Brace yourselves this is an actual baking blog post hurrah!
My sister Joanne visited from Uni its her last year so its all dissertations etc so I decided I would make her a little cake to cheer her up. Joanne is completely and utterly obsessed with all things Harry Potter so naturally i decided to do a harry potter themed cake, and alongside my recent unicorn cake success i thought to hell with it and thought i would make her a harry potter unicorn cake.
Joanne also loves Red Velvet, a few years back we went to London, visited Harry Potter Studios, watched Lord of The Dance and visited the Hummingbird Bakery. I cant remember what cake I indulged in but I specifically remember Joanne having a huge red velvet macaroon and absolutely loving it.
I haven't found a recipe for Red velvet sponge that has worked well for me yet, after disclosing this to my sister she said i should use my cupcake recipe i love which i am definitely going to try! I cheated , I went to Tesco and purchased a Betty Crocker red velvet box mix.
The benefit of this was I could spend less time baking and more time decorating.
I made up the mix according to the instructions and split it between 4 three 1/2 inch rounds and lined the outside with homemade fabric baking strips for an even bake. In hindsight next time i will split it between 3 tins as the layers were quite thin as i split them again to make two mini cakes.
I used my new cake leveller to split the sponge again once cooled, whipped up a cream cheese frosting, filled and crumb iced each one, then stuck them in the fridge to cool.
For Joanne's cake I used Renshaw white fondant to cover the cake and make the unicorn horn and ears. I struggle to cover my cakes in fondant, i find it really quite tricky, and for such a small cake i really had a problem getting a nice finish. I should have rolled the icing much thicker, and after reading a feed on she who bakes Facebook (www.shewhobakes.co.uk) I have learnt that people do struggle with tearing with Renshaw and prefer Tesco, so I'm going to stick to the cheaper stuff in future!
The horn I painted with dark Gold liquid Metal Food Paint which is just my favourite, its more copper in colour and a little goes a long way ( £4 Hobby Craft) then stuck it in the fridge on a wooden skewer for a while to harden.
I drew on the eyes with Rainbow Dust Icing Pen , which I'm not the hugest fan of i must admit, I found it drags and doesn't give a strong colour, but for this it worked OK.
I piped HP glasses in black buttercream, piped on yellow and back roses and stars ( Joanne is Hufflepuff and I had run out of Red) popped the horn into place, cut out , painted and stuck in the ears then finished with a copper HP lightening bolt, white chocolate stars and glitter on the 'hair'.
This was the end result:
I think its a little rough around the edges and not up to the standard of my previous unicorn cake (see below) but I think Joanne was rather impressed and pleased with it. after all they say its the thought that counts right?! I'm going to make it my mission to make her a much better cake for her birthday, involving macaroons and ombre sponge!
Joanne taught me to bake , she was the one who encouraged me to try again after my first attempt at Amelia's birthday cake, and she shares my love of cake, baking and well food actually! So she really does deserve the best cake I can make, I have got until April. I best get practising!
Above is the unicorn I made last week or the week before? Anyway it was my first ever Unicorn cake and I have to say I am pretty pleased with how it turned out! I made a strawberry flavoured unicorn (multicoloured) sponge , managed a very smooth crumb coat with buttercream and an almost smooth fondant base, I used Tesco fondant too which I think I prefer working with, its more pliable and just covers easier.
I uploaded this photo on my Facebook and Instagram page and got lots of lovely feedback, this cake has given me a bit more of self belief and confidence in my ability and set me up for the mammoth task of Amelia's 3 tiered frozen cake which I'm covering completely in fondant.( note to self must buy a new rolling matt and last one has gone to live with the borrowers!)
So back to the Betty Crocker Red Velvet, I had a friend from Manchester visiting who I met at Uni with my Best Friend Abbie, I only lasted 3 weeks, but Abbie and Michaela stayed on and became really close friends , I really wish she lived closer as she is just the funniest, warm , relatable friend who I miss dearly. Any way they were coming to visit so I made a second mini cake with the leftover mix. This time I scraped away the crumb coat to make a 'Naked Cake' and Topped with a white chocolate Ganache Drip. I decorated with White chocolate dipped Oreo's, gold and white chocolate stars.
With the left over sponge from both cakes I made up a cake jar with layers of the red velvet sponge, cream cheese icing, crushed Oreo and topped with gold stars, and gave it to Michaela as a little gift. I hope it tasted OK!
This Weeks cupcakes for toddler group are going to be mini Jammy Dodger cakes with a jam filling, vanilla buttercream icing, topped with mini Jammy Dodgers and a strawberry Drizzle - Hopefully, that is the plan anyway ! If not it may have to be box mix job because everyone needs a cheat day...right?