A Birthday Cake Fit For A Golfer

Last week we celebrated my Father In Law's 75th birthday with a family dinner at his favourite golf club.  The boys had spent the day on the course and we all meet up in the evening for a meal.  No birthday is complete without a birthday cake and in keeping with the golfing theme here is the cake I made!

Apparently the cake was very apt for that day's play, with the 15th hole costing many Nike golf balls and threatened at least one members golf club!

The sand trap is simply some shaping in the cake which was then topped with crushed shortbread biscuit crumbs.  The golf ball and broken club are made out of fondant.  I would have loved to have got some pictures of my Father In Law's face when the cake was presented to him but unfortunately the staff brought it out when none of us were expecting it so none of us had our camera's ready.  I can confirm that it was greatly enjoyed by all though ;0)

A Posey of Roses

Last Tuesday was my last class at college ... though there maybe a new term starting up for us in September.  Fingers crossed we get enough numbers!  So as well as making Thumper and his spring cake (both of which are sitting untouched on our sideboard still - no body is allowed near him with anything resembling a sharp edge!) we also learnt how to make sugar roses and sweet peas ....

I'm quite proud of my wee roses ;0)

The sweet peas need some work!  But given that I don't think I've ever seen a real one before I'm not 100% sure of how much work they need!

And there are little blossom's to help fill out the posy too.

Now my classes are over I promise that normal service will resume shortly!  Watch this space for some yummy, chocolatey baking goodies ;0)

Phew!

Here it is!

The finished cake.

Two weeks and a very bumpy car ride to Glasgow and this is how it has ended up.

The birthday girl was chuffed to bits with her cake ... and her bubbles :0)
There are defo no shrinking violets here lol

And at the end of it all it actually tasted pretty good too!

Now I'm off to ctach up on all my blogs I've been mising ... and 40 winks!

Miss SP's 50th Birthday Cake - Progress So Far

You know there is something wrong with your work life balance when you have to set your alarm for an ungodly hour just to get your blog done!!!!

This is the progress on Miss SP's cake so far.

Both cakes have had two coats of sugar paste.

The bottom cake has been placed on the cake base.

The sugar paste has been coloured to compliment the ribbon colours that is for the edge of the base board.

Small amounts of paste were rolled out and flower shapes where punch out.

And applied to the bottom edge of the bottom cake ....

.... and all over the top of the second cake ....

... apart from the center which is where the centerpiece will go!

Flower accents have been added to the '50' and to the edge of the centerpiece (but none of those photos turned out very well!)

Phew!  Still a little bit of work to do on it but for now I'm off to catch up on some of the blog posts that are sat in my reader ;0)

Miss SP's 50th Birthday Cake - Part 2 (and maybe part 3 as well!)

Things have been a bit quite on the baking front this week.  Work has been insane and the new health regime has picked up a notch with my gym membership - I can say with all honesty that whoever invented the concept of a spinning class has pure evil at their core!  As much as I would love to say that I pushed the pain aside to get the next stages of Miss SP's cake completed for her big day, the overriding justification is that I'm not going to be able to comfortably sit down for about a week!

Lemon Madeira Cake - For the 23cm round cake
450g unsalted butter
450g caster sugar
450g SR flour
225g plain flour
8 large eggs
zest of 3 lemons

Preheat the oven to 160C.  Grease and line the cake tin with baking parchment.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light, fluffy and pale.  Sift the flours together in a separate bowl.

Beat the eggs into the creamed mixture, one at a time, following each with a spoonful of flour, to prevent the mixture curdling.

Sift the remaining flour into the creamed mixture and fold in carefully with a large metal spoon.  Add the lemon zest.

Transfer to the lined baking tin and bake for 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 hours.  When the cake is ready it will be well risen, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin then, leaving the lining paper on, wrap the cake in foil or place in an airtight container for at least 12 hours before cutting , to allow the cake to settle.

Cakes to Inspire and Desire

I've also made a 20cm round cake for the top tier;
Lemon Madeira Cake - For the 20cm round cake
350g unsalted butter
350g caster sugar
350g SR flour
175g plain flour
6 large eggs
Zest of 2 lemons

I followed the same method as listed above except for one small detail.  One of the girls in our group is unable to eat wheat.  So that she can still have a slice of cake I replaced ordinary flour with gluten and wheat free (Doves brand came highly recommended which was a good thing seeing I couldn't find any other brands available!  This has lead me to the conclusion that gluten free members of the population have got it tough).  I checked out the website for Doves flour range and while they do make an SR flour neither of my local supermarkets stocked it, just plain flour.  I opted to use this and added 2 1/4 tsp baking powder to the first sifting stage.  So far this seems to have worked pretty well but the cake is still 'settling'.  Also, the packet advised that gluten and wheat free flour could be used in place of regular flour but that more liquid should be added to the mixture - annoyingly it didn't give any guidelines in what amount of liquid should be added so I opted to add the juice of the two zested lemons.  Again, looks as though this has worked pretty well but I won't know until tomorrow when I cut the cake, fingers crossed.

Covering the cake board
The next step was to cover the cake board.  I rolled out some sugar paste until it was larger than the size of the board.  Using vodka (or any other clear spirit) brush the board so the sugar paste has something to stick to.  Lay the rolled out sugar paste over the board ensuring that there are no air bubbles.  As you can see mine has a few 'dinks' in it.  I'm hoping that the cake will cover these up, otherwise I'll make sure they go at the back of the cake!  This is a catch phrase in our Tuesday night class!

Covering the cake
I decided not to split the cake in half and then sandwich it with butter cream.  Icing a whole cake is still difficult enough for me!  So to add a little more lemon kick I used a skewer to pierce holes all over the cake and then poured some limoncello over it.  Next, the cake needs to be trimmed so as it is level.  The trimmings are the cooks perk ;0)

Traditionally speaking, marzipan is used as the first layer for covering the cake.  None of us are all that fond of marzipan though so I have opted to go for two coats of sugar paste.  To do this, follow the same method as for covering the cake board, use some string or cotton to measure the size of the cake, this is then used as a guide for rolling out the sugar paste.  The natural enemy of sugar paste is water, I have learnt through bitter experience of having a work station right buy the sink that water drops can leave great big craters in the surface.  For this reason I have used apricot jam as the glue for the sugar paste instead of vodka.

Use some sugar paste to cover any little holes at the base of the cake.  After trimming about half the cake off in an attempt to get an even top to my cake I ended up flipping it over.  This meant there were quite a few gaps to plug!!!  So pleased I hadn't gone for the butter cream sandwich!

Trim the excess sugar paste from around the base of the cake and smooth the top and sides.  The sugar paste needs to dry a little bit before I can add the second coat, otherwise the icing has a tendency to be lopsided if you accidentally apply a little too much pressure.

Tomorrow is the turn of cake number two!

Hubby's Birthday Cake - Part 1 - Cherry Blossom Buds

Its been a birthday cake kind of a day for me today ;0)

As well as making a start on Miss SP's cake, I've also made a start on Hubby's, May is a popular month!  Hubby's cake is going to be a bit more traditional, another two tier project (maybe!!  Depends on how the first one goes hehehehe) but with some sugar paste flowers.  Specifically they are Cherry Blossom's.  "Why?" I hear you ask?  Quite simply its a bit of a mickey take at poor old Hubby's expense.  Before I met my other half he went on a holiday to the states with friends.  When he returned the only photo's he'd taken were of the Cherry Trees in DC, something he still hasn't lived down to this day!  So it seemed logical to me that his birthday cake should include some Cherry Blossoms ;0)

Cherry Blossom Buds
Cut a 33 gauge wire into four equal lengths and make a tiny hook on the end of each.

Roll a tiny ball of pale pink sugar florist paste (SFP).  Moisten the hooked end of a wire with edible glue and push it into the ball of paste.  Reshape the paste into a ball.

Use a craft knife to mark five indentations at the top of the bud.  Dust over them with cyclamen dust food colour.

Roll out some pale green SFP and cut out the calyx shape.  Apply some edible glue to the centre then thread it onto the base of the bud and mould into a natural position.

Paddi Clark's Sugar Flowers For Beginners

If we were making these in class we would have made the buds on one night and then put the calyx on another night, its a bit easier when the buds have set.  Also, I'm not 100% sure that the cyclamen dust has been applied correctly, I haven't yet added the proper brushes to my kit and had to make do with some cheap kiddies versions instead.  For a first attempt though I'm pretty pleased.

My tutor always advises to make more flowers than you will need for the finished cake, that way you can pick and choose the best ones to be included.  It makes sense too, it doesn't take any longer to make a few extra while all the kit is laid out.

Note - Use the cyclamen dust outdoors, or in an area where it isn't likely to ruin clothes or furniture!

Miss SP's 50th Birthday Cake - Part 1

Today I started work on the 50th birthday cake for Miss SP.  In two weekends time a group of us will be heading off to Glasgow for the weekend to help her celebrate in style, we're seeing Hairspray at the SECC, staying at a posh hotel and having a general girly weekend ;0)

What birthday would be complete without a birthday cake?  I've decided to push the boat out and make a two tier cake (this is a bit of an experiment for me as all the cake we have made in class so far have been solo!) decorated with lots of flowers in the birthday girls chosen colour theme for the weekend - pink and purple.  The cake topper will be a keepsake for her so this is where the adventure has started.

I made a batch of pastillage following the recipe we made in class.  I'm guessing there is a wee typo in the notes we got at the end of class as mine ended up looking like rubble and I had to add more water and some trex to get a dough to form*.  Because of this it isn't quite as smooth as it could be but that is me being a perfectionist.

* I've included the recipe below as it has been written in my class handout.  I'll find out on Tuesday which quantities need amending and will update this post accordingly.

Pastillage Basic Recipe
3 tbsp cold water
1 1/2 tsp gelatine powder
500g icing sugar
1/2 tsp gum tragacanth
1 tsp white veg fat (I use Trex)

Soak the gelatine in water for 10 - 15 mins.

Warm the bowl containing 375g sieved icing sugar and gum tragacanth over a pot of hot water to body temp and take off the heat.

Completely dissolve the gelatine over hot but not boiling water.

Pour the gelatine into the warmed icing sugar stirring in using a spoon or knife.

Beat until smooth and pliable, turn out onto a work surface dusted with some of the extra icing sugar.

Knead thoroughly adding small pieces of trex intermittently.

Place in a plastic bag and into an airtight container.

Do not store in the refrigerator.

Use cornflour when working with the paste but use sparingly as too much tends to dry out the paste causing cracks.

This paste must be covered when not in use as it dries out very quickly.

Note - If you require to colour the paste add the colour to the gelatine solution.

Taken from class handouts.

I've used the pastillage to cover a round cake card (approx 4") which is the base for the cake topper.  To do this I rolled a small amount of the pastillage into a circle, used some clear spirit (vodka) to brush over the cake card and then laid the disc over the top, ensuring there were no air bubbles trapped between the cake card and the pastillage.  I then used a sharp knife to cut the excess dough away from the edges of the card. 

I then rolled some more dough out (using the 5mm cookie guides to ensure an even thickness) and then used cookie cutters to make the number 5 and 0.

All are left aside now to dry out before decorating any further.

Introducing Thumper

This week we finished off our second cake for class.  I'm a little bit smitten with the marzipan bunny and I've dubbed him Thumper for obvious reasons.  My tutor seems to think he has a cheeky look to him, he even went so far as to suggest that he has adopted the personality of his creator ...

... I'm sure I don't know what he means!  Lol

Thumper just loves having his photo taken!

He is such a little show off!

As well as a mischievous little bunny there are also snowdrops ...

And sugar paste pebbles to make a rock garden.

The rock garden didn't really like the two bus journey to get home so its not looking at its best now but I managed to get some pics on my phone before we left college.  I just need to figure out how I get them off my phone and onto my laptop now!