In July this year, my little Ted left nursery, ready for school in September. The lovely ladies who had taken care of him had seen some of my cakes and asked if I would consider making the nursery graduation* cake. Despite being stupidly busy doing marking, setting up an exhibition for my leaving pupils and making all the stationary for my sisters wedding, I said yes.

*Yep, I know, a graduation for 4 year old is my idea of Americanised naffness but as soon as it was introduced to me for my Ted, all sense of snobbery went out of the window. What parent can resist their child singing Never Smile at a Crocodile dressed as a giraffe?

Ted performing more like a monkey than a giraffe.

They originally asked me to make an iced cake approx 18”x12” with the names of the graduating children around the edge. They pretty much gave me a free reign so the final result was a surprise for the staff as well as the children.

The graduation was jungle themed and the children would be wearing royal blue gowns. I created 27 little mortarboards using bright blue sugar and Mexican paste. I then spent ages embossing each child’s name into sugar paste which I highlighted using iridescent powder.

The children had been in little groups at nursery called: Caterpillars, Bumble Bees and  Ladybirds (Ted was a ladybird)