Lately

It has been long while since I have written much of anything in this blog.  Chances are no one is really following it now and merely looks at my photos on Facebook! I am in the mood for writing today so I guess I'm not too worried if anyone reads this or not.

I'm not going to lie, the reason I haven't written much this year is purely because its been a harder year than normal and I haven't really felt up to writing.  I knew that if I sat down to write my words would be deep and heartfelt, too much for a little cake blog.

For the last several months I have been debating whether to get my kitchen certified so that I could take my hobby to the next level.  My kids are getting older and it was time to do something.  For myself and for the family.  I had someone come around and check the house out and even went to the bank to get a loan to start things rolling.  For some reason though, I just couldn't push myself to take the step.  Its like my feet were stuck in concrete.  What was wrong with me??

About six weeks ago I ran into my old boss pre-kids and she asked me if I wanted a job? I didn't say no....maybe? Part time? The thought had never occurred to me and I was doing cakes wasn't I? BUT the more I thought about it, the more the idea appealed to me.  While I was deliberating over this all important decision I volunteered my time making the morning teas for the holiday program at my church (which I should say has an AMAZING kitchen).  In doing so I discovered one very important thing.  I want to do cakes but I don't want to do them full time in my home. I can't do them in my home in fact.  I want to go somewhere else, leave the mess and then come home.  This was a great revelation to me! The problem is that I am nowhere near the stage of my life where I can start a proper cake business out of a shop.  My husband is in the process of taking over a business and I know how hard owning your own business is.  Its not fair on him or my kids for me to take it to that next level yet.  That is not to say that it won't ever come.  Just not right now.

I took the job and 4 weeks ago I started working part time, 20 hours week.  The first time really proper working since having my daughter nearly five years ago.  I was terrified and excited at the same time.  What if my brain was mush and I can't do anything?  What if I have nothing to talk about to normal people but my kids? How will I possibly manage my kids and a job?  What if they get sick? So many questions.

I had nothing to worry about really.  My brain isn't mush and I have remembered more than I thought. I have already had to face sick kids who had been healthy all winter I might add.  But we handled it OK. To be honest I maybe should have done it a long time ago.

Going back to work has taught me two very important things.  I am a better mother busy then not and I cannot compare myself to other mothers, including my own. My own mother was a stay at home mum of five kids.  I had a great upbringing and loved having her around while other kids mums went off to work.  I kind of always thought that I wanted that for my life.  But I'm not my mum.  I am Lisa. When I am not busy I become un-motivated to do much of anything. I get in a fog and am not really sure what to do next.  I need a schedule to follow, I need to always know "Whats next?"   I've always been a super fast mover in everything I do and do best racing from one thing to the next.  Its just how I work. But guess what?  When you are a mum at home with your kids, there is no race.....in fact, everything feels like snails pace and nothing gets done fast.  So for me, at home, nothing gets done.  The house is rarely cleaned.  When I have too much time on my hands I get lost in daydream and never think about whats happening in "now" time.  In fact, I guarantee all the drawers in my kitchen are open 90% of the time and its not my kids or husband that leave them open.   It was no surprise that when I started work that suddenly my house is cleaner, I am more organized and am more patient with my kids.  I have come to the reality that I am a better mother for my kids and for my house working then not.  Someone saw me a week or two ago and said that I looked the happiest they have seen me in awhile.  Its true.  I feel more content, more satisfied with myself as a mum and as a wife.

I may not be taking my cakes to the next level but I plan to still make them.  I need the creative outlet.  I also have come to love teaching the cupcake workshops and plan to expand on that.

Here's some of the cakes I have done since March.

ruffle wedding cake

I have wanted to make a ruffle wedding cake for quite some time so when a desperate bride contacted me wanting a cake done at short notice, when I saw what she wanted, I couldn't say no!  This was my first time making proper roses and I now have an incredible appreciation for cake artists who specialise in flowers.......they are a labor of love.  Each one took an hour to make, although it was worth it in the end.  Someone even asked if they were real which is the ultimate compliment!

This cake is white chocolate lemon poppyseed mudcake on top and orange chocolate mudcake on the bottom.

Cake Wreck......nearly!

In every cake makers journey there will be a cake wreck.  That inevitable disaster.  I don't care how good you are it will happen at some stage and possibly more than once.  Sometimes it may be your own fault or forces outside of your control.  I have been pretty lucky up to this stage.  That is until yesterday......

I have been apprehensive about this last week for months.  I agreed to undertake a vegan wedding cake for an old friend I used to work with.  I was nervous about doing it as this was totally out of my depth but at the same time was up for the challenge of working on something new.  I had already made a chocolate vegan cake before so I understood the science behind the recipes to make it work.  In fact when it came to the baking everything went beautifully.  I even discovered that you can make a chocolate ganache out of dark chocolate (Whittakers 72% is vegan) and coconut cream.  

What I wasn't prepared for was the fondant.  The brand of fondant I usually use is not vegan so I used a different brand that people rave about so I was incredibly confident that it would be super easy. (I should have known better!)  I got my cakes beautifully covered in ganache and covered in fondant and attempted to put a central dowel through the bottom two layers as the cake was travelling for an hour and a half (cake supports are incredibly important with wedding cakes).  My first attempt at this did not go well and I had to take the middle layer off, peel off the fondant and re-cover it.  This put me behind a good hour and a half.   I have to say that there were a few choice words coming out of my mouth when I was doing this! When I finally had the whole cake covered and put together with dowel and support in, ready to be decorated, I sat back and looked at it.  My heart sank.  It wasn't perfect.  In fact it was far from perfect.  The once beautifully laid fondant was starting to buckle, air bubbles were everywhere and it just didn't look professional.  My initial thought was that maybe I was being too critical.  I decided to wait until my husband got home from work to get his second opinion.  He confirmed my fear.  It wasn't good enough.  

What went wrong?  I have never had this problem before so I knew it had to be the fondant.  I would have to start over and it was already 7pm.  It was going to be a long night.  As soon as I peeled the fondant off of the cakes I realized what went wrong.  The heat had caused the fondant to sweat underneath and caused airbubbles and buckling of the fondant.  I decided to brush the ganache with a syrup as well as place the cake in the fridge once covered to let set.  After painful cleanup of the cakes I finally had all three cakes re-assembled and put back together, ready to decorate by 11pm.  My plan had been to wake up early and finish decorating but my husband was a champ and ready to bear with me for the long haul.  I carried on and even got a lesson in air brushing from my husband (I did manage to get a new compressor).  What I thought would be the most difficult part of the cake (the airbrushing) actually turned out the easiest!  Finally at 2pm I had the cake completed and it was much better.  It still was not how I usually like my other brand of fondant but it was good.......I was proud of my effort and that I had persevered and had not settled for the minimum. There is something very rewarding in fixing a mistake and making it right. 

Here are some photos of the cake (100% vegan - dairy and egg free! the small cake was an additional gluten free one also vegan for a guest)  as well another cake worked on this week.  

A Lesson Learnt

This week has been a somewhat disappointing week in my world of cakes.  For Christmas this year I was generously given a cake airbrushing kit, complete with compressor, the airbrush and several colors.  I had wanted one for some time so was super excited about this BUT was also slightly nervous and daunted about picking up this new skill.  What if I was terrible at it?  Suddenly I built it up in my head to be a huge thing and so the kit remained in the box looking at me with a sad face every time I went past it.  "Please use me!" it would say, but I would rush away, pretend not to see it and ignore it.  I was not ready yet.

Finally this week, I built up the courage to take it out of the box and have my first attempt.  The kids were in care and so I was a free woman with the day to spend airbrushing.  I read the manual and even called my husband to double check the voltage.  I plugged it in and she was ready to go.  I started my first sprays and so far so good, I might be able to do this I thought to my self.  All of a sudden the compressor stopped and the airbrush wouldn't go anymore.  I looked up from my work to see the compressor smoking and a sinking feeling hit me.   I blew it up.  The voltage was wrong.  I had read the manual and thought I had read the voltage right but failed to look at the actual compressor and written on it was the voltage 110-115.  We have a voltage here of 220-240 (the compressor had been bought from the States).  What a disappointment!    It was a lesson learned to wait for my husband when using technical machinery for the first time. I did have a good cry and felt a little better when I learned I would have had to buy a transformer to use it which could have cost more than buying a new compressor here.  This afternoon we will go hunt for a new compressor so watch this space for cakes coming up with some airbrushing hopefully!  In the mean time, have a look at a few of the cakes I did the last few weeks.  One was for an off road runner who loves my cakes pops and the other was for a friend of my daughters.

Happy Valentines Day

I knew today was going to be a busy day.  Every second was planned out and needed to go perfectly or it could be problematic.  I woke at 6:45 to find my two angels still fast asleep.  Already the day was looking up.  Usually they are bouncing out of bed at 6:15.  When I finally heard them stir, I went to let them out (because we lock them in) and my daughter had climbed into my sons bed and they were giggling over a book.  Such little things give you such joy.  Oh happy valentines day to me!  It was going to be a good day!  And it was.  Everything went like clockwork.  The kids were superbly behaved, I got everything done that needed to be done and I even fit in a phone conversation with my mum and my sister.  Days like these you feel like super mum ready to conquer the world.  Days like these give me strength to get through the days that go completely wrong.  

Part of my day was to make 40 cupcakes and a small birthday cake for my daughters kindergarten.  Because it was started on Valentines Day, hearts play a big part for the centre.  I used the logo as part of the cake and love the ombre ruffles up the side.  The afternoon was a beautiful high tea for all of the kids and the mums.  They even served the kids their own tea in cups and saucers.  A wonderful party for a special day.  Happy Valentines everyone.  

  

Back to cakes!

Its been a few months since I have done a cake and what a way to get back to it then with these three fun cakes!  The Xtreme cake was so much fun to make as I love wakeboarding and snowboarding.  This was made for a 21st.  The tuxedo/board shorts cake was also for a 21st and was made to fit the theme casual/formal.  Sounds like a fun night!  Lastly the super cute truck was for a 1st birthday and I have to say was my most challenging cake to date, BUT I am super proud of how its turned out.  Its great to be back.

Holiday Update

Its been quite some time since I have posted anything.  So much has happened and life has been a bit full on since November. Christmas in itself is always busy but this crazy baker undertook making 1500 cake pops in December.  I had no idea if this was achievable but I was hoping like mad that I wasn't crazy.  When I found out at the end of November that 1000 of the cake pops were needed in one week and not spread over three weeks I initially panicked.  How was I going to manage?!? After a moment however I had a sense of peace and knew that there was a reason for this and that I would get it all done.

I don't talk about my faith much here but this was so significant to me.  I felt Gods gentle voice of reassurance and knew he had it sorted.  He had my back.  I took a deep breath, got my wits about me and went to work.  Within less than one week (with the help of my mother in law, friends and my amazing husband) I managed to make 1000 cake pops, two cakes and spent several hospital visits with my precious Grandma.   At the end of that week on a Sunday night my dear Grandma went to be with her maker.  Had I had to make cake pops in those weeks following I would have been a wreck.   There were other little things that fell into place as well that I won't go into but I am still emotional over the fact that God showed such great love for me by sorting out the little things for ME?

Its so hard not to focus on the bad things that happen and wonder WHY God?? How could you allow this to happen?? Why did you take my Grandma before we were ready for her to leave, why have 26 young children been shot at a school or why did parents of 10 children and a young vibrant 19 year old lose their lives while serving you?? But bad things do happen and unfortunately no one is exempt. Good can come out of the bad and God can use it and I am so thankful for that but what I am also learning is that God is still showing up and walking amongst the wreckage.  He may not be able to erase the horrible things that happen but he cares about each and every one of us and he is taking care of the little things, loving us in the little ways that we don't and may not ever see or understand.  

This is a heavy post I know but right now my heart is heavy and that's why I haven't written much lately. I am still sad about my Grandma and have found it difficult facing the idea of making any more cakes since Christmas.  I know that in time it will get easier.  Eventually my heart wont break every time I hear the word Joy or see a photo of her beautiful face and one day I know I will see her again.   I have hope in a Jesus who loves me and is taking care of the little things that are more significant than I will ever realize.