Beach, Blue Sky and Boobs

I was sent the following pictures by Nicola and asked if we would be able to make the pictures into a cake!

'No problem' I say.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gibson SG for Jon

We got a phone call about making a Gibson SG and I nearly had heart failure but we took the gig anyway and it was so much fun.  Nice to be really challenged.  Everyone I told about the cake kept saying Geoff from Ace of Cakes made one - you'll be grand.  But I'm no Geoff!!

Still, it turned out brilliantly and I am dead proud of it.  Combined effort of Bernie and myself and ............judge for yourself.

The cake itself is a carved 12" vanilla madeira, triple layered with vanilla buttercream and covered in sugarpaste.

Janet

Since taking up cake making I have met many wonderful Cakers, some of whom have turned into great friends.  One of these is Nicola Grant of Impact Cakes.  So when she was feeling under the weather and asked me to make a model to go with her fantastic cake I was happy to oblige.  

MAC # 2

We made this for the nicest woman.  It was for her daughter's 21st birthday.  The cake itself is a 10" chocolate biscuit cake and all the 'MAC' products are made from sugarpaste and Mexican Modelling Paste.  

So what exactly goes into making a novelty cake then?

The price of cakes - particularly novelty cakes can sometimes be more than you might have had in mind initially. "Oh my!", you think. "Surely it can't be that much - it's just a cake!  Right?".

People often expect to pay a lot for a wedding cake, but are surprised at the quote they have been given for a novelty cake. Yet novelty cakes are often more difficult to make.

A novelty cake is never just a cake. It's a tailor-made commissioned piece of art for your friend/ loved one. A personalised gift to light up their face and make their day, and hopefully remember for some time afterwards. Much much more than simply a dessert at a party, or something to eat with their cup of tea; a novelty cake takes centre-stage on the table at any celebration.

Good cake-makers can make detailed novelty cakes look effortless, and unless you are making novelty cakes yourself, it can be easy to dramatically underestimate how long a cake may have taken, and what went into it.

Novelty cake-making is a skill that takes a lot of practice to develop. It requires a good artistic ablilty, an eye for detail, a steady hand, and an awful lot of patience. If you have never made a novelty cake before and decide to give it a try, then you could be in for a shock (and probably some disappointment)!

I have been making novelty cakes for a number of years, and below I have detailed what is involved in making an €80 sponge novelty cake. Cakes that cost more than this are priced as such because they take longer to make. It is not unusual for a more complex cake e.g. a car to take 12+ hours.


Here's what goes into an average €80 novelty sponge-cake

Research time (often around 30 mins for a tailor-made cake - to design the cake and work out the size required and items needed)

Shopping time : Each cake requires specific items that have to be sourced individually - including specific size and shape of board (boards cost between €2.49 and €13 depending on the size and shape), the box (can cost between €1.50 and €5) , ribbons, decoration, edible paints, other decorations, specific colours of icing, and in some cases new tools.

Preparation of sponge mixture and baking time: Around 1.5 hours in total.

Each cake is baked fresh to order within about 3 days of dispatch so that the cake is as fresh as possible and will keep for at least 2 weeks. Every cake is made using free range eggs and pure butter for a real home-made taste.

Decorating time: Around 3.5 hours for a €80 novelty cake.

Carving and sculpting the shape of the cake.

Butter-creaming between layers and around the cake.

Colouring and kneading the fondant icing and then decorating the cake - smoothing it so it looks neat and without bumps and air-bubbles.

Bringing the cake to life with all the details - using textures, colouring and molding of the different fondant parts and attachments, making the models, painting etc.

Ingredients used:

1.75 - 2.5lbs of pure butter (for cake and buttercream)
1.25 - 1.5lbs flour

1.25 - 1.5 lbs castor sugar

6    - 12 free range eggs.

1.5 -  2lbs icing sugar

Flavouring and jam

Plain fondant icing, pre-coloured fondant packs, specialised Mexican modelling paste, or flower paste for details and models.

Other items:

Edible paints, glitters, sprays, confectioners glaze, edible glue, CMC thickening agent for fondant, thick foiled cake board, ribbon for the board, and box - not forgetting tools for shaping and cutting. It is not unusual for the cost of these extras to add up to more than the cost of the main cake itself.

Ingredients and extra items normally add up to €28 - €35 for an average €80 novelty cake. That leaves around €42-€35 for my work and time on the cake. In comparison this is a much lower hourly rate than other skilled jobs would pay.

Delivery cost and time

I always deliver the cake free of charge if within 5 km of my house.

So - there you have it - the novelty cake experience behind the scenes.

What affects the price of a cake?

Figurines & models

A cake that has figures on it will add to the price of a cake. Animal figures require specialist Mexican modelling paste and take between 30 and 90 minutes to model (each add from €15+ to overall price), and dressed human figurines with facial expressions take around 1.5-2 hours to make (each add from €25+ to overall price).

Also bear in mind that little models of items will add to the price - the intricacy of the items and number of them is proportional to the cost.

'Technical' cakes

A cake that requires a technical representation such as, say, a car cake, camera cake, or an electric guitar cake, requires critical attention to proportions and measurements for a respectable likeness which takes time and must be factored into the overall cost.

Sculpted Cakes

3D cakes that need to be sculpted into a shape such as a car, a 3D animal cake or, for example, the Nemo cake will involve wastage of cake, so the cost of this wastage must be factored into the overall cost.

A metallic, shiny coloured cake

Cakes that are very silvery, gold, pearlescent, or metallic in colour will be more expensive as the metallic shiny edible paints and sprays are more costly than other colours. For cakes that require shiny gold detail, I often use 24ct gold leaf (real gold and completely edible) powder for a stunning finish.

Overall size of the cake

Most novelty and standard celebration cakes will feed on average between 35 and 45 people. If your cake is to cater for more people than this, then the cake will cost more.

Flavour of the cake

Cakes made with chocolate and also alcohol will cost more than other sponge flavours.

Fruit cake costs considerably more than sponge cake since it is full of rich ingredients: fruit, nuts, cherries, and lots of French brandy. However - a fruit cake will provide twice as many portions as a sponge cake of the same size and last a lot longer (sponge cake lasts around 2 weeks if kept in a cool airtight container, whereas fruit cake will last for months). As a price guide, a 10ins square fruitcake for example will cost €35 more than a sponge cake of the same size.
Candles

I don't generally supply candles for cakes. However, I will source them for you if requested and add this to the cake price - depending on the number and type of candles you require.

Angry Birds

I was asked to make these to go with the cake that the mother of the birthday girl was making.  I had a blast, unfortunately am now addicted to the game.

 

 

 

 

VANDALS!!!!!

This, at this moment in time, is one of my favourite cakes.  It's an 8" chocolate biscuit cake decorated with handmade figures based on the birthday boy's own children.  There is a nice, casual laid back vibe to it.

Ayveen's Christening Cake

I don't know what I did but I messed with the settings when editing the photos which means . .  they're not great photos.  So annoying.  Especially when you're pleased with the cake, like I am.

This is a 8" Zesty Lemon cake.  It's been triple layered with both buttercream and home made lemon curd (thank you Nicola - fellow caker),  The flowers and buttons are all handmade.

Pint of Guiness

A simple, straight forward pint of Guinness.  Can't go wrong with a pint of the Black stuff, can you?  Bernie took a well deserved day off and I had to do the piping bit.  Tis great how we all have our skills but I'm only learning about royal icing (I've done a course with Ms. Grainne MacClancy - go find her, the woman is one of the best teachers I have ever met).  I think it turned out rather well, as did the client.  Which is the main thing.

BALBRIGGAN CHRISTMAS MARKET MENU!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's something you haven't seen in a while

A market menu!!  We're back.  Back doing something we love.  Selling direct to you, and having a chat, at the market.

  

The market is running from 6pm - 9pm on Friday, 2nd December and 10am - 5pm, Saturday and Sunday (don't talk to us on Monday as I have a feeling we'll be tired and cranky).

So?  What do we have for you???  Well . . . . 

Red Velvet

A light chocolate cake with a fantastic red colour, think Rudolph’s nose.  It is topped with a delicious white chocolate cream frosting.

The Malted

hese malt flavoured cupcakes (think malteasers) are perfect!!  Topped with a delicious malty butter cream and a trio of Malteasers these cupcakes are exceedingly tasty, with a pinch of nostalgia

Egg Nog

So excited about this one!!  It's a new one for me, Niamh, but Mo' knows me and reckons I'm going to love it.  A light and fluffy Eggnog cupcake with an eggnog frosting and a dusting of cinnamon. 

Vanilla Bean

The Classic cupcake topped with our favourite and most traditional icing recipe.  We use the best of ingredients to make this cupcake and you can taste it.  Oh, and as it's the season for snow and being jolly, these cups of yumminess are topped with a sugar snowflake.

  

Snickerdoodle

These are delicious.  A moist, cinnamon-y piece of heaven!!  Topped with a delicious, light cream cheese and cinnamon frosting.  I, Niamh again, would crawl across broken glass for one of these!

Hot Cocoa and Marshmallow

Delicious Belgian chocolate cake topped with a delicious marshmallow frosting.  Perfect for cold mornings/afternoons/evenings . . . . .   Perfect for any time.

Chocolate and Peppermint

A perfect cup of Belgian chocolate cake topped with a delicious white chocolate and peppermint frosting.  Ooh, mustn't forget the crushed candy canes.

Apple Spice

A spicy apple cupcake with a maple and brown sugar frosting.

BUT WAIT!!!!! There's more . . . .

We also have our, now famous, chocolate biscuit puddings.  The best Belgian Chocolate mixed with butter, golden syrup and a range of lovely biscuits before being lovingly topped with sugarpaste 'cream', and 'holly'.  These are flying out so if we don't have any when you come to see us, don't fret, we'll have our order book with us. 

Small puddings: €12.00 each or 2 for €20.00

Big puddings are €25.00 each

Also, there are our Belgian Choc. Chip Cookies, Biscuits, in a jar.  All you need is 100g butter, tsp vanilla extract and an egg and you're away.  Within 11 minutes of mixing our jar with those few ingredients you'll have upwards of 20 delicious cookies.  That's 20 BIG ones.  

Jars of Cookie mix (I still think 'biscuits') are €10 each

Then there are our 'Cupcake in a Jar' jars.  We'll have a few on display but really we're just making these to order.  In each jar you get one and a half cupcakes with three swirls of our luscious buttercream topped with sprinkles and supplied with a spoon.  All you do is uncap and eat.  Great Kris Kindle/Secret Santa/present for someone you forgot present.  They'll last 7 days from receipt, unopened and in your fridge.  I promise you they are divine.

They cost €6.00 each or you can have two for €10.00

We'll also have Peppermint Bark.  Only three ingredients are required, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and candy canes and it is absolutely perfect.  

We may also have, homemade marshmallows, peanutbuttercups and fudge . . . we'll just have to see how tired and cranky myself and Mo' become.

Either way, come and say hello and have a taste of what we have to offer, promise you'll love it.