"Bollywood"

My Auntie Wah, my mom's eldest sister, is the greatest fan of anything Bollywood. This year, my mom and her sisters wanted to do something special to celebrate Auntie Wah's birthday. This is where I come in. My Auntie Teh aka Datuk Zainun Aishah, wanted to surprise Auntie Wah with a Bollywood themed cake. She told me that Auntie Wah is absolutely nuts about Hithrik Roshan and I must have his images on my cake. Other than that, I was also informed that my Auntie Wah loves the Bollywood movies and songs including the wardrobe the Bollywood actresses have on. At that point, she said, "I leave it to your creativity, Elin. Surprise us." 

With that in mind, I pondered on how my cake design would be. First thing that came to mind was a film reel. I wanted to put all these Bollywood images on a film strip and that way my Auntie Wah could see all the actors, actresses and movies produced in Bollywood. I set about choosing all the right images. That was the fun part and of course, I had Hithrik Roshan's images the most. I also added an image of Arjun Rampal, as he is my favourite actor!!! Having that done, I sent all the images to get them printed like a film strip on edible paper. It was a fun cake to make. I always enjoy making cakes that are out of the norm. For the cake base, I did a red saree with antique gold embellishments.

Making the saree was quite tricky as I used royal icing to draw the patterns first, then painted the patterns gold. Royal icing is always tricky and need loads of patience, which I didn't have much that day. That process took the better part of my time. All the hardwork was worth it though as my Auntie Teh and Auntie Wah were very happy with the cake. Especially Auntie Wah!!! She didn't want to cut the cake. She managed to keep the cake for another 2 days before she finally ate the cake...

My Bollywood cake for Auntie Wah

Happy Birthday, Auntie Wah! May your years ahead be blessed and filled with all good things always...

xoxo

Elin

"Pororo Cake"

I had a last minute order from Yazmin, who is my college mate, Shida's younger sister. Yazmin's daughter, Keisha turned 3 on 16th June 2012. Usually I need at least a week's notice for me to accept a cake order. Yazmin only gave me 4 days notice! The one week notice is actually time for me to plan and design the cake that I'm making. Since I've known Shida for a while now, I decided to take the order even though when I agreed to make the cake, I didn't know or never heard of Pororo. How am I supposed to make characters on the cake when I've never even watched the cartoon before and don't even know what Pororo looked like!! Thus, my researching task began as soon as I accepted the order. It was my sweetie, Hannah, who pointed out to me that Pororo is actually a penguin. A penguin, thank god, I thought.

Pororo turned out to be a very cute character. He has many friends but Keisha's favourite characters are Poriri (female version penguin) and a little pink bird called Harry. I chose the images from the web and printed them out as a sample for me to follow while am making the sugar characters. This cake was done without a hitch and took me less time than I estimated... Yay!! I am very happy with how it turned out and so was Shida!!! So, it was all good. 

The only downside was I had to deliver the cake from my place all the way to Corus Hotel in Jalan Ampang. That didn't go so well. When the cake reached KL, Harry's hand had come off on one side. As usual, I panicked but my other half calmly told me to try and fix it best I could. He stopped the car on one side and I managed to glue the hand back to the body and the cake looks as good as new. Syukur for that!

This was my Pororo cake...

I was very happy with this cake. The characters look very alive and I so enjoyed the process of making this cake

Happy 3rd Birthday, little Keisha... Shida told me that Yazmin kept all the figurines in the freezer for her to treasure as long as she could. She said they're just too cute to be eaten or destroyed!!! Thanks, Shida and Yazmin for appreciating my work.

"Weekend of Birthdays"

In my last post, I wrote about my son, Haziq who turned 11 on 15th June 2012. Well, I promised to post his birthday cuppies and here it is...

Birthday cuppies and party favors for his classmates

The theme I chose was Mario Kart. Haziq loves playing this game on his Nintendo DS. So, I wanted to do something that he liked. I had the Mario Kart cupcake toppers and party favor labels custom made online and I printed the templates and painstakingly cut each of the images to create the toppers and favors. I chose the colour red and blue for the theme. Haziq loved the images even though this was by far, the easiest cake I've done for him. To him, having the cupcakes to celebrate with his friends in school was good enough. He was very surprised with the party favors. I didn't tell him about that until he saw them for himself. His friends were thrilled that morning when I went to school to send the cupcakes to his class.

I hope you had a great birthday this year Haziq!!

The Bahrins

Cheeky Haziq and Hannah on his birthday

 Oh ya, he wanted a Baskins Robbins ice-cream cake for his birthday dinner! At first, I felt a bit crushed as he didn't want me to bake him a nice novelty cake, but then I thought about it and realised I was actually relieved as that week I already had another cake order plus cupcakes for my girlfriends' birthdays and wouldn't have been able to juggle three cakes at the same time!!! I am after all a one woman show!!! So, thank you Haziq...

This shot was taken while the kids were waiting for me to get ready to send them to school. Haziq was very happy that morning!

On Sunday, the same weekend, my bestie, Sheila and me organised a brunch at Sheila's place. The girls and I haven't met for a while and thought it would be nice to just hangout and gossip for a few hours. So, every one knew what they would bring to the brunch. I just kept it general when I mentioned that I will be bringing desserts. The theme was set and Sheila chose "White & Denim" for the brunch. Little did my friends know, but I had planned to make for three of my friends, Azlina, Sheila & Aida birthday cuppies. Their birthdays just passed and since we didn't get the chance to celebrate earlier, the brunch was just perfect for a birthday surprise.

I kept the designs simple and had ordered the template online from US. I had the toppers custom made with their names on them and chose the colour navy blue and white for the images. Here's how the cuppies turned out...

The "White & Denim" theme was translated to my cupcakes. I had the cupcakes wrappers done to match the toppers. The girls loved it and was thrilled to have their individual names on the cupcakes.

The birthday girls with cupcakes all lighted up!!

We've been friends for the last 20 years and I hope our friendship will last even longer than that!!!

I had a great Sunday and its really nice to meet up after not seeing each other for a while. We have to do it again soon, girls...

"Haziq's 11th Birthday"

Haziq Iskandar, my eldest son turns 11 today. Yup, 11 years ago on 15th of June 2001, I held my firstborn in my arms. He was born in the middle of the year (June), middle of the month (15th) and middle of the day (12 noon). Indeed, he is a very special boy. He has so much compassion in him that I wonder if I was a very compassionate and emphatic person when I was pregnant with him. Being compassionate is one thing but he is also difficult at times. He is a Gemini and he has his moments too.

Since my son was the first ever grandchild for my parents, he was always my parents third child right from the very beginning. He always had his Tok and Nana to turn to or back him up if things don't work out with us, his parents. As such, it was quite a challenge to teach him that he can't always have his way and that things don't always work out the way he wants it to. But its also nice to know that Haziq has and always will be my number one supporter especially when it comes to the matters of the heart. He is always there when I'm sad or when I'm down and he cheers me up in ways that would always bring a smile to me. Yes, he can be quite corny sometimes.

Fast forward, and now he's 11. I feel that I'm going to lose him to his friends soon as he gets older. He won't need me that much as he does now. I guess I will think about that when the time comes!!! On this day, I hope my son will learn to strive harder in life, be a good person, study hard and be successful in his life. I wish him all the best and may his life be blessed always. I LOVE YOU, HAZIQ!!! Happy Birthday, baby.. (oh ya, I still consider him my baby!!)

Look at how tall Haziq is now. Soon he'll be taller than me!!!

Haziq Iskandar Bahrin, 11 years old - 15th June 2012

Will post his birthday cupcakes, which he brought to school today in my next post!!!

Have a great weekend peeps!!!

xoxoxo

Elinna

"Hanim's Order"

My cousin, Hanim wanted me to make for her daughter a pony themed birthday cake and cupcakes. She had booked me way back in April. Her daughter, Zahra turned 3 in May. Since Hanim and family is living in Miri, they decided to wait for June to organise a birthday party in KL for Zahra. Hanim had planned this party early on and had hired a designer to make for her the prints for the birthday banner, candy wrappers, party packs, cupcake toppers and so on. The colours she had for the party were so sweet. The colours chosen were blue, yellow, pink, purple and white. As you know, I love playing with colours!!! And having five colours to work on was really great!!

I had already planned to make a "My Little Pony" miniature on the cake. So, I had to borrow from my niece, Myeisha, her pony. The pony was pink and had purple mane. Looks easy enough. Boy, was I wrong!!! Not so easy to make the four legs to attach to the body without the body cracking!! In the end I managed to get the body and legs together without the whole structure falling!! The head was also quite challenging for me. The first two heads I shaped looked like it was a duck's head. The head was perfect after my third attempt!!! Third time's a charmer, I guess. I had fun doing the pony's purple mane. The rest of the cake was simple enough for me as I'm used to making the flowers and leaves and stuff like that.

As for the cupcakes, I love the toppers that Hanim had designed and the colour combination is very, very sweet. Very appropriate for a girl's birthday party. I had the toppers printed out on stickers and put lollipop sticks as stands and top it up with ribbons on the toppers. Have a look at my cake...

Happy 3rd Birthday, Zahra... Hope you had a great time on your birthday... I surely did have a fun time making the pink pony!!!

"Hectic Saturday"

It was the last weekend of May. I had received two last minute orders for cakes, both due on the Saturday of 26th May 2012. My first thought was should I accept these orders. I was supposed to take a break and wanted to catch up on my sleep!!!  In the end, I relented and still took the orders as one of them was my daughter's classmate and the other was introduced by my bestie, Azlina. Both cakes had different concept but the only similar fact was both of them wanted chocolate cake.

My first cake had The Avengers theme, hence I named the cake "Super Heroes" and Shireen wanted me to make a representation of the superheroes on the cake. She wanted either just the weapon they used or something that is connected to the heroes. Thank God for that!!! I was already worried that I had to model all the heroes in sugarpaste. I didn't have time as it was a short notice order and plus I had another cake to make. I decorated the cake the best I could with Thor's weapon, Hulk's fist, Iron Man's mask and Captain America's shield. I thought the cake looked quite good actually despite the time constraint I had. Shireen also provided me with the cupcake toppers and casing. She wanted the cupcakes to be vanilla with yellow frosting. The cuppies looked really good with the toppers. All in, the cake was a success and Aazim was a happy boy...

 

My second cake was an army and paintball themed cake. Fatima wanted a simple cake for both her children, Zara, who turned 13 and Zarief, who turned 10. The birthday party was done in a paintball venue and the kids will be decked out in army camouflage outfits. So, my cake fitted perfectly with the birthday theme. I made the cake base in army camouflage fondant and decorated the whole cake in splashes of paint colours. The army camouflage was quite fun to do as it requires a mix of 5 colours to make the fondant look like a camouflage. I had the children's name in 3D as part of the deco.

According to Fatima, her kids loved the cake so much that they're already planning their birthday cake for next year. As for me, it's always my greatest pleasure to make cakes for appreciative clients... They make my day and am just so thankful that I meet really nice people, who appreciates the creativity I put in my cakes. This cake was actually one of a kind. I've never made such an art deco cake before. I've enjoyed the process of making this cake despite my time contraint and I hope I'll have the chance to make more in the future.

Thanks Azlina for introducing me to your friend, Fatima. I'll make sure I make a beautiful cake for Adam's birthday this June...

   

The cake was so colourful and I just love to play with colours!!!

"In Love with Macarons"

Two weekends ago, I joined a class to learn how to make macarons. At first, I was quite reluctant to go but because I had committed myself to joining the class, I attended it. Boy, was I glad I did!!! I never knew how making macarons could actually test your creativity skills and play with your taste palette. The class was taught by a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, Chef David Lee. Not only was he an eye candy (wink), he is a very talented pastry chef. I fell in love with macarons while learning how to make them from him.

The most important fact that I learned from this process, is that you have to have lots of patience and there are no shortcuts in making macarons. We made three flavours, i.e. Vanilla with Chocolate Ganache, Raspberry and Passion Fruit macarons. My favourite was the vanilla with the chocolate ganache macarons. I am now so excited to start making them myself. But I still haven't bought the essential stuff yet, namely a thermometer and a food processor!! Essential gadgets that is very important, especially the thermometer as I need to measure the sugar temperature if am making macarons the Italian method!!!

I have already planned a few flavours in my head and I can't wait actually to try but first, I need to get the gadgets, not to mention the mats for the macaron templates and so on... Sigh! Will definitely post updates when and if I do get the chance to actually make them!!!

Some photos from the class, which I managed to capture...

The raspberry macaron shells being piped carefully by Chef David Lee

The passion fruit macaron shells being dusted with cocoa powder before leaving it out to dry

The raspberry and vanilla w/chocolate macarons ready to be refrigerated. Absolutely delicious!!!

The macaron display. Love the colours. So gorgeous...

Me and Chef David Lee of Le Cordon Bleu

 

Now, its my turn to make some macaron... Hopefully it will turn out just as good as Chef David's...

"Ayah's Birthday & Mother's Day"

Every year when we celebrate my dad's birthday, it will fall during the same time as Mother's Day. So, for us its a double celebration!! Unfortunately for me, my mom changed her mind last minute organising a birthday dinner for my dad and instead made lunch for him on Mother's Day itself, which was a day before my dad's birthday!!! I felt so bad because I didn't have the time to actually make for my dad a novelty cake for his birthday. I had this vision of making him his company's truck miniature as a birthday cake but alas, I didn't get to do it!! The reason was beacuse I was in KT the whole of Saturday and only arrived back in KL at 10.30 pm. So, I had no time to bake a proper cake and decorate it elaborately.

I went for lunch at my parents the next day, on Sunday, 13th of May, not knowing that my mom was already busy cooking a feast to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday. I came with only CUPCAKES!!! The cuppies were meant  for Mother's Day not my dad's birthday!!! My mom said its alright because it won't matter how the cake look like. What matters is our presence to celebrate the occasion. The cuppies were orange flavoured since my mom loves orange cake and I decorated it to like flowers. But nevertheless, my dad didn't mind as to him, the cake is not important! I did mind. I felt so guilty as I have made so many cakes for other people and yet I couldn't make one for my dad. Looking back, I guess what's more important at the end of the day is that my parents had all their family with them to celebrate the occasion.

These were the cuppies that I made...

The colours I chose were vibrant orange, yellow and violet pink. We had a good Sunday and my parents were very happy that day.

My parents and me with all the 3 grandchildren... Happy 65th Birthday Ayah and Happy Mother's Day, Ma... Love you both...

"Yan's Cakes"

Its been a while since I've had any time to update my blog. I was actually busy with my cakes and also going on the tv series marathon of Pretty Little Liars (S2), Gossip Girl (S5), Smash and now am in the midst of watching the Good Wife (S3). What can I say, I am ADDICTED to these series marathon. Since I can't find the time to watch it on tv, I actually buy the CDs and watch them straight for a few days until I'm done. Well anyways, back to my cakes. My friend, Yan called me during my lunch break one day and told me that she wanted to order 2 small cakes from me.

As usual, she wants her favourite butter vanilla flavour and the cakes have to be decorated with flowers and butterflies. One of the cakes is for her daughter, Farzana's 16th birthday celebration in school. So, here's what I came up with for Farzana...

I chose the colour purple as I love how sweet the colour is when put together with the leaves backdrop. The flowers I chose were daisies in violet and pink. I had 3 butterflies decorated on the cake. A simple cake but fits Farzana's sweet personality.

As for the other cake, I chose red flowers for Yan. This other cake is just for her to enjoy with her family. Yan has such a vibrant personality, that I know red is the right colour for her. I made a simple poppy in red with black centre and had butterflies on the cake as requested by Yan.

Thanks again Yan for your continuous support. I look forward to making more cakes for you and your family in the future....