Big Blue Bow

After a long hiatus, my oven is back at work last month. I was all nervous to bake again for afraid that i might have lost umm, whatever i have learnt in classes before and was praying hard that the oven and mixer still work. (Thank God they did!)

It was for another engagement hantaran - a six inch round cake with a Big Blue Bow. The theme colour and design was chosen by the eldest sister who was also the one who did all the pretty hantaran stuff. Congratulations to the lovebirds. I was told that the Groom's dad was a big fan!

Chelsea! Chelsea!

A birthday cake for a Chelsea fan. It's one with a simple design - the only kind i can come up with these days.. A Liverpool fan uncle actually offered me more money to destroy the cake that day! Hahaha! The top tier was made later when the mom decided on a bigger number of guests for the son's 12th birthday party.

I usually prefer at least 3 inches from each tier (though the rule is actually just 2 inches) but i couldn't have gone for a smaller one because then the ed image wouldn't fit, and no bigger cake for the bottom as the cake was already cooling on the rack when i receive the phone call to add on.

Happy Birthday, Arif!

What's with 8th January?

This is a non-current post. By 8th January, i meant the 8th day of 2011. Yes, it has been that long! (same goes with the last post, and i still have some stuff laying on the shelf!).

So back to 8th January 2010, I received FOUR orders for that particular date and i felt bad that i had to say NO to the rest but 1. First off, it's due to time constraints. I know, i know.. tell me what's new, right? I was going to go on a break from baking until i get things settled down a bit with my other business but i had to oblige for one particular order when it was for a close cousin's engagement.

But to be fair, and before you accuse me of any favouritism or nepotism, he had asked FIRST. So there. I could have made it for at least another order but the thing is, i also had to go for a short trip to Kuching on 8th Jan too hence, it was the only one commissioned being accepted. A thousand apologies. Turning down orders isn't the best feeling in the world. I think one person was even kind of pissed with me too! ;'(

I was told to make a small hantaran cake since it will be transported via air all the way to Kelantan. White was the chosen colour, the rest was up to me.

I had to opt for a store-bought sugar flowers despite having attended a class for this particular reason because some scum decided to smash my car window for the new year's eve celebration and left me crippled with no car for some time to do the necessary shopping and prepping and that had successfully killed my spirit to produce my own peonies. Thank goodness the cousin and mum of the groom-to-be were okay with that.

Congratulations to Hisham & Sabrina!

I had to flatten the petals to fit into the box for transport (top pix). 

cornelli lace that i wanted to do for my wedding cake in the Wilton class.  Also did some crimping on this one too.

Wedding bells

Here's an old (and i mean old) wedding-themed cake i had made for the graduation of my Wilton Class in 2010. I wanted to make a brush embroidery cake (inspired by Toba Garret) and finish it off with a cornelli lace on the base but as usual, time in class was never enough! Can you guess which one's mine?? :D

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I thought i was playing it safe with a 2-tier cake - the lesser the tiers, the lesser the decoration and more time at hands, right? Wrong. It seems that the tiers weren't the only thing that sets me back from time... i guess the techniques i chose was a bit too ambitious... or i might just as well admit that i'm just too slow at making intricate works (but didn't they say good works need longer time??? :p). I only managed a brush embroidery for only 1 flower, ONE!! I had no time for the cornelli lace at all and i forgot to bring my ribbon for the border on top of that too! Great! :"( 

Wilton roses made from scratch.
I have always loved pastels....

Ah well, that didn't stop me from graduating.. so what? Hehehe. Here's a snapshot with my fellow course mates and our sweet instructor, Lay.

The end of 2010

I've had 2 batches made before the year end. First of, was my cousin's son 1st birthday. She had asked for a Barney cake like the one i did for a customer-friend in the previous post (i was secretly hoping so much that she would decide to make a sesame street theme).

And another 50 swirl cuppies for a wedding to be given to those who have helped in making the wedding happen. I've had a crazy November and this was done in early December. I have just started another business, so i was struggling, juggling time between baking and learning my way in this new business and fell sick in between, not knowing if i could survive both. It was going to be my last bake for a while.. or so i thought...... And unfortunately enough for me, the pictures were taken along with my stolen notebook :(

Here's one i got from the mum's fb page for the Barney cake:

Happy ONE year, little Ezran! :)