"Hannah's Birthday Cuppies"

My daughter Hannah, who just celebrated her 8th birthday, wanted to bring some cupcakes to school to celebrate with her friends. She has been pestering me for months already and she wanted the theme to be all girly stuff. Among the stuff that she requested I put on the cupcakes were handbag, shoes, dress, tiara and a wand. So, its a mix of a princess theme and a modern girl theme. I chose her theme colour to be pink and black but since purple is Hannah's fave colour, she insisted that the dress should be in purple!! Oh no, I thought, colour clash!!!! But since its her birthday, I just went with her request!

The cupcake wrappers and candy goody box stickers were bought online. I don't quite like the sizing for the wrappers as its quite high and doesn't fit my cupcake casings that well. Note to self, never buy from this vendor again!!! I tried to still make it look nice for Hannah. So, instead of making the deco from buttercream icing only, I made them from gumpaste. The cupcakes were french vanilla flavoured and the buttercream was just plain old vanilla icing. 

The vanilla cupcakes in pink icing with the decorated sugar pieces and of course, the purple dress!!

The mini handbag, tiara, wand and heels as requested by my little boss, Hannah...

At the last minute, I decided to give Hannah's classmates candies to go with the cupcakes. I packed the chocolates in a small plastic box and tied a ribbon in pink or black to go with the theme.

The goody box for Hannah's friends at school

Hannah told me that she had a great time celebrating her birthday in school. She also told me that I'm the best mom in the world!! Well, I guess every child thinks of their mom that way, but nevertheless, I was so touched and happy that I made her so happy!! Happy Birthday again my baby girl, Hannah. Love you always, baby....

"Uno"

Fara's son, Adam turned one early this month. She asked me if I could make for her a cake that is shaped the number 1. The theme colour is light blue. At first, I was not too keen on accepting the order as I have just recently moved to a new house and my kitchen was only partially completed. But then, I decided to go ahead as I have already rejected 3 cake orders since I started the move. Since the cake was a simple one, I thought why not, right???

Wrong again!!! It was a nightmare to bake and decorate a cake in a half completed kitchen, that lacks most of all, water supply. The only source of water was from my other kitchen. I had so much problem walking back and forth from my wet kitchen to my dry kitchen as my other kitchen was already 95% completed but the space is too small for me to work in. Surprisingly though, even under the stress I was in, I still managed to get the cake completed in time for collection on Saturday, the 13th of October.

The no 1 cake in light blue and three other shades of blue and white

 

The cake was of course, my chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. According to Fara, the cake was a hit with the guests at the party. They liked the simple but elegant design, but most of all they loved the chocolate cake. I was so happy to hear that. I guess the difficulties I faced making the cake paid off in the end!!

The cake from side view. The four mini cakes had Adam's name alphabets on them.

Thank you, Fara for the order. I appreciate your support for Pink Ellies....

"Fly With Me"

I left out a post on this cake I did last month for my husband's work mate, Sazlin, who wanted a very simple small cake for her son's birthday. Since her budget is only for a small cake, I tried to make the cake look good even though it was only a 2-D cake. The theme of the birthday cake was aeroplanes and the colours are blue, black and green. The cake was chocolate and the cupcakes were a mix of chocolate and vanilla.

Very simple cake but Sazlin's son loved it!!

The cupcakes ordered with the cake. The colours I chose were the same ones as the theme colour of the main cake

Thanks again for the order, Sazlin and thank you dear hubby for endlessly promoting my cakes to your friends :)

"My Baby Girl Turns 8"

Last Sunday, 14th Oct 2012, my baby girl, Hannah Elysya Bahrin turned 8. Bahrin, my other half also celebrated his birthday on the same day. That means we had double joy last weekend! I can't believe how fast time flies. My little girl is already 8 but I can't help to always think of her as my baby girl. My hubby on the other hand, wants the time to stop as he has reached the last stage of the 3 at the beginning of his age. Next year, he will be in a different club as he reaches the big four 0!!

Hannah's presence in our lives was unplanned. I never expected to conceive her so soon. Haziq was only 2 1/2 when I found out that I was expecting Hannah. From the start, Hannah was a sweet natured baby. She stopped her night feeds at 30 days and slept thru the night ever since. She made my life easier as I had to juggle another active toddler when she just a baby. She has her daddy's smile and character. She is truly Bahrin's daughter, but mind you only in physical characteristics. As for her temperament, she has my family's side of the genes. Hannah loves emulating me and look forward to growing up to be like me!!! That is not so good!!! LOL...

Hannah is a girly girl and loves dressing up and I always tell her that she's 8 going on 16. She already has a flair for fashion and loves dancing and singing. I hope as she blossoms to be a young lady, she will continue to preserve her sweet nature, positive attitude towards life and be as lovable as she is now. She calls me her BFF&F (Best Friend Forever & Forever) and I do hope I will remain one of the greatest influence in her life and that she can count on me no matter the bad times or the good times. 

So, Hannah on your 8th birthday, Mama wishes all good things ahead... If you fall, stand up and continue the fight to success... I love you so much, baby girl....

Bahrin & Hannah - Daddy and his lil princess on their birthday

I didn't have time to bake, so Hannah decided on ice-cream cake and I bought Bahrin his own cake too!!

Family photo 

Will post the photos of Hannah's cuppies that I made for her to share and celebrate with her class mates soon!!

Hope you all had a nice weekend too! I sure did :)

"Rainbow Cake"

I've been putting off to make this cake for a while already!! Reason being its just too tedious even though the cake is actually a simple recipe cake. Finally, I couldn't say no. I've run out of excuses to give!! Hehehe... Sounds really bad, right? In the end, it was my hubby, who managed to persuade me to make the cake for his colleagues, who wanted to order two rainbow cakes from me for their office function.

I actually had so much fun seeing how the cake is turned from something so simple into six different layers of different coloured cake with rich buttercream filling in between the layers. The colours I mixed for the layers were really bright as I wanted the colour to contrast each other when the cake is cut. My rainbow cake came out to about 6.5" in height. It was quite a tall cake!!

Standing at about 6.5" tall... tadaaa... my rainbow cake!! Decorated with lemon flavoured chocolate shavings and rainbow coloured rice

The cake is vanilla flavoured and the buttercream is lemon flavoured. According to my hubby, the cake was a success and the first cake was finished within minutes after they first cut into it.

The cross-section of one of the cakes I made... See the layers inside... So vibrant. Love the colours!!!

Even though the layers were not that even, am glad that the cake was a success after all!!

I've yet to bake a rainbow cake for my kids. They have been pestering me to make one for them as they didn't get to taste any of these two cakes. So, hopefully, after we've moved to our new home and settled down, I can bake for them the rainbow cake.

"Auntie Teh's Ducks"

In my last post, I mentioned that I made 3 cakes last week. The third cake I made last week was for my aunt, Datuk Zainun Aishah or fondly known to us as Auntie Teh. Her daughter-in-law, Rosie wanted to surprise her mom-in-law with a beautiful birthday cake. Auntie Teh was organising a Hari Raya lunch for the whole family at her abode and Rosie wanted to surprise her. And boy, was she so surprised and touched by the gesture!

My Auntie Teh has always been fond of porcelain ducks. She actually has been collecting these ducks for years!! In fact, when her son, my cousin, Shazli got married to Rosie, she had porcelain ducks custom made as the containers for the "bunga telur" or eggs to be given to the guests.

I guess what is more appropriate then making her a cake with ducks on it. Rosie's idea was brilliant!!! I was given a photo on how the ducks should look like. The specific type of ducks that my aunt was so fond of was the one with the dark green head and brownish/grayish body. Not so easy to make I guess but a very interesting cake nevertheless! I so love challenges. I browsed through all the ducks from the web and chose one that was a beauty and fits Rosie's description perfectly.

I started baking the lemon cake first and decided I should start on the ducks as it may take a long time to finish. I was actually so wrong!! The process of making the ducks, surprisingly took less time than I predicted and I thoroughly enjoyed the process of colour dusting the ducks in the varying shades of brown, black, white and gray. I had the beak and eyes hand painted as per the photo. The concept of my cake is basically to have ducks in a pond. I had the side of the cake covered in tall grass and  also added a few bullrushes plant at the back of the cake. I made the pond water a bit greenish and I made it out of piping jelly so that it will look a bit like water.

The whole view of the cake. I call this cake, "Ducks in a Pond"

Side view of the two ducks and closer look at the bullrushes and lotus plants

The two ducks up close. The clarity of the photo is not so good!

According to my mom, as of yesterday, my aunt still has not cut the cake yet. She feels that the cake is too beautiful too be cut. I sure hope the cake inside is still edible when she finally cuts the cake!!! Anyway, Happy Belated Birthday, Auntie Teh... May your life be blessed always and may you have great many years filled with good health, happiness and prosperity...

"20th Anniversary Cake"

The 1st week of September was a very, very hectic week for me. I felt like everything was happening at the same time. First, my other half had to leave for Mozambique for 6 whole days. That means, I had to be a single parent for 6 whole days. I know I sound whiny but its really tiring to juggle office work, kids matter, making cakes and running my day-to-day household matters!! Then, to make it worse, I had 3 cake orders that week. I usually only take 1 order per week as am working full time and its not easy to find the time to make intricate cakes but this week was all about family and friends.

The first order for the week came from my hubby's work mates. They wanted to order a cake for their office meeting and also to celebrate a few birthdays. Since Bahrin was in Africa, they contacted me personally and asked if I could bake them a rainbow cake. Truthfully, I told them that my hands are full that week and if they wanted a simple cake, I can bake for them but a rainbow cake is too tedious for me! So, they decided on an orange poppy cake instead (I was so busy I had no time to take photos of the cake!!!).

This is the only photo that I have of the cake. Courtesy of course, from my hubby, Bahrin, who made it back in time to bring the cake for the meeting. I was glad to hear that they all love the cake!!!

On to my second order that week!!! It was my friend, Yan's 20th wedding anniversary. She was hosting a Hari Raya open house and also a house warming on 08th September and wanted to also celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary with her friends. So, she told me she wanted me to make her a 2-tiered cake that looks like a wedding cake but not a wedding cake! Huh?! So, I asked her for specifics like the colour of the flowers, the base of the cake and what she wanted on the cake. 

Yan's favourite colour is orange and she wanted an orange and off-white theme for the cake. As for the cake flavour, she wanted chocolate with chocolate ganache.

The anniversary cake. I managed to make a cake that is 2-tiered but does not really resemble a wedding cake. Yan and her hubby loved it.

The cake up-close. All these sugar flowers were handmade and colour dusted by me. I refuse to buy ready-made flowers and take the easy way out. 

   

Happy 20th Anniversary, Yan & Jeff... May you two have many, many more wonderful and happy years together... Look out for my next post... It will be the third cake I made for this particular week!!!