Grandma in the Garden

My sweet neighbour will be flying to Sydney for her birthday this year. She is a sweet lady who loves gardening and loves yellow roses. So, this year, instead of a cream cake (that's what I made for her last year), I decided to make her a fondant cake with her favourite things and colours.  The cake is a buttery chocolate cake with coffee buttercream. I am so glad that she loved it.

Here's a photo of the cake which I made for my darling neighbour....

Wohoo....2 more cakes to go for the July boys....

Malaysian Banana Cake

Banana cake....yummy! I love banana cake, especially the Malaysian ones.  Its so soft and it melts in your mouth with the first bite. I love the smell of it baking in the oven too. My other half was never a banana cake fan as the banana cakes which he has eaten was always dense (so said he) till he tried my humble banana cake.....and ta-daa....he fell in love with it. I made it for a potluck function and was very happy with the reviews. Some of my friends told me that Banana Cake is also called Banana Bread....but, I don't really think so due to the texture.

When I was young, my Grandaunt will always bake this delicious local delight at least once a week as bananas are often bought as one of the fruits and when its over-ripe, it will be mashed to create banana cake.  The aroma of this baby baking in the oven brought neighbours to our house. According to my Grandaunt, banana cake was made in the olden days by women who wanted to make some extra income and most houses have banana trees. That's what she did when she was young.

Here's a photo of my humble banana cake for the potluck.

Yummy Yummy Banana Cake!!!

An update...

Thanks Jasmine for visiting my humble block.  Here's the simple recipe which I use for this banana cake.

2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter / margarine

1 1/4 cup self raising flour

3 grade A eggs

1 - 1 1/2 cup of bananas (mashed with fork)

pinch of soda bicarbonate

a splash of vanilla essence

Method:

- cream butter and sugar together till its fluffy.

- add in 1 egg at a time.

- fold in the flour by hand.

- add in the soda bicarbonate and vanilla essence.

- fold in the bananas ( do not over mix)

- bake in the oven for 20- 25 mins at a temperature of 160 degrees C.

Hope this helps.  Happy Baking, Jasmine.

My Princess 4th Birhday

My little Princess is growing up so fast...she turns 4 today.  She wanted a Strawberry Shortcake cake and I was told that she wants the "new" Strawberry...not the old one.  I watched the DVD with her to understand more about this "new" Strawberry.  It looks like the Strawberry which I grew up with has gone for some major make-over or something as the "new" one doesn't look anything like the old Strawberry which I know so well.

I often have trouble with the eyes whenever I do the gumpaste figurines and this time there is no difference.  The first Strawberry which I made did not get the approval from my little Princess. Hence, I had to mould another head and tried my hands in making her look like what she suppose to look like.  I compared my figurine with the DVD cover and I must say it doesn't look like her much. However, thankfully, my little Princess loved the second one better.....wohoo!!!  To see the smile on her face and receive a hug and a "I Love You, Mummy" is the best gift ever.

Here's a photo of the approved Strawberry Shortcake Cake from my little Princess.

Till next time.....bye!!!