A week of caking....

This is what a typical week of making cakes looks like for me :o)

A construction cake, a small cake with figurine, and 24 cupcake toppers this week.

CONCEPT SKETCHES

After discussing ideas, themes, and colours with a client, a rough sketch of the cake is then made to ensure that it achieves all the elements of their dream cake while staying within budget.

MONDAY

Morning: After dropping my 3-year-old off at preschool, I head off to my weekly Bible Study group.

After lunch, my 1-year-old goes down for his nap and I work on final, more detailed sketches of the cake. I have my son's toy trucks to help me, just to be sure I make the construction trucks properly!

Afternoon: Preschooler comes home and we bake some gingerbread babies together. Then it was time to prepare dinner.

Evening: with the kids fed, bathed (by hubby) and in bed, I work on the vintage circus themed cupcake toppers.

TUESDAY

Morning: While my 3-year-old is at preschool, my son and I head off to do some boring grocery shopping. Tues is also my 1-year-old's swimming lesson. After lunch, I begin work on the figurines (construction vehicles) while my son naps... but he wakes early (40 min nap!) so all work is halted until further notice...

Afternoon: Preschooler picked up. Dinner prepared, Tues is spag bol night.

Evening: Kids fed, bathed and sound asleep. Hubby goes to Bible Study.

8:30pm-12:55am: I watch Packed to the Rafters while working on the vehicles.

WEDNESDAY

Morning: Busy day today with netball in the morning, followed by 3-year-old's swimming lesson.

Afternoon: 2pm-10pm: Killer headache. I lay on the couch while the kids take turns to poke, prod, and climb all over me...

Evening: Hubby makes dinner while I lay on the couch.

10pm-2:45am: Headache gone, time to get off the couch and work on the construction vehicles.

This is what I managed to achieve before going to bed. I need these parts to dry properly before moving on the the next step tomorrow.

THURSDAY

Baking day. 3 cakes to bake today.
I'm so glad I recently bought a new Sundbeam Mixmaster. No more spinning the bowl by hand!!

Two gluten free cakes fresh out of the oven while cake no.3 goes in.

Enlisting my husband's help to knead fondant for the construction cake.

A strong pair of man-hands is handy for kneading kilos of icing!

Those hands also do a lot of the washing up after I bake :o)

2:3oam - Work is finished on the people figurines for the two cakes

FRIDAY

Ganache and fondant-covering day.

Morning: Playgroup. Work begins after lunch when kids are resting from a busy morning of playing with friends. If I'm lucky, I might squeeze in an hour's work before the kids get up.

Ganaching cake no.1

Afternoon:
Cake no.1 covered. Figurines put into place.

Cake no.2 ganached and ready to be covered.

Evening:
Friday is Friday date night :o) Hubby usually feeds the kids first, then we eat by ourselves later. Uninterrupted adult conversation, what a treat! After dinner, cake no.2 is covered and more work continue into the night putting the final touches on the cakes...

3:06am - Construction cake done

3:20am - Maxine McKew cake done.

You may have noticed that I ended up making this cake shorter than planned, and I also changed the whole head because I wasn't happy with the smile (yes I am a perfectionist!). This is what can happen sometimes when I don't do a sketch to begin with!

SATURDAY

Delivery time!

This is a family event as my husband and I pack the two kids plus cakes into the car and head off for a morning (or day) of delivery. We all put on our Cupcake Gallery shirts, which my 3-year-old thinks is very special :o) She loves her 'uniform'!

This best part is delivering the cakes and seeing the looks on the recipients' faces as they see their cake for the first time :o)

There are a few things I couldn't do without in running this business successfully:

God's strength and blessing of creativity, my hubby, tea, chocolate, canned soup (easy lunch for me!), canned baked beans (easy lunch for the kids!), and two beautiful kids to cheer me up when I'm stressed!