Cake Trends of 2016

Posted on Thursday 25th August, 2016

Cake trends change ALOT. Its tough to keep up with whats hot and whats not. We’ve brought to you the low down on our favourite cake trends so far of 2016!

cake trend blog 1

Buttercream Flowers

They’ve never been hotter!! Beautiful displays of piped flowers, leaves, roses and succulents. Just gorgeous!

 

drip cake trend blog

 

Drip Cakes

Probably one of my favourite cake trends of all time. So simple to do yet one of the most striking looks. Especially when loaded full of chocolate. Yummy!!!

 

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Marbled Fondant Cakes

Such modern cakes compared to the Vintage look thats been around for years now. We love marbled cakes when teamed with statement flowers and leaf effects. That one of our classes in the middle!

 

semi drip cake trend blog

 

Semi Naked Cakes

Im not a big fan of naked cakes. The look a little too unfinished for my liking. However I LOVE semi naked cakes. You can still create a tall, straight cake with that rustic feel. Especially when teamed with a few drips. Oooooh!

 

So there is my round up of the best cake trends so far. Whats your favourite to eat? Have you tried any? Let us know

 

Dani xx

Chewy White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Posted on Tuesday 16th August, 2016

After a mammoth baking session for the Royal Icing Cookies Class, I needed another cookie recipe. This time for the ultimate in indulgent cookies! Switch the oven on, make a cuppa, read on and get baking…

Chewy White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
250g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
100g dark brown sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp black treacle
300g plain flour
2-3 handfuls of chocolate chips
1 egg

The easiest recipe ever…are you ready?

cookies images

Bung all your ingredients in your mixer, apart from the chocolate chips. Mix for a 30-45 seconds. Chuck in your chocolate chips, mix again for 10-20 seconds until evenly mixed. Ta-da!!!!

 

cookies recipe

Grab a baking tray covered in baking paper. Using a tea spoon, scoop out the cookie batter and plonk on the baking paper. Don’t press down, just leave the cookies exactly as they are. This recipe makes LOADS!! :) It is the summer holiday after all. I made around 24 cookies with this but halve it all for a smaller amount.

Pop in the oven at around 170 fan oven for 10-12 minutes. They will be really soft but leave them on the tray for 5-10 minutes to firm up, then scoff while they are still warm and gooey! Mmmmmmm.

 

cookies images lana

 

My littlest cookie monster gives it a thumbs up!! Happy baking lovelies
Dani x

My favourite cake decorating tools

Posted on Monday 15th August, 2016

We all understand the frustration. You take up a new hobby and find yourself OBSESSED with everything to do with it. Tools, equipment, novelty items… anything! Its tough to wittle down the thousands of items available to just a few that fits within your bank balance.

Here are my must have and essential cake decorating items to get you started…

tools blog

 

Basic set of modelling tools - This was one of the first things I bought and still use them so much. From frilling flowers, to adding texture to petals and modelling little faces. Totally essential.

Gel colours - I only use and have only ever used Sugarflair gel colours. They colour florist paste and sugar paste so well. I find them brilliant, they have a HUGE range of colours and I’ve never had any need to go else where.

Rolling pin - Again, totally essential. I use a 9 inch rolling pin for all my sugar flowers and 22 inch for rolling out sugar paste.

tools blg 2

 

Cake smoothers – I lurve Wilton smoothers. They are rounded on one side and straight on the other. Perfect for cake sharp edges!

Cocktail sticks and food bags - I use cocktail sticks to add gel colours into paste. Nothing else works as good, they are so teeny that you can get the littlest amount of colour on them to achieve a pastel shade. Food bags are for storing your paste in to stop it from drying out.

 

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Cutters - Now, you could go wild with this. So many cutters! The basics I would recommend are a 5 petal cutter set. I love them from PME. They give a really clean cut. Also some plunger cutters such as daisies or blossoms. Again, I find PME give the best cut.

Foam mat - A white foam mat is vital for frilling flowers. I use this PME mat, you can buy from windsor cake craft.

Cornflour – When rolling out florist paste, cornflour is amazing. Add a little on to your work surface before you roll our and it’ll stop your paste from sticking.

Piping Bags and nozzles – We love disposable piping bags, life is too short to be washing piping bags!! Lakeland are great for piping bags, as are eBay or amazon. We love Jem 2D nozzle too. Its a great all rounder for all kinds of swirls.

 

So there we have it, what are your essentials?

Love Dani x