Easter Time!!

As it is Easter weekend this weekend I thought I would have a look at some lovely Easter themed creations from a few bakers out there...

I like this one from Lomfise on Flickr because it is probably fairly easy to make but looks brilliant! It's shape is also more interesting, a lot better than a typical round shaped cake. I think the worm in the grass is also a cute little addition!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47890669@N06/5605891998/

Don't fancy baking a big cake...? Bake some Cake Pops like the ones here from LittleCake Factory on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlecakefactory/5514636213/in/photostream/

This cake from SweetOnSweets on Flickr is really cute and enchanting. There is a lot of detail on this cake which might make it time consuming.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetonsweets/5334431573/

Here are some more Cake Pops with an Easter theme from Bekah4321 on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45495426@N04/5502767321/

I love the tiny details on this cake; the eggs, tiny chicks and the basket. This cake was made by Cute Cuppie Cakes on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53907654@N03/5022262017/

I love the combination of colours used on this cake as well as the cute little bunnies! This was made by lillianjak on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jillkent/2358577782/

Although this cake isn't technically perfect I love the idea for the shape and decoration, the colours look great as well. I found this creation on Flickr by Jill The Cakemaker.

And here are a few more I found but couldn't get the pictures for:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniescakes/3360840074/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12057691@N03/4584236070/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakesalamoda/4496105534/

Whoopie Pies

The "next big thing" in the baking world seems to be Whoopie Pies and Cake Pops and I just recieved a lovely book on different whoopie pies so I thought I would make some to take over to a friends house.
I got the recipe from this book:
The Whoopie Pie Book by Clare Ptak

I used the recipe for chocolate whoopie pies with the marshmallow filling. I was aiming for some mini whoopies and was surprised by how much the mixture expanded and I ended up with normal sized whoopies! They were however incredibly easy to make and super tasty!! The marshmallow goo for the middle was so yummy, great for kids and adults!

Teddy bride and groom

In cake decorating class this week we used our modelling skills to create these cute teddies. I think the groom is a bit on the chunky side but other than that I think they look ok.
They would be great as a wedding cake topper but also the bears could be changed into different characters... babies for a Christening cake for example.

Easter bonnet cake

In cake decorating this week we had the option of making a few different Easter themed things. One was creme eggs decorated to look like chicks, pigs or even Hello Kitty, one was a medium sized Easter egg with frog faces on and a place to pipe a childs name and the other the Easter bonnet cake as seen below.
I obviously chose the Easter bonnet cake and this was fairly simple to do. I cooked a sponge cake in a pudding bowl to get the shape for the middle of my hat and then covered the board and the cake in one go with sugar paste that had a basketweave pattern rolled on it.
Next I propped up one edge of the sugar paste to create the hideout for the rabbits.
I used modelling techniques to create the rabbits and chicks. The nest was made using a plunger and adding trex to sugar paste to make it go through. I aslo found some micro eggs in tesco's to add to my nest!

Carnation arrangement

In cake decorating class we worked on this display over a few sessions as it isn't always easy for us new girls to work with the flower paste.
Carnations did prove to be quite tricky once they had dried, mine seemed to be incredibly delicate and unfortunately I did break a few petals in the assembly of the arrangement!
I made 5 carnations in a light pink and painted on some colouring paste to the edges of the petals, 7 leaves in green with green dust on them to add texture and a number of small "filler" flowers in a slightly darker pink with pearlescent dust on them.
I arranged the flowers and leaves in a crescent shape adding in more wires where necessary.

Comic Relief Cakes

This year I thought I would help raise money for Comic Relief by making so red nose cupcakes...(it may also be because I had a lot of red icing left over from that car cake I did but shush!!)

I used the designs for this years red noses as the starting point and tried to re-create those in icing.

I baked a simple vanilla cupcake but I scooped out the tops and put in some strawberry jam, this was then covered with the icing and so became a RED jam surprise inside!
Here are the cakes:

I raised around £30 in donations from the 36 cakes I made, so thank you to all of those who donated it's for a great cause!

And I at least made one person happy with the cakes :-)