i eat sweet

Chinese New Year & first Macarons Bake Up for 2012!!!

2012-01-12T15:30:00.009+11:00

(side note : woo hoo to figuring out how to get my pictures to fill the width of the screen... :P)

Happy New Year everyone!!! \(^_^)/

Feels like Christmas and New Year was just yesterday, but hey, Chinese New Year is just around the corner!!

It's again, a time for the big family to come together and celebrate the year that was and the year that will.
2o12 is an extremely BIG year, it's the year of the GOLDEN DRAGON!! It is considered a very lucky year, in the sixty year cycle.

A chat with 'E' the other day revealed that a lot of times, oranges (yes, the fruit) are often brought over as gifts during Chinese New Year visits, the way one would bring a bottle of wine to a dinner party.

I know fruits are good for you, but I thought, why not bring some sweets instead? :P

Everyone needs something sweet to start the year right? So that the next 12 months will be 'sweet' for you.

This year's cupcakes themed around the word 'Gong Xi Fa Cai' (congratulations and be prosperous) , along with the hand motion that we do when we visit our elders, wishing them congratulations for the new year. :)

Thus the gold ingots as a reference back to the congratulatory saying.

Chinese New Year is a 15 day celebration, and on the 15th day, is the lantern festival. I still remember, once upon a time, I used to get to pick what lantern I wanted for this day, a long with my many cousins.

And of course you can't miss the Dragon right? This being the Golden Dragon year and all?

This set of 6 cupcakes is $45,- and they are perfect to have at home when you have visitors, or to bring along when you're doing your 'rounds' :)

Flavours included :
- Red velvet w/ vanilla cream cheese frosting (it's chinese new year after all, RED!!)
- Moist chocolate mudcake w/ dark chocolate & orange cardamom ganache (so it's not totally 'orange'less)

Now, if you're thinking, "but cupcakes aren't really my thing", I thought I'd shake up the kitchen a little this month (read : give myself a little more headache and challenge in the name of celebration). I thought I'd run the first Macaron Bake Up of 2012 at the same time. ;)

I am about to introduce the new i eat sweet pricelist for 2012, but for the meantime, they are staying at $22 per dozen.
As per usual, you can have a mix of everything or you can email me with what particular flavours you want in your pack.

And this month, the flavours are :
1. chestnut
2. sydney breakfast (feat. T2 tea)
3. dark chocolate orange & cardamom
4. mac & cheese
5. kaya toast
6. milo dinosaur
7. taro
8. white chocolate chai

So, get in quick! Email me with your orders :) I'll be waiting :) :)

Hoping to get all your emails by 10am on Monday 15th of January 2012. From which I will lock myself in the kitchen and get your goodies ready for Friday 20th of January 2012

There's a new email address : ieatsweet@gmail.com - however if you accidently sent it to the old one, not to worry, it's still active too.

Very excited for the new year!! A lot of things happening this year, and I am (telling myself that I am) ready for them!! :)

And, just in case I don't see you before the 23rd of January, "Gong Xi Gong Xi," may the Golden Dragon brings you prosperity to all of you this year.

closing 2011

2011-12-29T23:30:00.003+11:00

Only 2 more days in 2011!!

I still wonder how this year have zipped pass us just like that.

I know I have been M.I.A for the past few months (sorryyyyy!!) but there were things baking in the i eat sweet kitchen and I promise I will share them with you soon!

I just want to say a massive THANK YOU to all of you who has been very supportive throughout all these years. Your support have meant so much to me. It kept me going at times when the light at the end of the tunnel is almost non existent, at times when all I felt like doing is drop everything, slap the cake off the table and go to bed (and not have to deal with it anymore).

So far, it has never happened. :)

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday. Hope you're all taking some sort of time off to spend with people you love, doing things you love. I know I have.

I am very looking forward to 2012. For new ideas, new opportunities and new adventures! And I hope you will all share them with me.

Once again, THANK YOU for EVERYTHING!!

xxx

oni

{photo courtesy of lovemyfoodsandsugar}

September Macaron Bake Up!! *updated

2011-09-15T10:20:00.002+10:00

*update

Hi,

Baking's all done. The macs are packed and ready to go to their new home. So if you've put in an order, time to come over and pick them up :)

A new inclusion in this month's bake up is the Chocolate Marshmallow Macarons.

The shells have a slight tinge of cocoa, and are then filled with homemade chocolate marshmallow with a chocolate ganache centre

I personally like them because they are chewy!! It's a different texture to what you would normally get with your macarons.

And lastly, I would like to thank you to all of you who has supported me and put in orders, month after month. The macaron bake up is quickly becoming one of my favourite time of the month!

See you on the next bake up, and once again, THANK YOU!!!!!

xxx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The time has gone so quick!! It's September Macarons Bake Up time again!

This month's flavours :
1. hazelnut macaron with nutella
2. raspberry white chocolate
3. chocolate marshmallow
4. blood orange
5. mac & cheese
6. klepon
7. dark chocolate chambord with raspberry jam centre
8. tiramisu

Let me know if you want a pack or two by 9am Wednesday 14th September
Pick up will be : Friday 16th September 2011

Price remains the same @ $22/dozen

cheers,
oni

RSPCA Cupcake Day 2011

2011-08-14T22:33:00.007+10:00

Tomorrow, Monday 15th August 2011 is the annual RSPCA cupcake day.

For the past 3 years I've been doing some cupcakes for them via my sister who goes to Sydney Uni.

This is year is no different.

Sydney Uni Animal Welfare Society is selling cupcakes to raise money for this event.

(more info on their facebook 'event' page . )

And this year, these are the cupcakes I'm sending over to join the other cupcakes to find a new home/ tummy.

pockpock 'chickin' & max 'da dog'

mifty 'the kitty' & chike dee dee 'the chick'

'chike dee dee' & 'max the dog' are yummy peanut butter cupcakes whilst 'pock pock chickin' & 'mifty the kitty' are the very scrumptious nutella cupcakes. They are petite, adorable, and hard not to like (yes... i maybe a little biased). But most importantly, they are for a VERY GOOD cause.

So please adopt (buy/eat) them and help the uni raise some money for the RSPCA and all the good works they are doing.

And if you go to Sydney Uni, then you have NO EXCUSE not to help the cause. Here's the a link to event again just in case ;)

all packed and ready to meet their adopter tomorrow

I Love Wednesdays

2011-08-03T10:18:00.001+10:00

I met Len from I Love Wednesdays @ Kristin and Steven's wedding a couple of weeks back. Such a sweet and talented person. We talked a little bit before the dinner started and I immediately loved her personality as well as her catchy business name :)

She kindly sent me a few photos from the day (Thank YOU!!!! xxx) and I cannot, not share it with you.

And what better day to share it with you than.. Wednesday...

So go on, visit her website - I Love Wednesdays.

Snow Season

2011-07-28T09:00:00.000+10:00

I'm not a snow person myself, it's wayyyy too cold for me. But the visions of white snow everywhere you look always makes me smile.

This year's snow seem to be one of the best amongst all the snow lovers. Throw in a blizzards here and there, the season still proves to be one of the best.

Whilst there's still snow in our mountains, I thought I'd share this cute cupcakes set I did for Kasha a while ago. Her mum contacted me for a ski themed cake. And after a few discussion and sketches we agreed on a figurine, skiing on cupcakes, with little groups of snowman in party hat.

Sweet, simple, appropriate and easy to divied up :)

Macarons Bake-Up Day - July

2011-07-26T08:25:00.007+10:00

Thought I'd quickly share some photos from the past 2 months when desire to bake big turns to something bigger and exciting.

(not so big for some of you, but big enough for me and my teeny oven :) )

My cousin was ordering some macarons for her friend when I put up on facebook if anyone else would like to tag on to the order, and to my surprise the response was overwhelming.

So bake I went and got really happy with the colourful stacks I ended up with at the end of the day.

So I thought I'd do it monthly and see what happen.

July will be the 3rd month of these bake-ups and I thought I'd share the excitement with you. I hope you're as excited as I am.

Head to facebook to have a look and please do leave a comment or send me a message. But here's the gist of it.

JULY MACARON BAKE-UP DAY
pick up: Thursday, 4th Aug 2011.

Did I hear you ask what flavours will be included? Well, this time I'm going to leave it up to you. Leave a comment below & the first 8 flavours you asked for (be reasonable please...) will be in the pack this month.

Please msg me if you want a pack (or 2 or 3). Order will close on 5pm, Saturday 30th July 2011.

Thank you lovelies!!!
xxx

(link to FB)

ps. following the post - we've now decided on the flavours for July bake-up. They will be :
1. hazelnut
2. mac&cheese
3. black sesame
4. klepon (pandan, palm sugar & coconut!)
5. ispahan (rose, raspberry & lychee)
6. salted caramel
7. pistachio rose & white chocolate (PRWC)
8. coffee
9. milo mac dinosaurs (milo & condensed milk)
Some new flavours there, I am excited!! :)

and the sun decided to come out to play - Kristin & Steven's wedding

2011-07-25T10:53:00.004+10:00

So how's everyone's weekend?

For those in Sydney, I hope you're as glad as I am that the rain eased up, and the sun decided to peek and come out for a play.

One couple that definitely did was Kristin & Steven!! It was their wedding day on Saturday!

I have been very blessed to have amazing & supportive friends. And it was a completely pleasure and honour to be able to do their wedding cake.

setting up @ L'aqua , Cockle Bay

tadah!!

my dear bets, who help setup during the day :)

When all the setting is done, we rush back home to get ready, come back and party the night away with the stunning bride. :)

Congrats guys!!!!! Looking forward to seeing many many photos from the night and all the best for the new journey.

xxx

oni

Finding Nemo cake & cupcakes

2011-05-09T20:12:00.011+10:00

When one think of cartoon or animation, Disney would definitely comes to mind. When one say "colourful", I definitely think about Finding Nemo - featuring OZ's very own Great Barrier Reef.

The beginning scene, with the anemone always comes to my mind when I thought of Nemo. So it's the first thing that came to mind when sketching this cake. "How" will I get it to stand up? First I thought of foams - inedible of course - but after some consideration, decides to stick with fondant and skewers.

Sides... Reef scenes are always good inspirations :) *gave me an excuse to pull out the DVD as well in the name of research :P

reef scenes along the side

And what's Nemo without his friends (and dad)... This time, we are doing standard sized cupcakes with 3D figures on top, ala Planet Cake :)

Marlin & Dory

Peach the Starfish & Bloat the Pufferfish

Blossom & Squirt (don't tell the others, but I like squirt the best.. hee hee hee)

And altogether now..

and here's another look at Squirt.. just because... :P

a dessert cake - the other one from last week

2011-05-04T09:00:00.000+10:00

These aren't the type of cakes I usually do. Ones that take a little more thinking, because as you put down the decoration, you can't really take back off without denting the icing :P

But after this cake, I am inspired to trial new cakes, dessert cakes, that are tasty in the eye and in the tastebuds. I can see some R&D coming up.

*excited

post holiday and a couple of pink cakes

2011-05-02T12:02:00.009+10:00

Hi y'all!!! (LOL)
I'm back!!!

5 weeks went just like that *clicking fingers.. Though I must admit that all the food adventures started to get a bit too much and all the malls started to look just the same towards the end of the trip, I would not have cut it short for anything. If anything, give me an airplane ticket today and I'll jump back and go back right now.

But hey... one must work to earn one's next holiday right?

There were a couple of cakes last week that jump start me into cake mode. Funny they both are primarily pink - through request :)

I have a lot of backlogs of cakes that I wanted to share with you, but I thought I might share with you these two from last week first.

The first one is a cake for a friend's sister, organised through Facebook whilst I was still in optimum holiday mood, 7 hrs flight away. "Do you have enough time?" was the question, and I am convinced that it should be fine.

Jetlag did striked. But in "make it work" is the key(words)

The birthday girl likes Hamtaro & Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service , and we decided to base the cake on Regina's Rilakkuma cake that I did a few months ago.
Little changes here and there and here's the cake :)

sweets for Hamtaro and Jiji dangling down the side :P

And on Wednesday, came the question, can you do a cake for this Saturday? Said I'd look at it first and when a picture of how they envisioned the cake to be, I decided to take on the challenge :)

(Most) people would be watching the Royal Wedding on Friday 29/4 I'm sure. This household certainly does. And whilst we watch the guest lined up to fill the abbey and whilst we wait for the balcony scene, I was rolling fondant for this sweet cake for Navya's 1st birthday

It is quite a simple design, with a play of colours through the stripes. I must say that I am happy with the overall result. Simple, and sweet :)

Happy Birthday Navya!!

There is one other cake I did last week, but it has a different style altogether and thought I might share with you in another post. So hang around :)

Btw , it's Mother's Day this Sunday... I'm still contemplating (one of my many hobbies) on what to do. What do you reckon I should do?

choo choo choo

2011-03-28T17:33:00.000+11:00

Kids these days have lots of choices when it comes to TV. One that seems to be a favourite amongst (almost every) kid is Thomas.

I know who Thomas is, but I-(who-need-to-catch-up-on-kids-tv-characters) didn't realise he has so many friends, whom each look somewhat similar but not the same.

There has been a few Thomas the tank engine requests. And I thought I'd share them with you.

1/ cake & cupcakes set for Oliver

2/ a Thomas 6" cake for Zachary

and its' side views

3/ a Toby cupcakes set for Nic

just some pop

2011-03-27T17:10:00.000+11:00

Baby Tristan's 1 month celebration pack

2011-03-25T16:05:00.006+11:00

It is customary in our culture to celebrate a baby's first month.
Food (why not... right?) are always a good one to send out - as it will almost always go down well with the recipients. Cakes & other sweets are quite popular fillings for these packs.

The newest addition to our extensive family is Tristan Morgan Henjoto. He turned 1 month young just yesterday.

We prepared a few packs for the family to send out to their closest friends and relatives. It is similar to a baby's announcement I guess :)

Baby Tristan's pack ; a dozen of macs, including:
klepon, rose, black sesame, greentea, mac&cheese and black sesame

This was one of those fun projects to do, because I'm not always in the kitchen preparing the final product (^_-). There were trips to 'non-food' shops to scour for items.

I have had a fascination with paper pompoms ever since attending the short class by Phoebe Gazal @ last year's 30 days of home and entertaining - and thought it will go well for this occasion (okay... so i've used lots of pompoms... everytime i can..)

Happy 1 Month Tristan!!! Grow up fast... and we can play "catch me" and eat sugar flowers together with your big brother P :)

xxx

celebrating Luke's 2nd birthday

2011-03-19T12:00:00.006+11:00

This is George. Today, along with him and his friends, we are going to celebrate Luke's 2nd Birthday.

Everyone is here, Mummy Pig, Peppa, Daddy Pig and of course George oh and look!!! a big birthday cake with 2 candles

oh, let's not forget Mr Dinosaur.

Madame Gazelle came to the party, as well as Zoe Zebra

Suzy Sheep came with Mrs Pig, whilst Danny Dog came with a handful of presents!!

Rebecca Rabbit came together with Mrs Cat & Candy Cat.
And look who's right behind them!!
Pedro Pony!! With Mrs Pony in tow.

Look at Luke's presents!!

And more...

And more presents!!!!

"Happy Birthday Luke!" everyone said

"it's now time to blow out the candles" Daddy Pig said.
"don't forget to make a wish!" said Peppa

Alice, Dorothy, Marie & Jack

2011-03-07T09:00:00.000+11:00

"Who?" you might say...

This was one of the biggest challenges I've had so far. When Le contacted me if I could make a cake for her birthday celebration, never in my wildest dream did I imagine this is what would come my way.

Le sent details and images of what she had in mind.. and my jaw literally dropped.
She's having a costume party in one of the clubs in town, and the cake was to be a combination of her 4 favourite movies.

Luckily, Le was kind to me :) She wanted this as a dummy cake - and she gets to keep it after :)

Anyway, let me introduce you to Alice, Dorothy, Marie & Jack.

~Alice~

Meet Alice. She fell down the rabbit hole. Why so curious Alice?

So, the top tier is Alice in Wonderland.

It's worked around the mad hatter's top hat. Alice sits on top of the hat, while the white rabbit is perch on the rim (ready to dash any minute).
And you can't not have a cup of steaming tea and the pocket watch for Alice in Wonderland. ~you don't want to be late for tea!! omg , i'm remembering my disneyland visit....

Cake works 360 degree, yes you have a "front", but you can't just have the back blank right?
So, for the back, the Queen of Heart / Red Queen's card soldiers are lined up :) They work nicely in the scheme. They are guarding, and not letting Alice out, like what the Queen wants.

OK, so now let's meet

~Dorothy~

Unlike Alice, she was blown off by a cyclone. Next thing she knows, she's not in Kansas anymore.

In the land of Oz, she made some friends. the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man

The Emerald City, Yellow brick road and the journey completes the theme.

Now, let's meet

~Marie~

We didn't do "Marie" the way we do Alice & Dorothy. This tier is merely a representations of Marie, ...Marie Antoinette.

Inspired by the 2006 movie "Marie Antoinette" by Sofia Copolla, we took bits and pieces to represent her. The opulence, wealth, the fashion and the food of her high teas!!!

and last but not least,

~Jack~

Pirates of the Caribbean
This was the hardest by far I think.

I love this movie as well, but it's "dark" nature and amazingly difficult and crazy details in the movie makes it so hard to represent.

So we went back to basic and represent what represents a pirate - his boat, the rough sea, treasures, creatures of the deep (Davy Jones), as well as the pirate skull

Now you've seen the "parts" , and these is what they look like as one

I might be biased, but I'm quite proud of this cake and was slightly sad that I had to give it up :P

Hope you guys enjoyed this post, and Le, I hope you love this as much as I do :)

Black, White & Red macaron tower

2011-03-06T23:06:00.004+11:00

another short one. I promise the next one will be long.

This is from yesterday's wedding in Point Piper.

congratulations to Ken & Tanyth :)

Cherry Blossom & the Sleepy Bunny

2011-02-18T23:07:00.004+11:00

It seems like I'm continuing on the year of the Rabbit theme, but it 's not really the case.

One of my dear dear friend Betty loves Japan. She's forever returning to Japan for a holiday. Her next holiday would be in April, for the cherry blossom season.

It also happens that she's celebrating her birthday this year at one of the yummiest Japanese restaurant in town, Masuya.

So I thought a little something inspired by Japan would be fitting.

First I wanted to incorporate a couple of bunnies and a crescent moon to the top of the cake, but as the cake come together, I decided to pull it back.

The sleepy bunny slept slightly off centre, and I must say I like it off centre (maybe i'll do more off centre things :P)

The cherry blossom was ivory little flowers, with a dab of cranberry shimmer powder. And again, randomly placed on the branches ... I hope you like it because I sure do (biased? :P)

(I got a little too excited making these little flower cutouts - i still have a whole tray :P - I love how they look on the tray though, all clustered up)

Happy Birthday Betty Boo.... hope this year bring lots of happiness, same as what a trip to Japan gives you .

xxx

Year of the Rabbit

2011-02-18T10:19:00.006+11:00

Lots of celebrations lately... (only just realising as I am typing this up), from Christmas and New Year, Australia Day, CNY and Valentine.... can't wait for the next one!!

with Cap Go Meh just past, the Chinese New Year celebration is officially over.
Late as this maybe, here are some CNY cupcakes for this Bunny year.

2011-02-14T08:00:00.002+11:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!
How are you celebrating it?

Happy Australia Day!!

2011-01-26T00:02:00.007+11:00

So what are your plans for today? Heard the weather would be perfect for a visit to the beach. Or if that's not really your thing, a picnic or a bbq seems to be popular activities on Jan 26th.

If you need to make some sweets / dessert / snack, why don't you try this..

... macarons ... (hehehe... yes) - but don't fill it with your standard ganache or buttercream. Use Jellies!!!

The beauty of macarons and jellies are that they come in all different colours and flavours. And if what you want is not available, you can easily create what you're after in your own kitchen :)

Tell me the first flavour that comes into your mind...

In my case , whilst we're in the spirit of Australia, I got some green and gold macaron shells. You can either as per normal - or alternate the shells on each side.

You can get any jellies you want... You don't have to do anything fancy - there's enough celebration today, you don't need to spend hours doing this.. You need to go have fun!! I used Aeroplane Jelly for this. This time round - colours where chosen to represent the OZ, however the flavours happens to also be perfect in representing our Summer's beauty.

This one's Lime - imagine cool tangy lime on a hot summer's day.. hmmm yum!!!! :)
Lemon is good too.. (hmmm.. lemon lime bitters..... *oops.. sorry.. digresing...)

Set the jelly in a shallow tray - that way you will end up with the right filling thickness - just as you would with any other type of fillings. Experiment - try and freeze the jellies, and scrape it off as you would a granita ... and see what you come up with :)

Alternate the shells, play with the colours, the possibilities are endless - for any events of any colours and themes.

This is my first Jelly Macaron actually - it has a different texture to the standard macarons. The "crisp" & coolness of the jelly is a nice contrast to the shell - I like it :) Make sure you have it straight out from the fridge - it's better this way :)

And you know what else like about it? The jelly is jewel like... so pretty!! :)

Sweet things for Rilakkuma

2011-01-18T08:21:00.005+11:00

When I was growing up, I am "good friends" with all the hippest of characters.. hello kitty, little twin star, my melody, kerokeroppi, etc etc etc..

But recently when I was asked if I can make Rilakkuma... I said "who?".... I really need to catch up and update myself :P

Luckily, Alicia sends me photo of Rilakkuma, and from then on, Google was a great help!!

Rilakkuma likes eating sweets and cakes, so we surround Rilakkuma with all things she loves, as well as a stack of macarons along the side - this time, the macarons are real and not fondant

A colourful cake for the ever so cheerful Regina (from what I can see from Alicia's facebook... ) I think it might have rubbed off Alicia's happy personality :)

Australia Cake!!

2011-01-15T00:36:00.011+11:00

What's Australia Day? Well, according to Wikipedia :

"...Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day and ANA Day)^[1] is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland.^[2]......."

The cake I've got here is for a friend's brother. When I asked Lia what she wanted for the cake, she said "Australia!!" She got me stunned for a while there. She then continues by explaining that her brother hasn't been back to Australia for a while, and while he's in Sydney for his birthday this year, what better way to give him an "Australia" cake!!??

With Australia Day just around the corner, I thought it's quite appropriate to put this post up. It is afterall, like Australia's "Birthday" (^___^)v

So, what's Australia for most people? With Oprah's visit not too long ago, all things touristy and what's the first image that pops to mind (well... my mind anyway..) when Australia is mentioned, I decided to go with a few of the obvious.

1 - the Sydney Opera House (no, not Oprah house).. and the beaches (big expanse of blue) that Australia is famous for.

2 - Who doesn't know Koala? Cute (yes) and cuddly (no, not really.. have u seen those claws?), and in about every marketing material about Australia :P. And what's this about the colours?? Eventhough it's not exactly the colours of our flag, oz-s are easily identified in 'green & gold' clothing, especially in sports events.

3. and let's not forget the artistic side of things. The Aboriginal Drawings are one of the oldest part of the Australian culture. They tell stories and thus form part of the history.

Now, put all that together... and (in this occasion), this is my version of the "Australia" cake

p.s - it's almost Australia Day!! Wait for my upcoming "green and gold" post (^__-)

Estie & Mark's wedding cake

2011-01-13T08:53:00.004+11:00

It is funny how you meet new people.

I met the bride, Estie through my friend Sisca. And another one of my friend, Ngel, just told me that she used to go to school with the groom, Mark. WHOA!!! what a small place the world is!!

Estie is just the sweetest person. She's really easy going, meeting up with her for the first time to discuss cake, is like we've known each other for a long time. We talked not only about cake, but about other things you wouldn't normally include in first time conversation.

We decided on a simple 3 tier cake, of Estie & Mark's favourite flavours - chocolate & mocha. A cascading set up of little flowers is inspired by Estie's wedding dress details as well as a refrained colour scheme for the day.

left: cake @ home ; right : cake @ the venue, little snail.

The florist sets the flowers on top afterwards.

Their wedding photos by Allan Hoang are very representative of Estie's personality, she looks so happy and relax, taking in and enjoying each part of her special day :) You can see her happiness in every single photo!!! **two thumbs up for Allan for capturing these!! :)

And I have to say the same about what professional photography does to your cake... hee hee hee.. Allan, thank you again!!!! :)

the cake complete with the fresh roses on the top

credit : Allan Hoang Photography - http://www.allanhoang.com

is summer here yet?

2011-01-11T08:33:00.007+11:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Hope everyone's holiday was fun and memorable :)It's time to go back to work again now!

Think summer is finally here, we have spots of hot days (and still spots of rainy days). Haven't been able to go to the beach yet this year though, as the weather is still a little unpredictable.

So what do you like to do in days when the sun is hot, and/or when that option is unavailable?

1 week to christmas

2010-12-18T09:39:00.004+11:00

its only 7 days to Christmas.. *gasp...

here's a few photos of Christmas inspired goodies

Hayden's 1 month

2010-12-15T00:13:00.014+11:00

It doesn't feel like that long ago when we got together for Nenny & Winky's baby shower. Their baby boy, Hayden is now just over 1 month old. We got together again at the end of last month to celebrate his 1 month.

A more intimate gathering compared to the shower, means more time to catch up and adore baby Hayden. He's such a good boy - slept throughout his party. hehehe..... There was time we wanted to wake him up so badly so we can he him smile, but he's a baby after all, so we let him sleep :)

It is quite customary for the parents to give out "gifts" in terms of sweets, or cakes in these 1 month celebrations. Nenny ordered some macarons to give out. Nenny, being one very talented graphic designer, found a clear noodle takeaway box to pack them in, and create a custom label for her Hayden.

And as for the cake....

a simple butter cake - inspired by the indonesian lapis surabaya. It combine both vanilla/yellow buttercake with an (indonesian) mocha buttercake, alternated and bounded together with vanilla buttercream.

A variation on the sleeping baby - I put some cloud patterns - as if Hayden is in dreamland.. and what would he dream about?

Things that he's familiar with, and things he would be attached to by this age.... Mum, Dad (who's an amazing photographer btw), toys, milk, milk, milk, .... and milk..

To make it more interesting - I decided to do a checkered pattern on the cake itself. One as taught by one of my aunt back home in Jakarta.

Be a good boy Hayden!!

Macaron Tower & the Sydney Food Blogger Xmas Picnic

2010-12-13T22:43:00.021+11:00

look who's bum that is..

A few weeks back, I received an invitation in my inbox, for a Sydney Food Blogger Christmas Picnic. After rsvp-ing "yes" to Helen & Chocolatesuze - we get on with day to day stress. The days roll quickly and before you know it, 11th December was here.

I knew I was going to make and bring some macarons - and I had got them ready well for Saturday. However in my usual moment of madness, as I woke up on Saturday morning - after falling asleep on the couch watching ace of cakes the night before - I found myself staring at the cone styrofoam I bought from Essential Ingredients a few days before.

"Why not make macaron tower!!" (no.. not sure why...)

After gathering up all the necessary parts required to put together the macaron tower, I set up to work - determine to make a tight tower. Plenty of macarons right??

wrong...

As I went up the cone, I realised that we might have a little bit of a "houston, we have a problem" moment. I do not have enough macarons. NOOO!!!!!!!

*think think think.... what to do....
Turned to see my pile of fondant - and thought... ok.. let's do some figurine (really?? i said to myself... yes... really.... otherwise you have a blank tower.. and what are you going to do about it) And what could be better than a Santa for the occasion :)

Those who work with fondant - will know that red and black fondant are very soft and takes a while to dry. How is the almost-all-red Santa going to be ready in a couple of hours? With lots of prayers :)

So I began forming and moulding the Santa.. the legs comes first and then the body. The head, the hair and the hat follows. Santa slid down the cone slightly - but the layer of macarons holds him up . So, all good :)

A simple foam star finished off the tower nicely.. and here's the finished look. *can breathe again now

An hour later - Monica and I are on our way to Centennial Park. We parked and walked to the dedicated corner - and come to a conclusion that we may be a bit lost.

Tweeting started - "where are youuus" and reading tweets from fellow bloggers, hoping to get some sort of clue (Monica showed me her blackberry with the photo of the tree where they are... "does this help?" she said.... and I?.. just stared at her... are you kidding me??? )

meanwhile... I am beginning to lose feeling to my left arm... and getting very very hungry..

Luckily we found them not long after *internal yayy!!

It was quite a sight! Definitely the biggest picnic I have been to. Everyone was standing around what seems to be a giant table - and as we got closer - we saw the "table" were so full of food!!!!! *tummy did a happy dance

I could not stop smiling. Everyone was standing around the food. Everyone had their camera, and no one dare to touch the food yet - A familiar thing I know, but yet I still can't stop smiling. I think it maybe the sheer number of people, with the same thing in mind - photos before eating... :)

There was sooo much food.. sweets, savouries - everything you can think of !!

Then its time to relax and catch up with fellow bloggers
monica & mel

And then it's time for the Food Blogger Olympics!!!!

1. move 50 soy bean from 1 bowl to another using a chopstick (and no hands on the bowl please)

2. blind tasting!!!

3 & 4. are linked - you need to plate up and style whatever leftover food you choose - and the next person is to take a photo and tweet it.. *tweet tweet

and then its KK time next - see the pile of pressies in the middle? you get to choose one... or... STEAL one from someone else. hee hee hee..

thank you to Helen & Chocolatesuze for organising the picnic!!!!!

Elmo and his cupcakes

2010-11-08T20:23:00.006+11:00

The same week I was due to make cookie monster, I received a message asking if I can make an Elmo. I thought to myself, if cookie monster works, then Elmo should be okay.. and vice versa.

Fast forward to couple of month later, Elmo is due and done. Here's some photos of the details:)

"clustering" the cake pops

2010-11-05T19:44:00.007+11:00

A long lollipop stick, isnt as readily available here, compared to the states.. Since the last 'cake pop' post, I've been thinking on ways to make the process easier.

The first batch of cake pops was on chupa chup stick. They might need a proper stand made up to hold it whilst the chocolate coating is drying. And its not as easy to pierce through that stick into anything...

So.. Skewers!! I like the medium length ones that i found in the asian supermarket here. They're cheap, and has a pointy end that you can easily pierce through to a styrofoam base to hold it until it set.

I had lots of leftovers "half a cake" .... so when friends and family were coming over for my birthday about a month ago,.. i thought.. why not!!

Made too much... as usual... but i did have a LOT of cake.
Originally going to line them up nicely.. but i ended up with a lot of bases.. so with the brother, we decided to squeeze them onto 1 big base.. and you know what.. it looks better.

Ate a few in the process... :P

The clustering works very well.... They look more interesting that when they are nicely lined up.

shopping is tiring

2010-11-04T07:47:00.000+11:00

really?
Shopping sure can be... but who doesn't like shopping? not me.. :P

This set was done to celebrate Era's birthday. The concept is that she's surrounded by all the girly things she loves to do.

a tired birthday girl after a shoppign venture

the shopping (damage)

lingerie, ghd hair straightener, cupcakes, shopping bags

happy shopping!! :)

a twist of the cupcake set

2010-11-03T08:36:00.000+11:00

So i've been doing the birthday cupcakes set for a while now. Normally they come on top of a standard cake base, and here's just a little change to give it a fresher look

heart shaped stickies?

They are on a raised base. It just gives the set a "cake" look. It is fuller, easier to carry for those.. "surprise!!!" moments.. and they sit better on the table for a photo :P

Austin the Golden Tiger Baby

2010-11-02T08:19:00.000+11:00

Austin Goldwin Wuisan, born in the year of the Tiger, and in particular, the Golden Tiger.

A couple of months ago, he turned 1 month. And 1 month is always a big celebration, with friends and relatives coming over for a get together.

And here's the cake :)

Scenes of tiger cubs playing in the forest is the base of the design. Mum wanted aspects of gold / metal (one of the 5 chinese elements) to be included. So we 'hide' treasure chests and mounts of gold in the forest's corners.

Like the baby shower cake - this is a "story cake"; elements links in from one scene to another. However, the scenes in this cake aren't as distinct and separated as the previous cake. But the idea is the same.

tiger cubs & forest scene

a cave to rest & "come here little birds..."

and of course - cupcakes underneath with the little birds from the cake

and yes, i love my pompoms

Dear Austin, grow up and be a good boy to your parents :)

Sora's Pink Yoshi birthday cake

2010-11-01T07:34:00.000+11:00

I've known Rose for about 10 years now. Still can't believe she's got 2 growing kids already :P

Sora is her 2nd - and she turned 4, this week. Their house is full of Mario toys. Older brother Laurie got a Yoshi cake for his birthday earlier this year. So now that it's Sora's birthday - she got one too!! :)

Not just any Yoshi cake though ... Sora loves her Pink Yoshi, carrying her anywhere and everywhere.

So, just for Sora... here's Pink Yoshi!! :)

Wedding cake & cookies for Vera & Vincent

2010-10-31T18:11:00.014+11:00

Vera text-ed me ages ago (can't remember when anymore)... All i know, it is marked in the diary :)
She's organising her wedding for October 23rd.

We met up a couple of months ago, to brainstorm and come up with a final design for them. Vera & Vincent are sooo easy to work with, full with ideas, open to suggestions - one couple you do not want to disappoint :)
We come up with detailed ideas for the cupcake tier design, as well as design for the sugar cookies that will become their bonbonaire

The date draw closer, and there's a 3 day conference during the same week **cries!!!!

What do you do?.....
(Try to) be organised - and stay up all night ... that's what... When you've said you'll do it.. you do it!! Bought some Coke to help me last through the night... :P

So... here are some photos

individual cookies for the guests

they are individually named - and will be both bonbonaire & seating card

i love how they all lined up on my table :) *note to self : be super careful with spelling!!

named, stuck on the backing, packaged & ribboned

And this is the cake / cupcake tier :)

The wedding's colour theme is yellow & white. Thus the colour theme of the cake is linked back to this.
Did you notice the girl sugar cookies' dress colour?

Handmade love birds grace the top of the cake (a red velvet), with a top hat & a pretty veil ;)
I thought of putting flowers around them - but it takes away from its simplicity.. and so I left the bird couple on their own :)

love birds details

the cake!!!!

And before I left - I took a moment to take in the breathtaking view from the room. St Michael's Golf Club @ Little Bay is just beautiful!!!
Having the room to myself during set up means I can roam around and went snap snap snap ^__^

The view just opens up - as is it's never ending *taking it all in...

Congratulations Vera & Vincent!!!! thank you for the sweet text you sent me after :)
Have fun in your honeymoon!!!!!

2010-10-25T09:10:00.002+11:00

sweet and simple, inspired by this lady.

and to Asti.. Happy Birthday (again)!!!
Trust you to wear the pressie's ribbon wrapping.. and making it look good too ;)

3M - mimi, mazda & minions

2010-10-23T14:24:00.013+11:00

so who hasn't been updating their blog lately? **raise my hands
i have no excuse except that "things have been absolutely hectic".... standard excuse, yes i know...but true... so let's not dwell on that.. I must say though, I had to go into the blog to see what i have posted and what i have not. *oops...

So here's one of a recent ones...

Mimi wanted to throw a surprise party for her friend. Florensia apparently luuuuuurves her mazda 2 and its plate so much, that Mimi thought it would be a good idea to give her a cake of her car.

Me, on the other hand, went ... "ummmmm...??"
You see.. electronics, cars (boys toys basically) always seem to be a problem for me. As well as characters... They never turned out quite right. Is it because we have a preconceived idea on what they look like? Thus became harder when judging these?

Anyways... after looooong thought, i thought "heck with it.. let's do it!". But I did warned her in the beginning that it's not going to look exactly like the real thing. (and Mimi thank you for the trust!! )

The car is bright GREEN!! And the plate is green as well (with what i thought to be a glow-in-the-dark capability... but apparently it's not.. *damp my fire).
I added a couple of other elements to the design to make it more playful and fun :) I suggested a group of martians from toy story to be included - staring into the plate number in amazement.

but Mimi said... "what about minions from Despicable Me? Flo loves them..." OK! sounds good to me :)

So here comes the minions.. they were done first... leave the scary car bit to the end ;)

minions partaee

The next morning, there's no denying the car. THE TIME HAS COME... and after a full day.. the minions moved from their black tray... to the cake board, taking their place in front of the car..

minions and mimi's friend, flo - peeking at each other

see the rego plate? :]

So there you go... I am conquering my fear of making cars... Still has some refinements to do of course, but we're definitely on our way :)

I also started doing mobile uploads to facebook to an album called "i eat sweet in progress" when I was making this cake. And it's quite an interesting process :) First, I uploaded the photos just for the sake of it, but comments starting to come in from my friends - it is very encouraging for me. So, THANK YOU!! Not only that, the comments also became quite an entertainment for me when i'm doing cakes in the middle of the night as the comments come through :)

At the moment, I'm still trying to figure out how you can post mobile uploads straight to "pages" rather than your personal profile. So "i eat sweet in progress" is still uploading to my page and not to i eat sweet. But have a look anyway.. and if and when I figure this one bit out of Facebook, will transfer to the correct page :)

My thanks to Mimi, for the challenge... :) and for the sweet email afterwards... it always makes me happy (and relieved) to hear that all went to plan :)

xxx

cake pops

2010-09-22T23:35:00.007+10:00

hello.....

pops for you :)

a simple mudcake, crumbled up, folded into some dark chocolate ganache.

(use any cake really... whatever you like or whatever you have as leftover )

make into a ball, stick a lollipop stick...

then dipped it to white or dark chocolate - or candy melts.

and waalaahhh!!

yummy bite size cake pops

pack it up, put a bow or in my case - pretty masking tape :)

Monce from Love My Foods & Sugar

2010-09-13T09:38:00.006+10:00

Monica (or as some of us call her... Monce -hehehe she's so going to kill me) from love my foods and sugar don't bake much these days...
Such a pity, I know....

She used to fatten me up when she's all into baking and cooking.
I used to be able to open her pantry and turn around with a handful of snacks..
These days... her pantry and fridge are a bit disappointing... :(

These days... she's all about eating out.
When most people can count the days they eat out in a month... she's the opposite, she can count the days she's eating in..

Not complaining though.. all the places she finds!!!!!!! (oh my wallet!!)
And when people asks me where to go.. i said.. jump online and go here. Normally they came out smiling and with a place for dinner, or lunch, or breakfast, or whatever meal of the day.

She hasn't been blogging for long ... but I tell you .. she's got a lot of post on back log ....
I did tell you she goes out A LOT right?

Anyway... she recently baked for our dear friend's baby shower .

She did a very cute brownie cone & a very very delish cheesecake sticks. This is rare.... so you definitely should see her posts :) and she shared recipes too for you to try :)

Pink Tink cake for Amelia

2010-09-10T09:36:00.007+10:00

I never really thought of making anything this girly.. i think this maybe as girly as i can get :P

This one was done on the 'go' ... I only know that I need to make Tink (yes.. that's Tink sitting up there... she's bit chubby yes... winter.. eat lots... :P ).
I've got the cakes covered in pink... then what....

Did a super quick sketch on the last minute before leaving the office for the day.. whilst wondering if this cake will make it in time.

Lucky to have friends that will stay up through the night whilst I sit up on the kitchen bench doing cakes all night. My blackberry was covered in sugar by the end of it :P

Took photos whilst making this cake - sending it through, asking for opinions. It became a cake in progress photo.. and i thought I'd shared it with you.
Mind you.. the quality aint that best.. not exactly going to stop every 5 minutes to take a decent photo. But here they are anyway..

So as I mentioned before.. I've got the cake covered in soft pink... but then what??

Images of the forest comes to mind.. but how ? Started kneading the fondant... chocolate i thought.. and so came the branches.. and more branches.. and more branches..

Random sizes I thought.. make it more interesting :) A bit of twirl and curl here and there to make give it texture.

Next came the green fondant. It's time to make leaves... This is easy I thought... one leaf, two leaves, three leaves, four leaves...... ....... ....... OMG SOOOO TEDIOUSSSSS hundreds and hundreds of leaves I need...

Suck it up... make more leaves!!!! Yes, I run a hard kitchen :P (sort of..)

A quick stretch to straighten one's back....... Thought flew to my comfy bed, a few steps away... and i thought.. NO!!! CAKE!!!

Branches done, leaves done... next.. little flowers?

What colour?

somehow, not quite right?

let's ignore the flowers for now shall we?

Next comes the top tier... It's suppose to be Tink's house.. does anyone knows what Tink's house look like?

Stared at the top tier for a while.. looks a bit big... don't you reckoned?
Whilst at the same time.. Mind's gone blank .. past midnight... on what Tink's house suppose to look like.

Can't have anymore tree in there.. will be too dark... and then we found this....
Isn't this pretty??? :D

all rounded and dreamy and sweet....
however there is NO way i'm making more leaves..... so here comes plan B.....

The top tier is carved down to a reasonable Tink sized home - "wooden" plank is applied, door and windows cut out and profiled.It's then plonked on top of the 2 tier - and grass made and put around it.

Tink and the roof came next.. Since we're not doing anymore leaves.. Flower petal might be suitable :) And after that is the face and a little finishing touches such as the birthday girl's name.

And there you go.. a Tink's cake.

cookie monster

2010-09-07T09:00:00.000+10:00

Had a blast making cookie monster.

Cake was baked, iced, stacked, and then i stare at it......... how to shape... what does cookie monster looks like??

This is where Google comes in... when in doubt... go to Google.. hee hee hee...
*googling googling...

Once the basic shape is carved out of the cake, he is then covered with blue fondant... attached the limbs... and its time to slap on the royal icing.. It was so much fun doing his fur!!!!

Next day, get some chips ahoy from the local IGA and cookie monster is ready!!

Here's another look...

hellooo

love is...

2010-09-06T17:01:00.007+10:00

isn't love sweet? :D

little gestures

a quick kiss

simply holding hands

remembering likes and dislikes

having little celebrations just the two of us

every little thing matters..

every little thoughts and efforts count :)

the "cuparon"

2010-09-02T10:53:00.008+10:00

Pristine called to see if I can do some cupcakes and macarons for her 21st do.

"something girly" she said.... so we came up with a mix of happy girly colours - of cupcakes and macarons.

Propped up on a tier, and little bees buzzing amongst the cupcakes and little fondant flowers.

Pristine came up with the name "Cuparon" in her sweet email after. :)

I like it... Clever isn't she :)

So... i'm calling these.. the Cuparon!!!!!

2010-09-01T15:48:00.003+10:00

nothing seems to go right today. Please don't let it continue tonight, because I have cakes & cookies to do...

Please???????

a baby shower for N&W

2010-08-30T06:27:00.023+10:00

a friend is having a baby boy (how exciting!!!!!) and we had her baby shower last weekend at our backyard.
There was food glorious food all around, from the yummy "nasi tumpeng" from a local restaurant, to the mum-to-be drool inducing soto betawi (Nen i want more pleaseeeee)

And of course.... Sweets!! :D
Monica returned to baking (for those who doesn't know, she claimed that she's retired.. but once in a while, you can coaxed her to the kitchen and bake you some yummy yummy treats)
V(^__^)V

here's some photos of the sweets :D
- and I really must credit all of the photos to Monica & dad-to-be. As lack of sleep made me forgot to take out the camera :P And I must say that their photos made it look oh-so-much-better :D

baby cupcakes

baby onesies sugar cookies

macarons & monica's cheesecake bar (yummeh!!)

monica's brownies cone - "sleeping" and on display!!

and here's a peek of the inside :P

the sweet spread!! (and mummy-to-be's tummy (^_^) )

and here's the cake.
the cake has a story that goes around the outside. From when baby was still a baby, and as he grows....

a relaxing picnic under a tree when he's just born

and when the sun is out, baby is a few month and goes to the beach

and later on.. when baby knows how to climb a tree :P

thanks to N&W for having a baby shower!! Hope you had fun as much as we do !! :)
Cant wait to see little peanut in a couple of months! :)

a take on the macaron tower

2010-08-07T21:44:00.006+10:00

ok, here's the last of the 4 orders in a weekend

This was when Masterchef was on TV and everybody was watching it.

Betty always ordered a cake for Pui's birthday every year - and asked if I have done a macaron tower before..

hmm... no.. but why not give it a try, I thought!

Where do you get a cone styrofoam big enough? Ones I found are only small ones, not enough for a macaron tower. So in this version, it's 3 various sizes of round styrofoam, stacked together, as if you're making a tier cake. ... Improvising ... (^___-)

So come the day to assemble the tower together. Came out the tooth picks... and the prayers... that they will stay on :P

*please, please stay on...

Let's just say... I applause the guys that had to do it in Masterchef in that amount of time. *bow bow...

Here's a final look ... with an Asahi 'liquid happiness' propped on top.

Why the Asahi you might asked? Well,... the birthday boy likes Asahi.

...hehehe... okay... let's just be honest.. I didn't have enough macarons...

*improvising...

that 'mac&cheese' ... the cupcake version

2010-08-05T09:27:00.006+10:00

hi guys,

looks like the "mac&cheese" is a big hit around the people that matters in my life (**ciehh...).
Whilst some people tends to seem to think that mac&cheese stands for "macaroni&cheese" it's actually "macaron&cheese" (^_-)

This is actually a simpler take on the type of cheesecake that we take for granted back home in Indonesia.

the sweetness of the cream cheese, goes hand in hand with the saltiness of the cheddar cheese. Those who never had cheddar cheese on desserts, always seem to take a step back, comments "its salty!!" but continues with "but it works??!!"

Yes it does work :)

Whoever invented this in the first place.. I bow to you...
I know I eat every last bit of the plate whenever Mum got some cheesecake @ home. Eaten at room temperature when it's soft and sweet, or straight out from the fridge with it's slightly hard, they're both just as good..

so here's some more...

they still don't have a name yet.... what do you think i should call them?
Leave a comment and let me know what you think??

colourful babies

2010-08-03T06:40:00.005+10:00

last night as I put together the macarons on the tray, I only just realised how pretty their colours are together *instant happiness

flavours (top to bottom): nutella, mac&cheese, lavender honey, caramel fleur de sel

the girl next door... an engagement...

2010-07-31T22:15:00.021+10:00

now.. 3rd of the 4

okay.. this request came in on a Wednesday, whilst I was midst "being disciplined" and doing decorations on parts that don't need baking/ to be eaten

"are you busy??? can you speak??"

"errr... yea?"

"i need to order a cake from you for Sunday. Can you do it?"

"yeah, what do you need" (*uh oh..)

"Marie's getting engaged, so i need an engagement cake, sorry about the late notice, cos we only just found out too"

"oww congratulations!! (read : shoot!!! i'm dead!!!) how many people, what do you have in mind?"

"oh about 60 people"

(O_____________o;;) stared into the wall in disbelief.....

I know I had 3 already to do, but how do you say no to your neighbour? (;____;)

immediate panic hits, and after texting my half panic half swearing moment to a friend, a message came in that says "deeeeeeppp breath.. you can do this"

well.. kinda have to make it work now eh? But he's right... I CAN DO THIS!!!! I NEED TO DO THIS!!!! PRACTICE FOR WHAT MAY COME!!!! :P

(X________x)

On Thursday afternoon, we had a quick meeting over the fence on what they wanted to cake to be.

Tiers of mini cupcakes (ok, i can handle it)

Top cake.. "can you make it big?" (hih hih huhh.. hih hih huhh... breathee.. )

Other than that, they gave me complete freedom of what I do with the cake. I sketched up a rough look on how the tier works, and how big they will be roughly.

Now, to be completely tight to a detail is hard. Because you don't want to disappoint your client and not deliver the cake that they've imagine and have in their mind.

To have complete freedom, whilst it's a good thing, can also be a double edge sword, as you have all the choices in the world of what you can do with that cake. And you can be your worse critic, as you know all the flaw and nothing is quite good enough.

I know the cupcakes shouldn't be an issue and will be quite easy to make. Not having any ideas on how the overall cake (and the top cake especially) will look like, make it just that much challenging.

All the concept built in the head, all the soft pinks and soft browns and soft golds i had in mind, came crumbling down at midnight, 14 hours before it's due. So other than the base 2 cakes... and the tiers... i don't have anything else.. i could not imagine a better way to spend a Saturday night. :)

@2.30am and 2 changes to the topper. I had enough, i'm completely stuck! so decided to sleep it off.

@5.30am, the cupcakes batter are being mixed, and @7am they are done.

The sleep, and making the cupcakes first help the process immensely.

The cupcakes are chocolate with caramel buttercream , as well as vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream, covered in shaved cheddar cheese.

@8am The topper cakes changed to a soft yellow to suit the new colour scheme, and concept.

@9.30, a quick drive to some cheese needed for the cupcakes, and ribbons and flower for the topper cake. And it was at the florist when its all finally came together :)

The topper cakes are 2 tiers, made up of mudcake and red velvet. A single green orchid sit elegantly on one side. whilst dotted vine twines between the two tiers.

The colours tie nicely together now, the top is simple, but works out really really well. It evens ties in very nicely to the green fence in their house, where party is being held. :P

This only makes me believe more that 'things happened for a reason'. That one thing led to another. You just have to take that first deciding step, and follow on, make it work, and it will point you to the right directions.

Congratulations Marie!!! Wishing you all the very best !! xxx

bzzz bzzz beez

2010-07-30T06:13:00.011+10:00

and now for the 2nd one for the weekend.

A friend is having a dinner for her birthday. She's cooking for us!!! (don't you love it when the Birthday Girl cooks for you?? :P)

So thought better not come empty handed. (^_^)

This was supposed to be a normal sized cake. But alas!! I haven't practiced this cake for a long time!! And after 2 failed attempts close at midnight and a bed calling.. I thought I better come up with a new plan of attack!!

And attack of the bees it became.

The flavour of the cake is the same (..... okay, similar idea)... And with time running ridiculously short, cute little bees, I decide, will do the job.

2 of our dinner companions who came to pick up one of the savoury dishes saw me mid-making the bees... "Why Bees??" ... "Because I said so..."

So bzzz bzzz beezzzzs they became.

I took along a green wrapping paper for the base of the beez cupcakes. Stopped bythe supermarket to get a bunch of Gerberas to scatter along, to make it sweet :)

lighting up the candles for the official birthday cake blowing :D

and... "fuhhhhhh"

undressing the beez

In the end, I'm glad in a way, that the 2 batches failed that night. Because I am definitely more satisfied with the look of these beezzzz :) Things happen for a reason I guess?

Lia, I hope you like them... Thank you for cooking for us. The food was GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!! Why bees? i'm still not sure.. hee hee hee ... but i hope you like them anyway..

and many thanks to monica, for some of the photos :)

Ahoy Matey!!

2010-07-30T05:32:00.009+10:00

Who would have thought I said yes to 4 cakes in a weekend. Certainly not me. Not at this stage anyway.. but hey it happened... and I'm kinda glad it did. Test me, tried me, challenged me, pushed me. And I'm happy with how they all turned out

So here's the first from last weekend's order

Luke is turning 3. And he insisted for a pirate birthday party. So, mum Kirsten contacted me for a pirate cake.

This cake take a certain kind of discipline (one i'm lacking for most times :P ) from my part for the week. Especially when there are 3 others lined up behind.

Thank you Kirsten for letting me do cake, to trust and give me freedom with the cake, and my apologies for taking so long to come back to you with the initial concepts :(

Parts of the cakes are inspired by others here and there. With a slight tweak here and there, we put them all together to make a cake worthy of Luke's birthday party.

I'm happy with the way the cake look like.

And if only I can show you what the party decorations like, I'm sure you will agree with me that the cake look the way it did, to match the party!! Kirsten did the house up so SPLENDIDLY!!! It made ME want to have a pirate themed party!!! There are pirate hats, gold coins everywhere, individual serving food in buckets for the kids, jungle gym in the backyard, EVERYTHING you think an amazing party should have, it's there in their house.

Luke is one lucky kid!! :)

not to mentioned, Luke is one CUTE kid also!! He had smiles from ear to ear all morning when i was there, enjoying the day, appreciating everything that his parents have got prepared for him.

Hope you had an amazing day Luke!!!! :) and thank you Kirsten for letting me have a part in it :)

a birdy baby shower

2010-07-17T11:00:00.011+10:00

Remember Taylor? Well, he's about to become a big brother. Mum Nicole is expecting another bub soon :)

And to celebrate with her closest friends, here's the cake for her baby shower.

Taking cues from her baby shower invite, this cake consists of all things babies!! From all the cute little things babies have - onesies, little socks, little beanies, little bibs, little soft toys etc etc etc - to the extra washing you need to do :P

And to top it off, is a family of birds, celebrating the new arrival - again keeping the invite in mind - to keep in line with the theme.

and here's an (almost) birds eye view

a combination of tiers of cupcakes & cake.

A rich combination of dark chocolate mudcake on the top, with a combination of vanilla cupcakes w/vanilla buttercream as well as sinful chocolate cupcakes w/ caramel buttercream.

A sweet treat to welcome the sweet new arrival :)

19.07.2010 - i received a very sweet email from Nicole today. It's always a good to hear back from your clients, and especially to know that you have helped make their day in someway or another :)

Hi Cleony,

I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for making us such an absolutely amazing baby shower cake - it was without a doubt the hit of my baby shower!

Taylor's Christening cake was amazing, but the baby shower cake was truly impressive! You followed my brief exceptionally well and perfectly captured the theme of the invitation as well as my idea re the baby 'washing line'. The tiny details in the washing line were fantastic - the leaves, pegs, hearts & bows on the clothes.

Everyone at the shower absolutely loved it and I have happily given your details to everyone who attended. Expect some calls soon as many of our friends have kids as well, so lots of potential for birthdays, baby showers, Christenings and family celebrations!

Thank you again,

Nicole :0)

yeehaw!!

2010-07-04T19:16:00.006+10:00

Another long overdue post.

This was when the temperature was high, and there was no need to layered up on clothing to be comfortable.

Not exactly the best time of the year to have a fondant covered cake sitting under the sun though i must say.... The eyes never really left the cake throughout the afternoon. Making sure everything is still sitting where it's suppose to be :P

Torsten is 2, the party was held in the park of his town house complex. Everyone had to dressed up and cowboy was the theme for his birthday.

The base was a chocolate mudcake, whilst the teepee was layered buttercake.

hello little indian girl..

and inside the teepee... colourful!!!

now now... as long as you don't have it everyday, it should be alright :)

A.B.C(ookies)

2010-06-16T23:27:00.004+10:00

ok... holiday's over and back to reality.

this one's from a while ago.

it may not seem like much, but i thought they are quite successful in their simplicity

the stacked cookies made them different than the normal standard icing on top of the sugar cookies.

i love alphabet cutters... you can make so much out of them!!

in fact, let me know if you find any interesting font/letter cookie cutter in you travel in cyberspace. I'm always after interesting ones :)

you have reach the mailbox of....

2010-05-22T08:20:00.002+10:00

just letting you know, (not that you asked) , that i'm away for the next 3 weeks.

so will let you know when i'm back in the kitchen!! :)

**again?? some people say..

Horyuken!!

2010-05-16T07:18:00.006+10:00

Irene approached me for her boyfriend's birthday cake sometime ago. The options scares me slightly. But I appreciate her trust, by putting her name down for the date anyway. ^___^ thanks Ai!!!

We met up at Ton Ton to go over the design about a week an a half before the due date, when a new option was presented. It excites me, this new option.... but one i know would take careful time management, especially with the other cakes already lined up for that week too.

Lucas loves his Street Fighter game. His buddies and him gathers for a game or so every weekend (is this right Ai?) . So... for his surprised birthday party, we thought a Street Fighter inspired cake would excite him.. as well as his Street Fighter buddies..

here we go....

Ai wanted a smaller cake amongst the cupcakes, one that Lucas can take back home to have with his family on his actual Birthday. And we thought that a mix of standard mini cupcakes as well as the standard sized, fondant covered, character cupcakes will do the job.

She also asked if I can make a Lucas figurine to sit on top of the cake - as one of the character. She asked if we can do Lucas as Ken, with spiky hair and a pair of glasses... Sure!! anything you want Ai!

So here's Lucas as Ken.. **and it's pecks.. not chest hair okay..

Enjoy!!!

Horyuken!!! Bogem Bogem!!

Baby sleeping on a wicker basket

2010-05-13T19:17:00.007+10:00

I first met Joey when I was still working shift on one of the coffee shops. She often came in for a coffee, and when the gang went out for a karaoke night out - she often joined us.

Who would have thought how fast time have past. She now have 2 kids.

*i'm feeling old

Her little boy Theo, was 1 month last week. Joey first asked if I can do a cake for Theo's 1 month dinner. She asked if I can do one cake with a baby sleeping on top like one I did yongs ago...

I said "of course!!"

But as the brain thought about it, I thought how nice it would be to have the baby sleeping on some sort of crib - especially when Joey can keep this figurine. So i decided to do some sort of wicker basket, on styrofoam base.

As I sat there on the kitchen bench, one very late Sunday night, weaving fondant to the styrofoam - i thought to myself - WHAT WAS I THINKING???!!!!! I now know to always think twice before deciding to weave fondant. It's bloody hard!!!

But if you persevere... it gives you result.

Baby Theo is sleeping soundly on a wicker basket bed. He has a teddy & cookie monster as company as he dreams of little duckies.

The cake is double stacked, dark chocolate mudcake - with cream cheese buttercream filling. It is then covered with baby blue fondant, adorned with simple white circles (meant to be clouds... yes.. not quite.. but i like it anyway..)

The letter blocks on top, just round up the overall look nicely :)

The cake is not perfect. Far from it... But I'm very happy with the overall look of the cake. Joey, i hope you and your family loves it as much as i do :)

taste of Indonesia - a Macaron experiment class

2010-05-10T01:12:00.019+10:00

so i have been severely slacking off in the blog-writing-sphere. Soooo sorry.... I really should be writing more often, i know!! It's been hectic lately, however here's what I've manage to squeeze in somewhere in there ^___^

"30 days of home and entertaining" was on last month in Sydney. It was such a big event, with various classes/ demonstration from lots of well known named companies in the country.

One of the demonstration we were fortunate enough to attend was the Macaron making demonstration run by the guys from Baroque in Sydney's the Rocks. As we sat nicely watching Jean-Michel Raynaud made his perfect macarons (with help from a few guests), S and I joked that we should have our own macaron making class at home. *giggle, giggle, giggle...

Well..... we actually did end up doing the class in my kitchen the following week.

Inspired by Jean-Michel's oh-so-adorable french accent, we thought it would be interesting, to make new flavoured macarons that are inspired from our background. So, we then start the brainstorming - what would be a typical "indonesian" flavour profile.

Out of the many crazy ones that we put on paper, 3 we ended up making.

"taste of Indonesia" Macaron # 1
Klepon Macaron

here's what wiki says :
"Klepon (pronounced Klê-pon) is a traditional Indonesian rice cake, from Javanese cuisine. It is a boiled rice cake, stuffed with gula jawa (palm sugar), and rolled in grated coconut. Klepon is green because it is flavored with a paste made from the Pandan plant whose leaves are used widely in South East Asian cooking."

So the macs have pandan buttercream filling, with a small dollop of palm sugar in the centre.

The Pandan has a soft sweet taste, while the palm sugar centre makes it really different and interesting.

"taste of Indonesia" Macaron # 2
Ketan Hitam (Black Sticky Rice) Macaron

Indonesia may not be the only country in South East Asia to be serving this dish. But it's definitely one of those things that reminds me of home.

To make "Bubur Ketan Hitam" (black glutinous rice porridge), you would cook the sticky rice as you would with rice porridge, you then sweetened it with sugar, and pour a serving of cooked coconut milk just before eating it.

Trying to stay true to the original, this mac has a coconut custard cream, with a generous portion of bubur ketan hitam folded into the filling.

*p.s. if i may say - i'm loving this one a lot!! and look at the colour!!

"taste of Indonesia" Macaron # 3
"Mac & Cheese" a.k.a Cheesecake Macaron

apologies in advance for the cheesy-ness (no... no pun intended)

Like the Ketan Hitam Macaron, i'm not actually sure if this is an "indonesian" dish per say (i'm reliving the "pendet dance" drama... whatever happen to that at the end btw? Pendet belongs to Bali bebeh!!)

so here's my disclaimer : "i am not saying this is Indonesian only..."

But as we expats thought of home, and what we crave for, this cheesecake that we always quite easily get, pops into mind.

The cheesecake - is made up of a few layers of sponge cake, they sandwiched a cream cheese buttercream & a little bit of grated cheddar cheese. It is then covered and topped with LOTS and LOTS of grated cheddar cheese. *OH THE YUMMY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!

and yes... your eyes are still good. I did write CHEDDAR CHEESE....
Most people would balk at the thought of having cheddar cheese in dessert. "Its salty!!" one would say, but that's what makes this cheesecake extra special!!

So, the above is my take on the cheesecake - in Mac version.
And I put a "secret" ingredient, just to remind me of home a little bit more. What is it?? I mixed a little bit of blueband when i'm doing the buttercream. It made it that much more fragrant :) **ok.. not so secret anymore now

So there you go, my 3 indonesian inspired macs. *scroll up for the disclaimer..
I hope you enjoy reading it , i know i don't write enough. I hope you feel the flavours are interesting enough to try, i know i was proud of them :)

**now i'm hungry.. and have no macaron to munch on. Disaster!!

2010-04-05T16:20:00.000+10:00

Happy Easter everyone!!

strawberry cheese-macs

2010-01-18T22:39:00.005+11:00

i tend to get hungry a lot these days - not sure why - but sure it's not good for weighing time on the bathroom scale.

as i spend my sometime quiet, pointless night in front of the computer, i think what's in the fridge and what i could nibble on.

well tonight's my lucky night. Did a few batches of macarons yesterday. Hazelnut, greentea, and one that i created along the way (including those minutes taken, to stare deeply into the fridge, to see what's there that can be used) - STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE. While most of the macs are sitting in a box, ready to be taken away, 1 has been cast aside, because I haven't tasted it yet. And tonight just seems to be the perfect night.

so here you go, meet the STRAWBERRY CHEESE-MAC (fillings: strawberry cream cheese buttercream)

ready... set..

nom nom nom...

... gone.

i would like to introduce you to our latest family member

2010-01-12T09:20:00.008+11:00

meet, mr franken-wonk.

he's special, there's only one of him... until i learn how to clone him some more

after layers and layers of sheet sponge cakes.... dr oni & dr monic frankenstein are proud to present you their latest creation

from this - true to frankenstein style - staples & tapes are required

and a quick view from the top,

to this -putting the skin on

to this

and then this

and finally... 'o hello..'

mr franken-wonk is really quite sweet and gentle despite his 'progress' appearance. He consist of layers of genoise sponge, white chocolate ganache, a single layer of raspberry butter cream, and a layer of vanilla buttercream to moisturise his skin.
The 2 doctors that created him also find that accessorising as very important these days, thus he have a crown of fresh raspberries and mint leaves

... so the holiday's over

2010-01-09T18:28:00.006+11:00

hi guys!!! :)

Happy New Year!!! hope you all had a great time during the Christmas & New Year period !! :)

alright, so maybe i'm back from the holiday - and have been a while now... so my apologies for neglecting this blog and with it, i eat sweet.

been working hard on the other job - one that pays the bill and the shopping addiction.

Still would love to hear from you sometimes :) and for now, here's some photos...

do you know Eden is now 1!!!! Happy Birthday Big Boy!! :)

and a (few) baby cupcakes for a baby shower

on holiday!!! ^__^

2009-07-27T20:58:00.003+10:00

hi all,

just want to tell you, i am currently on leave until mid october and won't be able to take any order till then.
You can still email queries for after October though if you like, although internet access is a little sparse and reply will be delayed :)

xxx

oni

that wedding from before...

2009-05-11T20:30:00.004+10:00

nothing new, but don't you just love professionally taken photographs??

one more mini croquembouche

2009-05-06T23:33:00.002+10:00

another mini croquembouche - another wedding

macarons invasion

2009-05-03T23:35:00.006+10:00

i just love how the macs seem to take over the kitchen bench.

when cupcakes are just cupcakes

2009-05-03T23:30:00.000+10:00

and have i ever told you i love doing cupcakes order when there's no theme involved?
*heeheehee... i can put anything i want on top!! YAY!!! :)

Panda twins

2009-05-03T22:11:00.004+10:00

Oh hello... it's been a while hasn't it?
i know.. what a slacker you all must think. Things are a bit hectic in the land of mine these days. 9-5 (or 9 to whatever hour) job is taking over life at the moment.

And i eat sweet is taking a bit of a back seat the moment... :(

But when Kis & William's birthday roll along, there's definitely a time for a some baking. (^_-)

This is just a simple mudcake with thick dark chocolate ganache icing. Split the cake in half and put a thin layer of ganache in the middle as well. Bit of a chocolate overload - but if you're only having a slice, then rest asure, you're okay :)

Why the panda/ WWF u must think? That's definitely what Kis said when she saw the cake.
Well, it goes hand in hand with my present to them. A pair of panda t-shirts by booware :)

cupcakes for a 21st birthday bash

2009-05-03T22:10:00.002+10:00

This one's from yesterday actually. Wendy called to arrange for cupcakes for her daughter's 21st birthday. I thought this was sweet - and i found out that this is going to be a surprise birthday party for her daughter, i thought this is SUPER sweet of her!!! :)

So, there's just over 180 cupcakes on this one. I thought it'll be easier for everyone if they are set on site - and so that's what we decided to do. :)

There's 2 types of cupcakes for this one.
1. sinful dark chocolate - arranged in the shape of "21" - adorned with single pink fondant flower
2. vanilla cupcakes with oreo buttercream - in keeping to the pink and silver theme, i thought the oreo cupcakes will be most suitable. Scattered with small pink flower in a lighter tone - they allow the sinful ones to stand out.

Happy 21st Birthday!!!!
I'm sure the night was a blast!!!

angels for taylor

2009-05-03T22:09:00.004+10:00

These ones are for Taylor's christening. Brett (Taylor's dad ^_^) emailed me to ask if i was interested (of course...) And after that I started emailing Nicole (Taylor's lovely lovely mum) with the details for what she wanted the cupcakes to be like.

Nicole came up with a few ideas of angels, booties, lots of things related to babies. I showed her pictures of Reuben's birthday cupcake. Did a few trial - and thought maybe an Angel & a few other things with angel's wings might fit the brief.

Nicole replied - the invitation was noah's ark. YAY!!! it fits!!! :P

And so i started making the duckies with angels wings :) Along with an angel & a teddybear to sit on the 'main cake'

So here we are - few photos of the set.

I'm really really pleased with how it turned out :) Dropped it off at their place the evening before the Christening - had the chance to meet Mr Taylor himself , and he is just one delightful baby. :)

Happy Christening Taylor!!!!

wedding cake cookies

2009-05-03T22:07:00.000+10:00

This is another post that's been loooonnnnggg overdue.

Towards the end of last year, John asked if i'm interested in doing cookies as bonbonniere for his wedding early this year. It was an absolute honour to be able to do this for him. Not only is he a great friend, he was an amazing boss of mine once upon a time :)

The house turns into somewhat of a cookie factory for a few days prior to the wedding.
The house smells like gingerbread for days, all the tables in the house are lined with rows and rows of cookies in various stages of decoration :)

Few cracked - not to worries - always made extra & always a stomach in the house ready to take care of the broken ones :)

When all were done - they each get put into their own individual plastic & tied with an aqua ribbon on top :) Ready to go - to the happy couple.

Few extras were included - just in case. And through the fabulous world of facebook, I even manage to see a tiny tiny glimpse of the cookies at the reception.

Congratulations John & Lindsay!!!! Wishing you both nothing but the best!!! :)