Where has the weekend gone – on Friday, I spent the day creating a cake for my son’s birthday bash on Sunday. I spent the day baking the three different chocolate sponges which I need to build the design with just so I could be organised before the children got home from school. My son informed me that he wanted sweets inside the cake so that when he cuts it open they will fall out, so I have been to the supermarket and bought bags of Smarties (one of his favourite sweets). I managed to fill the cake with the Smarties and cover it with sugarpaste when the children got home. I finished the initial covering on Friday night so that the sponges did not dry out too much but I didn’t store the cake in the fridge like some people do. Instead I left it lightly covered with clingfilm on the kitchen counter. However, as I had covered the cake with sugarpaste I needed to decorate the outside to resemble a tread on a tyre before the sugarpaste hardened. My husband is desperate for me to print out the cake topper which I designed but I don’t want to do that too early in case it dries out but as it is the first time I have used the printer for the icing sheet I will have to give it a go. 🙁
On Saturday, I finished decorating the cake and I am quite pleased with it although I can see where it needs improving but I am my own worst critique – isn’t that always the case though. I based the cake on a tyre and decorated it with a icing sheet which I printed on my own design. I used an image of Lightning McQueen with the racing flag as the backdrop and placed the name of the birthday boy too. Once the cake topper was set in position I decided that the cake needed a little bit more to finish it off. My husband’s suggestion was to add a trim around the cake topper and to add “Lightyear” to the edge of the cake. Well I did what he suggested and it worked really well – I think? My son was very pleased with the cake – even though I still thought it resembled a tractor tyre – but maybe that is just me??
Well the party has been and gone and everyone said the cake was good and tasted really nice which has made my day. I have not even tried it so I wouldn’t know but my son peeled the remainder of the icing sheet off the top of the cake so that he could eat it. I think he has got a taste for the icing sheets – I am going to have to watch that one!!
I have been researching the prices that other cake makers, in my area of the UK, charge for different cakes and how they add in delivery etc. It looks like the going rate is about £50 for a standard sized cake so what I need to do now is look at who they use for delivery. I have noticed that a lot of these cake makers use printed cake toppers so I am lucky there to have my own printer and it seems to do a really good job. I thought the colours were so vibrant on the cake topper for my son’s cake and I can’t wait to make my next one. I have been watching videos galore to brush up on my cake decorating skills to prepare my self for what I have planned.
Baking wise, I am hoping to bake a Giant Cookie today which will be my “Father’s Day” Treat on my Facebook page when the time comes. I will share some photos later with prices and ideas for decorations soon as these will be available for postal delivery and collection from my webshop and on my Facebook page. This week I am going to bake something with raspberries as it is “National Raspberry Tart Day” on May 3rd – where has April gone! I have an idea going around in my head so I am going to be sharing a recipe soon. I think my Friday Treat this week will have to be something involving raspberries and chocolate so watch this space for more details.
Now I am off to do some more research, start some housework, catch up on paperwork and maybe get some studying done for my chocolatier course. Fingers crossed x