Exploding stars cake

Finally, a finished cake. I'm very happy with it, and will most likely re-use the topper in Smidge's first birthday cake in a couple of weeks. Sadly he can't have this one as it contains dairy.

This week in cakes

The week started off with Mothers' Day, celebrated with a chocolate cake covered in ganache and decorated with leaves made from chilli chocolate. Its tiered because I didn't have a deep 23cm pan, so ended up using a 20cm sandwich and 12.5cm deep.

Closely followed by a sheet sponge on Monday for a birthday dinner. No photo of that - it was pretty plain to look at, although I'm told the eating was good.

Thursday and Friday I made my first topsy turvy. Not a bad result for a first try. In fact, it was good enough to get me a query about a wedding cake!

The design was chosen by the birthday girl's mum, and is a pretty close replica of one made by Pink Box Cakes. Black fondant is not my friend!

Modern cakes, week two

This week we worked on assembling our toppers and icing our boards. I'm fairly happy with the way my topper has worked out.

Modern cakes

I've finally started my second cake decorating course. This one is modern cakes, and is the sort of stuff I'm interested in. It runs for six weeks, and we're going to decorate up to three cakes. I wish there were time to do more, but given each class only runs for two hours, there just isn't enough time.

No cake this week, sadly. We prepared cut-outs to put on top of a two-tiered cake. Given that I have a first birthday party coming up, my cut-outs were of ones and stars. Pictures to come when the cake is complete.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Finding a great icing recipe isn't easy. There are so many out there; lots are too greasy, lots are way too sweet, and some are too sweet, too greasy and too runny all at once. This recipe is incredibly easy to modify, and gives you a sweet and silky icing that is easy to pipe. The only caveat is don't try to use it on a hot day.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 egg whites (from 59g eggs)
285g sugar
425g butter

Method

Add the sugar to the egg whites. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and stir with a whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Using a stand mixer and whisk attachment, beat the eggs until thick and glossy. Change the whisk attachment to a paddle attachment, reduce the speed to medium and continue mixing until the bowl is room temperature to touch. Meanwhile, cube the butter. When the meringue mix has cooled, slowly add the butter, one or two cubes at a time. Continue until all of the butter has been incorporated into the meringue. If the mixture appears to curdle, stop adding butter and continue whipping until the mixture smooths again. Once it's smooth, start adding butter.