African Vanielje on Mar 07 2009 at 10:27 am | Filed under: amazing cakes
the pork pie wedding cake topper
It may seem like a complete non-sequeter to some that my first post in 5 months is a ramble about kosher pork pies. Not so. Firstly, in keeping with the porcine metaphor I made a real pig’s ear of upgrading my blog last October, resulting in what Jeanne called a misunderstanding with my blogging platform. Nicely understated that. The English would understand. I, however was unable to comprehend the true extent of my incompetence, and was left blundering around in the blogging wilderness until the ever amazing Andrea took pity on me. I tell you, the woman is a web code wunderkind.
Result: I’m in from the cold and back posting again, with a few modifications and the aforementioned upgrade all nicely in place. Thank you again Andrea.
Secondly, the pork pie is not really a pork pie. It is the top tier of a 3 layer wedding cake, made of rich fruit cake covered in marzipan and hand painted fondant icing . And I’ve been dying to post about it since before I crashed my site.
Remember 07’s menu for hope. I donated a 3 tier wedding cake. Well , it was won by a blogger in France, who gave it to her niece as a wedding gift. I completed the cake just before I left England, bound for African shores, last October.
The brief was not to look like a wedding cake. The bride wanted 3 individual cakes, incorporating jewel tones and an autumn theme. After that she left it up to me. Pretty brave of her really, as by the time she saw the cakes I had already left the country. The other two layers are pictured below. One I covered in autumn leaves and gold dust, and the other was a deep regal turquoise with berry brambles crawling all over it.
I was on tenterhooks waiting to hear from her, as I was really unsure how my slightly offbeat vision would strike her. I can still feel the sigh of relief when I received this.
Ali, I’m sorry I missed your and Tom’s big day in November, but I hope it was everything you wished for. I am so glad your Aunt won the prize for you and I’m really pleased that such a good cause had such a happy ending all around.
I coudn’t participate in Menu for Hope last year, but I fully intend to pull my blogging weight this year and pitch in again for Menu for Hope 2009.
In the meantime, the South African Blog awards are taking nominations now, so make sure you do some visiting and voting. Jeanne was a winner last year and I’m heading over to her to see who is in the running this year. Good luck to you all, and I’ll be round to visit soon.
PS. I’m rebuilding my blogroll from scratch. So if you notice you’re not on it, send me a friendly nudge and I’ll sort it out.
xx african vanielje
PPS. I’ve posted recipes for my fab fruit cake before, and you can check out my gallery for more pics of Ali & Tom’s autumn wedding wonder cake.
[...] have the coolest news ever…Inge of Vanielje Kitchen is BACK! And with a Kosher Pork Pie no less..yeah. Not a [...]
Welcome back and glad you got your blogging problems sorted! I am happy to be back in touch with you …
Marye, & Charlotte, it is great to be back. I have so enjoyed my first forays back into the 3R’s – reading , writing and roaring with laughter. I’ve really missed this blogging thing. Thanks for visiting
Hurray – you’re back! The cakes look amazing – I’m not surprised she was over the moon! Hope you’re having a good time in SA and that all your projects are going well. How much longer are you here for?
Hey… glad to have you back!
Those pastry look gorgeous as usual.
Cheers,
elra
Welcome back Inge!!!!!! We have such a love/hate relationship with our computers don’t we? I can see why the recipinet of these cakes would be over the moon. You definitely have an exceptional talent!!
Wow! Every time I see one of your cakes I am in awe, they are just amazing. Glad to have you back.
Wow, your work is gorgeous!!!
Yeah! You are back and were missed. Beautiful cakes as usual.
Thank you Kit. I am here until after easter. I can’t believe it has all gone so quickly, but you know what they say about intentions. Anyway, I unintentionally opened an artisan deli / cake shop with my mom which has taken up pretty much all my time. BUt I love it and have set up a site for it too, so you will soon be able to see what we are doing. It’s great to be back posting though and today I’m off so will be doing the rounds.
Elra, thank you. I feel a great relief to be back posting and am enjoying a leisurely surf as well. See you on your blog!
Val, you do say the nicest things. And we do indeed have a very love /HATE relationship with all things electronic at the moment. No sooner is my blog fixed than my very expensive camera which makes me look good has taken a dive. Would that my pockets were deeper. Never mind, I’ll just make a cuppa and look at other people’s wonderful pics. Whenever I look out my front door here at the deli, and gaze over the blue ocean, I think of your beautiful blog headers Val, and how you follow the seasons. Aren’t we lucky to be able to travel the world in this way.
Andrea, as if you had nothing to do with it! The magician herself! I can’t wait to join in with GYO again,
Zoe, thank you. I guess it shows when you do something you love. Thanks for visiting. It’s always nice to meet new bloggers. Just popping over to your spot for a browse…
Aww, shucks. You gals are gonna make me all emotional! Thanks for the welcome and I missed you guys too. See you soon on your blog Courtney. P.S. Did I ever tell you my daughter’s nickname is Koco?
Your cakes have a huge WoW! factor. I can not believe just how talented a lady you are and getting your blog back to cooperating with you so we can share your success is even better
.
Shandy’s last blog post..Shrimp and Redfish Ceviche
Hip Hip Hooray! the African vanilla bean blog is back and not surprisingly with a fabulous couple of cakes to boot. I agree with Shandy, that the wow factor is way up there. So glad to know all is well and you’ve just been busy opening a deli while you are away on a hiatus. Can’t wait to hear more about your time with your mother and the cookbook you hinted at before dropping out of the blogosphere. Welcome back.
Marla’s last blog post..Coffee on my mind
Shandy, that’s really kind, thanks, especially since I’ve seen your gorgeous sweet treats!
Marla, good to hear from you. How are things at Bella Baita? Gorgeous I expect. One day when I learn to ski I know what part of the country I want to do it in.
Oh Inge, I’m so glad to have you back in the blogosphere!! I thought we’d lost you for good for a while there… I’ll have to go and update my post abotu your, ahem, misunderstanding on the SA Food & Wine Blog Directory
As for the wedding cake – WOW. Where were you when I got married? I also didn’t want a “wedding cake”, but what I had pales in comparison to these works of art
Jeanne’s last blog post..Nick cooks chicken jalfrezi
Thanks Jeanne. I thought I would be wandering in the desert forever too. Now wandering in the dessert forever, I could do…