Saturday 18 July 2015

Sweet Nora

Ok so we've all had one of those weeks right?
I came across this lovely little poem yesterday and, like many other cake decorators/sugar artists, thought it just about summed it up.

So with the kind permission of Amber Murphy Hughes from the lovely Sweet Nora's Bake shop I am sharing this with all of you that may be having 'one of those weeks'

Hello! Hello! Can you make this cake?
We saw it on Pinterest, looks easy to make.
I looked at the picture and what did I see?
A four tiered confection, staring at me.
All fondant & lovely, sugar flowers galore,
with scroll work & stencil from top to the floor.
"Sure I can help. When is it needed?"
"I need it tomorrow!" My customer pleaded.
With a roll of my eyes, I went all in,
"How many guests are expected?" She said, "Ten."
I gave her a price -which I thought quiet low.
She sent back a message that simply said, "Oh!"
"That's absurd! she said, "Why's it so much?
It's JUST A CAKE with fondant & such!"
She said, "My mother's friend's daughter is cake maker too."
I said, "Well give them a call! I'm not the baker for you!"


Friday 17 July 2015

Procrastibaking with pastillage

Today has been one of those days....you know the sort...lots you could be doing but instead of doing them you are playing with cake stuff!

Yep that was me today, so instead of finishing my practice cake, or better still, attacking the 5ft pile of ironing, I decided to have a play with some pastillage.
This bag of powder has been happily sat in my Cake room for months....so long that I can't even remember why I needed it, but I clearly ordered too much of it as it was still there, almost full, making me feel like I just had to come up with something.

A quick google later and the answer was a teacup and saucer.

My daughter had picked me up a lovely little set from a charity shop last year because i wanted to use the pattern on a cake.....and yep you guessed it...they had also been sat there ever since!

I mixed up my powder and boiled cooled water, kneaded it well and rolled it thin. 
I had to work very fast as pastillage dries so quickly you don't get a lot of 'mistake' time.

I gently persuaded it into my cup and used a cookie cutter the same size as the top to cut a perfect rim. I then checked it hadnt stuck and set it aside to dry while i got on with the handle, base and saucer.

Now we all know the ninja has no patience, so after three hours I decided I had waited long enough and carefully released it from its mold. It still felt damp even though it was solid to the touch, so i set it upside down on a sponge form for another hour.

Tick tock, tick tock.....I could wait no longer and proceeded to get my paints out!
It clearly wasn't ready to be painted but I just didn't care...off I went painting pagoda type shapes, willow trees and birds that vaguely resembled my little set.

Voila!

I cannot tell you how happy I am that I have found a use for my sad bag of powder :)
It just needs a cakey home now!