But when time's precious, you need short cuts that still yield great results... so instead you can shop buy a pre-made cake, and spend your time with just the decorating! I'm all for quick but effective results in desperate times! Plus, it's super fun ;)
Here are some thoughts if you want to have a go yourself, with photos of a cake I made for my Dad.
Go on, give that inner creativity an airing!
The aim
To create a unique cake that doesn't take too long to put together
Getting started
Think about what you want to create - if it's for someone, what do they enjoy? Books, a sport?, music? If it's for an event, is there a theme? Or something symbolic that everyone will understand?
- My Dad is a keen table tennis player, so I wanted to make a cake that looked like a table tennis table!
Gathering ideas
Google images = quick inspiration!
Whatever the idea, someone in the world has probably already attempted something similar, unless your idea truly is extraordinary! So see what's been tried and tested, and pick out your favourites to refer to later. You could amalgamate some of your favourite ideas or just recreate what you see!
When you're doing your weekly shop, it's also a good idea to stop by the bakery and have a look at the novelty and celebratory cakes - pick up their cake order catalogue and perhaps even the supermarket magazine. Also have a wander down the baking isle, so you know what's available to you. Visualising the ingredients can help with the design process.
The results of searching "table tennis table cake" on Google images - clearly I wasn't the first to come up with such an idea!
Design the cake
Either in your head, or draw it (DT project style!) - be prepared to be flexible in case something does work out or you don't manage to find certain items.
Learn the skills you'll need (in minutes) to create your design to the best of your abilities - don't be phased! Where there's a will, there's a way.
Quick videos are a great and easy way to learn. Just google "how to.... + video"
E.g. For how to make person from icing
http://cake-decorating.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-person-out-sugar-paste-ready-use-icing-362651/
THE PROCESS IN ACTION: The Table Tennis Table Cake
I actually did bake a carrot cake for this base, but you could easily buy ready-made loaves!
- I wanted a double layer cake so I stacked 2 small rectangles, using peach jam (heated so it softens) to hold them together. Ready-made cakes tend to either be circular or cuboidal, so you may need to chop and rearrange them to form the shape you'ld like.
'Ingredients':
- Green ready to roll icing - comes in a block which after a little kneading, feels like plasticine! Roll out with a rolling pin
- White squeezy icing - (the equivalent to making icing and putting it into a icing bag)
- Coloured writing icing squeezy tubes
- Mesh from a tangerine bag (for the net!)
- Champagne bottle candles: 2 to hold up the 'net' and the other 4 to surround the cake
Transforming design into cake
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| For the green table surface: Green ready to roll icing Rolling out the icing - if you have one of these rubber rollable sheets (the blue thing), they are fantastic as after you've finished rolling you can transfer the icing straight on to the cake, peeling the rubber sheet away. If not, don't worry you can of course still transfer the icing to the cake, you just need to be very careful! Use a sharp knife to slice away any excess at the edges. |
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| For the white lines: White designer icing This squeezy icing came with 3 different nozzles which were great - practise icing on a chopping board before you try on the cake! |
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 The candles - every birthday boy or girl needs to blow out candles! Large bottomed candles like these can be held in place with half a toothpick. I use a sharp knife to scrape a little hole into the bottom of the wax before poking the toothpick in. |
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| & For the little details - Coloured writing icing These are great for decorating pretty much anything - biscuits, a gingerbread house, cupcakes... they are easy to use and last a long time too. I used these for the lettering, piped over the white squeezy icing, as well as for the tops of the table tennis bats (see below). |
...The finished product *drum roll*!
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| For the bats I used the excess green icing to form (for each bat) a flat oval, and a little handle, which I placed on the cakes. I coated these green bats in the white squeezy icing, and then used the coloured writing icing on top of that. I used the same method for the white ball. |
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| I have to admit I am quite proud of myself for coming up with this net idea! It's made from the mesh from a tangerine bag which I coated in the white icing to make more sturdy. I then taped it to the two champagne bottle candles, which are held in place with toothpicks (see above). |
Other quick fix cakes
- Globetrotter cake
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| This was for my brother's birthday as he is going to South America soon. At the time he was thinking of going to Venezuela (hence the flag) - ignore where I placed the red spot (Ecuador!) - he is now going to neither of those countries but will still be going to the right continent! The black blob is actually him (close up photo to come), with hiking poles (toothpicks) and a backpack. The sea was ready-made buttercream, which I dyed with blue food colouring - the buttercream naturally comes out wave-like if you don't smoothen it down too much! The land masses were made from ready-to-roll green icing which I bought as part of a multi-pack (see below) so it came with the red, yellow, blue and black icing I used for the flag and person - very handy. & The cake was pre-bought so this was dead easy! |
- Snake cake for Chinese New Year 2013
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| If you've read my older posts you may recognise this Snake! All details and how to make it are in my first blogpost: A New Year, a New Blog |
Useful tools for quick-fix cakes: best found in large supermarkets
- Ready-made undecorated cakes / loaves for the base unless you want to go the extra mile and also bake your base! Think about the colour of the cake itself - what do you want the inside to look like? Or could you use the colour as part of your design e.g. Battenburg (see above's snake cake)
- Ready to roll coloured icing - comes in white and usually green, blue, yellow, red
- Ready to roll coloured icing mixed pack - 5 small blocks in black, yellow, green, blue and red - perfect for making little decorations: http://www.oetkeronline.co.uk/products/Ready-to-Roll-Coloured-Icing.html
- Ready to roll marzipan - usually comes only in white or golden
- Ready made buttercream - pale yellow/cream in colour but you can easily dye it with food colouring
- Food Colouring - careful when you handle these as they stain everything! - better quality brands come out more boldly
- Squeezy tubes of colouring - usually come as a pack of 4 different colours
- Ready made decorations: sprinkles, silver balls etc
- Candles - in the shape of numbers, letters, champagne bottles...
- Fruit - great for adding sofisticated colour (and health!)
- Chocolate - drop / buttons / bars .... can be melted / made into shavings / stuck on as they are..!
- Ribbon (for the cake knife if nothing else!)
Think outside your usual kitchen toolbox... some unlikely tools:
- Cotton buds - snipped in half, become a pipette for colouring!
- Toothpicks - good for adding fine details, and holding candles, fruit or anything soft into the cake!
- Something metal with a sharp point, for smooth cutting of icing
- Cardboard cut outs or little toys can replace icing decor if it's too fiddly
Happy caking!
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