Yesterday was the big day - Dan and Leanne became Mr and Mrs Moynihan! It was  also the culmination of a month of sugarcraft and baking.

The day went off so well despite the weather and the happy couple looked amazing. The cupcakes and Victoria sponge stack were a hit and there was not a trace of cake left at the end of the night. I even witnessed a scissor, paper, stones fight over the last cupcake...

Big thanks to Leanne and Dan for my lovely gift. I hope you have a lifetime of happiness together.

I will blog more this week about some of the challenges and tricks which came up in the last stages of the wedding but for now i am completely caked out so here's some pictures...

PS. hello to Jon who i discovered is secretly my biggest blog fan!

I had a practise run at the top 2 tiers of the Victoria sponge stack last night.

I went for Mary Berry's classic Victoria sponge mix:

225g caster sugar
225g self Rasising Flour
225g cooking margerine
4 eggs ( beaten)
2tsp baking powder
Splash of vanilla (my addition to the recipe)

You basically throw it all in a bowl and whisk until just combined. Bake at 180C for 20-25 mins.

Initally i cooked the cakes full height and then split it into 3 sections to fill but i found the outside edge edge was far to dark so i had another go and baked each layer individually. I then levelled and stacked each layer with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam.

I found a new little icing sugar dispenser gadget to easily dust your cakes etc with icing (see tomorrow's blog post for more details!) I am pleased with the result and when i add a third tier and stack it on the glass cake stand i think it will look great at the wedding!

This time next week i will be busy baking a multitude of Victoria sponge cakes for the stacked vintage wedding cake i will be assembling the next day.

The cake will be 3 tiered but i am conducting a 2 tier trial run on Sunday to see what the best method for baking will be.

I have been researching online and whilst this cake will be decorated simply with icing sugar, i will be channelling the essence of these beautiful vintage cakes

Lots of bows are needed for the upcoming wedding cupcakes. I have been working on them in the past few days and am really pleased with the results.

The larger bows will have tails added whilst the little ones will sit on a embossed topper. The foil is providing support as they dry to keep the 3D shape.

My favourite ones are the candy stripe bows which involve rolling stripes of pink into the white sugarpaste before consutructing the bow. They take longer to make but they have great impact.

Next i will be moving onto he leaves for he rose and cluster cupcakes.

It was  my good friend Jen's wedding yesterday. It was a lovely day and they both looked so happy.

The wedding cake was very symbolic of their lives together. The bottom tier was the Cornwall beach where Kelvin grew up. The middle tier featured the rolling Buckinghamshire hills of Jen's childhood and the top tier was London themed symbolising their lives together now living in London.

The topper on the cake was the two of them driving off from the church just as they had sone a few hours earlier.

Jen's friend Sarah made the cake and i had a slice of the lemon tier and  it tasted delicious.

Congratulations Jen & Kelvin!

I think i may have finally found the white cupcake cases for vintage themed wedding cupcakes.
 
I tried these Culpitt cases (which are the only white cupcake cases Surbiton Sugarcraft sell) with the last Herman cake cupcakes and despite the mixture being a dark, chocolate colour i got very little discolouration and virtually no oil seepage. I think with a lighter colour sponge they will stay white! Fingers crossed!

I have started making handmade flowers and bows for 90 cupcakes for a friend's wedding in July. I am starting on the white flowers and so far have made some small 6 petal roses, some squiggly ribbon roses and some small filler flower shells. I have also made bulbs which will form the struture for some larger 10 petal statement roses.

The theme is vintage so we are going for pale pink and pale green colours to contast with the white. I have a month to make them all so i need to be very focused and fast to get them ready in time.
 
The main wedding cake is very special and can only be made the night before the wedding at the very earliest - keep an eye out for the blog post reveal!

Back from our second wedding of the year. This one was in Suffolk at a beautiful venue called Hengrave Hall.

The wedding colours were yellow and white and the room was beautifully decorated with daisy and gerbera flowers inside bird cages.

The cake was made by Aunt of the bride, Pauline (who also made my wedding cake) It  was a white 2 tier cake with small daisies around the tier and a comical topper but what really caught my attention was these beautiful daisy cupcakes.

The giant handmade daisy sugarpaste toppers looked stunning and i was so impressed with how bright and yellow the papercases stayed - no signs of oil seeping through or discolouration!

The cakes were presented on a perspex stand on top of a white grand piano! In the beautifully decorated room they looked stunning.

Just when i thought i had seen it all i got a surprise at my cousin Simon's wedding last weekend -  a cheese tower cake!

During the evening reception this wedding cake style tiered cheese tower was the centrepiece of the buffet table. It was a real show stopper. 

The base was formed of 3 different cheeses whilst the top tier was a full blue cheese wheel stacked with smaller brie and camembert wheels.

It was left for guests to devour which proved precarious but fun! Most popular was the Red Leicester on the bottom tier and the soft cheeses on top

Here is a website i particularly like the look of  for inspiration:
http://www.englishtable.co.uk/menus/cheese-cake-towers/