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.

Peppa the Popular Piggy

You always know what's hot with the kids by the cakes that get requested and the one that is getting keeps popping up is Peppa Pig!

The cute little pink piggy is famous for adventures around her neighbourhood with her little brother George and extended family and friends. There are many other little characters in this British preschool animated series, which includes rabbits, sheep, cats, dogs and elephants. It's truly great fodder for fondant characters.

The most famous image of Peppa and her family is where Mama pig, Papa pig, Peppa and George are enjoying a stomp around in a muddy puddle, typical piggy activity!

I made my first Peppa pig cake in Dec last year and in 2014, it's easily already one of the most requested cakes. Check out all the Peppa cakes I've done so far...

Peppa and friends (extended version)

Peppa and family

Peppa herself

This was a special request to feature the main star herself - Peppa. This cake is carved out, and covered in meringue frosting. Fondant is used only for the outline, so that minimises the sweet stuff. 

Peppa is popular

Always a joy to make, I'm almost eager to see another request for this.

The Sound of 19

My nephew Josh turned 19! It's a surefire reminder of how old I am with the only consolation that my brother (his father) is even older! (oops sorry, brother) You see, it doesn't seem so long ago that I was somewhat living the carefree days of being a student and enjoying a social life revolving around music. Has it really been 19 years?

Where I used to hang out with friends who formed bands and played at gigs, I'm now making a cake in the shape of a guitar, for a 19-year-old. Thank you Josh for reminding me of my youth, it was a good time indeed.

Josh has made a conscious choice to pursue music and thanks to his supportive parents, he is bucking the usual academic trend to create a future hopefully based on passion. And he will be the better for it.

Happy Birthday Josh

This little blue ukelele (Harvest) is actually a replica of something he has in his impressive collection of guitars. I figured it's easier to make this than Taylor, Fender or Gibson.

Back to the cake, it's 2 different sized round cakes combined with a long rectangular strip cake for the fretboard. It's actually really fun to make and covering it in fondant really brought the instrument to life. My little boy actually wanted to pick it up and pluck the strings!

The trick was crafting the tuning pegs and strings. The tuning machine heads and pegs are all moulded from fondant. I made them stiff enough so I could actually string it like a real guitar to the bridge with fishing line. For someone who doesn't play the guitar, I sure know the anatomy of one.

Some people have lives, some people have music. Josh I wish you have a fulfilling life of music.


Music is perpetual, and only the hearing is intermittent.
- Henry David Thoreau 

What a Character!

I had the pleasure of baking two orders that involved some interesting and well-loved children's characters. For the birthday recipients, the cakes not only made their day, but it was central to the celebration and really goes to show how it's not a party unless you have cake!

When I think of pirates, it used to be 'Pirates of the Caribbean' with Johnny Depp in all his uncanny ways. Now that I have kids, it's Disney Junior's 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates'! Oh how things have changed. But Jake and his mateys are definitely more inspirational when it comes to making confectionery.

I was delighted to bake for Riven again. His mummy had contacted me exactly a year ago for his birthday. Another year older now, his love for Mickey Mouse has moved on to a more swashbuckling variety - Pirates!

Riven got a box of cherubic-looking pirate cupcakes for school and a small cake with all the emblems that would make a pirate proud. The pirate fondant toppers were easy enough to make, you just need round cutters and edible ink pen. Cut a nice round disc for the face, a semi circle for the head scarf, some little round cutouts for the polka dots (I used a the opening of a large piping tip) and draw in the face with edible ink!

Happy B'Arr-Day Riven

Eye patches rock

Riven's Treasure Chest

My next recipient is a little older, but age doesn't have to define you, especially not when it comes to the sort of cake you can ask for on your birthday. The birthday girl's friends were throwing her a tea party, and not just any tea party, but the sort that Alice would enjoy in Wonderland.

Since it was just cupcakes, I figured to make a few key characters and feature some famous quotes from the fantasy claptrap. So you got to have the White Rabbit, Alice herself falling down a rabbit hole no less, the mad hat and crazy clock. I particularly enjoyed pulling out quotes from the story that have become so famous that it's part of popular culture - "Eat me!"

Alice in Cupcake-land

Time for cupcakes

Happy Birthday Cindy

Wonderful Tea Party

I just realised a common thread in these character cupcakes - Johnny Depp movies!


“You would have to be half mad to dream me up.” 
- Lewis Carrol

Furry Furby

I know, I know...I've taken too long to update my blog. I've made quite a few cakes in the last week, entertained many requests for customised cakes and sadly had to turn down quite a few interesting orders. Yes, I'm in the Indonesian capital again, so while I won't be baking, I should definitely catch up on my updates.

One of the cakes, which I made for an acquaintance who had come to enjoy my red velvet fudge cake, is the Furby! I was really happy with how it turned out. Mummy J told me of how her girl loves the owl-eyed furball toy and wanted a birthday cake of her fave Furby.

She sent me a drawing with some modifications to a teal-coloured Furby to give an idea of how the cake should look like. So what Hasbro can't customised, I did just that in cake and cream :)

Furby of her dreams

I baked 9" round red velvet layers with chocolate ganache filling and had it cut out slightly around the sides to get the egg shape look for the Furby. It was simple enough to do. The features like ears, eyes, beak and feet were all made from fondant. Now the challenging part is to recreate the fur. As you can see, this Furby is mainly teal with spots of lime green. It also has these concentric pattern that I was studying on how to pull off.

The best frosting to achieve this is buttercream or the like. As you all know, I'm not a fan of buttercream, largely because of our weather. So a fluffy meringue cream will do the job. I whipped up a batch and had it coloured in teal, light turquoise and lime green. The cake was first treated to a generous ganache covering, then heaped on with teal coloured frosting. After that, the lime green frosting was spotted on and finished with a circular swirl of lighter teal. Here's the result...

Yummy Furby

Happy Birthday Ashley

This technique is the same as what I have done with Elmo and Cookie Monster cakes. I simply love making furry characters, and eating it too. Yums!

Terrific Toppers

So there were a few more cakes that were put together quickly, thanks to the terrific toppers that were provided by mummies for their little one's special day.

Sophia the First
Lauren (who also got a My Little Pony cake) got to celebrate her birthday in school with Sophia the First! I love that new Disney princess series, even my two boys enjoy it when it comes on Disney Junior. Since they will never request for a Princess Sophia cake, I'm glad Mummy K asked me to help her with one. She managed to get the toppers, not an easy task since the series is so new. I just had to bake the cake and set the scene for the toppers.

Happy Birthday Lauren

Chugginton
Isaac (who also got Peppa Pig) received his new Chuggington toy atop a chocolate cake. I got this idea online - I especially loved how the shrubbery was created using the scallop cutters and layering the pieces together. I did that all along one side of the cake. Then made a little railway and just one prop, a street lamp. Choo-choo-chugga-chugga!

Happy Birthday Isaac

Lion King
This request for a Lion King cake got me researching for safari-inspired cakes! There were some beautiful examples of cakes online with the African landscape, including some painted ones of Serengeti sunsets...amazing. For this cake, I made a simple rectangle cake and a rock mount that we can perch Simba on. I used floral wires for the fondant leaves so they could stand upright to break up the flat green cake surface. These toppers are some of the best I've seen anywhere, the quality is excellent. Mummy A had them ordered online from US.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn

Did you know The Lion King is 20 years old? The feature film debut in 1994...an oldie but a goodie!

Peppa Pig

I love children's literature, it's such a great fodder for cute cake ideas. I've done a few including Dear Zoo and Hungry Caterpillar, now adding to the library is Peppa Pig!

A friendly neighbour who has 2 little boys just like me requested for a Peppa Pig cake for her elder boy who turns 3. She had already actively researched for ideas online for the cake and wanted a 2D design fondant cake. Peppa Pig is a simple enough character as they are drawn in basic shapes with simple details. Still, it was hard deciding on a design. My son's library has a great Peppa Pig book but in the end, I couldn't resist this design that Mummy C shared...

Peppa Pig and Family

It's a neat cake with all the signature Peppa Pig narrative - sunny day, playing in the mud, Peppa with her family - little brother George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig.

So off I went replicating it the best I could...

Character development

Story board

From screen to cake

2D cakes are truly tons of fun to make. With the fondant cutout, it looks almost like a page out of the story book. I added a few little details like a ladybug and a simple trail of trains that can hold the candles.

Peppa Pig!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Birthdays @ Home

As we enter into the last month of the year, I always get a bit contemplative. What have I put into 2013 and what did I get out of it? Well, there sure was quite a bit of travelling, mainly shuttling between S'pore and Jakarta. But mostly, it's a year of adjustment for our whole family. I think we did well and I was still able to bake and even squeeze in some freelance work!

The recent birthday celebration at home pretty much sums up our 2013 - making home in 2 places. We got back just in time from JKT (like a day before) to hold a simple party at home with friends and family, I managed to bake two cakes for my favourite boys. 

Remember that rainbow cheesecake with the colourful concentric circles? Well, I made a monochrome one for the hubby. He loves the colour blue and I made him a cheesecake in 6 hues of blue. While I was making this B, who is pedantic about colours, gave me some insights into how shading works. So it seems if I made this monochrome cake with the outer rings from dark to light, it would have a tunnel with light at the end effect. In this case, he wanted a bulls-eye effect - so outer rings from light to dark. 

Blue Cheesecake

Happy Birthday B

And here's what my 4 year-old big boy got...

Cake on Fire!

Happy Birthday Jake

So our little guy has a new obsession - Hot Wheels! Where I used to have a gazillion Thomas the Train toys strewn all over the house, it's now little die cast cars. This cake allowed him to add 4 more Hot Wheels cars to his collection, needless to say it's the best birthday ever! Till next year, I say :)

Tayo and the Traffic Lights

I had the pleasure of making yet another Tayo cake but this one had a very special request. The little boy who is celebrating his 5th birthday has a thing for traffic lights. I totally get that because my two rascals are equally enthusiastic about traffic lights. My younger one may have just turned 2 but he is able to say "Red means STOP! Green means GO Mama Go Go GO!" So when Mummy L requested for traffic lights including the overhead kind, I totally understand :)

Mummy L was also very proactive in working on the design with me. She wanted a zebra crossing as well. I didn't know before but in the Tayo cartoon, little chicks would cross the road so she requested for those to be part of the cake. Just to be clear, she even helped me to envision the design with a powerpoint draft!

Mummy L's draft

The main challenge for me was the overhead traffic light. Gum paste may do the trick but the weight would make it unstable since the structure would be cantilevered... where is the Hubby when you need him. Then I looked around my supplies and came across simple black straws - Eureka! The straw could be bent and that was where I added on the traffic light detail with art paper.  The other two traffic lights were made out of gum paste and supported by lollipop sticks.

The birthday boy was very observant, he told his mummy that I got the overhead traffic light sequence wrong! It should be green on the inside then amber and red. Good spot Isaac! You really know your lights ; )

A scene from Tayo the Little Bus

I had the most fun making that zebra crossing. There is something about black fondant, I really love working with it. Any details that is set upon the black pops out and the contrast looks fantastic. When I positioned those 3 little chicks on the zebra crossing, I was so pleased with how it all turned out.

Pedestrian chicks

 Happy Birthday Isaac!

My Little Pony Mania

October was the month of My Little Pony cakes! It seemed like every mummy who got in touch with me requested for the pretty ponies for their little ones. I think the rainbow coloured ponies must be enjoying some kind of resurgence in popularity because even McDonald's is packaging their Happy Meals with My Little Pony toys.

I was very happy to make these MLP cakes again as I really enjoyed my first effort for a friend's daughter some time back. I made a total of 4 MLP cakes, with one special order for sisters who were celebrating their birthdays together so I made two cakes with a connecting rainbow! A bit of fondant engineering challenge there.

Here are the 4 cakes...

1. Giselle's 1st Birthday

Simple and Sweet

This cake ordered by Mummy V is a bit of a rehash of my first MLP cake. She didn't want 3D fondant nor toppers so I went with this 2D version of 'Sweetie Belle'. I love make the My Little Pony this way as it stands out enough to make an impact on the cake. I especially love the flowing mane! This was a simple orange sponge cake for a small party.


2. Matilda's 1st Birthday

Field of ponies

A friend wanted the MLP theme for her daughter's first birthday. They had the party decorated with all things pony from the banners to the goodie bags, piñata and even labels the drink bottles! Naturally, a MLP cake would complete the celebration. Mummy M is a busy busy lady so she picked up some toppers and came by to discuss the cake with me. We decided on a rectangular cake - always good for cutting and serving up with a standing rainbow. A couple of days before the party, I went by to McDonald's to get a drink and saw the Happy Meal giving away My Little Pony figurines. It was my first Happy Meal in ages.


3. Kaira's 6th Birthday

Just add ponies

Kaira was going to have a pool party for her birthday so her mummy was a bit hesitant about a fondant cake being out in the open for some hours. Hence, they requested for a cream cake instead. Now having made fondant cakes for most orders, I was suddenly a bit lost as to how to make a standard cream cake. As you all know I don't do buttercream because I don't use shortening and butter alone won't hold in our weather, so I turned to cream cheese. This is a chocolate cake where the sides are frosted and the border piped with sweetened cream cheese that is coloured. I left the 'lane' exposed as chocolate with some green grass frosting on either side. Ask me for this if you'd like a fondant alternative.

4. Lauren and Shauna's Birthday

Little twin cakes

This cake combo is for two sisters whose birthdays are quite close so Mummy K thought to combine the celebration. Big sister Lauren gets a rainbow cake with a stream running through it, while Shauna meimei gets a elevated cloud cake. The two cakes are connected by a gum paste rainbow that straddles both cakes. The challenge here is that Mummy K had to do the assembling herself. For ease of transporting the cakes, the rainbow was not inserted and the cakes had to be assembled on site. I provided all the necessary 'tools' and here's the result of Mummy K's handiwork. Well done!

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

Going One Direction

I had a chance to revisit teen hood when a mummy asked me to make a "1D" cake. At first I thought, so it's not 3D (3-dimensional) or 2D, but what's 1D? (hoping it's not a mathematical concept cake) It's the boys from the Simon Cowell X-Factor franchise, One Direction! (doh moment)

Back in my days, NKOTB ruled. I had the biggest crush on Joey McIntyre (I was young and foolish). I see that the teen music phenomenon hasn't really changed much two decades on. These five English-Irish boys can carry a tune but their main marketing purpose is of course, to endear to pubescent teenage girls. Hence my opportunity to make a 1D cake ; )

So my 10-year-old recipient is a fan of the band. Her mummy was very sweet to think of how best to come up with a 1D cake that would make her daughter's day. While I couldn't make figurines of these singing lads, I thought perhaps we could go with the signature "1D" logo on a cake plus fondant placards with a doodle of the boys to place around the sides.

Here's how it turned out...

Harry Styles

Liam Payne

Louis Tomlinson

Niall Horan

Zayn Malik

I actually spotted this idea while researching online and saw someone doing these faces on cookies! How clever and they look cute too. I made them completely out of fondant and outlined it with Americolor pen.

I asked Mummy V which is Isabelle's favourite 1D guy... she said "I think it's Harry"... went to confirm it and she's right ; ) So Harry gets the middle spot.

Happy Birthday Isabelle

This is the first time I'm covering a cake in black fondant. I really love how intense it looks and I can only imagine how nicely the rainbow inside would stand out. I should replicate this with NKOTB just for laughs. 

And for those of you pop-loving teens back in the 80s, here's 17 boyband facts that will make you feel old. Aah, the good ole days.