Meringue Flowers and the Cake Show

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to learn the art of meringue flowers from the great Wendy Kromer, who was guest teaching the Bonnie Gordon School. Afterwards, I decided to put a cake showing off my newly acquired skills in the Cake Show, held this past weekend in Toronto.

And so here is the cake I made and exhibited at the show. A beautiful 4-tiered cake, covered in white and pink meringue flowers and leaves, with the bottom tier covered in a brown sugar meringue basketweave.

The idea of covering a cake in meringue flowers and decorations really appeals to me. It has an organic look I really love and the crunch and taste of the meringue is so wonderful. They are beautiful decorations your guests will really enjoy eating. An added bonus is that these decorations are both gluten and dairy free.

Jack Skellington Cake

Sugar and spice

and everything nice

that's what little girls are made of

Sunshine and rainbows

and ribbons for hair bows

that's what little girls are made of

But, wait just a minute!

Sometimes girls are sweet and nice and want a cake with a skull on it for their birthdays! 

Helen was turning 17 and it wasn't so easy to come up with a design.  Flowers and pink just wouldn't do.  I thought she must have been joking when I heard the words "skull" and "black", but when I suggested the following design, she seemed quite taken with it.  Without a doubt a lovely young lady, even without the rainbows and ribbons for hair bows!  Happy Birthday!

Handy Manny

With children growing so fast, you would think children's programming could stay the same forever, after all, there is always a new audience coming along.  But change they do, as illustrated by the show Handy Manny.  In my girl's time, it was Bob the Builder (he was the guy with the talking work-vehicles like Muck and Roley).  Now it is Handy Manny, he is a guy with talking tools like Stretch and Dusty.  And, a favourite of Doreen's nephew, who turned 2!  Happy birthday little man!

Ribbon Roses Cake

Charlie is a chocolate lover.  When her mother approached me for her 14th birthday cake, she told me it  had to be all chocolate.  Even a layer of fruit preserves would be considered too healthy!  So, chocolate it was - Chocolate Butter Cake with Whipped Milk Chocolate Ganache!  I added these adorable ribbon roses, made out of 50/50 gum paste/homemade fondant, in Charlie's favourite colour.  Happy Birthday Charlie!

Star Cupcakes

With their blue stars and dark brown cupcake wrappers, I think these cupcakes have "little boy" written all over them!  And actually, most anyone would love to eat these!  My Yellow Cupcakes, a swirl of my Vanilla Bean Buttercream and topped with homemade fondant stars and a silver dragee.  So sweet!