Why So Serious?!

Here in Singapore, jellies aren't regarded as highly as cakes. Well, come to think of it, that seems to be the case everywhere else I've been to! It's probably because there's nothing much you can do with jellies..nothing fancy, nothing eye-catching, nothing amazing. Right?

I was quite amazed when my mum showed me pictures of jellies she had done in the past - it was pretty hard to believe that some were actually made of jelly! There were fish, rabbits, roses, dolls...all in jelly form! It struck me that this was one area that wasn't explored much here and there was a good chance that many had no idea of the versatility and creative edge that jellies had.

The clown jelly wasn't particularly hard to put together but you have to get your measurements and mould sizes right or the assembly would turn into a terrible mess! You'd need a little luck with the clown's frilly collar as the peaks and troughs of the mould can cause the jelly to get stuck in places.

I still can't get the image of the completed thing off my mind..it's just one of those things that you'd never imagine possible!

Cupid's Gotta Have Cake Too!

Ok I've been putting off posting here for too many tomorrows...it's been more than a month since my last post and the backlog has been piling up!

I had never taken a Valentine's Day order before but when the opportunity came up I said yes almost immediately..I'd love to get a cake specially made for me by my significant other but since that day hasn't arrived yet, I thought it'd be awesome if I could help someone else surprise their sweetheart instead!

Baking the 50 cupcakes after work was tough but compared to this, the cupcakes were a breeze. I wanted the cake to be as fresh as possible on delivery so I gave myself a 2 day window to get it done. But I completely forgot to factor in "getting off late from work" and "Murphy's Law".

So not only was I late getting back home to start on the cake, I also had problems with getting the right consistency for the fresh cream frosting. The hot and humid weather conditions even at night made things much worse for the frosting - it was melting too easily and you really don't want to be piping designs with ultra soft cream..

It's at times like these that I truly appreciate my mum's guidance and helping had. All that years of cake making and bags of experience really shone through and she saved the day (and the order!) for me. At the end of those 2 days, I was glad I had a cake that I could be proud of and confident it'll bring a smile to a lucky someone!

Red Velvet Mayhem!

Ok there's been such a backlog of posts building up and so much has happened since the last post! Well, not exactly a great whole lot has gone down but it FEELS like I made a million things back there...guess that's the feeling you get when you're just starting out!

First up would be the largest order I've ever taken thus far! 50 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting..yep you read that right...F-I-F-T-Y cupcakes. I decided to go ahead and accept it anyway because I believe that if someone comes to you with the notion that you can do this, you might as well have a pop at it! What's the worst that could happen eh?

Well like all cakes, this too had its fair share of hiccups and the major problem was getting the right consistency for the cream cheese frosting. To be honest, I hate working with cream cheese. Beat it too little and you won't get much volume in the frosting, beat it just a little too long and it'll spilt. It doesn't help that each block of cream cheese costs a hefty 7 bucks.

I owed a serious lot to my mum for helping me in this order as it was the first time I had to juggle work fatigue with cake making stress and somehow we dragged ourselves over the finish line at 1AM on the day of collection! Thinking back, it actually wasn't too hard at all and everything depends on a successful frosting...get that right and you'll be laughing.

Frosting the swirls was kinda fun in the end and thankfully I got a positive review which made it all worth the effort! And special thanks to my mum for coming up with the innovative compartmentalization idea for placing 25 cupcakes in a box without them touching each other..she's a genius!

Fish and Tarts!

I think the best thing about living in a multi-racial and ethnically diverse country is that all major festival sets everyone in a festive mood! Now that the Lunar New Year is just around the corner, rows and rows of festive goodies deck the shelves of bakeries and supermarkets alike and everything's adorned in red. Needless to say, it's hard for me - and I imagine - everyone else to resist those delectable pineapple tarts and crisp prawn rolls begging to be taken off the shelves and just devoured...

What better time than now - when the craving hits the hardest - to roll out a fresh from the oven, homemade batch of my mum's finest pineapple tarts?! These buttery, sweet and tangy beauties need no introduction really. Just plop them in front of anyone and watch their eyes light up in delight! Heh..

Finally, I got to make the whole thing from scratch after watching my mum make them year after year and always not having the time during Deepavali due to exams and what not. Felt pretty good in the end!

I've only ever seen my mum make the fish jelly once and that was probably about 15 or 16 years ago but the image of it in my mind remains as fresh as the day I first set my eyes upon it.  The intricate arrangement of the scales combined with the fact that each "scale" has to be placed individually really makes this change one's perception that jellies are boring and easy peasy.

I was pretty worn out after trying my hand at it and it took almost half a day before it was finally ready to be unmoulded. It wasn't perfect but for my first attempt, I had no complaints!

Out With The Old, In With The New!

It's hard getting used to quite drastic changes in my schedule of late so the oven has been getting quite a bit of rest! A brand new year ahead full of challenges, rewards and of course - more, more and more cakes!

First up, I received another order for a log cake after a recommendation from my friend to another of his and I can't stress how grateful I am for that! Another chocolate hazelnut one to round up the year!

The new oven finally arrived in the last couple of days of last year and we had to try out the temperature settings to find out the optimal one for baking. There probably couldn't be a better excuse to get baking again in the new year! 

My mum had wanted to try out a black and white cake she saw on display at a shop some time back and I had two large bars of Korean white chocolate couveture just sitting in the fridge that I hauled back from my month long exchange trip there. It wasn't long before the cake was done and topped with both the milk chocolate couveture and the white chocolate one!

We got the new oven up and running and also had a sweet start to 2013 - two birds in one stone!

Yule Log!

To me, Christmas means Santa, snow and log cakes! Always have been, always will be. Even though 1) There's no Santa 2) It'll never snow here in Singapore. It's not an occasion that I celebrate but everyone just seems to get in the highly infectious mood don't they? 

The Yule log is a pretty uncomplicated thing when you're making it yet its held in such high regard especially when Christmas swings round. As a kid, I used to watch my mum make these on Christmas eve and it just added to the magic of Christmas!

So to say I was excited when I received my first order for one would be somewhat an understatement! I was extremely glad when my friend decided to get one made by me instead of buying one from the shops which - quite frankly - are grossly overpriced.

Having seen my mum make the Yule log countless times helped alot and I was able to start and finish it just the day before collection so that everything was as fresh as possible! My friend left the flavour up to me and although I'd prefer it if my orders were more defined, I decided to experiment a little and brought over the hazelnut chocolate mousse taste that I really liked, to the creamy log cake. 

Thankfully, it turned out well and now I've got another order via a recommendation from my friend! Woohoo!

Three For The Price Of One!

Gosh it has been a long time since the last post ain't it?! It's not that I've been sitting on my hands with regards to baking but I just haven't had the time to sit down and write a post!

Right, let me get down to it. First up, my dad's birthday cake! I think of all the cakes I've made, this took the cake(hehe) for having the most alluring yet the simplest decoration. Me and my mum were done with it in almost no time at all! The chocolate fingers were a last minute addition after the sides didn't really turn out smooth like I wanted but in the end, it was all good!

My dad always liked his cakes semi-sweet and he had taken a liking for the mango mousse cakes I made previously - he'd always ask if he could have another piece! So me and my mum decided that for his birthday, mango mousse cake it shall be.

There wasn't too many problems with the cake thankfully and we were really happy with how it turned out in the end!

Next up is a cake for a relative's birthday that almost didn't even make it into the oven! At first, I decided to cancel the order as it seemed that it was just too large for me to comfortably say I'd be able to make it. I'm of the opinion that if you're making a cake for someone, you have to be absolutely sure that you'll be able to make it and make it well. Especially in this case where it would be a first for me in making a cake of this size!

The order was a cake that had to feed about 50 people at a birthday party and it had to be a chocolate one. My mum suggested that I do the Nutella mousse cake that she thought was absolutely delicious, so I got down to it over the past weekend.

It wasn't exactly a cake that went the way I expected it to and there were quite scary hiccups and bumps along the way...however, it did turn out pretty alright in the end so it was a huge relief really!

My sister came over to help with the letterings and my mum set her creative mind to work on the decorations that would stand out best against the rich chocolate mousse base. It was quite a hassle getting nice looking strawberries and gooseberries especially...the quality of berries that end up on supermarkets shelves here can be quite atrocious honestly.

After a couple of minutes, the hefty cake was finally finished and picked up for the party! Always great to see smiles on people's faces when they're happy with what you've put together for them!

Next up's my own birthday cake! Of course, I had no hand in it - it was all my mum and I have to say I was completely blown away by the cake and the idea itself! I had seen a dome shaped cake before but honestly I thought it was terribly complicated. It was - but my mum managed it all by herself! Guess you can't take pure skill away from anyone!