cookies? Below you can try out my adapted recipe for yourself. Mmmmm.....shortbread.

Melt-in-your-mouth shortbread

Preheat oven to 325F                                                                         Yield: 20 3" cookies

1 c           unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 c        sifted icing sugar
1/8 tsp     nutmeg
1/2 tsp      salt
1              egg yolk
2  c          all-purpose flour

Cream butter. Scrape bowl and add icing sugar. Cream until fluffy. Scrape bowl and add egg yolk, salt and nutmeg. Mix well. Scrape bowl down and remove bowl from mixer. Add flour a little at a time mixing each addition with a wooden spoon. Once all the flour has been added and mixed turn the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a rectangle slab. Wrap well and chill for 2 hours.
Once chilled, roll half of the slab at a time to 1/4"thick. Cut into desired shapes.

To maintain crisp shapes, freeze cookies for 10 minutes before baking. Bake for 20-25 min. or until delicately browned on the bottoms and edges. 

Enjoy!

Yoga birthday cake for an eighty year old

 Today's cake was created for a client whose mother is a yoga enthusiast turning 80 years old. It was made out of chocolate devil's food cake and and covered in traditional buttercream. The orchids, bamboo, blades of grass, lotus and figurine were all made of sugar paste.  

Creating the figure was the highlight for me and I made sure that she was able to separate from the flower so that both pieces could become keep-sakes.