Black & White Cake with a Hint of Purple

This was a very last minute leaving cake for some friends who were leaving the area to start new jobs. As I had free reign with the design, I decided on a different, more simplified, take on a black and white cake. I think the little splash of purple sets it off perfectly - how about you?

It May Not Be Manolo Blahnik, But Carrie Bradshaw Would Love This!

Looking back over some of the cakes that I really enjoyed making last year, this one really stands out in my mind. It was for an 18th birthday party and the remit was a black & white cake. The invitations for the party featured a fabulous platform stiletto shoe and so I decided to incorporate this into the design.

This cake represented a lot of firsts for me - the first time I had made a gumpaste shoe and the first time I had tried stencilling royal icing on to a cake. It was nerve-wracking to be using black royal icing on a first attempt at the stencilling as if I made a mistake there was no where to go with it....the white icing underneath is ruthlessly unforgiving. 

Despite never having made one before, the shoe turned out to be relatively straightforward. I was so pleased with the finish that the red glitter gave to it. The photographs don't do any justice to just how sparkly it was. It set the cake off beautifully and, to be honest, there was a part of me that didn't want to let this one go. I am glad that I wasn't there to see it cut! 

A New Year - Looking Forwards & Reflections

I can hardly believe that the last time I posted something to my sadly neglected blog it was last September. The time has flown by since then. There are never enough ours in the day and I have to admit to maintaining my facebook page (canterburycakes) in priority to my poor little blog, but my new year's resolution is to split my time evenly between them both...all good intentions!


2012 promises to be an exciting year on the cake front, as I have (slightly) more time to dedicate to learning the craft since finishing full-time work (although looking after the little people in the house is a full-time job in itself!). I have a workshop booked with the amazingly talented Lorraine McKay (which I am SO excited about), tickets booked for the Cake International show which is taking place in London and a place reserved on the British Sugarcraft Guild's skills school. I am also hoping to fit in a second professional diploma course in either royal icing or sugarpaste to compliment the one that I did last year in sugar flowers. So, hopefully I should have plenty to report back here.


2011 was an amazing year on the cake front. Given that the official start date of my business was 1st September I have had an amazing response and been kept quite busy. I have even had to turn work down because I just couldn't fit it in, which I really didn't imagine would happen so soon. I have worked on some extremely enjoyable projects which have allowed me to explore my creativity while honing my skills (often working out of my comfort zone - the best way to improve one's skills I find!). So, for my next few posts I will look back at, and share with you, some of my favourite cakes of 2011.


Lets start with this one

A good friend of mine, and her twin sister, celebrated their 40th birthday at the end of the year. I offered to make them a birthday cake as my gift to them and I was given free reign on the design. Earlier in the year I had made this cake inspired by the style of Cath Kidston:

and I really liked the idea of doing a similar cake but (hopefully) improved with the benefit of all I had learnt during the course of the year. The flowers were a joy to make and I think they finished the cake off perfectly.