Christmas Snow Globe Cookie!

Santa is officially checking his list with only 30 days until Christmas! 
And what oozes Christmas more than my Christmas snow globe gingerbread cookie?
My design was inspired by an original design by my favourite cookie artist Julia Usher. 
Julia will be joining me in the new year for an interview so be sure to keep an eye out for that!  

mariannacakingmecrazy@gmail.com 
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A Take on Cake with: Verusca Walker- New South Wales, Australia

Verusca Walker has conquered many hurdles in her life to come out on top as one of the world’s most magnificent cake decorators. Her creations are mind blowing, as they sit on their immaculately covered cake boards, looking pristine and defying gravity. 

Verusca’s cakes always leave people awestruck and questioning- how on earth did she do that?

As a much loved role model to many budding cake decorators, Verusca always goes out of her way to pass on her extensive wealth of knowledge to others.

Verusca's mind is constantly in overdrive, always thinking of her next great masterpiece to reveal to the world. Marianna’s Caking Me Crazy was thrilled to chat with Verusca, here’s what she had to say about her ongoing journey through cake.

When did you realise that you wanted to become a cake decorator and how did you start?

I was doing fine arts at Tafe with major in sculpture and photography. So for my daughter’s 1st birthday 2005 I decided to make a cake carved in the shape of Noah’s Ark, it was a great hit, so for her next two birthday I also made carved cakes and then all the mothers from play group, family members and friends started asking me for cakes.



Can you give us a little background on where you grew up and when you moved to Australia?

I was born in Sao Paulo Brazil in 1973.
My mother died from cancer age 29 years old, when I was only 11 years old.
At age 24 with a degree in Secretary Bilingual I came to Australia to study English.

Here I met my husband and got married in 2000

I worked as a cleaner for 4 years to pay for my education in Fine Arts and later after the birth of my daughter I start baking cakes.

How many years have you been in the Cake Industry for and what changes have you seen over that time?

I went back to Tafe and did a Baking course and in less than 6 month I got offered a job in a major cake shop in Wollongong NSW. So since January 2009 I have been making cakes professionally.

In 2011, I was offered the opportunity to teach and seeing than I taught at many well know cake Decorating Schools and now I am teaching online and travelling overseas.

I feel very blessed. I could never imagine that I would be where I am today, just by baking and decorating cakes.

You run many classes, what are your most popular and which is your favourite to teach?

Ohhh yes!!!! My life is crazy. I teach every week and weekends + my private orders and my family commitments.

My favourite classes are the ones that students have the freedom to make and choose their own colours and design. I always make sure that my students have total control of their work.

My carousel class and shoe classes is the most enjoyable because they always surprise me with their creativity.

What do you enjoy most about teaching people the amazing art of sugar?     

Well a long time ago I posted some photos of the cakes I was doing on Deviant art. http://verusca.deviantart.com/

That was in 2005. Because of my language barrier I choose to take photos step-by-step how I was doing. It went crazy and in less than 2 years everybody knew who I was.

They write messages and feedback and most of the time they send me photos of the accomplished pieces…. This is the part I enjoy the most. I enjoy interacting with my cake decorator’s friends. People with the same passion.

I also enjoy seeing the smile on my students face, the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Is there one cake that you get asked to create a lot?

Yes …. 3D cars - Wiggles Car, Light McQueen Car. In fact I make a car every week. It is one of the “Must have skills” for a cake decorator.

Where do you find the inspiration to continually come up with new designs?

To find inspiration is easy…. I see new cakes in everything… my husband and daughter thinks I am quiet crazy really… I can look to a dress or even mold on the wall and I an inspired. My problem now is time. I just don’t have time to seat and create.

Do you have a creative process you follow to create a cake from start to finish?

I like to bake my own cakes, I make my own ganache, I research a lot about materials and design + dimensions…. I make scale models with cardboard, I spend a lot of hours to design classes that will use the minimal time with maximum return and very cheap material.

What has been your most challenging cake?

I didn't have one yet. Where I live people can’t afford big cakes or very expensive cakes so I never got a challenge yet.

I made cakes that deify gravity, hanging cakes, upside down cakes, standing on one leg…. 

I say keep coming…. Anything is possible…. ;)

What is your most popular cake flavour with your clients?

Chocolate cake is always the favourite

What words of wisdom do you have for up and coming cake decorators?

Practice, practice and practice. You will only learn and get confidence with practice ;)  Don’t be greed. Don’t think you are better than anybody else.

And if you are a business, please pay your workers on time. That is nothing more degraded them not get pay. It is like you are saying to your worker that his work is not that important so you will delay the payment.

                                             

What cake decorating tool can you simply not live without and how do you use it?

I have some very expensive tools that I don’t leave without:

A straw, a Stanley knife blade and a wooden skewers. .. ;)

I also love my flower modelling tool and my airbrush. Of course!!!!

Which one of your cakes is your favourite?

I do love dark gothic cakes and tattoo line cakes.

What makes you so passionate about cake decorating?

Colours, textures, ugly things…. “”LIFE””

What do you think every beginner decorator should have in their box of cake tools?

Passion and commitment.

Cake decorators work day and night, we work weekend, we work work work… this is not a joke.

Our cakes will be the centre piece in a party. It is the most important part in a celebration. People stay until the end just to see you cut a cake. It symbolize the start of a new life…. It is the wish you make at the first cut… it is the love you share.

Remember in a party there is at least 3 people. If they like your cake you have at least 3 new clients. So make an effort. If you think she is not paying much, if looks good and taste good she and her friend will be back to you. ;)

Is the best advertise you can pay.

How do you remain competitive and try to stand out from other decorators in such an evolving industry?

I am not trying to compete with anybody. I think what is keeping me where I am today is the fact that I know price and time is everything. You can invest a lot money in classes and create beautiful work of art cakes but if you are not able to sell it there is no point.

My cakes are created for retail. I can guarantee a great return. I make my pieces considering, humidity and all types of conditions.  

As the year draws to a close, what do you think have been the most significant cake trends for 2013?

Definitely online classes.

Learning Cake Decorating Online took cake decorating to another level.  And I am very happy and proud to be part of it.  https://fr139.infusionsoft.com/go/LCDO2014/veruscawalker/

What do you think will be trending in 2014, will you be setting any trends for us to follow?

As any other year for me is all about feedback and keep in touch with my followers. 

I do have the laugh of my website www.veruscawalkercakes.com.au  and my book.

The rest I will try to keep exactly has I am. Try to answer my E-mails and messages and help as much I can. That is what makes the difference.

You have many tutorials will you be creating any for us in the New Year?

Of course!!!! My mind is bubbling right now!!!!!

What Cake Decorating classes do you have coming up in 2014?

I have my 3D motorbike cake with one incredible easy and cheap structure that anyone can make at home no carpenter required. Same for my air plane and guitar/violin classes

I have new design shoe and bag + thank you to Bake Boss I can create some licensed characters.

So… Yes plenty more to come next year.

Will you be running any classes across Australia? If so where?

This is my dates with Bake Boss, but I do have more classes coming soon in the Illawarra area.

QLD - 2nd and 3rd May - 6th and 7th Jun - 8th and 9th Aug - 17th and 18th Oct
MEL - 9th and 10th May - 13th and 14th Jun - 22nd and 23rd Aug - 31st and 1st Oct/Nov

SYD - 16th and 17th May - 20th and 21st Jun - 15th and 16th Aug - 24th and 25th Oct
PER - 23rd and 24th May - 27th and 28th Jun - 1st and 2nd Aug - 10th and 11th Oct

Will you be travelling in 2014 to teach internationally?

Yes, will be in Europe for 40 days February to March 2014

Bilbao and Barcelona http://www.golosinasmagia.com

Malaga  - www.mercadulce.net

Switzerland http://sugarcraftschool.ch/

Germany – http://www.torten-boutique.de/

Portugal - www.academiaprofissionalcakedesign.com

I am in negotiation with NZ for April or July 2014

And I am already booking classes for 2015 - 20th to 26th of January 2015

Bangkok, Thailand - http://www.sweetobsession.com/

Do you find any facets of cake decorating overseas more popular than in Australia? If so what are they?

No, they want to learn the same things, but they also go to a lot of effort just to meet the artist.

Can you give away any of your secrets that make you amazing decorator?

I have a Facebook group, I have a virtual gallery and I have my website coming soon. I share everything I know. If you come to one of my classes you will never leave without one answered question

https://www.facebook.com/verusca.walker

http://verusca.deviantart.com

http://www.veruscawalkercakes.com.au

What are you most favourite mediums to use when modelling your figures and decorations?

Fondant and Tylose

As a talented cake decorator how do you advance on the skills you already have?

Well I never had money to do classes and now I don’t have time, what kept me going is books. But I must say I try not to look online too much because it kills your creative side and you end up influenced by somebody else’s work.

What's one technique that you wish you saw more of in cake decorating?

Airbrush

Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years in terms of cake decorating and 

teaching?

Hope making cakes still, special for my daughter’s 21^st birthday.

I have no high expectations and really all I want is not to lose my passion for cake decoration.

Do you have a most memorable cake decorating disaster? 

My first cake for my boss it was a motorbike helmet and cracked on the middle with the weight.

I was in panic and almost crying…. And my boss look to me and said…. Everything can be fixed Verusca so don’t panic. A good cake decorator know how to fix mistakes. He made a glue with the leftover fondant that I used for the cake and filled the cracks.

And in 1 minute the crack disappear.

I learned right there to be more confident and don’t be scare to take risks.

Thank you Verusca for taking the time to share your journey in cake with us! We wish you well for your busy year ahead, and look forward to seeing more of those gravity defying creations!

To find out more about Verusca's classes, check out her cake decorating tips or look at her amazing work visit her pages.

https://www.facebook.com/verusca.walker

http://verusca.deviantart.com

http://www.veruscawalkercakes.com.au


Check out these awesome Christmas tutorials:

The Christmas boxes with Verusca Walker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HSpcVDCec8&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLCte0FD_mGpgNpr90SxtW3qzTG2_nMbK8


Christmas pudding with Verusca Walke. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlYnPwlrKn8&feature=youtu.be

 All images are courtesy of Verusca Walker- all pictures are subject to copyright.

mariannacakingmecrazy@gmail.com 
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http://www.pinterest.com/cakingmecrazy/boards/

A Take on Cake with: Eleanor Heaphy of Cakeage Cake Craft - Queensland, Australia.

Owner of Cakeage, Eleanor Heaphy has a vibrant, bubbly personality, which certainly translates into her stunning cakes. Her intricate, colourful designs are modern, chic and extremely eye catching and while they may look clean and simple, don’t be fooled they are exceptionally complex and take days to create.

As a kid, Eleanor always had a love for helping her mum out in the kitchen.

These days she’s a mum herself, who manages to make balancing family life and work look easy (every mum out there knows how difficult this really is). Eleanor also has passion for teaching and through classes, loves to pass on her knowledge and enthusiasm of sugarcraft to her students.

Marianna’s Caking Me Crazy was lucky enough to sit down and chat with Eleanor about her cake journey, here’s what she had to say.

When did you first become interested in cake decorating, was there anyone who inspired you? 

My mum always made us cakes from The AWW book when we were kids (there were seven of us, so she was always baking a cake for someone!), so I think my love for cake decorating came from her, and was later encouraged by my first teacher, a world champion cake decorator, Kerrie Walsh.

When did you start your business Cakeage and why?

I started it about 4 years ago after I received an encouraging email from Jen Yates (who writes the Cake Wrecks blog) – It was the first time in my life I did something just because I WANTED to, scary, but oh so empowering!

What's the best part of running a cake business?

Meeting other people who love cake as much as I do, and creating beautiful things from basic raw materials.

So how many years have you been in the industry for now?

I’ve been decorating for 7 years on and off (in between raising three children – 11, 10 and 8 now) but have only been running “Cakeage” in its current form for 3 & ½  years.

What is it about cake decorating that you love the most?

The blank canvas! I love it when all the cakes are ganached, iced and assembled, waiting to be dressed- so much potential exists in that space!

What is your most loved cake decorating tool and why.

My cornflour duster J I have very hot hands, and I can’t do anything without cornflour.

As a cake artist what do you enjoy creating the most?

I love quirky kids cakes, especially those based on invitation artwork, or fabric designs. Novelty cakes give me a big buzz too- and they are very forgiving – there are always lots of places to hide mistakes with a bit of texture or an extra detail or two!

As a cake artist what do you find the most challenging about cake decorating? 

I’m not an artist, so I find that extremely challenging! I think cake decorators come to sugarcraft one of two ways: they are either an artist who decides to make sugar their primary medium, or a cake baker/maker who tries to use artwork on their cakes. I fall into the latter category, so I’m often frustrated by my inability to translate my great idea into beautiful edible “art”- but I keep trying and every day I get a little better at it!

How do you remain competitive in such an evolving industry?

I don’t really know. I don’t think I work at being competitive, I try instead to be distinctive. And honest about what I can do and what I can’t. I am interested in caking trends, and what the market is willing to pay for quality work, but ultimately I work to please my client and myself.

If you had to give one piece of advice to a fellow cake decorator what would it be?

Do your own thing, and be YOU!  It’s important to develop your own style and let a little of your own unique personality shine though in the work you do.

Do you run cake decorating classes?

Yes I do! I wanted to de- mystify the whole cake “thing” for people, especially mums, just starting to make their own children’s birthday cakes. I trained as a high school teacher, so teaching cake decorating uses both my skill sets (I also studied law, but I can’t seem to find a way to incorporate that into cake decorating, thank goodness!). I teach beginners classes from my home studio in The Gap, Brisbane. Over the past 3 years my class offerings have grown (thanks to gentle encouragement from returning students!) to include sugar flower classes, sculpted novelty cake classes and cupcake classes, as well as our very popular six week beginners courses.

Where do you see yourself and Cakeage in 10 years?

I hope to be doing pretty much what I do now- but better and faster! I’m no spring chicken (at 41) but I am encouraged by other amazing decorators, like Michelle Rea, Karen Portaleo, Margie Carter, Mike McCarey who have really hit their straps in their late forties/early fifties.

What's your most favourite cake that you have made to date?

My favourite cake is a Mexican themed three tier cake I made for a combined 30^th/housewarming party- I love the colours and the quirky little lizards! I have a photo- not a great one though- I made this cake before I realised how important good photos were to cake decorators- after the cake is gone, the image of your cake becomes your “product”.

What do you do as a cake decorator to keep bettering your skills? 

Take on work that provides me with opportunities to use new techniques, and take classes myself. If I can’t find a real “live” class I use one of the many online class platforms now available. I also find that teaching others helps to hone your own skills – when you have to think about a process so you can break it down and teach it to someone else, you learn a lot!

  

What's one technique that you wish you saw more of in cake decorating?

     More Aussie native sugar flowers on cakes- I LOVE them!!!

What's your favourite cake flavour to make and work with?

    Good old chocolate mudcake! It rarely misbehaves J

Do you have a most memorable cake decorating moment?

Working late at night with my best friend Kim to make one of her boy’s birthday cakes, which we have done lots of times over the years- Kim is completely gumby (no fine motor skills at ALL) but her sense of colour and movement is better than mine- together we always come up with something better than either of us could do on our own- and have heaps of fun along the way! One of our cakes even ended up On Cake Wrecks “Sunday Sweets”!

Do you have a most memorable cake decorating disaster? 

Baking 15 kgs of Bakels white mud mix to the wrong recipe and then having to rebake everything from scratch! I used the mix to save time- Ha! More fool me!

  

Who are the cake decorators you most aspire to be like?

Ron Ben Israel, Faye Cahill, Kaysie Lackey, Lisa Grech Staehr, Avalon Yarnes – there are so many decorators I admire- I’d need two pages to name them all!

What is your most loved cake decorating technique and why?

Inlaid stripes and geometrics- they look so clean and graphic, and require thought and planning to get just right.

What’s your advice to other decorators who run a cake business? 

Don’t be afraid to say “no” – if you don’t think you can pull a cake design off to the client’s satisfaction, be honest. Your client will appreciate it, and often be more than happy to change the design to better suit your skill set.

Do you hope to pass your skills on to your children? 

I hope to pass on my enthusiasm to my children – watching Mummy having to repeatedly try really hard to get something right because she really enjoys the outcome of her hard work is important. When they watch me work the message I want my kids to receive is: don’t give up on something that brings you joy because it is sometimes hard work, persist and your work will become your joy.

Thank you Eleanor for sharing your cake journey with us, we wish you all the best and look forward to seeing more of those wonderful creations you make.

To see more of Eleanor’s wonderful work and find out more information on the classes she runs visit her website and Facebook page.

http://www.cakeage.com

https://www.facebook.com/Cakeage.Cake.Craft?fref=ts

All images are courtesy of Cakeage Cake Craft- all pictures are subject to copyright

mariannacakingmecrazy@gmail.com 
https://www.facebook.com/MariannasCakingMeCrazy

http://www.pinterest.com/cakingmecrazy/boards/

Mr Movember.

You wouldn't be mistaken if this month every man you see seems to have a huge moustavhe. 

In case you didn't know it's the month of Movember, which aims to raise vital funds and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer. 

One of my brother's is actually growing his "mo" (think Borat) while it's not overly attractive it's for a good cause, which inspired me to create a Mr Movember cookie!! (What do you know I happened to have brought a moustache cookie cutter recently- how convenient!)

Firstly I rolled out some vanilla bean cookie dough. 

I decided that I wanted both Mr Movember's head and moustache to be made from cookie, so using the appropriate cutters I cut them out. (A little tip- if you have cookie dough left over wrap tight in glad wrap and then foil - it freezes very well)



I didn't have a straight edge round cutter big enough so I just inverted this frill cutter and used a knife to cut the dough. 


                                                   


                                     

I placed the cut outs onto a tray and chilled in the freezer until pretty much frozen- this actually stops your cookie from spreading during the cooking process. Then into the oven they went. 

Once your cookies have cooked and cooled it's finally time to decorate!

 (You will notice the edge of my moustache cookie is quite dark, this is because I was lazy and didn't cook the two different shaped cookies separately.. sssshhh don't tell anyone).

                                         
To make the head colour a small piece of white fondant with a dot of warm brown to make skin colour, then place some edible glue on your cookie (if you don't have warm brown, ivory with a touch of pink will also work). 

I rolled out this fondant and completely covered the cookie, unlike the normal process of simply using the cutter to cut the fondant shape. Smooth the fondant surface and edges with your fingers. 

Rolling out some black cover the moustache the same way as you did the face. 

Use a scribe to make cutting motions into your fondant which represents the "hairy" moustache. 

Place some edible glue onto the position where you want your moustache to sit. 

Roll a small piece of skin coloured fondant and place directly above the moustache as a nose. 

Using any decorating tool, indent a small mouth under the moustache.

Roll two balls of white fondant add edible glue and place in the position you would like your eyes to be. 

Roll two smaller pieces of black fondant and place as the iris (this can of course be any colour you want).

Roll two little white balls of fondant and place in the direction you want Mr Moustache to be looking. Then roll two small skin coloured sausages and place over the top of the eye as eye lids, be sure to just touch the iris with the eyelid otherwise your subject will look somewhat startled!!

Roll out two sausages of black fondant and roll slightly with a rolling pin.

 Add some glue to the head and position the hair as desired. Use the scribing tool to mark strands of hair. 

Roll two small black sausages and stick on as eye brows.. I made these ones look very bushy heehee. 

I also gave Mr Moustache some character by adding a whiff of sticking up hair, just a tear drop of black with more lines scribed into fondant to look like hair.  (a tip learnt by Trina Thompson on Cake Crawl!). 

Brush some matte pink dust mixed with a little cornflour over Mr Moustache's eyelids, nose and mouth to give him a bit of warmth (another tip from Trina Thompson!! Thanks Trina). 

Finally make to small balls of skin colour and stick over the top of hair and shape, to represent ears. 

And there you have it, a cool little cookie for the huge month of Movember!  

   

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