I won a ribbon at the 2014 Sydney Royal Easter Show!

Island monkeys

I made this island of monkeys yesterday and this time I remembered to take photos so I'm able to share some instructions today. :-)

1) Knead some blue gel colour into white fondant but do not mix the colour thoroughly so you'll get a marbled effect to look like sea waves. Use a fondant roller cutter to cut out a flat disc about 5" in diameter. You can use a circle cardboard template or just use a large bowl as a guide.

 2) Take one LCM breakfast bar (the Australian equivalent to Rice Krispies Treat).

 3) Shape the LCM into an irregular shape and cover with green fondant.

 4) Roll out some more green fondant and cut a random shape.

 5) Stick the random piece on the first 5" disc using water or sugar flower glue.

 6) Attach the LCM shape like this.

 7) Shape LCM into tree trunks and attach a piece of thin spaghetti to the bottom of the trunks.

 8) Cover the trunks with brown fondant and attach to the island like this.

 9) Add some leaves on the trunks.

 10) Add monkeys (I'll make a monkey tutorial in future, I promise!), or any other creatures - puppies, teddies, sunbathers, crocodiles, birds.... etc. I'm thinking a bunch of people marooned on a deserted island would be fun!

 11) Add details - more leaves on the trees and bananas.

 12) To make coconuts, roll balls of brown fondant and using a ball tool make an indent, then stick some white fondant in the indent and shape the insides with the ball tool.

 13) Finishing touches...

 14) Now all that remains is to bake the cake, ice it with buttercream and place this on top of the cake right before serving (surrounded by birthday candles of course - trick candles will add to the fun...hahahaha).

Everyone needs some TLC

These 2 cake toppers are my latest commissioned piece from Glenn. He in turn has been commissioned to make 2 "Thank you" cakes from someone who wants to present the cakes to nurses who have looked after his wife when she was sick. The girl in blue represents a caring nurse and the girl in pink represents a patient. These took me 8 continuous hours to make but it was fun. Sorry, no step-by-steps this time. Once I started I just didn't want to stop to take pics! I'm quite pleased with how they turned out so I call this my new "Everyone needs some TLC" range. LOL. 

p/s: inspiration for these came from Willow Tree figurines.

How to make a puppy

These puppy cupcake toppers were a big hit with my RSPCA fundraising last year so I'm going to make them again this year.

1) Start with some gumpaste or fondant. My favourite is Satin Ice coz Buddy Valastro uses it and so does Duff Goodman from Ace of Cakes... haha! No, I use it coz it's got a good easy-to-manage texture and tolerates a fair bit of handling. It's good for beginners coz if you make a mistake you can re-knead it and try again a few times.

2) Okay, a clump of gumpaste or fondant looks like this when taken out of the tub. Needs some kneading to make it more pliable. On cold days you'll need to knead it more than warm days coz the fondant gets hard in the cold.

3) You know you've done enough kneading when the fondant is nice and smooth, like this.

4) Dust your working surface with corn flour. A dusting pouch distributes the cornflour better. I use a Wilton dusting pouch but you can make your own using some stocking material (make sure it's new stockings!). I also use a marble slab which I covered with cling wrap just to keep things tidy.

5) Roll 2 small balls of fondant, making sure they're the same size. Just about everything in sugar art starts with a ball shape. From a ball you can shape just about anything. 

 6) From the above 2 balls, form sausage shapes like these.

 7) Flatten one end of the sausage and using a pair of scissors, make 2 slits.

 8) Round off the edges and form paws. Apply some sugar flower glue (yes, it's edible) and stick the two paws together like this.

 9) Leave the paws on an small upturned sauce bowl to get that curved shape so your puppy will look like it's hanging out of a cupcake.

 10) Stick a tiny bit of dried spaghetti like this. The spaghetti provides support for the head later.

 11) Roll a ball of fondant to make the head. Form into an egg shape.

 12) Stick the head to the paws with sugar glue.

 13) Form another sausage shape.

 14) Wrap the sausage around the face like this and stick with sugar glue.

 15) Pinch some chocolate brown or black fondant and form teardrops. You get teardrops by first making balls, then sharpen one end of each ball by rolling with your fingertips. Once you've got the teardrops, flatten them to make the ears.

 16) Stick the ears to the head with sugar glue. You'll notice I've transferred my puppy to a flower shaping cup - this is so the ears are more visible against a white background instead of the dark bowl I used earlier.

 17) Form another egg shape with chocolate or black fondant and stick on the face to make the nose.

 18) For convenience, I use black non-pareils for the eyes rather than trying to muck around with itsy bits of fondant.

 19) Stick on the eyes with sugar glue.

 20) To make the heart, form a teardrop from red fondant.

 21) Make a slit in the middle of the broad part of the teardrop and shape into a heart.

 22) And there you have it - puppy cupcake topper. Woof, woof!

These are the finished cupcakes I made last year.