Francesca with ‘Baa Larkin’ and Amir Hawila of Oak Furniture Land, Maidstone.

Ahh, Spring is well and truly here, and to celebrate their latest store opening  Oak Furniture Land  commissioned CakeBomb to make a life-sized baby lamb cake for their Maidstone store over the Easter Holiday’s.

‘Baa Larkin’ our Spring lamb cake was made by Award Winning CakeBomber Francesca Pitcher from North Star Cakes  who is local to the new store in Aylesford, Maidstone. Local attraction, The Museum of Kent Life, attended the store opening in the form of Sarah Hirsch, with Francesca and store manager Amir Hawila. The life-size lamb cake was later donated to the Musuem by Oak Furniture Land for auction. Baa Larkin was named after Ma’ Larkin from the popular 90’s TV show ‘The Darling Buds of May’ because the Museum is home to Ma’ Larkin’s Kitchen set from the show,  and which is still on display to the public.

Having never made a lamb cake we were pretty interested to see the frame. Francesca carefully worked out the proportions for the body so that the straight rods were as far forward as possible to allow for the legs to be built up at the knee, hock and thigh to give the illusion of a backwards bending leg like a lamb. The legs were also made longer to allow for the ground to be built up on the boards underneath. Proportionately shaped MDF ‘shelves’ were added at the deepest part of the belly and head to give much needed structural support and a base for the cake.

MDF Frame for the life-size lamb made with threaded steel rods.

Of the cake Francesca said this, ‘The frame had to be really solid, I knew that the cake would have to attend the photo call at the new store, and then be driven to the Musuem of Kent Life where it would be on display for a few days. After that the winning recipient would have to drive it home. So Baa’ Larkin needed to be very strong, and the only way to ensure a strong structure with no wobbles or cracks it to get out the tools and make a proper frame in MDF and threaded steel rods, which you then sanitise and make food safe. For this kind of structural bespoke cake, it really is the only way to be confident that the cake will remain perfectly upright and steady’.

Rear

Baa Larkin

For more photo’s of Baa Larkin and other cakes please follow Francesca at  North Star Cakes