Still life Marzipan Cake  -  Friedel Anderson , 2013.

German,  b. 1954  -

Viking Ship Cake

I was asked to make a ship cake for a Viking themed celebration. (we are in Iceland and it's not that big a stretch of the imagination) After some discussion with the boy/young adult who was to be the centre of attention this particular day we went for pear-and-chocolate-whipped-cream-on-a-sponge-cake cake. It happened like this... I baked Huge amounts of base, simple white sponge, nothing fancy there. Then cut to shape-ish. Hollowed out and filled with fresh pare, tinned pare and a drizzle of melted chocolate. What you see before you is the ocean. I decided to layer it because I wanted to fill it with chocolate whipped cream, almost like a pudding. and it would be unfair for some of the guests to get nothing but base while others would wonder how the masses of whipped cream and marzipan could be called a cake.  What do you mean it's not a Viking Ship Cake ?  I put a lot of cream and much more pear into the base, then cut the ship itself apart and filled it too. Then I forgot to take pictures until I had placed the coloured marzipan on and really gone wild with the decorations.... Note to self. Must remember to use camera more.

 By the time I remembered to take pics again it was in the fridge. When decorating a cake filled with Whipped cream it's imperative to keep the temperature down. So I had to work fast. (that's my excuse for not taking pictures.) I pressed lines into the deck of the ship and painted them with black food colouring, I wanted to make a cartoon feeling ship.

Hello everyone.. Happy new year, hope you had a good one and that this one will be even better :) Celebrating the New year in Iceland is pretty cool. We get together to stuff our faces full of some of the best foods we can think of. (there's generally a lot of double cream, butter and other taboo stuff involved.) Some people break out the barbeque and throw on a slab of meat or two or three. Seriously... the BBQ! in a snowstorm. It's the best. Then there's the traditional "sitting around and watching TV" part of the evening, when the national tv station RÚV breaks out the fine china and tells us all the interesting things that happened this past year both here in Iceland and abroad. That's nice. We forget too fast. Then there is a bonfire... There are about 20 around the capital, big blazing mountains of fire. Everybody get's together and there is singing involved. It's funny, because most of the people there are strangers. Everybody's there to have a good time. Some people bring little fireworks to light up the sky. Pretty. After that we go back home and have a blast of our own. Have you ever seen a black starlit sky suddenly turn into a puddle of light and color. I have. It's amazing. Everybody and their grandmother get's out and lights at least one little firework. Kids stand around with blazing torches and sparkling lights. There is so much noise you have to shout. But that's ok because you don't want to talk anyway. There are flashes of light and color that stun you into silence. This is the Icelandic midnight. We celabrate the New Year with a boom. Then a party.

Viking Ship Cake

I was asked to make a ship cake for a Viking themed celebration. (we are in Iceland and it's not that big a stretch of the imagination) After some discussion with the boy/young adult who was to be the centre of attention this particular day we went for pear-and-chocolate-whipped-cream-on-a-sponge-cake cake. It happened like this... I baked Huge amounts of base, simple white sponge, nothing fancy there. Then cut to shape-ish. Hollowed out and filled with fresh pare, tinned pare and a drizzle of melted chocolate. What you see before you is the ocean. I decided to layer it because I wanted to fill it with chocolate whipped cream, almost like a pudding. and it would be unfair for some of the guests to get nothing but base while others would wonder how the masses of whipped cream and marzipan could be called a cake.  What do you mean it's not a Viking Ship Cake ?  I put a lot of cream and much more pear into the base, then cut the ship itself apart and filled it too. Then I forgot to take pictures until I had placed the coloured marzipan on and really gone wild with the decorations.... Note to self. Must remember to use camera more.

 By the time I remembered to take pics again it was in the fridge. When decorating a cake filled with Whipped cream it's imperative to keep the temperature down. So I had to work fast. (that's my excuse for not taking pictures.) I pressed lines into the deck of the ship and painted them with black food colouring, I wanted to make a cartoon feeling ship.

Hello everyone.. Happy new year, hope you had a good one and that this one will be even better :) Celebrating the New year in Iceland is pretty cool. We get together to stuff our faces full of some of the best foods we can think of. (there's generally a lot of double cream, butter and other taboo stuff involved.) Some people break out the barbeque and throw on a slab of meat or two or three. Seriously... the BBQ! in a snowstorm. It's the best. Then there's the traditional "sitting around and watching TV" part of the evening, when the national tv station RÚV breaks out the fine china and tells us all the interesting things that happened this past year both here in Iceland and abroad. That's nice. We forget too fast. Then there is a bonfire... There are about 20 around the capital, big blazing mountains of fire. Everybody get's together and there is singing involved. It's funny, because most of the people there are strangers. Everybody's there to have a good time. Some people bring little fireworks to light up the sky. Pretty. After that we go back home and have a blast of our own. Have you ever seen a black starlit sky suddenly turn into a puddle of light and color. I have. It's amazing. Everybody and their grandmother get's out and lights at least one little firework. Kids stand around with blazing torches and sparkling lights. There is so much noise you have to shout. But that's ok because you don't want to talk anyway. There are flashes of light and color that stun you into silence. This is the Icelandic midnight. We celabrate the New Year with a boom. Then a party.