For the Love of all things SHOES...

Like most females, I have a bit of penchant for shoes of the 'fabulous' variety... unfortunately the bank balance never seems to match my expensive taste, but, nevertheless when I was asked to create a (and I quote) ridiculously fabulous wedge shoe cake for a 13th Birthday my eyes lit up, and I'm not talking the energy saving light bulbs, I mean the energy guzzling instant bright bulbs of the olden days :) 

Then, as if it could possibly get any better, I was informed that the birthday girl’s favourite colours are pink, purple & turquoise... I was immediately transported to cake creation heaven!

So I set to work, my research basically boiling down to online window shopping at all my favourite online shoe shops... it was a blissful bit of work & possibly resulted in an accidental purchase of a little something for myself... oops!


Anyhoo...

For the basic wedge shaped sole I had loads of fun making a big batch of rice krispie cake which I fashioned into the shape, it's really sticky stuff so a good coating of vegetable fat on my hands was necessary to make it possible.  Unfortunately the batch of krispie cake was far, far too big and I had to consume a lot of left over’s... but because of this hardship I’ve decided that they were so yummy it's worth jotting down the easy-peasy recipe for you...  

It's so simple, all you need to do is melt 45g butter in a pan, then add 300g marshmallows and stir until completely melted.  Take off the heat and pour in 180g of Rice Krispies.  Stir well... I would recommend a large saucepan from the start to help ease your stirring arm... et Voilà!! 

The traditional next step would be to press the mix into a baking tray and allow to cool but I think it’s much more fun to model with it… baste your hands up with vegetable fat (I use the solid variety but the liquid style would do just as well) and then get creative with the kids (kids optional)!!!

Once the sole was cool, I gave it a quick covering of buttercream to disguise any lumps or bumps and then covered it with fondant icing ready for decoration.

The shoe box was made from chocolate sponge with Nutella filling and was simply decorated with a tag.

Here's the finished cake... totally edible as cakes should be...

Fancy a better view of the shoe…?

...go on then...

Happy 13^th Birthday Holly!

A Sheepish Birthday for Dave

This month Dave turned 40.  

His mother ordered his birthday cake having decided that the Sheep Cake that I've made before was perfect.  As Dave is from Gloucestershire but now lives elsewhere he quite often receives stick from his friends for his Gloucestershire farmers accent!  So his mum asked that the cake feature a tractor and the quote "Get orf my land!" (said in my best farmers accent!).

I've named him Dave as everyone knows a Dave, well I certainly do.

He is carved from Vanilla sponge with Raspberry Jam filling to make his big nose and small head.  Decorated with sugar fondant curls for hair which are so much fun to make, I love his sheepish smile and the slightly shocked expression in his eyes, as if ending up on a cake board was the last thing he was expecting :)

Cake Of The Day - 20th June 2012

Just wanted to share with you the super exciting news that my Bread Rolls Cake made cake of the day today!!

A massive thanks to the team at Cake Of The Day for choosing me & my cakery to feature on their site.
I'm feeling super proud of myself at the news.

It may just be a strange coincidence but the birthday boy that this cake was created for will be celebrating his birthday again only tomorrow!?  How weird is that?!

You can officially view The Cake of the Day here!! :)

Sudoku & Sushi

This weekend me and The Cakery went 'all Oriental' with two last minute cake orders...

The first for the birthday of Super Sudoku player, Else.  

This cake features a real sudoku game just in case Else fancied completing it before cutting it, unfortunately the pencil was pure sugar and therefore not the right tool for puzzling with!

It was entirely hand painted using a handy mix of black food paste, vodka and a surprisingly steady hand considering the night out I was forced to attend the night before! ;)

Although I could've used an edible printed image to create the puzzle I personally believe that that's cheating, the only edible prints used at the Coloured Bubble are of the artistic sort... you can read all about that at the vintage cupcake post!

According to the customer, it was very well received!

The second oriental inspired cake this weekend was a Sushi Cake.

This was great fun to make and I can assure you that no fish were harmed in any way in the making of it!

I particularly enjoyed the modelling of hundreds of grains of rice... not!

It's all in the name of perfectionism though of course, so it had to be done, and I got there in the end.

Now, where did I put my weekend??!! :)

Lovely Jax's 50th :)

OK, so she certainly doesn't look it... or act it, but you will have to take my word for it when I tell you that my lovely friend Jax turned 50 last month!

She asked me to make her cake (although to be honest I would've done it whether she'd asked or not) but she left the design completely up to me...eek!

So I went off on holiday with my sketch pad and the best intentions to have it fully designed by the time I got home, and therefore just in time to make it on the following day.  But alas, due to far too much fun & relaxation this didn't happen and I arrived home from a 10 hour flight with a blank pad and only 48 hours to design it, create it and get it to sunny Weymouth for her party!!

I had initial grand designs in my head for a cake designed around her life as she's certainly filled the last 50 years to the brim.  

I wanted to encapsulate all the wonderful things about her, her youth as a biker & a model; her love of cats with too many toes (also know as polydactyl's); our shared obsession of all things 'Edward Cullen', her amazing talents as a swimmer & photographer (not at the same time), all her wonderful children and grand children, not to mention that she has survived one of the scariest human illnesses known and still lives to tell the tale and smile everyday... along with a huge list of other fabulous things that make Jax who she is.

But time was against me, not to mention the jetlag and with all of the above in mind I realised there was no way I could do her life justice in the time I had!  (Note to self: Jax's 60th!)   

So I decided to make something beautiful to match Jax and her personality and a few badly baked & disposed of sponges (and lots of 'sleeps') later I finally managed to bake a decent cake to decorate!!  

I used white and ivory along with 2 shades of pink to create simple flowers with a touch of pearly dusting to finish them.

Here's Jax's cake...

and just to prove that it survived the two and a half hour journey on what seemed like the hottest day of the year...

I should add, that it's thanks to Jax that The Coloured Bubble Cakery started in the first place, as it was her birthday a few years ago that I made my first cake!!  

Thanks Jax, Happy Birthday, 

love you loads & always will. xxx

Punk Band Cock SParrer

This month I had the absolute pleasure of creating the 40th birthday cake for the guitarist of punk band Cock SParrer, Daryl Smith.

His lovely wife got in contact and we met up to discuss her ideas for his cake over a morning cuppa.

She wanted the band logo in cake form but instead of the name Cock SParrer she wanted Daryl's name and a number 40.

For those out there that don't know of the band, here's their logo...

made with Chocolate Sponge with a yummy Chocolate Spread filling, this is his finished cake...

If you're interested in listening or learning more about Cock SParrer you can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/cocksparrerpunk

Happy Birthday Daryl!!! 

Lesley's Wedding Cake

It was my pleasure this month to make my 2nd cousin Lesley's wedding cake... it turned out that she was let down at the last minute with her original cake booking but The Coloured Bubble Cakery were there to save the day! :)

She requested a Pink Rose Cake similar to the original Pink Rose Cake from my portfolio, but created using Chocolate and Nutella and Coffee Sponges.

She's on her honeymoon right now so I haven't chased her for a photo of the cake 'in situ' but I hope to get my hands on one at some point and will update this post accordingly when I do!! :)

For now, here's her finished cake in the studio...

Congratulations Lesley & Gary!!

I wish you a happy & healthy future together. x

Have got my hands on a photo of Lesley's Cake 'in situ' and it looks so beautiful in it's setting...

Back from Holidays :)

Hey Everyone!

After precisely 2 weeks of being home from my holiday, I've finally found the words and the order to put them in to write this blog post...

The Cakery and I are now back and firing on all cylinders thanks to a lovely and relaxing couple of weeks away.

I've had the most amazingly fabulous time catching up with my oldest and dearest friend, her lovely husband and her adorable new baby over in Vancouver and to top it all, a long weekend of camping with the 3 of them on Cortes Island.  Pure lushness!!  

 But, totally realising how extremely lucky I am to be able to escape reality and disappear for 2 weeks to the farthest reaches of Canada I want you to try and understand and answer me this... 

Could you say "No" to this little face!?  Neither could I!!! :)

Me & little baby Amy

P.S.  I can totally recommend Vancouver as a destination... it's one of the most fabulous places EVER!! :)

Birthday Boy Cupcakes

Cupcakes for the Afro sporting, Honda Driving, Rugby Playing Birthday Boy!!

Thought I'd pixelate the Reg Number, I'm sure the Birthday Boy doesn't need everyone knowing his reg!! :)