Hummingbird Weekend

This weekend's birthday cakes have one thing in common, the Hummingbird cake. I love this cake with a passion, it's got all my favourite ingredients – bananas, cinnamon, juicy pineapples and cream cheese! Most people tell me they've never heard of the Hummingbird cake but once they've had it, it's almost unforgettable.

My friend Eve of thebottomsupblog.com wanted a two-tier cake for her children's combine birthday celebration. She was hoping for something healthy, if there is such a thing at all when it comes to celebration cakes. Well, I think the Hummingbird cake fits the bill if you discount the fondant and Eve was game to try this fruity treat. The theme was spots and stripes and she had put in such an amazing effort for the party, from the invites to the decoration and the dessert table! Read about the party preparation here.

We're going to the party!

When I was doing research on the cake design, I was pleasantly surprise to find that the spots and stripes combination is pretty popular in fondant cakes. Eve had designed a party logo and the cake would reflect the same colours pink and turquoise blue.

The party logo designed by Eve

The stripes and spots cake

She also showed me some cake designs and there was one that had a really neat-looking fondant bow. I love bows and it looked simple enough, so I decided to try my hand at making one. Well ok, it was not as easy as I had imagined but with some perseverance and Youtube as my instructor, I managed to fix a bow that I'm quite proud of. Check out this video for one of the best fondant bow instructions I've come across, there's nothing you can't learn online these days ; )

My first fondant bow

My other contribution to the lovely dessert table was Raisin Cinnamon Cookies iced according to the theme. This is such a great cookie recipe to make for kids and with kids, it's simple – mainly butter, cinnamon and raisins – yet yummy and healthy!

Individually wrapped cookies

All set for the party!

When I got to the party, the dessert table was the show stopper... it didn't matter that Eve had a whole buffet spread outside, everyone had their eyes on the table of striped and spotted goodies ; )

Party time!

It was truly a party that inspired creativity and I am so glad to have been a part of it. Thanks Eve! Love those paper medallions!

Birthday Cake No.2

A friend and ex-colleague who had been following my cake story decided that she had enough browsing and it's time to do some tasting, so she contacted me for a cake for her brother's birthday. When she requested for something fruity as they were getting a bit tired of chocolate cake, I immediately suggested the Hummingbird.

For this Hummingbird cake, I included walnuts, which is part of the original recipe. With Eve's cake, we left out the nuts in case any of the children have nut allergy. But a Hummingbird cake complete with nuts makes for a wholesome, healthful cake that's full of flavours and textures.

Since I made such a large batch of cream cheese, I went a little crazy covering this birthday cake... forgetting it's for a guy ;p 

Looking like vintage lace

Melvin's not so macho cake

I also have a few recipe variations for the Hummingbird cake. I've made it with mangoes and peaches as well. The flavour is intense and the cake is VERY moist! Apart from walnuts, pecans are also commonly used though they are more expensive. Like a hummingbird to a bird feeder, you'll go back for more once you've tried some.

FYI, the Hummingbird makes beautiful cupcakes too!
Contact me for more details.

A Vote of Confidence

Since I've started this baking venture, I've learnt so much about cake decoration! I was joking with a friend that it's no longer just about baking a cake anymore... you get to be a sculptor (Piggy cake), dressmaker (Barbie cake), engineer (tiered cake), and cartoon artist (Tom & Jerry). But I must admit I still have a lot to learn.

I can't express how glad I am to be given the opportunity to try my hand at making a Tom & Jerry cake. An old school friend referred a friend to me, she was looking for a Tom & Jerry cake for her two kids celebrating their birthdays together. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about the project since I haven't really done much fondant modelling work, but the challenge was irresistible. When she finally decided to go with me, I was so excited, I started practicing moulding the figurines 5 days before delivery! 

Here's the first go at Jerry...

A first attempt at Jerry

I felt Jerry's ears were too triangle...so I played plastic surgeon and had another go!

Big round ears!

Then there's Tom...

First attempt at Tom

I couldn't stop meddling with Tom actually... poor guy not only gets a whacking from Jerry but a whole lot of face-rearrangement from me! ha!

Here's the zany duo

Now since Tom was getting a hammering on the head... the hubby thought it would be funny to play with the eyes...

Seeing stars

Here's the labour of my adventure...

Two-step chocolate cake featuring Tom & Jerry

Happy Birthday Adrienne & Ethan

I'll be honest, I struggled somewhat with getting the a few things right on this cake. First, it took a bit of work to get the expressions on the figurines the way I imagined it. Then there was the fondant covering for the cake. I ended up building a bit too much cake, which weighed in at about 3.5kg. This called for a VERY large sheet of fondant and I had trouble rolling it out. But looking at the result, I think it was a decent effort. Now I'm secretly wishing for a fondant rolling machine!

I'm so blessed to meet many people who have been so encouraging and kind towards this baking project of mine. The opportunities have been amazing and I'm constantly surprised at what I can create. Thanks A for the vote of confidence ; )

The Pinks and Blues of First Birthdays

I had my hands full of pink and blue fondant over the weekend. I made TWO double-tiered cake, over two days for two cutie pies turning one year old!

My nephew Baby T had a blue cake – his mama had planned a Blue colour theme party and I proposed a layered cake with varying shades of blue!

Happy Birthday Tim

And a good friend's daughter Baby M had a pink cake - her mama planned a Minnie Mouse party and I created a delicate pink cake with Minnie mouse accents.

Happy Birthday Mere

That got me thinking... how did we come to determine gender-specific colours? While I know of some parents who rather give their kids gender-neutral clothes and toys, and I'm personally indifferent about such signifiers, there is quite an interesting background to this pink and blue business for girls and boys.

According to a Smithsonian magazine article, "The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” 

And did you know that around the time of World War I, it was generally accepted that boys wore pink and girls wore blue. Time magazine in 1927 published a sex-appropriate colour chart for boys and girls and it was pink for the boys and blue for the girls! That wasn't so long ago.

Then somewhere along the way, there was a colour swap. Maybe it was the feminist movement in the 60s that rejected any gender-defining norms, or maybe some boy really liked his sister's blue dress? Ok ok, I know all this has nothing to do with baking but it's really interesting to read, if you want to know more, check out this article at Smithsonian.com

Ok, so back to the cakes...

For Baby T's blue cake, I made a Vanilla Butter cake in layers of blue hue with cream cheese frosting in between. Both cakes were covered in fondant and I love how clean it looks.

For decoration, I tried those springy wires and made fondant stars with his name on it. They make really great cake toppers and I love how it bounces around when you move the cake.

Tim's stars

My hubby's precision dotting

A Blue Rainbow Cake

For Baby M's pink cake, I made the perennial favourite Moist Chocolate cake and the mama suggested an oreo cream cheese frosting! What a great combination it turned out to be.

Looks like giant oreo cookies

There were 3 layers at the bottom tier and 3 smaller layers at the top tier. It was covered with fondant again and decorated with Minnie mouse cutouts and pretty pink bows.

Pretty Pink

Minnie Mouse in the house!

Happy 1st

Cakes and Craft

I made a batch of cupcakes this weekend for a new acquaintance. I am glad that she gave me an opportunity (ordering my cupcakes) even though she didn't know me very well.

Her order: Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Swirl

I have yet to make peanut butter frosting even though I've always loved the stuff. When I was young, I once scooped a whole spoon of peanut butter from the jar and greedily swallowed it. I nearly died choking on it, but it tasted soooo good. Obviously, the near-death experience didn't diminish my affection for peanut butter.

My peanut butter swirl is a simple recipe. Three parts smooth peanut butter, one part Nutella – it's a creamy concoction that can't go wrong on anything! Using a 1M star tip, I piped rose swirls onto the chocolate cupcakes.

The cupcakes were meant for a lady celebrating her first year in Singapore – Happy Anniversary! So I was ask to incorporate some deco that would mark the occasion. I really didn't want to deal with fondant as it can be quite time-consuming, so I suggested cupcake toppers!

It's a lot of fun making cupcake toppers using pretty cutouts, printed patterns, etc and attaching them to toothpicks that you can easily insert into the cupcake swirl. This combines two of my favourite handiwork – baking and paper craft!

Handmade 'hearts' and '1s'

With paper craft, the creative possibilities are endless and you can even add personal messages with the toppers. I think this is going to be my new thing for cupcakes, I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get a box of cupcakes with a special message. 

A special arrangement

For my elder boy's first birthday back in 2010, I had actually made cupcake toppers for his 'Ladybug' theme party – Lemon cupcakes with 'Thank You' toppers for the kids.

Jake's 1st Birthday, Nov 2010

This is something that mothers should definitely consider for party cupcakes. It's easily customisable, looks amazing in an arrangement and doesn't add any more sugar to the sweet treat.