tirsdag den 19. februar 2013

Thomas Tog Kage / Thomas the Tank Engine Cake

Jasna havde egentlig ønsket sig en 3D kage af Thomas, men med meget lidt varsel, og med en anden kage, der skulle være klar dagen før, havde jeg simpelthen ikke tid til at gennemtænke projektet, for at undgå evt problemer med en så høj kage (med fyld) skåret i form, så hun måtte "nøjes" med denne kage i stedet for, og jeg var i hvert fald tilfreds med den:



Den nederste kage var en chokoladekage med Blåbærmousse og og Hvid Chokoladecreme m. Daim, bjerget var ren chokoladekage, begge smurt op med Chokolade Smørcreme og overtrukket med Wilton's fondant. Træerne var lavet af romkugledej overtrukket med fondant.
The bottom tier was made of Chocolate Cake with Blueberry Mousse and White Chocolate Cream with Daim (crunchy butter almond bar covered in milk chocolate), the mountain was pure Chocolate Cake, both coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered in Wilton's fondant. The trees were made of fondant covered truffles.

mandag den 18. februar 2013

One Direction Kage / One Direction Cake

Nomis mor ville gerne overraske hende med en kage til fødselsdagen. Den skulle bare være med One Direction og i farverne gul og lilla. Her var det så jeg blev træt af, at kageprint såmænd kan findes billigt nok, men så koster de bare dobbelt så meget i forsendelse, så jeg overgav mig, og købte en sukkerprinter selv. Porto/forsendelse har det nemlig med at irritere mig vildt meget, da alt andet end storindkøb, får forsendelsesomkostningerne til at virke enorme.
Nomi's mother wanted to surprise her with a cake for her birthday. It just had to be with One Direction and in yellow and purple. This is where I once again got annoyed by the fact that you can buy cheap sugar prints, but the shipping cost is at least twice as much as the actual print so I gave in, and finally bought my own sugar printer. Shipping costs have a tendancy to annoy me, since they always seem to be comparatively enormous unless you are bulk shopping.


Kagen var lavet af klassiske lagkagebunde med Blåbærmousse og Hvid Chokoladecreme m. Daim, smurt op med Chokolade Smørcreme og overtrukket med Wilton's fondant.
The cake was made of Classic Sponge Layers with Blueberry Mousse and White Chocolate Cream with Daim (crunchy butter almond bar covered in milk chocolate), coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered in Wilton's fondant.

onsdag den 13. februar 2013

Dåbskage / Christening Cake

Så fik jeg endelig lov til at lave en dåbskage uden den lille sovende baby - men det blev nu en anden klassiker: Baby numsen :) Det var nemlig lige præcis, hvad Victor's forældre ønskede sig, så det fik de. Moren bryder sig virkelig ikke om fondant, så efter lidt snakken frem og tilbage, lovede jeg at rulle fondanten så tyndt ud, som overhovedet muligt, og så tage de problemer der følger med. Derfor er numsen faktisk kun halv klædt med hvid fondant, så der ikke er dobbelt lag under tæppet, og der er brugt romkugledej, istedet for ren fondant i alle større dekorationer:
Yay, I finally got to make a Christening cake without the little sleeping baby - but it was another classic: The baby bottom :) That was exactly what Victor's parents wanted, so that is what they got. The mother really doesn't like fondant, so after discussing pros and cons, I promised to roll the fondant out as thin as possible, and then deal with any problems that that causes. That is why the bottom is actually only half covered in fondant, so there isn't a double layer under the blanket, and all bigger decorations are made out of fondant covered truffles instead of just pure fondant:


Kagen er en chokoladekage med Jordbærmousse og Hvid Chokoladecreme, smurt op med Hvid Chokoladesmørcreme og overtrukket med Wilton's fondant. Ben, fødder og klodser med navn er lavet af romkugledej, overtrukket med fondant.
The cake was a Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Mousse and White Chocolate Cream, coated with White Chocolate Buttercream and covered in fondant. Legs, feet and cubes with name on are all made of fondant-covered truffles.

Kagen var lidt svær at arbejde med, når nu fondanten skulle være ekstra tynd. Jeg valgte at bruge hvid chokoladesmørcreme at smøre op med, da jeg ellers risikerede at en mørk creme kunne ses igennem fondanten. Ulempen med hvid chokoladesmørcreme er så bare at den ikke stivner helt så meget, og når opsmøringen samtidig skulle være enormt god, når den kun er dækket med et tyndt lag fondant, så.... men jeg var tilfreds med resultatet.
The cake was a bit difficult to work with, since the fondant had to be extra thin. I chose to use white chocolate buttercream to crumbcoat, as I didn't want to risk a dark creme showing through the transparent fondant. The disadvantage to using white chocolate buttercream is that it doesn't set as hard, and at the same time the coating had to be extremely smooth as such a thin layer of fondant can be extremely unforgiving. But all in all, I was quite pleased with the result.

tirsdag den 12. februar 2013

Napoleon Kage / Napoleon Cake

Min ældste søn skulle have kage med til klassens time. Sidste gang lavede vi en Matematik-bog, men denne gang måtte det blive en meget hurtig kage. Både fordi vi slås med sygdom herhjemme for tiden, som ikke giver meget tid til kager, og fordi han (som sædvanligt) først husker at fortælle mig det et par dage før. Han syntes, at vi skulle lave en kage med Napoleon, da de har om ham for tiden i historietimerne og historielæreren er deres klasselærer. Jeg forklarede, at det måtte blive en tegneseriefigur, for historiske portrætter er altså noget kun over mine evner:
My eldest son needed to bring a cake for school, as they take turns bringing cake once a week. Last time we made a math book, but this time it had to be a very quick and easy cake. Both because we have been taking turns being ill in the family, so there isn't much time for caking, and because he (as usual) didn't tell med until a couple of days before. He wanted us to make a cake with Napoleon, as that is who they are covering in their history lessons these days. I explained, that it would have to be a cartoon version, as historical portraits are quite a bit above my abilities:


Kagen var to drømmekager, hvor den øverste er vendt på hovedet, så alt fyldet er i midten. Den er smurt op med Chokolade Smørcreme og overtrukket med Wilton's fondant.
The cake was made of 2 Dreamcakes, where the top one was upside down, so all the filling is in the center. It is coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered in Wilton's fondant.


Der var vist riiigeligt kage, så efter at lærerværelset også havde fået deres del, så fik vi stadigvæk rester med hjem, hvilket de yngre søskende absolut ikke havde noget imod. De synes ikke altid, det er så sjovt at se mig lave en kage, som de ikke får lov til at spise :)
Apparently there was more than enough cake, so after all the teachers had their share too, he still brought leftovers home, which the younger kids didn't complain about at all. They don't always find it amusing to see me work on cakes that they won't even get to eat.

mandag den 11. februar 2013

Enkel fødselsdagskage

Så kom tiden igen, hvor alle datterens veninder har fødselsdag, og der forventes efterhånden, at hun har kage med til dem i skolen. Denne gang har hun så faktisk næsten helt lavet den selv! Der var kun lidt problemer med planlægningen (hun havde overset og overhørt at chokoladecremen skal på køl i 8 timer, inden den kan piskes op), så jeg hjalp med at fylde kagen, mens hun var i skole, og så var jeg lige nødt til at overtrække kagen, da hun lige pludselig skulle ud af døren, efter at hun havde rullet fondanten ud. Ellers havde jeg bare planlagt et enkelt design, som hun selv kunne fortolke, og jeg synes at hun klarede det rigtig fint, selvom billedet som sædvanligt er dårligt. Det der med at have kagerne færdige efter midnat, som skal ud af døren inden kl 7 om morgenen, giver altså bare totalt dårligt lys, og det var svært at finde en ordentlig vinkel, som viste designet, men her er den da:
It is that time of year again, where all my daughter's friends have birthdays, and by now they pretty much expect her to bring them a cake to school. This time, she has actually almost done it entirely by herself! She only had a planning issue (didn't see or hear that the chocolate creme needs to be refrigerated for 8 hours, before whisking), so I helped her fill the cake while she was at school, and I also had to cover that cake, when she ran out the door after rolling the fondant out. Other than that, I had just planned a simple design, which she could interpret however she wanted, and  I think she did a great job, although the picture is poor as usual. The thing about finishing cakes past midnight, which have to be out the door before 7 am, is the lighting is horrible, and this time I couldn't find an angle to properly show her design, but here it is:


Kagen var en chokoladekage med Jordbærmousse og Mintchokoladecreme, smurt op med Chokolade Smørcreme, og overtrukket med Wilton's fondant. Pynten er lavet af sort Pettinice fondant.
The cake was a Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Mousse and Mint/Chocolate Creme, coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered in Wilton's fondant. The decorations were made using black Pettinice fondant.



Kagen var duppet med en grøn metallic farve påført med svamp, og det tager faktisk ikke så lang tid, som jeg havde troet, men den skal have en halv times tørre tid i mellem lagene, og der var kun brug for 2 lag denne gang.
The cake was sponged with a metallic green food colouring, and it doesn't take nearly as long as I'd thought to do, but it does have to dry for half an hour between coatings, and this one got 2.

Selv om kagen var vellykket, tror jeg dog, at datteren blev enig med sig selv om at bede om mere hjælp næste gang. Ikke fordi hun ikke kan selv, men fordi det godt nok er svært at afsætte 3 dage i træk til et kageprojekt, når man går i 3. g og har både lektier, arbejde, kæreste, venner og fritidsinteresser at passe.
Even though the cake was a success, I think my daughter still decided to ask for more help next time. Not because she can't do it, but because it is really difficult to find 3 successive days for a cake project when you have homework, job, boyfriend, friends, sports etc. to fit in as well.