My next door neighbours Jamie & Hilary both have their birthdays in August, and I was asked to make cakes for both of them! At the beginning of the month, Jamie contacted me and asked for a sponge cake for Hilary’s birthday, and suggested Disney as a theme as she was a big fan. Knowing that Hilary likes mini mouse in particular, I realised I had two small cake tins which would be a great size for ears, with an 8″ sponge cake as Minnie’s head, and I made the cake based around this idea…! Using all three tins was going to make a lot of cake, but I knew Hilary was having a party to celebrate her birthday, was felt happy it would all get eaten in time! Luckily I picked up more tips from a YouTube video to help me to make a fondant bow, and I spent hours cutting out all the facial details to try & make a Mini Mouse cake which looked just like the Disney character! I was really pleased with how it looked, and Hills was delighted when she saw it!
This year was Jamie’s 30th birthday, and he threw a party with a glamorous, black & silver Hollywood theme. He asked for a cake to fit the black & silver theme, but the most important aspect of it was that it was square so it was easier to cut up for the party guests! So Jamie ordered a new tin for me to borrow for this cake, and I calculated how much mix I needed to make for this tin – & it was double my normal quantities! I just about managed to make it without it overflowing my largest mixing bowl! Knowing how much I preferred using my normal white icing to cover cakes, I asked Jamie if it was OK as a white cake with black & silver accessories, & designed a few ideas around this… As part of the Hollywood theme, I made a film strip to wrap around the cake, & trail off on one side, and made a film reel to sit on the top of the cake. I bought a silver spray which worked brilliantly to give the film reel a great silver colour, & also used it to spray white & grey stars to give them some extra colour & sparkle! I also bought edible silver beads to make a ’30’ from, and made a clapper board on which I piped ‘Jamie’s birthday’. The cake went down really well & I was pleased to hear people telling me they had taken 2nd & 3rd pieces because they enjoyed it so much!! ; )