How pretty is this peony Christening cake? It’s perfect for a stylish party! We create a lot of different Christening cakes from semi-naked beauties finished with fresh roses to super cute designs adorned with fondant animals. All utterly fun, beautiful and unique to each special event. Every now and again it’s lovely to concentrate on a chic idea like this blush wash 2 tier with gold accents! We love how this design incorporates two gorgeous trends… subtle watercolour washes and a sparkling metallic! And who doesn’t love a luxurious touch of gold now and again?
One of our favourite parts of this peony Christening cake is Lily’s name! It’s striking and also pretty luxe too. The text was created 100% by hand (and with no template or guide). We used a caramel tinted fondant rolled out into a long and even ‘rope’. Quickly mapped out where we wanted it to sit and then went to work gently attaching to the front of the iced tier. It was then hand-painted with edible gold. Creating a scrolling text like this can be a bit stressful as you only get one attempt to get it perfect!
Chic peony Christening cake with blush and gold wash!
The gorgeous gold was carried on throughout the cake with the shimmering accent along the bottom tier. We wanted this to mimic the blush wash so it was layered on in carefree-style streaks. Gold was also used for the peony leaves and pistils.
The open peony itself is a pretty blush pink with fluffy stamens and hand-painted gold centres. We perched it angled upward onto the edge of the cake to give a lightweight feel to it. We then added long tapered gold leaves for extra height. If you know us then you’ll know we love to add a little height to our cakes… and foliage (real or sugar) is the perfect way to do this!
This was such a stunning cake for us to make. It’s always hard for us to see a cake leave us, however, they need to fulfil their party destiny! We hope little Lily and her guests enjoyed an amazing day!
We know that this is a cake for a cute 1st birthday, but the fun-loving side of us just can’t resist it! We even nicknamed the little unicorn on top, Stardust. With golden stars and a colourful rainbow this pink unicorn birthday cake is ready to start the party!
Here’s a nice little close-up of that magical fondant unicorn! We lightly dusted the body with white lustre for a little sparkle. Obviously, a must for a mythical creature right? Once we created it’s sweet little face and added lots of pink elements like it’s hair, ‘hooves’ and muzzle then finished it with tiny stars and a little blush.
Pretty in pink unicorn birthday cake!
We also made a glitzy star-studded number one topper to sit on top. We love addinga littlemetallic to any design. On this pink unicorn birthday cake we’ve also added lots of golden stars and a shimmering ribbon trim to match! Any metallic adds a lovely hint of luxury!
The cake inside is our light carrot cake filled with juicy sultanas, shredded carrots and some fragrant spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger). Paired with creamy Madagascan vanilla bean infused buttercream it’s a popular flavour for us!
The front of the cake features a fun edible rainbow of pink, lilac, baby blue, green and soft yellow fondant! Both ends finished with shimmery white clouds. We then adorned this blush pink unicorn birthday cake with a flurry of stars! The lucky little birthday girl, Darcey, then had her name added along the bright rainbow!
We loved making this adorable cake. While all our cakes are bespoke we like to make each littlefondant unicorn super unique! For this one lots of pink was requested. We then added little stars in its curly hair too! We hope Darcey and all her guests had a wonderfully magical unicorn-filled day!
Lots of colour on a cake is always eye-catching, but we absolutely adore sleek white on white designs. This white semi-naked cake for a Christening is the perfect example of how white can make any design super dazzling! Smothered with whitened buttercream and edged with a white shimmer sequin drip this cake instantly says modern elegance.
The drip was created out of white chocolate which still has a yellow cream tone to it. Because of this we hand-painted it with a bright white lustre from Squires Kitchen. Usually our sequin drips come in a glistening gold, rose gold, copper or silver. It was refreshing to see a subtle glimmering white working its way down the side.
The pretty florals on this cake were from the lovely staff at The Orange Grove in Hessle who we visit on a regular basis for all our semi-naked designs. We used large bloom white roses paired with beautiful ombré peach roses with creamy yellow petals. To add a more rustic and quirky greenery we including sprigs of feathery rosemary along with a little thyme nestled into the cake.
White semi-naked cake!
Alongside the cake we also whipped up lots of peach tinted Strawberry Milkshake cupcakes for guests to enjoy! These cupcakes featured a pale peach coloured buttercream swirl, white Belgian chocolate drizzle and sugar pearls to match the cake.
We also adorned the top of this pretty little number with golden macarons filled with Strawberry Milkshake ganache. We then added a flurry of sugar pearls including larger blush pink sprinkles, tiny white pieces and extra small golden dragées by the fabulous Fancy Sprinkles (we LOVE their fun range!).
The gorgeous white on white palette for the cake itself really helps set off the lovely botanical-like colours from the florals, which we love. We’re definitely looking forward to lots more sleek white semi-naked cakes this year!
When Autumn swings around we get ridiculously excited about Halloween! It’s the perfect holiday to kickstart party season! Seriously… what’s not to love? Spooky themed candy (our particular favourites are jelly spiders & eyeballs), anything with black cats on them, and absolutely everything pumpkin related! So when eBay (definitely give them a follow over on Instagram) contacted us about creating a Halloween cake tutorial perfect for their #fillyourcartwithcolour we couldn’t wait to start!
#fillyourcartwithcolour!
#fillyourcartwithcolour is a such a vibrant idea for a campaign and we love it! eBay is so convenient. Lots of retailers sell on the auction site now making it even easier to shop online. If we have a project coming up eBay is the first stop. From fondant and food colour via Cake Stuff to Lakeland’s own kitchen gadget range it helps take the stress out of shopping. The way people use eBay is completely different to a few years ago (enter Krystle searching for those beautiful Alexander McQueen bee embroidered slippers) to now (still searching for those mythical shoes as well as sourcing cake supplies and photography backdrops). The #fillyourcartiwthcolour campaign helps highlight how anyone’s passion can be fuelled by just a few clicks on eBay!
We started our collaboration with eBay by thinking about… colour! We wanted something obviously Halloween-esque, but also suitably quirky. At the time we began gathering ideas we’d also just planned a trip to a nearby pumpkin patch! Obviously we wanted to work some gorgeous rustic orange tones in. We then played with different oranges and pinks. It then made sense to add blacks, charcoal tones and different metallics. In the end our eyes kept gravitating towards a bright amber orange paired with a bubblegum pink (we LOVE our pink photography backdrop) with gold leaf accents, crisp white, soft pink and a glittery black!
One of our favourite eBay finds were these rose gold modern unicorn make-up brushes (and those cute pink modelling tools)! They are seriously perfect for cake. We often talk about using food safe brushes when working with cakes and treats. What that means is any non-animal containing brush (no hair or bristles) that has only ever been used on edible items. Brand new make-up brushes and nail art brushes are perfect. Nail art brushes are so tiny they are amazing when it comes to painting intricate details. Make-up brushes are super fluffy so they’re great for dusting and adding sparkle! Obviously another plus is that they look so glam. They’re perfect for photography or to feel a little magical when decorating a treat!
Want to find out how we made this super cute Halloween cake? Check out our Instagram post here! You can also find the tools and materials we used to create our black cat and pumpkin adorned cake via eBay!
When Royal Albert contacted us to say our cakes and treats were a perfect fit for their gorgeous range of tableware designed by Miranda Kerr obviously we were beyond flattered! The range manages to be luxurious yet fun and definitely on-trend (those pink peonies are a fashion favourite). Definitely something we aim to be with every sweet we create! With this in mind and to really make the most of those last few days of summer we’ve put together one super pretty cake you can re-create too! Cherries are available in late summer, but they always remind us both of Autumn too (hello fruity cherry conserves and cinnamon cherry strudels!). Adding in a good Madagascan vanilla along with a creamy white Belgian chocolate helps give this cake a wonderfully comforting feeling! To whip up this cake at home keep reading!
Love the stylish Royal Albert and Miranda Kerr ‘Gratitude’ cake stand and ‘Friendship’ tea plates we used to help show off our Royal Albert inspired cake? Follow the links to shop them! They’re so vibrant and beautiful. We’re huge fans of the large peonies, gold accents and pretty colour palette.
Cherry and white chocolate cake recipe!
Ingredients needed for the cake: (this recipe makes approx. 3 x 8″ circle cakes)
Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 3 / 140C (fan) / 160C (non-fan) / 325F. Butter and line your cake pans.
Step 02:
Cream together the butter and sugar in a good stand-up mixer. Don’t over mix as this adds air into your batter which can lead to a sunken mess.
Step 03:
Add in your flour and roughly mix this into the creamed butter and sugar. Again don’t over mix! Mixing too much once your flour has been added overstimulates the gluten which can make a rather dense and chewy textured cake. Not nice.
Step 04:
Now add in your eggs and Madagascan vanilla. Mix until incorporated. Then pour evenly between three 8″ cake pans! Bake each layer/pan for approximately 30 mins. Test your cake with a clean knife or cake tester. If it comes out clean your cake is ready! If not and batter sticks to the blade or tester bake for another 15 minutes checking again at the halfway mark!
If you want to bake all three layers at once place in your oven and bake for approximately 40-50 minutes. Remember to test your cakes. If they’re not ready bake for another 10-15 minutes and test each 5-7 minutes into your extra baking time!
Step 05:
When ready remove from the oven. Quickly and carefully turn out onto a clean surface to cool. We use chocolatier marble slabs to help our cakes cool down a little quicker.
Ingredients needed for the vanilla and white chocolate buttercream:
500g softened butter
250g sifted icing sugar (powdered or confectioner’s sugar in the US)
Cream the butter in a stand mixer. Scrape the butter back down to the bottom of the bowl using your spatula. Try not to mix the butter too much or this can lead to pesky air bubbles and an odd textured buttercream! It’s so tempting to just leave the mixer going while you prep other things, but don’t!
Step 02:
Add in your sifted icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar in the US) and mix until incorporated. Remember not to over mix though!
Step 03:
Now add in your Madagascan vanilla bean paste along with your 100g of melted white chocolate and a little pink food colour. Mix together.
Tip! When it comes to adding in colour do this a little at a time. It’s so much easier to add more colour if needed then remove any once mixed in!
Ingredients and materials needed to fill and decorate your cherry and white chocolate cake:
Macarons, candy, homemade marshmallows or meringue kisses to decorate
Cream puffs (if you’re feeling adventurous) - We have a Strawberry Milkshake cream puff recipe here. Just omit the strawberry essence from the whipped cream filling and add a tablespoon of blitzed cherry conserve into the double cream when whipping!
Your go-to ganache drip recipe - we added our signature gold sequin drip to our cherry and white chocolate cake. To simplify this cake you can leave the drip out!
Step 01:
When cool your layers are ready to work with! You never want to sandwich with warm cake as it will begin to melt your fillings. Sloppy, warm buttercream or ganache is not a good look. With a large serrated knife level each layer. You can definitely use a cake leveller for this tip if you like. We make so many cakes that we’ve developed a knack for levelling cakes by eye!
Step 02:
Now it’s time to fill and sandwich your layers! Add a ring of your pink vanilla and white chocolate buttercream leave a circle in the centre for your cherry conserve. When ready spoon in your fruity filling. Carefully add your layer on top and repeat this entire step for the next layer. Once all three cakes have been sandwiched you can add your pretty pink buttercream!
Step 03:
For an on-trend semi-naked look smooth or pipe your pink buttercream around the sides and top randomly. Scrape and remove any excess using a good icing scraper. Place in your fridge to chill.
Step 04:
Yay! Now for the fun part! If you’re braving a ganache drip then now it the time to add it! Drips work best on a nice chilled cake. The coldness of the cake helps the chocolate to set quicker giving you much more control over it. You don’t want every drip to pool at the bottom of your cake board or stand. We added a white chocolate drip to ours studded with edible sequins and painted gold. That’s an entire tutorial altogether though!
Step 05:
For cute pink dipped cherries add approx. 100g pink candy melts to a microwave safe bowl and melt down. We heated ours set at 2 minutes and checked every 30 seconds until done. Add in around half a tablespoon of your vegetable shortening until a smooth molten texture. Now dip in your cherries and leave to set on some parchment paper!
Step 06:
To decorate add in your pretty pink roses first. These are your focal decorative items and your largest so it helps to map out your design with these. Our roses have been washed, cut down, then inserted into posy picks before added to our cake.
Step 07:
Then you can add whatever other sweets and treats you have to your cake! We added pink candy melt dipped cherries, cherry cream puffs, and pretty macarons to ours!
