Mum reveals crafty Coles mud cake hack

By Nola Ojomu

Getting a custom cake made can be pretty pricey, so one mum decided to get creative for her son’s fourth birthday – using $70 worth of items available from Coles.

Lisa Crepelliere managed to turn two Coles chocolate celebrations cakes into an 3D aeroplane cake for her son, Julian, and shared the impressive results in the Woolies/Coles Mudcake Hacks groups on Facebook.

“So it’s not technically a hack cause it did take me 1.5 days! But being quotes $350 (usually $490), I thought I’d give it a go. He’s turning 4 not getting married! Haha,” Lisa wrote, alongside pictures of the cake in various stages during the creation process.

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle, Lisa reveals she decided to give a 3D cake a go for the first time because her son loves commercial aeroplanes.

“I thought I would try and make it a cake with a plane. I showed Julian a few photos, but of course, he didn’t choose a cake where I could just add a plane topper.

“He picked a 3D cake! Julian kept reminding me all week about his Qantas cake so I couldn’t stuff it up!” she says.

Lisa explains she prepared by watching YouTube videos in order to create a template.

And she managed to cut some precious time from the process by skipping the baking and buying Coles’ celebration cake slabs instead.

“It took 1.5 days because of preparation and that didn’t include baking the cake. The celebration cake saved me so much time,” she says.

In the end, she spent just under $70 altogether on the cake: “I already had the tools such as the turntable and letters to cut out wording. The cost includes the cake slabs, ganache, fondant, cake board and silver paint.”

The stay at home mum, who is currently studying, reveals working on the cake has given her a new respect for those who bake professionally.

“It’s such hard work. I totally understand why they charge what they do. People could not pay me enough to make them this cake. It was made out of love. Lots of it.”

She spent the first day preparing the wings, engine and tails by cutting out fondant and marking details on them.

“This was because it needs at least 24 hours to dry before painting it and attaching to the cake. Even then, I had to use a hair dryer!” she explains.

On the second day, she cut the two cake slabs using the template for the body of the plane and carved out the shape, set in the fridge, and finish up the extra details.

Admitting the cake turned out “better than expected”, she shares some other helpful tips for those looking to do the same.

“Expensive fondant didn’t make a difference for me compared to the cheaper ones in Woolies or Coles,” she notes.

While she goes on to claim that bakers don’t need to worry too much about using edible glue.

“The edible glue is a waste of money. I didn’t read the ingredients before buying it but it’s just water. In a small tube. Lol,” she reveals.

It’s safe to say Lisa’s creativity with the mud cakes and fondant allowed her to make a pretty impressive plane replica.

And her son was totally thrilled with the result, with Lisa admitting the “sweat and tears” were worth the happiness her son felt when she presented the cake to him.

“When Julian, he climbed onto the kitchen bench and was admiring and touching the cake. The cake followed him to the lounge, to breakfast… he needed to have the cake next to him wherever he went!” she explains. “He was honestly over the moon!”

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