Right I have some catching up to do!

Nanny those trainers were fab, we all knew you'd manage to make them despite your concerns.

Maisie, sorry I got confused and answered nanny when I should have answered your post about air bubbles etc! I have covered my cake again, I put the new fondant on top of the horrible old one. Much nicer, so I'm much happier. All the sharp edges have gone though, and because I had an appointment that I'd forgotten about, I had to leave the cake after I'd covered and smoothed and I didn't have time to make those sharp edges that I'm trying to achieve.

Nanny, re sharp edges. I actually managed it without doing anything- beginner's luck! The cake was razor sharp on the edges to begin with. I used the upside down method- worked great although I still didn't get the top spirit level! Normally I cover with 4mm thick fondant, but I tried thin this time and the fondant just followed the shape of the cake. I think if the first batch of fondant had been good, I would have worked on it to get it really sharp. I have looked at inspiredbymichelle's blog to see her technique, and someone on youtube 'pinche's the edges of the fondant with 2 smoothers- one at the top and one at the side- so she brings the smoothers together to get the edges sharp. Anyhoo- like I said to Maisie, the cake isn't that sharp in the edges anymore! 

Siany, have fun gardening :)

Bashini, busy as always! Can't wait to see your latest cakes!

Sorry I've been a bit selfish and hogged the thread about my cake- it's a one off promise! I can't believe how stressed I get over cake that is for our consumption 

AMorning all. :-)

Kids are in school/ college, house is quiet, bliss! I'm having a cuppa and a CC catch up before I start some housework.

Siany, I'm jealous of your garden and I hacen't even seen it! We've got Japenese knotweed in ours, it's a nightmare!

Jean don't worry about being confused, I knew what you were on about. So much goes on on this thread it's hard to keep up sometimes isn't it. Was it Gray who said about underkneading the sugarpaste? A lightbulb came on in my head when I read that cos I didn't cut enough off first, I kneaded it, rolled it out, realised I didn't have enough so cut some more off, kneaded the new bit, then mixed them together and kneaded again. So I kneaded the sugarpastedirect stuff much more than I usually knead any other. I hope that makes sense! I have a tendancy to waffle sometimes! Anyway, I'm glad it's turned out ok. :-)

Jo will your christening cake be your first tiered cake?

ASorry to butt I but wanted to ask a quick question. I remember something being mentioned on here a while back about someone's letter cutters being ugly - can't remember who said it or to who though. I only have a cheap set of letter cutters I bought off eBay when I first started out, they were little ones that came in a round green plastic case. They're not particularly great but I don't have any numbers and need to get some. I thought before I invest in any I would see what everyone on here recommends for numbers and letters because I wouldn't mind a full set that obviously matches so it might just be best to rebuy them all at once.

Any suggestions? I don't want to spend too much because I actually don't use them very often (though maybe that would charge if I got better ones!)

Hi all, a big thank you for your support.  Here's a wee update on my strawberry cake nightmare!

So the cake which was missing an egg turned out passable, but I didn't want to risk using it in the wedding cake - so it got scoffed at church :-)

On the Friday morning I tried Cake #2.  As I wanted a bit more height to it than with just the one batch, I decided to go with a 1.5 batch.  Although I had been swithering about just doing a double batch.  Something in my brain obviously remembered that, and I put in twice the amount of butter and salt rather than just one and a half times.  I caught it in time, but that meant that I needed to double everything else.  So I went to the cupboard and got out everything, only to discover I'd run out of baking powder!  A quick trip to the shop sorted that, and then onto mixing everything properly.  This was when I discovered that my mixer is not big enough to cope with mixing a double batch of this recipe, so mixing by hand it was...  Got everything mixed and in the tin, the realised I'd run out of time and needed to do the school run (we have half days on Fridays).  Cake in the fridge, children from school, cake in the oven... It took four hours to bake all the cake that afternoon (in two goes) as it was so cold from being in the fridge.  But at least it baked :-)

Torted and filled the cakes on Sunday - that went smoothly - and then overheated my ganache so it split!  I had to wait until it had cooled, then mix it back together and heat it up again to the right consistency, so I was up until midnight ganaching the tier.  But, it ended up beautiful and bang on the four inches I was aiming for, so it is in the freezer all ready to be decorated nearer the time :-)

I am so glad that is over and done with!  I made a little cake with the left over batter and tried out the design for the cake, just to make sure it would look ok, and get the colours right with the ribbon etc:

I'm quite pleased with this, but wish I'd not put the three butterflies down the right hand side in quite such a straight line.  The board was just roughly covered and I didn't have a white ribbon, so it has florist tape round it :-)

Thus ends the saga of the strawberry cake...

ALizzie! Lovely cake, so neat.

Maisie, hubby can help with you weeds, used to teach horticulture in Usk college, he just said, a flame thrower helps, nightmare he said, and depending how much you want to spend is to dig it all out and change the soil, see not only are we cake peeps we do otherthings too!

Sugarluva, I know the letters are expensive but they are worth getting, I have most of them now,just built up over the year. And its nice to have different styles.

AMorning! Wow, another busy day in CC land lol!

Hello Jo, this is a really lovely thread with loads of lovely helpful cakey people, so you are definitely in the right place :) I can only add to what the others have said really. I generally bake a madeira based cake rather than a sponge, but the same as Nanny I never bake them as one cake to split, I'll do 2 tins with 1/3 and then 2/3 mix in, and then tort into 3 layers. I find with anthing other than carrot/choc/fruit that too much batter impedes the rise when baking. I never use cores or flower nails though, just drop the oven temp (I use a fan oven) and cook for a little longer. Good luck though, Im sure you will do great :)

Nanny - those trainers are adorable, well done for persevering they are fab! :)

Jean - I used my SPD paste yesterday for the first time too, and I know what you mean! I was covering a dummy cake with it, and although it was really lovely a smooth to work with, I found the minute you stopped kneading it seemed to 'set' on the surface faster than I'm used to so I was getting little dry patches. It actually reminded me of the texture of Renshaw Flower paste, which I use occasionally for my sugar flowers - its lovely and smooth, but not as 'sticky'? I did manage to get it to work in the end though - Maisie I think you had the right trick it just needs ALOT of kneading to warm it up and then you might need to work faster when covering? I'm happy with the finish though - I used it for my Orchid demo cake, which turned out really well!

Sugarluva - I have both Clikstiks and Tappits and I really like them both. They do take practise (my first set of Clikstiks nearly went out the window!) but once you get the hang they are fab. I have the Funky tappits and the Groovy Cliksticks which are both my favourites I think :)

Lizzie, glad the cake turned out well in the end - love the butterfly cake, very pretty!

Sorry if I've missed anyone, will nip back and reread a few pages before this turns into war and peace ;D

x

Morning! I am being so naughty at work checking on this thread so will have to be quick ! Maisie yes the christening cake will be my first tiered cake I am trial running it next week and will stack and transport to work for tasters hopefully it will survive !! Bashini yes I saw royal icing in a packet like icing sugar so I plan to try that, seems like a bit of a faff to whip up eggs whites if only needed for tiers. Best get on and do some accountancy work now lol

AThey were my ugly letters Sugarluva! They were wilton, easy to use but not pretty! I've got another set that are prettier but don't seem like the same size as each other. I've heard good things about windsor clickstix,I've got some on my ebay watch list, I'm dropping hints to my lot for my birthday.

Lizzie, poor you, what a drama! Worth it though, that cake is lovely! I think the butterflies are fine, when I read what you said about them I had to go back and look. They're lovely. :-)

Sugarluva I have a set of FUNKY letter tappits got them off Amazon I think they are so sool !

Meant cool !!

ASorry nanny, didn't see your post. Thank your husband for me and ask can I borrow his flamethrower please?! It us a nightmare, we've had a crash course in knotweed and with it in surounding gardens we're fighting a losing battle.

Yep, it's a really busy thread mel!

Jo, didn't see your post either. I've made 2 two tier cakes and they were easier than I thought they'd be (I was very worried!) I watched loads of youtube vids and read a lot! I used 5 dowels and stuck the layers with buttercream and they both travelled well, one went with me but the second one my stepson picked up and took home, I was like a new mother giving him instructions for looking after my baby! You'll be fine!

AJo, you can always go up to next amounts for the same tin, I just did for a 9inch round and it come out little bigger.all cakes cooked and relax!! Made brownies too pecan nuts.

Morning all.

Hi ladies wow so much to catch up on.

Sugarluv I have recently bought some tappits they make lovely letters but I had trouble getting them out in one piece the lovely ladies here have give me some tips so gonna have another try. I have the groovy letters and the script and I also have the wilton alphabet moulds which I like.

Lizzie your butterfly cake is lovely.

Jo I also use buttercream between my tiers and have had no problems. If I need to travel with the cake I empty my boot and put a rubber non slip mat (like what you get to go under rugs to stop them from moving) under the cake box and it stops the cake from moving.

I can't keep up with everything sorry to everyone I've missed.

Hi Roxy and Mel nice to hear from you and thanks for the warm welcome !

Yes I do hope my sponge will be ok its only a two tier so hopefully it will be fine my thoughts are to cover a day in advance so fondant can harden up a bit before putting other cake on top! I work for a shipping company and I have just asked a supervisior to get me a bread tray like pallet with a blanket the use for precious cargo to go inside as heard that will take shock off box when going over bumps etc ! Will pop in my very flat boot of my new Honda Civic

Nanny I think my skinny layers will be great as want three little ones to make up to my 3" between one layer Jam and the other Buttercream. Just going to try and order your book into my local library with a sneaky view to copy some pages lol x

Haha I do the same Jo borrow from the library and photocopy on my printer.

Ok, I literally cannot catch up on what's going on!

Lizzie - all of my left overs and failed attempts end up at church as well!! I walked in with left over samples from a wedding fayre once and got people crowding round me like vultures! It's a thing now to introduce me as - This is Nat, she makes amazing cakes. Never any follow up info though, lol. Your cake is so cute! I hadn't noticed the placement of the butterflies being at all rigid until you pointed it out!

Sugaluva, the only lettering sets I have are clickstix and I find them easy to use, but I mostly just paint or pipe lettering on.

Jo -  I do the same as Roxy, empty my boot and put non stick mats under the cake so it doesn't move whilst driving. I secure the tiers with whatever I have available, royal icing or buttercream.

I know I've missed stuff....

Update on my interview -  I am through to the next and final stage! My next interview now is a week Friday and thankfully it's in Llanelli, so a much shorter drive!

AAw well done natt! :-)

Hi everyone - hope you are all well.  Nice cake Lizzie   It's busy here for me today due to the Tube strike in London so may not get on very often.  Re the letters, I have just got myself some giant patchwork cutters spelling L-O-V-E.  I ordered them from Amazon and thought I had gone mad when only L-O-E arrived.  Turned out they had run out of Vs!  Now got a V from Ebay.  I don't like the patchwork cutters - much too fiddly - but what other choice is there?  I have all sorts of tiny letters and numbers but I often have real problems in getting them out.  Bashini (I think that was you?) - can I ask what do you mean by "flick them out"?  My mental image of this is not working in my head.  Also - saw the cold cake/sugarpaste issue being mentioned - I try never to have vast differences of temperatures between the two - cake and paste - no matter the brand.  I got into trouble once when I took a cake out of the freezer and it hadn't fully defrosted before I covered it.  The whole thing started "sweating" and in the end the job took twice as long to complete because I had to cover all the streaks.

Great news Natt!

Natt well done 

I always cover my cakes straight out of the fridge and have never had any problems. I use asda sugarpaste.

Thanks guys, and thanks for all the well wishes before hand, Just another week and a half to stress about the next one!

I also use supermarket suagrpaste (tesco) on cakes straight out of the fridge and have no issues, but I know from precious discussions that sugarpaste is quite a personal preference choice!

Kathy - I've had the same problem with icing too soon out of the freezer! I had to cover all of the black marks that had run off the sweating cake onto the white board... I learnt my lesson very quickly! 

AThanks everyone I'll check out the ones you have all mentioned.

And well done natt!

Thanks, guys!

And well done Nat :-)

AWell done Nat !

Going to get an anti slip mat now ! :-)

AJo do you know what I use?, works a treat, a Bathmat with the rubber backing, never budges in the boot on that.

ANatt, half way there, well done to you!!

AOk thank I am day off tomorrow so plan to go shopping and I will see what's the cheapest !

Jo I got a roll of anti slip mat in Home Bargains for about 59p I also cut some off to place under my cake board on my turntable so my cake doesn't keep moving when I'm icing it.

ANow that is a good idea on the turntable ! Not sure we have a home bargains near me though

Well done Natt, fingers are crossed for the next stage! :)

Nanny - brilliant idea with the rubber bath mat in the boot! I've been meaning to get a non slip mat so might have to look into that! Mostly I wedge the cake containing boxes in with other empty boxes LOL which has worked fine for me so far, but I would like to have something a little neater! :)

Roxy - I've got the same stuff, its brilliant! Especially when icing dummy cakes - they go flying all over the place without it! :D

Here's the orchid cake I've just finished - was a bit worried about the flower arrangements, but am hoping it looks nicely random/natural!? On to the lace one tomorrow - finally decided to go for pastel dove grey icing and pearl white lace, with a couple of peach peonies! Think the grey will make it really stand out and hopefully look really soft/vintage (fingers crossed!).

Hmm anti slip mat eh??  What a good idea!  I usually use a single bed duvet in the boot and squidge it so that the cakes are nestled and don't move - but it's still a worry.

Oh lovely cake Mel!  Beautiful colours.