Rainbow Cheesecake

After having made more rainbow cakes than I care to count, I am now adding another spectrum to my multi layer colour baking - the Rainbow Cheesecake.

I'm not sure how many of you saw it on your Facebook feed but there was a post that was making its rounds on social media on how to make a rainbow cheesecake. It looked absolutely delicious! My sister-in-law J was the first to post the tutorial on my timeline with a message - "Make this please!"

It was a matter of time that the rainbow starts to invade all sorts of baked goods. There was no better time to try this than for my hubby's cousin's 16th birthday. Her dad had contacted me to bake something for her Sweet 16, and being family who have been recipients of my cakes on almost all occasions, I was happy to try something new for once.

I didn't care for the recipe in the tutorial. Every baker has their own cheesecake recipe - if it works, don't try to mess things up. I figured the only additional step would be adding in the food colours into the cheesecake batter.

So here goes...

Technicolor Cheesecake

The coloured batter spread like a dream. I think the next time I try this, I will make more batter to get one or two more colours in. The hubby also suggested that I could do a monochrome ombre cheesecake - Hunny, consider it done! :)

Anyway, the birthday girl was totally surprised when she saw the cake (even I couldn't stop looking at the cake after taking it out of the oven). She loves cheesecake and this was the ultimate birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Christel

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

An Education in VW Kombi

I can't believe it's October already! I haven't had much time to update the blog on the cakes I've been busy with. In the past weeks, I had the pleasure of repeating some fun designs like the Fire Engine and Honeybee cupcakes, as well as some cheery Sunflower cupcakes for my niece's 17th birthday, but the one cake I have to share with you is the VW Kombi cake!

I was contacted by some Kombi enthusiasts for a series of Kombi van cakes. While I do recognise the iconic camper van, I can't say I know the vehicle in great detail. I have also underestimated what it meant to make a cake for enthusiasts (of any subject). You just could not afford to be too casual about details. My first brief was for a rainbow-coloured Kombi with peace sign in place of the VW logo. As the van needed to look like it's painted, that's just what I did. I painted on the rainbow colours on the body of the van (with edible paints and gin). It was my first time painting on fondant but some tips online really helped out. 

I baked blocks of chocolate cake and carved out the shape of the Kombi, had it covered in fondant and laid the paintwork. Yes I did feel a bit like a mechanic for car body kit. Here's the Kombi taking a test drive...

Front View 

Back View

Unfortunately, this Kombi never made it beyond a test drive. I was told flat out that the recipient of the cake was rejecting it! It's a first for me and boy did it hurt :(

To begin with, I didn't get the shape of the Kombi right, the slope in the front was way too exaggerated. Then the sides looked somewhat saggy, which could be due to the double layer fondant I applied (I also realise my cake could have been a bit too moist, causing the internal structure to buckle). But finally, the reason it was not road worthy was that while the cake waited for the day of the party (1.5 days) in it's air-conditioned 'garage', it finally had a meltdown. I recommended it didn't go into refrigeration for fear of the colours weeping but looks like air-conditioning didn't do the trick.

Lesson learnt, fondant cakes wait for no man. Bake it, eat it.

I was quite wrecked from the experience (mostly from the rejection and feeling bad for the whole situation). While I'll take the rep for the many things that went wrong, it was still good cake and an honest effort. In the end, I had another chance to make it right. This time I was given many pictures of the Kombi to study, and boy did I look long and hard. The cake I had to replicate is this very adorable Kombi called 'Blue'.

'Blue'

And this time, I nailed it. 

Thanks for the opportunity. 

Kombi rocks!