It's in the bag .... v2 !

I have been thinking I could open a handbag shop......... a handbag CAKE shop that is! Here's my latest edible fashion accessory. 

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Gareth asked me to make a cake for his girlfriend Beth like the Prada handbag cake I made back in August for Owen's girlfriend Lottie. Beth's choice of handbag comes in slightly cheaper than Lotties but you still wouldn't have much change from £900 if you went out and bought the real thing. For those in the know (or need to know) it's a Mulberry Bayswater Oxblood in natural leather!

I'm actually getting the hang of making these handbag cakes now - the important thing is to make the handles and any trim items as far in advance as possible, allowing time for the pieces to dry and harden up so they will hold their shape. For this cake I cut out two templates for the main leather sections from parchment paper. This was placed gently onto rolled out chocolate fondant icing and then cut around with a sharp knife. 

It's all in the preparation!

This is a lot easier than you might imagine - it's important to handle the rolled out icing as little as possible and to use icing sugar / cornflour sparingly as it will could take the shine off the finished 'leather'. Sit the cake, which has been carved to form the body of the bag, on the centre of the cross shaped fondant icing and pull all the sides up. Trim off any excess fondant and carefully 'glue' the edges together with a tiny amount of edible glue or water on a small artists paint brush. This chocolate flavoured fondant is actually a little oilier than white fondant but the colour and finish was a great match for the bag. Add any stitching markings before the fondant starts to dry. 

So what will the next request be for? A shocking pink Michael Kors, a monogramed Louis Vuitton or a even a limited edition Radley picture-bag .....who knows! I've learnt more about handbags in the past 3 months than in the previous 50 years but I'm still clueless as to what's on trend!

 Happy Birthday Beth! xx

(photo taken in low level light on a smartphone)