This weeks attempt at a cake

So many of you ask me what sort of cakes I do. To be totally honest, the work I do here at Kiwicakes, until very late most evenings, means I have made less cakes in the last year, than ever before. But here is a cake I made on Friday night for my daughters best friend Renee, who was turning 6. Renee was having a Dora princess party and requested a Strawberry cake (EEK that was a new one on me) it turned out great and tasted even better. Let me know what you all think.

The dress is covered in yellow glitter, which doesn't show up in the photo. I haven't taken too close a shot of the face, as my 2 year old stuck his finger in it.

Fondant, gumpaste and icing recipes galore

Fancy making your own fondant, marzipan, gumpaste & more. The lovely people at Hawkesbaysugarcraft have published all their recipes, ont heir website. Check them out.

http://sugarcrafthawkesbay.co.nz/recipes.htm

Kiwicakes in the news

Here's a lovely article from the "Savvy" magazine where my passion for Kiwiana was highlighted. When I first started Kiwicakes, I was amazed at the lack of New Zealand themed products on the market. My solution, to get it made myself!. Unfortunately my scanner bed is only a4, so I've had to load it in two parts - I just love what the magazine did with the photos. I made the cupcakes myself for the photo shoot. This article appeared in 2007.

My new favourite thing! KORU

How stylish is this? I was ecstatic when my mould maker sent through the finished photo of this Koru silicone mould. This is the latest mould I will be adding to the Kiwiana range at Kiwicakes. This mould will be available from Kiwicakes only, as we are the sole NZ distributor of these moulds and this was made JUST FOR ME. It's only just come off the mould machine, but I could not wait until the stock arrived to share this photo with you. Stock of this mould should arrive in aprx 10 days. I was particulalry impressed with the ability to form a heart using 1 left & 1 right facing Koru for a wedding cake or celebration

How to ice a cake without crumbs!

Well the crumbs won't ever go away, but everyone needs a Wilton tip #789 in my opinion.

It completely seals the cake, before you smooth the icing. Check out this link to the tip in use at Wilton. The best thing is, its priced at just 10.50
http://www.wilton.com/decorating/icing/using-decorating-tip-789.cfm

How to bake cupcakes without domed tops

* To prevent domed tops on your cupcakes, tap your muffin tray, filled with batter lightly on your benchtop several times, prior to placing the tray in the oven. Alternatively stir each cupcake patty with a cocktail stick prior to placing in the oven, this helps release the air, prior to baking, thus preventing the domed top as it is cooking.
* To fill your cupcake papers, place 1 paper in each cavity of your muffin tray, fill a large piping bag with batter and pipe your batter in to the cases. It's very quick and mess free.