Under the sea themed cupcakes

I absolutely love how these cupcakes turned out.  Under the sea is a really good theme to work with, so many possibilities, and they're colourful and fun too.  These were for a children's party at a swimming club so the theme worked very well.

All the little creatures are hand made with sugarpaste and sit on top of some swirly buttercream with white sprinkles, it's hard to pick a favourite, I really like the octopus but then when I look at my Nemo-esque orange fish there, he looks so cute, how could he not be a favourite?

Topsy Turvey Celebration Cake

This is the first Topsy Turvey cake we've attempted and I'm so glad that it turned out so well.  The bottom tier is vanilla and the top tier is chocolate, both tiers have piped swirl detailing on them, these have been piped with royal icing and then painted silver.  A sugarpaste ribbon and bow have been added round the cake and painted with gold luster dust.  I find that when it comes to adding silver and gold details, it is best to use luster powders and mix them with rejuvenator spirit to create a paint, you can buy liquid silver and gold food colouring but I find that they dry out very quickly.

The trouble with these types of cakes is that they are naturally top heavy, what with having a wonky top and the base of each tier being slightly smaller than the top, you need to make sure you have a good structure and support system. 

The numbers and twirly decorations are all made from sugarpaste with a wire structure for extra stability.  These were made well in advance so they had plenty of time to dry out and harden, that way when it comes to painting them and putting them on the cake, you're less likely to squash them out of shape.

I was rather worried about delivering this cake in case any of the decorations fell off and broke but I'm glad to say that it got there in one piece and the birthday girls were delighted with their cake.

Ford Escort Rally Car Cake

This is the second Ford car we've been asked to make, this time it was an older model, a Ford Escort Mark 1 Rally car.  It's always best to spend as much time as possible carving the car shape and getting the main shape right, once that is done you can cover it with sugarpaste and concentrate on adding in all the little details. 

I always work quickly to mark out details like doors and windows before the sugarpaste hardens and then you have plenty of time to add on the other bits like lights, mirrors and wipers.