Kasia's 21st Birthday - The Shoe Cake

G’day my lovelies. Just a quick post to show you what I’ve been up to for the last week or so..

 

(Photo credit: Ben Wares Photography)

The stunning Miss Kasia turned 21 this month, and I was lucky enough to be asked to make her cake. I’ve known Kasia for a year or two now, and she is a very unique girl. She is extremely outgoing and definitely not a shy person. She is unbelievably friendly, and will go out of her way to make you feel welcomed and loved. But to quote the woman herself, “I’m bit of a diva let’s face it. I’m not a shy character...haha”. Can you see why I like this girl? Straight to the point, no mucking around and bloody hilarious! Obviously the cake would have to be spectacular, and Kasia knew exactly what she wanted.

She sent me this link of a gorgeous cake by Elite Cake Designs - The classic stiletto on top of a Gucci shoe box. The requirments for Kasia's cake.. No roses or Gucci, nice and simple with a black and white box. And the shoe? Well, it had to be purple and sparkly. To match her gorgeous dress. I was up for the challenge.

I spent a few weeks’ googling tutorials and youtube videos on how to make the shoe. I wasn’t too concerned about the box, I just wanted to get the shoe right. I found some really fantastic templates and videos which really helped, and the whole thing came together perfectly.

In the new year I’ll be following this up with two ‘how-to’ posts.. One for the shoe, and one for the box. So stay tuned if you’d like to see how I managed to pull this bad boy together. And may I say. It weighted a frickin’ tonne!

So, here are the stats.. Among many other things, this cake consisted of;


1.2 kilo dark chocolate
½ kilo milk chocolate
1 kilo butter
1.3 kilo plain flour
2.2 kilo caster sugar
16 large eggs
½ litre buttermilk
1 litre pure ream
1.5 kilo fondant
15 hours of baking and decorating.


Yum. Yum. Yum. Just the smell of this monstrosity is enough to make my thighs start jiggling.


I was very pleased with this cake. I think it’s one of my best and looked very professional for someone who is self taught in cake decorating. But most importantly, the birthday girl was thrilled, she said it was exactly what she wanted, and it matched her dress perfectly! Happy Birthday Kasia, hope you had a glorious 21st!

(Photo credit: Ben Wares Photography)

Well kiddies, I’m off for the holidays. Heading down South to ring in the New Year with Joan Jett! Have a lovely festive season. Drink lots, eat heaps and love your family, because you only get one.

See you in 2011!
Peace, KayB x.

Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic and Christmas Cupcake Toppers

Food bloggers, Assemble! Now all I need is a giant horn or seashell to blow on and the team will come a running!

The second annual Sydney Food Bloggers Christmas Picnic took place this weekend in the gorgeous Centennial Park. 50 plus foodies ventured out from behind their slr’s and macbooks with food and Kris Kringle presents in hand to celebrate the silly season together. 

Big shout out to Suze and Helen for organising the picnic. Two very proactive ladies in the blogging community, without who we probably wouldn't have so many wonderful opportunities to catch up with new and old friends. We ate, we drank and we were merry. 

I went cliche with my plate of food.. mini mudcakes with Christmas themed toppers. Let’s learn how to make them, shall we?

(Apologies for the horrific photos, my camera decided to die as I was making the toppers, so these photos are from my camera phone!). 

You will need:

Fondant - light pink, green, red and white colours.

Circle cutter (2 1/4 inch)

Piping tip (any type)

Small knife

Cornflour

Rolling pin

Veining tool (or tooth picks)

Water and paint brush

Blue gel colouring and tooth pick

Roll out your pink fondant and cut out circles for the elves and Santa faces.

For the Santa.. thinly roll out white fondant and use circle cutter to cut out rounds for Santa’s beard. Still using your circle cutter, cut away 2 thirds of the circle, keeping the smaller portion for his beard. With a little bit of water, attach the beard to the lower half of Santa’s face.

Next, roll out two small balls of white fondant for Santa’s moustache. Flatten the balls with your index finger, then pinch one side to form a teardrop shape. Repeat on second ball.

Using a small amount of water, attached to the top of Santa’s beard.

For his nose, roll out a small amount of pink fondant and attach with water right above his moustache.

Santa’s hat.. Thinly roll out your red fondant, and using your small knife cut out triangles, I made mine two inches wide at the base, and three inches high. 

Attach the triangle so it is just above the ends of Santa’s beard. Using a toothpick, gently fold the corner of his hat over and attached a small white ball of fondant to the point.

Thinly roll out the remaining white fondant and cut small strips for the trip on Santa’s hat (no measurements sorry, I just eyeballed it).

Use the blue gel and toothpicks to give Santa a couple of eyes.

For the Elves.. very similar except for the ears and mouth. Start with the hat, same size as Santa’s but use the green fondant. Attached as previously mentioned.

Roll two small balls of pink fondant, and flatten and pinch as you did with Santa’s moustache. Finish the ears by using your veining tool or toothpick to mark shallow indents down the  middle of the ears. Attach over the hat.

Roll a small balls of pink fondant and give him a nose, then use the large end of your piping tip to imprint a smile on his face. Use the blue gel to give him some eyes, and you’re done! Leave to dry for a few hours and attach to the top of some cupcakes using some icing of your choice, or a bit of apricot jam.