Stargate cake

If you are a fan of the show, you will (hopefully) recognize this cake.  Otherwise, you may be forgiven for thinking it is a swimming pool with a man jumping in :)

I made this cake for my hubby who is a fan of the show.  It didn't start off as a stargate though.  We had a long discussion (as we usually do) about what he would like for his birthday cake this year, and it always comes down to these themes: Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate or Lord of the Rings.  Well, the original plan was Minas Tirith from LOTR but I wasn't sure about making a 7 layer cake.  Then we decided on the Enterprise from Star Trek, which then changed into a hobbit hole (LOTR again) and finally into Stargate.  That was straightforward enough, I thought.  And with so many wonderful ideas on the net from people who had made a Stargate cake (yes there are quite a few!), I started on the cake.

The cake is a chocolate mud cake covered in chocolate ganache.  It has 3 layers, and for the top layer I cut out the centre before placing it on the cake.  Then I cut into the inside of the ring to make it dip a little.  There is an excellent video on You tube by someone who made a Stargate cake.  She shows you how to cut into the ring, which I found very useful. 
Here is the cake already iced with some ganache.

Next I covered the cake with light grey fondant and made some markings around the cake using a small star cutter and a knife.  You could use a triangle cutter if you had one.  I also used a larger star cutter (or a triangle cutter) to cut out the chevrons (triangle markers) around the cake.  Cut the tip off each triangle and space them apart around the cake. 

I then made some markings on each triangle with a spatula and added some red fondant to complete it.  I struggled a little with the event horizon (middle bit).  I thought of using blue jelly, marshmallow icing or piping gel and I am sure it would have looked great but in the end I went with something I had which was royal icing.  I filled the centre with white icing and piped a border of blue around it.  Then using a toothpick and brush, I blended them together till I got the effect I wanted.  On hindsight, I could have made the lines more wavy than straight.  To complete the cake, I used the rest of the royal icing to pipe the letters on the cake as well as some of the symbols from the Stargate.

Of course, hubby had to decide that it would look more exciting to have one of the characters jumping into the wormhole so Teal'c was made, carrying his staff weapon. :)  I made him using my basic tutorial on "How to make a simple fondant figure".

I did use some wire support for the arms as it was made last minute but luckily he stayed upright ok. 
Here is the cake lit. :)

Pretty cool, huh?  Well hubby thought so, thank goodness!  Are you a fan of the show?

Happy Birthday, sweetie, I am looking forward to our discussion about your next cake. xxx  :)

Baseball cap cake

 My friend's son was turning 15 last week so his mum asked if I could make a simple cap cake for him as he was into collecting caps.  She wanted it to match his favourite navy blue cap.  It was quite straightforward to make and since she wanted more servings I suggested a sheet cake underneath to make up for that.  Here is the cake all ready to go.

The cap itself was made up of 2 cakes - top was from half of the Wilton sports pan and the bottom was a 6 inch round.  They fit perfectly on top of each other and the only carving I needed to do was at the back to make it look like the 'material' was folded in.  I covered the whole thing in navy blue fondant and used my PME quilting tool to make the stitches, mimicking the real stitches on the actual cap.

The brim of the cap was made a few days in advance with fondant mixed with a bit of gum tex so it would dry hard.  I made a template using the real cap and copied that onto the fondant.  (Do make sure to check that the part of the template where the brim meets the cap body fits snugly around your 6 inch cake pan, you may have to adjust it a little.) 

To give the brim a curved look I rested the fondant template onto a kitchen towel roll insert.  You can use anything you have to make it curve.  I also added a small piece of cardboard underneath the fondant to give it some support whilst it was drying.  Alternatively, you can leave the brim flat.  Again I made stitches following the real cap using the quilting tool.  It really is a handy tool to have in your cake decorating kit!  The eyelets were made using a Wilton tip 12 to get the outer ring and the back of a paintbrush for the hole.

Assembling the cake was very straightforward.  I used large straws inserted into the bottom cake under the cap to hold it up.  I also used a straw under the brim as it was not completely dry and needed a bit of support.  For the star border I used a Wilton tip 21 as the sheet cake was fairly large - 12 inches!  For the writing, I used a Wilton tip 3.

The 'V' initial was drawn free-hand onto cardboard then traced onto fondant and cut out.

His mum was really pleased with the cake and so was the birthday boy.  Always a good thing! :)

Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting {Recipe}

The last few months has seen me trying out a healthier lifestyle.  All this baking has not been very good for the waistline!  However, I could not stay away from my oven too long, so I decided to make something a little healthier and satisfy my craving for cake.

This carrot cupcake recipe is from the book 'Bake me I'm yours...cupcake love' by Zoe Clark.  There are some delicious looking recipes as well as the prettiest cupcakes you could find in this book.  So I decided to try out the carrot and pecan cupcakes.

I tweaked the recipe a little, substituting some of the ingredients I had in my kitchen.  The cakes turned out moist and nutty, with a hint of cinnamon. I topped them off with a cream cheese frosting.

Recipe for Carrot cupcakes (makes 12)

125g soft brown sugar
120ml canola oil
2 eggs
190g self raising flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
280g grated carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
50g chopped pecans (add more or less to your taste)

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
2. Line cupcake tin with cases.
3. Whisk sugar and oil together.  Add eggs, one at a time, and whisk til combined.
4. Add flour, baking soda and cinnamon.
5. Mix in grated carrots.
6. Fold in pecans.
7. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 15 minutes or until skewer inserted in the centre of cake comes out clean.
8. Cool for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe for Cream cheese frosting

60g butter, soft
120g cream cheese
1tsp vanilla extract
400g icing sugar, sifted (add more or less according to taste)

1. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla.
2. Add sugar, a little at a time, beating well between each addition, until smooth and creamy.
3. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.

I used a 1M tip for the three designs in the photo.

• The rose swirl in the front is done by starting in the middle, and working your way around until the edge.
• The high swirl starts at the edge, working your way around, overlapping round and round until you get to the peak.
• The stars are done simply by squeezing the tip once, stopping and lifting up. Repeat stars all over the cupcake.

I made the little carrots out of fondant, shaping the orange fondant into long tear drops, and sticking some green fondant on the top for the shoots.

Happy baking! :)

Cake Decorating Classes

If you love baking and would like to pick up some new skills on how to decorate your cakes, then come join me for a fun-filled class!

My classes are designed for beginners as well as those with some experience in cake decorating.  Here are the details of the first two classes:

Class 1: How to make beautiful fondant roses
Date: 16th Feb 2012
Venue: Stonefields School (next to Mt. Wellington domain)
Time: 10.30am -12.30pm
Cost: $45

Class 2: How to make a sweet fondant teddy bear
Date: 18th, 25th Feb 2012
Venue: Stonefields School (next to Mt. Wellington domain)
Time: 10.30am -12.30pm
Cost: $45



 All tools and materials are provided for use in class.  Bring along a container to take your decorations home in.

I hope to see you there! :)

Russian and Welsh Wedding Cake

I had the honour and pleasure of making a cake for a student's friend this week.  The bride is Russian and the groom is Welsh and they wanted a Russian doll and Welsh dragon as toppers on their cake!  It was a very unusual combination but I think it came together very nicely in the end.

My friend, Jin, a very talented cake decorator, made the dragon and helped cover the cake as well.  Check out how elaborate the details are on the dragon!  Amazing work!  I hand-painted the Russian doll from a picture that they gave to me.  I was really pleased with the results.

They were very happy with the cake.  It had to travel all the way to the Bay of Islands so I hope it made it ok!  Here's to the happy couple.  May they be blessed with lots of love and good wishes on their special day! :)