I’ve had some people ask me for instructions on how I made my Elmo cake, or for more information on the details. Unfortunately due to the disorganized way it was created I forgot to take photos along the way as I have for some of the other cakes, so in lieu of showing progress pics I thought I’d write a bit about how I made it and share the plans I created.

The first step is to plan the cake and make the stand. The size of the cake depends somewhat on the number of people it needs to serve. My Elmo cake needed to serve at least 40 people, so it’s larger than you would need if you were only serving 20 people. I also like to err on the larger side, as I like decent sized servings rather than the smaller wedding cake sized serves which are often used as guides for these kinds of cakes, and it’s always better to have a bit too much than not have enough. With sculpted cakes it’s also important to keep in mind that sometimes as much as half the amount of cake that you start with gets cut away, and so your plans need to allow for that.

As well as the main cake, I’d originally planned to have more cupcake sized blocks and toys around the cake that could have been given to the kids at the party which boosts the serving numbers too.

Also when planning, the size and type of your cake pans come into play. My original idea was to use a pudding tin and a small Pyrex bowl for Elmo’s body. Everything else was planned around that size and I think ended up a bit bigger than I needed. I could have adjusted the plans to use different pans, or cut more cake away, but I didn’t mind making it bigger than it needed to be for the sake of ease. I prefer to let the cake tins dictate as much as possible, leaving less cutting and sculpting, and less margin for error.

Last week was Anastasia’s 3rd birthday,we had a party for her on Saturday, and here’s the cake… well cakes. The Rani one is for Anastasia and the Elmo cake was for my nephew Alekos’ first birthday, just a couple of months late.

You see Alekos’ Birthday was in October, and I’d planned to have this Elmo cake done then, but unfortunately he was unwell, we thought measles, and had to postpone his party. Luckily I had enough notice that I hadn’t actually started the cake yet. As the new party date approached everything seemed to be going ok so I started making the cake, but just before the day the poor kid got sick again so the party was canceled, leaving me with a half finished cake in the freezer. I had planned to finish it at some point before we went to town so I could take it to him, after all even without a party Alekos could still enjoy the cake, But leading up to each trip to town I was too busy to work on it, and on the two occasions Alekos came to visit us I didn’t have enough notice.

So I came to the planning stage of Anastasia’s cake, and I realized that I might not have enough room in the freezer for both cakes. That meant I would have to either complete Elmo, or potentially throw it out (or take it to the old folks as I did with the practice lion). Since there wasn’t too much work to be done on it, and Alekos would be here for Anastasia’s party I realised it was the perfect opportunity to finish it and be able to give it to Alekos. The only problem was that I’d have to allow enough time to make two cakes.

So I planned to have Anastasia’s Rani cake finished on Thursday, finish Elmo on Friday, ready for the party on Saturday. But things never seem to go to plan…

As I’m just getting started on a new cake, I thought I’d post some of my previous ones…

When I was young I always made cakes for my family, especially my little sister as she grew up. After not making any for a few years I was excited to make birthday cakes for my own kids. This is Anastasia’s 2nd birthday cake from December last year.

Even a few months ago though, I had little idea about 3d sculpted cakes, I barely knew they existed let alone had any thoughts of making them. Just before my youngest’s 1st birthday a friend showed me some 3d cakes she’d made using fondant. I was amazed at what she’d done and what was possible. I made, what I sure was, the most elaborate Dorothy the Dinosaur cake ever made (little did I know).

Proud of what I’d done, but having learned a great deal from the mistakes I’d made, I started to investigate further, scouring the net for more examples and information. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What I’d made was quite basic compared to many of the creations I’d found, and I’d found a new passion. I had to learn more. I spent a few weeks absorbing as much as I could, seeing what was possible, trying to find out how it had been done, and planning how I could use all this new information to make bigger and better cakes. A friends birthday was coming up, a great opportunity to get some more practice in. I was a bit bolder with this one, which unfortunately came back to haunt me…

I’m very excited about Little Charley Bear which has been picked up by Hit Entertainment, the powerhouse distributor behind such shows as Bob the Builder and Thomas & Friends, and will be seen on CBeebies and other networks around the world in 2010.

There’s also Scragg ‘n’ Bones which includes the voices of Richard Hammond (Top Gear) and Adam Hills (Spicks & Specks). With the pilot done, Scragg ‘n’ Bones is in preparation for a tv series with a 20 minute introductory episode to kick things off.