Gravity Defying Cake

Today was Small's 12th birthday and I decided I was making him an M&M Gravity Defying cake.

It's actually a lot easier than it looks.

First I made my chocolate cake mixture (all recipes on request, I've probably already put it on here ages ago), which made two sandwich cakes plus seven cup cakes (not sure why it didn't make six or eight!!). This recipe uses egg yolks mixed in and egg whites folded in after (makes it much lighter).

Sandwiched together with chocolate butter icing (I use melted chocolate instead of coca powder as it makes it more fudgey and it sets better).

I decided on M&M's because of their colour which looks fabulous on a chocolate cake. On a white cake I think maltesers or aero bubbles would look extra good.

I covered the sides and top with more butter icing and inserted a skewer into the cake towards one side. I made a small diagonal cut in a packet of M&M's and puffed it up (after emptying it) and secured it on the top of the skewer using a bit of melted chocolate. Using a few M&M's at a time and being very patient, I stuck the sweets onto the skewer starting at the base near the cake. It takes a lot of time and I found using chocolate that had cooled slightly stuck the sweets better, otherwise they just slide down the skewer.

Grandma was my assistant chef today and she used a bowl covered with a tea towel and then gently threw M&M's at the bowl to see how they fell (just to help construct the falling sweets).

The sides of the cake were covered with Kit Kat bars all the way round.

The M&M's were stuck to the skewer using melted chocolate all the way up and when completely set (and after walking away and coming back) more added to give it a bit more bulk. Sticking them out at odd angles looked better than just sticking on flat.

Making them look as if they were spilling out over the top of the cake and partly down the sides. We had a lot of fun playing really and it's really hard to stop.

I piped white chocolate for his name onto pachment paper and peeled it off when cool and stuck it to the kit kats. It wasn't perfect but it worked.

The look on the boys faces when they saw the finished cake was priceless - HOW DID YOU DO THAT? Thay asked.

Because I bought special candles (and because I didn't want to set the sweet packet on fire) I added them to the cup cakes instead of the main cake.

It tasted good but it's very difficult to fit in a box or cake tin. This cake was a success.

 

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Pottery II

I have started my Pottery again and have been going for three weeks (half way through). The first week I made a bird house/feeder and a tea bag holder..............

The second/third week my friend was visiting from London UK, so I took her along with me. We both made Fish Dishes......

Last week we made Spring Roll Plates.......

Two more weeks to go and then I get to glaze them before their final firing.

 

 

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Woyww - not a lot

It's Wednesday, I'm a bit late again (well it's early where I live but late where WOYWW lives). Today I am joining in with What's on Your Worksesk Wednesday for some more desk hopping fun. Julia will explain over here if you don't know what this is about.

Today my desk is completely and utterly empty (honestly), two reasons - 1. we have visitors who are sharing my space and 2. I am off for a quilting session today and all my stuff is packed in a box ready to go this afternoon.

Sewing Machine, obligatory banana (I cannot sew on an empty stomach), quilt, sewing paraphanlia and material for backing and edging.

Hopefully I will get round to see many of your beautiful desk later today.

 

 

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Pottery Collected

About eight weeks ago, I started a beginners pottery course. Just a bit of fun and something nice and creative to do. Today I collected my fired and glazed pieces.

A milk jug

Ooh just noticed that handle is a little wonky!

These are for putting your chopsticks on

This was the first week pot. A pinch pot. Next time I go, this one is going to be a chicken or a bird or a pear!!!

Sushi Bowls.

A mug.

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out though I may use a bit more colour next time. I have signed up for another six sessions with some of the same people. Should be fun.

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Cornerstones added

Today I went to my quilting class and finished my border. Once again, the placing of pieces took longer time than the actual sewing. MrsSew helped us to decide what looked best and then we got on with the sewing part.

The smaller twisters I created last week were sewn onto lengths of 6.5" wide border fabric and then sewn onto the edge of the main quilt. I decided on the gold cornerstones so these had to be sewn on. This was quite technical for me as we had to sew part way down the length, then check how long the fabric needed to be, cut it off with a quarter seam allowance and then sew on plus the cornerstone. I'm sure there is a better way of explaining but it worked beautifully anyway. The small lengths were sewn on first and the longer ones last.

I have now chosen the edging (well actually MrsSew did as she has far more experience and colour knowledge than me) and then I chose the backing material (which I found last week). MrsSew didn't give me any homework as we have visitors from England arriving today. Next week we will be sandwiching the front back and wadding.

 

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Twisting

Yesterday I went to my quilting class and cut some smaller twisters, sewed them together and had part of a border. I was asked how this worked so I have tried to show it below (plus this will greatly help me remember should I have to do this ever again by myself).

Using my 4.5" squares sewn together with a 3" border.....

I then used my twister template, drew around it using my 'friction' pen (which, by the way, really does work as I used the template upside down which really buggers up the pattern, and a quick iron and the pen marks were gone).

I then cut out the squares.....

Took away the bits I don't need (hence a huge bag of scraps, but that's for another day).

Twisted them and made a beautiful twister pattern

More cutting, more twisting, lots of sewing

And I ended up with a corner border.

Now I just have to decide what to put as a corner stone, fill in the bits with more border - but this is all I can do for today so the rest will have to wait. Hope this helps. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions, if I can help, I will. If I can't help, I will ask someone who can.

 

 

 

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Woyww 304 borders

How did Wednesday happen so quickly (and why does my autocorrect want to put WEDNESDAY in capital letters?). I took a photo of my desk yesterday just before I left it to take the Smallest swimming and the Small to ER (nothing broken thank goodness). I am joining in with the wonderful people of desk-hopping, desk-showing, craft wonderfulness hosted by Julia at Stamping Ground. It is definitely worth a peek.

It's just a big mess of cutting, piecing and listening to music. I don't need to go into detail because it's all there to see. But I can show you what it was I was creating if you like.

Lots of ironing of seams which never seem to want to go the way I need them to. And then it turns in to this.

Today, in my quilting class, I will be turning four of these into Small Twister squares which I will then sew together again and add them as a border to my main quilt.

Lots of work, but it keeps me out of trouble. Hope to pop round to see other desks when I've done my aerobics class.

 

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Minions Cake

Today I had strict instructions to make a Minion Cake for my Smallest. Today he is eight and he designed th cake himself, down to the maltesers around the edge.

It is just a vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream with white chocolate chips in and covered with fondant icing. The tiny minions wer difficult and fiddle because the black icing I was using wasn't setting so it dribbled a little but if you don't look too closely, it does a job.

Smallest didn't notice it at first and then loved it. It wasn't just what he wanted he said, it was much better. Praise indeed.

I made lots of little cup cakes, at the time I didn't know why but as I was putting the cake together it came to me. More minions, looking up at us.

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY SMALLEST

 

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