Finally I found time to bake some mouth watering treats. The choice fell on a fantastic banana cake recipe posted on flickr by one of my dear friends Kathryn and let me say this IS the best banana cupcakes I have ever tasted. Moist and a nice texture and that great banana taste and scent.

I had to keep an eye on them when they were cooling on the rack because three of them almost got eaten out of the oven :-). I made some nice chocolate fudge frosting from Julie Hassons 125 Best Cupcake Recipes for the rest of the cupcakes. It was a great combination together with the moist banana cupcakes. To dress them up a bit I made some pale yellow and white sugar flowers along with some home made yellow sprinkles.

You can find the banana cake recipe here and make sure you take a look at Kathryns lovely creations aswell.

Happy Caking

Louise

This has got to be the sweetest little party monster cake I have ever seen and I hope it will be in the upcomming book Confetti Cakes For Kids by the talented cake designer Elisa Strauss owner of Confetti Cakes in New York City.

It will be the second book from Confetti Cakes. The first one Confetti Cakes Cookbook
was filled with spectaclar and stylish cakes, cupcakes and cookies. The new book puts more focus on the kids. The following text is a synopsis from Amazon: Strauss starts readers off with 20 delicious recipes and all the basic techniques needed to complete any project in the book. Then she offers step-by-step instructions for 24 jaw-dropping designs that can become the centerpiece of any celebration. Projects span the imagination–from a charming sock monkey, to an MP3 player, to playful hula gingerbread girls and boys–and will appeal to anyone looking for the perfect way to thrill a child with a delectable, spectacular creation.

Just by looking at some of the cakes from her web site improves that Elisa Strauss can create anything out of cake.

The Confetti Cakes For Kids should be out around November 2008 so make sure to make your pre-order.

Confetti Cakes For Kids UK
Confetti Cakes For Kids US

Happy Caking

Louise

Just a note to all of you who have sendt photos of your gorgeous cake stands. You can now see them in the cake stand gallery I hope that I have all the details right if not then please let me know.

I would still love to see and receive more photos of your version of the cake stand so please send them to me and I will add them to the gallery. Thank you all so far with the contribution:-)

Happy Caking

Louise

So many have loved and used the tutorial on how to make this cake stand and some of you have even send me fantastic photos so that I could see how it looked when it was finished.

So I thought it would be a great idea to make a gallery only with the cake stands that you have made not only just to look but also for insperation on colors and materials aswell.

If you have made one by using this tutorial and have a photo with or without cupcakes I would be very happy if you will send it to me along with your name and where you are from. I will add the photos to the cake stand gallery when I receive photos of them. If you already have send me a photo then please send it again. Thanks!

I hope that many will share their cake stand with the rest of the world.

Happy Caking

Louise

First let me say congratulation to Sandra (socake) who won the Fairy theme Throw Down at the flickr Bake-off group. Sandra made a fantastic fairy who crashed in the frosting. Love it!

I made this little sweet fairy and yes she is very small just over 2″ high. I made her out of modelling paste and used a flower cutter to make the petal dress. I gave her a pair of wings by using a butterfly cutter from Patchwork cutters. I finished it off with green piped vines and some simple “rolled roses”.

You can see another photo of her in my cake gallery.

Happy Caking

Louise

We have had the most fantastic warm summer weather. So standing in the kitchen with the oven on have not been on my agenda lately. But I have pulled myself together to make some cupcakes for a little cupcake project on the Cakes & More forum.

So I have made three different cupcake decorations 1. swirl 2. embossing and 3. animals.

The swirls did not turn out the best because the whipped chocolate ganache that I used did not like the heat and curdled alot.

For the sweet blue cupcakes have I used a small embossing stick from Holly Products. I topped them with small sugar roses and leaves. The sticks are also great to use on fondant decorated cookies. The cute little turtle is made out of modelling paste = ready made fondant about 8 oz. mixed with 1 tsp. of Tylo Powder and kneaded well.

But I have also another cupcake project comming up in fact I am just about to get started on it. I am in this group on flickr called Flickr Bake-off! where you can challenge another person for a “Throw Down”. Then you both decide what theme it should be and if it is going to be a cake, pie, cookie or a cupcake you want to make. You have about 14 days to make whatever you have decided and the photos then goes for a vote. All just for fun like it just should be

So I am a bit late so I will show you my result when the voting is over……. Oh btw the theme is “fairies” Wish me luck

Happy Caking

Louise

It was with excitement that I received the three DVD’s (Perfecting the art of buttercream, Successful Stacking and Flawless Fondant) from the talented cake designer Sharon Zambito. I decided to start off with the Flawless Fondant DVD as I decorate most of my cakes with fondant.

Sharon shows how to prepare the cake so that it will not only make the covering easy but also make the cake look beautiful when it is finished.

You will see what kind of equipment she is using for the job. I really love the blue silicone mat so I just had to buy one;-) Then you will be guided through different ways on how to roll out your fondant, cover the cake and how to smoothe the cake. She shows that on both round and square cakes but also on difficult shapes like petal and hexagon. You will also see how you can decorate with impression mats, crimpers and pearls to make it look even better.

The part I love is where she shows how to get rid of air bubbles, white dust on the fondant and how to cover up small marks on the cake. The Flawless fondant dvd have also a bonus dvd with a small taste sample from Perfecting the art of buttercream. I think it is a “must” have if you are new into cake decorating because of the great step by step guides and it will help you to not give up if you have problems with your fondant. I also think that those with more experience including myself can learn from it aswell.

Happy Caking

Louise

My cake gallery is now up and running. Please feel free to explore

Status 14 April: My server issues has been resolved and the gallery is up and running again

Happy Caking

Louise

Gisele has finished a wonderful job and CakeJournal is, in my opinion, looking better than EVER! I hope you like it as much as I do. Now Im looking forward to get some new cake stuff done to look good with the new design

Happy Caking

Louise

Please have patience while Gisele Jaquenod is giving CakeJournal a much needed design make-over.