Saturday 31 December 2011

Snowman Themed Winter Wedding Cake

Now here's a wedding cake I loved making! Three tiers covered in crisp white fondant icing decorated with "snowballs" and each tier is trimmed with sparkly snowflakes. 




The bride and groom are handmade and edible, as are the rest of the cheeky little snowmen and snowwomen all over the cake. 





The cake was delivered to the Cedar Court Hotel, Ainley Top, Huddersfield. Thanks for looking! x

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Nightmare Before Christmas Birthday Cake

This cake was made for Sue, who is a massive Nightmare Before Christmas fan (when she came to collect the cake she had a handbag with Jack Skellington on - this lady LOVES him!!). Sue had an idea in mind for the cake, but I did a quick sketch and emailed it over. 




A few tweaks of the design later, and this is the finished cake. Inside was chocolate orange sponge, vanilla and chocolate cake. Yum yum! 



Close up of the Jack Skellington topper. He's handmade from fondant and totally edible, although I don't think I could eat something so cute! 
Thanks for looking xx

Tuesday 27 December 2011

We made it!

Jo's Cakes is very proud to announce that we're now featured on Pavone Weddings: Showcasing the UK's Elite Wedding Suppliers' listings! Showcasing only the very best wedding suppliers in the country, Pavone Weddings is an invaluable tool when it comes to planning your wedding. Have a look in their directory for listings for everything you need for your wedding, be it cake, cars, photographers, florists etc - there'll be someone in there for you! They're on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EliteWeddingSuppliers, making it easier to stay in touch. 



We even get a fabulous badge for our website which we're displaying with pride :-) xx


Friday 23 December 2011

Purple Present Style Cake

This is my family Christmas cake this year. After creating and decorating cakes for other people all year, I've been a bit lazy with my own cake and decorated it simply like a gift! Inside is a rich fruit cake (gluten free of course) covered in marzipan. I used purple fondant, as Jo's Cakes' colours are purple and white, and put a handmade fondant bow on the top. This would make a fabulous 1st birthday cake, as we can add a message on a gift tag.



I can't wait until Christmas Eve to cut into it! 

Thanks for looking! xx

Thursday 22 December 2011

Thomas the Tank Engine 3D Carved Cake

This was my first attempt at a 3D Thomas cake, and overall I was pretty pleased with how he turned out. His face was a bit on the small side (he looks like he's eaten the Fat Controller!), but I know for next time! I also made some vanilla cupcakes to go with this order featuring Thomas' face. 







Thanks for looking x

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Patchwork Peppa Pig Birthday Cake

I was asked to create a cake for Hannah's birthday which featured Peppa Pig, but other than that I was given free rein regarding design, which was fabulous! I'm having a bit of a phase of loving all things crafty and vintage, so I thought the Peppa Pig could be "appliqued" to the cake with other bits and pieces to look like patches. Thank goodness for my stitch tool! 







Hannah's mum was thrilled with the cake when she collected it, and I loved making it! xx

Monday 19 December 2011

Red and Ivory Giant Cupcake

Here's a giant chocolate cupcake I baked for Zoe's 18th birthday. Her mum asked if I could make it in reds with a big bow so I made an edible bow (a lot nicer than a ribbon bow I think!), and here's the finished cake. 




I hope Zoe likes her special birthday cake! 

Saturday 17 December 2011

Three Tier 1st Birthday Cake

Here's a cake I really loved making - a three tier chocolate cake decorated in different shades of blue and topped with a cute clown topper. I've a thing about clowns - I don't really like them, but I didn't mind this one! I think it's because he's so cute (and edible!).




A 1st birthday is always a massive occasion, and there's no better way to celebrate than with a special cake. xx

Friday 16 December 2011

Barcelona FC Football Shirt Cake

All boys like football right? Especially Kobe, who's mum asked if I could make him a shirt from Barcelona FC for his birthday. Now I'm not Barcelona's biggest fan, ever since my hubby took me there a couple of years ago for a nice romantic break and we ended up spending nearly a whole day on the Nou Camp Stadium tour - here's me looking thrilled next to the pitch. 




Kobe's cake turned out well, and his mum was really pleased with it, which is brilliant. Here it is...




The logo was quite tricky, but I used royal icing and a bit of patience and got there eventually! x

Thursday 15 December 2011

Guitar Themed Birthday Cake

I recently created some birthday cupcakes for a 40th birthday, and the lady who ordered them asked if I could bake a cake for her son Callum's 14th birthday. Callum just LOVES guitars, so we designed a cake with an edible guitar for him!



The guitar has a plastic dowel covered in fondant to support the neck, but the actual body is all fondant and everything else is totally edible. 




The musical notes are all hand piped, and then I added his name and age to the cake before trimming with a ribbon. 



xx



Tuesday 13 December 2011

Two Tier Waybuloo Birthday Cake

I was asked to create a two tier Waybuloo birthday cake for Isaac's birthday. His mum sent me a picture of a cake she wanted (I'm not sure where it came from, so if you recognise the design and know who the original baker is please let me know so I can credit them!). The cake was delicious moist vanilla sponge for both tiers. 


Isaac's name was put in large letters on the top tier, and the characters were cut out of fondant and placed around the bottom tier. I then added a starburst to the top of the cake to add a finishing touch. 



Thanks for looking! xx

Monday 12 December 2011

Purple Snowflake Cupcakes

Perfect for a winter wedding or celebration, these cupcakes are topped with a delicious topping of purple frosting and then finished with a single delicate snowflake. 





Perfect for a cupcake tower centrepiece with a 6" round sponge cake decorated with a fondant swag and sparkly snowflakes, and topped with some sparkly diamante initials. Winter is definitely the time for a bit of sparkle xx

Sunday 11 December 2011

Ivory and Scarlet Cupcake Tower

One of the most popular things for weddings this year has been towers of cupcakes. Jo's Cakes has an offer on until the end of December 2011 whereby 70 cupcakes and a 6" top cake for cutting is only £140, which means they are great for weddings on a smaller budget. 



This weekend saw the wedding of Rehanna and Jamie and they had ordered some cupcakes for their wedding reception. Their colours were scarlet, ivory and silver so we created some vanilla and strawberry cupcakes (made with real strawberries), and these were their cupcakes. Each of the cupcakes topped with the scarlet icing had a butterfly frilly wrapper around it.


Apologies for the really poor photos - the room was really really dark and my camera is a bit rubbish! xx


Saturday 10 December 2011

Girly Blossom and Butterfly Cupcakes

Some luscious vanilla cupcakes topped with either vanilla buttercream or vanilla flavoured fondant. Each one is then topped with either a '3', or a butterfly or a flower. Done in baby pink and dusted with some edible white glitter, the colours and numbers can be changed to suit. 





Oh so pretty, and very yummy, our gift boxes of 12 cupcakes are just £18 and make a perfect gift for a loved one xx

Friday 9 December 2011

Graduation Cake

I was asked to create a cake for Farzanah who had just graduated from college. Farzanah's mum explained that she was a coelic and therefore hardly ever had cake, and she wanted her to have a surprise cake to celebrate. I baked a vanilla gluten free cake and decorated it with a scroll, little mortar hat and gown in the colours requested. 


Scroll detail tied with sugar bow

Sugar bow on the scroll detail, with little mortar board hat in the background
I delivered it to Batley, which was a but traumatic for a novice driver like me, but it got there in one piece and just before Farzanah arrived home from college so she didn't suspect anything, and my customer was really happy. :-) xx

Thursday 8 December 2011

Jo's Cakes at Storthes Hall Wedding Fair

On Saturday 3 December we had a stall at the wedding fair organised by the lovely people at Storthes Hall. 




Our stall looks a bit sparse - I wasn't expecting to have such a huge table, as usually we only get a 6ft table so I had enough to fill something this size! I spaced my dummies out a bit LOT more than usual though and made the best of it! I also forgot to take my portfolio with me, which was a stupid mistake. I'd been rushing about though delivering and setting up some wedding cupcakes beforehand. Note to self - be more organised next time! 

There were some great exhibitors there including Conners Photography from Halifax, Heavenly Reflections bridal wear from Milnsbridge, Huddersfield and Elegant Chairs from Huddersfield. xx

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Aaron's Octonauts Birthday Cake

Aaron's mum wanted a special cake for his 4th birthday, and as he is a massive fan of the Octonauts (who have to be the cutest little crime fighters EVER!) she asked for an Octonauts cake. I did one not too long ago with 3d characters on, but we decided to do something slightly different for Aaron and have them flush to the cake.



I've no idea who is who, as I'm not a fan of kids TV (although my time will come I'm sure!) but the little penguin guy looks far too cute to be a crime fighter! 




I received an email a couple of days ago from Aaron's mum to say "Thank you so much for Aaron's wonderful cake. All his friends loved it at the party, and it tasted just as good as it looked!". I love it when people take the time to let me know they enjoyed the cake - it makes my job all the more worthwhile :-) xx

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Gluten Free Cheese and Basil Bread

I had a hankering for some home made bread on Sunday, so decided to make some. Usually gluten free bread is a bit disappointing and dry, so I decided to make some cheese and herby bread to make it taste a bit better! I used the recipe on the Doves Farm brown bread flour packet, which is really easy to follow and easy to make - no kneading required! 


The bread it made was scrummy - I'll definitely be using that recipe again xx

Monday 5 December 2011

Mr Men and Little Miss-Themed Birthday Cake

Another order for my best customer Claire, this time it was a chocolate orange sponge cake decorated with some Mr Men and Little Miss characters made from sugarpaste/fondant. I had no idea there were so many Mr Men characters! I picked a few of my favourites - Mr Bump, Little Miss Chatterbox, Mr Happy, Mr Tickle and of course Little Miss Naughty.





I made each character and sat them on top of the cake and added a grass border to the edge of the cake to finish the cake off neatly. 



Thanks for looking! xx

Thursday 1 December 2011

Three Tier Roses Wedding Cake (W001)

I just wanted to share a few of my favourite wedding cakes that I've done, starting with this one. It's a three tier cake which has a ring of roses (or any other flowers) in between the bottom and top tiers. 

 

In this picture the roses are silk, but you could use real flowers from your florist to tie in with your bouquet etc, or even have sugar flowers (however this would up the price considerably as there are a LOT of flowers here!). 


There's a delicate piped band to each tier above the ribbon trim and the cake is finished with a pretty sparkly brooch. 


This cake would be perfect for a vintage style wedding theme, such as this one featured in a mood board by Perfect Moments Wedding Planner HERE 

Happy planning! x