Athletics Cake

Athletics has made me the person I am today :) Representing Ireland in my 1st International race at the age of 12 I had caught the athletics bug!It wasn't always easy. In those days the smoking ban hadn't even been thought of so unless I wanted to cough up a lung the following day at training the pub scene was a no go. However this didn't stop me! When others drank and smoked I racewalked. I loved it! Travelling from country to country meeting athletes from all over the world I was living the dream. Due to a severe hip injury I had to take a step back in recent years but i've never lost my passion for it. So making this cake I had a blast.

As it was for an annual function it needed to feed quite a few athletes. From the beginning I had imagined a 2 tier cake surrounded by a tartan athletics track with perhaps a club singlet and a medal draped over it. This would be my first 2 tier cake which was rather exciting. But what colour would I make it? It needs to be unisex and sharp to the eye so a lemon yellow seemed just right given the club colours are green and white. The bottom tier would be a 9 inch round and the top tier a 7 inch round. Everyone loves madeira so why reinvent the wheel. 

Using the madeira recipe from my previous blogs I baked both cakes in the oven and allowed them to cool. After the cakes cooled I cut each cake into 3 layers which were then filled with buttercream.Once filled I covered the sides also with buttercream. The buttercream provides the perfect glue for the fondant to stick. Then I rolled out 6 packs of ready to roll icing and covered each cake. Smoothing the sides with my handy smoother gadget. I popped the 9 inch cake onto the centre of the cake board then placed the 7 inch on top. From white fondant I cut out the shape of the club singlet and covered the borders with green. I was pleasantly surprised with how good it looked. Using edible ink I printed the club logo and placed it in the centre of the singlet which was then draped off the cake. Out of fondant I then made a medal which was draped off the other side. In Between the fondant accessories I cut and stuck on green bubbles which really brought out the club colours. 

Finally I made a fondant asiscs running shoe for the top of the cake and the tartan track to surround the cake. The finished product looked great .... such a relief :)

Juicy Couture Handbag Cake

Firstly it needs to be said that everyone who knows me will understand my very limited knowledge of handbags! I've been known to pass the odd comment on a night out like ' Jasus what's in that a body?' or ' Did ya leave anything behind?'. I'm a pocket lady. Never the less when I was asked to create a Juicy Couture Handbag I was gunning for the challenge. The obvious first step for a lass such as myself was to google the handbag to see what it actually looks like.Everyday is a school day in the Bake With Cat kitchen :). I took one look at the logo and freaked. Talk about detail and bling ..... I figured I would do the logo from edible ink. Once that was taken care of it was time to get down and dirty.

The main structure of the bag I made from sheets of madeira mixture. Cutting them to size and carving the shape as I went along. In between each layer of cake was a layer of buttercream acting as a cement for the structure. I'm not gonna lie after the carving and butter creaming I was feeling nervous. But if there's one thing i've learnt from baking its never judge until the final details are on the cake. I chose pink fondant for the colour. I rolled out 3 packets of ready to roll fondant which was quite a physical workout in itself. 3 packets of fondant and 2 stone lighter I was eventually ready to put the fondant on the cake. Using a rolling pin to lift the icing and drape it over the cake i began to smooth the edges and sides. I then rolled out brown fondant which would act as the leather surround. Using a stitching tool I made stitching along the fondant and stuck the fondant on with edible glue. I then took some white rings of fondant and glued on some edible gold dust to make buckles which were then placed along the top of the bag.




Using strips of pink and brown fondant I wrapped them around each other to create a funky rope like bling for the bag. The zips were also done with gold edible glitter and finally the side pocket, some straps and the logo were stuck on. The final product .............


What good is a handbag with out some make up? Out of fondant I shaped some eyeshadow, lipstick and a brush.