Two-Tier Rose Cake (Attempt 1...)

Last week I came across a beautiful 3-tiered cake decorated with cascading roses in my newest cake decorating book (£1 from the M&S sale, very much worth looking out for!) and thought it would be lovely to make for guests we're expecting at the end of the month. I wanted to practice it first, as I had grand ideas of a two tiered cake, with different flavour sponges and buttercreams, with a beautiful display of fondant roses. It was just as well I did because I'm a baking novice and as such encountered several hitches along the way, all of which lead to a less-than-perfect looking cake :( But at least I know what to improve for the real thing I guess! Namely;

- Do NOT forget the Marzipan. (I said I was a novice!) I completely missed this out from both the ingredient list and method, and it was only when I came to add the royal icing that it  seemed like icing the cake was a lot harder than it should be. I was right. As a result the icing didn't quite stick to the cake as well as it should have, and you can see where the sponge cakes are sandwiched together. It doesn't look good.

- Remember that baking a small cake means adjusting the cooking time. I forgot to do this and as a result my "strawberry" tier tasted predominately of overcooked cake.

- Make sure the cakes are level before applying the icing. Yet another rookie mistake and this caused a fondant rose to roll off the top of the cake, land in the middle of the previously smooth icing leaving a big dent and then proceeding to fall (and smash) on the floor.

I'm disappointed with the overall look of the cake (and didn't really want to upload the photo to my blog, but It's a learning curve right?) but not to get too disheartened by it, I was pleased with how the roses turned out - it took me an entire evening to make them all and it took a while to get a technique going, but I don't think they look too bad for my first attempt at making roses, and I do like the colour of them too. I also made a strawberry buttercream for the top tier cake and luckily that turned out very nicely and added some flavour back to the cake!

So, here it is...hopefully the second attempt will look a lot better!

(And yes the picture is small in a vain attempt to minimize the obviousness of the awful icing...I know it doesn't succeed however!)

Latest Poundland Haul ♥

I was in London last week and managed to find my way to Poundland for a quick look as I'd seen a few things on their website which had caught my eye. I didn't have long to spare but I still managed to fill a basket! The first thing I picked up are these cute Cath Kidston style floral coasters. I thought these would be lovely on our garden table, and I couldn't resist taking a picture with my newly polished nails as they matched so well!

The next thing I spotted was a cupcake carry case which holds 12 cupcakes. I was really pleased to find this as I've been on the look-out for one since I saw them on the Poundland website a few months ago. I already have the cake carry cases and they are great for keeping cakes fresh and transporting them. Similar cupcake carry cases are sold in Asda for £6, and Lakeland for £15.99, so i think this is great for £1!

I also finally remembered to pick up a couple of packs of food covers. These are so handy in the summer to keep flies off your food, especially for picnics and barbeques outside. These food covers fold flat for storage and pop up when you start to open them, which I think is a better design than the old ones I used to have which would have a little string that you'd pull to clip a plastic clip in place, as they would wear quite quickly and wouldn't stay up. Each pack contains two covers too so even more of a bargain!

And last but not least I found this amazing little gadget, which is a 4 way USB charger, and can be plugged in to the USB port on a laptop or computer, or a usb car adaptor (which I also bought from Poundland but I put it in my car before I remembered to take a photo, so I've found a stock photo). This is so useful as I can charge my mobile, ipod, tablet and camera from this at the same time, so makes it a great space-saver for travelling as I can take just one little charger for all of my electricals, or with the help of my car adaptor I can now charge them all in the car. If I spot another of these I will definitely be snapping it up for a spare!
 

I couldn't find the 9 piece fondant stamp kit I've seen on the website though, so I'm still searching for this, but it looks ideal for decorating cakes, and much cheaper than fondant cutters usually are!

Dior Addict Eau Sensuelle Perfume Review

A couple of months ago I received a 5ml sample of Dior's new fragrance "Addict Eau Sensuelle" which I took on holiday. The little sample card holder didn't have any description as to the fragrance so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the delicate fragrance surpassed my expectations, with strong notes of jasmine and slightly lighter rose tones, it's like a burst of a freshly cut bouquet. I'm fond of floral scents so this appeals to me, but if you're not keen on floral perfumes you might want to try one of the original scents.

I'm looking forward to trying the other perfumes in the Dior Addict range, especially Dior Addict Eau Fraiche, which is described as sparkling and sharp, fresh and woody with a radiant and subtle freesia combined with white lotus flower and delightful pomegrantate.

Cath Kidston inspired Vintage Rose Nail Art

I've wanted to try a floral pattern on my nails for ages now, so when I was in town today I picked up a couple of new nail varnishes to create my own rose nails.

Edit - I've added green leaves now and it think they look a lot better; very vintage and Cath-Kidston-esque!

 For the pastel green I used shade "picnic" by technic (reviewed here) and the darker green is "Envy - 960" by Sinful Colours (a new nail polish range available in Boots, it has a vast range of colours and they retail for only £1.99). I didn't use any special nail art pens, although I've been wanting to get some for a while I was actually quite pleased with the quality of both brands which I used, the brushes were easy to hold steady and use precisely without the need for nail art pens or tools.