Merry Christmas '09

Merry Christmas everyone and my best to you for 2010!

I for one, will be especially glad to leave 2009 behind. It has been a year of challenges and personal losses. Having said that, it has had its good moments too, one of which I should be announcing soon.

Meanwhile, have a happy and safe holiday!

If there's a will...

And there I was... stranded without a working oven and a cake mixer that decides every now and then to spin so fast that it spews its contents on my face and kitchen walls.... and all these orders to fill! What to do, what to do?? A frantic call to my brother and SIL and I get to borrow a table top microwave/convection oven and a hand held cake mixer.

Now, how do I bake 200 cupcakes in a borrowed oven that bakes only 1 dozen cupcakes at a time? Another frantic call.... to Mr Lim this time (he repaired both my TV's recently) and he comes the very next day as promised. It's the heating element, he says and goes in search of the part. After scouting the 4 corners of Klang Valley, he gets my oven working 2 days later, just 24 hours before the marathon baking.

The day before, I went to my fave cake supply shop and while lamenting my woes, I was offered to used their facilities there, I'd just have to bring my own ingredients. Karen, you're so sweet, maybe one day I will take you up on that offer!






The cake and cupcake display stand I made for this order.











I've been making Mikhail's cakes since he was a year old. I wonder what he will be fascinated with next year or what interesting cake idea his Mummy will have.







Sue and Sharil got engaged!










Just some of the 200 cupcakes ordered for the children in an orphanage.









Butter and chocolate marble cake with an edible frosting image.

Unreliable

The one word that upsets me... unreliable. It comes in many shapes and forms. In this case it's my Kenwood mixer. Just over a year old, it has broken down once and currently it's playing tricks on me again. Notice how the major faults happen after the warranty expires! Nothing's a keeper anymore.



A 10" 3kg semolina cake.












No, the keys to this beauty wasn't hidden in the cake!


A small indication that the birthday person is a golf fan.

Deja Vu

This design brings back memories of the very first module (sugar paste) I took of the 3 offered by PME. However, at that time we worked with dummy cakes. This one was a sugee (semolina) cake.


This was my gift to Michelle for her 40th birthday bash, vanilla butter and red velvet cupcakes.

I didn't go coz I couldn't find a cheongsam to fit me, since the party had a Shanghainese theme... seriously people, you don't want to see me in one!





Well, the truth being I worked throughout the night on another order for collection early the very next morning. Stressing at 4am on how to box the 2 rather tall cakes, I totally forgot to take pictures of them. Even the little bear-holding-a-blankie topper which I had made days earlier never made it to my album... how sad.





Orange and chocolate cupcakes for Sue's birthday.

Salam Aidilfitri

Selamat Hari Raya and happy holidays to all (and if this does not apply to you, just have a great weekend)! Eat, drink and be merry for the diet starts tomorrow! Thank goodness tomorrow never comes!

Having baked, mixed, stirred, coloured, kneaded, cut, frilled, fluted, swirled, leveled, tasted, washed and dried for the past 4 days with minimum sleep, I get to enjoy today with some lemang and rendang and give my hands some rest and TLC. Oh, and of course up-dating my blog!




Moist chocolate cake covered in luscious chocolate ganache. The sugar roses couldn't quite dry as it has been raining almost daily. Making them in this high humidity was an ordeal in itself!






Butterscotch cake. Iced with buttercream and topped with sugar roses.



The Sesame Street gang.








Using edible images.

S*U*C*C*E*S*S

I tried out 3 new recipes recently. Was quite satisfied with 2. Funny how success with little things like this can put a spring in your step for a couple of days! I did work on this Red Velvet for a while and finally getting it right with 2 thumbs up from friends!

Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting




Semolina(sugee) and coconut. Quite yums!
















Peanut butter cupcakes.
Not exactly happy with this recipe.







Golf themed cake.





Chocolate and strawberries.... gooood...!








A 'cowboy' cake.







Something in tropical colours.







Happy 52nd Malaysia. Sorry I added 2 extra stripes on you!

Carrot and walnut with cream cheese frosting.

Concentrating on what's ahead

With so much sad news recently, it's best to keep busy and focus on today and tomorrow. Every dark cloud has it's silver lining, we just have to look through the haze obstructing it!

These cupcakes were meant to be wedding favours. However, due to unavoidable circumstances the wedding has to be postponed. And like the troopers some people are, we must have our cake, albeit a week later. I didn't mind, it was either that or having 200 flowers sitting around the house... literally!




















Elaine's daughter turns 1.
























Strawberry swirl cheesecake. My all time fave!













I re-connected with an old classmate recently. This was his second order in a matter of days after first trying my cupcakes. Hope Penny got a decent slice this time!






Tried a new recipe for sugee cake.
Verdict: 2 thumbs-up!

Clowning around

Have I? I've been kept pretty busy lately but I don't have the pictures to show for it. A lot has been on my mind and maybe that's why I feel like I've been 'working' a lot! All I can say is I'm glad July is gone!

This was to be a chocolate chip butter cake. As I feared all the choc chips sunk to the bottom but I had to see it for myself.





Some colour samples a customer wanted to see for her up coming wedding.












Met up with old friends and brought caramel banana & walnut cupcakes.

Sweet May

May and I met at the first PME Professional course, we've since completed all 3 modules together. The most bubbly person one could ever come across, May called me this morning all concerned because I had not made an update on my blog in a while. How sweet was that, you tell me!

As I had told May, the reason was because most of the work I've been doing lately are repeats of previous work so there hasn't been anything new to feature. But time does fly past and now I do have new stuff to show.

Thanks for your call May, stay sweet and I know I can count on you for the most infectious laugh!



For Hida, the science student.



I didn't have much time to put any thought into this graduation butter almond cake. The only request was for lots of icing!










A Mummy, wife and lawyer... what a job!








Kinda obvious what this dude's interests are! *wink, wink*



Butterscotch mini cupcakes.





















Banana and walnut cake for McCann's June birthdays.

An order from England. From Graham to his daughter who teaches at the Alice Smith school.