Thank you for all the kind comments on my previous post; you're a lovely bunch! I genuinely wasn't fishing for compliments. Sometimes you just need to vent and admit that life has been a bit sh*t and you've been struggling before you can continue posting fun things. So, thank you for lending an ear and being supportive.
Moving onto cakes... Children's birthdays offer interesting baking challenges and my nephews rarely disappoint. Middle nephew specified a dinosaur and cola bottle sweeties themed cake for his birthday this year. An unconventional combination I must admit, but who am I to deny a 7 year old his birthday cake wishes.
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After some internet research Mum, my birthday-cake-making sidekick, and I decided on a cola bottle-consuming t-rex. If I remember correctly (I made this back in March) the body, legs and tail were cut from an oblong, sponge traybake. The head was built from half of a second traybake and sandwiched together with a lot of butter icing. This was then set on end and supported in the centre with cocktail sticks.
Moving onto cakes... Children's birthdays offer interesting baking challenges and my nephews rarely disappoint. Middle nephew specified a dinosaur and cola bottle sweeties themed cake for his birthday this year. An unconventional combination I must admit, but who am I to deny a 7 year old his birthday cake wishes.
After some internet research Mum, my birthday-cake-making sidekick, and I decided on a cola bottle-consuming t-rex. If I remember correctly (I made this back in March) the body, legs and tail were cut from an oblong, sponge traybake. The head was built from half of a second traybake and sandwiched together with a lot of butter icing. This was then set on end and supported in the centre with cocktail sticks.
For the scaley skin we lightly pressed the wrong end of a piping nozzle into the fondant icing while it was still soft. It ended up looking pretty effective!
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My favourite feature of this cake is definitely the mouth. The big, pointy teeth with all the cola bottles poking out make me laugh.
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For youngest nephew's birthday in May Mum and I made an Octonaut themed cake. It turned out pretty snazzy, even if I do say so myself. I was well impressed with my attempt at the fiddly dashboard.
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Poor eldest nephew's cake went undocumented. That's the peril of having a birthday just after New Year; it tends to pass in a blur!
For youngest nephew's birthday in May Mum and I made an Octonaut themed cake. It turned out pretty snazzy, even if I do say so myself. I was well impressed with my attempt at the fiddly dashboard.
Poor eldest nephew's cake went undocumented. That's the peril of having a birthday just after New Year; it tends to pass in a blur!