If you go down to the woods today...

...you're sure of a sweet surprise! With her birthday on Christmas eve it seemed only fair to hold a party to celebrate mini Upper Cut Cake gal A's half birthday in June. As wee A always sleeps with her favourite teddy bear under her arm, Upper Cut cake gal Jen decided on a teddy bear's picnic theme for the party and indeed for the half birthday cake...

The guests were asked to bring their teddy bears to the picnic where prizes were awarded for the biggest, smallest, oldest and best dressed. Everyone munched on teddy bear sandwiches, pom bear crisps, gummy bears and teddy bear jelly. On departure all the little ones received a honey cupcake complete with cinnamon teddy bear.
 

And we were left with one very tired little teddy bear. A very happy 1 1/2 birthday!

(half birthday cake - one layer of honey sponge cake sandwiched between two layers of honey cinnamon almond sponge cake with cream cheese frosting decorated with rolled fondant grass embossed with daisies to complete the cake circle and mexican gum paste patchwork cut teddy bear's picnic models.

cupcakes - honey sponge cake with a generous dollop of cream cheese frosting finished with a mini cinnamon biscuit teddy bear)

Wishing you a windfall of success

After several years of research that included exploring the public’s views towards electricity generation from offshore wind farms, our friend “N” recently “powered” through his Viva (PhD dissertation defense) without any hitches, technical or otherwise.

Unfortunately, the celebratory cake did not come off as hitch-free.  Time pressures on Upper Cut Cakes gal “E” prevented her from solving the problem of how to keep the blades and rotor solidly attached to the generator and tower of the cake’s decorative wind turbine.  After trying internal wooden skewers, edible glue, and finally a cardboard back structure, she resorted to holding together the turbine while a photo was taken and folks celebrated “N”’s achievement!  Next time, using gum paste instead of rolled fondant, additional drying time, and a better internal structure might lead to a sturdier result.

That said, the technical glitches did not keep “N”’s fan club from enjoying the cake, a rosemary butter confection with plum and rhubarb filling and cream cheese frosting, or celebrating his successful completion of the PhD.  Congratulations, “N”!

 (Rosemary-infused butter cake layered with homemade plum and rhubarb jam, and covered with blue-tinted cream cheese frosting “water”; rolled fondant wind turbine; royal icing lettering)

Birthday beverage

This year's birthday cake for our friend, "M", indirectly celebrated his Italian citizenship by highlighting his home country's coffee culture.  A massive cup of cappuccino was created with mocha cake 'steamed liquid', coffee (light brown) and mocha (dark brown) buttercream 'foam', fondant 'china', and cocoa powder decorative stencils of cocoa beans.  But wait, a sexy giantess seems to have taste tested the coffee before "M" got to it!  Smeared traces of her blood-red lipstick remain on the cup, the foam is disturbed where her upper lip met the steaming beverage, and a matching imprint remains on the napkin where she daintily dabbed her lips post-sip...

As a side note, "M" holds a very special honour on the Upper Cut Cakes blog.  An inside-outside zebra cake baked to celebrate his birthday two years ago kicked off this sweet blogging experience, making "M" the blog's first honoree.  Since then, his birthday cakes also informally serve as anniversary cakes for the blog (though as was the case this year, the posts don't necessarily get written promptly).  So happy belated birthday to "M" and happy belated anniversary to the gals and readers at Upper Cut Cakes!

(Mocha cake made from swirls of chocolate and coffee cake batters, topped with coffee- and mocha-flavoured buttercream frosting, and partially covered with white rolled fondant; cocoa powder stenciling.)