FAO Bets

Replies

• betsygrub

  Jul 19, 2010 6:58AM

  Hey hun, steal away!
  
  I am going to try and put an image of Isabelle's birthday inveites on facebook, our ladybug theme has morphed into a garden bug ball for the babies!
  
  I am not bothering with adult food for later as there could be 70 there, so I am just making 4 big cakes and decorating them all the same.
  
  I would get a book out of the library and pick a theme you want to go with, perhaps even cut the sponge into shapes so you can make a built cak if you are feeling really adventurous, ??25 sounds vey steep just to decorate when you can do the job yourself with a couple of cutters, ready to roll icing and some food colouring!
  
  How about cutting Harrison's name out with letters and standing these in a cake you have topped with soya buttercream (soya spead makes this thinner so just omit the tbs milk and do 200g marg to 500g icing sugar)
  
  If you have a hobbycraft near you they sell all sorts for doing cakes now, I have bought playdough cutters to do the shapes for Isabelle's as they are miles cheaper! You could do a H cut out from the base cake, then cover in buttercream couloured pale blue then cut a red car of two from ready to roll icing ( ELC do softdough stamps, mine are from the range) and ice white lines to make it look like a road.
  
  Modelling paste can be bought form cake suppliers, and its just like fimo if you wanted to build something in icing that you can keep, but it is a bit more tricky and you need to be a bit creative to play with it!
  
  If you stamped a shape out you could then do extra and stick them on the cake for everyone else too so that they all match!
  
  Or, what about cutting the cake into a rocket shape ( really a triangle with the curve of round cake as the bottom and stick back on the bits you have cut off the other way round as fins) and then spreading with different colored icings *(asdas own is natural food colouring) just layer it and wait for each bit to dry then use writing icing to put details on.
  
  Final brainwave, (and probably the best!) make 2 swiss rolls ;
  3 eggs 100g caster sugar and 75g self raising flour for each.
  Roll 1 the long way and one the short way with jam and soyacream and slice, then arrange to make a classic catterpillar cake, cover with the dairy free nut free gluten free chocolate and the decorate with kinnerton choclate beans (again dairy free!) for a classic cake that everyone can have and you will have made from scratch. They sell the stuff in my asda so if you cant get hold of any I will go and then get it to you!
  
  Bets XxX

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• betsygrub

  Jul 19, 2010 7:16AM

  Swiss roll recipe:
  
  3 eggs
  100g caster sugar
  75g self raising flour
  extra tbs caster sugar for rolling
  3 tbs jam (pref seedless)
  50gsoya marg
  100g icing sugar
  
  Oven 160 c or gas 4/5
  
  whisk the eggs with the caster sugar with an electric whisk for around 5 mins until doubled in size, thick and creamy.
  
  Sieve in the flour and fold in gently with figures of 8.
  
  Pour into swiss roll tin (normally 8 x 12 inches) that is lined with baking parchment or greasproof paper.
  
  Bake for 8-10 mins until just springy, almost like omelette, you want the eggs to be just set!
  
  turn over onto another piece of baking parchment sprinkled with 1 tbs caster sugar, take off the paper that went in the oven with it spread with jam and roll quickly and tightly taking the paper away as you roll. Leave rolled up to cool.
  
  gently unroll and spead with icing and re roll.
  
  Repeat but roll the other way along the rectangle
  
  slice each evenly into 1 inch pieces, the longer one will make the head and tail. Arrange on a board and cover with melted choclate, you should need 3 bars. Decorate with choc beans, and add a smiley face in writing icing.
  
  Hope that this all makes sense, its really easy, I have done it with year 8 within an hour for the cakes and then decorated them the next day, particularly for Christmas! Its out of my head, so if you need any clarification on the instructions just ask, I did it on a seperate post so you can print it out!
  
  Bets XxX

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• MrsNaps Regular

  Jul 29, 2010 4:58AM

  HI bets -
  
  Sorry i've not replied til now, we've been away.
  
  Thanks very much for this. I'm going to try the caterpillar over the weekend and Mum will try to decorate a sponge.
  I'll hed to hobbycraft for some bits - I'll let you know how I get on.
  
  Thanks again.
  Lisa.

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