This cake was rather immense in size – it measured 2ft long by 14″ wide (at it’s widest point) and was constructed from 6 alternating layers of vanilla, light chocolate and rich chocolate sponge sandwiched with creamy vanilla butter cream.
The layers were then carved, covered in sugar paste painstakingly detailed with sugar paste features and finally coloured by using a mixture of both airbrushing and hand painting techniques.
The board measured 36″ x 18″ and to top it all this cake was then sent on an epic 600 mile journey from Coventry to Orkney in time for Linsey and Erik’s wedding which of course took place in St.Magnus Cathedral itself.

St.Magnus (minus the clock!!)

Impressionist style paint effects create the effect of the variety of stones this grand Cathedral was erected from.

Impressionist Stained Glass Windows give the effect of light and shade.

Rather frustratingly after I had spent a week of nights working on the cake (it was too hot to work on in the day) and looking after my children through the days, I reached a state of delirium by the time it came to taking photos before it went on it’s journey. Resulting in me leaving the all important clock face off the front of the tower!! I only realised this once I deconstructed my photo backdrop and so the clock was added but is not present in any of my photos. I do have some photos of it in place at the wedding which I will add to this post

St.Magnus Cathedral Cake

Rear view of St.Magnus

Close up of roof details and features

Powered by Monster!! Some of the amazing artists working their zombie magic on the waiting crowds

You see that pretty lady above? Well that’s me that is The face behind Mamma Jamma Cakes all gored up by just one of the many, amazingly talented, make-up artists at the Zombie Walk Birmingham 2012. Seriously these guys worked ceaselessly for hours to turn hundreds of zombie fans into zombies of all description – hours of their own time and vats of their own (fake) blood were provided by them for free in order to help create a goresome zombie horde ready to invade the streets of Birmingham.
These were just some of the crew of zombie and charity loving folk all putting their immense time and efforts into creating a terrifyingly fun event. All in order to raise much needed funds for the Birmingham Childrens Hospital; this is the 4th annual Zombie Walk to be held in Birmingham and is the brainchild of Jamie Chapman and Punk Zebra

My zombie loving friend Koo clocked this event come up on her facebook feed and within seconds we Coventry based zombie loving lot had decided we were going to attend, Coventry is right next door to Bimingham  and so it was a “no-brainer” (don’t you just love the puns) for us to do as all good zombies do and flock to the densely populated city!

Delectable Delicacies

Not wanting to turn up empty handed to any party (I was brung up well you know!) we arrived with Mamma Jamma Cake style supplies with which to feed the zombie hordes. I would have loved to create a badass fully sculpted Zombie Cake to hack up and dish out – but with the short notice and practicalities of it we realised this would not be possible (at least not this year). Instead I spent a couple of days whipping up batches of cookies, treats and cupcakes.

Braaaaaaaaiiinnnnnsssss

Ready to be devoured…..

A last minute dash was made in the morning of us leaving, as I felt no zombie feast would be complete without braaaaaainnss to feast upon, to knock up a severed and scalped head with gouged out eyes and a tasty display of brains glistening in the sun to entice the Walkers to our delectable table of delights. Not bad for a VERY quick piece of cake art, – with more time I would have gored him up much more but as is so often the case during zombie attacks – time was not on my side!

They can still hear you and see you….

All the edibles we sold were handmade, painted and detailed without the use of moulds or cutters – props to my sister for helping knock up some severed fingers ,ears and eyeballs with me. The undead crowd loved them and we happily sold out (with 100% of all proceeds going to the charity) of the 250+ items we made.

Next year – Mamma Jamma Cakes will definitely be back at the event, hopefully bigger and badder to help do all I can on the cakey side of things to raise more money – perhaps this time with that badass sculpted zombie cake to raffle off at the event? Who knows? But one thing I do know is that I CAN NOT wait to become an undead citizen once again – we had so much fun and met so many interesting and amazing people at this family friendly event – my kids LOVED it too.

Most Importantly of ALL if you did not manage to make it to the event this year then it is not too late to visit the Just Giving page to donate some cash to this worthwhile charity  and next importantly of all – if you like the sound of this event go ahead and recruit a crew of fellow zombie lovers and make sure you come along next year. Keep checking the Official Birmingham Zombies Website, Follow them on  Twitter and Facebook for more information and to keep an eye out for the official footage and photos from this year!  

On top of all that hop on over and check out a whole host of amazing pictures from the Birmingham Zombie Walk 2012 over at Flickr. There’s also a link to an article int the Birmingham Mail for more photos of the event itself there’s some freaky costumes going on – the effort people went to was unreal.

And Finally…….I’ll leave you with some more pics of the cakes we made for the undead…….

Care for a nibble on an Infected Brain anyone?

Choose your Weapon…. Sugar Cookies

Zombie Flesh Eaters

Zombie Marshmallows for the kids…

Biohazard – it’s how it will all begin…

The Gathering….

Zombie Gingerbread Man – that fox is gonna get it now

Sugar Cookies signal a Zombie Apocalypse in 2012?

I’ll be adding more pics soon – Were you there? Let us know your comments and thoughts (whilst you still have a brain to think them)  below;

Nom Nom Nom

A plate full of gooey chocolate Brownies and white choc chip Blondies ready and waiting for my son and his mates to feast on in celebration of my (not so) little man’s 11th birthday! (Where do the years go?)  I was given orders to make these as he has spent the last 3 birthdays without so much as a home baked crumb from me (guilty mother here), it’s also his last year at primary school so there was no way he was going to let me off with it again!!
Before he left for school I also treated him and his sister to our favourite family celebration breakfast of ours; American style Blueberry Pancakes, drizzled (or in their case drenched) in Maple Syrup and served with fresh berries.

Added to the request of tasty bakes to share and tasty pancakes to gorge on came the obligatory request for an awesome birthday cake. As he has not received one of my sculpted cakes for 3 years I have felt hugely guilty about this fact – last summer Alice Cooper took over with the need for a Silent Hill Nurse cake which we delivered to London on my sons birthday, the previous 2 years we had been on holiday and so he had (shock horror) an awful supermarket cake (hangs head in shame) whilst we were there.
This year he wanted a standing Marvel comic book hero of Deadpool or the more obscure Marvel comic book villain of Fin Fang Foom – both of which I LOVED the sound of and was eagerly anticipating the challenge.
Sadly this week it was not to be thanks in part to the RBS banking failure and in part to poorly children we had to change our plans which left me with about 3 hours to quickly pull a rabbit out of the hat – or in this case a cake out of the box.
Deadpool of Fin Fang Foom will still be made for him – now I’ve had the idea handed to me there is no way I can’t bring them to “cake” – but for now we decided upon a skull cake…..

say cheese!

The Dark Brotherhood Password to the Dawn Star Sanctuary (or so I’m told)

Please excuse the poor photos, I was rushed on photo taking too, we were running late for his birthday meal!  The one (billionth) birthday request he did have was for me to place a hand print and the words “SILENCE, MY BROTHER”  on the skull or board somewhere as featured in Skyrim – his current Xbox obsession!

With no time to make a template of the handprint I had to go for it freehand with the airbrush but I was pretty pleased with the result….

Best of all he was delighted with the cake, and he still has a promise of an even better belated birthday cake coming his way soon, and my mum guilt has been lifted for now!

   So all that’s left to say is Happy Birthday Dude Part one of your birthday baking   now complete – part two (Marvel Hero/Villain cake) to follow soon… watch this space!

And finally….. Just thought I would share my “mucking about with picasa pics” on this skull cake – I really liked some of the effects that could be achieved on the subject matter…

X-RAY VISION

Infra Red

Neontastic

My fabulous family holiday in the wonderful Emerald Isle was not entirely work/cake free, the main reason we holidayed in Ireland was to join my extended family in the celebration of my Aunt Isobel and (now Uncle) Stewart’s wedding day. For this reason my break was not entirely devoid of cake making for they wanted a simple Thatched Cottage cake, with a wee stone circle and a donkey outside and figures of them both in their wedding attire made for their reception.

As our first weeks stay was at their remote holiday cottage, nestled amongst the stunning rural/coastal landscape of Donegal in a place called  Inishowen, with very limited cooking facilities – Isobel opted to make her own carrot cakes. I would then collect and decorate them from her, upon arrival into Bangor on Saturday, ready for the Ceremony on Monday. I planned to make the figures in advance, at home, and take them over to Ireland with me ready for this Midsummer Nights Wedding……

But that’s where this Comedy of Errors begins, thanks to the mini heatwave we had towards the end of May (otherwise known as our summer) the cakes I had on took far longer than anticipated due to the intense dislike icing has for humidity. They took an extra days work which happened to be the day I had put aside to make the figures.
“No matter!” I thought, and packaged up my modelling materials to take with me; on the Friday of the first week I opened the bag of modelling tools to find a white powder all over everything (good job customs didn’t search my bag), I began washing my tools under the tap which turned the powder into a thick gelatinous gloop. It was then I realised it was Tylose Gum Powder that had leaked everywhere and it had now turned into a liquid gum which was incredibly difficult to clean off resulting in a series of 4 lots of washing and drying to free it from the gunge.
This was the day before we were due to travel from ROI to NI so I HAD to get these figures made but I now found myself against the clock again; I completed made as much of them as I could and travelled the next day with a headless bride and groom and a legless donkey – perhaps he’d been at the Guinness – (sorry couldn’t resist) packaged securely away.

Thinking we would be fine from here on in (why do I kid myself with those thoughts?) I turned up to collect the  cakes and the board Isobel was providing for me and swiftly realised this cake was going to look pretty ridiculous (sorry Isobel), even if it was intended to be a simple piece of work in my head I could now see that the vivid green glass “Keep Calm and Chop” chopping board Izzy had chosen to replicate the lawn and the crumbled flake bar roof (there was no chocolate tobacco or matchmakers in any sweetshop around) weren’t really going to pull the quaint look of the cottage cake together.
Particularly as there did not appear to be enough cake – meaning the figures I had half made would be taller than the roof –  this quaint little cake was suddenly proving itself to be a bit of a headache. Looking at it all in front of me proved to be pretty hilarious, I just could not see a way through, Isobel being so laid back really did not care but I wanted to at least have it looking a bit more planned than this .
SO with only the Sunday to spare and NI retail hours of 1pm-5pm, a strange kitchen to work in, and my Dads birthday to celebrate in the same house, with 20 plus family members coming over it was time to conquer this cake – haha- this was going to be a breeze(!!!) My options as I saw them were;

• Leave the figures headless and claim they had always wanted a zombie decapitation cake (well it suits my cake style)
• Claim the figures were based on the mythical McCool Giant family of the Giants Causeway we had visited days previously.
• Remake the figures (no time)
• Bake more cakes (no time)
• Buy in filler cakes and a new board
• Eat all the cake and run

We opted to buy in new cakes to make a foundation for the Carrot cakes which then just needed buttercreaming together and all of the exterior too. Mum and Dad went to the shops as soon as they could for me to get supplies needed to help make this cake look better (shredded wheat roof – thanks Bro for the suggestion, fondant icing to cover the large wooden chopping board I found at the house, writing icing etc)
Then it was time to make 3 kg of Buttercream……until I broke the mixer! Back to the shops for my parents whilst we resorted to armpower in the meantime….
Therefore I was still running behind when all Dads birthday guests arrived and milled around me in the kitchen as I stacked and covered cakes and boards, made and painted figures and painted grass.
My Grandma told me that the donkey looked like a cow, my young cousins exclaimed how freaky the figures looked (granted at that point the bride was a bald village of the damned resident and the groom a one armed Colonel Sanders)  my brothers told me how NOT to build the cake, mum cleaned up around me and people fried onions on the hob across the kitchen! My dad also insisted I add an O and a T on to the donkey’s back so  he could mention in his speech that even the famous Donkey OT (Don Quixote) had turned up to the wedding!
For a girl used to working on her own suddenly working amongst a sea of family offering their unbridled opinion, stealing the shredded wheat thatched roof and catching up with each other after many years this proved to be pretty hardgoing – yet strangely enjoyable too and after all the mishaps, plus a few more, I finally finished the cake at 1am….

Up the road in my Aunt’s house the comedy continued – it was most definitely a manic Sunday; interspersed with them all coming to our house to drink and eat BBQ food the Bride cracked the whip at her roped in friends and family as they sat frantically sewing sequins, taking up hems and adding buttons to the 5 bridesmaid dresses that my talented Aunt Grace had already made. Grace had been due to add the finishing touches herself when she arrived in Bangor on Saturday evening, but seeing as she now had only 24 hours to make a wedding dress for Isobel (that’s right on top of everything else – the dress had not yet arrived) it became a rather frantic case of all hands on deck.
On top of all this the venue had to be decorated, wild flowers were to be gathered and turned into 6 bouquets (made by my talented sister Kelly and my sister Debbie in assistance). And somehow Riverdance and Laurel and Hardy skits were also being rehearsed. In both houses reigned scenes of absolute chaos interjected with crazy cackling of  mayhem and laughter. The dress was finally finished at midnight.

So late to  bed but ready to party we all laid our weary heads….at least the earlier sunset had looked promising in it’s “Red Sky at Night – Shepherds Delight” kind of way – a stunning sunset as a precursor to a stunning day…..

And no doubt about it  - the sky was blue, the sun was shining and it was the most perfect wedding; the Bride was stunning and the Groom handsome and proud. The ushers (my Dad, Uncle and cousins) looked braw in their kilts, the bridesmaids were pretty in pink. The guests sang “All You Need Is Love” whilst the register was signed, the wedding party (including my Gran waving her stick in the air, danced their way back up the aisle after we had sang Happy Birthday to the Reverend (because it was his birthday – not just because we felt like singing it) . The Bengalian feast was devoured after being served to the 125 guests by the Bride and Groom, the guests laughed and smiled and danced and drank, the speeches were warm and funny and moving.
As the day turned to dusk the music played, the drink flowed more and we attempted the Gay Gordons and the Highland Fling, a couple of early full moons appeared at the raising of Kilts! Then the bride transformed into Michael Flatley and later became Stan Laurel to Grace’s Oliver Hardy in hilarious skits and we partied under the light of the real full moon (which perhaps explains a lot of the mishaps)  late into the night as we all enjoyed every crazy, perfect, magical moment.

Isobel whooping in delight as she arrives at the church

2 flames become 1

 My talented brother playing the harmonica – accompanying Isobels equally talented friend (sorry I didn’t get her name – all I know is she had a beautiful voice) on guitar  - they first played Bob Dylan’s Forever Young followed later by a medley of Beatles songs for us all to sing along too.

The Scottish Brotherhood – “You may tek away your wife – but you’ll ne’er tek oor Freedom”

The Wedding Party (minus the Groom)

  The Pink Ladies

 Sisterly Love – a picture of true happiness if ever I’ve seen one!

The Bride and Groom serve all 125 of their guests with authentic Bengalian cuisine cooked by 2 very talented Bengalian Chefs – the food was that good that my daughter proclaimed it to be her favourite part of our entire holiday!

Cutting the Cottage

Sister Act

Another fine mess you’ve got me into!!

This was hilarious!! Isobel kept that face – an uncanny resemblance to Michael Flatley – throughout the entire crazy routine!

Ta-Da

My bro entertains us all again later in the night

Say Cheeese

I have never been to such a fun and amazing wedding – it was exactly as a Wedding should be – all about the people, the camaraderie and the fun, not the glitz and the expense. All the guests helped to provide for the day – all the delicious desserts (fruit pies, meringues, fruit cakes, biscuits, cookies, fruit salads) were made by Stewarts friends and family, as well as the musicians, dressmakers, florists and cake artists that have already been mentioned, my skilled brother and uncle became additional photographers and it’s thanks to them for these fabulous shots.
Thanks to you both Isobel and Stewart for letting us all join in on your perfect day you created memories for all of us that we will cherish forever – all the very best of love and luck for your new life in Australia, you will be missed. Looking forward to the leaving do though – lets have more of the same wonderful fun please. <3 xxx

I absolutely LOVED creating this cake, sculpted and painted cakes are my all time favourite to make.
Although it was a headache making sure he looked wolf like rather than dog like (I know, I know they’re both canines) but when someone asks for a wolf cake you really want it to look more like a wolf than an Alsation!
Or a Lamb…..Believe me (and I wish I had taken photos of it to prove it) when he was first sculpted, the legs were shorter as only the top parts of his legs are cake (down to about his “knees/elbows” whatever the canine equivalent is), he had no ears as yet, no bushy tail and a very oval shaped head – he definitely looked more like Larry the Lamb than Jack the Wolf.
The next stage of sculpting and shaping led to him becoming more like a sheepdog (at least I was stepping in the right direction) and finally when the legs were lengthened and the tail added he became like a Wolf……hmmm actually still a bit dog like, perhaps an Alsation :/
It was decided, with the help of some of my cake friends, that if his nose were pointier then he would definitely be a wolf, though some thought he was a wolf already and suggested it would be the painting of him that would be the deciding factor on this.
So last stage of the sculpt, before I could be let loose with my new airbrush and get this Bad Wolf painted, I shaved his snout down a little more and added a bit more of a mane around his head.
Then with all the newspaper laid out to protect my kitchen I got to try out my new toy, a cakey toy I have longed for – an airbrush sent to me by DinkyDoodle Designs. It was fantastic being able to layer the colours quickly and effortlessly and definitely saved me time on the foundation work of his colour.
In order to achieve the depth to his fur I layered whites with greys and tans giving him some definition in areas with a fine spray of black. Then to get all the finer fur details, around the eyes and nose, I used my trusty hand painting techniques.
My cake crew were right once the nose had been shaved and the colours added he did look a LOT more like a wolf – but there was just something about those eyes  - they seemed far too innocent, friendly and imploring to belong to a Wolf.
So the final decision I made was to change the eyes – and whilst I know that wolves do not have oval shaped, reptilian looking pupils, I feel there is always a time for artistic license and this was one of those times. The change in his eyes just shifted him, in my opinion, over to Wolf!
However, some still think he looks like a dog, albeit Wolf like dogs (Alaskan Malamute was suggested) but seeing as all dogs are descendants of wolves and the Alaskan Malamute is one of the closest breeds to a wild wolf I can’t complain – and at least he’s no Larry the Lamb!
Oh and why the name Jack? Well it’s after the wonderful Mr Jack Nicholson. and the film Wolf, of course.

I fell in love with the concept for this cake, designed and made for a twin brother and sister celebrating their 80th Birthday, having had a few messages and ideas bandied around with the client about their interesting heritage and childhood years we eventually happened upon a lovely and unique idea for their cake.

They had spent a lot of their childhood in Poland and often speak about the Tram journeys they would take on the old gas powered Polish Trams, which ran past the local church.  I was sent images of both the tram and the church and asked if I could recreate a photo cake of the church and a model of the Tram made from modelling paste going across the front of the cake.

I particularly liked the idea of having these images as part of the cake but decided that the Tram being made as the cake itself against a backdrop edible image of the church would carry much more impact and seem much more unique and special to celebrate their 80th birthday. I also much prefer to sculpt larger models from cake as opposed to smaller models from sugarpaste.

The cake and board were all handpainted and detailed, the edible image backdrop was printed and then detailed on top slightly with some paint to blend into the style of the painted board. The finishing touch was added with a childhood photograph of the birthday boy and girl.

Another wedding cake for a truly unique and individual couple – and again I LOVED making this one. Half of the work was done for me in respect of the fact that the Bride is a fellow creative spirit and basically directed me as to the patterns she would like on each tier and that she’d envisioned it as a wonky cake. Well it just HAS to be a wonky cake if it’s based on anything Tim Burton doesn’t it?

Then taking inspiration from the Wedding Scene in the film, the other requests were to have the stretched fireplace as a topper and the animated statues from the same scene to appear on the cake too. I sketched up the design according to their requests and they were really happy to see their design on paper – so the next task was to create it in cake

Each tier was carved from a rich chocolate cake filled with creamy vanilla buttercream and all patterns crafted from sugarpaste.

The stand on which it sits, is brilliantly effective, and was made by the creative couple from a wrought iron and glass planter filled with purple cellophane and fairy lights to create the eery glow.

I made the statues and fireplace from a non toxic modelling material so that they can be kept as a keepsake from the wedding cake. To echo the eery glow of the stand I placed hidden LED lights into the fireplace.

   
One of the best parts about making this cake was the research; it’s always such a hardship when you have to watch one of your favourite films as part of your job. The other was getting to work with a unique couple and creating yet another offbeat wedding cake – thanks for the awesome brief and congratulations on your wedding day

This wedding cake needed to be (in the words of the bride) “traditional with a quirky twist” and to incorporate the feeling of a vintage classic wedding cake with the edginess of some classic rockabilly tattoo designs. The colour scheme was to be in keeping with the vintage theme to fit in with the venue decor.
So nothing too garish but a definite nod to the tattoo designs that the couple loved and both felt reflected them and their individuality.
I absolutely relished this brief and with all of the ideas given to me by Helen I  came up with the sketch to the left which the bride and groom loved.
As often happens the design evolved slightly from the very first sketch to the finished piece but all the elements remained the same;

On setting up the cake I was blown away by how stunning the venue looked.
Vintage china sat at each place setting whilst skull centrepieces sat on the tables. A Mr & Mrs Skull, complete with top hat and birdcage veil, sat proudly on the top table, surveying the room.
Handmade heart garlands were strung across the ceiling, sheet music backed the seating plan and vintage wedding photos of the bride’s and groom’s parents sat at the cake table.
It was an absolute triumph of design and planning and I felt so happy to see the cake nestling amongst it all.
Congratulations, Helen and Jamie, on your wedding day and also for surpassing your own brief of traditional with a quirky twist. Thanks for choosing Mamma Jamma to make your cake, it was an absolute pleasure.
To all those other offbeat bride and grooms out there - mail me on laura@mammajammacakes.co.uk with your requirements so that we can produce a cake exclusively for you on your unique day.

A perfect cake for Gracie-Marie on her first birthday, she has been a Elmo Fan since the tender age of 4 months old! Also a cake that I loved making as I also used to adore Elmo when I was younger.
This all cake covered in red sugarpaste with individual strands of “fur” twisted and textured to cover the bulk of the body. The presents and mini cake in front of Elmo are all sponge cake too – I just hope that the birthday girl is as pleased with it as her Dad was when he collected it. came to collect.

My friend ordered this for her sister’s baby shower cake, she was insistent that she wanted a cake like the vagina one I have previously made but with a redheaded baby crowning from it! Granted it’s not pretty – but childbirth just isn’t!
So here it is;

Yes it is a beautiful, amazing, wonderous thing in itself, but as a process there aren’t any ways you can make it look sweet and rosy. My friend knows that when people ask me to sculpt a cake they tend to be on the realism side rather than the cutesy side –  It’s just how I am as an artist. This was not the nicest googling experience I have endured either – but it is sculpted as true to form as I can find. I know it will offend some people, but it is a piece of cake art and art isn’t always pretty.
This is a chocolate cake with vanilla white chocolate buttercream filling, handcarved and handpainted to achieve the mottled skin effect.