Last month I decided to have a go at practicing my piping technique by making some iced biscuits for mothers day. I admire the beautiful iced biscuits other people create but I have always thought to myself, surely they are just too much hastle to make? I find that making royal icing can be quite a pain, let alone having to colour it and use various piping bags and tubes to create the desired design. Nevertheless, the biscuits that I have seen on other peoples' blogs do look lovely and I really wanted to atleast try and have a go myself. I dug out some spring themed cookie cutters that I bought last year and got started on making some simple butter biscuits- a Nigella recipe that she claims are biscuits that have a buttery taste and hold their shape during baking. I made butterfly and flower shapes- pretty and feminine- perfect for any mother!

Luckily I had some royal icing already made up so all I had to do was make a few different colours and get piping! Once I got started, I was pleasantly suprised at how addictive icing biscuits actually is. I found myself getting quite carried away and before I knew it, several hours had passed! I am really happy with the finished biscuits, and I'm so glad a had a go. Infact, I think I'm on a bit of a roll, as I even decided to make some Easter themed ones. Do you like?

One of my work collegues asked me if I could make a cake for her partner's birthday this year and of course I very happily accepted. My first step to designing the cake is to find out the interests of the person who will be receiving it. So...I asked...
"Kelly, what kind of things does your partner like?"
"He likes going to the pub"
Hmmm...a cake with a pint of beer iced on it? Nah, maybe not..
"Anything else he likes?"
"Well, he supports Nottingham Forest."
Aha. This was better. I could do a white cake with a Nottingham Forest logo iced in the middle and 'Happy Birthday Richard' written around the edge- simple(ish) but effective!

My first idea was to make the logo out of marzipan but after a little thought I decided it would be best to do it in royal icing using a run out technique. This is something I find quite difficult but I knew it wouldn't get any easier if I didn't practice! Unfortunately, my first attempt turned out to be a disaster. My royal icing was slightly too runny so the logo sort of merged together, making it hard to make out what it actually was (although my Dad thought it looked great). However..it gets worse. I left the cake under a bright light to dry out the icing for around 20 minutes. When I came back, an air bubble had somehow formed beneath the fondant icing (I'm guessing this was due to the heat) which of course completely ruined the run out as it cracked and hardened over the 'bump'- complete nightmare!

I decided to consult my mother. After a short discussion we decided that the best thing to do was make a plaque out of roll out icing to cover the mistake and start again on top. This time, I really couldn't mess up! Luckily my second attempt was much better and I am fairly happy with the finished cake. Most importantly, Kelly thought it was lovely and has even requested another cake for christmas. Sometimes these things are just meant to happen. We learn valuble lessons from our mistakes!