D'Cup Cakes, Cookies & more

Before 2011 comes to a close...

2011-11-20T12:22:00.018+08:00

I better update with works I've done to date.

The Rainbow cake, a current trend apparently. The Angry Birds cake below is my first Rainbow cake.

In stores now

2011-07-28T12:59:00.012+08:00

My long awaited recipe book is out! Go look for it at book stores near you or order them from me (Just drop me a message on the comments section). You may also purchase them through Utusan Publishing online store http://www.kedai-buku.com/kedai-buku/details/3428/83/resepi-&-makanan/roti,-kek-&-biskut/upd-cupcakes-by-ivy.html

I take this opportunity to thank Pn Fuzana from UPND for approaching me to do this book, Nora (designer) and Fairy Mahdzan (visit her at www.myindo.com) for taking the lovely shots of my cupcakes and for being such a joy to work with! Also, not forgetting all the folks that worked to put this book together.

I would appreciate feedback, comments or questions on the book or recipes. Thanks you all for your support and happy baking!

And now... a look at how it all came together...

Cupcakes everywhere!

Fairy at work.

Smile pretty!

The hero talent.

Proof stage. Some changes were made to the cover below before it went to print.

Things are moving...

2011-07-27T14:24:00.009+08:00

... well, I better go stop them before they get too far! I know, bad joke... best I don't quit my day job! Speaking of which, these are some which I made lately which includes a Birkin bag, a poor attempt at a Lindy Smith design bag, some superstars and a castle theme.

A wedding and an angry bird

2011-06-12T20:59:00.004+08:00

So much to do, so little time to blog!

2011-05-01T17:44:00.006+08:00

And it's May already! I better update before Christmas comes around. Personally I can't wait for December! ;p

Happy 2011!

2010-12-21T12:53:00.000+08:00

Have a great year ahead everyone!

Some stuff I made before the Christmas holidays.

Tis the season....

2010-11-26T10:29:00.006+08:00

.... for things to breakdown. Another mixer and a kitchen scale gone to cake heaven *sigh*

On a happier note, here are some updates.

Sugar paste animal

2010-09-26T13:10:00.002+08:00

I have not made any interesting designs for a while until Sylvia wanted 24 of the animal toppers. Luckily they held up considering the really wet weather we've been having lately.

(And yes, I know I need a new camera).

May Day!

2010-05-01T18:20:00.003+08:00

Happy Labour's Day! And to those who worked today like me, what the heck... we have too many holidays anyways!

Buttery Butterscotch cupcakes

Chocolate cupakes

Vanilla butter and chocolate cupcakes with edible image

Buttery Butterscotch cupcakes

Red Velvet cupcakes

Yes,I have been lazy.

2010-03-22T16:34:00.004+08:00

I have been neglecting my blog. I've not much to feature, nothing new that is. But a few interesting ones have come my way.... enjoy!

For a girlie girl.

Edible images.

For Valentine's Day

For Chinese New Year

For Mum

Still here

2010-01-23T15:31:00.005+08:00

So what has the start of 2010 brought me? A new nephew and a lot of R & R, a compensation for working throughout Christmas and the new year. 'Rezeki jangan ditolak' they say because you'll never know when your next dollar will come.

My first wedding cupcake tower for the year. Daniel and Kaylie, a sweet couple, loved all the cupcake flavours they tasted and therefore went with vanilla butter, chocolate, butterscotch, double orange and I threw in an extra... red velvet.

Chocolate cake with buttercream and image done with piping jelly.

As they say in showbiz, "Break a leg!"

My customer wishing their bank a good year ahead !

Merry Christmas '09

2009-12-25T17:10:00.001+08:00

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...

2009-11-29T15:25:00.011+08:00

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

2009-11-10T14:08:00.006+08:00

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

2009-10-12T16:26:00.005+08:00

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

2009-09-20T16:47:00.005+08:00

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.

SUCCESS

2009-09-09T12:25:00.011+08:00

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

2009-08-20T18:27:00.009+08:00

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

2009-08-05T19:22:00.007+08:00

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

2009-07-13T21:43:00.013+08:00

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.

Cakey-cakey for the DCruz family

2009-06-16T16:40:00.005+08:00

That was how my dear friend Sue described her order when she emailed me. The cakes below were for one of their regular family get togethers, nearly 50 pax each time.

Vanilla butter cake. Sue's mum turns 70. Her cake incorporates all her interests: children, home, baking, reading, girl guides and sewing. After my royal icing course, I decided to include the recently learned smocking technique here.
Date & walnut cake. For Sue's sister and BIL's 16th anniversary. This is a new recipe shared by Beryl in England. I've not received feedback so I've no idea how this cake turned out but the 'greenies' theme made it fun to do!

Moist chocolate cake for the June babies. Here I played around with colourful glitter piping gel.

PME Professional Diploma in Royal Icing

2009-06-06T11:35:00.009+08:00

And so I've completed all 3 Modules offered by PME, UK. What's next? The Masters certificate is so tempting but let's wait and see. However, it does give me a sense of achievement to hold the 3 diplomas and Calvin's (our sifu) words ring out loud and clear, "You are now a Cake Artists, not home bakers anymore." Wow, that will take a while to sink in!

One thing for sure, I'm no longer intimidated by sugar paste (fondant), sugar flowers or royal icing... bring it on!

I so need a new camera... among other stuff!

2009-05-27T10:36:00.008+08:00

My Fuji Digital cam has seen better days. Followed me to Australia, Bali, New Zealand and all around here. Went for repairs twice... so what more can I ask of it? You have served me well but dang it.... I have to take a dozen snaps before it yields a clear picture!

However a replacement has to wait. I have a water tank, damaged ceiling, walls and floor to think of first (see previous post).

Just when you thought things might go smoothly...

2009-05-13T19:08:00.007+08:00

Sometimes things just falls into place. You sell similar ideas to different clients and in one sitting you get all the toppers done and drying nicely until bake day. See below, how alike everything looks? Same colour scheme, all in buttercream.... aaah, easy peasy, right? Think again....

Before I could really rejoice at how relaxing my weekend is going to be.... the water tank decides to burst and rain on our heads... indoors! So in between baking, I mopped and mopped, searched for a plumber.... mopped some more, all 150 gallons of water the tank held. I'm not even going to show you a picture of the gaping hole in the ceiling the plumber made to get to the source of the leak.

The sound of silence.... and hot air.

2009-05-03T17:36:00.010+08:00

It's been a long, hot, dry and quiet past couple of weeks in my home. My beloved Ken(wood) went on a unannounced vacation (did I over-worked him?).... and I kinda followed.

Only a few orders came along the last couple of weeks. Not that I'm complaining; it must be the hottest season yet! I made all these using good old fashioned brute power before I borrowed a hand held mixer from my kind SIL.

Vanilla butter cupcakes.

Mini cupcakes in butterscotch.

Someone just wanted a good 'ol carrot cake to enjoy. I like it this way too... no fuss and no extra calories!

Chocolate indulgence

2009-04-20T19:34:00.010+08:00

Elaine and family loves my chocolate cakes and cupcakes. And I love them for loving it! Below are all that she ordered recently and including this new addition.... Brownies!!

Chocolate cupcakes.

Moist chocolate cake.

Chocolate Mini cupcakes.

Of course there were orders from others too!

A double orange cake.

Thomas Tank & Friends edible images. A mix of vanilla butter, chocolate and butterscotch cupcakes.

My fave, vanilla butter cake.

Funny bunny

2009-03-31T10:59:00.010+08:00

Let's just say I've always wanted to try this and finally got the chance. I'm pretty pleased with the results. The green letterings are piping gel with glitter... fancy or what?!
Now, if only I had all these branded goods in my wardrobe!

Made these for a friend's brother's 60th birthday bash. Guests thought it was part of the deco!
Oh, and I got another cake display stand in my collection! Yayy! Thanks Bhav!

Carrot and walnut cake with cream cheese frosting.
Something seems amiss with my bunny, I can't quite put my finger on it....
Anyone ...?

PME Professional Diploma in Sugar Flowers

2009-03-19T16:30:00.006+08:00

We kneaded and kneaded, added colour and kneaded some more. We rolled, we stretched, dusted, cut, frilled, pierced, layered and screamed at our failure to create something/anything similar to what Calvin showed! *mumbles under our breath.... what did we get ourselves into?!*

The last day (graduation day) was the most taxing. We dusted, and dusted and sneezed a rainbow of petal dust. Then came the binding of the flowers. Some took notes, some didn't.... others screamed, "Calvin, help!!" But we persevered, although come 9pm some were packing up and prepared to leave unfinished. Let me give you an idea of how long a day it was, I left the place at almost midnight!

And so we all graduated, and we have pictures to prove!

A Christmas arrangement - Poinsettias.
The strawberry and blackberry bushes.

Now where was I ......?

2009-03-15T22:45:00.025+08:00

Gosh, it's been so long I've forgotten how to do this! No, I lie... it's a cop out for having all the pictures in a jumble! The layout usually goes awry, it always does.... I don't expect it to be any different this time. I've no idea what I'm doing wrong!

My iBook crashed. I lost everything *sob, sob* All my music, bits of info on baking and decorating, saved Bookmarks, my manuscript (did I mention I was writing a recipe book?), pictures of my works are gone (I think I have most of them here and in Flickr, so that's a consolation).

Having said all that, here are some highlights of what I've been up to.

May I present the easiest design in the world!

Some wedding favour ideas.

Something decadent.

For the little ones.

A star is born. I know, that was corny....

For the football fans.

When you're out of ideas for kids, racing cars are always good!

Valentine's... and all the way back to CNY

2009-02-15T19:05:00.021+08:00

I'm late with all my festive wishes and I apologize. I blame the weather, the hot spell lately makes me lethargic. No one's buying that, huh? Truth be told, I have been busy, hopefully in my next post you'll get to see what I've been up to.

My Chinese New Year designs.

Now, let's make some teddy bears and bunnies!

Getting ready for F! 2009!

Everyone want a 'Mermaid' theme lately

"No milk today...

2009-01-28T00:59:00.004+08:00

... my love has gone away."

That's the line from a Hermans Hermits' song that keeps repeating in my head tonight as I try to compose this post. What I am trying to say is my laptop crashed and that's why I've not shown anything new. My latest works are safely stored in my digital camera for now. Did I say safe? Well, the camera did recently suffered a breakdown.

Anyhoo, I'm optimistic that all pictures of my works are recoverable together with the other important data. Failing which I have the last 200 pictures featured on Flickr and all can be seen if I go Pro. Meanwhile, I'll uncross my fingers only when necessary eg. when baking.

My thanks to Gibb for getting my digital camera fixed, my nephew for letting me use his shiny new MacBook while he was out of town and my brother for the loan of his desktop.

Colours

2009-01-11T12:37:00.016+08:00

Happy belated 2009!

I've been lax with updates for want of something interesting to blog about.... until today. My last design (below) was met with this comment "Very Indian". We sometimes don't have to use many words to get our message across. My brother's reaction was, "Being one quarter Indian ourselves, what do you expect?" Bless his honest soul!

But seriously, I think India and Indians have the most vibrant colours imaginable... and almost enviable. Having half able to achieve that effect myself would be the highest compliment to me!

Being in this line, we're always looking for new colours. We may achieve the perfect shade today but may not get the same effect for the next batch. One lesson I've learned again and again..... always make MORE!

Some more colours below... enjoy!

A special shoutout to my friend C, in Canada who's not feeling too hot lately. Well d'uh... it's -25C there! Feel better dear!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T03:58:00.002+08:00

I think the above picture is befitting for today. It was my last project before graduating from the PME Sugar paste course. The criteria was to feature 2 'bubble' figures and a sugar paste drape but otherwise Calvin (our instructor whom we teased mercilessly) said it was freestyle. Most went for the wedding theme and I must say the works that were produced were very impressive!

Besides Calvin, our very patient instructor, I also have to thank Suan, my partner in crime during the course. Also a fellow ex-advertising industry person, Suan was literally my strong man... sorry, strong person.... throughout the course. Thanks for all your help Suan, I hope we can do another course together.

I never got to taking it easy this month, I have loads more pictures to share. I'll feature them in my next blog entry. I just want to put my feet up for a couple of days and give my swollen ankles a rest.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

A December to go slow

2008-12-02T16:40:00.013+08:00

As much as I like to be kept busy, I think I owe it to myself to take it easy this month. Enjoy my birthday and leisurely prepare for Christmas with the family. I was already midway preparing for my Christmas 2008 toppers when a sudden change of date for the last PME sugarpaste class kinda threw everything outta whack. But I'm still taking orders until the 20th, afterwhich I will come back with some changes to my menu and a long overdue price revision, nothing drastic I promise!

My works for the last week:

Oreo Cookies and Chocolate cupcakes with a request for 5 little gumpaste piggys and to go easy on the icing.

Vanilla butter & chocolate mini cupcakes

I made 6 different cupcake flavours in 1 day and I for the life of me I cannot remember which is which except for the distinct chocolate ones. The others were Vanilla butter, butterscotch, double orange, marmalade and coconut orange. Luckily I labelled the boxes as I went along but I seriously doubt if any of the customer would have complained if they received the wrong order. How's that for being cock-sure?! *grins*

Oh, and for some of these I was asked to be generous with the icing. How I love to hear those magical words!

So much to do and so little time

2008-11-23T18:40:00.015+08:00

Wow... 2 weeks just zoomed past or has it been 3? I've been attending a sugar paste course and baking in between. Some people are asking about Christmas cakes already and I'm like "Christmas is here??" Sometimes I wished there was 3 of me, firstly so I don't have to explain what needs done, secondly 2 of us can stay home to bake while the other does all the running around and thirdly, we can take turns working sometimes up to 5am!

The weather lately... sigh... so buttercream unfriendly! I should be grateful that I don't work with fondant so much. Our beautiful sugarpaste designs all fell off the cake as soon as we brought them home... horrors.... a dreadful thought if it was really for a customer!

Anyways, enjoy the pics below!

Vanilla butter cake

Mini vanilla butter cupcakes

I didn't expect this order to turn out so Christmassy looking!

Johann celebrates being 1 month old. The 2. empty spots are to be filled with red eggs

A belated Halloween

2008-11-10T14:34:00.008+08:00

I know, I know... it's long over but I'm so behind with my updates!

Hope y'all had a scary one!

No prize for guessing right!

2008-10-26T22:22:00.004+08:00

I baked all these on the same day. Actually there were 2 more but I feel they're kinda ordinary looking to feature. Anyways, can you guess what these all have in common?
Look at bottom of post for answer.

Semolina (sugee) cake

Butterscotch cupcakes with caramel frosting

Semolina (sugee) cake

Double Orange cake

A mix of vanilla butter, chocolate and butterscotch cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes

Orange cupcakes

I basically used only 3 colours... white, green and pink. Except for that little bit of yellow I had leftover.

Is this all?

2008-10-19T23:51:00.000+08:00

I swear I cannot get used to the layout of this blog. I apologize if the pictures are haphazard and un-creatively laid out. I have to work from bottom up and it's not unlike driving in reverse!

It felt like I was baking my buns off (pun intended) all week but when I look at the pictures, I say, "Is that all?"

Moist chocolate cake. This size is approximately 3Kg.
Butter cake. Still very much a favourite and my best seller.
Vanilla butter cupcakes... all 50 pieces of them.
A mix of vanilla butter and choc cupcakes
Butterscotch cupcakes with caramel frosting
Vanilla butter cupcakes
Strawberry cupcakes

Double Orange cake

Sugee (semolina) cake

3 babes and an older gentleman

2008-10-13T11:57:00.017+08:00

Eggless vanilla butter cupcakes for Szu's granddaddy's 67th birthday
For Sue, Terence and their newborn. Congratulations to the new parents!

Elaine celebrates her 2 months old baby with a moist Chocolate cake

Aidan turns 3

Sue ordered these for the doctors and staff at the hospital where she delivered her baby boy

Selamat Hari Raya

2008-10-04T23:25:00.005+08:00

I did a lot of baking this week but I just wanted to feature the ones specifically for Raya.

Carrot and Walnut cake with cream cheese frosting.
Double Orange cake

Mocha cupcakes

A mixed week

2008-09-22T17:01:00.009+08:00

A couple of girly themed orders which are always fun to do

Sugee (semolina) cake for my friend Baldish. We even gave 2 slices to the table next to us at dinner as one of them too was celebrating her birthday that night.
Butterscotch cupcakes for some folks who will be spending a couple of months here. Hope you brought sunblock and umbrellas!
Some chocolate Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes for Cecilia.
A Mooncake and Chinese lantern theme to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival

A short story

2008-09-14T23:22:00.004+08:00

One day, Mei ordered this Chocolate fruit cake for Jimmy's belated birthday. Girl, next time tell me it's for someone's birthday so I can add a message and provide candles!

Jimmy in turn ordered these Chocolate cupcakes for Jennifer, a Mommy-to-be, who had just arrived from the US.

Jennifer dropped me a lovely note today ...

Hi Ivy,

I am the mommy-to-be who got the pretty cupcakes for my birthday!! They were delicious!!!!
My husband & I are thinking about ordering cupcakes from you after our baby is born, for the one month's celebration..
We will contact you when the time is right.

You are a genius!!

Jennifer C

THE END

Aaah, stories like that always makes my week!

Working with edible images

2008-09-09T11:16:00.007+08:00

I had the opportunity to work with edible images recently. While they give a flawless finish, they are tricky little fellas to work with. Here's my advise: don't attempt working on them on very hot or humid days unless you are lucky enough to have an air conditioned environment and always print a few extras to cater for tearing or damage.

Sugee cupcakes for Roger & Puteri's wedding.

A mix of vanilla butter, chocolate, butterscotch and orange cupcakes for a boutique launch.

2008-08-31T15:31:00.001+08:00

I made 200 cupcakes for my nephew's kindie Merdeka celebration. Got the idea from Anita, a very talented baker whom I met through Flickr.

100 mini vanilla butter and chocolate cupcakes for 10 year old Adeleina.

The following Vanilla butter and chocolate cupcakes were hand carried on a plane to Bali!

Simple Vanilla butter cupcakes with buttercream and a strawberry to garnish.

The football cake is Orange & Coconut while the cupcakes are Butterscotch.

Time for an update

2008-08-23T18:54:00.015+08:00

It's been like what, 2 weeks since my last post? I've baked and baked and baked some more.

Since the trusty Fuji digital camera decided to take a long overdue break, I had to borrow another to record my works.

There are loads more not featured here but for now I'll shut up and let you enjoy the pics...

I wished I knew how to play around with the page layout. For a while now I have had to work the page from bottom up. Have to think in reverse.

OK, I did say I'll shut up....

Notice something not right with Elmo? No prize for guessing!

A week of mishaps

2008-08-10T22:39:00.000+08:00

They say it happens in threes. I beg to differ... at last count it was 7. I'm not going into details lest I jinx myself further! Sabar, Ivy, sabar....

What you see below is less than half what I produced this week. The football jersey was the last picture I took before my camera went on the blink (that was mishap #3). Use my cell phone, did I hear someone say? Turn the phone to camera mode and it tells me "Busy, Try Again". Can someone explain that to me?!

So this will temporarily be my last post until I manage to beg, borrow or steal a digital camera.

Raunchy butterscotch cupcakes. Look closely and you might see some cellulite. Haha... I'm glad nothing or no one is perfect!

Chocolate cupcakes for a Liverpool FC fan.

Some chocolate Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes.

2008-08-03T22:55:00.000+08:00

A week of many quotations and designs going to and fro... and only a few were realized *sigh* Nonetheless, it was a hectic week; the main concern was looking for a new and hardy cake mixer. Boy, are those things EXPENSIVE! I am now a proud owner of a Kenwood Patissier.

Yvonne said her daughter likes coconut, so a Coconut Orange cake it was. She also likes my Butterscotch cupcakes. I hope Mik likes the same!

This 'funny faces' design seems to be a favourite with the grown ups. I do enjoy making them. These were all Chocolate cupcakes.

Hazel is about the only one (thank God!) that will call in a panic and want cupcakes within the hour! Fortunately these Vanilla Butter (Hazel's most fave) cupcakes were eventually wanted for the next day. I still love that woman to death!

Sue wanted some Vanilla Butter cupcakes packed 8 pieces to a box.

2008-07-27T18:05:00.012+08:00

A simple design with vanilla butter and chocolate cupcakes.

All vanilla butter cupcakes for 10 year old Jin Liang.

The #3 cake is chocolate frosted with chocolated ganache and topped with choc beans. It looks large but it's no bigger than 1Kg. Surrounded by vanilla butter and more chocolate cupcakes.

A new addition to my menu

2008-07-20T12:41:00.006+08:00

Orange Coconut cake. A fan of coconut, George decided to give this cake a try. He requested for retro design.
Chocolate Almond cupcakes. Another friend's (and ex-boss) birthday. Sorry I couldn't come for the dinner. I'm sure my presence was felt through these cupcakes!

Chocolate Orange cupcakes. Tried a new recipe ... nice... think I'll add this to my menu. Thanks George, you're my partner in crime where citrus fruits are concerned!

Girlie pink

2008-07-13T22:59:00.001+08:00

Coincidently, all orders for this week were requested in pink.

Vanilla butter cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes

Butterscotch cupcakes topped with white chocolate ganache, decorated in buttercream.

A month of birthdays

2008-07-06T23:26:00.002+08:00

July... an expensive month for me, filled with birthdays in the family and among friends! It starts with this one below, my nephew turns 6. He requested for strawberry cupcakes and I obliged. A small tweak in the recipe and yummilicious!

Butterscotch cupcakes topped with caramel icing, decorated with buttercream.

A first

2008-06-29T17:48:00.008+08:00

Another usual typically busy week in the office!

My first princess cake. Not as difficult as I thought it would be but painstakingly time consuming making the tiara with royal icing. Needed 3 layers to ensure its sturdiness, fearing it might still break but hey, nothing did! Everything is edible I'm proud to say!

Fun week

2008-06-21T13:10:00.010+08:00

It was a fun week, albeit a frustrating one with all my car problems.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

2008-06-15T21:16:00.001+08:00

All chocolate this week. Now I'm out of cocoa.

Rocky Road Chewy Chocolate Superheroes cookies
All drawn freehand with royal icing. Poor Spidey looks like he got hit by a train!

Chocolate cupcakes

Renovations

2008-06-07T19:23:00.004+08:00

A week of small renovations and repairs to the house. It's funny how when you finally list the things to be repaired, replaced or removed it comes to a page long! Not to mention how when you find extra repairs, replaces and removals along the way... eg. the bathroom floor tiles just warped and cracked overnight!

I'm glad I got those extra shelves made in the kitchen. With the escalating prices of fuel recently, I'm sure to find the prices of ingredients raised accordingly. More reason to buy in bulk, I never did before as I didn't have the storage space.

Thanks Shon for the one and only order I had this week. A for those of you who might be coming again to collect your order, the house is no more white and brown but white and black.

2008-06-01T00:11:00.000+08:00

I was looking forward to this week. A few interesting projects, as you can see below.

My first wedding cupcakes. Sugee (semolina) cake with buttercream and sugar paste decorations.

The Euro 2008 fever begins.... with a Chocolate cake!

This order came from Priscilla in the UK for her Mum's 60th birthday.

Busy week

2008-05-24T16:58:00.011+08:00

Just when I thought it was going to be a quiet week, these happened....

This is what you get for tuning 55!

For someone leaving to work in The Netherlands. All the best!

Teacher's Day

2008-05-17T22:43:00.007+08:00

Chocolate cupcakes for fave teachers.

Coconut orange cake in a soccer ball like shape.

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T13:43:00.002+08:00

A couple of Mother's Day orders. All in Vanilla butter and chocolate.

A pretty young thing planned a glam bash for her friend's 21st birthday bash. She wanted me to follow some designs that Trish CupcakeMomma had done. Thanks Trish for the inspiration, I hope I did you justice. Oreo Cookie cupcakes with fondant stars.

Semolina (sugee) cake.... my fave, yums!

Went to visit a friend/ex-boss who broke her ankle *ouch* The Double Orange cupcakes reads "You're not in showbiz... Speedy recovery Hazel"

Pretty cupcakes for a another pretty young thing. Hana ordered these from Melbourne before coming home to collect them. She was sweet enough to SMS me after to say everyone loved them!

Coconut Orange cake. My last delivery to Lowe. I have been dumped for pre-mixes! *cries*

Just cupcakes

2008-05-03T13:03:00.011+08:00

That's what this week has been about... nothing but cupcakes. I do enjoy making them, easier to decorate and one can get really creative with them. I'm waiting for the opportunity to individually decorate each cupcake in such a way that when you arrange them all together, it makes one complete picture... know what I mean?

More 'boobies' cupcakes... needless to say it was for a guy! A mix of Vanilla Butter and Butterscotch cupcakes.

Individually wrapped Oreo Cookie cupcakes with crushed cookie buttercream topped with a Hershey Kiss or an Oreo Wafer Roll. A nice thank you gesture... lucky people!

Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream for a Liverpool FC fan. The customer had to make the club logo 'flags' as I don't have a printer. *Hint, hint*

The lady likes pink

2008-04-25T23:38:00.005+08:00

That was what I was told... that's all! So Aunty here decided to try something new and came up with these Strawberry cupcakes with strawberry flavoured buttercream. It's in my menu now, upon availability of the berries, of course.

Marmalade cake. I heard this cake had to sit in the fridge for 2 days as the birthday boy/man went AWOL.

For babes

2008-04-20T18:17:00.010+08:00

I love colours and that's why I love making birthday cakes for babies and young kids. So far my designs have achieved my sole and rather wicked intentions... I want these kiddies to be terribly attracted with the myriad of colours and lunge for the cake! There is no written rule to how cake should be eaten, right??

There were 2 additional boxes of cupcakes on top of this main birthday cake. The combination of flavours were Vanilla butter, Chocoalte, Butter scotch and Mocha.

Babes of another kind. I was given the brief that the birthday person is a rather "cheeky fella". I just took it from there. I hope he enjoyed licking off all the cream cheese frosting from these Carrot cake cupcakes!

When it rains, it pours!

2008-04-05T23:00:00.006+08:00

I'm talking about the recent spate of tropical thunderstorms in the afternoons. The recent big one took out my fuse box and my electric automated gates. I wasn't home when it happened, so imagine my frustration at having to manually open 2 heavy wooden gates in the pouring rain! Fans of a wet t-shirt contest would have had a ball!

I apologize to those whose orders I had to call back and turn down... I felt especially bad for one 7 year old kid. When I got my power supply back, the first thing I checked was my oven, then my fridge, then my computer! Only then did other parts of the house mattered.

The good thing about the rain is, it makes the nights bearable to sleep even without the fan rotating. With nothing to do in the dark, the mind wanders.... thinking about all the costly expenses for the month... car repairs and service nearly 1K... fuse box and gate, bill not in yet.... to see the Orthopedic surgeon next week, more $$ *sigh*

Those who have seen me would notice I've been wearing a knee brace... I have a feeling the doc won't have good news for me. They say trouble comes in threes... was that 3 already?

Anyways, this is what I achieved this week....

2008-03-30T17:51:00.001+08:00

I cannot say it was a busy week because 1 week consist of 7 days. I made all these in 3 days... I was literally falling off my feet! Luckily I did not drop any cake, that's my ultimate fear! I've heard so many horror stories about tripping while carrying a cake... let me tell you, it's no laughing matter!

These are a combination of mini(40mm paper liners) Vanilla butter & Chocolate cupcakes, 70 pieces in total. They were fun to do (my first time) but very limited space to get creative with designs.

Oreo Cookies cupcakes

A lovely girl Tasha, came all the way from Shah Alam to collect this Chocolate cake for her Mom's surprise birthday do. She described her Mom as a gardening enthusiast, I immediately thought of flowers. Tasha wrote me today to say her mother and all her aunties loved it! I love getting such feedback! *grins*

Another Moist Chocolate cake.

A Royal Malaysian Military College alumni turns 60. The design on the cake followed the logo/theme for the surprise birthday party.
Moist Chocolate cake

I get a little nervous when asked to do cakes that are 'different'. Having said that, you actually cannot taste the difference. This Eggless Carrot and Orange cake with Citrus buttercream topped with candied citrus peel and ginger smelled wonderful while baking and looked yummylicious (as someone described it) when done!

And the good 'ol vanilla butter and chocolate cupcakes.

Time flies

2008-03-21T19:32:00.003+08:00

It's my niece's 14th birthday today. Wasn't it just last week she was still obsessed with her Barbie dolls? And today she has more expensive taste than I do! How time passes so quickly...!
She gave strict instructions that her birthday cupcakes were not to look kiddie... no sprinkles... no fondant lettering.... sigh....!
At least she like these Butterscotch cupcakes.

Moist Chocolate cake with Chocolate buttercream

A week of variety

2008-03-15T14:17:00.003+08:00

Ameera had 2 cakes for her birthday... lucky kid! Her first cake on the day of her birthday was featured in my earlier post. I heard she went for the candle with gusto! Oh, and she liked the vanilla butter cake too... she doesn't most cakes.

I hope she liked this Moist Chocolate cake with buttercream just as much!

Another 'cake-on-a-budget'. Honey Coconut cake with Caramel Icing.

A friend bought a bunch of us dinner recently. I made some him some Butterscotch cupcakes with chocolate glaze.

Afterwhich, I made it home not too late for Kavitha to come collect this Carrot cake with Cream Cheese frosting for her mom's 60th.

A week of changes

2008-03-09T17:32:00.006+08:00

Malaysians woke to a new political era today. Are we expecting to see any quick changes?

Speaking of changes, that pretty sums up my past baking week. A few orders were canceled, a few new ones(not that I'm complaining) and some good news(keeping fingers crossed!)

Now, the trouble with a certain good friend of mine is, when she wants to eat cake she has to share. So her order ended up being one for herself, one for her nephew, one for her neighbour and one for her friend. We could do with more people like her around!
Pumpkin Date loaf cake

I am grateful I get to make many cakes for kids. Isn't it obvious I love playing with colours?!
Vanilla Butter cake topped with citrus flavoured buttercream.

A cake-on-a-budget. The good news is, they've increased the 'budget' per person. We'll get to see bigger cakes and an extended variety, hopefully soon!
Golden Caramel cake with Chocolate glace icing topped with white chocolate chips.

New recipes

2008-03-01T19:29:00.009+08:00

My last 2 bakes were new recipes. My thanks goes out to friends and customers who let me 'experiment' on them!

This one is is truly for the brave! A Mississippi Mud cake (with whiskey) coated with whiskey sauce and chocolate buttercream. I'm awaiting feedback from the customer but what I can tell you is the Whiskey sauce gave me a buzz!

This is Oreo Cookies cupcakes. Just need to add more Oreo next time. Trouble is, cookies in cake make the the cookie go soft, so the crunch is gone. I still can't decide which frosting goes better, vanilla or chocolate buttercream. Someone suggested cream cheese.... hmmmm, I don't think so.

This is NOT good (2)

2008-02-22T23:19:00.005+08:00

The weather's still warm... very, very warm.
And then Blogger won't let me in.
And now my digital camera is acting up. These are the only 2 pictures worth posting. All others are blurred and gone in the trash.

Enjoy these carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

The week that was

2008-02-09T16:02:00.000+08:00

A blistering hot week, normally associated with the Chinese New Year. Come rain or shine, the cakes must be made. Here's what I made this week.

Cakes for all ages

2008-02-02T18:34:00.001+08:00

Moist chocolate cake with choc buttercream for two 2 year olds. One thing I do know about toddlers is that they like shapes and colours. I hope this is enough attraction to get 20 little fingers into the cake!

I supply cakes to a certain organization that has only X amount to spend on each employee's birthday. These are not too bad looking with a limited budget, I suppose. Trouble is, I have only so many recipes that fall into that specific budget, including delivery.

A cupcake week

2008-01-27T16:41:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday Shon. I made your favourite, carrotcake with fresh strawberries on top. A slight twist to the recipe, I added chopped glaced ginger. I actually like it!

Been making a lot of these lately. I'm not complaining; it takes very little of my time. Vanilla butter cupcakes with buttercream and topped with strawberries. How simpler and yummier can that get?

And an assortment of designs to vanilla butter cupcakes to keep the young ones happy.

With ...

2008-01-21T20:02:00.000+08:00

... and without.

I think they both look equally pretty. I actually was looking to get our local strawberries as the size is just appropriate. As luck would have it, they were out. Selfishly, I must admit, I didn't want the fruit to outshine my buttercream decoration. These are Egyptian berries and like NZ ones, huge! But what amazed me about these imported ones, not one single berry was bruised, unlike our local ones where half the pack would not be usable. Go figure!

This is NOT good....

2008-01-19T21:11:00.000+08:00

Both my microwave oven and hand held cake mixer has gone dead on me. Had to do this batch almost entirely the old fashioned way. Mmmmm... I think I'm building muscles already!

It's ridiculous!

2008-01-12T14:30:00.000+08:00

The way prices of foodstuff keep rising, it's not even funny anymore! Every time I go buy my supplies, I leave with a higher bill than before. Just when I had re-worked my new pricelist to something that's barely noticeable to the customer and not too much of a burden on me, I'd have to re-look again. I cannot promise everyone will be happy this time. It's a bummer, I know. I should go search for recipes that doesn't need butter, flour, eggs, milk..... sigh.....!

Happy 50th and Bon Voyage!

2008-01-04T23:09:00.000+08:00

A dear, dear friend celebrates being 50 tonight. We were all there to help eat Sugee cake. But plenty left to take home to savour another day.

However, in less than a month she will leave for Vancouver. We will miss you so. Good luck, God speed and find a HOT one!

Happy 2008

2008-01-01T18:10:00.000+08:00

It's been terribly hot and humid lately. Makes it very uncomfortable working with a hot oven. Not to mention my poor buttercream... the poor thing can hardly stand up to this heat! I've resorted to do all the frosting work at nights, not that it's very much cooler. Work quickly and in the fridge it goes. Look at the buttercream roses below, it's literally wilting in this heat!

Working nights is very calming. No phones, tvs or Moms to distract you. Just an occasional cicak calling in the distance.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for my neighbour, she just had a new baby. Congrats!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-25T17:24:00.000+08:00

Hope everyone had a good one!

I thought it was going to be a quiet one this year where baking was concerned but I ended up making quite a bit! I did not manage to take pics of some as I was fighting against time to meet the deadline.

And finally, I managed to squeeze some time to make some yummies for the family gathering on Christmas eve... Strawberry swirl cheesecake, Semolina (sugee) cake and Nigella Lawson's Chocolate fruit cake.

Being patriotic

2007-12-13T17:24:00.000+08:00

Although I didn't ask, I'm assuming this is for someone in our national football squad. Creating this design I already felt a sense of pride! Corny, huh? I wished I could contribute more significantly....

This is probably the last birthday cake I'll be making for this year. Here's to a load of new ideas for 2008!

Year ending 2007

2007-12-02T19:06:00.000+08:00

No time for reflections. Just look ahead and plan for the future. My main concern at the moment is the ever increasing prices of basic ingredients. As much as I hate to do this but I have to revise my prices. I'll hold on until Jan 2008. Happy Holidays to everyone and special greetings and congratulations to a dear friend who is getting hitched this month.

I'll sign off for now with pictures of my latest bakes.

Cakes for babes

2007-11-24T23:49:00.000+08:00

Mikhail's mother booked this cake a couple of months ago. A simple vanilla butter cake and in reminiscence of her very first birthday cake.

With this one I was trying to make all the little girl's fave colours and shapes work together.

Temporary freedom!

2007-11-18T19:37:00.000+08:00

The school year is over for most. Time to sleep in, chill and hang out with friends... without guilt! A bunch of 13 year olds celebrated with a party last night. Lotsa food, drinks(sodas, I hope!) and of course, cake!

Kids, make the most of it... 6 weeks will fly!

3 year old vs 38 year old

2007-11-10T18:18:00.000+08:00

It's so nice when customers say, "I leave it to you-lah." One can get carried away with design, colours and decorations. Yus had no idea what type of birthday cake she wanted for her 3 year old girl. Keeping that in mind, I went for a pinkish and flowery look. I hope both mother and child were happy!

Below then is for the 38 year old guy. Cupcakes to compliment a small birthday cake. Simple instructions from the customer... bright and colourful. Two words I love to hear... and I stayed with designs that would appeal to all ages.

Cupcakes galore!

2007-11-07T13:14:00.000+08:00

I love arranging and taking pictures of cupcakes like this. Makes it look like I baked and frosted a gazillion cupcakes! Actually I did make pretty many this past weekend up to yesterday. See them below.

Everyone needs to get a birthday cake

2007-11-01T19:13:00.000+08:00

It feels good to be remembered and celebrated by family, friends or workmates. No big do required but hey, no one's gonna stop you if you want to plan one!

I rushed to bake this walnut brownie cake like 2 hours before the family met up for lunch. Packed some buttercream icing ready in a piping bag with the #2 writing tip and candles in my handbag. Quickly scribbled the wordings when cake was cool enough. The birthday girls didn't complain!

A sudden facination with sugarpaste

2007-10-28T16:42:00.000+08:00

I bought a 1Kg tub of sugarpaste and put all my cookie cutters to good use! There's something very therapeutic in the kneading, the rolling, getting the colours well incorporated or doing that marble effect thingy. Not to mention how delicious your hands would smell afterwards. I don't wear gloves and don't really care the food colouring stains my hands, they wash out after a day.

I'm on a mission now to have sugarpaste alphabet in all colours possible. Why? I have no idea!?! But first, to find the easiest way to release the sugarpaste from the cutter without all those poke marks!

What a weekend!

2007-10-16T22:47:00.000+08:00

What started out as only having an order for 4 dozen cupcakes this Raya weekend ended up with 12 dozen cupcakes and 7 cakes. I was perfectly happy doing them all until when I wasn't particularly satisfied with one of the orders so I re-did it and that kept me up until 4am that day.

A lot, lot...!

2007-10-07T18:36:00.000+08:00

Never before have I been asked to 'put icing a lot lot!"(Don't you just love Malaysian-English? No need for many words but the point gets across!) Always a first for everything, they say and I gladly obliged!

And keeping to the topic of 'a lot', prices of many ingredients have gone up... yup, a lot! In the past 2 years I have been able to absorb the rising prices. Not anymore, I'm afraid. I'll be re-working my prices but I promise it won't be more than a 10% increase. Thank you for your continued support.

Something new, something old with a new twist

2007-10-05T22:45:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday Sue and Michelle. Sorry the pictures did not turn out clear... we have to fire the photographer! What turned out good though were these orange and raisin cupcakes!

I think these are quite apporpriate for our warm weather of late; vanilla butter cupcakes with buttercream frosting topped with fresh strawberries. Thanks Asyriana, you made a good choice!

Cupcake friends

2007-10-02T11:45:00.000+08:00

When I turned 21, I threw a party... no one came. Thank God for family who were there to save the day! Maybe that's why until today I'm very reluctant to hold any more parties. I should have just made a few of these fellas and had my own fun!

Happy 5th birthday Andrew. Hope you like these as much as I enjoyed making them. A special birthday wish too goes out to RB in Virginia, USA.

More cupcakes for Evelyn and her boys

2007-09-27T12:32:00.000+08:00

I was more than happy to make more, especially since Evelyn and family came all the way from Ozland to taste my bakes! She had earlier taken a sugee cake up to Penang to celebrate her aunt's 70th birthday(see previous post). I was particularly nervous about that but it survived the journey and still tasted good 4 days later! Thanks dear, hope you're having a good holiday here.

I also threw in some of these choc ones to get some feedback on a new recipe. We all felt the same... too dry. I suppose I'll stick with the Devil's Foodcake recipe.

On a budget

2007-09-19T22:07:00.000+08:00

A certain organization celebrates their employee's birthdays with individual cakes. It can be a costly affair. Therefore, I have offered to provide an assortment of cakes within their limited budget. Here's the first cake and hopefully more orders to come! Happy birthday Baldish and thanks for introducing my cakes to Lowe.

Now to go through my recipe books for more....

Note: And a special thanks to Stephie Leigh on her idea for this method of colouring and piping the frosting.

A colourful day

2007-09-15T19:09:00.000+08:00

*Cough, cough, cough...* Feeling a little under the weather on a warm, warm day, a trooper never gives in! How could I? I would have disappointed a lot of people in one day if I did. But look... see all the pretty colours I got to work with. It made up for the fact that I had to work until 2am... blah, the washing up can wait 'til morning!

Good to be home

2007-09-09T11:16:00.000+08:00

Vacations are always nice but it's true, there's no place like home. I know some of my regulars tried to call and I apologize for causing any inconvenience.

I've almost forgotten how difficult it is to work with buttercream in this heat. Nevertheless, I don't think these turned out too bad. I hope Faridz's lucky girl pal feels the same.

Away

2007-08-13T12:26:00.000+08:00

I'll be on vacation for 2 weeks from 19th August, back in business again after 3rd September.

I'll leave you with what would probably be the last cake I bake before I fly off this weekend... an almond chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.

A chocolatey weekend

2007-07-29T18:45:00.000+08:00

I've attempted many chocolate cake recipes but this remains my favourite. I'll stop messing with all the other recipes and stick with this one. Use the freshest ingredients and good quality cocoa and chocolate and you'll have yourself a good cake.

And of course, cupcakes are always a must!

Happy Birthday Hazel

2007-07-13T12:48:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to the infamous Ms F... my ex-AV colleague, my ex-boss and always a friend. She's one of a kind and thank God there's only one! She can be your bestest friend or your worstest enemy. I love her to death. To borrow a quote from Sue, "There's Friendster, there's Bookster... and there's Hazel!

To all at dinner last night, thanks for constantly being guinea pigs to my new and un-tried recipes. I promise, the next time you taste this Sugee cake, it'll be so good you'll swear it has ganja in it!

A Liverpool FC fan

2007-07-08T17:14:00.000+08:00

Hmmmm... I wonder what gave it away? He went from Pooh Bear (last year) to Steven Gerrard. Dang... who wouldn't?!

The 'jersey' cake is the birthday boy's fave, vanilla butter and the 'football' cake below is eggless choc-orange marble, thought you might want to know. And as always, chocolate cupcakes are a must and I also let them try a new flavour... hazelnut butter. Don't you just love customers who are game to try anything?

Baby Shower cupcakes

2007-07-07T17:02:00.000+08:00

I thoroughly enjoyed doing this batch. Made me feel all girlie and such. And look... pink baby booties! Aaaawww....!

My nephew's birthday

2007-07-05T16:53:00.000+08:00

I have 4 nephews, whose ages range from 5 to 22. This one was for the youngest fellow. All his kindie mates had a piece. There was even some leftover to bring home!