When production designer Bruce French commissioned a cake from Maisie Fantaisie for this year’s 30th birthday Brit awards, his single request was that it was fabulous! We had some discussion about the aftershow party area and I was told that it was going to be a classic birthday party with a dress-up area, crazy golf, karaoke, tarot, dodgems, balloon makers, bingo and a dancefloor. The tables would be covered in pink gingham, with metallic balloons in the ceiling and glitter drapes everywhere. So, with that in mind I set about designing the cake. It needed to be tall, so we went for a five tier with a large base, and in keeping with the eclectic party theme I decided to make each tier of the cake a different design with a lot of pink glitter. I didn’t want it to be overly music themed as it was primarily a birthday cake, but the music notes on the middle tier were the perfect gesture.

When I arrived at the venue with the cake Robbie Williams was soundchecking, especially for me! I have a soft spot for Robbie and it put me right in the mood for the show later, for which we had been given tickets. My friends and dapper chaps Laurence and Wolfgang who have a company called laroache brothers were there taking photos of the impressive backstage area which Bruce had designed, and the cake fitted in just perfectly so we were all very happy.

My husband and I went to the show with our friends Olly and Rachel Knights. Olly is the singer in a sublime band called Turin Brakes, who make beautiful music and deserve a Brit themselves…maybe next year! My assistant Emily came along with her fella and we all danced the night away – a great time was had by all….I went to get some cake….but it had all been eaten. Perfect!

Last weekend was my nieces 7th birthday so we headed down to the cotswolds to help out with her ‘Teddy Bears’ picnic party. Lots of bunting, jelly and ice cream, mini sweet treats and of course a cake made by a doting Aunt! We danced and played games and while tucking into a mini mars bar (a sweet treat I haven’t had for years!) it brought back memories of being a child and my Mum melting mars bars and pouring the sauce over vanilla ice cream. The caramel and nougat ingredients of the mars bar gives the sauce a toffee chocolate flavour, really delicious and very naughty!

I’ve been wanting to make some yummy banana cakes for a while and I think that this mars bar sauce topping is perfect. This banana cake recipe makes a really lovely light sponge and the sauce is a sticky delight which makes these cakes a truly scrumptious treat.

‘BANANA AND MARS BAR CAKES’ (banana and vanilla bean cakes, mars bar sauce)

Makes 12 cakes

Banana cake recipe
250g softened butter or margarine
250g golden caster sugar
5 eggs
250g self raising flour
5 ripe bananas
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mars bar sauce recipe
4 mars bars (58g bars)
4 tablespoons single cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius (160 for fan ovens).
2. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with 12 muffin size cases.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each edition.
5. Sift in the flour and baking powder, mix until thoroughly combined.
6. Add the vanilla extract.
7. In another bowl mash the banana with a fork.
8. Add the bananas to the vanilla sponge mix and combine thoroughly.
9. Evenly distribute the mixture between the 12 muffin cases.
10. Place in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 30 mins until golden brown.
11. Whilst the cakes are cooling, cut the mars bars into chunks and place in a small pan (a non-stick pan would be best).
12. On a very low heat, melt the mars bars and stir in the cream.
13. When the cakes are cool, pour the hot mars bar sauce over each one and add a few chocolate sprinkles.

‘BANANA AND MARS BAR CAKES’

Update: And here is the finished cake!

I found this quote on the Le Manoir website last week and being a passionate perfectionist myself it resonated perfectly with my own personal aesthetic values. An article I read once called me the ‘goddess of small things, driven by an unwavering commitment to excellence she creates precise, flawless and beautiful wedding cakes‘ which I thought rather flowery!

But of course it’s true. Pay attention to the inconsequential details and beauty will appear and let herself be seen. Whether your designs are simple or complex they will only work if you consider every aspect of their creation. Their geometric form, their weight and balance, the colour and spacing of decoration and accessories all combine and amount to give them weight and density and hopefully excellence.

It is an elusive quality that has to be nurtured and encouraged. It is also very important to leave space for accidents to happen, as these may elevate your initial idea beyond your initial expectations.

Though, you can’t win them all, sometimes you reach but miss, and these creations fall by the cakeside, in my case eaten by the happy and excited children that gather around my door on baking days!

You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet on my blog for the past few weeks. That’s because I’ve been busy designing my new website of which I’m very excited about!….please take a look here Wedding Cakes by Maisie Fantaisie xx

Makes 9 mini loaves

Tropical fruit fancy recipe
100g butter
150g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
175g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
75g candied peel
75g glace cherries
2 passion fruits
150g drained pineapple pulp
50g desiccated coconut

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius (160 for a fan oven).
2. Line 9 mini loaf tins.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each.
5. Sift in the flour and baking powder.
6. Add the coconut and vanilla extract.
7. Chop the glace cherries into quarters.
8. Place the cherries and candied peel into a sieve and rinse with cold water. (removing the syrup coating will prevent the fruit from sinking).
9. Remove the pulp from the passion fruits and strain the pineapple.

10. Add the candied fruit, pineapple and passion fruit pulp. Mix thoroughly.

11. Spoon the mixture into the mini loaf tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

12. Remove from the oven, turn each cake onto a cooling rack and remove the greaseproof paper.

13. When the mini loaves are cool, dust with icing sugar.

‘TROPICAL FRUIT FANCY’

Today I spoke to the very talented Selina Lake. She is a fabulous stylist and author of the best selling interiors title ‘Bazaar Style’ (available on Amazon) She is on the hunt for beautiful homes/gardens/studios to feature in her new book. She loves my cakes and wondered if my clients homes and their wedding venues were as stylish as my wedding cakes and whether I could recommend any shoot locations. And boy have I seen some wonderful venues! From classic English hotels, to idyllic country houses and magical garden marquees, trendy roof top London clubs and sumptuous mansion houses. I viewed some of the work that she has done and I have to say that I wanted to jump into all of her pictures and live there. She has wonderful creativity and a great eye for detail and I will be making some pretty cupcakes for her next book.

Her website is here http://www.selinalake.co.uk/
and her blog is here http://selinalake.blogspot.com/

Year: 1950. Location: California. Headline: Homosexuality is a growing social problem.

Check that year. 59 years later and yesterday’s supreme court ruling in California to ban same sex marriage could easily be a headline from a 50’s newspaper. This is the country that took us to the moon, developed the micro chip and voted for a black president.

And yet it seems that the most culturally diverse state in America fell asleep in the 50’s and needs a bit of a shake.

2009: WAKE UP! California…..you’ve been dreaming that the world hates gays, and for homosexuals it’s turning into a nightmare. See, we’ve all moved on.

Marriages and partnerships are about love, commitment, contentment and trust. and banning the legal recognition of a partnership between two people who love each other is simply wrong.

I have worked in the wedding industry for 10 years and was thrilled when at last in December 2005 Civil partnerships in England and Wales became available for same sex couples. The bill was passed and immediately I was inundated with orders for Christmas Civil partnership wedding cakes. I met with a lovely couple the other day, Matt and Stuart, who are planning their wedding cake for a June celebration. They’re so excited and can’t wait for their big day.

Meanwhile for thousands of homosexuals in California ‘all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey’.

This is an interesting article written by the actor Alec Baldwin:
Alec Baldwin – Why Childless Straight Couples Make the Case for Gay Marriage