Cupcakes with Love

We were planning a nice day out with the family but I received a phone call asking if I could bake some cupcakes.  An old friend of ours is down as someone broke her heart. My whole bunch of girlfriends wanted to sent the message across - WE LOVE YOU! We are here for you! I told them that I could come out with something simple as I really do not have much time to bake and decorate...especially if I only have 2 hours max.

So...with a simple chocolate cake recipe, I baked the cupcakes. While I was baking it, I made the buttercream with 1 shot of espresso. I also wanted to send the message that we LOVE her!  So...here's what I came out with....something SIMPLE.

Brought over the cupcakes and when I saw her face... I knew she got our message!
My dearest friend....we are here for you!!!

Happy Halloween Cupcakes

We don't really celebrate Halloween in our family but my little prince wanted to bring some Halloween cupcakes to school to celebrate with his friends.  He asked me what is Halloween and I had to read about it before explaining it to him...me bad, right? It seems that its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. This is the time where the 2 worlds - living and the dead overlaps. Wow...that sounds so much like our 7th Month (Ghost Month). It seems also that the masks and consumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them. This is indeed so interesting. To read more about it, please visit http://www.halloweenhistory.org/

These are the cupcakes which I made for my little prince.  I used a simple chocolate cake recipe which my kids love and iced it with orange buttercream and spiders which I bought from the neighbourhood shop.
Verdict - they loved it!

Pirate Ship Cake

My Little Mermaid cake was a hit in the birthday party and one of the ladies at the party approached me and asked me if I could do a cake for her son. Since she is the sister of my friend, its hard to say no. Furthermore, her son is just so cute. I asked this little guy what he wanted and he said "Grrrr...a pirate ship, yo mattey!"  His Mom asked for a small cake as the children will be eating the cupcakes. So, my mission is to do a small 8 inch cake and surround the pirate ship with cupcakes.

Boy oh boy...I didn't know that its so tedious to do the pirate ship.  It took me ages but thank goodness I finished it just in time. The birthday boy didn't want any pirates or anything on the ship as he wanted to put his own lego pirates or something.  So, it has to be empty.

Here's a couple of photos of the pirate ship cake...

I was so worried that the birthday boy would not like it but....phew!!!! He was so happy when he saw it!  Just had to remove some things for his pirates to sail on it!

Till next time...happy baking, everyone!!!

Edible Chocolate Box

Have you ever eaten a chocolate box? I have never eaten one before as it is so expensive. However, this semester, I had a chocolate subject and boy oh boy did we eat all the chocolate we wanted. I really gained quite a number of kilos due to this class...ha!ha!  Chocolate boxes are a perfect give to anyone, actually. I thought it was hard to do but actually, its pretty easy.  Its the waiting time which is hard. We just had to temper the chocolate, spread it out and cut the shapes for the chocolate box. Once its harden, we will then assemble the chocolate box and lastly decorate.  Here's a chocolate box which I did.

Little Mermaid Cake

I am still a novice when it comes to cake decorating.  However, when a friend of mine came and asked me to do a birthday cake for her daughter, I gladly said yes! Furthermore, she is a darling and I don't want to break her heart as she came with her Mom to ask me. My friend told me that something simple will do as its so last minute. Her daugther wanted Little Mermaid...as she said "Just Ariel will do" but  must have my name on it, Aunty! And that's what I did..."just Ariel" and her name...ha!ha!  I didn't had much time as they only gave me 2 days warning (as I call it)...ha!ha!

The cake which I made is from my Grandma's recipe - Fruit Cake. I covered it with a layer of buttercream and then wrapped it with fondant. Ariel is from gumpaste and the rest is piped with buttercream. I was worried that her daughter will not like it but when I got a call from my friend telling me that everyone was asking for my contact and how happy her daughter was (MMS-ed me a photo of her daughter and the cake)...I could breathe again...:)

Here's a photo which I took before my buddy came and took the cake for the birthday party.

That's all for this post...nothing much to add! Just so glad that I didn't ruin a girl's birthday!

Till next time....happy baking!!!

White Bread Loaf

My 2 precious were asking me if they could have some white bread and there was only 1 piece left. Hence, I decided to bake another 2 loaves of bread. My Prince has begun to request for egg sandwiches, chicken nugget sandwiches (made from home, not deep fried, baked), etc. However, he did say that he wants the bread to be as soft as those commercial ones. For me, I am trying my best not to let them eat too much chemicals add-ons (preservatives).

I have been trying quite a number of recipes...somehow, when I give it to my kids, they will immediately know its not from Breadtop. This is my quest...to make homemade bread and its similar to the commercial ones and my kids will not be able to tell the difference immediately. Gosh...this is just so hard for me.

Made another 2 recipes for white loaf bread...
It was OK for the 1st two days (very soft, just like the commercial ones)...but on the 3rd day.......... :(

Onwards...my quest for the homemade bread which is like the commercial bread continues....
Till next time...happy baking!!!

Bak Kut Teh, Pig's Trotter in Sweetened Vinegar and Salted Vegetable

I remember those nights when DH and I went out and ate bak kut teh, chee keok chou, salted vegetables and yau char kway when we went back to our homeland.  These BKT stalls open till wee hours and as we were in a way "tourists"...we can neglect our sleeping time and makan all the way. When we got home, we missed those times as 99% of the shops close after 11pm.  Now and then, we will make our own version of bak kut teh  and chee keok chou. However, we never made 2 of the dishes together.

This week, we were talking about it and was thinking of whipping up these 2 dishes together...trying to re-capture those memories of the good old days. We made both...Chee Keok Chou and Bak Kut Teh.  Here's the 2 photos which I managed to take before a group of us (including our peng yu) ate it all up...ha!ha!

We also made steamed veggies with oyster sauce to go with our rice...must have our veggies!!!

Till our next food adventure....ta-daa!!!