Goodbye Sheik

It was a sad day yesterday when we had to say goodbye to our much loved colleague Habib. Habib and I have known each other for just over four years; we started work together in the same training group. Four years on and now I'm the only one left out of that group.

Habib has an incredibly dry sense of humour and his cheeky smile is sometimes the only hint of his jovial personality. He was the first person to order cupcakes from me and he has given me the official title of 'the cupcake lady' around the office.

So from me to you, Habib (aka The Sheik)...I wish you all the luck in the world at your new job.

Here's the cake I made (err slapped together) for Habib's farewell, held yesterday afternoon. I went home ill on Thursday so I was not feeling well while putting this cake together. I wasn't particularly happy with how it turned out but I got loads of compliments from my colleagues so I suppose it must have been alright. It tasted good, that's for sure. The cake was chocolate and it was smothered in dark chocolate ganache. It was adorned with fondant letters and stars, as well as white chocolate curls.

The sides of the cake were textured with a cake comb to give it a rustic look.

I must share with you a tip I learnt from the Barefoot Contessa. This tip will ensure you have a nice clean cake board when icing cakes. It involves placing pieces of non-stick baking paper under the cake. Don't use one big piece as you won't be able to remove it when you've iced the cake. Use several smaller pieces and place them at intervals to ensure you have the board covered. After you've iced the cake, carefully remove each piece of paper. Your cake board will be clean and your icing will have a nice finish to the bottom. Tada!

Happy caking everyone!