Planet Cake Update - Week Ending 31.1.09

This week was hot and sticky in Sydney as we battled temps over 30 degrees each day. We had some great courses Basics 104 (the cube) , we had Basics 102 (square) on Thursday and Mini Cakes on Friday, however I think the highlight for the week was definitely Novelty 101, this was the first time Planet Cake has taught this beginners program and 10 little Circus Tents looking absolutely amazing emerged, from students, some of whom had never touched icing before, it was fantastic to be there and I am incredibly proud of the results, much better than many commercial cake decorators out there, well done Novelty 101 students you outdid yourselves!

The Planet Cake book will be arriving in Sydney book stores in March; it should be arriving in the UK in April and USA in August in know that it is already available on Amazon in the UK for pre-sales. After nearly a year in the making I must admit to feeling a tad nervous about the whole thing. However I am genuinely excited about your response and what you all think about the book, yours are the opinions that matter to me the most!

Due to so many workshops this week I will not bore you with cakes for too long (ha ha) however there were some beauties this week from Margie. I think John’s mates would have been impressed with this cool cake and teddy bears represent all things lovely about babies for a big christening.

We made this very simple but gorgeous soft and elegant wedding cake the other week, 3 tiers of extended white chocolate that had to be delivered in 40 degree temps – people wonder about the reality of cake making, well the stress of deliveries can keep to cake decorators talking non-stop for hours, this cake gave me a fitful nights sleep with Handi’s words ringing in my ears “watch that cake Paris” – yikes, lucky for everyone concerned it was looked after like a baby.

This cake has a very unusual story; it was a surprise gift for a couple who DID NOT WANT A WEDDING CAKE. Risky stuff indeed surprising a couple at their own wedding reception with something they did not want and I felt a bit of trepidation. I do know from experience that if a couple has a special image created for them they are usually very attached to it. We only had the couple’s invitation to go by and using Margie’s incredible painting talents recreated the cartoon image of them from the invitation by painting it with edible colour onto the cake. The image is really gorgeous but may be a bit small for you to see, it is the bride and who is not falling to his knees but rather in a wheel chair speeding in to propose. I have on great authority that they loved the cake as did the guest – phew!!