How Does This Make You Feel?

...Angry?

I know very little about these wingèd creatures. Patrick on the other hand is and as I was making them, he kept coming into the kitchen exclaiming that he wanted to throw them.... Not knowing whether or not this was a good thing, I gave my usual quizzical look, to which he assured me that it was indeed a good thing and that it spoke to their accuracy.... okay!

I just hope the Birthday Boy for whom these are feels the same way! I can only hope (for his Mother's sake) that the guests weren't compelled to throw them.

 

Gather 'Round, Girls and Boys!

This is just a bit of fun from my table. I had an old friend and his wife over to have dinner with us, and as part of the table setting and their dessert I made gingerbread men place makers. I loved the wreathes I found to write the names on, it really brightened the table.

A non-edible object on my blog? I know, it's not related to a cake pop, but I made this for my old friend (I've known him all my life, practically) and his wife who are expecting their first baby in April!!!!!!!! Therefore, totally relevant as the place markers were for their dinner party.

Congrats again you two :)

The McSmuth Family

For my last Christmas order, I was given the happy task of creating place markers for one of my favourite families. My Mum's best friend lives right up stairs from her, and she was hosting her kids for Christmas. To add to her laden table I made place markers for each of her guests. I heard that four out of five guests ate them as a dessert.... and one ate it as an appetiser....

Art Deco Elegancy

Hurrah, another reference to my nostalgic sense of style! I recently got the chance to express my love for the Art Deco era through my little cake pops. My interest in this epoch goes back to 2001 when we had to, sadly divide my Grand Dad's estate. There were a few items that used to belong to my Grand Dad's first wife Grandma Isabelle included within his estate, and although I never met her as she died in 1979, I have a feeling that we would have had a similar style. When I first saw this particular piece, a Suzie Cooper coffee set, I was instantly drawn to it and from that point started looking into all sorts of 1920-30s items and styles.

Last week my friend told me about pops that he wanted to make for his wife where I might be able to express this interest. I asked him what sort of pops he had in mind for her,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        he gave me two details that were particularly helpful... first, her favourite colour, a shade of sea-foam green the her brides maid dresses were made in, and second that she was particularly fond of all things Art Deco. The first thing that popped into my head was "Suzie Cooper", then how exactly could I make a pop look like my coffee set...

This is what I came up with. Hopefully they Birthday girl enjoyed them, and that she had a wonderful birthday!!

 

New Arrival in the Crèche Pop Family

They're back!! Tis definitely that time of year when I start making the characters in the nativity scene, all dipped in chocolate, wrapped in fondant and finally tied with a bow. This year, however there was a new addition to the family. Inspired by the large number of Angels taking part in the pageant this year, I made a whole flock of angels to join last year's Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Donkey, and the camel (and I'm happy to say that the camel actually looked more like a camel than a cow, or hamster...).

Hopefully these little pops were a sweet ending to a wonderful day (despite the snow slowing us down a little)... and given the fact that only 15 minutes after everyone went to sit down for out post-pageant lunch, most of the designs were gone, I'd say they were pretty well received!!

 

 

 

The Angels in full chorus!

 

 

 

 

Farmer Lexie Turns 2!

Yes, I hear you asking why this post is only going up now?? For the simple reason that now is the moment I have chosen to up-load the photos required to post about this... I know, it's over a month late, but still!

Now armed with photos showing all our hard work, I can now show you Lexie's second Birthday cake! Last year we did a Mini Mouse themed cake. For a two-year-old, however we needed something a little more grown up...

It was Lexie's Mum's idea to do the far yard scene which made me very happy because I won a prize (1st prize, actually!!) in my village's Flower Show in England when I lived there in 2005, with a cake not unlike the one Nathalie wanted to create. A veritable blast from the past!

As with last year, Nathalie pre-prepared the cake and got a few supplies then I brought the rest. Nathalie displayed her skills she remembered when dirty-icing the cake, and covering it with fondant.

 Just to make sure it was fairly even, Nathalie "volunteered" me to cut the layers.

 

 The "dirty icing"... no skills lost.

 

 Tara, head of the Quality Control department. Very important job!!

Busy workers bees; Nat on the cake, Wendy on the balloons and other miscellaneous decorations, and Tara over seeing it all. 

 

 Covering the cake in grass-like fondant, like a pro.

 

Once we had our base, Nat and I got stuck into making the inhabitants of the Farm.

Little Lexie was the best way to know if we were even close to making the animal we'd set out to make.

 Unfortunately, the sheep were deemed "eggs" before they had their features...

 

 Like a pig in..... chocolate. Lexie shouted "Oink" when she saw these. Success!

 

 

Lexie thought at first they were dogs.... although after a re-jig, she knew they were cows!

 

 

Old McDonald had a Farm....eei eei oh!

 

Nat found homes for all the happy little animals.

 

 My poor cow got a little outcast....but she found a lovely patch of grass lovingly piped by Nat.
 

 

And finally, all our efforts have come together to made a brilliant cake for wee little Lexie!

Important documentation of the cake!

 

The Team for the evening (minus our Quality control department who had to go home because she had the sniffles....)

 

 

This cake is for one very luck Birthday Girl!
Way to go, Nat!

"C" is for "Cupcake"

Among all the Christmas cake pops I make at this time of year it's nice to have some different for a change. A friend of mine asked me to make cupcakes for her daughter's 2nd Birthday this weekend, and the theme of the party was Elmo. After firming up a few details with the birthday girl's Mum, we ended up adding Cookie Monster to the mix.

I'd never done a Sesame Street design before so I was looking forward to it, although I knew I had to get it right because otherwise I was going to end up with obscure fuzzy red and blue cupcakes!!

 When you can't find chocolate chip cookies that are small enough, you make them yourself.....of course....

 

 The happy gang, all together! Ready to celebrate!

 

Silver Swags

   If you were to see this inside of my house you'd think either my Nana lived here too or that I am somewhat of a traditionalist. The former is most definitely not true therefore my décor can only be explained by the latter. I like a classic style, lace, clean lines, and if I can see all these on a cake- even better! Most of the time I can't really aim for this with a cake pop but when I get the chance to make a cake for a classic event like 25th Wedding Anniversary party, I most definitely can. Recently, I was asked to make a two-tiered wedding-style cake, and to keep it traditional, with white icing, and roses... nothing like a cake pop! It was fun to step away from the norm briefly, especially as I am about the launch into the main portion of my Christmas season.

   I must admit that there were times the cake was cursed at and I wished that my swags would just behave, but after it made it to the party venue in one piece and was able to come together beautifully, I forgave it.

   Hopefully it was the icing on top of the happy couple's special occasion! From the look of the venue, the décor, and the ambiance, it was clear this was going to be a wonderful evening!!

 

 

 

Many happy returns to the happy couple!!