Lindy's Cakes Ltd

Bringing world-class sugarcraft into your kitchen

Creating handbags made from cake!

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The workshop team at Lindy’s Cakes all love Fridays, it’s our chance to have a little fun and to inspire our students to have as much pleasure from cake decorating as we do!! Yesterday was no exception, in fact it was one of my favourite classes – carving and decorating a handbag cake, also known as a purse cake. Every time I have taught this class I have used a completely different colour scheme – pink and purple, mango, electric blue, nude and black and yesterday I choose one of this seasons colours ‘lagoon’ with accents of zesty orange and cream!

Handbag cake created by Lindy Smith May 2011
Lindy's completed cake - May 2011 handbag workshop

For most of the students it was their first experience of carving a cake – a little scary  for some…. but they all managed extremely well, helped of course by having the right cake bases and sharp pastry knives. Interestingly when it came to covering, most of the students choose to work with either pink or purple sugarpaste – definitely ‘comfort’ colours for many buddy cake decorators!!! Although the emphasis of the class was on the carving and covering of the handbags, I also demonstrated how to add interesting texture to the surface of the sugarpaste using stencils. I used the lovely daisy and forget-me-not stencil that we’ve recently added to our range – I think the scale and detail of the pattern works really well with the bag!

Close up of Lindy's bag, showing the texture detail
Close up of Lindy's bag, showing the texture detail

Some of my students also used stencils to add texture to their bags, why not try this next time you want to introduce a subtle pattern to the sugarpaste on your cake, cupcake or cookie.

Cake handbags created at Lindy's May 2011 workshop
The handbags created by the students - didn't they do well!

If you’d like to join us on a similar workshop, take a look at our current programme to see what appeals. In the meantime I hope the work of my students inspires you to try something new. Instructions to make a similar, but slightly more detailed bag are being published in my next book  ‘the contemporary cake decorating bible’ – pre order your signed copy by clicking here!

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  1. I did this workshop last year and, despite a profound lack of talent on my part, the end result was still really impressive and the process very enjoyable. Reminds me of every cake I’ve made from your books, actually..

  2. I was on this course yesterday and I can highly recommend it to you. Lindy explains each step and follows through making her bag as her example. Lindy, Jane and Sally were there guiding and assisting at every stage of the masterpiece making. Lunch and ample flow of coffee and cake was delicious and completed what was a perfect day!

  3. What lovely colours – is the lagoon blue a colour you mixed yourself or an M&B new colour?

    Thanks
    Sue

  5. Hi there!

    I was on the handbag course on Friday too. This was the first time I have attempted to carve a cake. I was very impressed which how my cake had turned out and it was all down to how Lindy explained each stage throughout the day. i picked up some great tips. I really enjoyed the experience. The lunch was just what you needed and the slices of cake throughout the day were a lovely surprise! Thanks again was great to meet you all. I wonder if I can obtain the recipe from Sally for the Chocolate torte cake she made? That was so nice!! Many thanks again – Claire Thomas x

  7. It’s such a summery colour. I’m on the wonky cake course in a few weeks so might use it then. I also love the orange, but I’m not sure if those two colours together may be too loud so perhaps I’ll have one tier white. A few weeks left to decide…., thank you for the inspiration.

  8. hi Lindy, your classes are always amazing…..I hope to meet you…when in Rome? A huge kiss to Sally and Jane

  9. Hello, i just wanted to thank you for putting up tips for carving bag cakes. I finished my first bag cake, also my first go at carving… would love to hear what you think..