Sofia the First

Wow! I made some Sofia the First cupcakes recently and had it posted on my Facebook page. Overnight, the post reach surpassed all my previous posting with a healthy number of likes and kind comments. Thanks so much guys. The petite princess in purple offered so many wonderful design elements  to work on that it was simple pleasure to make.

This also made me realised how many of you actually like Sofia the First! I know her because it's on Disney Jr. and it's one of few princess cartoons my boys would watch, if not the only. It is also easy to like Sofia, she's kind and spirited but not cloyingly sweet, just enough to make some awesome cupcakes. Heh.

Here are a few emblems that brings out the essence of Princess Sophia...

Her purple amulet

Clover pattern on her dress

Every princess needs a tiara

It's an extremely purply affair, a sort of powdery lavender that is most fitting for Disney's latest bug eyed princess. Here's Sofia herself in cupcake (literally).

Sofia the First 

I made little printouts of Sofia, had them cut out and mounted on toothpicks, then stuck it atop the cupcake and used the fondant ruffle technique for the skirt. Little round discs of fondant were ruffled piece by piece with a ball tool - something I have to confess that's strangely therapeutic to do - and arranged it all around each cupcake.

HRH Cupcakes

I've had wonderful feedback and was told Mummy H who ordered this was totally pleased as was the birthday girl. From the response I've been getting all around, I think Sofia has just gained a few more fans.

O Canada!

For a country that's half way around the world from Singapore, I have to say Canada has made some impressions in my life. Well for a start, I've had family there over the years so every now and then I'll hear about aunts, uncles and cousins who have set up home in the great white north. Then when I was at RD, one of my bosses who played a significant role in my journalism career is Canadian. He was a bear of a guy who wrote with his heart. There was Canuck jokes you don't always get but there's something 'aboot' him that's salt of the earth. I wrote some of my best pieces with him.

When I got married, my husband wanted me to experience premiere skiing for our honeymoon. We headed to Whistler, British Columbia. I'm all for skiing except the green slopes in Whistler were more like intermediate blue slopes everywhere else in the world. Plus it registered -25 degrees that year. I nearly died but it was one hell of a memorable trip.

One of my favourite confection to make when I first started baking was a no-bake three-layer bar of chocolate crumb base, followed by a layer of buttercream custard and topped with a rich dark chocolate ganache. It's called a Nanaimo bar, apparently a popular Canadian dessert that is named after the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia.

Nanaimo Squares

So when I got a call to make a batch of brownies with little Canadian flags as toppers, I was chuffed. I don't usually get orders for brownies. The lady who ordered these was one of the recipients of Daniel's cupcakes. She really liked the toppers and enjoyed the cupcake, so she got in touch for some customised brownies. I have a trusty recipe that yields a rich dense brownie with a shiny cracked top that is crumbly. I had forgotten how much I enjoy making these.

Canadian Chocolate Bar

The flags were handmade. Little red maple leaves printed, cut and then pasted on red art card and affixed on toothpicks. Each flag adorned the brownies that's topped with a swirl of ganache. Check out how I made those flags.

Stick it

Paste it

Flag it

Dear Daniel

Dear Daniel,

When your Mum and I were young, we were each other's favourite playmates. Family gatherings saw us like peas & carrots and we especially loved playing 'house'. Someone was always making a meal, we pretended to 'work' and of course there was the occasional domestic squabble but our kinship and friendship weathered it all.

Then we grew up and went from playing to partying. Too many nights were spent queuing at clubs, drinking till the bar closed and then, still reluctant to head home, we would eat our first meal of the day at Adam Road hawker centre till the sun beckoned.

Well well, look at us now. Our main preoccupation, making sure you kids are fed, cleaned and entertained. We queue at supermarkets, stay up till you are done drinking (milk) and still reluctant to head to bed, we try to cram in some me-time online till we hear your next cry.

It's been a month now since we were blessed with your arrival and every day, you are a joy to all who are in your life. Every time I look at you, I think of how very far we have all come. We couldn't imagine it before, but Daniel... you and your cousins Jake, James and Clare are everything we ever wanted and more.

Love,
Aunty Debbie

ps: In case you're wondering... your Papa is a HUGE Liverpool supporter, which explains why your full month cupcakes have those little red football jerseys with your name and day / month of birth ('39') on it. They were lovingly handmade by your Mummy and I, even though we don't watch football. But you should know the family is divided into Liverpool and Man United supporters, I'm sure your Uncle Ravi and Uncle Andrew will be having a chat with you the minute you can kick a ball.

Happy 1st Month Danny boy

Safari Cupcakes

Finally, I'm getting some adult action! No not that kind (brain out of the gutter please) but cupcakes for a nice young lady turning 30-something ; )

After having made those cute animal fondant for kids birthday, I get a request for animal print cupcakes. The birthday girl likes her leopard and zebra motifs. Now how do we incorporate that tastefully on cupcakes? 

1. Take the easy way out - just buy animal print cupcake liners

2. Use fondant and paint on the animal print as a topper

3. Use animal print art paper and make toppers

I did two of the above and got stuck on the fondant because I'll be using cream cheese in my frosting. So what sort of topper can I print on with edible paints that will hold up well on cream cheese? I strolled the aisles of the supermarket for inspiration and one thing stood out - Marshmallows!

I decided to buy those big tubular white marshmallows for camp fires and use them as toppings for the cupcake, on which I painted the safari patterns. Here's how I did it...

Get a pack of marshmallows. Snip the two ends of each piece and you'll get a flat disc of marshmallow but you'll find the scissored end sticky - just dust it with some powdered sugar or corn flour.

Snip to disc

Then paint on the spots with some edible paints - I'm using Americolor soft gel with some added water.

Pink leopard prints

Colourful safari cupcake toppers

A pack of leopards

Making the zebra prints was even easier. I used my Americolor gourmet pen here and just drew on the stripes.

Here's the animal print cupcake liner

A herd of zebras

I also made some paper toppers using animal print paper. This gave a nice variation to the cupcake design, but really, it was the best way to spell out Happy Birthday Missi!

Happy Birthday Melissa!

Hope you had a good one 

Laser Tag 'Em

Believe it or not, I've never played Laser Tag or the more physical Paintball games before. It's been the rage for young boys (and girls too I'm sure) and even the not so nimble enjoy a good tag, as seen at many company team-building events. So when I was asked to make Laser Tag cupcakes, I was like, "Okaaay... what do we make?"

Did you know the creator of Laser Tag drew inspiration while watching Star Wars. It's no surprise that Laser Tag is one of the game choice for sic-fi fans. Well, the recipient of the Laser Tag cupcakes is for a friend's son who turns 8! The birthday boy and his buddies will be playing a round of Laser Tag to celebrate and his mummy thought matching birthday cupcakes would be cool!

She was right, Laser Tag cupcakes must be one of the coolest cupcakes I've made so far. So here's what I decided to make - target points, laser guns and those military-style vest you kit out to play the game.

Warren's Target

Fondant combat

I had fun making these fondant toppers, especially those little guns. Given a little twist, it could be a hairdryer even...haha! The birthday boy's name was also in focus as I spelt it out on the target points. 

Then my ultimate stroke of inspiration came when I was thinking about those laser beams. I wanted to recreate that for the cupcakes. At first I thought of using long thin candles that can double up as birthday candles but he is after all just 8, how many candles can you possibly stick into the cupcakes right? So here's what I did with Twizzler candy sticks instead.

Beam beam beam

I love these rainbow Twizzlers. My creative blogger mummy friend Eve introduced it via her blog when she prepared her hubby's rainbow-themed birthday. I'm using them here as my shooting coloured beams, they were just perfect for the job. Here's how...

All you need are a pack of Twizzlers, scissors and some toothpicks ...

Look at those colourful candy sticks

Simply cut to length required

Insert a toothpick for support

Beaming cupcakes

Happy Birthday Warren

Now for some real action, Laser Tag with me anyone?

Numtums No.3

Have you heard of The Numtums? It's CBeebies (BBC kids) super cute series on 10 little characters that help young children learn their numbers. This weekend, I got the chance to make Numtum No.3!

There are so many great resources out there now for teaching numeracy to kids. Sesame Street has always had a great number programme (remember the 123 song with the pinball), who could resist counting with Count Dracula! There's also NumberJacks, Baby Einstein 123 and a whole lot at YouTube. I should come up with a number programme with fondant for kids!

For birthday boy Luke who turned three, it's a cupcake affair with an assortment of "3" designs. There are many ways to use fondant on cupcakes but I think making fondant disc toppers are the way to go! They can be made in advance, they sit nicely on top of the frosting swirl and you can hold on to them if you're not eating it.

Before making the Numtum fondant toppers, I went to the official website for a look at the colour scheme and I totally love it! Check out the blues and yellows...

Fondant disc toppers

Here's the making of Numtum No.3...

Cute little creature

Hooray No.3!

Numtum set on a disc

I had the cupcakes packed in 3 dozen boxes...

Mummy tells me the kids at school loved it! Yay ; )

M-I-C-K-E-Y MOUSE

He's the world's most famous mouse! You may be 2 or 20-years-old and you may love Mickey in varying degrees over time but he retains an everlasting appeal synonymous with the happiest place on earth. So naturally, he's bound to be requested on birthday cakes.

For one four-year-old boy, it's a box of Mickey cupcakes that his dear mummy ordered with request for some ideas that were too cute not to attempt. She wanted a box of 20 cupcakes with various designs of the Disney character. Mickey mouse is all about the white gloves, white-buttoned red trousers and those unmistakable big ol' ears. And that's just what I did (in fondant).

Meeska Mouska Mickey Mouse

I was told the birthday boy's favourite colour is green so I had to find a way to sneak that in - have his name spelt out in green fondant fonts! 

Riven

I made these fondant disc a couple of days before delivery so they will dry out nicely as toppers. It also gave me the opportunity to place them in the box for a look at the final arrangement.

Empty spot for special design

Riven's mummy asked if candles can go onto the cupcakes, I know what she meant... after all, what's a birthday celebration without the candle-blowing right? While there is absolutely nothing wrong with candles on a cupcake, I did however proposed to make one bigger cupcake (or a small cake) so they can still have the usual cake for blowing out the candles. Since she loved the design of the large Mickey head and ears cupcake, I made a bigger one for the middle of the box.

It's actually made of 2 cupcakes

Large Mickey head in the middle

Happy Birthday Riven

Everyone knows Mickey Mouse but here's some trivia on the famous little rodent.

1. Mickey was first conceptualised as a dog, cat, cow and horse! 

2. Mickey's birthday is 15 November 1928 (that makes him what... 85!)

3. Apparently, intelligence officers used "Mickey Mouse" as a password amongst themselves during WWII. 

4. Mickey's ears were dubbed "one of the greatest cultural icons of the 20th and 21st centuries" by Time Magazine.

5. Mickey Mouse launched the career of Ryan Gosling! (God bless Mickey)

Handmade Cupcake Toppers

If you read my earlier post about paper crafts, you'd know how much I love making cupcake toppers. I had the opportunity to make Full Month cupcakes again and I convinced the mummy that paper toppers were the way to go!

So it was off to the paper shop for some shopping. I chose a variety of blue patterned paper and got very tempted to take up scrapbooking (ok, focus focus). But I have been investing in a variety of scrapbooking tools. Here are my favourite cutters...

3" Scallop Nesting Punch

2.25" Round Punch

1" Scalloped Circle Art Punch

With these, some nice papers and a colour printer, I could dress up any cupcake, and that's just what I did for Baby Ryo. The sweet boy received 50 cupcakes with paper toppers designed and handmade by me ; )

Sticks for holding up the topper

Glue down print design on the backer

And there it is!

Happy 1st Month Ryo

These were banana cranberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I piped a rosette and planted the paper topper. Don't they look amazing in a batch. I highly recommend anyone ordering cupcakes to consider these, I can work with you on the design too!

Dinosaur Rocks!

(Ryuu's Birthday Cakes - Part II)

Besides the Hungry Caterpillar, the birthday boy also loves dinosaurs! I heard he got into them because his mummy liked exposing him to factually correct content (as oppose to mindless cartoon, I guess). I think that's the way to go. 

For the party at home, my friend wanted her son to have a round cake to cut plus some cupcakes for easy takeaways. She sent me some ideas and I quickly fell in love with a cute looking dino stringing a red balloon along.

Cute-saurus

I'm not sure what 'saurus' I made but I did check against the list and it looks like the fearsome Ceratosaurus - for those of you who are interested, it's a large predatory theropod from the late Jurassic period. This one just happens to look damn adorable! It also contains a rich dark chocolate cake with Oreo cream cheese filling!

I was thinking how best to decorate the sides of the cake when inspiration hit me while shopping for Chinese New Year goodies. I love those crispy wafer sticks with chocolate cream in them and I thought they also look like tree trunks or wooden twigs. So I bought a box, had the sticks cut to varying lengths and lined them all around the sides. It looks a bit like a wood forest.

Jurassic Cake

Then I spotted a bottle of chocolate rocks and it was a no-brainer. I had it scattered all around to cover the board. It was all the decoration you'd love to eat ; )

That was not the end of my dinosaur discovery. I felt a bit like a Palaeontologist as I scoured for dinosaur toppers that can go onto the cupcakes. This took me to the Party City shop at Raffles City where they carried a whole range of dinosaur party ware. They had the cutest dinosaur toy ring and it comes in a pack of 12. What a find!

To mount them, I used those yummy wafers again so I could get them to prop up nicely on top of the cupcake. It sat handsomely on the Oreo cream cheese swirl.

Topper-saurus

Look ma... there's a dinosaur on my cupcake!

Did you know that Johnny Cash had a song called the "Dinosaur Song"? I know I'm digressing but when I was googling for all of this, I came across the song and it's fascinating. Check it out - Johnny Cash Children's Album