It had to start somewhere... part 2...

Hi Cake lovers!

Following on from my last post, you will know that I started my passion for cake decorating with cup cakes. This was where I learnt many different techniques that are easily transferable to decorate larger cakes. Obviously as cupcakes are smaller you will actually find that you perfect the techniques quite quickly as it is all about practice, and the great thing about buttercream decoration is that if it goes wrong just scrap it off and try again!

The most simple but yet effective cupcake decoration is the rose swirl, completely done using buttercream and can easily be decorating using a theme such as butterflies or hearts made from sugar flower paste.

 

Simple rose swirl with a sugar butterfly, wings dipped in glitter.

 

 

The rose swirl is very easy to do once you get the hang of it. I use the Wilton 1M star tip nozzle below.

 

You can use any star tip but I find this is the perfect size for the swirl.

 

Starting at the centre of the cupcake, pipe in a circular motion toward the outside. You will see that where you finish will not be perfect hence the sugar decorations. You can stick anything on there and is ideal for a themed wedding/party.

 

 

The rose swirl used on a wedding cake topper I made, illustrates how the techniques can be used on larger cakes and are very effective.

 

Not a great photo, but this is a mini cup cake with the rose swirl and sugar flower I made, I love this colour combination!

 

I will put up some step by step photos in a post later this week and also show you how to make the sugar butterflies and flowers etc that you can use to stick onto your cupcakes. These are great to make and keep as you can keep them in a container for weeks, so I tend to make many in one go and then I have them to hand whenever I need them.  

 

Until my next post, happy decorating!

 

 

 

It all had to start somewhere...part 1...

Hi my cakery friends!

So I thought I would give you a little background into my love of baking. My mum was lucky enough to be a stay at home mum until I was 12 years old and used a lot of her spare time baking and dress making. She has always been very creative, I don't know if it's because she is Japanese (they do tend to be more creative!) or if it's her character or a bit of both. She went to the same dress making college as Issy Miyake (famous japanese designer, probably better known for their perfume though!) and although she has tried to get me to understand the art of dress making I failed miserably. But luckily she also loved baking, and I grew up in a home always filled with the smells of yummy home baking.

I then turned into a dreaded teenager and wasn't very bothered with baking, I would make a cake here and there but never really loved it like I do now. I went to Uni, came back and worked full time in London. My life pretty much consisted of work and play and not much inbetween. Then I had my gorgeous little girl, Miya, she was born in 2011 and all of a sudden I had a whole year at home with nothing to do! Babies sleep, and mine slept a lot so I decided one bored day to do some baking and then that was it, I was hooked!

Piped buttercream rose with sugar butterfly dipped in edible glitter

I started with a friends birthday cake and then quickly went on to cupcakes. I loved decorating individual cupcakes and trying different techniques like the grass on this cake.

My first cupcake decorated using a multi hole icing nozzle / wilton grass nozzle below. So effective and so easy!

This is such a useful nozzle, not only for cupcakes but also for the bigger cakes with an outside theme. It helps to make the grass appear more realistic even if you just add a few tufts of it here and there. It is best used with buttercream and obviously for grass, green buttercream! You can also use this nozzle for hair if you are making a bear cake or even on people if the figure is large enough.

 

There are so many easy techniques that you can use that can make cupcakes look amazing and I will run through more in this blog as it's where I started my passion for decorating cakes :)

 

Until the next instalment...enjoy!

Welcome!

Hellooo Cakey lovers!

I have started this blog as I am currently on a design and make a wedding cake course which I am loving every minute of. For those that know me they know I love cake decorating but until now I never entertained it as anything more than a hobby, well this course has changed all that. I love designing wedding cakes maybe more than I love eating them! 

I am a mummy to a gorgeous two year old diva like daughter who I have named the cakery after as she loves cake almost as much as I do! 

I also currently work part time in London but as you can imagine nursery fees have pretty much wiped out that income so I did seriously need to think about getting a second job. But as I love designing wedding cakes why not try and make that into my second job? Maybe, fingers crossed, it could eventually be my only job (well along with being a mum, but you know what I mean!).

So here is my new blog at the start of my new journey into the bridezilla world of wedding cakes!