Monday 16 December 2013

Christmas Party Bakes

I love baking at Christmas time!


I went just a little over the top for our Ward Christmas Party this year. I had so many ideas in my head that just needed to get out, if only I had more time!

My first creation this year was the Christmas Cake: 


The main cake is traditional fruit cake (without the alcohol), and the tree is filled with cereal treats. All the decorations are modelled from modelling chocolate, except for the white, which is fondant. I also used a small set of battery powered led lights to add a bit of drama.


My idea was to portray Christ as one of the gifts under the tree, since He is the greatest gift we have been given. All the rest of the characters from the nativity appear as ornaments on the tree.






I created the seal on my cake using a personalised stamp that I bought from The Cupcake Company.

My next project was a gingerbread nativity scene. I was going to make a gingerbread house, but decided to keep that for my family Christmas, and do something a bit different for a change. It is made up of various layers of gingerbread decorated, and glued together, with royal icing. If you would like to make this yourself, I have shared my pattern and a tutorial here.




Next up is a candy tree, something I have wanted to make for a couple of year and finally got round to making a reality. People loved it so much they refused to pick the candy off of it and eat it!


And last but not least was my Santa's Grotto. I styled it as a gingerbread house, and covered it in gingerbread men and candy canes that the children could pull off and eat (each gingerbread man is wrapped in a cellophane bag).


Needless to say, I had to bake a lot of gingerbread men!


Inside the grotto:



All in all, I had a fabulous time. Merry Christmas everyone!!




Thursday 12 December 2013

Out of Office - Retirement Cupcakes

A friend asked me to make her some cupcakes to share at work on her last day before retirement. She wanted her desk top computer to feature, as well as the "Out of Office" message, this is what I came up with: