Cake Decorating

Birthdays are one of my favorite things as I love to spoil the person on their Birthday. I always make a special cake for them and also decorate the house according to the theme of the cake.
Even our dog gets a cake on his birthda (every birthday)
Below are some cakes that I have made during the years (10 years)

This one was for my brother, he imitates shaggy's voice and thought that this year he would be getting a Scooby Doo cake.

This one I made for St-Patricks day. It was fun to play around with the colors. I used sparkling sugar to make the shamrock in the middle.

The cake below, same for St-Patrick's Day. When you cut into it, the cake was ligt green. Also made some muffins too

This one was my favorite as I made it for my husband. He loves football and his favorite team is Aston Villa. The house was decorated with football themes, cups, plates and tablecloth. He loved it.

Using a heart shaped pan I made this yummy cake and decorated it with strawberries and shaved chocolate.

This Beauty was for my mom's 50th birthday and took me 5 hours to decorate. I had rented the flower pot pan to bake it in. When you cut the cake the inside was light pink. I had bought colors and sat there mixing them trying to get it right for the pot & flowers. She loved it!! The house was also decorated with flower balloons and lovely flower print plates and accessories.

The flag of Greece (or at least I tried) My dad loves his country and this was just right for him

last but not least, my loving dog who get a cake on his every birthday. He is 16 years old. Below are 2 cakes, one tat is bought (pictured is my mom and myself) and the other are cookies tha twere cut out into doggy shapes and decorated with sparkly sugar.

Pear and Chocolate Bunt Cake

Ingredients
4 Pears, peeled and diced
2 tbsp Rum or Eau de Vie
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 Eggs
3/4 Cup Sour Cream
4 oz semi sweet choco chip

Icing:
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup Milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

My brother haas a beautiful Pear tree in his back garden. My mom picked about 6 carrier bags full of pears and we were looking frantically for recipes to make with these gorgeous pears.

This Cake is so fluffy and delicious and the hint of the choco chips with the pears are really good together. A must try!

Cake:

Preheat oven 350F 180C
Butter your bunt cake tin.In a bowl put your pears, rhum and vanilla extract. Leave to soak up for about 10 minutes (get them a little drunk!)

In a nother bowl mix together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

In another bowl again, (lots of washing up!) cream the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time until mixture is smooth and creamy.At a low speed alternate by adding the flour mixture and then the sour cram. Lastly add the pears & juices and choco chips, fold in nicely. Put it all in the tina nd bake for about 1 hour 20 min.

Icing:

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and pour over the cake when it has cooled down.

Pear Crumble

Ingredients

Crumble:

1 1/2 cup Corn Flakes

1 1/2 Cup Shredded coconut (sweetened or not)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp flour

10 pears (Bartlett) cut into slices

2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven 350F or 180C

Crumble:

In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. Add the condensed milk and vanilla mix well and reserve

Filling:

In a big bowl mix the brown sugar and flour. Add the pears and the lemon juice. Mix well.Butter a 13x9" pan and spread the pears and top up with the crumble. Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with Ice cream or custard