How Not To Decorate a Cake

I’m one of those people that believes with the right tuition and enough practise, I can do anything I put my mind to. I’m quite good at picking things up and am a fast learner. So I had a go at decorating cake!  As you can see from the exhibits above, it didn’t go too well but I’m at a stage now where I can laugh at myself and mock my futile attempt! And I don’t mind if you have a laugh too.

Those lob-sided strips are meant to be frills and the side of the cake isn’t meant to be lumpy, I swear! I think the top surface is probably the best bit as I got a near smooth consistency there, so let’s just say that part is promising. If you read my last post, you'll already know my reason for attempting!

My hat goes off to the real cake makers and decorators out there who decorate cake every day! Just rolling that icing out without it sticking to your work-top is a challenge in itself! And then getting it over the cake so not only does it not tear but falls in the right place? – Don’t get me started!

Anyway, I cannot leave without showing you which stuff I chose to do the [bad] job… Renshaw Ready-to-Roll Icing was easy enough to use. Just a shame I have No skillZ in using the stuff! Yet.

Nigella's Victoria Sponge

It's my little one's Christening in a few weeks and I've been battling with the decision of whether to make the cake for the Christening or not. Part of me cannot be bothered with the added pressure that a cake for a celebration brings and the other side of me feels it will be an absolute sin to have a shop-bought sponge cake sitting on my table, to those who know I bake! What will the people say, when my apple-crumble fans or my cheesecake fans ask if I baked the cake and I say, 'no, Marks & Spencer did'. That's not going to help my street cred' now, is it. But on the other hand, I've got so much other stuff going on, do I really have the time? Not really.

You see, baking the cake is NOT the problem, it's the decoration! It's all that icing and fondant stuff! I've not done that stuff before! I see loads of people posting their cake decorating tutorials online, making it seem so simple, but I know I will find it a faff and just an extra step preventing you from eating the darn thing.

So you know what, I'm going to see how it goes. Take it a step at a time and if my practice runs go well, I will go ahead and make the Christening cake! Take baby steps! It's not like I'm a stranger to Victoria sponge – here's one I baked earlier.