Gracie the Hen Cake - a Handpainted Easter Cake

        Happy Easter! 

 

         During this time of the year, Christians are excited to celebrate the resurrection of Christ Jesus which is coupled with the long-lived tradition of Easter bunny and eggs. On Easter Sunday morning, children get up to find some presents - chocolate, candies and other stuff left in the house by the Easter Bunny.

 

        So why did I make a hen cake instead of a bunny cake?

        There was a Roman belief that all life comes from eggs and I agree to it; hence eggs are considered by the Christians as 'the seed of life' which symbolises the resurrection of  Jesus Christ - a new life. Likewise I am living a new life in a faraway country, further away from home, away from teaching at the moment, yet closer to the cake world - my childhood dream.

        Sailing  closer to that cake world, I set a goal to make a chicken cake to promote our free- range eggs used in our baking; hence featuring Gracie the Hen, one of the three chicks (Snow White and  Conor the Rooster are the two others) which have survived from hatching in our homemade incubator in August 2013.

Gracie the Hen



Fresh organic eggs 

This breed lays green eggs which have darker golden yellow egg yolks.


Whilst making Gracie the Hen cake, I rushed to the chicken run with a camera to capture the hen in several angles as my basis in making the head and the tail, most importantly in painting the hen cake. I was so slow to start the cake. I was physically in my baking spot, but my head was in my garden - to finish my personal layout garden. However, when my hand started to tickle my brushes, I couldn't stop anymore as the cake seemed to be real! 

Gracie the Hen Cake was a moist milk chocolate cake with milk chocolate marshmallow butter cheese frosting. 




      Easter Sunday last year was a rainy day, yet full of fun for all of us as we hid and searched chocolate eggs everywhere in the house. To make a difference for Grace and Conor's Easter celebration this year, I made two mini moist white chocolate bunny  cakes and egg cakes for them to paint.
 






Creatively and beautifully they painted their cakes with the colour of their choice. 
 



Painting their  mini bunny cakes



Grace's painted mini cakes.

                                           
                                                  




    

Done!

                                                                                         
          It was a happy Easter Sunday indeed!





 



                                                                          



Caelum's Confirmation Cake - A Handpainted Cake

                                                                                  It's Caelum's Confirmation and here's a lovely present from the Murphys (Linda, Pat, Grace and Conor) to celebrate and welcome him to the Christian community as his baptism has been sealed at the Sacrament of Confirmation.    

Caelum is an avid fan of Totten-ham Hotspur Football Club; hence the design of his confir-mation cake.               

I was told that he loves chocolate cakes, so there's a Maritoni Moist Dark Chocolate Cake (the field and the altar) with milk chocolate butter cheese frosting. The cake was covered with white fondant which I hand painted green to depict a grassy football field.

I had so much fun doing the cake, especially the painting moment, and it's so flattering to hear that they love not only the design, but the cake itself - so moist and yummy!

             

As shown in the pictures, the hands and the shirt were messed up with the colour of the ball as it was still wet when I laid it between the hands; moreover, the ball kept on rolling. 

Truly there's more than fun in Maritoni Cakes as they are baked with love, cakes with love, cakes that you will love!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                               

Pancakes on a Pan Cake

    Thanks to RJ Salvador Desmond for gracing our simple Pancake Day celebration and for the three pancakes that perfectly suited on Maritoni pan cake. 

     
         Pancake Day is celebrated on the Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday. However, the Pancake Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday) is not famous in the Philippines, neither did I hear it practised by the Roman Catholics in Thailand where I was living for nearly six years. Nevertheless, it's lovely to be accustomed with a new tradition; hence I made a pan cake.

     
                                   




          The pan cake was another version of the Maritoni Melange Velvet Cake which I made it in a different way to make the cake denser, yet moist. This gonna be my future reference in doing sculpted cakes.   

   

Public Speaking Book - A Handpainted Cake

        A painting of any kind is always valuable and to a certain degree it brings us inspiration and amusement. What about a painted cake, have you come across any?

        A fondant cake, be it for a birthday, wedding, or any occasion, have driven people to themed ones. Other than the cake toppers, the cake itself is sculpted to link to a person's interests, work and hobbies. Themed cakes may have been in the climatic state yet; however, a new trend is blooming and that is handpainted cakes.

         I'd consider myself fortunate enough to have inclined in drawing and painting (the simple ones though) as I could incorporate it in my themed cakes. Hence, I had my first handpainted book cake for our good friend in Innishannon.

         Last year, every time we called in for a (flying visit) cup of coffee, I spotted some readings about public speaking.  So when I decided to make her a cake, a book cake was the second choice (Santa Claus on a tub was for Christmas, but, alas I didn't get the chance to make it and I told her about it).
        It took me a while to figure out the title of the book - it must be something about cakes that is linked to public speaking. Luckily, an idea awakened me on a cold, wild, wet, windy Irish morning.
     
        Later that day on a piece of paper I drew; then carefully my hand guided a brush on my book cake, glancing at the paper once in a while. Tickled with amusement and pride, I made something new - a handpainted cake.

        My plan actually was to make a smaller book cake on a far left of three mugs of coffee on heart-shaped coasters. However, due to time constraint, I was only making one cup of coffee which after a wink of my eyes was converted into a small pot of flowers!  Ain't I a magician?                   

       To her I apologised for the flower pot which lacked finesse. Anyways, when she opened her door, upon seeing the book and the flower pot I was holding, "Did you do that?" she exclaimed.
 
       Several attempts to cut the cake were made, but to no success Tony Barry ended with chocolate chips. For the reason being, "that's mine and it's a shame to cut it," Reena said.

       Painting is also one of her cups of tea and we both love small potted plants as centrepiece.
       

Princess Emily

          Whenever we spotted a cute little child, we always compare her or him to a lovely doll.

           I first met Emily sometime last year when she just popped up at the door while Tony and I were having our breakfast. I was surprised as no hesitation, she ran to Tony's lap. 'Who is she?' I thought.

           Emily isn't just pretty, but a lovely girl and it's always a pleasure to have a moment with her. Emily is Chris' daughter; Chris and Tony are good friends. Once in a while, they have flying visit to Barryland as they live in Kinsale.

          I have been looking forward for the next Trick-or-Treat because of Emily. Why? Last Halloween, while I was setting the house into a Halloween mood, Emily and her siblings surprised us again. They were in their stunning costumes. There and then, Halloween cakes have been knocking my head for more fun (hopefully) in Barryland.

         Little did I know, I'd make her birthday cake and it's an honour for me to do so.

The first layout of the cake

         The cake was of two flavours, Maritoni white velvet and velvet deluxe. Since Maritoni white velvet cake is too soft, I set it on a Maritoni velvet deluxe cake, which is denser. The small layer that held the waist of the doll and each mini cake that held the (two) candles were velvet  deluxe, too.
Inspired by the colour of the year, I used rose pink and fuchsia to dress up the doll. To me, a batik design is always striking, so the influenced in the sleeves. The little white flowers created a simple effect in the gown, yet it looked elegant. The two yellow roses on her hands and the presents made the ambiance a happier birthday. Applying the gloss, however, made it looked like a toy doll.
           
          To differ Princess Emily from the Barbie cake I made before, I used glitter sugar to decorate the mini cakes and the cake board to effect a simple garden; hence the happy birthday and her name were painted on the flowers. And to balance the placement of the candles, a batik inspired pillar is added with the tiny yellow flowers forming five to depict her age other than the candles.

   
          Emily is a princess who deserves not only a lovely cake and birthday wishes, but all the best.                        
   
               

Don't let the dogs out

       'Is it a cake?' asked the birthday man.
     
       Yes, it's a Maritoni Velvet Deluxe cake!

      The wife's concept was a big bike with two dogs chasing the driver. 

      Being a neophyte in the cake's world, I reckon I couldn't make it. However, it is in my nature that the more the task is so challenging to me, the more I love to go heaven and earth to make it.   I was in the Internet every now and then to look for any tutorial videos or photos. There's one video, but it's about a big motorbike cake which wasn't helpful to me. Again, I ended downloading photos of  motorbikes and bits by bits I moulded every part of the motorbike cake topper. Bingo! I had put them together and that inspired
me, of course. 
   
        What about the driver?

In a zoomed in tiny photo I gazed and patiently moulded the driver. Setting it on top of the motorbike was another story. I reckoned to make a parcel over the tank to hold the driver, yet I opted to lengthen the seat towards the tank. Obviously it worked.
                                                 
The scene was on a private road filled with gravel.To make an intense effect, I tilted the motorbike towards the big stones alongside the road.  Making the fondant dogs was the final adventure.  It seemed difficult, but with my magical hands, it turned out to be easy. I even teased my hubby to be good to me,  otherwise there'll be loads of dogs chasing after him.


       Mission accomplished!

       But what's more about the cake?
     
       Just by coincidence, a story about the dogs came up. Roan has two dogs, I know. Because I used grey fondant for the road, I created a brownie dog and to make a variance, I created the next dog a Dalmatian look alike. Little did I know that the brown dog is Lyka, one of Roan's dogs, and the Dalmatian dog is the neighbour's dog, which is Lyka's boyfriend!    

         It's not only a mere cake. Indeed, there's a story behind Maritoni cakes.