Leaving Treats

I've left two jobs in the last six months, which seems odd but one was a redeployment to another office (yay civil service) and the other was when I got myself a whole new job. Hurrah!

And of course, I couldn't resist making things to say goodbye.


This was the leaving cake I made for the first job. It has a fruit-cake on the bottom tier and vanilla sponge on the top. It was my first attempt at a tiered cake so I'm really pleased with it.

I made a selection of nibbles when I left my other job, including...


Chocolate orange macaroons. Again, my first attempt and whilst they were a bit overcooked, they tasted great.


Open-heart savouries - tomato and cream cheese on puff pastry. I've stolen this recipe from my friend Rose who made me these for my birthday one year. I love making them.


Profiteroles. My first attempt at choux pastry and honestly, what's all the fuss about? (Kidding, kidding). These are as monstrous as they look and I think I've lose points on Masterchef for not being dainty enough. =)

Birthday Cakes!

My sister and mum have birthdays only 4 days apart, so making cakes for both of them is a bit of a challenge. That doesn't mean I don't have a go, however.

My sister is both terrified and fascinated by sharks. Seeing as she loves them despite never wanting to so much as paddle in the sea, I thought she'd enjoy this Jaws-inspired cake...


RARRRRR. Yes, those are dolls limbs floating in the ocean. It's the little touches.


I looked online for inspiration, but in the end just made up the process as I went along. I used a tiffin-shaped cake tin and used my chocolate cake recipe, sliced it a few times horizontally to fill it with grey-coloured buttercream and then covered the body in the same. The fin and teeth are fondant (I didn't want too much of it because nobody eats it).


I couldn't resist painting the teeth with food colouring. It's just not Bruce without bits of flesh between his teeth. =)

My mum got a much nicer cake, in comparison. Last year she got her own bee hive and we've already had our first crop. So, with her delicious honey I made a honey cake in the shape of a bee.


If I had had more time, the bee's wings would have stood up instead of flopped over like they do, but I liked it none the less.

Happy birthdays all round. =)

Red Nose Day

As it's Red Nose Day and our office is always happy to whip up some goodies for a worthy cause, I decided on making red-nose biscuit lollies and red nose cupcakes.





Needless to say, we raised a lot of money and it was so much fun making the biscuits.

Cake Round-Up

I haven't been keeping this blog up to date like I should, and I know that people look at it to see what sort of goodies I make, so here is a round-up of what I've been making:


This chocolate fudge cake baked in a beautiful mold was a big hit at Xmas.


I made 150 vanilla cupcakes with blue decorations for a wedding in January. It was the biggest project I'd done by far but it was a real success.


I've been working on my brownie recipe and these beauties were a massive hit. I added a few packs of Rolos to make them extra special.




I've also been working on my biscuit baking and I'm very proud of these button biscuits I made.


I was also working on my decorations, and these cute little bees were made for my mum's friend on her birthday. They sat rather nicely on the top of half a dozen cupcakes.


And finally, some of my classic cupcakes with sweeties nestled on top.