March 26th (already!)

Okay, I have officially been a slacker with this blog, but I have a really good excuse I promise! It has been absolutely flat out in here and I honestly can't believe it's only been just over a month since I walked, shaky-kneed through the front door.

After three nights at the Taste of Sydney festival, I fell, exhausted, into a heap and with the aid of my eye mask and ear plugs managed to sleep in until 1pm on Sunday! I certainly needed the rest, and it was a healthy reminder that I had definitely been burning the candle at both ends. Hectic, it certainly was, but I had a great time and it was awesome meeting so many fans.

This week's major challenge was creating 60 (!) 6'' round cakes in the exact likeness of Nivea cream and it was a little like a production line with everyone contributing. While we originally thought a DEI (digitally enhanced image) would work for the logo's, once on it was decided that this really didn't cut it. Instead we hand-cut out each of the logos and then covered the entire cake in gel to give it that polished look. These were definatily a labour of love, but I reckon the end result speaks for itself. Here's Ritzy with 13 of them:

I must run, its Round 3 of Cupcake Bites today, Planet Cake's cupcake teaser (luckily Margie gave me a crash course in cupcake figurine modeling yesterday!) but I promise more photo's next week.

Neen x

My first 'taste' of Sydney

How am I feeling after week two you ask? Knackered would pretty much sum it up! After all weekend at the amazing Taste of Sydney festival (a show case of all the best culinary experiences Sydney has to offer) this will just be a short one I'm afraid, but I absolutely promise to put up more photos next week.

Here's a taster of what my week held:

I was sooooooo excited this week to decorate my first cake in its entirety, from start to finish. I made this one for a very big Lady Gaga  fan. I added a little personal flair to what would have otherwise been a fairly straight-forward DEI (Digitally Enhanced Image) bu adding some lightning bolts. Unfortunately this photo doesn't really do it justice, but I painted them on with edible blue glitter, and if I do say so myself, it looked VERY cool.

It's back to Taste of Sydney for me again this evening for night three of cupcake decorating workshops, stay tuned for more pics!

Neen x

And so ends week one...

And so ends week one with the amazing team at Planet Cake. My feet are sore and I'm so tired I could drop, yet I absolutely can't wait to do it all again! Perhaps it's all the sugar giving me the energy?

After a 4am flight and several delays, including airline traffic and car rental issues *sigh* I was at last on my way to PC. I guess I hadn't counted on the logistical issues I now faced (no GPS aaaaaaargh), and as a stranger to Sydney, surprise, surprise I found myself on the completely opposite side of the city from where I was meant to be. Luckily the rising panic which was threatening to overtake dissapated instantly (only to be taken over my nervous excitement) the second the famous Planet Cake awning came into view.

After stalking Planet Cake for the past two years and dreaming of one day being able to attend a class, I was here to learn from the best of the best for en entire six months! The smiling Lesley greeted me at the door before leading me in to meet the rest of the team and Paris, all the while, me hoping I didn't look like too much of a goose in front of my idol! Paris has been the woman I have looked up to and aspired to be from the time I started my own cake decorating business eighteen months ago, and to meet her was literally like a dream come true.

Paris lived up to expectations and was everything I had expected and more, kind, grounded, welcoming yet strong, astute and firm in her goals, beliefs and expectations of the team. A true success and the epitome of success. The entire process of the internship was explained to me and Paris let me know what she wanted each of us to get out of it in the following months. Getting. Seriously. Excited.

Now, for those of you who think my job is all washing dishes and making coffee, think again! The first thing I was asked to do was cover a 9'' square cake for a christening cake, up to Planet Cake standards. Okay, packing it a little now. With some gentle help from Emma and Danielle I think the end result was pretty good, although I certainly don't feel as though I'm at my full potential at this stage. But baby steps I suppose.

Over the following four days I had the opportunity to assist in the decorating of another five beautiful cakes ranging from weddings to birthdays, learning so much more than I ever could have expected. Even after late nights (these guys really put in the hours to deliver these cakes) and one very messy ganache affair, still I couldn't wait to get back in there each morning to suck up as many tips and techniques and tid-bits of info as I could. I feel a little like a sponge!

So, yes I was nervous (understatement) am still feeling completely out of my league and occasionally have a minor freak-out when I'm assigned something foreign to me, but little by little and with the help of the amazing crew here, I am finding my feet and can only envision myself improving with every day that passes here in the crazy world of Planet Cake.

See you all next week!

Neen xx