Happy Clown Birthday Cake

26th July – Today is my little nephew’s birthday! Time really flies…the cheeky little boy is turning 5 this year!

To celebrate his birthday, we had a little party at his home on last Saturday. My mom cooked up a feast for up to nearly 20 young and old family members while I am responsible for a customized birthday cake.

I came out with a cheerful clown as the theme for the cake that goes together with little cuppies on a two-tiered cake stand. As for the cake flavor, I improvised a little from my new  found favorite recipe…Rose flavored cake, then filled with Lychee and Longan.

As soon as the birthday boy blew the candle, the little clowns and decorations on top of the cake were all grabbed away by the fascinated kids. Some of the clowns body parts even end up in their mouth! 

Well, at least I know they love the cakes (sugars) *grin*

Happy Birthday my sweet little nephew…

Lychee Rose Cupcakes

I love this recipe to bits…simply because of the rose flavored cake and the ‘surprise’ within.

My whole house was filled with wonderful aroma from rose essence even when the cake has just pushed into oven. As I watched the cake slowly rising and turned slightly brown, I knew the cupcakes would turn out great! Then the ‘surprise’ inside is a whole lychee in canned with chunks of almonds.

I just can’t wait to sink my teeth into one!

 Whipped cream frosting with rose buds and petals

Smaller cuppies with only half a lychee

Simply classic and elegant...and most importantly, it taste superbly yummy!

Butter Cheese Cake

I found a very simple and easy recipe that evens a 7-year old could do it! But what makes me said that? Well, the recipe was awfully straightforward with no ‘baking’ rules like other cakes recipe would have and best of all, minimal ingredients involved. Yet, the one thing that I am attracted to is the cheddar cheese that goes into the cake. I always love cheese, so the cake would definitely taste good! Thus this recipe goes into my baking list for this week. And now presenting to you….the simplest Butter Cheese Cupcakes!

Coincidentally again, yesterday was my cousin’s birthday. This time was the younger sister’s. So with the many cupcakes yield from this recipe, it would be a shame if I did not give her a surprise birthday cake. But I was not prepared for this! Unless, I wanted to simply give her the naked cupcakes with no decorations. Of course, I hate to do that especially to a birthday girl. That is when I found whipped cream and some leftovers MM Fondant in fridge. So this is the quickest and simplest decorations I came out with…

Happy Birthday Zhi Yen...Jia hope you liked the cake!

Ribbons & Bows: Mini cake

It’s always a coincident that my cousin’s birthday falls on the same day as when I was busy baking the two-tier cake for my MIL. Last year was the same, her birthday happened to be the day I was trying out on fondant recipe. Looking back, it has been more than a year now that I have been working on cakes and fondants!

I had to confess that I did not bake a proper cake for her this year. It was with the left over cakes that I cut out from the two-tier cake for my MIL and stacked up into a mini cake enough for one.

Packed and ready for delivery

I do hope she liked this last minute surprise gift! Happy Birthday Zhi Lynn.

Ribbons & Bows: Two-Tier Cake for MIL

I am on a mission again…

This time, I try to challenge myself to the next level! To bake a two-tier cake for my mother-in-law’s upcoming 60th birthday. It will be a surprise birthday celebration for her. Same goes to this cake, a surprise to all!

This will be the first time I am baking such a big cake, so Google up for some tricks and tips to equipped myself with knowledge from preserving moist in a cake to staking tier cake and even decorating ideas.

Now common issue I always encountered….Colors and designs! Well, I wanted the cake to be simple yet elegant. Thus, cute figures are out from my list. Since I had not had the chance to try out ribbons and bows design during the last baking, so I figured this is just the perfect timing to test this out. I have the rough design in mind now, but what would be the perfect color? My MIL is bold yet is a loving wife and a devoted mother so I suppose dark brown and pink with white would perfectly match her character.

Then the final decision is the flavor of the cake. I found a great recipe on Moist Yellow Cake. Sounds like a great recipe and I believe it goes well with whipped cream and blueberry filling.

Finally, here is the outcome of my one and a half day hard work. I hope she will love this cake though I had to admit my skills is not perfect, still long way for me to reach up to those professional level *grin* 

To my MIL…Happy Sweet Birthday. May you be in good health and continue to stay pretty.

Happy Mother's Day

Tomorrow is Mother's Day...and I wanted to bake something special for my mom-in-law. I figured that a simple bow/ribbon from fondant paste would perfectly decorate the cake I had in mind. 

But to my unfortunate...as I went into the store I normally go for my cakes ingredients, I was dumbfounded for a moment as the main ingredient to fondant paste was sold out. Knowing that I would be in short of time to look elsewhere, I had to think quick or I need to trash my thoughts of baking a cake for Mother's Day. Then, it suddenly struck me that I had always wanted to bake a carrot cake. I took out my PDA phone for the recipe which I had been saving for quite some time now and quickly grab for the ingredients that I am still lacking of at home.

So, it's Carrot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting...(again, I failed awfully on the frosting and decorations...hehehe).

A slice of the cake, anyone? *grin*

To all mothers and mothers-to-be out there, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY...to those are not mother's enjoy celebrating the day with your mother.

Surprise farewell Gift

Surprise…surprise!

This is a surprise farewell gift to my dear friend a.k.a my twins who will be leaving the company soon. It is with a bittersweet feeling to see her leaving us… I am sad that she is leaving the gang but then, I feel glad that she found a much better job elsewhere. So I am happy for her too.

Anyway with help from a trusted comrade, we tried to give her a surprise by leaving the cupcakes on her desk, yet somehow we failed even before dropping off the cakes! See the word ‘tried’? Well, it seems that she managed to catch us in the act when I dropped the cakes to the comrade early in the morning. It is just by mere seconds that we might have missed her, but unfortunately she came to work just in time to witness that! Ha! But then again, I am happy that she loved the cuppies and the little-no-so-surprise-anymore surprise on Monday morning *grin*.

Resting on bed of flowers

Enjoying her sweet times

Carefree

Relaxed

I thought of this sweet girl as the topper to represent her. Just look at how the girl is enjoying her sweet moments while relaxing on bed of colorful flowers...that is exactly what I am hoping for my 'twins' in her new endeavors.


So farewell YL…I wish you best of luck in your new adventure and best wishes.

 Full view

~Cheers