It's mid year and she's ONE!

We've reached the half way point of 2017. Is it just me, or is time passing especially fast this decade? Feels like the older you get, the faster everything happens, and the time to get anything done gets lesser. I think it's especially so when you have children, and I have 3!

We recently celebrated my little girl's 1st birthday. It's one of those milestones that parents look longingly toward, yet as it passes, the reality hits home that your little baby is almost baby no more. I feel it more so with my No.3, maybe because I know she's my last baby and I don't want her to grow up too fast!

For her birthday, I knew I would have to whip out my tools that's been in storage and make something very special. Although I've been baking but it's been a while since I crafted with fondant and I know that for her first birthday, I would need to create something that will make her light up. One of her favourite tunes and animation from YouTube's Super Simple Songs is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". The owl and star are that main characters. I think this amazing YouTube channel is a rite of passage for any parent and child in the age of the iPad. I've used it with my two elder boys, and now 7 years later, it's still the gold standard in children's song and cartoon animation!



I've actually made this cake once some years back for a friend's son. I think I could even pull out a picture of that cake from my Facebook page - see picture. Looking back, I actually see a couple of changes in cake trends. Those were the days when fondant was all the rage. I had ordered buckets of fondant 5kg at a time at the height of its popularity. A fondant covered cake was a show stopper at any party. But trends come and go...now you see most cakes are covered in a smooth buttercream or glazed elegantly with chocolate ganache, while fondant only gets a spotlight as a design element or a character topper.

My Star is ONE

Here's my sweetie's Twinkle Star Birthday Cake! What made it really special was how everyone sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as well and it made her beamed like a little star. Made my heart swell :) Happy Birthday Miss Julianne! Now, please take your time to reach 2 years old.

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!

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!

Oh Toodles!

A mummy I knew from childhood got in touch with me when she saw I was baking children's cakes. It's always so nice to hear from old acquaintances who are now mothers, all looking for cakes for their little ones. Mummy A's little boy was going to celebrate his 1st birthday with not one but two Mickey Mouse cakes!

The two cakes were going to be for two separate parties as celebration was spread out over a day - a.m. session and p.m. session. I totally get that; I did that with my boys' birthdays too because we wanted to group our guests such that we can entertain them adequately.

We discussed the design options for Mickey. As you can imagine, there are loads to choose from and every single one looked wonderful - that's the thing with Mickey Mouse, it's a design that always works; it's timeless!

In the end, Mummy A got a very cute plush and some great Mickey character toppers for the two cakes. For one, we had the Mickey plush hugging a cake. Simple enough but when you get the colours right, it's such a very happy cake!

Mickey hugs a cake

Emmanuel's First

Mickey hugs a rich and moist chocolate cake layered with chunky Oreo cream cheese frosting. I love how the red fondant cover complements the plush toy, which admittedly did all the work. All that was needed were some stars, Mickey's emblems and the No.1.

For the second cake, I borrowed from some designs Mummy A sent me - the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse design. Again, the toppers did all the work and I just set the scene for it.

Happy Birthday Emmanuel

Lightning McQueen

The little boy who introduced Thomas the Train to my Jake has a new toy interest - Lightning McQueen from Disney's Cars. Jake's cousin, Justin turns 4 and luckily for his mum, she did not have to endure another year of Thomas birthday party. So Aunty Debbie was tasked with baking a Lightning McQueen cake!

Before I started work, I contacted my baker friend Dawn who made a Lightning McQueen cake some months back. Now if you remember, Dawn is my fellow baker mum who helped me on the Penguin cake last year. Dawn's cake decoration skills is easily the very best that I've seen anywhere. Pure perfection. I had hoped some tips from her would help me along the way. She sent me a step-by-step via WhatsApp from Shanghai where she is based, thank you so much Dawn. Here's a peek at her amazing work... check out the contours!

A perfect Lightning McQueen by Dawn

So I went about building this cake. The baking part was easy - a moist chocolate cake with Oreo cream cheese filing. I had to stop myself from eating the bits that were carved out while making this cake! 

Yummy undercarriage

Rough outline of McQueen covered in fudge

I tried so hard to follow the tips and advice given for this cake. It was a challenge carving a car out of a block of cake, which was recommended. I found myself piecing together the car for the contours instead. So between meeting the requirements of a moist cake and the details required for the car to take shape, this was my best effort.

Lightning McQueen!

Adding in the details was the real fun part especially the round disc on the bonnet. I used it to imprint the birthday boy's name! 

Here's looking at you kid

Ok so it's not really an accurate shape of Lightning McQueen, mine is more like a family saloon than a sports car but the signature windscreen eyes and engine grille smile did the trick. And not forgetting the lightning stripes on the door!

Vroom!

A Lightning McQueen that he can eat

It made the birthday boy's day and that's all that really matters. Happy Birthday Justin!

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 ; )