Forsker og Univers Kage / Scientist and the Universe Cake

Denne kage er lavet til en dreng, der fyldte 14. Han vil gerne være forsker, og er meget interesseret i universet (og computere, men det er der så mange, der er, så det tema gemmer jeg altså til en, der ikke har andre interesser, og det er faktisk overraskende mange), så det endte med denne kage:
This cake was made for a boy's 14th birthday. He wants to be a scientist and is very interested in the universe (and computers, but so many are, that I decided to save that theme for someone who has no other interests - there are surprisingly many of those too), and this is what I came up with:

Det øverste lag bestod af Sort Midnats Kage med Jordbærmousse og Chokorangecreme.
Lag 2: Lette Lagkagebunde med Blåbærmousse og Hvid Chokoladecreme m. Daim.
Lag 3: Sort Midnats Kage med After Eight Creme
Lag 4: Lette Lagkagebunde med Hindbærmousse og Skildpaddecreme
Alle lag var smurt op med Chokolade Smørcreme og overtrukket med enten Sort Pettinice fondant eller hvid Wilton's fondant.
Top tier is Black Midnight Cake with Strawberry Mousse and Chocolate-Orange Creme.
2nd tier: Sponge Layer Cake with Blueberry Mousse and White Chocolate Creme with Daim (crunchy butter almond bar covered in milk chocolate).
3rd tier: Black Midnight Cake with After Eight Creme.
Bottom tier: Sponge Layer Cake with Raspberry Mousse and Chocolate-Caramel Creme.
All layers are coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered in either Black Pettinice or white Wilton's fondant.

Bordet var lavet af Cocopops Treats, og overtrukket med Chokolade Smørcreme. Resten af pynten var fondant og lidt piping gel.
The desk was made using Cocopops Treats, covered with Chocolate Buttercream and then fondant. The rest of the decorations were made using fondant and a little bit of piping gel.

Kagen var vildt sjov at lave, og så fik jeg jo repeteret både fysik og kemi ovenikøbet :)
I had a lot of fun making the cake, and got to brush up on my physics and chemistry  too :)

Eve Online Logo Kage / Eve Online Logo Cake

I og med at jeg har haft så travlt med kager her på det sidste, så havde min mand frabedt sig en pyntet kage, og faktisk ville han ikke engang have en rigtig hjemmelavet. Bare købte kakao-lagkagebunde med nutella, banan og kagecreme(fra pulver!) iblandet flødeskum! Jeg gjorde da også NÆSTEN som han ønskede... men jeg kunne ikke lade være med at bage bundene, når jeg nu alligevel skulle bage 4 andre kager den dag - han kunne jo ikke holde styr på antallet af alle de bunde alligevel. Og lidt pynt skulle der også til, men når det nu både skulle være hurtigt at lave, og til at skjule for manden, så lavede jeg bare logoet til hans yndlingsspil:
Since I have been so busy caking the last couple of weeks, my considerate husband requested his birthday cake to be a simple undecorated one. With storebought cake-layers, nutella, bananas and vanilla custard. And I ALMOST did what he wanted... I just couldn't help baking the cake layers, as I had to bake another 4 cakes that day, and knew he wouldn't be able to notice the difference in numbers. And I couldn't totally not decorate it, but I had to make something simple, fast and easy to hide, so I just made the logo for his favorite online game:

Kagen bestod så af Sort Midnats Kage med Nutella, bananskiver og kagecreme, smurt op med Chokolade Smørcreme og overtrukket med Pettinice fondant. Og selvom jeg ikke er ret meget for at indrømme det, så burde jeg bare have købt lagkagebundene... Chokoladekagen (som ellers er god) var simpelthen alt for dominerende til det valgte fyld!
The cake consisted of Black Midnight Cake with Nutella, sliced bananas and vanilla custared, coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered with Pettinice fondant. And allthough I don't like to admit it, I really should have bought the cocoa cake layers... The chocolate cake (which otherwise is just fine) was simply too dominating a taste for the simple filling.

Han havde så håbet på, at jeg ikke ville blogge om kagen, da han ikke ville have at alle skulle vide lige præcis hvor stor en nørd han er, men sådan leger vi jo ikke her på siden! Om kagerne så er mislykket, så blogger jeg stadigvæk, og når jeg ingen problemer har med at udstille migselv, så kan det da ikke overraske, at jeg heller ikke har problemer med at udstille ham :)
He then hoped I wouldn't blog about the cake, since he didn't want everyone to know exactly how geeky he is, but that is not how we do thing on this page! Even cake that go horribly wrong get blogged about, and since I have no qualms when it comes to showing my mistakes,  it can't surprise anyone that I have no qualms exposing his geekiness :)

Og så er det forresten gået op for ham, at han kunne have haft en kage med rumskibe på! Og det forventer han så, at jeg gør næste år... jeg ville komme med en eller anden plat bemærkning om, at jeg da heller må i gang med at øve mig tidligt, så jeg slipper for at skulle høre for at xx rumskib, da ikke har yy våben/udstyr, men jeg er ikke nørdet nok til at kende spillets terminologi, så jeg kan ikke engang gøre ordentlig grin med migselv :/
Of course now he has realized, that he could have had a cake with spaceships on! And now expects me to make it for next year... I would insert some corny joke about having to start practising early, so I don't have to have him point out that xx spaceship doesn't have yy weapons/equipment, but I am not geeky enough to know the game's terminology, so I can't even make fun of myself properly here :/

McQueen Kage... igen / McQueen Cake... again

Min veninde's søn er så sød. Lige siden han uheldigvis (for hans mor) så et billede af min Lynet McQueen Kage, har det været det eneste han ønskede sig, når hun har spurgt, hvad han ønskede sig i fødselsdagsgave. Så det ville hun da gerne overraske ham med, og da det så samtidig betød, at jeg fik set min veninde, hvilket er alt for sjældent i disse dage (eller år!), så har han da lige scoret nogen ekstra point i min bog, selv om det betød at jeg lavede en genganger-kage:
My friend's son is a sweetie. Ever since he unfortunately (for his mother that is) saw a picture of my Lightning McQueen Cake, that has been all he wanted whenever she has asked him, what he wants for his birthday. So she wanted to surprise him, and actually get it, and since that actually meant that I got to see my friend, which is way too rare these days (or years rather!), he scored some extra points in my book, even if it meant doing a repeat-cake.

Drengen har da også bestemt, hvad der skulle i hans kage, så det blev Sort Midnat´s Kage med Nutella og blåbær, smurt op med Chokolade Smørcreme og overtrukket med Pettinice fondant.
The boy might only be turning 3, but he knows what he wants, so the cake was a Black Midnight Cake with Nutella and Blueberries, coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered in Pettinice fondant.

Selv om det har nogen fordele, at lave en kage igen, så er en af ulemperne (for mig) åbenbart, at jeg så ikke er opmærksom nok på detaljerne.. blandt andet mente jeg åbenbart, at jeg kunne lave hjulene, uden at kigge på billeder, så jeg endte med 4 af denne slags:
Even though there are some advantages to repeating a design, one of the disadvantages is (in my case), that apparently I don't pay enough attention to the details... as when I thought I could make the wheels, without looking at pictures and ended up with 4 of these:

Det var så lige en om'er...
Yeah, they had to be fixed...

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

Min datters veninde skulle have haft børnehaven på besøg i dag, men da moren blev syg, var det godt at vi bare kunne aflevere cupcakes i børnehaven, så hun kunne blive fejret der, mens børnehaven bare kommer på besøg, når mor er rask igen.
My daugther's friend was supposed to have had her playschool visit for her birthday today, but unfortunately her mother was ill. Luckily we could just drop off the cupcakes at her playschool, and she celebrated her birthday there instead, and will just have them over when mom is feeling better again :)

Sort Midnat's Cupcakes med jordbærcreme og pyntet med fondant.
Black Midnight Cupcakes with Strawberry Creme and fondant decorations.

Hello Kitty Kage / Hello Kitty Cake

Min veninde's datter, som også er min datter's bedste veninde, havde ønsket sig en Hello Kitty kage til sin fødselsdag. Jeg måtte selv bestemme fyldet, og da jeg vidste, at de godt kunne lide, det som var i Matthew's Playmobil-kage, valgte jeg det samme:
My friend's daughter, who is also my daughter's best friend, wanted a Hello Kitty cake for her birthday. The cake and filling was up to me to decide, so I just went with what I knew they liked, as I threw all my cutoffs after them, when I made Matthew's Playmobil Cake:

Kagen er en Sort Midnat's kage med Chokorange-creme og Jordbærmousse, smurt op med Chokolade smørcreme og overtrukket med Pettinice fondant. Al pynten er lavet af fondant (Wilton's, Pettinice, Satin Ice og Rød Candymelts fondant).
The cake was a Black Midnight Cake with Chocolate-Orange Creme and Strawberry Mousse, coated with Chocolate Buttercream and covered in Pettinice fondant. Al decorations were made of fondant (Wilton's, Pettinice, Satin Ice and Red Candymelts fondant).

Bryllupskage / Wedding Cake

Så fik jeg lavet min første bryllupskage, og sikken en masse erfaringer, jeg fik gjort mig:
I have now made my first wedding cake, and learned so much:

Kagen var lavet af mazarinbunde med Hindbærmousse og Chokolademousse med hakket mørk chokolade, smurt op med IMBC og overtrukket med overtræksmarcipan og fondant (blandet 6:1). Blomster og brudepar var lavet af fondant, mens blonderne og sløret var lavet af SugarVeil.
The cake was made of Marcipan Cake layers, Raspberry Mousse and Chocolate Mousse with chopped dark chocolate, coated with IMBC and covered with marzipan and fondant (mixed 6 to 1). Flowers and topper were made of fondant while the lace and veil was made using SugarVeil.

Kagen var utrolig tung (mindst 25 kg ifølge min søsters kæreste, som var så sød at bære den ned fra 5.sal og op i festlokalerne), og den fik da også lidt transportskader (Det nederste lag var trykket fladt på 2 af siderne, af kassen som den blev transporteret i). Jeg rettede dem, så godt jeg kunne, og pyntede kagen færdig, da katastrofen skete: Brudgommen (altså topfiguren) faldt og hovedet knækkede af! Jeg fik sat det på igen med en lille klump hvid fondant (derfor er hans hals hvid nu), ventede på at den tørrede, og satte den på kagen igen, hvor jeg så godt kunne se, at gommen som havde stået fint derhjemme i en uge, og også kunne stå fint i den medbragte transportkasse, langsomt begyndte at hælde bagover. Selv med en klump marcipan bagpå som støtte og tyloselim under, ville han bare ikke stå. Alle mulige alternative løsninger blev forsøgt (blandt andet overtrak jeg en kageplade, som han godt ville stå på, med sugarveil blonder, satte ham på - men nu sad bruden fast på kagen, og hendes slæb, ville sandsynligvis knække af, hvis jeg forsøgte at løsne hende, så den gik ikke), men til sidst så hjalp en lille ekstra klump marcipan under fødderne på ham - dvs, det fungerede i den time, jeg blev på stedet, for at sikre mig, at han blev stående, og han stod også, da jeg snakkede med min søster lidt senere, men efter endnu en time, ringede min søster - nu var han faldet igen, hovedet knækket af igen, og jeg var smuttet, så intet reparationsgrej. Hun fik limet  hovedet på igen med vand, og så fik han ellers en tandstik bagpå som rygstøtte, og så bilder de mig alle ind, at han så stod fint (Jeg har på fornemmelsen, at ingen tør fortælle mig andet, da det vist var tydeligt, at jeg var knust). Jeg kunne egentlig ikke forstå at han ikke ville stå, da han godt ville stå på bordet derhjemme, og kagen var i vater, men min søster bemærkede, at bordet stod og vippede, så det er en sandsynlig årsag.
The cake was extremely heavy (at least 25 kilos according to my sister's boyfriend, who was nice enough to carry it down from 6th floor and up the stairs at the venue), and it did end up with some damage during transport - the bottom layer was flattened on 2 of the sides by the box it was transported in. I corrected it as best as I could and finished decorating the cake at the venue, when disaster hit: The groom (the topper that is) fell backwards and lost his head! I reatteched the head using some white fondant (which is why he has a white neck now), waited for it to dry and put it back on the cake. After a little while, I could see he started leaning backwards again, even though he had stood without problems at home for a week, and stood fine in the transport box as well. Even with a clump of marzipan behind him, and tylo-glued to the cake, he just would not stand. All sorts of alternative solutions were attempted (including covering a cakeboard that he stood fine on with sugarveil laces, attaching him, and then realizing that I wouldn't be able to get the bride of the cake in one piece - the train would likely brake off, if I tried), but in the end a little marzipan pedestal to place him on worked. Well, it worked for the hour that I stayed to make sure he wouldn't fall again, and he was still standing a short while later, according to my sister, but after yet another hour, my sister called - he'd fallen again, and lost his head again, and I had taken the rep. kit with me, when I left. She managed to glue the head back on with water, and supported him with a toothpick behind him, and then I have been told that he kept standing (allthough I have a feeling that noone dared to tell me otherwise, as I was obviously crushed already). I actually couldn't understand why he wouldn't stand on the cake, since he stood just fine on the table at home, and the cake was level, but according to my sister, the table was shaky and that would be a likely cause.

Hvad har jeg så lært af dette?
1. Til så tung en kage, skal jeg have planlagt designet, så kagen kan transporteres usamlet.
2. Enten skal jeg finde ud af, hvor man kan få kagefade, eller drums større end 40 cm (ikke set indtil videre), ellers også kan nederste kage altså ikke være 35 cm. Selvom jeg var klar over, at der ikke var plads til meget pynt i bunden, så havde jeg ikke regnet med at transportkassen som er beregnet til 40 cm fad, ville komme for tæt på kagen når den kommer så langt ud på fadet.
3. Hvis kagen transporteres i dele, så skal jeg finde mig i ikke at bruge seperatorplates med fødder, eller have fundet ud af, hvordan lag anbragt på fad med fødder kan transporteres sikkert.
4. Jeg bruger normalt enten tandstikker eller rå spagetti som støtte i topfigurer. Fordelen ved spaghetti er at det er nemt at afkorte i den rigtige højde efterhånden som figuren tager form - ulempen er så åbenbart, at hvis figuren falder, så er den lidt for nem at afkorte i den forkerte højde (så hovedet kan knække af f.eks?). Selv om grillspyd som går længere ned end figuren, gør det umuligt at sætte figuren ned, når man tager den af kagen, så må det være at foretrække, da en figur stukket ned i kagen vil være mere stabil, selv om kagen (eller bordet) hælder.
5. IMBC og stuetemperatur, der er nærmere køleskabstemperatur er en dårlig kombination under opsmøring af kagen. (Køkkenet var klargjort til renovering, og uden varme).
6. Overtræksmarcipan er ikke så slem at overtrække med som frygtet - dvs på store kager. Jo mindre og højere kager, desto sværere at undgå folder i siden. Så blandingsforholdet må indeholde mere fondant (op til 50 pct) ved mindre kager.
7. Medbring alle farverester i reperationskittet.
So what did I learn?
1. For such a heavy cake, I have to plan the design, so the cake can be transported in seperate layers.
2. Either I have to figure out where to get cake stands or drums bigger than 40 cm (not seen so far) or the bottom layer can't be 35 cm. Even though I knew there wasn't room for much decorating at the base layer, I hadn't expected the tansport box, which is made for 40 cm bases, to damage the base layer.
3. If the cake is transported in layers, I have to put up with not using seperator plates with feet, or figure out how to transport layers on feet safely.
4. I usually use toothpicks or raw spaghetti as support in toppers, as both are food-safe. The advantage to using spaghetti is that it is easy to shorten the length, as the topper takes form - the disadvantage is that apparently is is too easy too shorten it at the incorrect length (i.e. so the head can break off?). Even though wooden skewers, that go further down than the topper, make it impossible to put the figures down when you take them off the cake, this would still be the best option, as a figure skewered down into the cake is less likely to fall, even if the cake (or the table) isn't level.
5. IMBC and room temperature, which is really closer to refridgerator temperature, is a bad combination. (The kitchen had been prepared for major renovation and was without heating).
6. Marzipan is not as horrible to cover the cake with as suspected - at least on big cakes. The smaller and taller the cake, the more difficult it is to avoid creases on the sides. So mix more fondant in (up to 50 pct) if making smaller cakes.
7. Include all leftover colours in the rep. kit.

Bryllups cupcake tårn/ Wedding Cupcake Tower

Min lillesøsters rigtig gode veninde og hendes (nu) mand stod med det lille bitte problem, at de ikke kunne finde ud af, om de ønskede sig et cupcake tårn eller en traditionel bryllupskage til deres bryllup. Jeg synes at de løste problemet på en fantastisk måde: Tårn til receptionen og bryllupskage til festen. Jeg fik lov til at stå for begge dele, og her er så tårnet:

My little sister's good friend and her (now) husband had a tiny little problem deciding on whether to have a cupcake tower or a traditional wedding cake at their wedding. They solved the problem brilliantly in my opinion: Tower at the reception and cake at the wedding. I got to make both, and this is the tower:

144 cupcakes bestående af Mudcake Cupcakes, Nati's Caramel Mudcake Cupcakes og White Chocolate Mudcake Cupcakes, alle sammen med IMBC og fondant blomster.

144 cupcakes made up of Mudcake Cupcakes, Nati's Caramel Mudcake Cupcakes and White Chocolate Mudcake Cupcakes, all with IMBC and fondant flowers.

Blomsterne var lavet for at matche brudens buket, som skulle have bestået af vinrøde roser og orange (flame) calla liljer. Dagen før bryllupet hørte jeg dog, at blomsterhandleren havde overtalt bruden til at skifte roserne til hvide, men jeg synes nu at både brud og kager var fine :)

The flowers were made to match the bride's bouquet, which originally was supposed to be wine roses and orange (flame) calla lillies. The day before the wedding I found out that the florist had convinced the bride, that white roses would match her dress better, but I think both the bride and the cakes looked great :)

Ellers var det lidt anderledes at tage fra Hirtshals til København og lave pynt, cupcakes og kager, og prøve at medbringe så meget som muligt af grej, der skulle eller måske kunne bruges, men det gik ikke så dårligt, og det var kun et par ting, jeg savnede i processen - og det kunne med min hukommelse (eller mangel på samme) være gået meget værre :)

It was a bit challenging to be far from home, making the decorations, cupcakes and cakes and trying to remember to bring as many tools as I needed or just possibly could use, but it didn't go to bad. I only missed a couple of items in the process - and with my memory (or lack of same), it could have been much, much worse :)

Meningen var, at for at lette transporten af så mange cupcakes, så ville jeg først pynte dem i receptionslokalerne, men da jeg oplevede noget af et problem med et for koldt køkken og smørcreme i forbindelse med opsmøringen af kagen dagen før bryllupet, fik jeg kolde fødder og pyntede cupcakes hjemmefra (vidste jo ikke hvad temperaturen ville være i receptionslokalerne - især fordi vejret lige havde skiftet fra dejlig lunt efterår, til sne lige pludselig). Det besværliggjorde transporten lidt, men heldigvis var min søsters kæreste virkelig flink til at hjælpe med at bære cupcakes og pynt ned fra hhv 4. og 5. sal i små forsigtige portioner :)

To ease the transport of that many cupcakes, I'd planned to decorate them at the reception venue, but since I experienced some problems with a too cold kitchen and the buttercream (hardening too fast) when covering the cake the day before the wedding, I had cold feet and decorated the cupcakes at "home" (after all I had no idea what the temperature would be at the venue - especially since the weather just shifted from a surprisingly warm fall to snow all of a sudden). That made the transport a bit cumbersome, but luckily my sister's boyfriend was extremely helpful and helped me carry cupcakes and decorations from the 4th and 5th floor (no elevator) in small carefull portions.

Opskriften på White Chocolate Mudcake Cupcakes er bare Nigella's kage lavet i cupcake version.

The White Chocolate Mudcake Cupcakes are just Nigella's cake made in a cupcake version.

Opskrift på White Chocolate Mudcake Cupcakes/White Chocolate Mudcake Cupcakes recipe (ca 24 stk/Makes approx 24):

250 g smør i tern/ 250 g butter, chopped

150 g hakket hvid chokolade/ 150 g white chocolate, chopped

440 g sukker/ 440 g caster sugar (2 cups)

2,5 dl mælk/ 250 ml milk (1 cup)

225 g mel/ 225 g flour (1 1/2 cups)

75 g selvhævende mel/ 75 g self-raising flour (1/2 cup)

1 tsk vanilleessens/ 1 tsp vanilla essence (or extract)

2 æg, let sammenpisket 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Smør, chokolade, sukker og mælk varmes forsigtig op sammen i en gryde ved lav varme under omrøring til en glat, homogen blanding (skal ikke koge). Hæld blandingen i en stor skål og lad det køle af i ca 15 min. Pisk først begge meltyper og siden essens og æg i. Dejen hældes i cupcake forme (3/4 fyldt op) og bages ved 170 C i 25-30 min.

Combine butter, chocolate, sugar and milk in a saucepan. Using wooden spoon, stir over low heat, without boiling, until smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl and cool for 15 minutes. Whisk in flours, then essence and eggs and pour mixture into paperlined cupcake tin (3/4 full). Bake at 170 C/340 F for 25-30 minutes.