Moved To Flickr

Hello people...I have decided to move away from blogspot and use Flickr instead.

Go to www.flickr.com/photos/wiggleswhoo  to see all my cakes.







          Thanks and see you there =]

10th July 2011 - Motorbike Birthday Cake

Motorbikes are a little tricky to do as I found out with this cake.  I made all the different parts of the bike and let them set overnight.  The next day I stuck all the parts together and painted the details on.  Again I let the motorbike set for another night.  The morning after I discovered the weight of the bike had squashed the tyres a little more than I had anticipated.

With the tyres in mind I designed the cake around a theme that would allow me to disguise them enough without destroying the look of the cake.  I made the bike sink into think mud.... Genius =].  I had Adam (the birthday boy) lose a shoe in the mud too for more of an effect.  I built the cake up to have a hill for Adam to sit on with just a couple of flowers and tall grass to finish it off. 

I imprinted the number 18 in a kind of tire print, like was asked, as well as painting his name and age on his T-shirt and his age on his motorbike.  Oh and I made a tiny little frog and placed it in the mud too just by the front wheel.

Triple layered sponge... So popular

So distraught about his bike

I didn't see that warning sign!!!!

5th July 2011 - Hallmark Cards Manager Retirement Cake

Another personal retirement cake... This cake was for my wife's (Lel), Boss.  He worked for Hallmark Cards, supports Newcastle United, Loves Newcastle Brown Ale and wants to go and live in France.  I tried to incorporate all these things into the final design of the cake. 

As usual a sponge was wanted, so I did the triple layered buttercream and strawberry jam.  Always go down well!!!  I covered the cake in a layer of white sugarpaste and let set firm for the night.  In the morning I covered the white suarpaste with a thin strips of sugar paste in black and white.  This was to symbolise the Newcastle United part of the theme.

Next i made the chair and its covers followed by the fireplace.  On the fireplace I placed a Carriage Clock to represent retirement, a card with an almost Hallmark Crown on it (almost because Hallmark Heads where gonig to be at the party and I didn't want to get in trouble with Copy right).  Next for the fire place I made a small Eiffel Tower with French flag attached.  Finally the sugarpaste logs, flames and burnt card were added.

I wanted to make the man for the cake look a little like the real person. My wife gave me a description of him and the clothes he wears for work. once he was done I wanted to place his feet on a pile of cards.  I got my wife to paint the stack of cards his feet are on (no those were not painted by a four year old =] ).  I painted the other scattered cards and also made some Newcastle brown Ale bottles.... kind of.  Placed some flowers on the cake board in the Hallmark colours and thats it.... Job done =).

Lots of Personal Themes

Comfy chairs are a must for anybody

My Wife made the pile of cards.. Cool aint they  =]

24 June 2011 - Fudge, my baby.

Very sad day today, my Fudge my ginger kitten-like 11 year old cat died today.  I will never forget you baby XXX.

Love Daddy X X X

2000 - 2011
We all LOVE you

22nd June 2011 - Xbox, Call of Duty Cake

This cake was the most fun I've had so far with my designs.  All I was asked for was an Xbox/Call of Duty themed cake.  I decided that I could make an Xbox and turn it into an Army bunker with walls and soldiers on guard.  Well maybe not on guard but stationed there anyway.

The cake was for a teen boy named Jordan and his name needed to be on the cake some where too.  Dog tags came to mind immediately and are a must on an army cake.  I decided not to have any guns on the cake with the soldiers but instead have them doing a bit of Rest and Relaxation.

I made one read a book, another asleep with his feet up and arms behind his head, and the one on top playing a white Xbox.  All are drinking Coke... a must for any Gamer as I know =].

The design was finished off with a camouflaged cake drum, grass tufts, two giant bullets and lots of poppies (the flower we associate to war), to give it some colour.

Xbox Cake

Call of Duty Theme

Soldier Playing Xbox

R&R for Xbox Soldiers

All Gamers need to drink Coke =]

21st June 2011 - Princess Doll Cake number 2

Wow I just showed to people at work the doll cake I did the other day and got another order out of it... How cool.  I needed to make this one different to the last one but still make it girly.  I designed a different bodice but used similar colours. 

This cake also needed "Kaitlyn" and the number 6 on it somewhere.  I decided to have the name in bold across the dress and have Peppa Pig (which was also asked for like the other doll), hold a little flag in hand with the number six on it.

Princess doll cake

Peppa Pig holding a flag

Brown hair this time

14th June 2011 - Newcastle United Cake

Another football cake, but this time not so boring.  Paddy wanted me to make a cake for his son Robert.  To begin with he asked me to make a Spiderman cake... this was a few weeks before I was due to make it.  I had a few designs in mind, until about a week before the cake was due.  His son had changed his mind and wanted a Celtic Football club cake.  I thought fine. okay and looked at the Internet about the team for ideas.

Two days before the cake was due he changed his mind again to a Newcastle United logo cake... Fairly tricky little logo as it happens.  I did my best and both Paddy and Robert were happy with the results.  So All is Good =].

Newcastle United Cake

More difficult than it looks

Plenty of detail

28th May 2011 - Doll cake in Snow White style with Peppa Pig friend

This cake was fun to make... first off I had to sculpt the dress into shape and add grooves and crevices into the sponge (which was filled with many layers of vanilla buttercream and Strawberry Jam).  I then made three circles of yellow Regalice, each a different size, the two largest of these I cut holes into.

I placed the largest one on first, bringing it to just under a third of the way down and shaped the creases and folds into it.  I did the same for the second but obviously placed it further up the cake.  The third I placed on top of the cake and smoothed and shaped and folded into the final dress shape.

Next I created the upper body to fit the proportions of the lower dress.  I then created the head and face, followed by the   shoulders of the dress and the arms of the doll holding a bunch of flowers.  Finally came the hair, and I did plenty of this to give the look of layered hair like in real life.  Not thin hair where you can see the scalp and neck of the doll.

I then made and placed the flowers and butterflies on the finished doll, along with a Peppa pig friend.  Why Peppa Pig you may ask..... and the answer is.... because the 2 year old the doll cake was for loves Peppa Pig too.

Doll cake in Snow White style

Long flowing black hair

Peppa Pig friend on Doll Cake

20th May 2011 - Blackpool F.C. Cake

Wow yet another person who wanted a chocolate cake.... only this time the design was quite simple.  The chocolate cake, triple layered vanilla buttercream with chocolate buttercream coating, was to be completely covered in orange Regalice.  The words Blackpool F.C. Forever where then to be cut and placed on the cake.

Not the greatest design I've been asked to make, but if that's what people want......   I was told the cake tasted great and the birthday Man the cake was for was delighted with it and that's what counts!!!!

Blackpool F.C. Cake

13th May 2011 - Hedgehog cake with worm friends

Another chocolate cake to make but this time in the shape of a Hedgehog in the style Grandma used to make.  This was request from a work mate...  Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling and chocolate ganache covering topped with chocolate buttons for the spikes and smarties for the eyes and nose which had to be brown (I added a little detail to the eyes though). 

With the offcuts from the main Hedgehog I made a small albino hedgehog  to sit next to it.  The offcuts where shaped and covered in vanilla buttercream with white chocolate buttons for the spikes and mini smarties for the eyes and nose. 

To give the cake a bit of character I placed it on a decorated board with a couple of worms to keep the hedgehogs company.

Chocolate Hedgehog cake

mmmmmmm Chocolate =]

9th May 2011 - Handy Manny cake with Tools.

For this cake I needed to do a little research because I had no idea who Handy Manny was.  I googled him and even watched a couple of episodes on sky just to get to know what I had to put on a Handy Manny cake.

The first thing I noticed is that his tools are characters themselves and must definately go on the cake.  There are seven main tools and several others you just see now and again.  I only made the main tools along with Handy Manny himself.

I couldn't just have them plonked on top of a cake doing nothing, so i made it look like Handy Manny and his tools had just made a rabbit hutch for a naughty little rabbit named Peter.  I also had to put the name of the child on the cake for whom it was made for.  I decided to also make this look like it had just been made too.

Handy Manny cake Tools

Very difficult cake to make

Even remembered to put a pencil
behind his ear

3rd May 2011 - Fancy Chocolate Cake

Someone from work asked me if I could make them a Chocolate Cake... Not a standard chocolate cake but a nice fancy one.  I said I would give it a whirl. 

I used real dark chocolate in my sponge mix instead of cocoa powder.  Filled it with a triple layer of vanilla buttercream.  Covered it in a rich dark chocolate ganache, that I then coated in chocolate flavoured curls and dust.  Finally I piped chocolate ganache shells across the top edge and base of the cake and decorated with chocolate and vanilla butterflies and leaves. 

I thought that was fancy enough for anyone,  and person who asked for the cake loved it... =]

Rich Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Flavoued dust and curls

Triple layered vanilla buttercream

29th April 2011 - Cat and Frog cake

Tomorrow is the birthday of Ad's girlfriend, and he asked me to make a cake for her with frogs and black cats (one adult and one kitten).  Those where the only specifications given and rest was up to me.  I like it when the design is left to me because I can play around with things I haven't done before. 

The first new thing I tried was the carving of the cake into a small hill.  I needed to leave enough space for the frogs and pond. 

Secondly (other than the small rocks on the Rabbit cake),  I tried marbling fondant with great success.  The Pond was marbled with two different blues, and the Throne of the Frog King was black and white mixed until all the white turned grey so it would look like stone.

Thirdly I wanted the Lilly pads to look wet.  I painted over all three three pads with edible glue which achieved this look with great effect =].

4.5 hrs from start to finish =] =] =].

The marbling effect turned out great.

Frog King with Robe and Crown on an
ancient stone Throne.

25th April 2011 - Electricians Retirement Cake.

I was asked at work by one of the electricians if I would be able to make a Decorated cake for one of his colleagues who is retiring as of tomorrow.  I had to do a little bit of research for this cake as I don't know what equipment is specialised to electricians. 

I stuck to the basic stuff like wire snips and needle-nose pliers and the likes, as well as some caps, fuses and a gadget I can't remember the name of now but it measures eclectic currents in wires... Electromitor maybe??  He also wanted a little man in his dark blue overalls and hairnet if possible with his toolbox lying nearby.   I think I did everything he asked for and a bit more.

6hrs to make - I'm getting quicker.

A bit of research needed.

1st time using edible metallic dusts.

23rd April 2011 - Easter cake and easter cupcakes

I made cupcakes and a disk decorated Victoria Sponge cake today.  The theme was Easter with obvious reasons.... Its Easter =].  I did small chicks, full bunnies, bunnies popping out of and into the ground and Easter baskets filled with different coloured eggs.

The Victoria Sponge Cake was only partially decorated in Fondant because my wife and kids don't really like the taste but still wanted a decorated cake.  I don't know what this type of partially decorated cake is called so I called it a Disk Decorated Cake for reasons you will see when you look at the pictures.

Fun and simple to make.

Only took about 2.5 hrs for All cakes.

Disk Decorated Cake.

18th April 2011 - Cow cake, rabbit cake and rocky road muffins

This weekend was a bit busier than I thought it was going to be.  I didn't think I had a cake to make for anyone this week so I told Emma from work that I would make her Double Cow Cake this week... She asked me to make it for her about two months ago but she said she was in no rush and to just do it when I got the time.  Well this weekend was that time!!! 

Then when walking the dog on Sunday, Lel asks me if I could make another cake in time for Tuesday because it was Lorna's Birthday.... A bit more time would of been nice and when I got home I was a little stressed with the time I had to do both cakes.  I had already told Emma I would be delivering her cake on monday night and now I had to have a second ready for the latest 5pm on Tuesday.

So I did what any pure blood Englishman does when stressed..... Sat down with a brew (and one of the Rocky Road Muffins my wife made).  After a relaxing brew I got too it.... baking cakes, mixing buttercream, rolling icing and making cake decorations and models.

As I mentioned earlier I did a Double Cow Cake for Emma.  For Lorna I did a Rabbit next to a little pond with ducks, (because its spring), holding a Butterfly.  I also surounded the cake in butterflies because if you haven't guessed already Lorna likes butterflies.

Throughout the cake process my wife cleaned up after me time and again to the point I though I would soon have to pay her a full time wage...... I Love my wife X X X !!!

Rocky Roads made by my wife Lel X X X.

Destress with one of these and a Cuppa Tea mmmmmm.

15hrs in Total for both cakes.

5hrs sleep, all day decorating cake and then nightshift...

Book title "The Big Story".

Vanilla Sponge and Vanilla Buttercream in both
cakes with Stawberry jam.

Both cakes finished by 8:30pm on Monday

Thx Lel for my tea, Cuppa's, snacks and cleaning
up after me for two days X X X.

6th April 2011 - Heart shaped cake with Roses and a Smurf.

Well I got an order from a work mate a few days ago for a pink, girly, heart shaped cake with I Love You on it.   Ohhh and with a blue and white Smurf on it somewhere.  Why a Smurf??? His girlfriend whom the cake was for likes girly things and Smurfs.  I couldn't just slap a smurf on the cake any old how (Heheheh slap a smurf, would its face go red or a different shade of blue/purple???)..............

............... Anyway the cake!!! I decided that the Smurf should be doing something on the cake and the best thing I could come up with so it looked like it was meant to be there, was make it look like it was planting some of the flowers onto the cake straight from plant pots... Well look below and see what you think.... I also took some pictures of what the cake would look like if the Smurf was not part of the cake.

7hrs to make (inc Smurf)

Handmade and painted Roses.

Blue Smurfs and Pink cake don't go!!!