Christmas and Cakes 2012

[deceptica]

Christmas felt kind of long this year, possibly because the family celebrations had to be extended to include the 27th due to scheduling issues. Also, several of Graham's family members came down with some illness or another and were either not present, or present while making for a somewhat sad sight, which put a bit of a damper on things. When we

Comments

[eofs]

With your drawing ability, I think you might be better off trying to pipe Wookies. Sketch nice simple Wookies, place the paper under some greaseproof paper/baking parchment (or just draw on that in the first place and turn it over) and then pipe. You don't need a piping back, just melt the chocolate in a freezer bag and snip a little hole in the corner. It's ghetto, but it works really well.

The marbling looks really good though, and very tasty. And it's great to hear that you feel like your baking's improving with practice.

I suspect Graham's mum's entry was meant to be The Royle Family which has a Christmas special most years, and for which the sofa is the iconic image. I can't stand it (as in, don't like even being in the room if it's on) but it was hugely popular in its heyday.

[queen_of_kithia]

Your cake itself looks delicious, and I love the idea of doing a cake of the Star Wars Holiday Special, even if the chocolate wookiees didn't quite work out.

Before I read your description, I thought the chocolate on your cake looked like Stonehenge. Has there ever been a Christmas special set at Stonehenge?

I don't like teletubbies either, but Amber's re-creations are a terrific resemblance, and the snow angels are well done too. A well-earned victory, I'd say.

So I'm just wondering: is it in the rules that the cakes have to be representational, or could you do something abstract? For example, if I were playing this year and I wanted to make a Muppet Family Christmas cake, could I just make a cranberry cake with shredded wheat and chocolate-covered birdseed (or similar) on top, or would I get points deducted for not putting Muppets on it?

Sorry to hear that some of Graham's family weren't feeling well, though. Hope they feel better. :/

[deceptica]

There's no rule against doing something abstract, but you get bonus points if the judges are able to easily recognise what it's supposed to represent.

[bluealoe]

I'm glad you had a good Christmas, even with the sickness floating around. (And does this mean you've been in England for three years already? Wow!)

Your cake looks delicious, and I like the chocolate on top, even if others didn't like the decorations. Sculpting Wookiees reminds me of when I tried to make a miniature version of myself out of marzipan, and it ended up looking like a psychedelic Jabba the Hutt.

I have to admit the Teletubby cake is pretty clever, though. :)

[deceptica]

Yep, three years! It feels longer and yet not, if that makes sense.

And your description of your marzipan mini-you sounds similar to the results of my own attempts...