Cakes gone by…

I had worked with Tessa for nine years when I found out that she was about to have a (I won’t say big!) birthday. I wanted to make her a little cake for the occasion. One that I could carry into the office on the train, that wouldn’t get ruined on the 20 minute walk to the train station.

The cake

My plan was to make it small in diameter but taller than my usual cakes. I actually used the Lakeland pork pie tin to make it! It’s only 4″ diameter!  I love these proportions and should make my cakes taller more often!
It was a Madeira cake with a buttercream filling. I covered the cake and board with pink icing in one go- rather than separately. This is a great way to keep the cake central on the board. It’s also a lot quicker to do!

The flowers

I made the flowers in pale pink sugarpaste, using a blossom shaped plunger-cutter and then used a decorators tool to lightly emboss lines into the centre of each petal. When they were dry I used a pink gel food colour to paint the centre of the flowers. The colour pools inside the lines which gives them more definition and a cuter appearance. Finally I gave them a really light dusting of edible shimmer (the white/silver one). If I was making this cake now I would have added a small dot of royal icing in the centre of each flower to finish it off.
To arrange the cake I piped pale green lines for stems from the cake board up, with a few iced leaves then added the flowers all over. I cut out the ’60’ sign from sugar paste and used royal icing to write the name on the board.

The art of giving

This is one of my earlier cakes and I got all self conscious when it came to giving it to Tessa. I’m known for being a bit extra and suddenly thought I was a bit over the top for making her a cake. She wasn’t even in my department! But I think she’s great! Anyway, I waited for her to come out of a meeting…… and waited…… and waited. (There’s a lot of waiting around for meetings to end …… and start on magazines!) So in the end I left the cake in its box with pretty ribbon wrapped around it, on her desk. Yes, I chickened out! Tessa’s team had bought her presents and cards which were on her desk too, so it was a lovely surprise when she finally came out of the meeting.
Of course she loved the cake and the fact that I had made a special effort for her. Why on earth would anyone ever not like to be made a special cake! I am funny sometimes!!!

EmmaMT