Tried & Tested #3

Recipe: Flower's fabulous fudge

Taken from: Disney cakes & sweets (issue 2)

Results: 4/5

Recommend: yes

 

 

 

 

It doesn't mention in the recipe, how long it takes for the fudge to set. From my experience, it takes at least 24 hours and, even after this length of time, its still really soft and a little difficult to pick up. Although it is the best fudge I've ever tried, really creamy and sweet. You can only eat one small square at a time, but that is all you need.

 

Stupidly, I ignored the warning saying to wear oven gloves. We don't really have a decent pair and I thought I'd be OK without... this is not the case at all! Please, please, please wear oven gloves when you make this. The pan, spoon and thermometer get extremely hot. If you can, take it in turns with someone else.

 

 

BMW cake

This is my first shaped car cake... (:
     x

Tried & Tested #2

Recipe: Bullseye's best-ever browniesTaken from: Disney Cakes and Sweets (issue 1)Results: 5/5Recommend: YES DO IT NOW!

OK, these were the best things I have ever eaten. No lies. We left out the nuts and berries and had a pure chocolate version and they were just to die for. I melted the chocolate and butter in the microwave, rather than in a pan as suggested, and it literally took minutes to make up. If you want something quick and delicious, bake these. They taste best when they've cooled (the gooey middle sets a little bit better once cooled).

Hello everyone :)

So, here is my most recent creation - Disney themed cupcakes! They were for a gorgeous little boys Christening and his favourite Disney films were monsters inc, toy story and mickey mouse..

Enjoy!
x

Tried & Tested #1

Recipe: Giant Mickey Mouse Cookies
Taken from: Disney Cakes and Sweets
Results: 4/5
Recommend: Yes

So, this is our first 'Tried & Tested' post. I decided that it may be a useful addition to my blog because most of my inspiration comes from recipes in books/magazines. I will give you all my advice which may not be available in the books.

This recipe tastes amazing. They are great biscuits but are ridiculously addictive.. which is why we don't have a picture (sorry!). I would recommend adding chocolate chips 'cos everything tastes better with chocolate.

I did have a challenge with the cutter.. my mickey kept loosing his ears so after a few attempts, I gave up and grabbed my pooh bear cutter instead. If you have more time/patience than me then it will work but I, at this moment in time, had neither.

The ULTIMATE Chocolate Cake

This was promised to you too long ago.. but the wait is over and it was worth every second.

I would include times for the recipes but they vary, I use a kitchen aid mixer (best investment everrr!) so the length of time it takes me  to mix up a cake is seconds as opposed to by hand. Also, if you choose to make cupcakes instead the cooking times will be slightly different. As a rule, for me, cupcakes usually take 15-20 mins, cakes take 20-40mins depending on size. Just keep an eye on its colour, appearance and poke a skewer in there to test its middle.

Step one

Raid your nearest shop for different types of chocolate - the more the better! Also, pick these up too if you need to?

• 8oz Caster Sugar
• 7oz Self Raising Flour
• 1oz Cocoa Powder
• 8oz Butter
• 4 eggs

Step two

when you're back home, cream together your butter and sugar until light in colour and smooth in texture. If you use granulated sugar instead of caster sugar, it will stay slightly gritty at this moment in time.

Step three

Crack & beat the eggs (not as violent as it sounds, I promise!) then gradually stir into the the butter/sugar mix. To avoid curdling add a little flour.

Step four

Fold in the flour and cocoa powder

Step five

Pour the mix into your chosen tins which have been greased and lined. Bake at gas mark 4 for 15/20 minutes for cupcakes or 20/40 minutes for a cake. 

Step six

Wait until its cooled...

Step seven

now you can be let loose with your chocolate decorations.. go wild. Melt it, pile it.. do whatever you need to to make it mouthwatering.

Sorry!

Hi..

I have to apologise for being useless.. I know, I've neglected my blog and I need to change that.

But I do have good news - I have been very busy baking over the past god knows how long and I have lots of awesome things to share with you.

I'm going to make a couple changes (good ones, I promise!) such as adding recipe reviews from popular cake decorating magazines and maybe some books and giving you any useful tips I've picked up along the way.

So, I guess you may be wondering what I've been up to recently? (If not, don't read the rest of this!). I have been very busy baking and bombarding the world of facebook with my latest bakes. Give it a like if your on there!
 - facebook.com/likehellocupcake
I have also enrolled on a City and Guilds Cake Decorating course - which is awesome!

Okay, I hope you enjoy my future posts :)

Love,

Melissa 

x

meow?

I decided to give a cat shaped cake tin a go other day. Can honestly say I won't be using that tin again! The results don't show how much hassle shaped tins are! Lost half of my cat from not being able to line the tin (tried dusting it with flour which usually works for things that can't be lined, apparently not this bad boy though!). Also with the different depths involved I ended up with a burnt head and perfectly cooked body - if you have any tips on how to use these silly shaped tins please message me because I'd rather use it than sell it!

With a lot of cutting, sticking and good dollop of butter icing I managed to give my kitty his shape.

I based him on one of my cats, Charlie. 

Aww!!

Love,

Melissa

xx

Game of Thrones

Hi everyone!

So.. After making this cake I soon became obsessed with Game of Thrones (if you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it!)

I made this cake with no knowledge of GoT and all I had to go by was a picture a friend gave me and being told that she wants to made into the character on top.

My first task was to make my friend as Daenerys Targaryen (and some awesome dragons!!). This was done pretty easily with a change of colour.. PINK!!! and adding her piercings :)

Yes.. I know what you're thinking she is a very lucky lady ;) ..moving on!!

When it came to finishing touches, I got carried away.. 

This was an awesome cake to make and I had so much fun doing it 

Happy baking ;)

Melissa 

xx

to the beach!

This mini cake was inspired by 'my cake decorating' magazine and it's perfect to get you in the holiday mood!

What you need before you start?

• your ready made cake / muffin(s), ideally taller than it is wide
• red and blue ready to roll out icing
• digestive biscuits
• edible glue & clean paintbrush
• butter icing
• white chocolate star fish and shells (optional)

Firstly apply crumb coat to the cake, this will keep in the moisture and keep all the pesky little crumbs staying in place (and not sticking to your icing!)

Allow a few hours for the crumb coat to set, ideally this needs to be done in the fridge. I usually do this the night before I plan on decorating my cake.

Using your red icing, separate it into 2 balls. One large and one small. Roll the large ball into a rectangle big enough to wrap around the sides of your cake.to give the cake a neat seam along the back, use a sharp knife to cut along when the icing will meet at the back.

Using the small ball of red icing roll out a long ribbon of icing. This will provide the rim you usually see on buckets. Using a sharp knife, cut the edges so that the rim looks tidy. Use edible glue to attach this to your cake.

Crush the digestives until fine crumbs. Apply a thick layer of butter icing to the top of the bucket and dust with the crumbs. This will create sand.

Roll a small ball of blue icing in the palm of your and using your finger tips until it becomes a long 'worm' shape. Attach this to either side of the bucket with edible glue to create your handle.

Place the starfish and shells on top of your cake

If you have more time, or want to personalize the cake for a family member or friend, you can change the colour of the bucket, add a cartoon character... The possibilities are endless!

If you don't like digestive biscuits, why not try rich tea or shortbread?

Love,

Melissa 
xx

P.s. if you want to check out the magazine mentioned go to... http://www.mycakedecorating.co.uk/

Hey Everyone :)

Just thought I'd do a quick blog to update you on what to expect soon and what I've been up to recently!

As you all know it was fathers last Sunday so I have a brilliant recipe for chocolate cake, and although the decoration is not what I usually do, it looks delicious! I will do a blog with the recipe too because I know how hard it is to get the perfectly moist chocolate cake.

... I didn't stop there for Father's day though!! I have also given modelling a go and made a icing model of my dad!! It looks awesome and I couldn't stop giggling when I made him. I will also pop a blog on here how I made this little model which can be tweaked to be how you want your characters to look.

Taking inspirations from "My Cake Decorating" magazine, I also made my bucket cake. I love how simple and effective some of the techniques used to decorate this cake are! 

Also, I am preparing myself to do a special birthday cake.. A Game of Thrones cake! I can't wait to show you the results of this cake!

Please follow me on Twitter to keep up to date with how I am doing and when new blogs are out; @melissa_CAKE! ( https://twitter.com/melissa_CAKE )

Much Love!

Melissa 

xx

Lavender Blossom Cake.

Hi Everyone!

My recent cake is the 'Lavender Blossom Cake', named this because of it's little pink and lilac flowers. I want to apologise now - it is not perfect. I made it a little bit last minute so there is loads of room for improvement (it could definitely have used another crumb coat to smooth out the bumps!). But I want to show you how I did it because it is a striking cake and is really simple to decorate. Also it can be adapted to use other colours and flowers quite easily.

I first placed my cake onto the cake board and using butter icing I added my crumb coat. A crumb coat is a thin layer of butter icing which seals in the loose crumbs, keeps moisture in the cake and smooths out any lumps or bumps. If you have time (and have a cake which isn't smooth like mine) you can add another layer of butter icing after your initial crumb coat has been left to harden. Adding more layers of butter icing will add more flavour, however too much butter icing will make the cake slightly harder to decorate as it will be softer underneath. 

I then added my white icing. I used ready to roll out icing to do this. I didn't use anything to stick the icing to the cake as the crumb coat will hold it in place.

Next I cut out the flowers, I used 2 different sized flower cutters with different petals to add variety to the cake, however you can use whatever cutters you have available. If you are making larger flowers, I would suggest having a few smaller ones to break it up and also add more colour and texture. 

My pink flowers, or blossom, have been made using a small star shaped cutter (which has rounded edges). I pressed my finger slightly in the middle to give them a more realistic look and stuck red, white and blue balls in the centre for more colour and definition. I used edible glue to stick the balls in the centre as it dries clear and adds no flavour, unlike icing sugar.

The purple flowers, or lavender, are made using a small flower shaped plunger cutter. This added a little bit of definition to the flowers and because of their size, I left them as they were.

The leaves and stalks are made using a leave plunger cutter and I made the stalks by rolling icing into a strip and pressing slightly harder at one end to make it more narrow and have a point.

I placed the parts onto the cake where I wanted them to be and, using edible glue and a clean fine paintbrush, I stuck the parts in place.

To finish my cake I added a dark blue ribbon which I got from my local craft shop. Adding a ribbon is a really easy way of adding colour and covering up a messy edge cheaply and quickly. Most craft shops sell ribbon from 10p per metre, depending on its thickness and pattern. I have found using a simple mix of icing and water is best to hold the ribbon in place as edible glue just seems to seep through the material rather than stick it to the cake.

I hope this helps and, if you do make one yourself, please tweet me a picture!

Love 

Melissa xx

HANDBAG BISCUIT...

1. Firstly coat the entire biscuit with white ready to roll icing
2. Create the glitter detail to the hand bag by drawing a V from the left and right hand corners of the bag in edible glue. Then sprinkle on your edible glitter or coloured sugar. You can also use hundreds and thousands if you do not have glitter.
3. Using pink coloured ready to roll out icing, cut out a flower shape. Using your ball tool, make the petals look 3D.
4. The centre of the flower is made from a ball of white roll out icing, covered in glue then rolled in the edible glitter.
5. Assemble the flower by gluing the center on to the flower, then glue the flower in place. I chose the top right hand corner, however you can stick it anywhere on the bag.

Red Floral Dress & Shoe

These biscuits are covered in white ready to roll out icing and have been painted using 'Squires Kitchen's Designer Edible Paints'.

For the dress, I painted the top half to the waist red and finished the skirt with a simple flower design. I kept the flowers simple as I wanted to put many flowers onto the dress but still keep the style simple and elegant.

The shoes have a red sole and heel and a 3D red flower, I chose to add more detail to the flower on the shoe as I have only added one flower, rather than many.

Pretty & Pink Biscuits

1. I coated the biscuits in white ready to roll icing. I chose white as I wanted to give them a 'wedding' feeling, however you can use a different colour to suit your chosen event.
2. On the dress, I added a pink trim along the bottom of the dress, sleeves and neckline. I used a fine paintbrush and 'Squire's Kitchen Designer Edible Paints' to do this.
3. I also painted a ribbon along the middle of the dress. I did this by painting a thick line across where the waist would be on the dress and slightly right to the center, I painted two small triangles with the corners meeting to form a simple bow.
4. The design for the handbag is aimed to be simple and elegant. To keep with the pink theme, I used the pink paint to outline the typical features of a clutch bag
5. The shoe is my favourite of the 3 biscuits and is pulls all the main features used on the other two biscuits together. I added a pink trim along the sole of the shoe, on the heel and along the front of the shoe. I also used a small piece of icing to form a 3D bow and painted this pink too to keep with the theme.

CHEESE BURGER CAKE

I was inspired to bake this cake after watching "Ace of Cakes" and they made a hot dog cake. Each element of this cake (Lettuce, cheese, burger, bun, ketchup and olive) were made individually then I assembled them to create the above result.

1. The bun - 2 round vanilla sponge cakes make up the bun, I would strongly advise you use vanilla compared to any other flavour as it keeps the cake mixture a pale brown colour like the bread-cakes you usually eat your burger out of. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on top like the real version, however, due to personal preference, I chose not to.

2. The burger - I made the burger from a circle chocolate sponge cake.

3. The cheese - no good cheeseburger is without a cheese slice! Roll out a square of cheese slightly bigger than your burger so that it can flop over the sides, like a real cheese slice!

4. The Salad - I kept it simple here, by just using circles of green roll out icing as lettuce leaves, but you can let your imagination run wild here and make any salad ingredients you like on your burger! 

5. Assemble - pile up your salad, cheese and burger on top of the bottom bun in preparation for your sauce

6. Ketchup - as if you didn't have enough sweet stuff on this already, it's time to add a good squirt of ketchup... put the bottle away, I don't mean the tomato kind you get from supermarkets. I made my 'ketchup' using red food colouring, icing sugar and water. Don't use too much water and food colouring as you want a thick consistency, but you need it gloopy enough to run down the sides naturally. Add as little or as much ketchup as you like to your burger, and if you can get a little ketchup pot fill that up on the side!

7. The finishing touch -  Top your burger with the last half of the bun. You can  also make a olive from an oval of purple icing, if you like. I used a wooden skewer to hold all the components together, however if you're not having an olive, you don't need to do this.

I hope this step by step guide helps you make your own crazy burger cakes, it doesn't have to stop at burgers though, you can make sandwich cakes like this too, just substitute the burger for a pink circle of icing (ham) and leave out the olive and ketchup.

Enjoy!

Love Melissa x

How to make - cute bunny bums!

Possibly the most simplest (but effective) bun decorations I've ever done, any one can do this and it is worth giving it ago :)

1. First bake your buns, any size you like will do!

2. Apply a layer of spreadable icing to your buns, it is entirely up to you what you use, however, I personally prefer the flavour given from butter icing

3. Cut out circles out roll out icing in your chosen which will fit your chosen size buns.

4. Make little 'tear-drop' shaped tails from your chosen colour icing. I used white for a more traditional look.

5. Next you need to make the feet - make 2 ovals out of the fur icing per bun. Then, this is where it get's fiddly!, made the paws out of pink icing (or a different colour if that's what colour the fur is!!). I like to make 3 small circles and one large for my paws, however if you're making loads of buns and want to keep it more simple you can make 1 large circle.

6. The Grass! Make butter icing and colour it green, the put it in your piping bag and use either a small circle nozzle or grass nozzle (flat circle with many small holes) to make the grass. I got mine from the 'my cake decorating magazine' however you can get them from all good cake decorating shops and eBay.

7. Ta-dah!! You're bunny bums are done!

I used Renshaw Ready to Roll icing in my buns as I like the vibrant colours they give and the brown roll out icing is also chocolate flavoured, which went down well in our house!

Enjoy!

Melissa x

Garden Cuties <3

HELLO CUPCAKES!!

I like to give animal cupcakes that a make a little bit of a personality.. 

You can't beat a frog in a top hat.

Hearts & Flowers.

Yes, I do realize it's April and yes, these are cupcakes I made at Christmas.

BUT with weather we have had recently, I think you can let me off...

Melissa xx

Hi again!

Loads of the tools I use, tips I have picked up and ideas I get come from 'My Cake Decorating Magazine', if  you're into cake decorating you've probably heard of it!

It really has improved the way I decorate cakes and i would honestly recommend it for any one who is thinking of getting into cake decorating.

Below is a two cakes I have made using the magazine, 

Enjoy! 

xx

Red Panda Cake

Hi bakers!

So, recently on twitter you might have seen that I have been making a red panda cake as a surprise birthday cake. I hope this has inspired you all to give it a go yourself and to make life a little bit easier for you.. here's my step by step guide on how to make him!

Firstly you need a 7inch cake, I like to make a basic Victoria sponge cake and flavour it with a few drops of vanilla extract. You can make any flavour cake you like but I find vanilla is most suitable for decorating because it can get a little sickly especially with the amount of icing you're about to slap on!

Before you start pre-heat your oven to gas mark 4 and grease and line your 7inch round cake tin.

For my vanilla cake I weigh 4 eggs and use this weight in self raising flour, margarine and caster sugar. I like to be lazy and mix it all up in my kitchen aid food mixer but it's just as easy to mix it all up yourself in a bowl using a wooden spoon. Also add your flavouring, if, like me you love vanilla, add a few drops of vanilla extract.

Once the cake mixture is looking nice and creamy, pour it into your lined cake tin and into the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

It will look golden brown when ready and you should be able to put a skewer in and it come out clean. 

Next put it on a wire rack and in a place where it can be left to cool for a few hours (this is very hard to do in my house with 2 greedy cats and boyfriend!)

Once cooled you are ready to carve out the basic shape of the cake.

To do this, you need to cut out 3 small triangles to make the ears (I also cut away a little of the cake on top of the ears to give the cake some depth.) Use one of the triangles of cake to make the nose of the panda.

You then need to add a crumb coat. I use 2 parts icing sugar to 1 part butter to make my butter icing for the crumb coat.

Once your crumb coat has been added to the cake, you can add the next layer of icing. I use ready to roll out icing because I like the finish it gives to the cake, however you can add another layer of butter icing if you like.

To decorate I used a star shaped nozzle on my piping bag and piped on the orange fur. I made the ears, nose, eyes, eyebrows, mouth and brown fur using coloured roll out icing. If you struggle to make eyes (to start with I found them very fiddly to do!) you can buy already made eyes or even use plastic goggly eyes you would find in craft shops.

The basic shape for this cake can be used to make any animal with small ears on their heads or even a frog (if you use the 'ears' for their eyes).

I hope this helps!

Love 

Melissa xx

(P.S. any feedback welcome!)

Here's one I made earlier...

After watching 'Ace of Cakes' I was inspired to make this cake. Hope you like!

Feedback is appreciated!

Love,

Melissa xx

If you like cake covered in sparkles, glitter and all things pretty... You found the right blog!