Baby Shower Cake

There's nothing so amazing and strange like babies - they are soft, smell so nice, fill your heart with love - and at the same time they are big mysteries: where did they come from, who are they, really, how do you make them happy, why are they crying right now, are those spots normal, isn't he a bit too warm, what will she look like in a year, in three, in ten? It's completely crazy and utterly wonderful. You know what I'm talking about, R - again, good luck!

It's a little bizarre with an edible baby...

Loads of fondant mixed with marzipan and plenty of food colouring makes for a blue, purple and white baby shower-cake, decorated with soft, white sugar pearls and fondant-ribbons.

Fondant bow and ribbon with edible pearl spray to make it nice and shiny :)

 

Inside, one tier with chocolate cake and rich chocolate butter cream, and top tier with red velvet and butter cheese cream :3

A big smile to you from me :D

"Jeg liker bare ting hvis de er rosa..."

Hva er det med små (og noen store) jenter og rosa? Er det bare kommersielt, eller er det virkelig noe spesielt med denne fargen? Det finnes mye å lese om rosa og kjønn, blant annet dette (fra Wikipedia):

"An article in the trade publication Earnshaw's Infants' Department in June 1918 said:

The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl."

Hvem som kler rosa er kanskje en motesak, men en ting de fleste er enige i, er at rosa er en farge forbundet med kjærlighet og romantikk; kanskje det er dette som ligger bak fascinasjonen for mange jenter? Med morsdag søndag som var, Mardi Gras i går og Valentine's Day i morgen er det mye rosa å se i butikkene i byen om dagen. Ekstra mye, mener jeg... Rosa blomster, rosa kort, rosa sjokoladeesker, rosa prinsessekjoler til karnevalsesongen. Og jentene mine er i alle fall veldig fornøyde; med de rosa vingene kjøpt til karneval som var i går, de rosa kjolene de har, den rosa paljetthatten fra H&M, osv. Minstemanns første ord for farge var "lillarosa." Jeg liker å tro at jeg ikke har påvirket dem noe på dette området, ettersom jeg ikke er spesielt begeistret for rosa selv - men hvem vet; kanskje jeg er litt hjernevasket innerst inne. Det er i hvert fall ingen overraskelse når man får bestilling på bursdagskake til en jente som fyller 6 år, og den helst skal være rosa :3 

Jeg har vært fremme med silikonen igjen - jeg brukte to Filly-ponnier, en Filly Fairy og en Filly Unicorn, og lagde to grove avstøpninger. Slik kunne jeg forme og fikse litt ut fra dette utgangspunktet. Det sparte meg mye jobb, spesielt på detaljer som hår og kroner, som tar lang tid å håndlage.

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En klassisk lys (eller etter min oppfatning lys) sjokoladekake med bringebærkrem (som er bringebær og krem) :3 Rosa fondant over, sjokoladekaketårn med fondant oppå, ponnier malt og på plass, blomsterdetaljer, bord nederst...

Fondantregnbue med navn og alder i Royal Icing (navn sensurert). Rosa nok?

 

Nyt kvelden :) 

 

 

Angel cake

"It's time to post something, and time to do it in Norwegian," I thought. But then I felt like practicing my English again. "It's not called back yard, it's called back garden," a certain English person (whom I'm very fond of by the way ;) ) said to me earlier today, and reminded me how confused I am. British English, American English, Norwegian, and sometimes pure nonsense, and it all comes out in a crazy mix at times... Aaanyway, there's no good way to quote Homer Simpson in Norwegian, is there? Because today's post concerns a cake that can only be described as sacrilicious :3

I made two chocolate sheet cakes, filled them with a rich chocolate butter cream, and made a marbled marzipan-'heaven' to cover it with. Goodness, it's difficult to cover two sheet cakes with one big, thin layer of marzipan o.O

There's a torrent of wind coming down in the top left corner (you can glimpse it in this picture), where the enormous sheet of marzipan cracked a bit and I used some lighter marzipan to repair. Talking about enormous - this angel is not the daintiest of ladies, being a two-packs-of-marzipan-and-a-good-lump-of-fondant-creation...

I put a few lilies and purple what-not on the angel/cake, a bit untidy, perhaps, but oh well. 

I usually end up making quite cartoony characters, both when I draw and when I sculpt. I guess that's no coincidence, as I love comic books, cartoons, anime... I'm kind of pleased with this girl, though, seeing as I had not so much time and about 70% of the family was ill (no rest for the wicked)...

Ah, the old draping ploy... It's fun to use paper-thin fondant to make clothes :) And feathery wings, of course.

A particularly splendid weekend to you all :)

 

Waste not, want not...

...is such a good saying. We waste disgustingly much in the Western world, and I make an effort to throw away as little as possible. Clothes are worn to rags, we gladly inherit old electrical appliances like television, mobile phone, etc. instead of buying new stuff, and my husband eats the leftovers like a hungry huntsman... And of course, I never waste good cake. Sometimes when I make cake I cut off parts of it to sculpt it, or I scoop out the middle of cupcakes to make room for filling - and the leftovers go down in the deep freezer. When I take it out of there, it turns into silly, but clever little things, like cake pops :3

I made these for a cozy evening with a couple of friends :)

The white ones with the handmade little roses and leaves are lemon cake mixed with lemon curd and dipped in white chocolate...

...while the dark ones are rich chocolate cake mixed with chocolate frosting and some freshly brewed coffee, then dipped in dark chocolate :v I love chocolate...

Have a lovely weekend (it's just around the corner ;) )!

Creepy Cute Crawlers

Yes, I've been crocheting again - this time I really wanted to make something fun for a little girls first birthday. Something nice and soft and interesting, and completely homemade :)

If you have a tree made out of light green linen, dark green, speckled cotton and dark brown corduroy (which used to be a trouser leg, by the way), stuffed with foam rubber (from a new foam rubber mattress)...

...and there are holes under the leaves, where something can live...

... and you crochet a little bunch of friends...

(look at that shadow xD)

...like a spider...

...a snail...

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...a caterpillar...

...a bumble bee...

...and a lady bird...

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...you have a happy home for a group of creepy crawly friends, which hopefully isn't too creepy for a little toddler. From what I've heard, she seemed to like them; I think she even had a little taste, which is a sure sign of toddler trust :3 Happy birthday, Ijo!

Have a very good weekend!

Legokake

Jeg er altfor glad i pirkearbeid. Faktisk så mye at hvis jeg blir gitt en anledning og unskyldning, så kan jeg bruke kveld etter kveld på et prosjekt som antagelig kunne vært sterkt forenklet og likevel være like elegant. Kanskje til og med mer, til tider... Less is more? Det kjenner jeg ikke til (som jeg muligens har nevnt før)... "Legokake med spiselige legoklosser?" Jadda. "Du må jo ha spiselige legofigurer også!" sier jeg. "Og noen trær og andre kulisser..." Jeg håper den smakte godt, R :3 Hurra for A!

Lagde et par silikonformer (som jeg er så glad i) ved hjelp av et par av bursdagsbarnets legofigurer (som ble lånt på falske premisser :3), og fikk "støpt" et lite utvalg.

Jeg håndlagde forskjellige særtegn til de forskjellige figurene jeg ikke hadde form til, og malte med gelefarger

Sjokoladekake med sjokoladesmørkrem

Bunnen dekket i hjemmelaget, monstergrønn fondant, topp lagt på

På toppen skar jeg ut en bit så fondant-legoklossene kunne puttes inn

Møte denne figuren life-size i en mørk skog..? Utrolig hva som finnes i lego...

To ensomme monster fighters o.O

Jeg avdekket klossene under ved å skjære snitt i fondanten og rulle tilbake. Kaker til barnebursdager er det morsomste man kan lage :)

Ha en kjempefin kveld!

The Green Man

There is a sanctuary in the woods of my life, a place from where the light in the forest can glow through storm and gale - I trust him endlessly, my green man. And of course he deserves something to warm his hard working, cold hands in the winter, something which doesn't stop him from whittling wood or tying knots or scratching his lovely, bushy head...

So I've tried knitting again :)

Strong hands looking good in greens :3 With 1x1 ribbing (alternates 1 knit stitch with 1 purl stitch) several rows at top and bottom, you get a snug fit which pulls the knitted wear together, but also expands when you stretch it. Like an elastic band. Simple but useful.

Made out of two almost rectangular pieces (I added some stitches towards the top to make it wider there, since an arm is thicker higher up) sown together, with holes left for thumbs. An uncomplicated pair of fingerless mittens.

Hope your life is full of love