Lakeside Baking Supplies

I thought I'd share a little known gem in San Diego County, Lakeside Bakery Supplies. They are really a wholesale supply store, so dont expect bells and whistles, and dont expect fantastic customer service. They make their money on huge orders, not the little bits and pieces that bakers like me need!

Having said that, everyone is super sweet there, and they have some great stuff at unbeatable prices. One of the downsides is that you have to think of it then ask them if they have it, it is a warehouse type of store with a counter. Most of the items are in bulk, but I've found them very handy for things like 10lb tubs of Fondx rolled fondant, and also for almond paste at Christmas time.

They also stock bakery boxes, cake circles and everything you need to go into a bakery business, although bear in mind you'll have to plan for storage.

If you are a business they are happy to deliver for minimum orders of $350.

Fun at the cake show

A couple of weeks ago I entered a cake in the San Diego Cake Show. It was a fun weekend with lots of cake related events, and it was fun to decorate a 'dummy' (styrofoam) cake with no specific purpose other than to make a pretty cake.

I got some great advice from a friend, not to go crazy, just do something small and neat. So I took a little teeny 4" round, and a 6" round and I decorated with white fondant, and a simple bird decoration and made the star of the show a giant peony. I've experimented with this color scheme before and I really like the shocking pink, brown and white. I thought this would be a sweet and understated cake for a baby shower. It was also really simple to transport compared to some of the behemoth cakes I saw!!

Unfortunately I didnt win a prize, there were some truly stunning pieces of artwork there, but it was fun to enter, I got a brilliant goody bag with some great stuff in, including a truly terrifying cake topper, which I would be more than happy to pass on to a good home. I think it might have to wait until my next white elephant comes around!

Happy 90th Grandma!

l recently popped back home for a week so that I could celebrate my wonderful grandma's 90th birthday, along with all the family. It was so wonderful to spend a week with my mum, brother and niece and then end the week with a party with 35 others to celebrate grandma's 90th.

On all my recent trips abroad, I've had some kind of fragile sugar pieces in my luggage and this was no exception, I had a bright fuschia peony, which I was delighted to find made it all the way home in one piece with only one petal damaged.

We practiced all week singing 'Happy birthday great grandma' with Poppy, and she sang the loudest of everyone! Maybe partly because she had been patiently waiting for several days to eat the birthday cake!

The cake was a dense chocolate mud cake with a marscapone whipped cream and whipped milk chocolate mocha ganache, as I know grandma likes tiramisu, so I used that as inspiration. I was very honored when the event manager grabbed me to let me know that it was the best cake he'd ever had!!

After the candles were blown out, each of the grandchildren read out a verse of a fantastic ode that my cousin wrote.

When Violet Joyce Griffiths was born
her name caused a family storm
With a grandmother’s outburst,
Violet came first
But everyone knows “Joyce” is the norm

An education she set out to get
Being female was not a great bet
Evacuated to Wales, but hard work prevails
She got her degree and off she set

To Africa young Joyce did go
Researching nutrition and farming you know
Then back at home, in her field she became known
The title world expert they did bestow

She has always been an adventurer
Len wooed her out in the Gambia
In their caravan home, through Europe they roamed
With every passing year they grew happier

With three daughters the Doughty family starts
Her sense of adventure to us she imparts
Now four generations, there’s big celebrations
Her love of life is in all of our hearts

She retired then life really got going
Her interests and talents ever growing
Wood carving art, Scottish dancing apart
Too many to keep this verse flowing

For a better role model we couldn’t have dreamed
She’s broken barriers, she’s the feminist supreme
What it’s possible to achieve, if in yourself you believe
We’re so lucky to share her great genes

I wanted to say a big thank you to Jaqueline from Petalsweet Cakes, it was so wonderful to try using one of the peonies I learned to make with her. I'd encourage anyone to take a class with her, she is so serene and well organized, it is a very relaxing way to spend a couple of days.