Hen Day Cake Making

What a brilliant time we had hosting a cupcake making hen party for Bhavini. It was a big group of 20 hens for the hen do, including family and friends from all over the country. They had a great, bonding time learning how to ice and decorate 8 cupcakes each. It was a great cake making ice breaking event and despite the fact that most of the girls were meeting each other for the first time there was soon a great atmosphere with everyone laughing and joking together. Most of them couldn't resist tasting their cupcakes during the class and were thrilled to discover that as they were hand made (by me) they tasted delicious. I even made some vegan versions for those with special dietary requirements. At the end of the cake workshop they were thrilled with there end results and happy to be taking home their cupcakes as well as a fantastic new skill set! All in all they loved there hen activity.

Team Bonding Event For We Work

We Work wanted to do a fun corporate event that gave the opportunity for staff members from different buildings to get together. Needless to say we were happy to oblige with one of our cupcake decorating team events.  It was during a World Cup game and we took it as a good sign that three of the guys who were in the bar to watch it couldn't help but watch our cake workshop instead. We invited them to get involved and they had a great time- surprising themselves with the professionalism of their end results. At the end of the 1hr workshop we headed out onto the deck to capture the stunning London back drop in a pic. (We were in the London Bridge building) They were a lovely group who really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of our company event. It was a perfect icebreaker and the group really bonded during the session.They had a fantastic time at the cake making workshop and were excited about the prospect of us returning to do the next level cake class. 

Corporate 'Festival' Event

Rolling up at Amber Lakes we knew we were in for an amazing day of cupcake decorating fun. It is the most stunning location with a beautiful wooden building set on a picturesque lake (obvs). The organisers had created a really special day out with lots of different activities. As well as our fun cake making workshop there was; hula hooping, gin tasting, flower headdress making, glitter face paints, zorbing, beach volleyball, football and a climbing wall. As well as some fantastic food stalls including the delicious pulled beef from 'Bills', well stocked bars a live music stage and some great DJ's. Our cake class was hugely popular. Event after hosting 2two packed classes we had more people wanting to get involved. In the end we set up a 'pop up' cake decorating area whilst we packed up allowing us to teach cake decorating to an extra 20+ people. This really felt like the future of corporate away days. The company employees were clearly having the best time and thrilled to be so appreciated by their employers. 

Kate's Hen Do

What a great time Kate and her Hens had at her cake making hen do. Her mum had come all the way over from Oz with one of her oldest friends (Kate is Australian). The rest of the Hen Party where made up of stage managers from various west end shows. They did a fantastic job with their cupcake decorating creating some beautiful buttercream swirls. As you can see there was a lot of laughter between them all. As they were a small group it was a lovely intimate event and I was able to give them lots of individual attention. At the end of the cake class they couldn't help but admire their cake making achievements and were thrilled to be able to take back their beautiful cupcake creations to share with their friends and family. 

Mermaid Birthday Party

As you probably know by know I love cake decorating and there is nothing I like more than creating a cake table. They are a lot of work though so I only do them twice a year. Once for Teddy's birthday and once for Cosy's. Luckily they are six months apart which gives me plenty of time to recover! For some reason my husband always seems to be away in the lead up to Cosy's birthday which is frustrating as it's when I need him most. This year he was at his brothers stag party and didn't get back till the night before the party. That meant that as well as effectively being a working single parent for the week I had to work cake making night and day to get all the treats prepared for the cake table. When I say had to obviously I mean want to but it does always turn into a big commitment on top of everything else. This year I did a couple of things I haven't got round to before. One is I printed off some mermaid themed 'food cards' from Etsy which my talented adult daughter wrote on in calligraphy. I think this really pulled the whole look of the table together and made it look more finished. The other thing is that I set the table up and photographed it before the guests arrived to make sure I got some good picks before everything got mauled. Also, I got a pic of the mermaid birthday cake in situ before whisking it away to bring out as a surprise for the magical moment when everyone sings 'Happy Birthday'. Unfortunately the mischievous birthday girl snuck a good look at whilst I was taking the pics. Next year I may need to arrange someone to take her to the park whilst I do that. Having done all this in advance did mean that I was able to socialise a bit during the party and have a few drinks rather than my usual rushing around like a mad person. I did indulge in a couple of bottles of Corona beer and relaxed whilst the kids did a great job entertaining themselves. In fact I relaxed so much that it wasn't till everyone had left that I realised that I'd totally forgotten to do the Pinata! Still at least I didn't forget the cake! The funny thing was I had thought I was so organised, wrapping the parcel for pass the parcel (or parcel, parcel, as my kids call it) and prepping the party bags in advance. There's still always something I've overlooked!

Cake Making Hen Day

It was a total pleasure hosting this intimate cake baking Hen Party for Ezster and her closest friends. She came all the way from Germany to have her cake making hen day with us. The girls really enjoyed the relaxed, informal environment for their private baking lesson and were thrilled with their fantastic red velvet cupcake results. To be honest it was amazing that they had enough mixture left to make the cupcakes they were so enjoying tasting the mixture as they went along! The red velvet cupcakes looked stunning with their simple white cream cheese frosting. They kept sprinkles to the minimum wanting to create an elegant end result. As most of our hen parties are cupcake decorating events it was a real treat getting to work with a hen do when they were doing their cake making from scratch. They were such a lovely bunch and obviously very close. I felt very privelidged to be a part of such a close knit get together.

Princess Cake Table

It was such a joy to make this cake for my Goddaughters birthday that when my own little girl said she wanted it for her 6th birthday I was delighted.

Princess Castle Cake

Although from time to time I work in fondant I try as much as possible to use buttercream or cream cheese frosting as to me it tastes much better. I also love the textural affect that it brings to your creation.

You will need:

Cake batter

Buttercream

Royal Icing

Fondant icing (Green and any other colour)

Italian wafer cones

Blossom Cutters

Hundreds and Thousands

Castle:

I started 3 days in advance by baking 2 round, Victoria sponge cakes (butter, sugar, eggs, SR flour, vanilla) ; one 6” and one 10’. I used a 6 oz(of each ingredient) and 10 oz of each ingredient) recipe for each tin.

Once they were cooled I crumb coated them with buttercream, placed the small on top of the large (in the centre) and put them on a turntable (cake not record!). I made up a quantity of 500g of unsalted softened butter and 1kg of icing sugar (3/4 I coloured pink, the rest green).

Cover the cake with icing. I used a petal affect where I piped a line of blobs then used a spatula to drag them to the right before piping another line of blobs and doing the same again (This is often used on Ombre cakes).

Turrets:

To make the turrets I made up a mix of rice crispy cakes and wrapped it in cling film then pushed it into the cardboard centre of kitchen rolls. You need to make sure you compact it down to make the shapes solid. I left mine over night and then used a rolling pin to push them out.

To make the roof: Make up a ¼ of a pack of royal icing with water. Dip your Italian wafer ice cream cones in the icing to cover then roll in hundreds and thousands that you have covered a plate with. Definitely make extra of these as they are very fragile. Leave to dry overnight.

Windows, Doors & Flowers:

Roll out some fondant and cut into rectangles that are large enough to cover the turret bases. Use water to ‘glue’ the fold at the back. Roll out more fondant and cut out smaller rectangles to be windows and an arched shape to be the door.

Use a cutter to create lots of small ‘blossom’ flowers. Place an edible pearl in the centre of each one using icing to secure it.

Garden:

Roll out a piece of fondant big enough to cover the cake base. Cut out a strip to be the drive. Cover this with left over Royal icing and cover with remaining hundreds and thousands.

To Assemble:

Place the cake on the centre of the green covered cake board. Place the turrets on the side and use icing to fix on the board. Use more icing to fix the ice cream cones on top.

Add the windows and doors.

Take a disposable piping bag and cut the end keeping to the shape of the tip of the bag. Fill with green buttercream. Use this to pipe your vines over the cake. This works particularly well to soften and hide the edges of the windows and doors. Now randomly place your flowers on the icing whilst it is still wet.

I embellished it this time with some fondant shapes that I made using a cutter I got free with a cake decorating mag which worked well as the blue windows. I also used a rose fondant mould to make the roses which I attached to the vines.

Covent Garden Hen Party

What a fun group of friends Isabel and her sisters had come along to her hen party. They were a really lovely group of hens. Despite the fact that they didn't all know each other they soon bonded over the  cake decorating as it is such a good ice breaking activity. We spent a lovely 2hrs together on their hen day at our fab Covent Garden venue 'Crusting Pipe' doing a cake class.  As you can see they were pretty chuffed with the results of their cupcake decorating efforts and amazed by how much they learnt in the cake making workshop.They were also thrilled to be taking their hand decorated cupcakes away with them to share with their friends and family.  It was a really great hen do and I'm sure they are going to have a fantastic time at the wedding.

Company Freshers Week Event

Our cupcake decorating workshop was the perfect activity for Capgemini's fresher week entertainment. The new recruits had been working hard getting to know the ins and outs of the company operations. So they were well and truly ready to have a few drinks and unwind whilst learning a fun new skill at this company event. They really enjoyed the cake making workshop and were thrilled with their results. We covered everything that we would do in a beginners cupcake decorating class. They soon got the hang of the buttercream piping techniques. As you can see they had really bonded over the buttercream and delicious cakes. They were soon laughing and giggling like old friends whilst enjoying a couple of drinks. It was a really fun team event and a lovely way to welcome the new recruits. I'm sure doing such a fun networking event really helped the new freshers settle into the company quickly and easy. 

Family Hen Day

Kathryn's Hen was a last minute booking made by her good friend Emily. She had no idea what we were doing and was over the moon when she realised it was a cake decorating workshop. Her outfit couldn't have been better co-ordinated with her apron- or her cupcakes! It was a small intimate group made up of a cousin and a childhood friend, her mum, mother in law and some aunties. It was very relaxing for me and I got the opportunity to get to know everyone a little over the 2hr cake class.  They all really enjoyed the workshop and created some really beautiful, jewel like cupcakes. Kathryn was very happy with her signed copy of my recipe book and delighted with her cake making. At the end they all enjoyed a glass of bubbly together. It was such a great occasion. I got to hear all about the outfits the mothers of the bride were going to be wearing at the wedding which was taking place in France. By the end of the workshop I felt like an honorary family member!