Louis Vuitton Handbag (June 2, 2009)

As you can probably guess this was not a cake for one of our kids, although my daughter did love it, and I can see us having to make a replica one day. This cake was a surprise for one of my wife's favourite cousin' 30th birthday party, and I can honestly say that it was a complete pleasure to make from concept to delivery - to be fair, no-one puts this much effort into a cake unless it is a very special occasion or it's for someone they like (both in this case).

As with all of the previous cakes, this is a vanilla sponge mix, with buttercream filling, but was, without a doubt, the most intricate that we had ever done, or have done since. With previous cakes, an element of artistic license was allowed, and blemishes could be covered by adding or removing elements - this one was completely unforgiving. The Louis Vuitton brand is so strong, and the design so well-known that any mistakes would have been very apparent to almost anyone with an eye for a handbag (at least 50% of the population by my estimate). Planning was everything with this one, and it meant that my usual "make it up as we go along" approach was never going to work - my wife's more meticulous approach was key to a good execution (it also helped that she is, quite firmly, in the 50% and knew what this needed to look like before we started).

So how did we go about building this?

• The cakes: Two cakes were cooked, using our standard sponge mix (found here), cooked in a 12 inch square tin. These were then cut in half and three of the pieces were stacked, using buttercream filing to hold it all together;
• The shape: The cakes were carved using a long bread knife. There was no template used - it was all done by eye;
• The decoration: This was all built in layers, which was why the planning was so important. We needed to know the order in which the layers went on, and at what point to add the additional details (like the padlock and the zip teeth).

OK, so saying that the decoration "was all built in layers" sounds easy, and to be honest it is a bit of an understatement. There were at least 10 different components to take into account, all of which were created before we started to build the cake:

• The burgundy icing for the bottom and side sections: This was coloured by hand to ensure that we got the right shade, and although you cannot see it in the picture, a texture was added to make it look like the material that is actually used for the handbag. This was done by rolling the icing into flat sheets and then placing a piece of kitchen roll on the top and rolling lightly over it to add the texture - never be scared to use anything and everything that is around you;
• The handles: These were formed using pieces of the same burgundy icing as the side and bottom sections, but were free from any texture. The icing was wrapped around kitchen paper to form the shapes, and then left to harden and dry overnight. The use of the kitchen roll added the shape tot he handles, without adding a lot of weight (which additional icing would have done). The handles were attached directly to the handbag, and the additional detail (such as the rings and the panels that are normally stitched to the bag) was added later;
  
• The gold piping, the golden rings between the handbag and the handles, the zip and the padlock: These were all formed with brown icing which was then shaped and sprayed with a gold food spray; The logo in the padlock (not that you can see it from the picture) was formed using a cocktail stick;
  
• The cherries: These were hand-cut from rolled sheets of coloured icing (no great surprise there); which leaves us with the final, and most complex element
• The brown icing with the Louis Vuitton branding: The base was easy - a sheet of rolled, hand coloured, brown icing. The real time was taken in adding the branding to the sheet. This was done using four hand-cut cardboard stencils, which were then used as masks to add the logos. We had initially tried spraying the logos, but discovered that the flow was too strong and that too much liquid was deposited, meaning that the shapes lost definition and smudged when the stencils were lifted. The solution came by accident (as is often the case) and we ended up spraying a piece of kitchen roll and then using this to dab the paint onto the icing, through the stencil (almost like stippling a stencil design onto a wall). Each logo was done individually, and the entire process took several hours to complete.

As an exercise in cake making, this was very testing, and pushed us to our limits. It's still the best cake we made, and remains only one of three created for an adult audience (rather than our usual child-based audience).

Did we have fun doing it? Yes
Did people like it? Yes
Would we do it again? Hmmm, not sure - ask me nicely and we will see...

Time taken to make this cake: 14 hours

One final note: If you are ever going to attempt something like this, with the intention of leaving it alone for any length of time, leave a big sign next to it that reads "this is a cake" - this one nearly didn't make it to the party when one of the caterers tried to pick it up by the handle having mistaken it for a handbag, rather than a very good replica.

"Our" sponge recipe

OK, so it's not ours (it's Delia's) but it's still the best sponge recipe I've found so far. You can find it here. Just ignore the bits about the filling - we use a single layer of buttercream icing or a double layer of buttercream and strawberry jam (smooth, no bits). Also, we find it easier to test the cake using a metal skewer - insert the skewer into the cake, and if it comes out with cake mix stuck to it then the cake is not cooked. If the skewer comes out clean or just with a little condensation on it then it's done.

Many websites recommend covering the cake with a layer of buttercream or ganache before the fondant layer, but we have always found that a thin layer of jam (again, no bits) will help the fondant layer stick to the side of the cake and also adds a little bit more moisture. We've always found to easiest to heat the jam in the microwave and then some onto the top of the cakes and then spread it using a nylon pastry brush (don't use a hair brush as the heat from the jam will make loosen the glue in the brush and you will shed hairs). Once the jam has cooled then the fondant layer can be added.

One final note: If you want to increase the mixture, you need to adjust the cooking time - a larger cake tin needs to be cooked for longer at a lower temperature to prevent the outside burning whilst the inside remains raw. I will post our cooking times for our various tins later.

In the Night Garden (August 9, 2009)

So this was another first for us - we had never done a proper tiered cake before, and our third child's second birthday was the ideal excuse - as you can probably guess, he's a bit obsessed with the childrens' television programme "In The Night Garden".

We started with three round cakes of different sizes (6, 9 & 12 inches) which were buttercreamed in the middle and then covered in a single layer of coloured icing. They were then placed on top of each other and a small amount of purple buttercream (left over from the sandwich filling from the cakes) was added round the edge of the top and middle tiers to cover any imperfections.

So what about the figures and other bits?

The Ninky-Nonk (the train on the bottom tier) was made using flat icing, coloured and cut as required, and then glued to the side of the cake. We decided not to try to model this, but to go for a simple solution, and to put the effort into the characters;

All of the figures were modelled using coloured regal icing, which proved to be more of a problem than ever before as the weight of the icing pulled the arms down and made the characters sag (hence the cocktail sticks under the arms - although these were removed at the last minute).

• Igglepiggle & Upsy Daisy (the two lower characters holding hands) were close to what we wanted, but somehow neither of them quite hit the mark - I still cannot put my finger on what is wrong with Igglepiggle, but Upsy Daisy was just too chunky - she is supposed to be a female character with a love of dancing, but somehow just ends up looking like an olympic shot-putter;
• Makka Pakka (the beige character towards the top) was made in the same way, but didn't suffer from the same sag as the others due to his size. He is, quite possibly, the best character we've ever made, and surprisingly took the least amount of time - possibly because we got him right, first time.

The Pinky-Ponk (the airship at the top of the cake) was a compromise. We had wanted to create a 3d airship, but the weight of the icing required was threatening to collapse on itself, and tried to sink into the top tier at one stage. The only choice was a 2d attempt, or to abandon the idea altogether.

Time taken to make this cake: 5 hours

One final note: We hadn't made a tiered cake before, so we made two fundamental mistakes: 1. we didn't have each tier on it's own base - the moisture from each of the top two layers made the icing on top of the bottom layers very sticky; and 2. we didn't use any support for the top tiers, so there was a little bit of settling as the tiers were added. Two very simple mistakes, easily corrected for future cakes. Lesson learned.

And then there were two (January 14, 2006)

Well, a year went by with little temptation and little opportunity, and the cake count remained at one. It was still a one-time event in our minds with no plans to repeat ourselves ... until our daughter's second birthday rolled around.

This cake was an experiment. For her previous birthday, we had created a cake that was (in our minds) quite simple - a jam sponge with icing and flat decorations. The real question for this cake was just how good were we with icing? Could we create childrens' tv characters that were recognisable to us and (more importantly) recognisable by our daughter. As before, we started with a jam sponge, and covered it with a layer of icing, and then went to work on the decoration. Instead of adding flat shapes and sparkly bits, the goal this time was to have the decoration standing out from the cake, almost like little toys placed on the cake. I cannot articulate just how much fun and frustration we had (in equal measures) trying to colour the icing and make the figures, and would recommend this to anyone - there really is nothing more therapeutic than pummeling an icing figure of an annoying purple dinosaur. :-)

Time to make this cake: 6 hours

One final note: The handbag, books, blocks and balls - It took so long to create the characters that we ran out of time - the blocks and balls etc filled the empty space and only took a few minutes to create.

It all started with a single cake (January 16, 2005)

Well, having had this blog for a month now, with no activity, I guess it's time to start adding things - our first cake seems like the best place to start.

It was a first birthday cake for our daughter. A jam sponge cake, decorated to match the tableware (plates, napkins, banners etc...).

This cake was completely experimental - there was nothing about this process that was familiar to us. We had never made a sponge cake before and had certainly never decorated one. The icing was purchased white and was coloured as required, with the addition of icing gel pens and sparkley bits to complete the pattern.

Time spent to make this cake: 6 hours.

One final note - note the creases in the icing on the sides of the cake - we just didnt know how to get ried of these. It was only after discovering the problem that we thought to ask the lady in our local cake shop for a few pointers. Watch the next few cakes to see how these vanished.

Hello

So I guess the question you are asking is why does this blog exist? Why am I bothering to spend my time trying to find things to write? "So you make cakes, great, have fun, just don't shout about it"? I thought so too, and then I started to get people asking to see pictures of our cakes - I was left with three decisions: 1. Create a website; 2. Carry a photo album around with me; or 3. Just be rude and say no. Well I'm too forgetful to remember to carry the photo album, and too nice to say no (haha), so that left the web-site. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to create a website so blogger was the next best option.

So I guess some background is in order: This is a two person effort (myself and my wife) and it really does take both of us to create a good looking cake - we have both tried individually, and the results were worthy of either Dr Frankenstein or Salvador Dali (or in some cases, both). Neither of us are bakers, or involved in the food industry in any manner - we are just parents, out to create cakes for our kids.

Have fun browsing, and please feel free to send an email with any criticisms, comments or thoughts.