Thank you Haylie! I'm fairly sure Beth will love it in Michigan, she has a lot of friends among her husband's family and they're all very supportive. I'm looking forward to all the potential holidays over the pond!

I love your cupcakes, and the matching cases, they're like photographs from a glossy food magazine. Can you tell me if the frosting you've topped them with sets hard? I'm looking to find an easy(ish) recipe for frosting that can be piped and then set, and yours looks great

These look positively scrummy! I'm experimenting with cupcakes myself at the moment and have made some lovely cakes, but the icing almost always turns out horribly, yours are perfect!

My life-long friend, Beth, has just got married. We're British and her tall, dark and handsome husband is American. So now that they've tied the knot, she's off to start her new life in Michigan. I'm understandably sad to see her go, but before she went, myself and a whole bunch of her closest friends gathered together for a camping weekend with a very American theme. (It also happened to be the week after Independence day.)

I wanted to make a cake to take with me, and from the start I had a fairly clear idea of what I wanted to produce. A layered sponge cake with buttercream between each layer and an american flag in the icing. Here's how it came out:


The whole cake just moments after I'd finished it. I hope no-one is offended that the blue corner is on the wrong side, it was an artistic choice made to cover up a gaping hole in the white icing... 



A couple of slices...


And finally, enjoying a piece by the camp fire.

Thank you for reading - all comments and constructive criticism are welcome .

Wow! This is a fantastic first attempt, I'd never have known you'd not done this before without you saying!

I love it! and I especially love that it functions as a box too )

I love your use of colour in these pieces, and the sheer imagination required to design these is inspirational. I too look forward to seeing more of your posts 

My first reaction to seeing this post, before I'd even read your message, was that the outfit was just perfect. Your daughter looks happy and comfortable in it, and I love the wings. I wouldn't change a thing

[If you too would like to make Panda biscuits:]

I'm a software engineer and my boss launched a "fun" competition last week to name our latest software project. The software's purpose is the log our time and ensure we're following the software development process. My suggestion was PANDA which along with standing for Process and Analysis / Projects and Assessment and all sorts of other things, will mean I can design some really cool logos  

Anyway, my boss also told us that canvasing for votes was not allowed, but I thought I'd be a bit naughty (and luckily he saw the funny side) and bake some biscuits with a subliminal message just before voting day...




If you too would like to make Panda biscuits:
Firstly I had to make a bear shaped cookie cutter. This is far easier than it sounds, as I just knocked a Santa Claus cutter I never use about with a rolling pin and some jewellery pliers until it roughly resembled a bear's head!



Secondly, I made the biscuit mix using my Mum's easter biscuit recipe:
1lb Flour
1/2lb Castor sugar
1/2lb butter
2 Eggs
A few drops of oil of Cassia (Mixed spice is a good alternative)

Then I cut lots of bears from the rolled out mix and baked them for ~15 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius.

The icing was a combination of white royal icing (1 beaten egg white + 240g icing sugar) and pre-rolled black icing from Dr. Oetker.

This is such a lovely idea! I'm sure your friend was chuffed to bits with their present