Having some fun…

Today I decided it was time I learnt how to make some figurines. I’ve been dying to try out some ideas and, with thanks to some online tutorials, I made this cute Ellie and some ladybugs! I’m so excited to keep trying out different figurines, yay! Will keep posting…

Wimbledon

I recently went to spend some time with my boyfriend’s family in Swaziland. His mom was hosting a Wimbledon lunch with some friends on the day of the men’s final and she asked me to make some cupcakes for the occasion. It involved a bit of logistics as I left a few days before the final so I made the decorations in Cape Town and the icing and cupcakes in Swaziland which we froze. She then put the cupcakes together on the day and sent me these pics…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She said, “The cupcakes caused a sensation!   Everybody whipped out their cell phones to take pictures - we had a fun afternoon, but I was disappointed that Nadal did not win!!” Agreed!

Happy ‘Big’ Birthday!

Birthdays, in my opinion, are one of the best days of the year… It’s the only day that you get completely spoilt and appreciated just for being you!

Making birthday cakes and cupcakes always make me so happy because they’re always fun, bright and full of life.

 

These cupcakes are devil’s food cupcakes with white chocolate ganache and the piping is done in coloured chocolate. They were a lot of fun to make and I heard that the party that went to was fantastic!

I hope that you had a wonderful ‘big’ birthday Stuart and have many more to come!

Blossoms to brighten a Winter’s day…

When I got My Delight going and started uploading pictures on Facebook and generally trying to spread the word, a friend of mine form school messaged me to say that she had seen the pics and would love to try some cupcakes one day. Unfortunately being in different cities it wasn’t that simple!

Luckily on my recent trip to Joburg I was (at last) able to get some cupcakes to her! The cupcakes on the left are vanilla cupcakes covered in dark chocolate ganache with white blossoms.

 

The cupcakes on the right are devil’s food cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing and white blossoms.

I just want to say a big thank you to Liesl. It’s really great to have friends’ support and I appreciate your enthusiasm for My Delight so much!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Last weekend I tried my hand at carrot cake cupcakes. This was my first attempt and I must say that they came out even better than expected. I have to attribute it to my mom’s amazing recipe and advice. The cupcakes are covered in a cottage cheese frosting and tossed with pecan nuts.

Brownies

I am a massive fan of brownies! Fortunately a batch is too much for one person so I don’t make them myself. However, I made this batch for a friend of mine who coaches Herchel netball. She ordered these brownies for the team to congratulate them on the season (so sweet). They are truly delectable – hard on the outside and soft on the inside with a pecan nut crunch. Ok,now my mouth is watering…

Circus Circus

A friend of mine had a vaudeville-themed birthday party on Friday night. Sadly I couldn’t be there but the photos look amazing! There were balloon animals, top hats, waistcoats, bowties and feather boas…

She asked me to make this circus-tent cake for the occasion. The cake is a chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache and fondant, decorated with top hat :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

 

I flew up to Durban this last weekend to see family and celebrate my dad’s birthday. This is the second time I’ve flown with a cake and it’s definitely a nerve-wracking experience! Luckily both cakes reached their destinations in tact. I’m so glad I got to go home and be with my dad on his birthday. I hope you had a good one dad :)

Graduation Celebrations

My boyfriend graduated from CPUT in April with a degree in BTech Structures. To celebrate all his hard work I made him these graduation cupcakes.

The cupcakes are devils food with chocolate icing covered in silver sugar sprinkles and graduation scrolls.

Congrats PH, I’m so proud of you xx

Berry-licious

These cupcakes were made for a corporate client. They are vanilla cupcakes with vanilla butter icing and raspberries. They make me think of hot summer days…

Happy Birthday To You…

A friend of mine celebrated his birthday at the end of March and was given this cake by his girlfriend. It was not his 21st birthday but hey, why not! We all need to stay young at heart! The cake is vanilla iced with white chocolate ganache, piped with dark chocolate and decorated with raspberries. I hope you had a great ‘21st’ birthday Quint!

Olympic Cupcakes

 

My boyfriend and his twin sister celebrated their birthday on the 2nd April. They had an awesome ‘old-school’ Olympic themed party which involved some good old traditional games like egg-tossing and some other, well, interesting games! Everyone was dressed in theme- there were togas, headbands, tight shorts… needless to say that the day was lots of fun!

 

 

I made them these Olympic cupcakes for the occasion…

Project Cake

As I’ve mentioned before, I did an 8 week cake decorating course with Cakes by Julie. In the last 2 weeks of the course you have to design and make your own ‘project’ cake using the skills learnt in the preceding weeks. I’d seen a cake made by Charly’s Bakery that was featured in the Get It Magazine which I used as my inspiration.

I hadn’t made a two-tiered cake like this before so I was quite keen to learn how it’s all put together. After lots of rose-making and circle-cutting, my black and white spotted cake with red roses was born! I’d never dreamed I was capable of making a cake like this and I have to thank Julie for teaching me so much!

The cake is a chocolate mud cake covered in chocolate ganache which is further covered in black and white fondant.

Happy Birthday To Me…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve always loved my birthday. Some people aren’t too bothered about celebrating their birthday but for me it’s a great excuse to spend time with friends, eat lots of good food and do something fun. My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year so I went out for sushi with some friends on the Tuesday night and then had a braai on the Friday night after which we went out. I decided to make cupcakes for the braai and I had so much fun playing around with decorations!

The cupcakes are vanilla and they’re covered with white chocolate ganache.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was also very spoilt with lots of presents to add to my kitchen. Here are some of the great gifts I received. Thanks friends and family for spoiling me!

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate!

So if you’re a chocolate lover like I am, this cake is probably as chocolate as you can get! This was made during a lesson on chocolate in the 8 week course by Cakes by Julie. The cake is obviously chocolate, covered in chocolate ganache, surrounded by a patterned chocolate collar and filled with chocolate curls, hearts, leaves and flowers made with modelling chocolate. Now if there’s anything to satisfy a chocolate craving this will definitely do it!

Happy Birthday Mom!

In February and March this year I did a 6 week course run by Cakes by Julie. During the course we learnt how to make flowers, cover cakes in fondant, work with chocolate and so on. We had the choice of covering a dummy cake or we could make our own fruit cake to cover. My mom’s birthday was coming up and, being a fan of fruit cake, I thought I would make a cake as a birthday gift for her. I had to get the cake on a plane to Joburg which was a bit hairy but the cake made it in one piece and turned out to be a great surprise! I hope you had a wonderful birthday Mom!

Flowers and Ladybugs

These pics come from three different orders I’ve had this year. I hadn’t made ladybugs before so these were my two attempts at making them. I must say that even though there were a lot of steps involved in making them they were lots of fun and I learnt a lot along the way! The marshmallow flowers are inspired by a recipe in the Australian Women’s weekly book ‘Cupcakes and Fairycakes.’ It’s such a great book with lots of pictures to inspire you!

Valentine’s Day

I had so much fun making cupcakes for Valentine’s Day! I made ten of these chocolate cupcakes for a friend’s work and I was so excited to hand them over! I’d spent some time making the roses and making them ‘girly’ for Valentine’s Day. I learned later that his office is full of males so I’m guessing that those are the girliest cupcakes those guys have ever been given!

 

I also had a order for a friend of mine from her admirer who lives far away. She had no idea that she was getting cupcakes and I think she was definitely pleasantly surprised! I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and spread the love with those special to you!

Cookies and Cream

There's something about Oreos. I don't know why exactly but I love them! So when I came across this cookies and cream recipe that not only had Oreos on top of the cupcakes but inside too, I knew it would be a winner!

Princess Cupcakes

In January, a friend of mine organised an international food evening where each guest had to dress up as a particular country and bring a dish native to the country of their choice. I decided that I would be a bit inventive and dress up as a Disney princess and take princess cupcakes from Disney Land :)

After some serious thought and looking around the shops I found the cutest princess sweets that made the perfect decorations! There were shoes, bags, teacups and even frogs! I had so much fun putting these cupcakes together and putting a princess dress on wasn't the worst thing either ;)