ZEN Autumn Bonsai. I loved making this for my son’s 33rd birthday who is a keen follower of Zen. He told me that Autumn is a very important time in the Zen Calendar. The Bonsai leaves and the acer leaves on the board are cold porcelain (leaves are hand-cut with fine scissors – no molds or cutters used). I used a sprig of acer from my garden which I used as a guide and I made up the bonsai tree shape and design as I went along! The Bonsai pot and ‘stones’ and miniature decorations to accompany it are made with sugar paste. 8" Chocolate flour free cake. This is my first attempt at painting an image onto a cake which was nice and simple, in keeping with the theme. Thanks to the encouragement from Mon Cottage Cupcakes last year to believe in myself she so kindly sent an encouraging email and pdf guide of how to paint onto a cake, I have finally plucked up the courage to have a go! I have added my ‘painting practice’ of the bamboo leaves which I did on an old cake board kept for the purpose of practicing!

(you will be relieved to know that the photo of the tree taken on the ground was AFTER the cake was cut haha!).