Happy Chinese New Year!

May the New Year bring new hope and joy to all. Wishing all a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year! 恭喜发财，身体健康，万事如意！

2 Years

It's been 2 years of blogging. Beginning of this year, I made plans to organise a luck draw for the readers. However, due to several unexpected turn of events, I had to shelf the idea. It's way past anniversary now but, who cares? Ahah~~ I will make the announcement once I am ready. It is my way of saying thank-you to the readers, especially those who bothered to come back for updates.

Beginning of Year 2010, I didn't have time to reflect, no time to make any resolutions. But looking back, 2009 had been a good year though not all smooth sailing. I was doing some spring cleaning of my draft folder and found a few drafts with pictures uploaded but no words. I may have long forgotten how I felt after I finished decorating the cake but each picture brings back bits and pieces of memory. I compiled them together and post them here. And thank you all mommies for placing orders with me again this year.

Kingfisher

This is a much delayed post. I had planned to post it last December but was too caught up with things that it got lost in the draft folder. Every once in a while, a special request will come up that you don't have the heart to say no to it. This cake was it. I'm not exactly a bird loving person. I'm actually a cat person. I don't mind mice, snakes or dogs. In fact I love big dogs. I once wanted to adopt a Malamute but I didn't have enough space for him to run around. Mice are rather smart and I find snakes intriguing. Cats, I love them for their grace and independence. Okay, I digressed. As you might have noticed, most of my cakes were for kids, well, except for mahjong cakes. After doing some repetitive work, I welcome a break from it.























This cake was for a bird watching hubby from a loving wife. The reason I did not delete this post as I would love to share the beauty of this bird captured by his excellent photography. She needed a small cake as her hubby wasn't a cake person. I usually don't accept orders under 1 kg but I was really interested when she mentioned 'Kingfisher'. When I received the picture, I was mesmerised by its beauty. If only I could capture half of its glory on the cake. My camera phone couldn't capture the 'feathers' and the shimmer on its head. I was kind of frustrated from trying and finally gave up. Maybe I should take up photography lessons.

Meantime, enjoy the work of nature.

Kogepan & Flowers

What has Kogepan got to do with flowers? Nothing. Except that they were birthday cakes from sister to sister. The one with flowers was ordered by a customer. These flowers were manually rolled and shaped. The process was tedious. I had wanted to get a sugarcraft gun but it was quite expensive. Took me quite awhile to make them but the result was satisfactory. My sis commented that it has a little Peranakan feel.


























































This cake was however done in record time. I took 1 and 1/2 hour to bake and decorate. The speed is relative to the design as well. I am not sure if anyone is a fan of Kogepan (burnt bread-man) but both me and my sis are. I still possess handphone lanyards, handphone charms, stuffed toy, pencil case, etc., all well-kept and unused. Earlier this year, I had promised her to bake her one. What's worse was I had orders that day. Good thing was that Kogepan-san's lines were simple and straight forward. Here's a brief introduction about Kogepan. Kogepan always has this sad and empty look. As he was slightly burnt in the oven, it was left on the shelf. He drowns his sorrow in milk. But this Kogepan should feel happy. It was baked with love and his destiny of being eaten was fulfilled.

Soar The Sky

Just passed the 35th year mark of my life two Thursday ago. Do bakers bake their own cakes on their birthday? Not this one. I had an almost cake-free day, except that I had to bake in the evening for an order. As for birthday presents, I received a recipe book which 2 of my sis S's recipes were in it, a 'voucher' to get a haircut which I badly need, some recipes books from friends and a fridge. I picked practicality in place of a jewellery piece. It was a tie, between a new mixer and a fridge. I figured I could wait for the next sale season for the mixer, weheras the fridge was already offered on sale. Thank you for all the birthday wishes I received on mobile, emails and Facebook. I appreciate the reminder of me approaching 40 in another 5 years' time.


Well now, back to this blog post where a fortunate boy whose loving parents ordered 2 airplane cakes for his birthday celebration. Kids these days are so lucky. Often, they get 2 cakes for their birthdays. With the permission of the loving mummy, I am allowed to post her boys' pic on my blog. The control tower and plane were assembled on site. They decorated their home with a departure/arrival hall. This is the pilot and his co-pilot, complete with uniform. Smart looking.


















Another cake to celebrate with close relatives. As the cake was not delivered to the venue, I made it safer for transportation.


















Personally, I liked the birds.

Wedding Cake

When I was asked to make a wedding cake, I didn't know what ran through my mind. Was it, 'Oh shit, how am I going to pull this through?' or was it, 'Wow, thanks for having faith in me.' Making one for a friend and making one for a client is a totally different experience. For the former, I was all relaxed. However, as time goes by, knowing more about fondant, reading all the horror stories about how the cake could go wrong, I am all nerves.

I made plans a month before the wedding to learn how to make gumpaste roses from a book. Sad to say, with my clumsy fingers, they were not realistic enough thus not up to par. I had to scrap the idea of using roses. The thing about this client was that she left the design all up to me, as long as the cake was purple and that she wanted a traditional wedding couple topper. There's good and bad about this. The good thing was that I had the liberty to do whatever I want with the cake. The bad thing was that; it was not my cake afterall. Without understanding what she wants, I could never know how she had envisioned her cake to be. So upon seeing the cake, we could be devastated or delighted. I was glad that the former didn't happen.
























The wedding was held at a church and the reception was at a place that looked like a canteen. So there wasn't really a place where I can set up the cake against a nice backdrop. It was drizzling then but was glad that my homemade marshmallow fondant decided to behave and didn't sweat. I had a mild scare while transporting the cake though. Despite my warning to the cab driver to drive slow, he made a sharp swerve. I thought I heard a small 'thud' at the back. Fortunately, the cake was unharmed. I was told by the bride later that the relatives thought that the cake was a dummy. Honestly, when I married, I didn't have a wedding cake. I had to cut into a dummy and thought that was funny.

Dora and Boots

When Ah Girl was at Ah Boy's age, I used to sing Dora's travel song with her when we were walking towards my mom's house. I changed the destination to 'Mama's House'. It just made the walking trip a little more pleasant and fun. Now it's Ah Boy's turn to sing it. I am blessed with 2 lovely kids who play on their own, as long as I am within their sight. Though occasionally, they like to fiddle with my sugar dough and tools, basically they understand that it is not 'Okay' to touch the decorated cake. Naturally, I bribe them with morsels of the marshmallow fondant.























However, I won't be letting the cakes out of my sight with them around. Better to be safe than sorry. I thoroughly enjoyed decorating this cake. It is more time consuming but the result was better than what I expected. I almost forgot the frills on Dora's socks. The only thing was; I couldn't get Dora's songs out of my head while making this. It got a little irritating after a while. Now typing this post, the songs came back again. I'll end here before they drive me insane.

Before I go, I would like to introduce my other blog, Piccolo Yogashiten. It is a gallery of my past cake orders and further information about my cakes. Kindly also direct your order enquiries to this new email, piccolo[dot]rei[at]gmail[dot]com. For questions about recipes, please continue to write to miyazaki[dot]rei[at]gmail[dot]com. I would like keep them separate as it is getting difficult for me to keep track and I might miss out your emails. Thank you for your understanding.

じゃね～～

Birthday Cake for My Kids

My kids' birthdays are just 10 days apart and celebrating together makes sense. I do not have to bake and consume 2 cakes. But when it comes to decorating the cake, there is no such thing as a theme. You see, what has Ben 10 Alien Force Omnitrix got to do with Thomas the Tank Engine? But to be fair to the both of them, they have to co-exist on the same cake.



















While assembling the cake, Ah Girl commented that it was unfair that 'Didi' has a cake on his birthday. Apparently, she forgot that she had a Ben 10 Alien Force cake to celebrate at her kindergarten. I told her she actually celebrated twice. She was convinced only after I placed the Omnitrix on the cake. Kids. Speaking of this; I wish to thank Little Fun Store from Ebay. I placed order for stuffs needed for Ah Girl's birthday celecbration at the school at the very last minute. Thanks to her, I got my order really quick, in time for the party. I bought kids stuff from her over a couple of years and she has never failed me.

















A close-up on Thomas and his truck loads of sweets.



















Lights down and candle-up.



















Ah Boy looked on with interest. He thought he could play with Thomas like a real toy.



















No crumbs gone to waste. I had to wash the knife after that. Ah boy was facsinated by the candle flame.



















And went on to touch it. The poor boy burnt his finger. Brave boy didn't cry, just clenched his fingers together. I had to pry his fingers open to apply ointment. Till now, whenever he sees a candle or saw these pics, he will say 'hot hot'. Silly boy also got a 'Harry Potter' scratch between his eyebrows before his birthday.

Comparing last year's pictures, they are growing up so fast. If I could make a wish; time stands still for 1 day and let me hold you a little longer.

Here Kitty Kitty~~

Any Kitty fans out there? Last month, I received 3 Kitty orders in a row. I was really tempted to get a Hello Kitty baking pan for the order. However, I found out that it was too small. So I did this without the mould. Was glad that it turned out well. I didn't add tylo powder to stiffen the whiskers though.

















Chocolate buttercake with chocolate ganache.


















For a little girl who loves Kitty and bags. Not sure if anyone can spot figure '2' on the bag. Made a cream cake instead of buttercake. Most kids prefer sponge cake, I think.










































For a baby girl's first month celebration. Kitty wore the same colour as the baby. Using fondant and using patchwork method. Still has room for improvement.


















Cupcakes for the same baby.

This year, I have decided not to take in mooncake orders. Thank you for your enquiries.

Happy Birthday Singapore!

Today is Singapore's 44th birthday. I didn't do anything dramatic for the occassion. Kitchen is closed today. Just a quiet day spent with my kids. I enjoyed watching them sleep, sneak a few kisses here and there. Holding them and playing games together; contentment and bliss. While we curse and cuss about the discontentment we feel, everything from government, policies, ERP to price hikes in hawker centres and our Kopi-Os; take a moment to count our blessings as a Singaporean. I am thankful for the stability and security it offers to my kids and that each child has a chance to basic education. Equal opportunities for men and women who are willing to work for it. Clean water and electricity is accessible to every home. Sure, it is not the most perfect place in the world but it is the only home I know. Happy Birthday Singapore and thank you for all things that I have always taken for granted. I didn't bake anything special, just a couple of birthday cakes I did for the past 2 months (I think). Enjoy the cake walk.


















An experimental piece. Not as perfect as I would like. I had a hard time damming up the sides with whipped cream.























Dora and Boots, hand drawn.



















Princess Belle, hand drawn. The chocolate I used for the hair was too dark. Should have lightened it up with some white chocolate.



















An all time favourite for mahjong kakis.





















Particularly liked this Doraemon. So round. Hah!

Attack Of The Clones

Elmo (and some Sesame Street buddies) clones, that is. Why do kids love Elmo so much? Was he your favourite character when you were kids? Got to find a way to get better pictures. My dining table isn't the best place due to the lighting. Friends suggested that I should just let the pics do the talking when I ran out of words. So here they are. Hah. Mind clouded with too many stuffs.


















Small Elmos.



















Big Elmo.


















Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird.



















Close-up on Big Bird.