Grace's Cakes

[Tutorial] How to Make Fondant figurine

2009-01-27T05:42:00.001Z

[Tutorial] How to Make Fondant figurine, originally uploaded by Ipoet.

A tutoriol from Ipoet, who kindly shows us how these cute figures arre made. I love the way she uses things that everyone has around the kitchen. Very creative and very well done!! Thanks for sharing!!

Valentine's Day Mosaic

2009-01-22T11:45:00.001Z

Valentine's Day Mosaic, originally uploaded by Gracescakes.

A selection of Valentine's Day Cupcakes for V-day!!

Hibiscus Napkin Rings How 2

2009-01-05T10:56:00.003Z

These Napkin rings I made for my brother's Surf party. I had a brain wave with some left over pipecleaners from the slip-slops.

I cut out four petal flowers from tissue paper, pushe the two ends of the pipe-cleaner through the centre and sqished the paper to make a believable flower.

I then put white glue on the tips of the pipe-cleaners and dipped them in yellow sprinkles.

I put one around a stone as a weight for the napkins on the cocktail table and use the rest as napkin rings for the napkins on the table.

I guess you could put them around candles and heaps of other things to add atmosphere to the party!!

Baileys and Coffee Buttercream Recipe

2009-01-05T10:32:00.005Z

So here is the recipe for my most delicious buttercream.
Not good for my new years resolution to loose some weight and get into shape. Here it is anyway!!

100g butter (room temp)
30ml coffee (strong brewed)
2 and a half cups of icing sugar
20ml of Baileys (okay, so I just throw in enough to make it takes awesome, you decide!)

Beat together until smooth. I use my food processor and always get a smooth buttercream. Don't over beat. Add more icing sugar if you need a stiffer buttercream.

Enjoy!!

Jeremy's 30th Birthday Party!

2009-01-05T10:18:00.003Z

So the party has come and gone!! We worked all of Saturday on the decorations and the cake. My sister, Dot, her husband, Tobie and my husband and I set to work early that morning. My sister stays an hours drive away, so they had an earlier start. The tables looked so beachy and I think my brother was so happy.

These are the foam and pipe-cleaner slip-slops I made for the table, we used beach sand for the runner of the table and added frangapanis from my garden.

The cake took forever. It was a dark chocolate mud cake filled and crumb coated with Baileys and coffe buttercream. So yummy and moist and just delicious!! My brother is a die hard surfer and since moving to New Zealand in Feb last year has surfed so few times he can remember each of them. So we gave him a good old South African Braai (Barbaque) party with a Surfer's theme!! He is a big fan of theme parties and had an awesome time!!

Happy Birthday, Jay!!

Shrek Cake

2009-01-01T18:30:00.005Z

My sister asked me to help her with a Shrek cake she was making. She used a doll tin to bake the cake and covered it with fondant that she had made to look like wood.

I made the roots using wire and wrapped fondant around it, tapped the fondant with a sharp knife to give a wood effect. I stuck a tiny piece of straw into the cake before sticking the wire into the straw, so the wire would not touch the cake.

A lovely cake and we had fun making it together!!

Surf Party How to!!

2009-01-01T18:12:00.007Z

My sister and I are planning my brother's 30th birthday party. He loves surfing and so we are having a Surf party. We are making the table decor and have had lots of fun making different beach things. I took photos of the star fish making out of fondant and I made Flip-Flops out of foam and pipe cleaners. On some of the Flip-Flops, I twisted two pipe-cleaners together to make a prettier shoe. Simple cold glue stuck the pipe-cleaners to the foam. I also use my cookie cutters to emboss the foam for a more funky shoe.

I will post more cool ideas as we finish them. The cake is going to be a combi, Retro VW with surf boards on top etc. Can't wait to see his face when he sees it!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Cookie Dummies?

2008-12-30T07:42:00.001Z

Cookie Dummies?, originally uploaded by SusieHazCakes.

Love this idea to practice on styrofoam cutouts for cookie decorating!

How to Make a Car Cake

2008-12-27T06:33:00.000Z

My daughter fell in love with Noddy this year. For her second birthday I made her a Noddy car, which was such a simple design, that I should have taken photos of how it turned out. My computer locked the file with all her birthday photos, so I have none to show you. When I was asked to make the cake again for a friend of mine's grandson. I took photos of the sculpting of the cake and I hope that this can be of use to car fan's moms. I cut off Noddy's legs and put him into the car to make the cake very authentic!! The car I took photos of was blue and red.

I used two wide loaf tins to bake the cake and cut away each end to shape the car. I used fondant to model the extras on the car and Jube-Jubes to make the front lights. The wheels are donuts, covered in white buttercream. The top of each donut was cut off to allow it to look more real when placed onto the car. I cut a clear cd in half for the windscreen.

Hope you have lots of fun making this cake!

Pink Rose Cupcakes

2008-12-23T20:41:00.001Z

Pink Rose Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Gracescakes.

I made these for a little girl's second birthday. My sister taught me how to make the rose buds. They are so dainty and pretty. I love this shot of the cupcakes.

Christmas Cupcakes for a Charity Lunch

2008-12-23T20:27:00.000Z

I was asked by a very lovely client of mine to make cupcakes for a party for underpriveliged kids. She was organising donations for the party and I jumped on board. I had great fun making the toppers and the kids
loved them. When she sends me photos from the party I'll post those too!!

Now she tells me that those kids who are staying in the home for Christmas will be entertained by herself and her brothers. Imagine not getting a gift for Christmas because you are in a home and you won't see your family? Well she is buying each kid a gift and wrapping and handing them out tomorrow. A real angel.

Leonard and Natasha's Wedding!!

2008-12-16T16:48:00.000Z

Today was set up day for the wedding cupcake tower that I've been working on for a while now. My sister made all the roses for me, she makes the best tiny ones and I dressed and boxed 100 of them last night. Today she came to help set up. It was a beautiful venue and the weather wasn't too hot.

Cupcakes were a selection of chocolate mud covered in coffee or Baileys buttercream and carrot and lemon covered in lemon buttercream. Each box looked so pretty and as this is my first wedding, I was so proud of what we did. I must say working with my sister on this one was great.

Christmas Teddies

2008-12-14T08:10:00.001Z

Christmas Teddies, originally uploaded by Gracescakes.

These are a few of the Christmas teddies I made for a friend. She wanted to thank her collegues at SACS Junior for the year and we made a different one for each teacher. They were fun to make and they loved them. Each one was placed into a clear plastic box with a piece of glitsy Christmas organsa. Very pretty!!

Welcome to my Blog

2008-12-13T17:18:00.000Z

Hi,
Welcome to my blog. I am new to blogging and am looking forward to having my own space on the web to show off my decorating (new) skills and to get some feedback, answer any questions and hopfully learn alot from anyone who is willing to share ideas and skills.

Please comment freely, but contructively and if you'd like any recipes or advice, please ask.