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!

Spring Flowers Cupcakes

Today I attended a Cupcake Bake-Off at Sofi’s Bar in Edinburgh, to raise money for the MS Society.
The event was planned by 3 very lovely Edinburgh Cake Ladies; Fiona, Katey and Victoria.

I had a lovely afternoon. I met some lovely people who love to bake as much as I do, and sampled some seriously delicious cupcakes! My personal favourites were Melissa‘s Lime & Coconut Cupcakes.
Most importantly, the afternoon raised £460.56 for the MS Society, so well done Fiona, Katey and Victoria, and Thankyou for all your hard work in planning and organising this event.

The theme for the cupcakes was Spring.
Inspired by a recent issue of Cake Craft & Decoration magazine, and Paul Bradford’s How to make a Sugar Daffodil video, I decided to go with Spring Flowers for my decoration, and raspberry & white chocolate for my cupcake. Half were fondant topped, and half with the traditional buttercream.

Of the fondant topped cupcakes the Daffodil, Hyacinth, & Rose cupcakes are my favourites.

For the buttercream-topped cupcakes, I went for a simple flat top of buttercream with a swirl, adorned with rainbow-coloured Hydrangeas.

All boxed up, and ready to go…

There was a great turn out today, with so many delicious cupcakes. I was thrilled and surprised when it was announced that my cupcakes won first prize!
I can’t wait to book my prize of a Chocolate Connoisseur Evening at Coco in Edinburgh. Just have to decide who to take with me…

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)

Pretty Little Girly Cupcakes

 

My friends all know I have a bit of a soft spot for all things floral, often in dress-form, so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make these pretty little cupcakes!

I found this party dress cutter  and vintage vine embossing sheet from Purple Cupcakes online shop.

I think these make great toppers for pretty little girly cupcakes…

I brought these over to Ireland as part of my sister-in-law’s birthday gift.
These would also make great cupcakes to say Thank-you, or for a Hen celebration…
I can’t wait to try out different colours and decorations to create many more pretty little girly cupcakes!

Here’s how I made the toppers…

Add some CMC powder to some coloured sugarpaste.
This powder is used to make the sugarpaste firmer so it doesn’t stick to the embossing mat.
You only need a teaspoon to about 250g icing.

Roll out the sugarpaste, lift on to the embossing mat, and roll over the paste again, in order to transfer the pattern to the sugarpaste.

Gently peel the sugarpaste off the embossing mat, and use the cutter to cut out the dress shape.

Decorate as you like…
Leave overnight to dry/firm, before you put on top of your cupcake!

Enjoy…!

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

 

Last weekend my husband and I spent the weekend in Fermoy, Co Cork with my brother, his wife, and their 3 beautiful girls, Daisy, Meadhbh & baby Rosaleen.

I love my nieces, they love Hello Kitty, so I decided to make them some Hello Kitty Cupcakes. They went down a treat…

Here’s how I made the toppers…

Roll out some white sugarpaste, and use a cat cookie cutter to cut out the Hello Kitty faces.
I bought this little cutter on ebay.

Use a black sugar art pen to draw on the eyes and whiskers.

Roll out some pink sugarpaste, cut into strips, fold the ends in to the centre, and stick on a little ball of yellow sugarpaste to complete the bow.

Using some water or edible glue, stick the little bows across the base of Hello Kitty’s right ear, and stick down a little ball of yellow sugarpaste for the nose.

Et Voila…

Sugarpaste Carrots

In my previous post I made a Carrot Cake.
Now the majority of Carrot Cakes include nuts in the cake itself, and are often covered in nuts as part of their decoration.

My lovely husband has a nut allergy so the traditional nut-based decor is out for me. So I decided to have a go at making little carrots out of sugarpaste to decorate my cake.
This was really simple, yet really effective. Here’s how I did it…

What you need

Orange sugarpaste
Green sugarpaste
Scissors
Knife

What you need to do

Start by rolling up little balls of orange sugarpaste.

Then roll the little balls in to little cones.

Using the back (blunt edge) of a knife score little lines all down the cone.

Make a little hole at the top of the carrot for your stalk to go in to. I used the end of a paintbrush for this.

Next roll the green sugarpaste in to little balls.

Then roll these in to little cones (smaller than your carrots).

Dab some edible glue or water in to the little hole at the top of the carrot, and then insert the green sugarpaste cone.

Use the scissors to snip in to the top of the green cone to make the branched stalks.

Et Voila! Love them. These would look great on Carrot Cake Cupcakes also!

Enjoy!

Hello Home-Bakers…

OK folks, I am new to the blogging world, but thought it was about time I had a place to share my adventures in home baking.

I have had a love of baking from an early age, Thanks to my late Mum, who always had our cupboards stocked up with home-baked delights! Some of my fondest childhood memories are of helping Mum out in the kitchen.

Cooking and baking have remained a strong interest throughout my life, though study, and subsequently work seem to have a bad habit of getting in the way!
It is just within the last year, after getting married to my lovely husband Stuart, that I have had the time to explore and expand my baking abilities.
I love to bake, and I love pretty things, so I get great pleasure from trying out new recipes and learning new techniques on how to prettify my cakes.

At present, I am baking for myself, and for friends and family.
I am currently perfecting a range of cupcakes, and in January I begin an Introduction to Cake Decorating night class, so Watch This Space…

I have found Twitter recently, and have been thrilled with how friendly and supportive and inspirational the Twitter community can be. Why not follow me on Twitter at @alisonemckenzie…