My Week With Paul Bradford – 5 Day Intensive Cake Decorating Course

I definitely have the cake decorating bug!
What started out, last year, as a cupcake obsession has now graduated into a fully fledged love of celebration cake decorating. So far, I have just dipped my toe in to the water of celebration cakes, and feel I still have a lot to learn.
I have found the online tutorials from Paul Bradford’s Sugarcraft School a great way to learn new techniques from home, but had been really keen to book one of the courses at the Sugarcraft School, to learn from the man himself.
So a few months ago, I bit the bullet and booked into the 5 Day Intensive Cake Decorating Course.

Paul Bradford is an incredibly ambitious and talented individual, who couldn’t be any more helpful and approachable. Along with his business partner David Brice they run Paul Bradford Sugarcraft School Ltd.

“Their mission is to ‘Empower people to achieve their cake decorating dreams’ by providing a range of cake decorating courses and online tutorials. This is backed by a wealth of business experience that can help you become a professional cake decorator.”

The course ran last week, and I am thrilled with what I have learnt.
Along with 7 other students, I spent 5 days creating three fabulous celebration cakes, was introduced to sugarcraft flowers and modelling, and to making a business out of cake decorating.

I had already made a little teddy bear for my Father’s Day Cake using Paul’s online tutorial, but this was my first time attempting people…

Room for improvement here, but I know where to start now when attempting human figures.

This little dog is just so cute…

This lion face cake was really enjoyable to make. Great for children’s parties, and I just know my nephew Struan would be thrilled with a cake like this.

This Jimmy Choo shoe cake was a labour of love. Surprisingly the difficult bit was not the shoe,  but the shoebox.
Paul makes it look so easy when he demonstrates this (as with everything he does). Mine definitely has room for improvement, but for first attempt I am happy enough with how this turned out.

Finally, the stunningly decadent Chocolate Wrap Cake. This is a beauty of a cake, perfect for any occasion.
I would dress this simply and elegantly for a wedding, or themed with gold/silver/ruby decorations for a special anniversary…

This cake also looks great adorned with mixed berries…

As well, as learning many new cake decorating skills I also met a bunch of really lovely people. Check out our lovely group and our cake creations…

Finally, a huge Thanks to Paul for all your hard work and patience. What a great week I had.

Paul & Me

If you are in any way interested in learning more about cake decorating, or you wish to recreate some of the above cakes, I would highly recommend you have a look at Paul’s online tutorials, or even better book into one of his courses in his new Glasgow premises!

Paul & Me

Happy Father’s Day Cake

Tomorrow I begin my 5 day cake decorating course at Paul Bradford’s Sugarcraft School. I am so excited to learn more about creating special celebration cakes.
I tackled my first celebration cake at Christmas just past, and since then I am pleased with what I have achieved, though am keen to improve my technique, and learn how to create a truly professional finish.

I have not done much modelling up to this point, so for Father’s Day I decided to bake a celebration cake with a little teddy bear topper.
I used Paul Bradford’s Teddy Bear Tutorial to guide me through my first attempt.
This was really quick and easy to create, and definitely one I know I will use time and time again.

I used a little strip of florist paste wrapped around 2 cocktail sticks to create a little banner and used an edible ink pen to write the message.

This post is dedicated to two wonderful Fathers; Alan, my Father, and to Alastair, my Father-In-Law.

New Home Cake

A few weeks ago, one of my work colleagues asked me if I could make her a New Home cake as a gift for friends who were moving into a new home.

As I am about to embark on a 5 day intensive cake decorating course next week at Paul Bradford’s Sugarcraft School, I was keen to take this opportunity to get more practice in before the course begins.

For cake inspiration I googled New Home cake, and this cute birdhouse design, by Manchester Tarts, stood out by far.
I made some tweaks/adjustments to the details and finishing touches of the cake design, and was thrilled with the end result.

Hope the recipients enjoy this cake, and I wish them many years of happiness in their New Home!

A Birthday Cake For Fiona

Last night Mr Hungry Squirrel and I went out for dinner to celebrate my Mother-In-Law’s birthday.

I decided to make a birthday cake for Fiona as part of her birthday present.
The inspiration for this cake was Fiona’s engagement ring, which features a beautiful flower of aquamarine petals.

The cake itself was a classic Victoria Sponge, sandwiched with buttercream and raspberry jam.

I used the pretty Hydrangea Cutter for the delicate floral decor, and Ice Blue by Sugarflair colour paste to achieve this beautiful shade of blue.

I was thrilled with how the cake turned out, and it tasted delicious too! Most importantly, Fiona was over the moon.

I couldn’t resist showing you this cheeky looking Hungry Squirrel I picked up in Glasgow’s West End on Monday! :0)

Delia’s Squidgy Chocolate Log

Regular readers will be aware that, inspired by the Edinburgh Cake Ladies and the West Lothian Baking Club, I have recently set up the Glasgow Baking Club.
We had our very first meeting on Sunday April 01. The theme for the first meeting was Your Favourite Bakes.

This was a no-brainer for me… it had to be Delia Smith’s Squidgy Chocolate Log.
This heavenly chocolate mousse and cream-filled flour-less chocolate roulade is one of my earliest food memories.
My Mother would often make this when having friends round for dinner. I would be first in line to lick the bowl when Mum was making this, and was thrilled to help use up the leftovers the day after Mum & Dad’s dinner guests had been.

The other thing I love about this recipe is that the ingredients list is so short and simple.  One of the things I love most about baking is taking 4 or 5 ingredients and creating something so delicious!

Read more about the first meeting of the Glasgow Baking Club, and feast your eyes on all the other beautiful bakes.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 6 large eggs, separated 150g caster sugar 50g cocoa powder, sifted	Filling 225g dark chocolate (I use Bournville) 2 tbsp water 2 large eggs, separated 250ml double cream, softly whipped

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Lightly grease and line a swiss roll tin (29cm x 18cm x 2.5cm) with baking parchment.

Begin by making the filling…

Break the dark chocolate up into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl with the water, and place over a pan of simmering water, until melted.

Remove from the heat and combine by stirring until smooth.
Leave until cool.

Beat the 2 egg yolks, lightly, on their own, and then into the chocolate mixture.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, and then fold into the chocolate mixture (I start by folding in a third of the egg whites to loosen the mixture before folding in the remaining egg whites).

Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate.

Now, time to make the cake…

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks until they start to thicken, then add the caster sugar and whisk until incorporated. Take care not to let the mixture get too thick.

Add the sifted cocoa powder, and combine until smooth.

In a large, clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they reach the soft peak stage, and then fold gently into the chocolate mixture.

Pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

When ready the cake will be puffy and springy, and a fine skewer inserted into the bake should come out clean.

Leave in the cake tin to cool completely.
It will shrink considerably as it cools.

For the assembly…

Turn the cake out onto a piece of baking parchment dusted with icing sugar.

Peel the baking parchment away from the bottom of the cake, which should now be facing upwards.

Spread the chocolate filling over the cake, followed by the whipped cream.

Be brave and roll!

Delia rolls with the shortest end nearest you, which, in my opinion, gives you a short stubby-looking roulade.
I prefer a longer roulade, so roll with the longest end nearest me!

Enjoy!

NB – If you don’t have it already, Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course is a bookshelf essential!

Mr Hungry Squirrel’s Big Birthday

Mr Hungry Squirrel celebrated a rather significant birthday at the beginning of March.
A special birthday called for some special cakes…!

I have limited experience in decorating celebration cakes… my first was last year’s Christmas Cake.
However, I have recently attended an Introduction To Cake Decorating evening class at a local college, and have picked up some tips, and gained some more confidence, for tackling celebration cakes.

I baked a deliciously moist chocolate cake, sandwiched and coated it with a rich chocolate buttercream, before covering in a layer of chocolate sugarpaste, followed by a layer of ivory-coloured sugarpaste.

I decided to keep the decoration simple, opting for a colour scheme of ivory and chocolate-brown.
I had been looking forward to trying out my new Funky Alphabet & Number Cutters, and was thrilled with the results. They were a little fiddly to use at first, but I soon got the hang of it.

Sadly I didn’t manage to get any photos of the sliced cake, but I was thrilled with how the cake turned out, and it didn’t take long for it to disappear!

I also baked some rather special cupcakes for the birthday boy.
Blog post coming soon…

Glasgow Baking Club

Inspired by our friends in the East; the Edinburgh Cake Ladies, and the West Lothian Baking Club, I decided it was high time that Glasgow had it’s own club of cake-loving lovelies!

So, with the help of Sheila Jones from Mrs Jones Passion In The Baking, Kirsteen Oliver of Queen Of Hearts, Cakes And Tarts, and Rosalind Teasdale of iFull Coffee, I am thrilled to announce the formation of the Glasgow Baking Club!

The first meeting of the Glasgow Baking Club will be held in a secret location in  Glasgow’s Southside on April 01 2012 from 15.00 to 17.00.

For more information, please visit the Glasgow Baking Club website.

Don’t forget to like the Glasgow Baking Club Facebook page, and to follow us on Twitter!

Hope to see some of you at the inaugural meeting!

Heavenly Chocolate & Raspberry Cake

It’s February, and Valentine’s Day is just round the corner. So I decided to bake a decadent, romantic cake, rich with dark chocolate, complimented by fresh, fun raspberries.

This is a goody!
The cake was beautifully rich and moist, almost fudgey in consistency, and the raspberries through the ganache really zinged on the tongue.

This is sure to impress your other half as a Valentine’s Day treat!

I found this recipe on Divine Chocolate‘s website. They have a great section full of “divine” chocolate recipes.

I have entered this post into Mike’s Baking’s Chocolate Blog Hop.
Be sure to check out his post to see all the other entrants #chocolatelove recipes!

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 200g 70% dark chocolate 200g unsalted butter, diced 125ml strong coffee 85g self-raising flour 85g plain flour ¼ tsp baking powder 200g dark muscovado sugar 200g golden caster sugar 25g cocoa powder 3 medium eggs 1 tsp natural yoghurt	Raspberry Ganache 200g 70% dark chocolate 285ml double cream 2 tbsp golden caster sugar 150g raspberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Lightly grease a deep, round 8 inch cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

Break the dark chocolate up into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl with the diced butter and warm coffee, and place over a pan of simmering water, until melted.
Combine by stirring until smooth.

Sift the flours, cocoa powder and baking powder into a large bowl.
Add the sugars and mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs, and then mix in the yoghurt.

Allow the melted chocolate mixture to cool slightly, then pour into the large bowl with the flours/sugars, along with the egg mixture, and stir until well blended.
Pour into the tin, and tap the tin gently to remove any air bubbles.

Bake for 1½ hours.
Cover with a disc of baking parchment after 45 minutes to prevent over-browning.
A fine skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
When the cake is cold, slice into two layers.

Sadly, my bake was not perfect. I baked the cake twice, and both times the cake came out of the oven with a central dome. I think there was too much air in my cake batter, despite tapping my tin! However, I was able to rescue it, by using a knife to level the surface of the cake, by removing this domed protrusion!

To make the raspberry ganache, chop the chocolate and place in a large bowl.
Pour the cream into a saucepan with the caster sugar, and heat until it is just about to boil, then remove from the heat, and pour over the chopped chocolate.
Stir until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
Add the raspberries, breaking them up a little as you stir them into the ganache. Allow to cool slightly.

Now you are ready to assemble the cake!

To achieve the glossy finish with the ganache, I applied it when it was still quite runny. To avoid creating a mess, I placed four squares of greaseproof paper on my cake stand, as shown, before adding the cake. The idea is once the ganache has been applied and sets, you just slide out the greaseproof paper, leaving behind a nice clean display stand! I can’t remember where I picked this little tip up from recently, but it works a treat!

Sandwich the two layers of cake together with a fine layer of ganache in the centre.

Then cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining ganache.

Leave until set, then remove the four squares of greaseproof paper.

Decorate with fresh raspberries.

Enjoy!

O Canada!… Maple Syrup Cake Weekly Bake-Off

So, regular readers may have noticed it has been a while since I published a Weekly Bake-Off post.

I was thrilled last Monday when I saw the Weekly Bake-Off challenge… Maple Syrup Cake.
Well, my little heart skipped a beat. Those who know me personally will know I have spent two decades dreaming of life in Canada, since a holiday there with my parents as a teenager, and 2 subsequent trips as an adult. I spent the Summer or 2001 living and working in Vancouver, and count this as one of the happiest times in my life. I love this beautiful city and its beautiful surroundings!

So a cake made with Maple Syrup is a lovely reminder of the land of the Maple Leaf!

Also what’s not to love about maple syrup?
Delia Smith describes maple syrup as ”a unique ingredient, smooth and silky textured, with a sweet, distinctive flavour – hints of caramel with overtones of toffee will not do- and a rare colour amber set alight. Maple flavour is, well, maple flavour, uniquely different from any other, and ultimately quality is determined by what they call the long mouth feel”.

I am pleased with how the Maple Syrup Cake turned out. The sponge is lovely and moist, and the flavour of maple syrup is delicate throughout. This is a recipe I will definitely try again.

The recipe below is adapted slightly from Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes & Bakes.
I have omitted pecan nuts from the recipe for the benefit of Mr Hungry Squirrel’s nut-allergy.

Check out the other entrants’ submissions to the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 225g unsalted butter, softened 225g light muscovado sugar zest of 1 orange 4 large eggs 100ml maple syrup 350g self-raising flour 2 level tsp baking powder ½ tsp ground ginger	Filling & Topping 500ml double cream, whipped 3 tbsp maple syrup zest of 1 orange

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Lightly grease a deep, round 8 inch cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

Put all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and mix until well blended.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and level the surface.

Bake for 1 – 1¼ hours.
After 30 – 40 minutes, place a disc of baking parchment over the top to prevent the cake from browning too much.
A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Allow to cool in the tin, for 10 – 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, remove the baking parchment and allow to cool completely.

Whip the cream (careful not to over-beat it), and then fold in the maple syrup.

Split the cake into three layers.

Spread a layer of cream between each layer and over the top.

Decorate the top with the orange zest.

Enjoy!

My Christmas Cake… Chocolate & Guinness Fruit Cake

I have had great fun lately creating beautiful cupcakes, and novelty-shaped fudge…
However, I want to graduate to celebration cakes, and in January 2012 I have enrolled on an 8 week Introduction To Cake Decorating course.
I just can’t wait to get started, so decided it was time to roll up my sleeves, bake, and decorate a Christmas Cake.

For icing and marzipanning the cake, I used Silver Spoon’s ready rolled icing and marzipan. These were really quick and easy to use.

I decided to go for the easy option as my kitchen space is relatively small, and also to save some time at this busy time of year.

First, I decided on the recipe for my cake. This was an easy choice!
I baked a Newport Fruit Cake from Georgina Campbell’s Meals For All Seasons.
Essentially this is a Chocolate & Guinness Fruit Cake.
I have always loved this cake, from the first time my Mum made it when I was still at school, and not a big fan of fruit cakes in general.
The Guinness adds a lovely dimension to the flavour, and the chocolate, well that speaks for itself!
Mr McKenzie and I actually decided on this cake for our Wedding Cake last year. A close family friend, Margaret, baked and decorated our Wedding Cake, and we, and our guests, were thrilled with it… Thanks Margaret!

For the recipe, read on…. This is one you really should try!

As for the decoration I have seen some really beautiful cake designs on other people’s blogs…
I especially love Ruth’s, from The Pink Whisk, ideas for decorating your Christmas Cake.

I felt inspired by my new Scottie dog cutter to come up with my own design, and for my first celebration cake, I am really pleased with how it turned out. Hope you like it too!

The Recipe

Ingredients
450g plain flour 8oz unsalted butter, at room temperature 225g rich dark brown sugar 450g sultanas 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, sifted 200g chopped dark chocolate, eg Bournville 2 large eggs ½-¾ pint Guinness

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Line a deep 8 inch cake tin.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.
Using a freestanding mixer, mix in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add all the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.

Blend the eggs with half the Guinness and add, together with enough of the remaining Guinness to make a wet dropping consistency.

Turn into the tin.

Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 1½ hours, or until the top is springy and the sides are shrinking away from the tin.
A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Cool in the tin before turning out and peeling off the lining paper.

Stored in an airtight tin, it should keep for weeks.

Enjoy!