I guess the biggest news is I got old! Well I hit the big 30. Everyone always says it happens easily and the trepidation and anxiety you feel on the approach is pointless. I'd have to agree, turning 30 is anticlimactic but it feels old. When you're in your 20's nobody expects anything of you, as long as you have a job you can do whatever you like: travel, volunteer, experiment with career options, educate yourself and nobody will judge you. When you hit your 30's you feel like you should have you s**t together: married/engaged, having children, developing your career and moving onto the property ladder. Why do we put these pressures of societal norms on ourselves? Leaving 29 I felt like a complete underachiever so I decided that this was the year I was going to try to reach my potential. I sat down on New Years Eve and wrote the bucket list for 2015, things to do before 2015 kicks it, not me. I don't intend to live my life by the expectations of others so these things are things I've really thought about, purely self indulgent and food for the soul rather than steps on a ladder to adulthood.
I'm not going to share the list as of yet but when I do tick a box off I'll update you all.
Now I realise that this blog is developing into something more than a record of baking activities, it's cathartic though so I'll continue to develop it but for now we'll catch up on some baking activities.
My last post, however delayed, spoke about the power of word of mouth and now I really am developing a reputation for my baking at work. I had a colleague, who I work closely with, ask me to do a birthday cake for her son and when she told me the theme I couldn't resist!! *Not a geek*
*And YES that Arc Reactor does light up!*
I spent a while researching to make sure I used the right kind of cake, it's Madeira as it's denser to hold the weight of the icing. It's also easier to carve when you want to make things like a hulk fist. One tip i will add is to go for an overall shape when carving rather than trying to get the intricate detail into the cake. If the icing is a little thicker when you cover it then you can add more detail (such as fingers, as well as nails and creases). Also a trick I learnt as an art student when you are copying something, try to have the original in front of you. I'd seen some really awful attempts at fists on the internet but if you clench your hand in front of you and copy that rather than an image it looks much more realistic and less Jeremy Beadle.
(I really did learn a lot from this attempt and doing the research beforehand, when I think back I realise just how much.)
My method for covering the cake comes from this video tutorial and blog. An invaluable tool is a smoother. I cannot tell you how amazing this piece of kit is, especially if you usually end up with lumpy bumpy cakes. You need to get one! It also helps with smoothing the edge that sits against the board so that I didn't have to pipe around the edge to disguise it. I really love that crisp finish.
In the past I've always used icing sugar to roll out the icing but next time I'd like to use a grease as recommended on the tutorial. The icing sugar didn't really leave cracks as they claim but I'd like to experiment to see which I prefer and which is easier to work with.
Finally, my last bit of advice- Don't bother with the pre-coloured icing that is available at Hobbycraft. Yes it's easier and the price weighs out well against convenience but it stinks to high heaven! Seriously! Not good!
