Cake Testing

I may not have been driving around all over the place this week but there has still been a hive of activity in my kitchen as I've been testing the merits of different vanilla sponges and working out the logistics of constructing celebration cakes.

 

 

I was asked to make two special birthday cakes this week, both based on a vanilla sponge... in the end I opted for a classic Victoria sponge recipe.

 

The first was an owl for a fiftieth birthday celebration.

 

My brief was an owl cake with eyelashes. I didn't ask questions... I just made the cake.

 

The second was a much larger more complicated affair. An eighteenth birthday cake and the recipient was very specific about colours and design. It also has to feed twenty four and withstand the journey to Manchester this evening. It's huge!

 

I was way out of my comfort zone with this. By the end of the day yesterday I felt as though I was coated in sugar...in fact my whole kitchen was coated in sugar. Sarah hasn't seen it yet so fingers crossed.*

 

And while these cakes were being baked and constructed I was also trying to work out the logistics for assembling these crochet cakes.

 

So far, four cakes and four slightly different patterns but I think I've found the one that works best.

 

There's been cupcakes, muffins and cookies too... consumed by family and friends. Next week I think I'll be ready to leave my kitchen and head back out on the road again!

 

* She has just collected the cake and loves it... Phew!