Krystal's 30th Birthday Cake

This past weekend was my sister-in-law's 30th birthday party.  A few weeks ago her husband contacted me and asked me to make her a nurse themed cake for the party.  Of course I said yes!  I was a little bit stressed out about it because it is the first cake I have made for her.  Thankfully it turned out pretty well despite the heat I was battling in making it.
The cake is a bit of a hybrid of a few cakes that I found via pinterest.  Originally I was going to make a stethoscope as well but I didn't end up having enough room so I just left it off.  I was pretty stoked with how the syringe turned out!  I think that is my favourite part.  The ecg line was drawn on with edible marker.
I am really happy that they asked me to make this cake! I had a lot of fun making it and it is one cake I was actually semi happy with when it was finished.  Usually with every cake I make I get to the end and hate it.  This one though I was kind of happy with.  I wonder what cakes 2014 will bring?!

Corey's Minion Cake

If you follow me on instagram you would have already seen this cake but I wanted to share a few more photos.  I must admit I was pretty stoked with how this turned out!  Corey loves the movie Despicable Me and will watch it every time it is on tv.  So when I came across this tutorial on pinterest I knew that I had to make it for him.  I have been looking forward to making it for months so I am really glad that it turned out well.

This was the funnest cake to make! While I love working with fondant and the results it gives I am a lot more confident when working with buttercream.  It can easily be used to give just as spectacular results as fondant.  If you would like some more buttercream cake ideas and inspiration I highly recommend this website.  There are a bunch of free tutorials that I love reading through.  They show how buttercream cakes can be just as amazing as fondant ones.

Aaaah, Monsters!!!

This past few weeks we have had birthdays coming out of our ears!  The weekend before Imogen's birthday we had to parties for two of the cutest little boys I know.  I decided to make their presents and headed to my pinterest page for some "pin-spiration" (see what I did there!)
I just couldn't go past this tutorial that I pinned a little while ago.  This blog has so many hooded towel ideas that I think I need to make a few more.  You know what, I wouldn't mind a fun hooded towel for myself. I wonder if I could make one big enough??  These were super quick and easy to make and I had most of the materials on hand.  All I bought were the towels and hand towels which came from K-mart.  If you are looking to make one yourself defs check out K-mart because their towels are super cheap but still good quality.

Imogen's First Birthday

So this past Sunday we had a little party for Miss Imogen's to celebrate her first birthday.  To say I was excited about this party would be the understatement of the century!  I had been planning since pretty much January.  I was very happy with how everything turned out.  It may have been a little over ambitious but we got there in the end.  But I will let the pictures tell you the rest....

We had a build your own burger bar for lunch and loads of sweet stuff for dessert.  I rounded it out with some fruit and jam sandwiches for the little ones too.  The lemonade stand was courtesy of my amazing husband who built it for me exactly to my specifications!  The lemonade was just cordial because I ran out of time to make my own.  It went down a treat though so I don't think anyone minded.  I am so happy that the party turned out well and everything looked exactly as I had hoped.  The only thing I wish is that I got a better picture of the burger bar when it was properly ready.  Oh well, you can't have it all!  So now that that is over I can move onto planning next years birthday. It's never to early to start planning is it?!

52 Weeks Happy (35/52)

This week was so super busy and it just flew!  Work has been crazy with a major event that I am looking after taking place this week.  Then the long weekend came and it was chocker block full of things to do.  It's funny how even with the extra day the weekend felt shorter than ever.  But the good thing about that is we had some fun things happening.  Two awesome things in particular!

On the public holiday Friday we had Imogen's friends first birthday party.  This is the first birthday party Imogen has been invited to and it was so much fun.  We got all dressed up in our matching blue outfits (totally coincidental) and got ready to party.  There was a jumping castle, loads of yummy food, a fishing for ducks game, cute prizes and loads of Imogen's friends.  It was also my first time getting a chance to catch up with my mummy's group since returning to work which was very needed.  We had so much fun! I can't wait for the next birthday party.

The second fun thing that happened this week was of course Father's Day.  Corey's father's day started early with a sausage sizzle and afternoon of activities.  Imogen also made Corey a super cute card at school and bought him a mug with matching coaster from the father's day stall. On Sunday we started off the day with an early wake up call to fulfill Corey's request of an early morning swim.  After swimming we met up with my family and went to breakfast then had a nice relaxing walk along the beach.  The rest of the day was a pretty simple family day and it was perfect!

So how was your week? I hope it was as enjoyable as mine!

Mum's Birthday Cake

Mum put in a request for her birthday back at the start of the year.  She had seen a cute cake my aunty pinned on pinterest and asked if I could recreate it for her.  Now of course I couldn't say no.  I love to make cute cakes!  Plus when the women who has made you all of your amazing birthday cakes for the 25 years of your life asks for a cake you deliver!

Now if this isn't the cutest little cake ever I don't know what is!  Look at those little pigs bums poking out of the mud.  Adorable!  The pigs were the hardest part of making the entire cake.  I have never modelled with fondant before so I was just winging it.  I made the pigs a couple of days prior to mum's birthday so they were set properly before putting them on the cake.

I used the Planet Cake Chocolate Mudcake recipe again and made two 8" rounds.  I then made a simple chocolate ganache to cover the cake and for the mud on top.  Now the original cake used kit kats around the outside but I used those cadbury chocolate fingers instead.  It took 2 packets to surround this cake.  The ribbon around the outside is both decorative and helps to keep any loose biscuits from falling off the cake.

And that, my friends, is that!  This cake is really quite simple!  The pigs are a new terrain for me but they are pretty simple given they are just balls of fondant basically.  If you are wanting to try working with fondant and don't want to take on covering a whole cake this design would definitely be a good place to start.

Anna's Giant Cupcake

This past weekend was my adorable work friend Anna's 30th birthday.  We went out for a lovely lunch and she asked me to make her a birthday cake.  Her request was for a giant cupcake with a cherry on top.  I jumped at the chance as I have had the wilton giant cupcake tin for a few years but have only used it once.

I made the cake out of chocolate mudcake.  To make sure both portions were cooked evenly I filled the bottom half first and baked it for 15 minutes. Then I filled the top half and baked it for the remaining time.  Because the bottom half is a bit bigger this ensured that both halves cooked the same.

To give a real cupcake look I left the bottom half bare.  The top half was iced with buttercream icing which I tinted with sky blue gel colouring.  The cherry was made out of fondant and had a small piece of green wire in the top for a stem.  I was pretty excited to also get the chance to use my giant sprinkles.  I bought these ages ago just because I thought they were cute and this is the first time I have used them. I think I need to make some more giant cupcakes so I can use them again!

The chocolate mudcake recipe I used for this cake is a new one to me.  I got it from the Planet Cake book and I am so happy I tried it out.  Everyone raved about it!  Even my sister liked it and she is hard to please when it comes to chocolate cake.  I am going to be lazy though and instead of typing the recipe out I am going to direct you over here where you can grab the recipe.  Be sure to let me know if you try it and what you think!

Dad's Tip Truck Birthday Cake

Cake making is something I love!  I really enjoy the whole process so whenever family birthdays are coming up I get very excited planning cake ideas.  Saturday was my dad's birthday so I started planning ideas for a cake a few weeks ago.

Dad drives a tip truck for work so when I saw a cake similar to this one I knew I had to make it for him.  It is a 3 layer chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing.  I covered the outside in milo to look like dirt.  The truck was from Big W and I simply placed it in the centre and filled the back with maltesers and chocolate coated honeycomb.

One tip for anyone who might want to make a similar cake - honeycomb melts!  It takes a little while but once it is exposed to the air it starts to melt.  So I would suggest making the cake up until the point of adding the lollies.  Then just before you have to present the cake add these to avoid them melting too much.

I am so happy with how this cake turned out.  Dad really loved it and has added the truck to his collection.  The next birthday in the family is my mums so I think I better get planning!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I don't usually blog on the weekend but I had to jump on today and wish my dad a big happy birthday. You are the funniest, craziest and most random person I have ever met! You never fail to make us laugh.  You have been an amazing dad to me and an even better grandpa to Imogen.  We love you with all our hearts and we can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with you.  I hope you have an amazing day!  The sunshine has come out just for you.  Love you xx

6 Months

Our little pumpkin has officially been with us for half a year. Half a year! Can you believe it.  I think I have seen the biggest transformation this past month.  It's really obvious now that she isn't that squishy little baby anymore.  Now she has a real personality and is becoming a real little person.  This past month she has started moving non stop.  She doesn't crawl yet but she can push up onto her knees and when they slide out from her she ends up going backwards.  So with her backwards sliding and rolling she is hard to keep track of now.  She is well and truly exploring the house!  As you can see from the picture she can also sit up now.  I must say she thinks she is pretty clever!  Our other big event for the past month was that Imogen graduated baby swimming lessons.  Starting next week she will be in the B1 classes.  She is doing really really well!  She can hold her breath underwater for 2 seconds.  When we first started she would scream for the whole lesson. Now, 11 weeks on, she spends the whole class laughing and smiling and only cries when we leave.  I am so proud of her progress!  She really is growing up.

Because I am a crazy event coordinator mother we had a little celebration for Imogen's half birthday.  My family came around for dinner, there were hats, balloons, bunting and cake.  It was a lot of fun!  We even bought Imogen a little present (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory Pop Up Book).  This will be the only half birthday Miss Imogen gets.  I'm not that over the top!

Cow Print Birthday Cake

Today is my niece's 16th birthday and her mum asked me to make her a birthday cake.  They live 1 hour west of the Gold Coast and she works at a dairy.  When she leaves school she wants to move to inland Australia and become a jillaroo.  She has even bought a few calves off her boss that she is rearing and going to sell when they are older.  So when her mum suggested a cow print cake it seemed like the perfect idea.

I made a basic chocolate mudcake for the base and covered it in chocolate ganache and fondant.  I used white fondant for the base and then cut cow splotches out of black.  Corey already thinks I am a funny little city girl but he thought I was even funnier when I asked him what shape the splotches on cows are!  The rope is also made out of fondant.  I thought I would just buy brown fondant but this is actually chocolate fondant.  Like it actually tastes like chocolate! I didn't even know that existed.

I am really happy with the cover on this cake.  It is the best cover I have ever managed to get and I think that is definitely thanks to the cake class I did.  I really learnt a lot in that one day class and it has made me a lot more confident when working with fondant.  I would highly recommend anyone wanting to learn more about cake decorating does a class at a local cake shop.  I came away with so much new knowledge.  I am so happy Corey bought me the class for Christmas!