From Glastonbury to Wimbledon...

I'm sure I'm not alone but I've totally lost track of time and what point we are in the year - 2020 is just plain strange - I didn't realise how much the regular events that occur during a year sort of benchmark seasons and changing months - for example I've never actually been to a big proper festival like Glastonbury - but I love the coverage of it when it is on - and you know it's getting into summer - likewise Wimbledon - my Mum bloody adores Wimbers - ever since I've been able to remember, she watches that tennis with religious vigour - there can't be much about the champions, the matches, the grounds and the game that she doesn't know! Never mind lockdown, not going out etc. - the lack of tennis players on Centre Court this year is possibly the thing that Mum will miss most.

This got me thinking about all the hundreds, nae, thousands of events, concerts, sports fixtures, festivals and of course weddings, celebrations and parties that have all been cancelled or postponed this year - but oh my - how amazing will they be when they happen again! Here's to cancelled stuff - may they be all the sweeter the next time round and until then, I'll pay my respects in cake format.

I'm not sure why I decided to make the pyramid stage - I think it was basically because of some grey fondant I had left from the Navy ship cake - but I saw a picture of it and decided to give a go - not least because I had some great coloured flashing fairy lights that I thought I could use! I'm not going to bore you too much with all the ins and outs of this one (too late I hear you cry - we are already bored!) but here is how it took shape...

Thinking that because it was grey on the outside, it should be psychedelic on the inside - I set about using lots of bowls and spoons and making stuff dirty - those rainbow cakes you see everywhere have a similar side effect - every bowl in the house and every utensil seems to get used - its chaos and it inevitably gets on your hands at some point, Anyhoo - here it is a few layers later, getting stacked up and 'rendered' as I like to call it, with liberal amounts of buttercream.

All covered - it was time to try and turn my attention to the little front section that forms the stage (it does make me wonder what actually is in the pyramid bit of the pyramid stage?) - it was polystyrene again so that i could create the recess and get it covered in sugar paste - I went for black inside to give it a bit of depth and 'drama'.

Once assembled - I set to with the lights - I'm not going to lie - it looked really rough in the daylight - mainly because of all the wire - you should have seen me trying to get the little white lights into the top part of the stage - the wire was popping out left right and centre - so I put 6 dress making pins in and wound the wire around them - it was just enough to hold them and thus, the stage for little Kylie was alight! Hurrah! I thought Kylie would be just the job in the red jump suit - so she was sourced on the internet via Google images, printed and the craft knife deployed to cut her out! Perfect!

When I stood back and looked at this, I was happy with the lights and with Kylie, but it was missing something - there was no real movement or context, so, consulting my reference picture, flags there had to be, and a crowd... now I'm open for a challenge, but attempting to make a Glasto crowd out of sugar paste is too far... so it was googling and printing and cutting to the rescue and a foreground was created! Spot on! Pardon the pun here, but this cake really was all about the staging - it was all the accessories and scene fillers that made it what it was - not actually the cake! Like any good outfit, it is often the accessories that lift it from something 'regular' to something a little bit special.

The Wimbledon cake was the opposite - it is just a truly good cake, with a good filling and of course, Strawberries - I read somewhere that Wimbledon goers munch through about 28,000 kg's of Strawberries during the tournament so they had to be in there. I wanted to make the badge or logo for the top like you sometimes see it surrounded by foliage and give it to Mum for what would have been the finals weekend.

I made an 'old faithful' cake - the Ginger - this has been a favourite amongst family and friends for a long time plus its great because it is one of those sponges that is generally quite level, neat and perfect for stacking. The only thing is, it looks properly awful when you are making it - I mean baby sick awful....yes, that is in fact how this cake starts but don't let it put you off (honestly). Sponges done (I made three and cut one using a large circle cutter to give me the support in the middle but leaving space round the outside) and a clear up later, I was happily cutting leaves and letters!

A substitute for the real thing and actual festivals and events, these cakes are undoubtedly not - but as all the coverage of previous performances started to unfold and the vintage matches between the legends of tennis were aired, I thought it a little homage and a nod to the magic that will unfold when events do once again take place with renewed appreciation and excitement - till then Pyramid Stage, Glasto goers and SW19, till then!