Christmas cakes #2 and #3

When I started decorating cakes, my mum was delighted that she’d never have to ice a Christmas cake again. Even though she’s good at it, it’s not a job she relishes and she left the job and the theme up to me.

I went for a Russian theme because my parents, for reasons I have never quite fathomed, love Russian things. My dad did GCSE Russian at an evening class and has nearly mastered the alphabet; when my mum finally got a passport in 1997, the first place she went was Moscow. Here she is looking cold in front of some churches.

Although I based the church on a real life Russian church I was worried it looked more like the Taj Mahal, but once I’d added some fir trees and glitter it started to look more the part. I copied an Old Church Slavonic-style font and painted on “S Rozhdyestvom Khristovym - Happy Christmas” in shiny gold, glad that an A level in Russian had finally come in handy.

I have been doing some classes with Marion at Cakes, Cutters and Classes in Gosforth and at the Christmas cake class we did stenciling, a technique I’ve been wanting to learn for a while. It turns out it’s easy and fun, not least as it involves a scalpel.

Here’s how: lightly grease a non-stick board and roll out your florist paste. Turn the paste over so that the greased side is upwards and place the stencil on it.

  

Brush the cut-outs with edible dust or royal icing and glitter, lift the stencil off and cut out the shape with a scalpel leaving a 1mm border, then attach the paste to the cake with edible glue.

We also did brush embroidery at the class with a traditional holly, ivy and Christmas rose pattern. I gave this cake to my Grandma. As she’s from Yorkshire she might well eat her fruit cake with Wensleydale cheese. That’s entirely her business, I am not here to judge (it’s against man and God).

Marion has sold Cakes, Cutters and Classes this month and is looking forward to retirement at long last. She’s a great teacher. Like any mother, she has eyes in the back of her head for any cake-decorating naughtiness but also a gentle approach that says “here, let me fix this for you”. I wish her a very happy retirement and am delighted that she’s promised to carry on teaching.

Hope you all had a happy Christmas! 

Christmas cake #1

Blod’s first Christmas

This year my family are getting Christmas cakes as presents. Sorry to spoil the surprise, guys, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out what the cash-strapped cakemaker in the family is going to give you.

My sister has yet to get her own cat, despite her very best efforts (trying to appropriate the neighbour’s; having a baby in a kitten-for-a-baby deal on which her husband has cruelly reneged, and teaching the baby sign language for “I want a cat”). Unless there is a small wriggly parcel under the tree for her this year, I’m afraid the only cat she is getting for Christmas is made of sugar.  

Everyone with a cat will know how much kitties love wrapping paper, particularly before you’ve put it on the present, and love Christmas trees. Mine form an orderly queue to denude my tree of its baubles and only yesterday I heard myself shouting “Get off my raccoon!” True to form, the kitten on the cake has nicked off with a Christmas bauble and is playing with wrapping paper.

The kitten itself is based on Blod, one of the most beautiful cats I’ve ever seen (and I have done a lot of research).

Blod was rescued this year from a fate worse than death (well, death) by Jake Yapp, who has kindly shared some photos and videos of him. Cheer as Blod is rescued! Sniffle a bit as Blod finds a new home! And watch possibly the cutest one minute of kitten footage available on YouTube here.

Happy Christmas, bairn! Fingers crossed for a kitten next year. The baby is very cute too. Just keep up with the sign language.