more kmcguire cakes

[kmcguire]

The first is a spring flower basket. The cake is Italian Cream cake with basket weaved cream cheese icing. The handle is royal icing. The flowers are gumpaste.
The second photograph is an Easter basket cake that I entered in the Illinois State Fair at Duquoin. Got a blue ribbon for that one. The Thanksgiving cake posted earlier is practice for next years fair competition.

:-) Ken

[becko]

Hi Ken,
Your cakes are fantastic, the baskets look so realistic, on your thanksgiving cake, before i read you description, i thought the is was a basket, how do you do the handles? and your colours make your designs very realistic, well done.

mandy

[rach]

Brillant..love the baskets your piping skills are excellent....any tips on how you do it would be great and how do you pipe your handle.....FAB

[kmcguire]

I drew the handles on parchment paper using a black marker then turned it over and piped the rope design and let it dry. This gave me one half the thickness of the handle. I then turned the handle over and piped the second half of the thickness. If you look you can see the seam. I cut holes in the cake to insert the bottom of the handles all the way to the cake board.
Ken

[rach]

brilliant might try that..thanks

[becko]

hi ken,

my project on my course is to do an easter/spring themed cake & i might have ago at doing the basket of flowers as we will be learning the basket weave effect.
Out of interest what size & type of tube would you need for the handle.
also am i understanding your way of doing the handle - after the first side of the handle is dry you pipe the second half directly onto the first section? or do separately & once dry stick them together?

If i start practicing at home I'll be able to impress my teacher as she's a big fan of Royal Icing.
Look forward to hearing from you.

mandy

[kmcguire]

You pipe it directly onto the first half trying to align the patern with the first side. I used a #199 tip for the handle. The rest of the basket is buttercream on the brown basket and cream cheese icing on the yellow basket. The basketweave pattern is really simple. Divide your cake into equal divisions and mark them with a dot in the crumb coat....an odd number will throw off the pattern. Pipe one vertical line down the cake at one of the divisions. Pipe horizontally across the vertical at the top of the cake between the two adjacent division marks. Drop down the width of the tip you are using and pipe a second horizontal line like the first...continue to the bottom of the cake. Over the end of the horizontal lines at the next mark pipe another vertical line. the next horizontal lines will be between the first set of horizontal lines. Sounds hard.....really easy.
If you need help message me.
:-) Ken

[becko]

cheers for the instructions, will give it ago in a few weeks time, sounds complicated!!! will let you know on the outcome.

mandy

[kmcguire]

Here is one I made yesterday for the Eldorado Middle School 8th grade basketball team and cheerleaders. I dont usually make sheet cakes so I added a little 3D.
-Ken

[dkcrooby]

Brilliant Ken! I love the way you've done the eagle's head.

Shianne

[rach]

fantastic...........what did you make the eagle out of

[brenda]

Ken that cake is too good to eat.! I think it is really good.how on earth did you do the eagle.? you must have fantastic imagination or is there a book you roughly go by.?
Brenda

[Alison]

Hi Ken - I just nipped in to the photobucket and saw some more of your work.

You have so much imagination!! - As said earlier do you think them up or use any specific books for ideas?

[sonsandjulie]

Hi Ken,

Your cake looks great!

How did you get the 3D effect.

Julie