October Cake Masters Magazine by Cake Masters

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 ÂŁ3.00

BAKING ~ DECORATING ~ SHARING

PREVIEW VERSION Buy the full 84 page magazine at www.cakemasters.co.uk

Halloween tutorials

THE

HALLOWEEN

Hand painted

EDITION

Exclusive Interview: Royal Wedding Cake Maker

Fiona Cairns Tutorial: How to paint on cakes

Afternoon tea, Painted Cake Collection, Win VIP Passes to Cake International, Painting Essentials, 100 Burtonesque Bakers, Interview with Nevie-Pie Cakes, National Baking Week, Cake Spotlight, Dexter Cake ,Carved Pumpkin Cake Tutorial, Recipes from Fiona Cairns and GBBO 1 Winner John Whaite + much more!

Halloween tutorials

26 & 68

Hand painted cake tutorial

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Fiona Cairns

Interview: Natasha Collins ~ Nevie-Pie Cakes

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 FEATURE

Contents 14 17 22 23 36 43 48 54 65 79

Welcome to our double themed October issue of Cake Masters Magazine -‐ wow it was been a busy month!

Afternoon Tea -‐ Fairmont Waterfront Hotel Painted Cake Collection Autumn Cake Competition The Cake & Bake Show -‐ REVIEW Painting Essentials from Cake Craft World Baketopia -‐ National Baking Week Cake Spotlight -‐ Sugar Pot -‐ Australia Baking Wish List -‐ Halloween Edition Dexter Cake Halloween Cake Collection

We have a real seasonal feel throughout the magazine, kicking off with a special interview -‐ Fiona Cairns talks to us about the Royal Wedding cake, her business and her new book “Seasonal Baking”. We also get a delicious and exclusive autumnal recipe from this exciting new collection. We have three fantastic tutorials: modelling a lovely Halloween witch, how to paint on cakes and carving /decorating a pumpkin cake! If you have never painted on cakes, you must give it a go, Nina from Mon Cottage Cupcakes really goes into detail, showing how easy it really is! Following on from our hand painted cake theme, we also have an interview with the one and only Natasha Collins from Nevie-‐Pie Cakes.

Tutorials 27 Hand Painted Cupcake Tutorial 26 Halloween Pumpkin Cake Tutorial 68 Halloween Witch Tutorial Interviews

Cake Masters was lucky enough to interview Tracey Rothwell from the Little Cherry Cake Company, Creative Director behind the 100 Burtonesque Bakers -‐ of which Cake Masters was proud to be one.

5 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Fiona Cairns 39 Nevie-‐Pie Cakes 50 100 Burtonesque Bakers -‐ Tracey Rothwell Recipes 12 44 46 64

New for this month we have a cake spotlight feature where we home in on one particular cake and [ind out the story behind the cake -‐ hope you like the one we have selected this month!

Maple and Pecan Autumn Leaves Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes Gluten Free Pistachio and Chocolate Torte Vegan Orange and Pumpkin Seed Cake

We also exhibited at our [irst ever trade show last month and met so many of you! Thanks so much for stopping buy our stand; we had a phenomenal response to the magazine -‐ Thanks to Ceri, Debbie and Gabriella for helping out over the weekend! As always we love to feature your cakes and, with two themes in this issue, we have treated you to two features -‐ enjoy!

Recipes from John Whaite

Rosie x Editor editor@cakemasters.co.uk

Celebrating National Baking Week

Front cover cake: Cake Masters Magazine Front Cover Competition Winner -‐ Mrscake Review Ceri Roberts www.creativetext.co.uk

Content editor@cakemasters.co.uk

Advertisements magazine@cakemasters.co.uk Class directory magazine@cakemasters.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Seasonal

inspirations...

Cake Masters had the honour of interviewing Fiona Cairns about inspirations behind her new book, “Seasonal Baking”, her business and of course the cake made for the Royal Wedding. Fiona Cairns Ltd began on Fiona's kitchen table 25 years ago when Kishore Patel – Fiona's husband and now MD of the company – spotted the potential of his wife's beautifully crafted handmade cakes. Kishore and Fiona have built the company up to be an established premium brand and now supply cakes to Waitrose, Selfridges, Harrods, Fortnum & Mason and Bon Marche Paris. In 2011, they had the honour of being chosen to make the ofWicial wedding cake for Prince William and Katherine Middleton.

make them. I thought fondant fancies and chocolate éclairs that were frozen and defrosted, were much more exciting than her homemade cakes. Of course, we now sell our cakes to stores such as Waitrose, Harrods and Selfridges. Each one is handmade. Our signature fruit cake is baked using exactly the same ingredients you would use at home!

cookery course. I thought, I have to do this! It was the time of Nouvelle Cuisine, the beginning of the 80’s, so the thing that I was best at on that course was being very precise and decorative. Everything was very decorative in those days, the plates were all decorated and the desserts were decorated with all sorts; quite complicated.

Have you always liked baking or did the passion for it come later in life? No, the passion came later. Obviously, there was something always there, because as a child I really loved it. Then as I grew up, I went to art college and wasn’t in the slightest bit interested in cooking or baking. I didn’t grow up and know baking was what I wanted to do. In fact, it’s happened completely by accident, I didn’t plan it at all.

It’s what I loved doing; shapes, colours and design. I loved it and decided I wanted to work in a kitchen. I started working at Hambleton Hall, which is a Michelin star restaurant. That’s where I got into cooking and then, making cakes.

What’s your earliest baking memory? It was a disaster. I was very young, and I remember it well, I was probably about nine or ten I would say. I had a Hamlyn cookery book that I won in a competition at school for a Christmas project, which I have still actually got.

You trained as a graphic designer and a pastry chef, they are two quite different Wields, so how did the accident happen? Yes they are different, but I think there are quite a few similarities actually. I am in the middle of doing a wedding cake. I’m using paint brushes and colours, and I am making things that are all very tiny and precise. You know there are similarities to drawing, painting or designing; it might not appear at Uirst, but there are.

I decided to make something out of it and the recipe was for a large cake, but I decided to make it as little cakes. I think they were called buns, but actually they would have been fairy cakes. I can remember being really upset that I burned them, because I left them in the oven for the same time that you would leave a big cake! It was a disaster and I had to throw them away. I got better after that -‐ you learn from mistakes don’t you! Who did you bake with? I used to bake with my mother. She baked all the time and I used to get a bit upset because she would never buy cakes, she would always

Thinking about it now, without either the graphics or the art training, and then the cooking or pastry chef training, there wouldn’t be a cake business. It is a combination of the two. I have come into baking and cakes from a different direction.

I did graphic design, but I wanted to do illustration. With the course that I was on, I couldn’t really do what I wanted, so I didn’t really enjoy it very much. I Uinished the 4 year degree course, and then I did a bit of illustration work; but my heart wasn’t in it any more, which was very sad actually. After that, I got married and I really couldn’t cook, so I decided to go on a cookery course. I just had this obsession about going on a Seasonal Baking by Fiona Cairns, published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson £25, eBook: £12.99

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Your husband Kishore, suggested that you marketed your cakes and you went to the Conran Shop. So, before actually becoming part of your company, what was his background? Kishore has been a part of the company from the very beginning. He has always run and built businesses. Before we set up the business he worked in knitwear and then for an interior architecture practice. We founded the business together and it was growing fast, but I was struggling trying to run it by myself. There was a manager at that stage and he could see that the business had big potential. This was about 13 years ago, so then he gave up his other business and joined the cake business full time.

phone call that asked us to make the Royal Wedding Cake, but we had actually been asked about a week or two weeks before that if we would like to be considered to make it. I can remember that, I usually do actually, especially when it’s something as important and as big as that. I was the one who had reservations about it, because it’s such a huge responsibility. How did it actually feel when Kishore received that phone call? I can remember the feeling exactly now, it’s not something that I will ever forget. It was a real mixture -‐ I remember I could hardly believe it and it was very, very, exciting and a huge, huge, privilege; but also really scary all at the same time. What worried you the most about taking on this massive task? I suppose the thing that worried us the most, or worried me the most, was if it would be good enough or if it would be accepted by William and Kate. It’s so symbolic and so important isn’t it; but they were absolutely thrilled with it, so I need not have worried. I

There wouldn’t be a company without him at all. I am a creative person, and very often (not always of course) but very often, creative people aren’t business minded or aren’t business people. He said to me, when looking at what I was doing Uiddling on the kitchen table making sugar Ulowers or baking, “Oh you could turn this into a business”, and I can remember thinking he was absolutely mad. I had no idea how that could happen, and he said “Oh no you could, you deUinitely could”. T h i s w a s i n a b o u t “ 1985/1986 when there was no real competition. It wasn’t fashionable; people were not making cakes then. It’s hard to believe now, I know; years later and everyone is baking mad, but not in those days.

What is it like working with your other half? I get asked that a lot actually. We have been doing it for so long it’s just sort of normal. We are not together in an ofUice day in and day out. If that was the case I think it might be a problem, but it’s Uine actually. We do talk about it too much at home, I have to say. The children are grown now, and get absolutely fed up with it. We are not very good at turning off and not talking about it. Tell us about your most ambitious cake? Oh well, the Royal Wedding cake. That is the most ambitious. How did it feel when you were asked to make the Royal Wedding cake? Well the thing is, my husband received the

As a cake decorator we are always are critical of our own work. Was there anything that you weren’t totally happy with? Yes, you always think you can do better, and of course everything can always be better, but I don’t think we would design it any differently though. I loved the design and the shape of it. It was beautiful, it was absolutely stunning! Oh thank you! I think that everything can always be better. If you are creative you are never 100% happy are you? Tell us about your new book; the inspirations behind it, your favourite recipes and why? You know, I have been asked about favourite recipes before. I don’t have one favourite recipe. I’m going to have to try, but that is so hard to answer that one. I have got quite a lot of favourite recipes. I have probably got at least half a dozen. It’s quite difUicult to say which one is my favourite.

his is the book that I always wanted to write, it was an idea I had all those years ago. Although it’s always been important to be “seasonal” in cooking, it perhaps wasn’t as important as it is now.”

did worry, of course I did. Also, the other thing I had to worry about was that it was a secret and what if someone leaked it, or even just trying to get it to Buckingham Palace in one piece! There were so many things to worry about, but we also had to enjoy it -‐ it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. We couldn’t stop pinching ourselves! How was it transported and did you actually have a back-‐up plan in case of a disaster? There was a team of us making the cake, it wasn’t just me. I think there was about eight or nine of us working on the cake; but there were also the strategists. My husband and Pat, our Operations Director, organised the logistics. It was organised in such Uine detail, that every eventuality was covered. We had made of lots and lots of spare parts and Ulowers, and we Uinished it in Buckingham Palace for two and a half days. It all went very well.

This is the book that I always wanted to write, it was an idea I had all those years ago. Although it’s always been important to be “seasonal” in cooking, it perhaps wasn’t as important as it is now.

I remember, even at art college, some of my work was about the seasons. I was illustrating the spring, summer, autumn and the winter and I love the cycle of the seasons. The seasons and cooking seasonally, has always been very important to me. If I see strawberries, I would never buy them in November or December for example; or asparagus. I wait for the British asparagus in May, and I get very excited about it. I also look forward to our English strawberries. There’s also nothing quite like the peas we grow in the garden! I just think sometimes we can lose sight of the seasons, as everything is available all year round. So not only do you pay a premium for whatever you are baking or cooking, sometimes it’s also been Ulown half way around the world and you always compromise on taste. It’s much more special, and more delicious, if it’s more locally grown and fresh. Continued

PREVIEW VERSION

Buy the full 84 page magazine at www.cakemasters.co.uk 7

Maple and Pecan Autumn Leaves

From SEASONAL BAKING by Fiona Cairns

Afternoon Tea With

Bees & Wolves

Fairmont Waterfront Hotel Vancouver ~ Canada

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 AFTERNOON TEA

Travel ~ Taste ~ Try If you ever Google "Afternoon Tea," you'll get a deUinition along the lines of: “Afternoon Tea is a light meal typically eaten between 4 pm and 6 pm. Observance of the custom originated amongst the wealthy classes in England in the 1840s. Traditionally, loose tea is brewed in a teapot and served with milk and sugar. Afternoon Tea is a meal composed of sandwiches (usually cut delicately into 'Uingers'), scones with clotted cream and jam, sweet pastries and cakes. Interestingly, scones were not a common feature of early Afternoon Tea and were only introduced in the twentieth century.” Well, I have had the pleasure of NOT enjoying this deUinition of Afternoon Tea recently, in Vancouver and San Francisco.... and with bees and wolves. Firstly, I would like to personally thank the lovely Naomi from Tea Party Cakes for arranging our "HIVE TEA" at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver, BC -‐ in Canada. What a treat (well not just the tea, but the chance to hang out with Naomi!)!! The highlight was really the house honey, which is produced from the hives on the hotel's rooftop

gardens. But, the rest of the beautifully presented food was also just amazing: locally sourced loose leaf teas and smoldering local artisinal cheeses, carefully paired with a mouthwatering honey infused accompaniments. Pastry Chef, Stephanie Greenslade, and her team serve handmade signature Honey Almond Cakes, delectable Garden Thyme Lemon Lollipops, and Bannock Bread Scones with scrumptious sweets, prepared in-‐house. On my return to San Francisco, my dear friend Sherry Page of Culinary Getaways had recommended the Afternoon Tea at Craftsman & Wolves in the Mission district. I was like "What?" Afternoon Tea in the Mission? So I just had to check it out with my Ecuadoran Ulute-‐playing BFF, Raquel. You know what? IT WAS JUST SO RUSTIC!! I was awed by the presentation, seemingly simple at Uirst -‐ with the savouries and sweets presented on a wooden cake stand, against the brick-‐ walled-‐interior of the bakery... but don't let the simple presentation fool you;the menu packs a punch! Thai mango scone, buckwheat crumpet with

Jen with Naomi from Tea Party Cakes

10 22

By Jennifer DeGuzman-‐Rolfe Jen’s Just Desserts

clotted cream and lime curd, ocean trout verrine, peas, preserved lemon, pancetta duck conUit, onion and red wine jam, mustard butter, brioche savoury ginger scallion madeleines, seasonal pâte de fruit,milk chocolate marshmallow white shoyu caramels ...and all for $22 per person -‐ you can't beat that! Whether you prefer traditional afternoon tea, or something a bit different, what I have really enjoyed about all of my AT experiences is the variety on offer, at home or abroad...

Painted Cake Collection Made by: Three Little Blackbirds Photography: Erin Schaefgen Photography 11

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 PAINTED CAKE COLLECTION

All cakes made by: Three Little Blackbirds Photography: Erin Schaefgen Photography 12

PAINTED CAKE COLLECTION

Made by: My Sweet Cosette Photography: Dayan Neely

Made by: Tatoo Cakes

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 PAINTED CAKE COLLECTION

Made by: Eleganza Designer Cakes

Made by: Pam Bakes Cakes

Made by: Wonder-‐Cakes

Made by: Rock Cakes 14

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 PAINTED CAKE COLLECTION

Made by: Little Black Cat

Made by: Joyliciouscakes

Made by: Scarlett Loves Cake

Made by: Scarlett Loves Cake 15

O W

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 SHOW REVIEW

The Cake & Bake Show in partnership with Billington’s was back at Earl’s Court London last month. Cake Masters ticket winner Eve Miles shares her review and account of the day. After spending several weeks shouting at my TV whilst watching the Great British Bake off last year, I decided to apply. I spent the following 3 months baking continuously and growing a real love for bread baking and a respect for pastry…. I did manage to get through to the third auditions and the Uinal 48 of their list, but not quite their Uinal 13. For now I continue to be a mum and baking enthusiast, helping friends with their cakes with the hope one day soon to kick off my own business. So, when I saw Cake Masters’ competition to win tickets to this year’s ‘Cake and Bake’ show

in return for a review, I thought, what an excellent idea and it motivated me to put myself forward for the challenge. I was excited about the idea of going and writing a review; not only because of my great respect for what I think is one of the most relevant cake decorating magazines I have seen, but also for my all round love for all things bake-‐ able. So when I received the message on Facebook from the team at Cake Masters that said ‘WE PICKED YOU’ I couldn’t quite believe it!! What luck! I’ve actually been picked. Having not been to the show before, I was super excited to see what they have to offer. My only pre conceived expectation, following reviews I had read from last year, was to expect enormous crowds. So I made my plan to arrive at the show early. My sister and I arrived at Earls Court at 10.30am. (That was as early as my kids let me manage), but we were pleased. There were no queues for us on arrival and as we made our way up the stairs we were serenaded with some wonderful songs from a stylish 50’s dressed female duo. We grabbed our show guides (£5) and checked out what and who there was to see. There were lists of all of the shows and classes

available. The classes looked really good; Pastry, Sourdough, Perfect piping…. They were an extra £8 each, but I would have said that wasn’t too much if there was one you would enjoy. I did pass by one of the classrooms later on and they were c nicely closed off from the hubbub of the rest of the exhibition. We walked round to Uind the Cake Masters team and my Uirst impressions whilst walking were good. The stands were spaced out nicely and I could see lots of yummy cakes and brownies that smelled delicious. There were ribbons, moulds, cutters and every tool under the sun available.. Now I was getting excited. My purse was getting itself ready for some spending!! We met the lovely Rosie and Ceri at the Cake Masters stand. Had a lovely chat about the day and about life being a cake lover. She wished me luck and then we set off to see the stands. My Uirst stop was at NEFF, I wanted to check out those amazing looking hide and slide ovens in more detail because a baker’s biggest and most important tool is their oven, and I like to dream of my kitchen being the same as the GBBO tent. One side of the stand was Uilled with the smell of freshly baking bread and two ladies demonstrating the ovens.

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 SHOW REVIEW

I, of course, went straight to the top of the range option for more info. I was quite surprised at some of the great functions of the ovens. I loved the ‘Aqua assist’ option ( a small drawer hidden at the top) which releases vapour into the oven which is ideal for bread baking and I am told also great for cake baking to give extra moisture! I’d never really thought of adding extra moisture to cake baking.

close at other people’s work. I’m always very critical of my own work, but only really get to see my own. I focussed on the sharp edges, the Uine detail of the royal icing, the use of moulds, lace and gold leaf. I consider myself a low level intermediate and just getting to cast my eyes over these beautiful cakes was a really helpful learning experience. I think some of the best are the most simple. Billington’s Dessert Table Displays

The ovens also have nice little baking functions such as, bread baking (Hot temperature with vapour release) dough proving (low gentle temperature with fan circulation) and others. I was shown how the lights inside the oven reUlect off of small mirrors that sit inside the hide and slide door so your baking sits in the oven on full display. So in short, a dream oven. I was really impressed. That one will be added to the ‘one day’ list! There were a few major set ups that were unmissable: Lakeland, Sainsbury’s, NEFF, Dr Oteker, Renshaw, Billington’s… and then there were the smaller stalls that sat in-‐between, Uilled with goodies; one side of the exhibition was more bread and food based and the opposite side seemed to be the cake related side, which made sense and made it easy to navigate through. There were show spots where they had live demonstrations with celebrities then, as you would expect in a big Cake and Bake show, there were the major cake displays, which were all quite amazing. The Cake Catwalk This was a competition display. All the cakes are themed ‘London Fashion through the Decades’. It was very stylish, with a big catwalk and all of the cakes displayed on it. Sadly I wasn’t around to see who won, but I did get to see when several models came out modelling dresses that could well have been made of icing, each carrying one of the cakes from the competition. It was a great display of how fashion can inspire our cake creations. Wedding cake of the future My sister and I loved this display. So many beautiful tiered wedding cakes, all so different and inspirational, lined up across four long tables that people circled around. Some classic vintage styles, some urban grafUiti and some sculpted novelty styles -‐ inspiration for everyone. I heard one of the ladies in front of me in the queue say “That’s what I want for my wedding”. What a perfect time to inspire all of the upcoming brides of the next year. Oh to have a cake displayed here?!! It was nice for me, as a cake maker who has made several wedding cakes, to really look up

This was a really impressive display of several cakes that were on show almost immediately as you walked into the exhibition. The crowds around them were quite large, but the cakes on display were awesome. There was a full sculpted bust of the Queen and her Corgi created by Michelle Wibowo. It really was quite unbelievable, just like a wax work! One of those cakes that it’s impossible to believe is cake, but Uills you with joy knowing it can be made! The other cake that caught my attention was the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ display. They were my Uirst experience of seeing very good large scale sculpted cakes that just blow you away. I stood staring at the pieces on the cake for ages, just trying to Uigure out how each piece had been made, but very soon got budged out of the way as the size of the crowd increased. Heading towards the bread side of the exhibition, I passed something that caught my eye. A chocolatier who was busy creating a huge wall hanging piece like a 3D Batman inside a frame. He explained to me he was using simple milk chocolate that he would knead with his Uingers until soft and then literally squish down in layers, building up his image of batman. It was an amazing creation. I might try it with my next bar of galaxy....or maybe not Then we hit the savoury area: Artisan bakers, tasty pies, delicious cheeses, pastries and more. We stopped and had a sneaky pie for our lunch from “New Zealand Gourmet Pie”… It was sooo good. Next stop bread. The Uirst bakers we walked past were called Olivers and the guy on the stall said “Bonjour” to me … I try to reply in my best French (which was very embarrassing) and asked him “if he was a baker?”….He said “no, lucky for you”... Then his fellow stall holder told me he is “Oliver”... He is the master baker, but he doesn’t like the attention. I liked his modesty, but the bread piled high around him was so impressive. Beautiful loaves of so many different kinds, Foccacia’s, rye sourdough, oat and seed breads, baguettes... It must have taken some sweat and tears from his team to have made it all. I chose a cob shaped loaf that was part sourdough and part wholemeal bread with walnuts and apricots. It was the nicest bread,

such lovely textures and Ulavours. If only his bakery was close to my house! At about 12.30 we headed back over to the cake side, but by now it was busy. Much busier than the bread area we had just come from. We had to carefully wade through the crowd in between what seemed like quite wide areas before. We checked out some of the cupcake, brownie, cookie and cake pop stands. I chose a chocolate and zucchini cupcake with a chocolate ganache on top. It was a really lovely moist cake with a gingery Ulavour and although you couldn’t taste the zucchini in it, it added to the texture yum. I really loved all of the retro bits for sale at a stall called ‘Baker and Maker’. They were jam packed with quirky things for your baking and kitchen: paper straws, cake stands, cases, wall hangings, badges and clocks. All sorts, but all very unique. And they had really cool denim aprons on that I loved. A crowd started forming at the Sainsbury’s Competition Theatre so we followed to Uind a live bake off taking place between John Whaite and James Morton. They were making some biscuits and bought up two members of the audience to help. Then they said they had some extra helpers for James Morton, because last year he was the looser and half of this year’s GBBO line up came on stage to help. When the baking had Uinished they chose three children from the audience to judge and choose a winner, which the kids loved. The Billingtons show stage was very good too, a much better open space to gather around. There is a large seated are speciUically for VIP ticket holders, but lots of people gathered around the outside of the seats and got a good view. The Sainsbury’s theatre is a lot harder to gain a good view though, so grab a seat as early as you can. After the shows we had two last stops.. One to Lakeland….I mean you can’t not right? Then lastly to Dinkydoodle Designs. I had seen them in the Cake Masters September issue with her amazing Richard Branson cake and that they would be selling airbrush kits during the exhibition. I had to go and investigate, because that is one important bit of kit that I haven’t yet got. I wanted to know how they worked, because they seem like complicated beast to me; so Dawn Butler guided me through how the airbrushes work, techniques and ideas of how to use it. She sprayed and glazed an apple as an example of what you can achieve and I got all excited thinking of taking all my fruit and spraying it for the kids!! The airbrush kit is pink, which makes it that bit more exciting and, although you can use it

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 SHOW REVIEW

The Billington’s show stage was very good too, a much better open space to gather around. There is a large seated are speciUically for VIP ticket holders, but lots of people gathered around the outside of the seats and got a good view. The Sainsbury’s theatre is a lot harder to gain a good view though, so grab a seat as early as you can. After the shows we had two last stops.. One to Lakeland….I mean you can’t not right? Then lastly to Dinkydoodle Designs. I had seen them in the Cake Masters September issue with her amazing Richard Branson cake and that they would be selling airbrush kits during the exhibition. I had to go and investigate, because that is one important bit of kit that I haven’t yet got. I wanted to know how they worked, because they seem like complicated beast to me; so Dawn Butler guided me through how the airbrushes work, techniques and ideas of how to use it. She sprayed and glazed an apple as an example of what you can achieve and I got all excited thinking of taking all my fruit and spraying it for the kids!! The airbrush kit is pink, which makes it that bit more exciting and, although you can use it with all types of edible paint, she explained how her paints speciUically use a mix of ethanol and colour powder so basically rather than spraying water onto your icing the ethanol evaporates and just leaves the colour, hence no extra wet on your icing. Clever! So I got myself a big full kit of the colours and

airbrush and I am really looking forward to learning to use it. Before I left, I got to have a go at winning a prize in their human air blowing rafUle box. It was impossibly hard to grab the tickets and I felt like I was in the Crystal Maze, but it was lots of fun! Oh and I won a stencil too! One thing I had noticed about the exhibition was the type of crowd they had attracted. I assumed on our way in that it would be one enormous swarm of women, but it really wasn’t. I saw lots of small babies and children of all ages, men in groups and families. There were activities for the children to do, which is an excellent idea. There was a cookie decorating area and a cupcake one too. The cupcake decorating was £1.50 a cake. Lots of kids were getting involved and enjoying using sprinkles and icing to make a few big messes. I walked away feeling like I’d had a really enjoyable day. I’d met some lovely people, seen some really amazing and inspirational cakes, purchased some goodies, eaten some great food and learnt a few new things along the way. There were a good couple of hours where the crowd size got a little intimidating and frustrating, so an early start is probably a very wise choice, but overall it really was a lot of fun. Thank you Cake Masters for our great day out! Dates for next show: Cake & Bake Show 4-‐6 April 2014 Manchester Central Photography Kristy Court & Evie Miles

PREVIEW VERSION Buy the full 84 page magazine at www.cakemasters.co.uk

Hand Painted

by Nina Evans

Cupcake Tutorial 20

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ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013

Interview with Natasha Collins SPOTLIGHT

Nevie-Pie Cakes

CAKE SPOTLIGHT

“Nat%re of Love” ~ Sugar Pot, Aust6alia PREVIEW VERSION

Stunning hand painted works of art...

Buy the full 84 page magazine at www.cakemasters.co.uk 25

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 INTERVIEW

Natasha Collins is known in the cake circuit as one of the best hand painted cake decorators. Cake Masters interviewed Natasha to Wind out about her business and passion for painting on cakes. Tell us a bit about yourself? I am an artist and baker, who specialises in hand-‐painted and illustrated cakes and biscuits. My parents are both artists, so it was inevitable I would work in a creative industry. They are both also keen home bakers, and I have followed them in this area of their lives too. Encouraged by my creative parents, I trained as an illustrator, and worked for over a decade in the fashion and textiles industry; Uinally becoming the Assistant Art Director for the London ofUice of a major US fashion textiles house. I had to give up my design career when my children arrived on the scene, leaving me for four years with no real

outlet for my creativity, which I found very tough. But as the children grew bigger, along came the inevitable children's parties...and with parties, came cakes, which I painted and sculpted. Each subsequent cake became more elaborate with every birthday; until friends began asking if I could make cakes for them too...and ultimately the Nevie-‐Pie Cakes specialist bakery was formed. Tell us about your business There are three main areas of my business. I make celebration cakes, mostly for weddings, but I still create a few special birthday cakes. I also work with a freelance creative consultant, Miss Cakehead, and through her I have been involved in some really fabulous events. I teach painting on fondant skills, both in the UK and overseas.

Describe your cake style in a few words I specialise in painted cakes and I can really paint any style that I like, (mostly due to a career as a textile designer), but I suppose I am best known for romantic Ulorals and vintage rose designs. What is your earliest baking memory? I can remember making a loaf cake with my best friend; we must have been about seven. I can still see it very clearly in my mind. The top was very cracked and we covered it in green water icing! I can't remember how it tasted, but if it was anything like it looked, it was probably inedible. I have deUinitely improved since then. How did you get into painting on cakes? I started by making sugar models and Ulowers made with cutters. I don't have the patience for the big modelled roses, but one of the Uirst cakes I was asked to make after starting Nevie-‐ Pie Cakes, was a 70th birthday cake and they Continued

Natasha Collins from Nevie-‐Pie Cakes 26

Baketopia Miss Cakehead and Friends Open Doors to a Baker’s Paradise on October 11th To celebrate National Baking Week 14th – 20thOctober, the infamous Miss Cakehead is curating a team of the UK’s Winest food artists to create a 100% edible pop-‐up— in the form of a magical meadow—in London’s Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street. The pop-‐up, entitled ‘Baketopia’, will be open to the sweet-‐toothed public on Friday 11th and Saturday the 12th of October. The Wonka-‐esque landscape will feature over 3000 portions of baked goods for guests to devour over two days—everything is edible and everything must go. The Tattooed Bakers, Nevie Pie Cakes, Caking It and Conjurer’s Kitchen are just some of the contributors to the project, which is also supported by John Whaite, National Baking Week’s ambassador and the winner of the 2012 Great British Bake Off. John has created [ive exclusive recipes for National Baking Week, some of which will be

baked into the pop-‐up for visitors to harvest for themselves and take away. Inside Baketopia — which is being created with the help of National Baking Week’s supporters, Pyrex, Stork, JUS-‐ROL, Nielsen-‐ Massey, JUST MILK, Billington’s and Kenwood – guests will also be able to dip frog-‐shaped cookies into a milk fountain; harvest meringue mushrooms; break honeycomb pieces from a bee hive; catch pastry butter[lies and even pull hyper realistic looking carrot cakes from chocolate cookie earth. The centrepiece of the tasty tableau will be a giant unicorn, created by the Tattooed Bakers, made from rainbow cake and complete with edible gold leaf embossed hooves and horn. To show their appreciation, guests will be encouraged to make a £2 donation to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, National Baking Week’s charity partner. All donations will go towards a ward kitchen for the hospitals brand new respiratory unit.

Miss Cakehead comments: “It’s a dream come true for our collective to get creative for National Baking Week. It felt only right for us to make a utopian landscape, good enough to eat, which would inspire others to bake.” Alexandra Blyth, Marketing Manager at Pyrex, founder and lead supporter of National Baking Week says: “Baketopia is the ultimate celebration of baking. This magical installation will kick-‐off a fantastic week of activities to excite experienced bakers and novices alike to rise up and join the baking revolution.”

Baketopia will be open from 12pm – 7pm on October 11th and 12that unit 1.16, next to Sutra Cookery School in Kingly Court. Guests can book priority entry at hKp:// baketopia.eventbrite.com/ or simply turn up on the day to enter the edible wonderland.

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 SPOTLIGHT

PREVIEW VERSION Buy the full 84 page magazine at www.cakemasters.co.uk

CAKE SPOTLIGHT

“Nat%re of Love” ~ Sugar Pot, Aust6alia

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 CAKE SPOTLIGHT

As a new feature to Cake Masters Magazine, we will be selecting particular cakes and delving deeper into the story and inspirations behind them. Our Wirst CAKE SPOTLIGHT is this stunningly bold, hand painted cake from Priya Maclure at Sugar Pot, Australia. Tell us a bit about you: A proud mother of two, I’m passionate about baking all things sweet. Born and raised in India, I came to Australia to further my education and 14 years on, I now call Sydney home. I would describe myself as mainly self-‐taught. Over the years I’ve attended a few cake decorating classes with international cake decorators to try and learn new techniques and perfect some old ones. I believe in the warmth and comfort of my family and in the beauty of nature that GOD has created. It is this sentiment with which each and every cake/cupcake of mine is made. Tell us about your business: In life, we often need a gentle nudge to move us in the right direction. My sign came in the form of the Cancer Council Bake-‐Off organised in my previous corporate life. Judged as the best cake in the competition by one of Australia’s Uinest chefs-‐ Matt Moran, I took the crucial step forward and created Sugar Pot. Since its birth in 2008, Sugar Pot has provided couture cakes, cupcakes and mini desserts for all occasions. All Sugar Pot products are baked from scratch using all natural and fresh ingredients. Tell us about your cake and what it was for I created this cake as my entry for a cake competition. As this was my Uirst time entering a competition, I knew I wanted this cake to be different. I ruled out “what not to do”. I knew I wanted to challenge myself by incorporating different techniques and mediums on this cake, and so turned to fabric patterns and designs online for inspiration.

What were the key elements of the cake? From the Uirst time I saw the print on the fabric, I knew in my mind how I wanted the design to come to life on my cake, and thus chose to hand paint the pattern on to the cake rather than convert it to an edible image. This would give it the rustic feel I was after. The birds on the fabric were what drew me to the design and so I wanted to incorporate them into the design of this cake. I wanted them to be the focal point of this cake, hence the decision to make them in 2D, instead of hand painting them. My process for making them was to roll out fondant, let it dry for 10 minutes and then I drew the outline of birds on them. The bird outlines were then cut out and left to dry overnight. Once completely dry, the next day they were painted with gel colours in contrasting shades. Lighter shades were Uirst painted and let to semi-‐ dry and then darker shades were overlapped and dragged out to give the “raised “texture effect to the fondant surface. From the start, my aim was to steer away from a traditional white wedding cake and so chose to incorporate black into the colour palette, in a way where it complements the painted tiers and at the same time adds a textural/ fabric like feel to the entire cake. I wanted to create the illusion of depth and movement and hence choose to cover the black tiers in diagonal pleats. My process for making them was to cut strips of black fondant and attached it to the tier diagonally, gluing only

What was your inspiration for the design? I have always been inspired by nature and textile design, and so most of my cakes incorporate these two elements in some way or the other. I was captivated by the print on the fabric from the very Uirst moment I saw it online. I knew I wanted to capture the raw and uncomplicated earthy feel of nature being portrayed on the fabric and transfer it on to my cake. My concept for the cake mainly stemmed from the design on the fabric.

half of each strip to the cake. The outer half was gently pushed away from the cake, creating the depth. For me, this was the most time consuming part of creating this cake. It took me over 4 hours for the bottom tier alone! I wanted to capture the basic human nature of wanting to “gently touch Ulowers” and so decided to add a few gumpaste wild blossoms, buds, berries and leaves between the tiers of the cake.

For more creations visit www.sugarpot.com.au

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Burtonesque Bakers 32

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 INTERVIEW

Meet Tracey Creative Director ~ Tim Burton Collaboration We are fascinated by groups of bakers collaborating from all over the globe on different and inspirational projects. Cake Masters interviewed Tracey Rothwell from The Little Cherry Cake Company, to Wind out more about the awesome collaboration that we had the honour of being a part of too! Tell us about you I'm a 26 year old ball of excitement who hasn't grown up at all. Mum of 2, wife and geek. When I'm not cake decorating (which is rare!) I'm watching horror Uilms, eating pizza, gaming and being a general gooUball. Random fact about me: Freddy Krueger touched my butt....yes really! Tell us about the collaboration The collaboration has been an experience I will never forget. It's been so much more than a few bakers making a collage; we have strengthened existing friendships, made new ones, and been through a lot in our 6 months planning. They really are special things. From what started out as a way to honour an amazing man on his birthday and have a chance to work together on a bigger scale, ended up as something much, much bigger. What inspired you to do this? The inspiration came from a previous collaboration I was involved in, The Starry Night Van Gogh collage,

which was run by Alyssa Hall. It was so fun, that there were ideas circulating about doing another one. I noticed it was Tim Burton's birthday in August (which was 6 months away at the time) and it was something I would LOVE to celebrate. I threw the idea out there and people were climbing on board; he has so many fans throughout the creative industries. After previously only working with 50 bakers, I wanted to make a bigger collage, like a montage of mini pictures to make up one big picture. We were going to need more bakers! How did you organise it?: With double the amount of decorators (which I hadn't entirely thought through!) we needed to be REALLY organised. I had colour coded lists all over my computer. Luckily two collaborators, Lesley (Royal Bakery) and Sheryl (BunsintheOven Cupcakery), stepped up to take the role of admin in our Facebook group, where we worked for 6 months handing out characters and making sure things were running smoothly. Tell us a bit about the members: They were a total DREAM! It wasn't hard to Uind 100 at all. The members added friends, family, and even friends of friends. Each person knew someone else, and in the end we had a waiting list! The _____ guys worked so hard and

seriously they were the nicest bunch, everyone just got along so well, encouraged each other and supported throughout tougher times. What was hardest about organising it?: To be honest we didn't have many problems! That was down to having such a nice group of people. The hardest part was probably the website, which took up A LOT of man hours and brain power. We had 3 members working on it, as well as my web designer, Pip. Once it went live, it got hit so hard, it kept crashing! We experienced 400 hits per second, and it now stands at over half a million hits. Tell us about your piece: I had Skeleton Boy from the Corpse Bride (decided by a draw from the hat!). I never really get the chance to do 3D cakes, but always want to have a go, so it was a perfect opportunity. I pulled out my power tools and set to work making an MDF support. He stood on wooden dowel legs, and his body was chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream Uilling, covered in ganache and then fondant 'clothes'. As I was airbrushing in some shadows, I was amazed that he was still standing; I actually made a 3D cake and it worked! Ha,ha! Which piece was your favourite?: That’s like asking which one of my children is my favourite ;-‐) Ha, ha! Continued

PREVIEW VERSION Buy the full 84 page magazine at www.cakemasters.co.uk

Tracey with her piece, Skeleton Boy

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 BAKING WISH LIST

Baking Wish List

Egyp2an Orange Sugarﬂair gel Partyanimalonline.co.uk £2.10

Black Extra Sugarﬂair gel Cake-‐stuﬀ.com £3.89

Peppermint Sugarﬂair gel The WindosrcakecraV.co.uk £1.95

10” Milk glass stand CakecraVworld.co.uk £6.99

Non s2ck skull pan WindsorcakecraV £3.99

Black candy melts HobbycraV £3.00

Coﬃn mould WindosrcakecraV.co.uk £6.99

Orange Renshaw sugarpaste Renshawbaking.com £1.50

Brain mould WindosrcakecraV.co.uk £9.99

Tradi2onal paper bags Bakerandmaker.com From £1.50

Lavender Sugarﬂair gel Cake-‐stuﬀ.com £1.75

LiAle Venice Cake Company Boxes John Lewis £6

ISSUE 13 OCTOBER 2013 BAKING WISH LIST

Baking Wish List

Halloween pumpkin sprinkles Edible-‐gliKer.co.uk £1.50

Eyeball mould WindosrcakecraV.co.uk £9.99

Orange sprinkles Ebay: rainford]ger £.170

Happy Halloween cookie cuAers Party Parade £6.99

Jet black Renshaw sugarpaste Renshawbaking.com £1.50

Cake stand: Koziol Stacking Babell-‐ Orange Bakeandmaker.com £18.95

Foil cupcake cases Edible-‐gliKer.co.uk £2.25

Vampire cupcake cases Planet Bake £2.50

Spider cupcake cases Lakeland £2.99

Gold edible lustre spray HobbycraV £7.49

Playing cards patchwork cuAers PatchworkcuKers.co.uk £8.00

Halloween skull cases Bakeandmaker.com £1.50