I've been having a play with little cakes over the weekend.

Last weekend, when I visited the food show, I bought an awesome roll of licorice from Rosalie at New Generation Licorice (where was this when I had train tracks to make. This stunning huge long roll, is wrapped with plastic film between, so when unrolled it doesn't stick to itself. I could tell you how long it was, but you might not fathom just how big, so I've taken a photo for you. NGL has sellers around the country - this huge roll only cost $10.

I had fun making these sushi mini cakes using the licorice.

Firstly I baked a batch of red velvet shallow cakes in straight sided cupcake papers. I removed the papers and cut them all to a matching height.

Then I crumb coated them all with white buttercream. I cut licorice strips to fit around the circumference. I turned the iced side face down in to a plate of coconut, and placed random pieces of cut lolly on top. I thought they looked pretty cool in a container, that just fitted them perfectly.