As Tanya was going to be travelling around the world to celebrate her birthday, we decided to have an early 50th Birthday party for her and this was the cake I made to mark her grand old 50 years on this earth. Tanya loves orange and chocolate so a chocolate ganached cake with frilled flowers in shade of orange was perfect for her. I snuck in just a tasty bit of extra orange into the buttercream by adding fresh orange zest and Cointreau Liquer. Thank you Tanya for all the years of friendship, sharing school days when our boys were younger (how can we forget their crazy market days together?) and now sharing precious days where we catch up during our crazy schedules. Enjoy all the 50th Birthday celebrations to follow with your family and have a wonderful trip.

A huge thank you to Ray of Crystal Candy for another innovative product, her Crystal Candy Edible Flakes. I chose her Edible Flakes in Rose Gold to decorate the ganache and to cover the cake board for this cake. These dainty flakes of gold contrast here so beautifully with the rich chocolate and they just melt in your mouth so don’t affect the taste of the cake in any way. Here’s to our Golden Oldie of a friend (only kidding Tanya!!!)