It's a Wrap!

As 2012 comes to a close, I look back on the year in complete wonder and fulfilment. I never expected to be a stay home baker, but the cakes, cupcakes and cookies found me. With Christmas approaching, I took up 2 of my biggest orders yet... 20 Chirstmas loaves for Dogtech and 300 Snowman cookies for DDB!

Originally, the request was for log cakes but I could not roll a sheet cake to save my life so I conjured up my own version of a Christmas fruit cake - a hearty Banana Cranberry Walnut loaf. In truth, I wanted to make something easy to pack that will keep nicely without refrigeration as it needed time for delivery to be done. The biggest plus is how the wonderful aroma of cinnamon loaves baking made my home instantly festive!

One of the fun things about baking for Christmas is the packaging! I snowed on icing sugar for the loaves and had it gift-wrapped Martha Stewart style. I love her bake tray packaging but it's not available in Singapore so I adapted it and made my own!

Tin trays wrapped in parchment

Sealed with a red scallop cutout

Ribbon it up

It's a wrap!

For the snowman, the task was somewhat daunting. I've never made 300 of anything. I prepared the cookie dough a week before baking and realised one dough ball only produced about 20 cookies, which means I had to make 15 portions and find the fridge space for it! The baking alone took a week.

This was how intense the baking got, my neighbours came asking what was cooking in my kitchen... they could smell the cinnamon butter cookies from their homes ; )

After baking the snowman, the next step was making them Mr Frosty. Now, I would usually pipe an outline then fill the cookie icing in but when you have 300 cookies to frost, you ned to find an efficient way to do this. I went online and loved the method this lady used, check out her spoon-on technique.

Mr Frosty taking shape

I underestimated how big a production 300 snowman is, well it's huge, so I actually had to borrow space to do this. I shipped them off to my sister's and had her kind help in housing and decorating them.

Long line of Frostys

Frosty everywhere

The dress up

Frosted and packed

It's a wrap!

All Christmas goodies shipped, and I was told enjoyed by the recipients. Yay! That's all folks for 2012.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ; )
Stay tuned for more in the new year...

Little Red Corvette

Ok, not exactly (a red corvette). But it's a little red car nonetheless for a little boy who turns 2.

A friend had referred a mummy to me - she was looking for a healthy treat to be shared in school for her little one's birthday. She was keen on a fruity cake with reduced sugar and fancied the Hummingbird Cake... it couldn't be a better choice! She didn't favour the pineapples in the original recipe, so I had it replaced with mangoes. It was a yummy substitute and because mangoes are naturally so sweet, I easily reduced the sugar in the recipe by 50%. The resulting cake was also very moist - banana and mango is such a great combination, who'd have thought ; ) And in place of sour cream, I added fruity yoghurt, which is way more healthy!

Little Keith must love cars since his cake requirement was simple - a little classic red car on a rectangular cake. That's the best shape cake for school since it makes for easy cutting and serving.

I made a double layer cake measuring 13" by 9" and another smaller layer for carving into the shape of the car. I went with the Volkswagen beetle shape car just because it looks cuter and had it covered in fondant for a neater finish. The rest of the cake was generously frosted in light cream cheese.

Delicious ride

Happy Birthday Keith!

The style of this cake is like the penguin cake I made some months back, though there is one huge challenge to this - fondant and cream cheese do not like each other at all. While I love cream cheese frosting more than any other frosting, it is just not possible to apply fondant to it. Fondant breaks down when it comes into contact with cream cheese and becomes a total mess! Still it is possible to be creative and incorporate the two popular ingredients. The trick is to create a barrier for the fondant - in this case, I used a royal icing-like frosting where the fondant car is sitting on.

This is having your fondant and eating it with cream cheese ; )

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.

Bananas About Penguin

Two friendly mothers who are (Singapore Mom) bloggers gave me the opportunity to bake for their children. I always look forward to baking for kids partly because I have 2 of my own and I know how a cake can light up their world!

My friend Eve (thebottomsupblog.com) recommended Motherkao (motherkao.com) to me to create a penguin cake for her little girl who turns 2. She gave me ample notice (thank you) and we discussed about how the cake should be – not too sweet, healthy for young children and must have a penguin! So we went with a banana cake with cream cheese frosting. 

We tried to stay away from fondant, so definitely no 3D cakes with upright penguin ala "Cake Boss" style. Instead, it was to be a easy to serve cake for school hence a sensible square cake with a 2D penguin design.

I really thought I could keep it simple, but those images of cute penguins made it easy to get carried away. PLUS, I had the willing hands of my good friend Dawn from Shanghai who is in town this month so she came by to help me with the cake. Dawn is amazing with cake designs and runs her own home business in Shanghai (lucky me and lucky you who ordered).

So we got to work and decided that it was necessary to use fondant, not too much but enough to create a penguin that we can place on the square cake. 

Making of a penguin

I baked a large square cake that is 12" by 12" and covered it in rich mascarpone cream cheese frosting. The banana cake is such a wholesome cake for kids as it is naturally sweetened by ripe bananas so it needs only about two-thirds of the sugar that is required by the recipe. Bananas is also high in potassium and dietary fibre. The cream cheese covering is also great as it's got calcium for strong bones and requires a whole lot less sugar that buttercream! 

Dawn also contributed something special to the cake by showing me how to do chocolate transfers! So we made some snowflakes using white chocolate that could be used as accents for the cake (even though it was an unbearable 32 degrees today).

Each is unique and painstakingly piped

Here's a peek at the penguin...

Penguin pretty in pink

The completed cake

Dawn and I got a bit obsessed with embellishing the cake and had to stop ourselves as we were running out of time to meet the delivery! But the result just made us smile. I was particularly pleased as it was definitely more than what I had set out to do for the cake.

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

I was told the kids enjoyed the cake and the birthday girl loved her penguin. This is exactly why I love to bake, happiness ; )

Oh and one last thing. So where is my hubby's contribution to this cake you might ask? As the fondant covered penguin was quite heavy, we were afraid it might sink into the base cake creating a dent, so B came up with an ingenious idea. Usually, dowel sticks are used as support for cake upon cake but for this, we inserted oreo cookies in an upright position to hold the penguin up, and it worked! Motherkao, if you're wondering why there are oreo cookies in this banana cake, well now you know ;p

Courtesy of B the cake builder

* Email me for price

I Love School Parties

I love birthday parties and I love preparing parties for school. When Jake's school issued a letter to inform parents of a potluck party for the end of school term and requested for parents to chip in, I have to admit, I was excited!

My assignment... Marcaroni and Cheese.

OK, so I was kinda hoping it would be cupcakes or any baked goods, but I got Mac & Cheese. Still, I was happy to prepare this and I wasn't going to the supermarket to buy any of that instant stuff filled with MSG and artificial colouring and flavouring, I was going to make this from scratch. So I called upon my most favourite American mama blogsite - The Pioneer Woman and got her lovely Mac & Cheese recipe - made from fresh milk, butter, grated cheddar and just the right amount of sea salt.

Then I thought, nobody is going to say no to freshly baked cupcakes, so I asked Jake - "What cupcake would you like to share with your friends?" And I got a resounding Banana!!!

Banana it is! I happily baked a box of Banana Maple Cupcakes, topped with a dollop of cream cheese frosting and drizzled in maple syrup for the kids at school!

These cupcakes are great for school parties! A handy and yummy treat that's healthy too. Order these for your kids' school or birthday parties, minimum box of 12. Packaged in easy to carry away box plus labelling : )

Banana Walnut Loaf

Banana Walnut

I have a beloved recipe for making this popular loaf cake. It's actually super easy to make and while there are many variations, my secret ingredient is a good grade butter - i.e. french butter. Bananas are a perennial favourite and when combine with cinnamon and walnuts, it's a delicious treat for snacking anytime!

Optional: Granola, corn flakes and raisins toppings

Variation: This can be made with canola oil instead of butter for the more health-conscious. Just as nice but not as rich.

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

This is one of my most favourite cakes in the world. The warm cinnamon smell that wafts through the kitchen as this moist cake bakes is incredible. Made with quality baby carrots, healthy walnuts and a special cinnamon spice from Alsace, this yummy cake is a real tea time treat - I highly recommend Earl Grey tea with this!

Topping: Sweet and tangy lemon cream cheese made with Philadelphia cheese, covered with more walnuts

Options: Add pineapples and/or peaches

Variation: This cake can be made with organic wholemeal flour and organic carrots. For any special dietary needs, the ingredients can be substituted accordingly. Just let me know!