Minecraft 'cake block' birthday cake

One of my favourite cakes we have made is a Minecraft cake we made for our son's 10th birthday. This cake was quite easy. 

At first we didn't know what kind of Minecraft cake to make, as there were many types online, we considered trying to make a Creeper (a green zombie guy), but then I noticed some doing a "cake" block. Minecraft is made of blocks, kind of like Lego, and the blocks can be made of different things, like dirt, water, lava, etc. There is a special block in the game that is a "cake" block. Perfect.

After reading the Minecraft Wiki, we found out it is "made" with sponge, white icing and strawberries or red frosting. We decided sponge would be too soft and went for a vanilla cake. Two were baked in a large square pan and then butted together with icing. We made the fondant for the first time and it was as nerve wracking as I'd imagined. I really wanted the sides to have fondant as well, but we ran out of time again, grrr, I smell a theme here. 

We decided we would place the "cherries" exactly as they were on the block in the game, to be authentic...

We could have stopped there, it looked great already, but it was our boy's first double digit birthday and we wanted to celebrate that. Sneaky had received a letter and number set of cake pans and was itching to use them. So we did the 10 in chocolate cake, and made some extra bar cakes up with the same tins. These were then covered all around the sides in chocolate buttercream icing then rolled in crushed chocolate biscuit crumbs. The tops were iced with green buttercream icing and dipped in green coloured coconut. The cake board was covered in chocolate buttercream icing and crushed chocolate biscuit crumbs.

I was upset about the sides and thought it looked messy, as you can see I've tried to cover it with the dirt blocks around the sides. But we got the overall effect, we know that by our son's reaction. He absolutely loved it. After checking it out for over 5 minutes he ran over to the computer and pulled the game up, got a cake block on screen and started going back and forth checking the placement of the "cherries". Then he congratulated us on getting it right hahahaha.

This was a huge hit and I would recommend a neater version for any Minecraft lover.

Sidenote- Those candles are "magical relighting candles" that I got at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, they nearly stole the limelight and made for a hilarious birthday video.

Playboy Cake, white chocolate ganache coloured pink - it can be done, and easily too!

After reading through my first post (many times, ugh), I realised it didn't have any dollar saving tips or any real issues..that were solved. So today I want to talk about our latest cake, which gave us plenty of challenges.
We made this cake for a friends daughter, Nikki. She wanted a pink and black Playboy caramel mud cake. We were stressed because it was the first cake we would make that wasn't for family or children, and it would be presented to her in a pub full of people we didn't know, ack major fear. 

The sweetness of caramel mud cake had us worried. We are not proficient at making fondant and hate the sickly sweet taste, so we opted for a white chocolate ganache. White chocolate so we could colour it, or that's what we hoped. After many hours of research I realised it wasn't as easy as banging some colour into the melted chocolate. I read many articles about using gel colours, Candy Melts and oil based powder dyes specifically made for chocolate. I live in a small country town, with only limited supplies nearby, I was beginning to think I would have to try something else until I finally found this forum cake-decorating.livejournal with confirmation that liquid dye had been used successfully. I decided to go for it (I didn't have many other options). 

Next was getting the perfect texture for the ganache, we wanted a thick smooth covering, while hunting I found vanilla sugar blog  which is amazing and this recipe was perfect for what we wanted. I decided we would just bang liquid red dye in the cream, get it as red as possible, then mix in the chocolate, believing the chocolate would dilute the colour once added. 

We tested with small batches. We also made some test cupcakes using caramel mud cake mix and caramel cake mix, we tried one of each and one mixed, trying to dilute some of the sweetness. The caramel mud cake was the sweetest, a very artificial taste, the caramel cake was a more authentic caramel flavour but not as strong, so we decided to go with the mixed version. We used the cupcakes to test the pouring ability of the chocolate. 

The first test came out great, I heated the cream to near boiling point, then added the colour, heaps of red, then poured this over the chocolate which I had ready over simmering water., the chocolate melted beautifully and was a rich red colour, we let it cool and thicken slightly. Then poured slowly over a cupcake with a spoon, you do have a little time to spread it with the back of a spoon without leaving marks. The white in the chocolate didn't dilute the colour much, so we decided we would add pink for the next batch.

so shiny once dry

We were happy after the test and concentrated on getting the flavours of the cake right, Once the mixed mud and caramel cake was cooked, Sneaky decided he wanted it to be higher, so decided to cook another cake and layer it. I was still concerned about the sweetness, especially mixed with the white chocolate. so we opted for a butter cake for the bottom layer. Once that was cooked, we tried it together with some of the left over red chocolate, Sneaky thought the caramel flavour wasn't strong enough, so he made up the 2 icing mixes that came with the cake mixes. We then tried each of these with the cake and chocolate, it was good and caramely, but Sneaky thought it needed one more hit and added Nestle Top'n'Fill Caramel to the icing, this went between the two slabs of cake.

Now the cake was ready to be cut out. 

I found the template at CakeCentral for the Playboy bunny, enlarged it in Word. This involved measuring the baking tin, then keeping the measurements of my document in word within those measurements. I then had it printed out at the local printer (lucky to have one here) on A3 paper, which cost me nada, YAY. We then cut it out and placed it on the cake...

Aaaah poop, it was just that tiny bit over at the bow and the edges of the ears, after all my measuring. I'd like to blame Sneaky here as I believe he jammed the tops of the cakes together when I think he should have jammed the bottoms together. The tin he baked them in flared out just a dash from the bottom up. Anyway Sneaky solved the problem by cutting along the neckline, removing the whole bow section, then he cut the bow part from another part of the cake, I did not witness this first hand as this is when I had to leave the room and find a beverage, way too nerve wracking for me.

Once this was done we prepared to apply the ganache. Now of course the ganache did not pour over the bunny shape as easily as the cupcake, didn't seem to pour at all, this is when I started to panic and left the room again. Sneaky was confident he could get it smooth with the knife, he smoothed by dipping the knife in hot water first. He did a fantastic job and all that was left now was the fun stuff. 

Our cake board was a new floor tile with black contact paper over, we cut a template of the cake shape in grease proof paper and placed under the cake on the board to keep the cake from touching the contact as we were unsure of the safety of food on contact. I did research it and the opinions were conflicting so I thought it best to play it safe.

We already knew we wanted black and silver for the details, so it was just a matter of placing them...yeah right. Those little silver balls are a pain to place on smooth icing. I had wanted to cover the whole bow and collar with balls but we were running out of time, so just went with the one row. The chain in the eye was my idea, I had initially thought a ring would go well there, but couldn't find one. 

Now you may just see this cake online with the name spelt "Nikki" instead of "Nikky" as pictured here. That's because on the way to the venue I had a panic attack and guessed we might have spelt her name wrong, so I checked through my messages from her Mum, and there it was Nikki with an "I". Aaaaaargh, so I had to remodel the "Y" on the way. 

It's also pretty obvious we ran out of time, our cake board is really bare and the "Happy Birthday" was a last minute addition.
All up we were pretty happy with this cake, actually very happy.
We learnt a lot, and realised we have to give ourselves much more time.

Minecraft cake coming soon.

Giant crochet granny square

I finally learned to crochet, I had been trying for a couple of weeks using books and Google. I couldn't grasp it, I thought. But I realise now, I was mostly following the instructions properly, I just didn't think I was, I kept doubting it, saying to myself "You couldn't really put the hook in there, could you?" or "That doesn't look right" 

Anyway, I got my Mum over a couple of days ago to set me straight. So nice to have someone explain it properly, thank you Mum X. I can now look at crochet and see what a treble is, what a double is, before I had no idea, it just looked like bumpy stuff. Well now that I get it, I love it. I have been experimenting with hook sizes and yarns since. I really wanted to learn the granny square, which I have YAY!

My first attempt.

something doesn't look right.

Next I tried changing colours, my way :)

grrr I spy a dog hair.

And the regular way.

These were all made on an 8mm hook.

I was so happy with this, I wanted to get funky now, so I busted out the 15mm hook and started going through my yarn.

This mess was a multi strand knitting test.

So I decided I MUST have some of this yarn to crochet with..arrrgh...I love knitting with multi strands but when you change your mind, what a pain to un-strand (is that a word?).

An hour or so later, I had what I wanted

My idea was to make a giant granny square.
First round I combined the pale pink glittery hairy yarn and the plain pink yarn in the back with the hook on top.

I actually did this round with the 8mm, but it was a little stiff, so I went on with the 15 mm after that.
Next round is the thick black and the glittery black hairy yarn.

Third round is the multi coloured rug type yarn and the bright pink hairy yarn.

Fourth round is black again, and the last round is back to the first colour.

It came out better than I'd hoped. 

close up view

Now I just have to figure out what to make with it. My original intention was for a bag, I'm not so sure now.

Thoughts anyone?

E cigarettes, a mini review.

Just a quick post with a money saving tip. If you smoke and are thinking of trying the CleverSmoke e cigarette that is being advertised on TV in Australia. Google search 'e cigarettes' first. I am struggling to give up and ordered this product. I found that the battery didn't last as long as it stated, as well the cartridges lasted half as long as the 300 puffs they claimed. The flavours bar the tobacco, were disgusting to me. You have the initial cost of $150, as well as the ongoing cost of every 5 cartridges at $30.

After a quick web search, I found many similar products, with replacement cartridges and the option of refillable cartridges, all at a much better price, After reading many reviews, it seems well known in this "community" that this product is a sham and that there are far superior products out there at a far lower price. 

I got it on a free trial, so I am sending it back. I found it helpful as an aid to quit smoking, so I will be doing a little more research and trying one of these other products soon.

I urge anyone who wants to try this to do their research first, it may save you a lot of money.

UPDATE: 

I started the return process, which involved sending the company an email and asking for a return number. The day after I sent the email I got a phone call from the company. They asked me why I wanted to return it and I explained that I had researched the e cigs and found many priced much cheaper etc. He then asked me how much I had seen them for, and I told him around $50. He then said the best he can do is half price! (Keep this in mind anyone who actually wants to buy this product). I told him I still didn't want it as the ongoing cost is too much. Well, he kept trying to explain to me why this was such a good deal, actually implying that I couldn't add up. I asked him politely to give me the number at least 3 times, and that I had got it on a free TRIAL, and I had tried it and didn't want it. He kept trying, I got angry, then he got angry! and said he would terminate the call. I explained again that it was quite simple, give me the number and stop trying to give me "advice" about what products I should buy. He ended up spitting the terms of return at me in the most nasty voice. I got my number, smiled and told him to have a fabulous day. lol

Extremely rude, pushy and most unprofessional.

Anyone who can recommend a good e cigarette, please comment.

Knitting fast and easy, big needles for desperados

I wanted to post today, just because I can haha. I am in the middle of a post for a Playboy cake we made recently, but it will take me a while as there were many issues we faced with that cake and I want to get it right.

So for now I will talk about my new obsession with knitting, which I was never very good at as a kid, I was slow and awkward, and I still am, but I've found a way to get past that and knit very quickly. GIANT knitting, yep, huge needles and the fattest yarn I can find. So much less embarrassing to be slow with these big needles as it's kind of expected hehe. And even though I'm slow, I finish a lot quicker than with regular size needles. Hey, you know what? I never "finished" anything on regular size needles.

I'm not sure how I figured out I wanted to knit, let alone with massive needles, but once I did I went on the hunt, where to get the big needles? I was astounded to find some priced over $100, which is way out of my price range. Also I couldn't wait, I wanted to get started right away. I had some yarn, but only thin ply, so I decided I would just use multi strands of yarn. 

Now the needles was a little harder, I had no spare funds to buy anything to even make a pair, so I started hunting the house. 

After spotting these ... mini pool cues woohoo!!

I was determined to make it work. Now I know not everyone will have these laying about, but anything similar will do, I would have cut a broom stick in half, but I'm not great with tools and would have had to wait for Sneaky.

Now I needed something to stop the stitches falling off the needle, after much thinking (ouch), and a bit more hunting I had what I needed.

These are those plastic balls they fill kids pools with.

 I punctured them with a pointy knife, then twisted a little, taking care not too push too far in. 

Then slipped them over the chalked end of the sticks.

These are not totally secure, but I'm sure you could work something out to keep them on.

I did try knitting with just the fat end of the sticks as is, but I found it awkward, more awkward than usual haha.

So my next mission was to make the ends pointy somehow...

more brain hurting, then... an icing bag tip, my bright idea.

 electrical tape

then wrap as smoothly as possible

It's not perfect, but did the job until I could make proper ones.

Functional BIG knitting needles...that look ridiculous :)

Welcome with cake, a pool party and wobbly bikinis.

Well, here goes something. I'm jumping on the bloggercoaster, and I feel like I have no safety harness, haha, just the way I like to live. So I'm going to dive right in, got to start somewhere right? I want to start with cakes, because they are yummy and fun to make (sometimes).

My man (the Sneaky half of madnsneaky) decided on our son's 5th birthday that we would make his cake, which would be in the shape of the number five. My son was having a Numberjacks birthday party that year (DIY Numberjacks decoration post coming soon). That was the beginning of our cake making adventures. The Numberjacks cake was quite easy compared to what we attempt now.

What I will share is the issues we faced along the way and how we solved them, and sometimes didn't. We like to keep it cheap too, so I will share any tips I have on saving dollars.

First cake I'll start with is the pool cake because it is extremely popular with kids and adults alike, this cake idea comes from "The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book". We also use "30-minute kid's cakes" for info and inspiration. The rest comes from trial and error and Google (love all the sharers out there, you inspired me to do the same).

We made our version last year for our boy's 9th birthday, we also had a pool party and stupidly my 40th birthday party straight after aaaargh. 
Now I have to confess, Sneaky does most of the cake making and decorating, I generally do all the research, shopping, calming down, advising and some small decorating jobs. 
         
Oh and all the cleaning up :(



Most of what you see is self explanatory, the BBQ is from an old Barbie doll set, Tiny Teddies with bikinis piped on, green coloured coconut for grass, cocktail umbrellas, the striped towels were some type of sour strap, Jubes for inflatable rings, the steps were made from cake. 

The cake was made in a large rectangular roasting tin using 2 cake mixes. Two cakes were made this way then jammed together with icing, the pool was cut from the top slab. Sneaky says he didn't have many issues with this cake, but he wouldn't use wafer for the decking as it flexed and warped once dampened with icing.

 This design was was based on the swimming pool at our house where we had the pool party. It was a huge hit with our son and all of his friends. The day was fantastic, but stressful, watching 15 kids in a pool at once is terrifying, even with helpers. 

Those wobbly bikinis are my work :)
Anyone have other suggestions for decking?