Only In South Africa

Oct24

We have finally come to the end of the Rugby World Cup and well done to New Zealand on Sunday – a close score but delighted they won.   The Springboks did us proud even though it was sad to see them come home too early.  How will we all know what to wear on Fridays now?  It was during the Rugby World Cup mania that Kerry asked me to do cupcakes for her 21st birthday.  The theme was Only in South Africa and she wanted South African themed cupcakes to celebrate her special day.

I made sugar paste rugby balls and painted them the Springbok colours as Kerry is an ardent Springbok supporter.  I made soccer shirts and scarves and added soccer balls and flags to some of the cupcakes. 

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

 What would South African cupcakes be without the famous Vuvuzela?  I made some vuvuzelas from sugar paste and added them to the cupcakes with a soccer ball to complete the South African Bafana Bafana theme cupcakes.  The rugby shirts and scarves I made with green sugar paste and added the yellow stripe detail with Rolkem edible colouring.

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

We certainly have one of the brightest and most colourful flags in the world and to show off these colours I took the idea from my mexican cupcakes where I painted mexican scarves and I painted South African scarves for these cupcakes.  They came out so brilliantly colourful.  They brought back memories of 2010 and all the supporters in their South African hats and scarves.

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

 I always love an excuse to pay a visit to my favourite chocolate shop – Geldhof and it was there I found these chocolate kruger rands covered in gold foil.  I know they are not strictly sugar art but what is a girl’s party without a bit of bling?

Cupcakes with South African Kruger Rands

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Just for a bit more bling and some laughs, Kerry suggested Zapiro shower heads on some of the cupcakes.  Not an easy call as to get them to look like shower heads and to stand in the cupcakes was not easy.  I made sugar paste shower heads and painted them silver and atttached a thin piece of wire into them to stand them into the cupcakes.  Finished off with the SA flag I am sure they added a few giggles to the party!  Thanks Kerry for trusting me with your 21st birthday cupcake order I loved the challenge of your Only in South Africa theme.

Only In South Africa Cupcakes

Zapiro Shower Head Cupcakes


 

National Chocolate Cupcake Day!

Oct18

Today is National Cupcake Day.  I was informed of this via Cupcake Project one of the brilliant blogs I follow.  I am pleased that I am not the only cupcake lover to have not known what an important day it was today.  I made these cupcakes shortly after I attended the Good Food and Wine Show and just haven’t blogged them yet as I wanted to let you know more about the amazing story behind this Madacasse chocolate.  The story may have to come later but in the meantime here are some pictures of the most delicious cupcakes I have made yet.

Madacasse Pink Pepper & Citrus Chocolate Cupcakes

Madacasse Pink Pepper & Citrus Chocolate Cupcakes

 

I fell in love with the wrapping and display of this chocolate and when I tasted it I was totally hooked.  Produced in Madagascar this chocolate delights all your senses and I couldn’t wait to use it in a cupcake.  I chose the pink pepper and citrus Madacasse chocolate and melted half a bar into my icing.  It turned the icing into a beautiful rich chocolate colour and I topped off the cupcake with a square of this heavenly chocolate.  The comments from my testers were that it had to be the best cupcake from my kitchen yet and if I had a choice of one cupcake to take with me to a desert island this would be the one!  If I was on the island I would probably put in a request for one of these in my glass bottle.  I wanted to surprise you with this cupcake but what better day to blog this on than today!

Madacasse Pink Pepper & Citrus Chocolate Cupcakes

Madacasse Pink Pepper & Citrus Chocolate Cupcakes

Bowl Them Over Cupcakes

Oct18
Cricket Bat & Ball Cupcakes

Cricket Bat & Ball Cupcakes

 

I made these cupcakes on Saturday for a little cricket fan who was turning 7.  I was given this order at the last minute so to save time I iced the cupcakes white and added a patch of green ‘grass’ icing in the centre of each one.  I bought the cricket bats and balls from Kadees in Fourways and added them as the final touch.  Hope your birthday was a hit Travis!

Cricket Bat & Ball Cupcakes

Cricket Bat & Ball Cupcakes

 

Sewing Box Cake

Oct17

Once again it was time to celebrate the birthday of another scrapper at The Memory Shed at 2nd Cup.  We celebrated Hayley’s birthday on Wednesday with a cake and the usual array of presents.  Hayley loves colour and drawing and basically doing anything crafty.  She has a great knack of matching bright and wonderful colours in any project she does and is brilliant at whatever craft she tries from mosaicing to scrapping, drawing and painting.  We brainstormed and came up with the idea of a sewing  box cake for Hayley to celebrate her birthday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

I made a round cake and a small rectangular cake for the sewing box.  I used a chocolate transfer sheet to finish off the top and sides of the box which was not easy but the end result was edible and effective (note to self I need to practise this technique!)  I made a little sewing spool and needle from sugarpaste and then added a number of pink and green sugarpaste rosettes with different centres.  Hayley is brilliant at sewing her own unique rosettes so these were a tribute to the one she makes.  We had great fun celebrating with you Hayley and hope you did too.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Sewing Box Cake

Sew Hayley!

Cupcakes2Go For Ceire

Oct11

On Monday our beautiful daughter turned 13.  Teigh, her brother, insists that she has been 13 for a while  as she is already so grown up in so many ways.  She was leaving on a school camp on Monday morning so she wasn’t with us for the day to celebrate her birthday.  It didn’t seem to phase her too much on Monday morning as she met her very excited friends on the field before they got on the bus.  Ceire thought it would be a great idea to have cupcakes for her to take on the bus to celebrate her birthday so I made these smaller but really cute cupcakes with jelly beans on for her to celebrate on the bus.

Cupcakes with Jelly Beans

Cute Birthday Cupcakes2Go

I packed 75 dinky little cupcakes2go in boxes and I hope that the girls and teachers on the bus enjoyed them!  

Cupcakes with Jelly Beans

Cute Birthday Cupcakes2Go

Home Sweet Home for Michelle’s Birthday

Oct6

Michelle is a very good friend of mine (not only because she loves my cupcakes) but also because she is such a generous and genuine person.  She has all the character traits of a fantastic friend as she is kind, helpful, a great listener, loads of fun and a great wife and mother too.  When I was going through ideas for a surprise birthday cake for her there were so many different ideas I came up with as Michelle loves nature and beautiful and creative things.  I decided on this Little House and Flower Garden cake as I found a delightful pan to bake the cake in and it was appropriate for her with her doing renovations to her home at the moment.  Maybe we can do another one for the house-warming Michelle!

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

I baked a square cake and iced it with Michelle’s favourite coffee icing.  I iced the 2 house cakes together with the same icing and then placed them on the cake with lolly stickers in for extra support.  The roof I iced with the same coffee icing and then used green icing for the grass and caramel sweets for stepping stones.  I added a sugarpaste door and shutters for the windows and then added sugarpaste window boxes with red flowers and ‘planted’ pink and white roses and flowers in the garden.

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

Little House & Flower Garden Cake

We celebrated Michelle’s birthday at the Memory Shed and once again it was the perfect setting and perfect group of scrapbookers for Michelle to celebrate another year being wiser.

Little House & Flower Garden Cake (Michelle & Lisa)

Little House & Flower Garden Cake (Michelle & Lisa)