Wedding Cakes - A Design Source

The latest issue popped through the door yesterday and once again I've a cake published.  Only a small picture this time, but hey, all publicity's good publicity!

I was a little disappointed with the issue of Cakes and Sugarcraft that accompanied it; normally there are at least two ideas that inspire me, but I don't think I'll be renewing my subscription this time!

Patterned Pastes

Some of you may have seen the patterned paste letters I made for cakes for the Cheltenham and Gloucester Expo and Cake at the NEC.  I promised to do a set of tutorials showing the basic techniques and here they are:

Stripes

Checkerboard

Swirls

And in case you've not yet seen the finished product...

I hope you have a go and please, feel free to share your finished pieces and the links to the tutorials.

Mini Cake Stands

How cute are these?  £1.50 each in the John Lewis Clearance and ideal for 'set dressing'.  Unfortunately, I think they've sold out online but there might be a few available in stores.

Cake Craft and Decoration

Not posted for months as I've been updating you all via Facebook.  However, my New Year's Resolution is at least one Blog entry a week.  So here's this week's:

My first article in Cake Craft and Decoration:  "Vintage Blue Wedding Cake
If you are new to cake decoration or are short of time, then this is the wedding cake for you. Made by Kathryn Kelly this simple stacked design is embellished with a cameo, a bride’s white glove and beautiful roses."

I can't tell you how excited I am!  I hope you like it as much as I like seeing it in print.

Trimpley Green WI

Had a great night last week with the ladies of Trimpley Green WI.  After an evening full of laughs, they all went home, very proud of their sugar teddies.

The Wedding Cake - my opinion

Well, I think I quite like it!  And well done to the team at Fiona Cairns for pulling it off.

For a start, it’s 5 stacked cakes in one – quite a feat as each one will be as much as (if not more than) one person can carry.  I’ve just weighed out the fruit for the 12” base tier of a wedding cake and the fruit alone is around 4 kilos (9lbs).  Add on 3kg of marzipan and 3kg of fondant and that’s only the base tier!

There is a huge amount and variety of flower work.  Maybe some of it’s not up to the standard of the best in the business, but it gives a good overall impression and I think it’ll start a trend for one colour, blocked flower work. 

I’m not a Royal Icing expert and apparently it’s not ‘true’ Lambeth, but it fits well with the Palace setting and I think it will give Royal Icing in all shapes and forms a boost next year.

How will it translate to a smaller cake?  You could take the top section, perhaps scale it down to 4, or even 3, tiers.  I would opt to keep the base, probably as a single tier of 4 cakes, and add a three or four tier on top.  I thought the cake looked a bit dumpy – I’d have preferred a bit more height – so maybe add separators between the tiers.  This will keep the overall shape and style of the cake but make it a more manageable size for most brides.

And the cost?  Realistically, I can’t see any change from £1000 for the smallest, simplest version.  There’s still going to be a large amount of flower work and piped decoration.  If you opt for the seven-cake version, I’d quote in excess of £2000, maybe not what most brides are expecting (or willing) to pay - we'll have to see!

Royal Wedding Cake

Royal Wedding Cake

Not sure what to make of it yet - need to see a close-up.