50th wedding anniversary cake by Kiwicaker Janette

This stunning golden wedding anniversary cake was created by Kiwicaker Janette Robinson. The party was originally intended to be held inside, so it was created as a hanging cake, with internal lights. However due to it being a glorious sunny winters day, the cake was taken outside along with the guests.

Janette has used a great many techniques including Claire Bowman's gold cake lace and Rainbow Dust gold paints & lustre to create the stunning effects shown here. Well done Janette we adore your birdcage cake.

Creating Opulence with Cake Lace - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

My good friend had a significant birthday recently that I wanted to make special for her. I had been intrigued by the cake lace phenomenon, since experiencing it with Anna Maria recently at the Cake and Craft Show in Auckland. I was keen to give it a go myself and see what all the hype is about.

Her party was at a Thai restaurant so I wanted the cake to look opulent and be in keeping with the surrounds. I used an edible gold cake lace premix and spread it over some lace trim moulds we had in the test kitchen. 

I found the process was really straightforward using a cake lace spreader and was surprised how far the product goes- you really don't use much at all! At a guess I'd say I used 6-7 tablespoons for all the gold lace you see. Each strip I did eased out of the moulds without bother. The trick is to make sure its fully dried before you invert it and guide it out with the clean, dry spreader. Mine took 12 mins each in the oven.

Once the lace strips were all made I dabbed the reverse of the lace with a little edible glue on the thicker parts of the lace design. I was amazed at how well it stuck to the sides of the cake. You simply place it on and it stays.

The designs pictured below I didn't actually end up using but I did a couple of strips to try. L to R the lace trim moulds are: Evening, Charlene and lastly a heart border. We have over 100 cake lace mats in stock currently so there are designs to suit any occasion. Check out the full category here.

A feature on top of the cake was using my alphabet cutter set to personalise it with a name. Not everybody wants to have their new age splashed on top so this was a nice alternative. The uppercase alphabet cutters have been one of my favourite investments since I began decorating. In this case I pressed them onto the cake lace to indent and then snipped around carefully. I love continually finding ways to utilise my existing gear. Happy birthday friend!

Faux Gold leaf effect from Anna Maria Cake Design

This awesome post comes to your from my friend Anna Maria of Anna Maria Cake design who can also be found on facebook here. Anna Maria had this to say about her wonderful faux gold technique

  Lately I have been working a lot with Claire Bowman products.

As I always say to my students and cake friends, this product has so much potential we barely scratched the surface of what can be created with it.

Today I would love to share with you how to make faux gold leaf, using Claire Bowman Cake lace.

Surely you will love it as much as I do. Not only can you save time and money but you can apply this technique with all other pearlised Claire Bowman lacemixes.

Here we go, just a few simple steps spread the gold cake lace mix onto a non stick baking tray liner

Use a large plastic or metal scraper (this is a Sugarveilscraper) and evenly spread the cake lace.

Turn a baking tray upside down, place the gold sheet on it and bake at 80° C for about 8-10 minutes.

Alternatively use "THE MAT" as a frame, cut it into a rectangle about 2" larger than the non stick baking sheet and for the centre about 1" smaller than the baking sheet.

Secure the baking sheet as well as the frame with some masking tape on the work bench, spread the lace mix evenly using the frame as a guide.

Remove tape from frame and slowly lift the frame away.

Place a baking paper on the work bench, turn the gold sheet upside down and and peel the non stick baking mat away.

Cut the gold paper to the required size using a scissors or a craft knife on a cutting mat. Any leftover gold paper can be stored between baking paper for up to 6 months.

Brush the entire cake with water

Stick the pre cut strips of gold paper on the cake.

For the top, cut a circle of gold paper same size as cake and adhere to the cake

"Voila" - all finished had to have a piece to eat!. Yummy - caramel mud cake with salted caramel and ganache filling.