Constant Craving

I want to ride my bicycle

2011-07-15T21:56:00.001+08:00

I never got the saying : It's like riding a bike.

I don't know how to ride a bike. The truth is I'd forgotten how to. Maybe I never knew how to. But I remember quite distinctly being taught by big bro and how I was rather happy with myself for pedaling on two wheels.

I blame my lapse of memory on many factors : the main one being fear (of falling and of bleeding profusely from a deep gash on the knee or elbow), and the fact that I have not biked for many many years. I did attempt to re-learn in my teens to no avail. I had several cracks at it throughout early adulthood but all were in vain. So I just gave up.

Then last weekend, I suggested to A that perhaps I should give it another go since my nephew owned a bike that was just the right height for me. I psyched myself for a full week. When the weekend arrived and I climbed onto that yellow two-wheeler, lo and behold - I was riding (again). As opposed to all the other times (when I lifted both feet off the ground to start pedaling only to lose my balance and quickly put my feet back on the ground before I fell), I can't say how it was different this time round but somehow I kept at that one extra push of the pedal before I put my foot down.

It is rather exhilarating to be back on the saddle again. Amongst other maneuvers, I'm still learning ~~not to panic when I see a dog/car/person/tree~~ how to make U-turns. After so many years of failed attempts, I am ~~hopefully~~ finally committing to memory the motions of steering a bicycle and relishing every moment of re-acquaintance with a few long lost derriere muscles.

Get on your bikes and ride!

Booba Fett

2011-07-09T08:29:00.002+08:00

I've sorta started doodling again. Meet Booba the Bounty-ful Hunter.

...and Tatooine by Jeremy Messersmith is beyond words. You can hear it in this ridiculously awesome paper-animation video by Eric Power :

"(Just Like) Starting Over"

2011-07-08T00:20:00.003+08:00

If you follow my facebook page, you would have heard that I'm no longer based in Kuching. I've upped and moved to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. I'm slowly ~~at turtle pace~~ but surely getting use to the place. Have yet to set up the kitchen for baking nor am I taking orders. Yet. By Rob Gordon definition yet means you're gonna do it, and I will do it.

Yes yes, I know I've been lousy with updating the blog and for that I apologise. It has been 2 months today since I left my hometown. For the first month we stayed at a hotel strategically located in the middle of everything. The convenience was pretty swell – I could walk to most of the shopping and eating places. Each morning as I drew the curtains on the tenth-floor suite, we were greeted with the spectacular view of the blue ocean dotted with ships and fishing boats. The evenings were even better, them sunsets here are really something else *cue Berlin’s Take My Breath Away*

Before we were through with the first month, we found an apartment not too far from (and not too close to) the city. It was actually the very first apartment we viewed, which we both really liked but I wanted to view a few other locations before we settled on one (actually it was more like 7 other apartments). We moved into the unit the first week of June in the midst of a heat wave. Phew, I have never in my life sweat as much as those 3 weeks (the heatwave lasted 3 weeks not the moving in).

I'm so loving all that light streaming into the living room

Besides our most treasured possessions, ie. A’s copy of Full Metal Jacket, and other personal effects that are of high sentimental value (erm, my highschool diary?), we decided to only ship one car over (mine). Between the two of us, guess who has a proper day job thus dominates use of the only car for an average of 12 hours every weekday? Hint : it’s not me.

For the past month, I’m isolated at the apartment. I’m not exactly complaining. Whining, perhaps. Rearranging furniture every few hours, perhaps. But never complaining *innocent Puss in Boots eyes* I’ve been spending a lot of time online, looking at things that make me happy. For instance, in my mind I have a top 5 list of faves. Sometimes it’s top 10, other days it’s 22 and on good days it's... ok, you get the picture. Categories range from films to music, and from animated heroines to friends' facial responses. My choices can fluctuate by the week (ok ok, so it’s more like daily). So imagine my joy when I discovered by chance a group of people who take sounds and dialog from some of my favourite films and make them into music! (In my imaginary list, Reservoir Dogs pushed Return to Oz out of fifth place the moment I saw Michael Madsen stuck in the middle between a knife and Officer Marvin Nash.). I am so crushing on these clever musical ensembles.

I almost shrieked from the adorableness of this one called UPular. I still grin like a dork each time I watch this :

Can you say Aaaawwwwww...some???

I won't be caking so soon, please bear with me. In the meantime, I promise my darndest to keep posts frequent with what I've been up to :)

The Princess Bride

2011-05-01T03:06:00.016+08:00

After her eldest grandson's royal church wedding, Queen Elizabeth II hosted a reception for 650 guests consisting of friends and family. Guests snacked on British-themed specialities such as *takes a deep breath* pressed duck terrine with fruit chutney, roulade of goat's cheese with caramelised walnuts, quails eggs with celery salt, bubble and squeak with confit shoulder of lamb, grain mustard and honey-glazed chipolatas and miniature Yorkshire pudding with roast fillet of beef, horseradish mousse and 10,000 canapes *phew*gasps*

For dessert, apart from the cake there was blood orange pate de fruit, rhubarb creme brulee tartlet, passionfruit praline and dark chocolate ganache truffle.

But it was the magnificent 8 tiered wedding cake that took centre stage as Prince William and Kate Middleton celebrated their marriage at Buckingham Palace.

Fiona Cairns was selected to make the wedding cake for the royal couple. Her company supplies more than 750,000 cakes (mostly fairy cakes) a year to shops including Fortnum & Mason, and Waitrose.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney orders one of Cairn's cakes for Christmas every year, and she has made creations for U2's Bono, Pink Floyd and Simply Red. How awesome is that?

Cairns, who started baking from her kitchen table for neighbours 25 years ago, says that the royal wedding cake took five weeks to complete and has 8 tiers made from 17 fruit cakes - twelve of these form the base! There are 900 individually iced flowers and 17 varieties of leaves.

Mixing the ingredients for her traditional English fruitcake.

The cake is decorated with cream and white icing using the Joseph Lambeth technique, a popular English style that relies on intricate piping and three dimensional scrollwork to create leaves, flowers and other decorative elements. The middle of the cake has a garland design matching the architectural garlands that decorate the top of the Picture Gallery in Buckingham Palace, the room in which the cake was displayed.

While adding the finishing touches to the cake Cairns said, "The picture gallery has high ceilings and is an imposing room so I wanted the cake to have presence but not to be imposing and I think it worked. Catherine did not want it to be seven feet tall, she didn't want it to be towering and thin, and I think we succeeded.".

Cairns, who lives in Leicestershire (about 110 miles/180 kilometers north of London) where her factory is based, had to set up the ensemble for two days at the palace. She has said that the hardest part was transporting the cakes from Leicestershire to the palace (worrying that the cakes would get damaged) and upon arrival she and her team still had to assemble the cakes. "It was tough work but I really enjoyed it. It's been an extraordinary commission", she said. Uh-huh, I can only imagine!

Along the cake's base ran ivy leaves (symbolising marriage) and the bottom three tiers are decorated with piped lace work and daisies (meaning innocence) sweet William - grant me one smile - and lavender.

There are infill features of cascading orange and apple blossom, honeysuckle, acorns with oak leaves (meaning strength and endurance) - bridal rose, which symbolises happiness, and myrtle.

The fourth tier reflected the architectural details in the room so the garlands on the walls were reproduced loosely on the fourth tier with roses, acorns, ivy leaves, apple blossom and bridal rose. Above this was the fifth tier that was covered with lattice work and piped leaf detail.

Lily of the valley (representing sweetness and humility) decorated the sixth tier which also had an artistic interpretation of the couple's cipher - their initials intertwined below a coronet.

The four flowers of the home nations - English rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil and Irish shamrock - were featured on the penultimate tier. The 6" diameter top tier was covered with lace details with a garland of lily of the valley and heather to top if all off.

When questioned on the recipe, Cairns would only say that the traditional English fruitcake was made with dried fruits, raisins and sultanas, walnuts, cherries, grated oranges and lemon, French brandy, free-range eggs and flour. The cakes were baked a month in advance since Cairn's secret recipe required four weeks for the cakes to mature.

I totally agree with Cairns when she says that it makes the process of cake designing much easier when a bride knows what she wants compared to a bride who has absolutely no idea whatsoever. Kate so knew what she wanted that she brought mood boards and informed her cake designer of the influences she would like to use on the cake. Heck, with a ceiling-less budget, she can have all the influences she can dream up. I like her already.

In 2008, at the request of environmentally-friendly Charles, this Aston Martin

Volante DB6 MKII was converted to run on E85 Bio-ethanol which

is made from English wine wastage.

Palak paneer

2011-04-01T22:55:00.001+08:00

This entry is long overdue. Since receiving news of the relocation, I've been packing like a madwoman and organising the stuff that needs organising for the major move. Finally found some time tonight to post this, hope you guys try it out and let me know how it turns out for you.

Some weeks ago, my bro asked that I make an Indian dish to compliment his nasi briyani, and he suggested I try my hand at palak paneer. It's a pretty straight forward recipe, with pretty fantastic results. The only thing you need to make a day ahead is the paneer (here for the how-to).

INGREDIENTS

~ 5 bundles of Spinach ~

~ 2 small Cinnamon Sticks ~

~ 2 Cardamom Seeds ~

~ 2 - 3 Big Onions ~

~ 4 - 6 Garlic Cloves ~

~ 1 Tbs Ginger Root, shredded ~

~ 2 Tbs Coriander Powder ~

~ 1 Tbs Cumin Powder ~

~ 3 Tomatoes, diced ~

~ Paneer ~

~ Salt, to taste ~

~ Yoghurt, optional ~

Step 1 : Fry the paneer until golden brown. Set aside.
Step 2 : Clean/Wash the spinach.
Step 3 : Boil water over stove. Cook spinach in boiling water for 2 minutes.

Step 4 : Blend the cooked spinach in a blender with a small quantity of water. Set aside.
Step 5 : Heat oil in wok.

Step 6 : Add cinnamon and cardamom seeds into hot oil and stirfry until fragrant.
Step 7 : Add onions, stirfry until golden translucent.
Step 8 : Add a bit of salt to the onions.

Step 9 : Add garlic and ginger, stirfry until fragrant.
Step 10 : Sprinkle liberally coriander and cumin - more may be added, to taste.

Step 11 : Add tomatoes, fry until soft.

Step 12 : Pour in the spinach. Cook until the spinach oozes oil.
Step 13 : Add in the paneer.

Step 14 : Mix in yogurt if using.
Step 15 : Add salt to taste.

... and serve!

Enzyme Drink

2011-02-15T14:44:00.000+08:00

After stuffing our faces with Christmas and Chinese New Year grub, I think tis the perfect season to stop the binge-ing. The same time last year, I made me some orange enzyme from the overabundance of Chinese New Year oranges and ever since then, I was determined to make some edible enzymes.

This week, I went by the supermarket to get some lemons and organic sugar after daddio and mumsy bequeathed grateful me with some gorgeous super sweet Sarikei pineapples. I now share the how-to with you guys :)

Ingredients

3 Lemons

2 Pineapples

(I used 3 Sarikei pineapples as they are rather small)

300g Organic Crystal Brown Rock Sugar

Things You'll Need :

An airtight large-ish glass canister

Prepare :

Wash your glass canister with soap and boiling hot water. Set it out to air-dry.
Remove skin and eyes from pineapple - use a clean and dry chopping board.
Cut the pineapples into small pieces.
Slice the lemons into rings.

Layering :
* Ensure that your hands are clean and the canister is dry.

Place the pineapples in a single layer onto the base of the canister.
Arrange some lemons on top the pineapples.
Distribute some rock sugar onto the lemons.
Repeat these layering steps until all ingredients are used up (I repeated this layering process 4 times).
The fruits should not exceed 3/4 of the canister (this is to leave some space for the release of gases during the fermentation process).
Shut the lid tight.

* Store at room temperature in a cool dry place.

* For the first week, shake the canister on a daily basis to mix the contents. Untighten the lid each time after shaking contents to release the fermentation gases.

* After the first week, keep the lid shut and only release the gases on a weekly basis.

The Pineapple and Lemon Enzyme can be consumed after 30 - 40 days. Into glass bottles, sieve the contents through a funnel to separate the liquid from the fruit. Once bottled, the enzyme can be stored at room temperature.

To Drink : Before each meal, consume 1 tablespoon of Enzyme, with or without water.

Pineapple Enzyme Health Benefits :

Low in fat and cholesterol, pineapple enzymes are loaded with vitamins and minerals including calcium, potassium, fiber, and vitamin C. Here's some additional health benefits :

It helps to build healthy bones. Pineapple enzymes are rich in manganese, a trace mineral that is needed for your body to build bone and connective tissues.

Strenghtens gums to make it through the years .

Pineapple enzymes contain a magnitude of beta-carotene that is good for the eyes and vision. Studies show that drinking a cup of pineapple enzymes a day may lower your chance of getting age-related macular degeneration, the main cause of vision loss in older folks.

Aids in relieving painful osteoarthritis : Bromelain is considered an effective anti-inflammatory.

Coughs and Colds: Loaded with Vitamin C, the bromelain present in pineapples helps in suppressing coughs and loosen mucus.

Digestion: The bromelain aids in digestion. Eating one slice of pineapple after each meal will reduce gas, bloating, nausea, constipation and the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Fresh pineapple juice also aids in removing intestinal worms.

Sinusitis and Bronchitis: Bromelain has been shown helpful for upper respiratory tract infections such as Sinusitis and Bronchitis. Bromelain helps in reducing nasal inflammation and break up the mucus in the nasal, sinus and respiratory area.

Blood Clots: Reduces the risk of blood clots due to the bromelain present in the fruit enzymes and thereby preventing heart problems.

[source for health benefits: www.enzyme.com.my]

sPANEER in the works

2011-02-12T20:09:00.000+08:00

I found myself home alone last night and thought, hey I can make paneer!. Since I never seem to remember to buy muslin when I'm near a textile store, I rummaged through my kitchen drawers and found a brand new loosely-woven cotton towel :)

I thought it would be interesting to show how easy it is to make your very own homemade cheese. With camera hung from neck, I made a small batch of cheesy goodness from only 2 ingredients. Seeing that it was my first time making paneer, I thought it safer to make a small quantity. So here goes...

Ingredients

1 litre Full Cream Milk

1/2 cup Rice Vinegar (or lemon juice)

Line a colander with a loosely woven cotton cloth. Set colander on top of a large bowl.
Pour the milk into a heavy-bottom stainless steel pot.
Bring the milk to a rolling boil. Turn heat off and add in the vinegar to coagulate. Stir.
Once removed from heat, the curd settles.

5. Pour the coagulated milk onto the colander lined with cloth. The cloth filters the curd and the bowl
underneath collects the whey.

6. Wrap the cloth tightly on itself and squeeze the whey out (some people use the hanging
method, I just squeeze the life out of mine). To remove any remaining liquid, put
something heavy and flat on top of the paneer for an hour or two.

That's it! As opposed to my post title, there was no chaos, just easy peasy lemon squeezy the whole way. I cut my paneer into tiny chunks and added it to curry. It is not a flavorsome cheese (similar to cottage cheese) but the texture added a whole new dimension to the curry, which was nice. As 1 litre of milk only makes a palmful of paneer, I used it all up and will definitely make another batch very soon.

There are so many ways to use paneer, see here. My next batch is for a walnut salad!

Let me know if you try this out and what you'll be adding your paneer to.

New Year, New Project

2011-01-23T17:54:00.002+08:00

Some of you might have noticed that the blog has been mighty quiet for a while since Christmas (I hope you've noticed). The new year has brought a brand new project for me. By "new" I mean something totally not related to baking or cake decorating, a stint which requires 9 hours of daily grind.

I've taken the plunge and returned to the work force. No, not really. Well, I am holding down a job but it isn't long term. What I've done is committed my days to working for a publishing house that is in Kuching for a couple of months so it's only temporary.

It's rather refreshing to be working normal hours again :) After the prolonged mental freeze over Christmas (I swear my brain morphed into a piece of coal then), I am relishing in activities that bring on some form of mental stimulation. And one of the best things about this job is the view...

This is the view I look out to when I'm seated at the desk on the computer. I find it really nice to watch the cars go by, sneak a peek at people crossing the street and on some days my concentration is arrested by policemen zooming pass with sirens blaring. Can't explain why exactly I luxuriate in the view, maybe it's the voyeur in me eating up on this tiny slice of life?

From a different perspective, I can see the baruk Khatulistiwa, the river, the jetty, and the DUN building hovering over the always lovely Fort Margherita. This here is a much more superior landscape compared to the former view but not much activity takes place here apart from the passing cars, and river boats. I prefer watching people honking and fighting over a parking spot, tourists posing with the sculpture of the cats, pedestrians waiting for their turn to cross the road, or even a mother and her seven hungry kids scrambling into McDonalds for happy meals.

While I'm on this stint, I won't be taking cake orders. Here's pictures of an order I received for 3 year old Chloe. Her father emailed me pictures of the adorable tot clasping on to her hanky with pacifier in pouted lips. She apparently won't go anywhere without these two items so they were incorporated into the cake along with some pigs (Chloe's Chinese animal) and random outfits (she adores dressing up!). All decor in fondant.

Chloe's colorful outfits are hung on a clothesline that encircles the cake.

A pink-striped handkerchief is spread out on top of the cake. Two folded hankies, a casually strewn hanky and a red pacifier tops the ensemble. A couple of chubby piggies sit at each end of Chloe's name.

Seasons Greetings

2010-12-25T03:01:00.005+08:00

This is a Christmas post for my friends and family in far away lands (it still astonishes me that you guys actually read my blog!). Seeing that tis the season to share, I thought I'd share some pictures from our Christmas Eve dinner.

This year's turkey was moist and so succulent and tender... yummers! Side dishes were saute potatoes, buttered garlic mushrooms, ham, cock-a-leekie soup, and a tomato and feta salad with basil and balsamic dressing.

As I do every year, I over indulged myself with the heavenly stuffing...

We had too huge a variety of desserts that we chose to put some away (the ones that didn't make it for the dinner tonight are mince pies, and pudding - these will of course be gone by tomorrow evening, eh).

Five desserts : Chocolate Yule Log; Black Cherries; Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake; Mixed Fruit Trifle; and the R2D2 Cake. Do note that what you see in the above picture was to feed 14 people only.

The R2 cake is a Ginger and Spice Cake, an adaptation of ye ol' English gingerbread cake. Mixed with a smorgasbord of Christmas-tasting spices, the alteration lies in the addition of fresh ginger, crystallised ginger and bits of orange rind that were inexorably thrown into this sweet droid (along with some minor adjustments for a more dense, pudding-like texture of course). The tweaking was well worth it and it totally brings this traditional cake to a whole new level of YUM ;)

Merry Christmas all!

What the Truck?

2010-11-30T20:46:00.000+08:00

Here's a cake for a couple of guys' farewell.

For those of you who noticed - yes, the front hood bit I ripped off from Mr Prime, heh. But it's not suppose to be a Transformers cake, its meant to be a truck. But why make any old truck when you can make Optimus?

To make this, a large decadent chocolate cake was carved into the shape of a rather long truck. The long carrier and the front cabin are cake covered in fondant, and the smaller features are made from fondant.

Beside the truck lies two life-size membership cards that carry the name of the two fellas with a "lifetime membership", these were made from gumpaste. This whole piece is edible.

Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

2010-11-19T20:00:00.001+08:00

I received an email requesting a birthday cake based on the following info : 1) The birthday girl is migrating to Australia; 2) She loves Vietnamese noodles; 3) She wants the words "young at heart" to be on the cake; 4) She is strong-willed; and 5) She loves Louis Vuitton.

I settled on having the birthday girl sitting on a map of Australia since the person in the email struck me as a "I'll come, I'll see, I'll conquer" sorta individual. To portray her strength, a muscle on the figure bulges as she flexes her left bicep.

A bowl of Vietnamese noodles and some ricepaper springrolls sit amongst the LV monograms. I've tasted Pho noodles in Vietnam as well as the Ozzie adaptation in Melbourne - got to say that I prefer the Ozzie version, but that's just me. This bowl of noodles was molded from fondant based on memory as I recalled the steaming tasty broth and more specifically the gargantuan beef meatballs served at the Richmond restaurant in Melbourne - heavenly.

Never a fan in molding human-like figurines, I gave a shot at actually forming a cavity for the mouth and included teeth and lips, and for the eyes - some lashes and liner. In case you're wondering, I was informed that the actual person that it's modeled after really does have orange-gold hair :)

The cake is bitter chocolate and all decor is in fondant.

Happy 27th Charlene. Best wishes!

Who's the leader of the Club?

2010-11-06T16:52:00.000+08:00

The purist in me is always skeptical about replicating characters into fondant. I'm often filled with trepidation when asked to mold cartoon characters. Of all the cartoons, I would think Mickey Mouse is the last character I would dare mess around with. Just a slight misplacement of the grin or a mere elongating of his nose and *poof* we have a random cross-eyed, snouty mouse-looking creature, an alternate universe's rendition of Walt's signature rodent.

This recent request was for Mickey's mate - Minnie. I did not dare waste any time with boo-boos, especially with the current year-end rain and humidity, and decided to only include Minnie's four outstanding features : her ears, her polka-dot ribbon, her pearl necklace and her gloved hands (no, couldn't fit them curly lashes anywhere in there - sorry, Disney fans).

The ears and ribbon were made weeks before and even then it did not set completely but was sufficiently firm enough to stand on its own. Topping the cake are Minnie's ears and her trademark ribbon which I took the liberty of converting it from red to a darkish pink. A string of pearls separate the top black bit from the lower part of the cake which is covered in bright pink fondant. Two of Minnie's gloved hands call attention to birthday girl Hannah's name.

On the sides and the back part of the cake are dotted silhouetted heads of Mickey, I think the dots give it a "disco effect", har :)

Thanks J for entrusting me with your baby girl's cake. Hope she has a great birthday and enjoys the cake. Happy 2nd Birthday Hannah!

The Safety Cake

2010-10-28T10:02:00.001+08:00

There's the Safety Dance. Meet the Safety Cake. Hardhats are for safety and that's the first impression I got when I was asked to make a cake into a hardhat for an engineering firm celebrating their 20th anniversary. The client wished to include a blue print, a pencil, a ruler and a white hardhat with a number 20 on top of it.

The main cake is painted and imprinted to resemble a block of wood. The hardhat is sculpted cake covered in white fondant. As it was raining a bit too much to my liking and I was not taking any chances, the protractor, drafting pencil, ruler and workmen were pre-made weeks before in fondant . The blueprint is fondant and the image on it is a large handpainted number 20 à la an engineer's technical blueprint (well, my version is hardly what you call technical...).

The tiny workmen figures stand behind the hardhat with some pieces of scaffolding. On the hardhat is the company's logo handpainted onto fondant. Apart from the candles and some internal structuring, the whole cake and its decor is edible.

So now you've learned that these engineers practise safety in their line of work, do YOU use protection? :p

(h)ITCHED

2010-10-25T01:01:00.000+08:00

Last weekend, a childhood friend got hitched to the prettiest bride. I had the awesome privilege to make the cakes for the formal wedding reception and the home cocktail celebration.

The bride wore white and the theme for the ballroom's decor were pinkish hues of purple (I'm biting my lip to add a nurple). To our delight, the lovely couple made their entrance to the hauntingly-enchanting piano intro of November Rain. Hydrangeas, whiskey and good cheer were the order of the day.

For the cocktail celebrations the next day, a clean and simple single tiered cake was requested from the mother of the groom, topped with full bloomed roses and hydrangeas.

I genuinely took joy in making these cakes, especially since it was for someone I know, someone whom I chased around with as a kid. Thank you YT and family for entrusting me, it was a pleasure. Congratulations YT & P!

cookie

2010-10-14T19:04:00.000+08:00

Well, not exactly cookies but cupcakes depicting a character who says "cookie".

Jayden turns 1 with Cookie Monster and Elmo cupcakes. These banana chocolate chip cupcakes are topped with fondant hand-painted faces of the blue and red monsters from Sesame Street.

Happy 1st Birthday Jayden!

!!!woopwoop*!!!

2010-10-07T16:49:00.000+08:00

The Star newspaper featured the cake for Society Atelier Sarawak's silver anniversary. WOOHOOO!!!

I am ecstatic. I can't find the words to express the exact degree of elation I am pretending very hard, and failing, to conceal right now. How great is that??? *floats* Special shout out to my friends and family, some who are even more excited than me (if that is possible).

To read the full article online, click here. Many thanks to Sharon for writing a great piece.

Here's a picture with Atelier's President, Edric Ong and the cake that caught the newspaper's interest.

photo courtesy of Tan Wee Chung

It's Wedding Season!

2010-10-03T14:30:00.002+08:00

* I do not claim ownership of the photos in this post, they were all found off the web :)

A lot of prep goes into looking perfect on the most important day of a woman's life.

All the commotion and excitement surrounding one person sometimes has hilarious outcomes.

Sometimes it's not only the bride and groom who are nervous.

Capturing those moments on stills are not always picture perfect

but it'll definitely make your kids laugh.

The bride gets to deck her besties in great frocks,
keeping in mind not to outshine her on HER day.

Instead of the Chinese tradition of playing pranks on the groom,

the boys should give the bride a taste of her own medicine :)

When the bride said "let them eat cake",
the groom didn't think she meant literally!

Love these fabulous cake toppers

Oh my...

Ha ha ha...

When choosing our cake topper,
I'm glad the Better Half never got his sights on this one.

Society Atelier Sarawak's 25th Anniversary

2010-09-26T16:08:00.001+08:00

The World Eco-Fibre and Textile (WEFT) Forum was inaugurated in 1999 at the International Ikat Weaving Forum held in Kuching, Sarawak. Since then, the WEFT Forum has been a biennial event here in my home town triennially.

The WEFT Forum brings international delegates together in one place with the main objective of exchanging current and unpublished information related to textiles and fibres. Through research, work and experiences derived from stories, legends, traditions and oral retelling of history, this year's theme of "Nature's Colour Code in Basketry and Textiles" aims to promote, share, conserve, and encourage the use of natural and sustainable material in the creation of arts and crafts. The Forum focuses on networking natural-material producers and the craftspeople, and fosters cultural exchange through the exhibitions and conferences that are held during the 3-day forum.

Every year, the forum concludes its events with a grand Gala Dinner and fashion show showcasing works of international delegates who work within the forum's theme. Also this year, Society Atelier Sarawak celebrates its 25th Anniversary and guess who was asked to create a cake for the event? :)

President of Atelier is Edric Ong, a man who passionately acquires knowledge, develops, endorses, shares and conserves the artform of eco-fabrics and artpieces-cum-textiles. In our home soil, he is known as the man who single-handedly pioneered the term he endearingly refers to as "wearable art". I'm sure I'm not alone in appreciating his personal twists on fashion pieces assimilating upcycled and repurposed natural elements acquired from the plant kingdom of our rainsforest.

Juxtaposing Atelier's Silver Anniversary with this year's WEFT Forum Gala, Edric requested a large cake incorporating all things associated with the society. The gala is to be held at the Borneo Convention Centre and the milestone celebration is in honour of the society's patron, the late YAB Datuk Amar Puan Sri Laila Taib.

Edric envisioned the cake composing a Melanau basket with textiles overflowing from it's brim - draped, hung and artfully displayed. Acknowledging that I am definitely no textile display artist, I did do my best in draping the fondant pieces while ~~attempting~~ conjuring up some flair :)

The main structure of the basket is covered in black fondant and textured with more fondant for a basket-weave patterning. After sketching a few drafts, I settled on the cake having a front (the section facing the audience) and a back (the side facing the cake-cutter for the cake cutting ceremony). The basket's front and sides are draped with a myriad of eco-fabrics made from fondant : tree bark cloth; a red Chinese brocade; a golden yellow Indian sari; a Pua Kumbu; and a piece of blue Songket Melayu.

On top of the Songket Melayu is a casually strewn strand of Orang Ulu bead necklace. Inside the basket are rolled up pieces of various textiles, the blue shades were mimicked off the differing shades of natural indigo dye.

As I try to ensure all the decorations for my caking projects remain completely edible, the painting of the motifs were rather nerve-wrecking with no allowance for errors. The folds and creases created into the fondant didn't make it any easier too. Once the fondant had air dried, the motifs were handpainted free-hand with a fine tipped brush. All colourants, glitters and shimmer dusts are edible. The number 25 topper and the basket are not edible, the main cake being a dummy.

All decor is completely made from fondant while the bead necklace and iban silver belt (inside the basket) is gumpaste.

After the dinner and before the fashion show, the cake cutting ceremony on-stage was followed by the large cake being moved off-stage and placed in front of the main table. I was a tad shy from the handshakes and nods of approval from friends who were amongst the guests. I couldn't help to sneak a peek at people's expressions when they walked up to the cake for closer inspection. I was very excited to say the least. I am so relieved and am beyond ecstatic that Edric himself sent me a text message to assert that he thought it was lovely. I literally had a light bouncy skip in my walk for the hours that followed.

Earlier on in the evening before the cake was wheeled on-stage, my mom and her two buddies asked me to take them for a quick glimpse of the piece that involved 2 weeks' worth of sugar work. Their reaction was hilarious and will go down in the books as classic! They kept going, "... so where's the cake?" when they were in fact standing right in front of it. Pointing to the cake I was like, "this is the cake, see?", and they gave me a quizzical look until they realised that they were looking at it and not random pieces of fabric. After the dramatic gasps and squeals of glee subsided, Evelyn said to mom, "You thought your daughter would actually take a shortcut and put actual fabric on the cake eh? Me too!". Even the night before when Cil and Del dropped by the house, they walked pass the cake thinking that it was a few pieces of cloth thrown onto a basket! When it dawned on them that it was an actual cake, Cil related later that he thought I had "thrown a few pieces of rags around for fun"!!! Ha ha ha ha... in spite of the reference to RAGS, I was nonetheless pleased that they thought the fondant pieces imitated real fabric. My job was done.

This project was a challenging and gratifying accomplishment, one that I am proud to have done. Thank you Atelier and special appreciation goes to Edric for including me in your commemorative celebration. Happy 25th Anniversary Society Atelier Sarawak, here's to many years of continuous pioneering of loving conservation and promotion of our state's independent arts and crafts.

It's MooDay!

2010-09-20T23:52:00.003+08:00

Three tiers of cake for Jasper's first birthday.

Cute cows sit alongside tiny hearts and a backdrop of baby blue is dotted with white polkadots. All decor is in fondant.

Sophisticated Baby

2010-09-11T20:47:00.010+08:00

Chanel handbag cake. The cake is Decadent Chocolate.

Logo of the interlinked Cs is cut by hand and painted in gold. The entire piece is given a dusting of bronze shimmer for that extra *pop*.

Weighing in at 3.5kg, this is one heavy handbag.

Back to Baking

2010-09-10T13:45:00.001+08:00

While the kitchen was under construction last week, I was asked to make Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po. Yup, for those in the know those names equate the Teletubbies! Yesterday, one-year-old Sean was gifted a colorful birthday cake of his favourite cartoon characters. Eh-Oh!

I looked up Teletubbies and learned that they live in a mound called the "Tubbytronic Superdome", a futuristic dome of sorts. I thought it would be sweet to incorporate their home into the design and made the cake base grey with the top tier being the dome. I also dotted the "talkative" flowers and rocks around the cake to resemble landscape. Since the cake was transported on a long-distance road trip, I decided against using buttercream as foliage for fear of it running/smudging.

From the pictures off the net there was always the presence of a bright sun with the face of a real life baby hovering in the blue sky. I opted not to insert the baby's face as I found it spooky (but that's just me) and didn't want to scare the kiddies. In its place is a smiley face.

Each Teletubby is dyed in their respective colours with tele-screens on their bellies and topped with their antennas of various shapes. All work is made from fondant with the exception of the No.1 candle.

Sucking specks of sugar that may have been left behind on the cake board is the Noo-Noo, a blue vacuum cleaner that cleans up tubby mess.

Can You Handle It?

2010-09-01T08:30:00.004+08:00

Still no baking while the kitchen is tweaked.

But I'm glad to declare that Project Kitchen Island is 80% complete. Painted in a new shade of white with three coats of polyurethane for extra protection, yesterday the Better Half drilled holes for the new stainless steel handles. I am so loving those handles right now, they're the perfect finishing touch.

The only thing missing (that darn elusive still-in-limbo twenty percent that would complete this project) is a new countertop. Most of the upcycles done in Project Kitchen Island are DIYs and if I could I would've included the making of a new counter, but unfortunately I do not know the first thing about fabricating a durable countertop. The original top had warped and was a tad too narrow in thickness so upcycling it was not an option. I'm awaiting quotes to make a final decision. To ease the wait of the modest reveal (yes, I'm enthused, can you tell?), here's a sneak peek of what is expected. But first, here's a recap of the would-be island before the makeover.

And for the almost-after, here's the sneakiest peek of this former hotel wetbar cum TV cabinet :

You might be wondering, "What gives with the picture of the side? It's just a big blob of black", and "Hey, what's all that blurry stuff on the doors?". All that is disclosed for now is this : that long horizontal shiny rod on the door is the new handle (the one I'm so in love with - I get to hang my towels and hooks on it! *woop*). Hang in there (that's me attempting at humour) and stay tuned for the reveal.

Repurposing and Upcycling

2010-08-31T02:19:00.002+08:00

Some of you may have noticed that I've been pretty quiet for some time, with the occasional post on some bakes here and there. Reason for this long silence? We're finally doing something with the back laundry room - we're repurposing it into a wet kitchen! Can you say WooHoo!!!

Seeing that I am not baking or caking while the back area undergoes this much needed resuscitation, I decided to use this time to upcycle some old furniture that's been lying around the house for some time now, stuff like cabinets that are in too good a condition to chuck out but too knackered to display, and hand-me-down vintage side tables that as we speak are in the bedroom because my private narcissism (not very private now that I've confessed it here) is not game in making a grandstand out of warped table tops with peeling paint.

One of these upcycled projects involves a cabinet - a very dated one at that. Better Half purchased this solid wood standing cabinet some years back when a hotel was getting rid of old furnishings for ridiculously low prices. It was probably made some time in the '80s and employed as the hotel room's minibar in its previous glamorous life. I have a strong suspicion that a rather heavy TV sat on its top as well (I say this because I recall hotels concealing their minibars inside the TV cabinets back then). For the longest time I've wanted to do something to it, something that would put this sturdy structure to better use (it was until now storing linens and towels).

Last week BH suggested that we repurpose the said cabinet. And what shall we repurpose it into, I asked. And BH goes, "Well, you've always wanted a kitchen island..." ... And I'm like, "Omigawd, you're a genius!!!". And as always, he just nods in his own quiet way and walks away with more than a dash of pride in his strut. Right there and then, I start unloading the linen from the shelves and immediately induce an exchange of ideas with BH on my latest project :)

This is too exciting. I'm practically jumping in place watching the paint dry. I'll definitely do a little reveal on the blog for this simple DIY project. Watch this space.

Weekend bakes

2010-08-10T18:10:00.000+08:00

What I've been up to...

Teeny-mini Dark Chocolate Cupcakes for a wedding.

Densely sinful, these babies are bite sized.

Cupcake Cannon

2010-08-03T13:16:00.000+08:00

For not posting the past week, here's a Cupcake Cannon video from the Johnny Cupcakes Suitcase Tour stop at Kamp Grizzly. Love the awesome song by Guidance Counselor.

To have cake and frosting hurled at you at 120psi ... nice ;)

Go-Go?

2010-08-03T01:07:00.002+08:00

Hopefully, you can make out the picture. It's a jukebox. I made cupcakes with a "Go-Go" theme and all I knew about go-go is boots and music blaring from a jukebox.

After wiki-ing "Go Go", this is what Wikipedia has to say : The term Go-Go derives from the phrase "go-go-go" for a high-energy person, and was influenced by the French expression à gogo, meaning "in abundance, galore", which is in turn derived from the ancient French word la gogue for "joy, happiness". Interesting stuff, eh?

But that wasn't all that was said... "Go-Go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women in lounges began to get up on tables and dance the twist. There were many 1960s-era miniskirted clubgoers who wore what came to be called go-go boots to night clubs, so night club promoters in the mid 1960s conceived the idea of hiring them to entertain the patrons."

"Go-go dancers began to be hired on a regular basis at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in July 1965. The Whisky a Go Go was also the first go-go club to have go-go cages suspended from the ceiling (they were there from the very beginning in 1965), and thus the profession of cage dancer was born."

With facts like these, how can anyone not love Wiki?

Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!

2010-07-26T12:58:00.000+08:00

*Roar*

Baby Asher turned one last Saturday. His mom requested a jungle safari cake for the little boy who likes to bellow out a lion's roar. The invitation cards were of a similar jungle motif with baby animals.

The tall cake holds most of the animals on the lower tier. A monkey swinging from a tree vine is surrounded by bananas, a giraffe nibbles on leaves, a mohawked zebra befriends the giraffe nearby, a smiley elephant slurps water from a non-existent lake, and a friendly no-fang crocodile lurks in the very back attempting to blend in with the foliage.

Birthday boy Asher's name is complimented with polkadots, and a backdrop of zebra stripes. The lion takes its pivotal role on the very top of the cake, accompanying the candle.

It was a nice challenge to juggle two separate cakes for two 1-year-old boys whose birthday celebrations fall on the same day (the other one is Baby Matthew's First). The schedule for each cake was not only re-conceptualised numerous times over, sketches were drawn and redrawn and the whole cake structure was changed a few times before I settled on this design. It is at times like these that I appreciate cake requests way in advance, giving me ample time to play with the ideas that are thrown around.

The cake is decked out in large jungle leaves and red heliconia flowers (it is the rainforest, no?). Towering over everything are tallish trees with bushy green tops while tree vines hang from tree to tree. All decor is fondant.

Thanks for the opportunity to do this project, J. I found it exhilarating to mold the animals, the liberty to use these many colours, and had thorough fun assembling the bits of the jungle together :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Asher! *roar*

Baby Matthew's First!

2010-07-25T02:00:00.002+08:00

Not too long ago, baby Matthew celebrated his baptism. This weekend, the very same adorable little boy turns the ripe age of one!

Initially, baby mommy K was thinking of a cake that holds some meaning to her baby boy, something that the lil' bub enjoys doing. I thought it was hilarious when she suggested I make a cake in the shape of his favourite plaything at the moment... an Astro (cable) TV remote control!!! (her rationale was he really finds much joy in tapping his pudgy fingers against the control buttons). After I stopped laughing, that idea was scratched.

Many months down the road (with some other strange suggestions from baby's mommy), we decided on a theme more suited for a one year old. K mentioned bears and I recalled a photo of Mooks kissing a football during the World Cup last month. Apparently, according to Mooks' dad F, baby adores watching footie with him and claps when a goal is scored (but honestly F, what child won't get into the excitement of things when he sees his father deliriously cheering his team on, jumping and pointing at the TV screen while screaming "GOAL. GOAL. GOAL...." ? - tsk tsk).

So it was decided. The theme is to be bears and football.

The cake is embellished with teddy bears and baby buttons against lime green. A baby blue tier displaying Mooks' name is surrounded by yellow ducklings quacking along the border. To top it all off - a football encircled with grass and a large number 1 candle.

K and F had just recently moved into their massive new home and Mooks' birthday was a good time to have the housewarming - there were a lot of family and friends (read: a lot of food).

When it came time to blow his candle, the birthday boy was carried outside to the waiting guests. He was chirpy and full of smiles. It started off well until everyone broke out in song. It could have been the thunderous singing and clapping that resulted in a downward turn of the lips, and this curly haired boy started to bawl his eyes out! Poor guy.

Happy 1st birthday, Matthew! K & F, the house is looking great - Congratulations!

Matthew trying his darnedest grabbing at his football.

Grand Aunt's 77th Birthday

2010-07-23T17:57:00.127+08:00

Every family has one relative that everyone adores. In my family that person would be my grand aunt whom my cousins and I endearingly call her by the title Gumah (it actually carries no meaning, but literally translated "mah" means grandmother and the "gu" is apparently something that stuck from the time when my elder sibling mispronounced her proper title when he was first learning to talk as a child).

Each year in conjunction with her birthday, grand aunt hosts a dinner party at a Chinese restaurant. This year, it just so happens that her Chinese birthday coincides with her actual birthday.

These annual dinners are somewhat of a family reunion. For the younger generation this dinner is where they meet relatives for the first time, people they probably didn't even know were connected to one another through one way or the other. The days following grand aunt's birthday dinner are the days when we get facebook friend requests from distant cousins, and consecutively busy ourselves with un-tagging our names from embarrassing post-dinner karaoke photos :D

This year the cake was chocolate. I made some gumpaste flowers and added it to the three tiers. The cakes were covered in yellow fondant and accented with some black.

Happy 77th Birthday Gumah!

Bush Cutter???

2010-07-15T22:21:00.003+08:00

"I need cupcakes" said BFF. What's the theme, I asked. "Bush cutter." ... and I went "WHAT??!?!!". Yes, you heard right. Bush. As in shrubbery. As in the lush greenery in our backyard. As in grass.

The bush cutter that BFF had in mind is a hand-held version of the lawn mower, the ones that are used by the grass cutting industry with a backpack containing the motor and a plastic bottle for the gasoline.

BFF suggested to incorporate some landscape and of course, grass. The cupcakes are topped with green buttercream grass and dotted with stones and edible "soil". A few trees are placed here and there. In the centre of this delectable lawn is the bush cutter.

The recipient, BFF's Dad, is one of those uber cool Dads who is more hip than his kids' friends. He wears dark jeans to work, the look completed with leather cowboy boots and sometimes topped with one of those ten gallon hats. If it were up to him to reinvent the bush cutter, I won't be surprised if it were to look something like this :

Happy Birthday Unc M!

Ga Ga Oo La La...

2010-07-05T14:11:00.002+08:00

I can't help but like Lady Gaga. I don't really subscribe to her music but who isn't indoctrinated by Gagaism when her songs are played in every single accessible public space? In the malls while their parents are busy shopping, I've seen kids below the ages of five singing and dancing to "Bad Romance", fingers to pouted lips, up into the air, back to lips, thrown open to the sides... Imagine my excitement when asked to make a cake for a flamboyant recipient who appreciates the resplendency of Lady Gaga's flashy costumes *o joy*

The cake is banana chocolate chip with layers of chocolate ganache. The single tiered cake is covered in a crisscross pattern to depict white fishnet stockings. The cake's side is treated with creased red fondant, fastened with a red fondant belt with buckle. These folds were influenced by the red getup Gaga wore to meet the Queen of England.

... conjuring Elizabeth I?

The cake has two parts to it - the front, and the back. Both parts are of Gaga's "theatrical" show pieces.

Black fondant with silver dragees are applied to the back of the cake to replicate a black leather suit with silver studs, another one of Gaga's show costumes. I'm delighted the shimmer on the black is visible in the picture above.

I was not gallant enough to wire in bursting sparks into the cake :P

Inspiration for the topper is drawn from the outfit she wore at the 2009 MTV video awards, a space-like bustier bodysuit. In place of silver, I coloured the suit gold and dusted it with shimmer.

As always, my fondant figure fills out more in certain areas, much more than the actual prototype does... ;) The figure sits on a small black platform that doubles as a studded-spiked wristband.

To accomplish a truly Gaga inspired cake, I did not forget to crown it with a showy piece, the distinctive feature of Gaga attire - her head gear. Instead of reproducing one of her bizarre head pieces, I chose to use a fondant white rose, dusted lightly with petal dust, to complete the arrangement.

Thanks again, Cyn. Hope you had as much fun looking at/devouring it as I did making it. Soundtrack for making this cake, "Ra ra rah ah aaahh, Ram ma ramaa maaa, Ga ga oo la laa..." ;)

Ah Ngiaw, the Cake

2010-07-02T19:21:00.001+08:00

It's always a thrill to be enlisted to bake and decorate a cake in commemoration with life's various celebrations. It's especially riveting when someone requests for one of my cakes, sees it, tastes it, likes it and comes back for more. Caroline is one of those people who returns for more cake, and O how I appreciate her patronage :)

For her birthday this year, she seeks cake - a cake shaped into her cat, Ah Ngiaw (meaning cat in Hokkien).

Ah Ngiaw is a two-layer hummingbird cake sculpted into the form of a cat sitting on its side. Caroline showed me a picture of Ah Ngiaw and pointed out that its eyes are exceptionally huge, and that she would like to include the red collar with name tag and bell. The words "Happy Birthday Caroline" is written onto Ah Ngiaw's favourite bedtime companion - a striped blue and green blanket.

Apart from the whiskers, the whole ensemble is edible. The covering for the cake and all details are made from fondant. When I delivered the cake, the real cat took one glance at the cake and with eyes wide open, stared at me with a quizzical startled look - funny how she knew I was the one responsible for cloning her into a dessert :)

Happy Birthday, Caroline! Thanks for the opportunity, it was a blast putting Ah Ngiaw (the cake) together. Hope Ah Ngiaw (the cat) has recovered from the initial shock ;P

Cake for Bee

2010-06-23T02:21:00.002+08:00

Gosh. As I have been busy attending to my cousin's wedding for the whole of last week, I've only realised now that this blog has arrived at 10,000 hits.

As knackered as I am, the sight of these numbers bring a wide smile to my face :) Many thanks to all Constant Cravers for your support, I appreciate it constantly.

We celebrated my sister's birthday tonight. In the wake of the previous week's wedding festivities, I managed to rustle up a cake for lil' sis. She never seems to have enough handbags, earrings and lipstick so it is only fitting to incorporate these three items into her cake. Instead of candles, we lit the cake with sparklers that burst out in bright twinkly yellow spits of sparks. The cake is rich chocolate covered in fondant.

Happy Birthday Bee!

Cake for A Bride & Groom

2010-06-20T19:19:00.001+08:00

I had a fun and hectic week. This pass weekend's nuptial celebration was for a couple that came from Switzerland with a small entourage of friends and family to celebrate their union in Kuching.

A close family friend gifted a cake to the couple, the bride being my cousin.

Figures are made from fondant. The groom is fashioned after Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit) and the bride's hair is in the style she wore on the actual day of her nuptials. Details are handpainted.

The side of the cake is decorated in lace work made from fondant, accentuated with shimmer dust. Flowers are gumpaste.

For the groom, I wanted to avoid the blah-ness of a black suit and made a green striped version with a pink bow tie.

The couple had a rather tight schedule of appointments leading to the big day - hairdressers, tailors, food sampling, decor approval, family dinners, photographer's appointments, final fittings, church rehearsal, decorations, seating arrangements, gift/favour distribution, singing rehearsals, duty delegation and last minute changes all in a matter of 5 days *phew*

Congratulations Claire and Nicolas, it was great to be part of your wedding.

Back to the Motherland

2010-06-19T15:17:00.002+08:00

We arrive in chilly Shanghai at 11 in the morning and took a bullet train to an interchange. The faster-than-a-bullet train gets us there in 20 minutes, zooming pass the cityscape at 450 miles per hour. I do not enjoy speed and I do not look out the window, especially when the tracks tilt itself in an unnatural form against gravity.

Checking in at the Le Tour Travellers Youth Hostel, I realise the airconditioning in the lobby is not switched on and yet the temperature is perfect. Everyone told me it was summer. That the temperature is similar to ours, without the humidity. They lied. Clever me, I packed only tank tops and a thin Nike sweater.

In Beijing we stayed at Beijing Youth Hostel. Both the hotels in Shanghai and Beijing are clean and central, way above our expectations. All in all, we all agree that the whole trip earned 10 points, with highlights being the Great Wall of China, walking on The Bund at sunset while enjoying the cityscape, and the visit to the Forbidden Palace.

Initially, I had intended to write a full account of our vacation but I think the pictures should do it.

A larger-than-life white-light art piece of a Dior handbag. It is displayed in a large glass cube on Nanjing Road, the main shopping district with the likes of Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Dior, Tom Ford, etc.- really posh.

Nanjing Road is the world's longest shopping district, around 6 km long, and attracts over 1 million visitors daily.

Also on Nanjing Road is this massive Louis Vuitton luggage, built as a temporary showpiece attached to a building. Yes, it was surreal.

One of the buildings on The Bund, the lights for the buildings along the whole stretch of street come on at 7pm.

The view of Pudong city from The Bund at night.

Our first breakfast in Shanghai : really yummy noodles in soup topped with a big fat juicy piece of pork.

All cabbies have this perspex-like screen to protect them from God knows what...

We bought some smelly tofu at the street market, it was not so nice so had to throw it away after one bite :(

Bridal headgear with Mongolian elements at the Museum of Shanghai, very Amidala indeed.

Gold pieces that were used as currency, a long long time ago.

One of the world's rarest coins.

Rooftops at the French Concession, a modern upmarket part of Shanghai lined with coffee bars, artist studios and local designers.

Buildings along the Bund.

Yu Yuan Garden in Shanghai. The temple-like structures are mostly restaurants.

The panfried version of the Shanghainese Siaw Loong Pau.

Shanghai World Expo - The exterior of the pavillions are magnificent. Sadly, that's all the praise I have for the expo. Architecturally, some of our favourites are Spain, Australia and Holland.

The UK pavillion is my favourite, I love the bristles that protrude out of the structure.

China has one of the largest pavillions but the queue was too long so we did not attempt to wait in line.

Queue for one random pavillion.

Malaysian pavillion.

Forbidden Palace.

Barbecued starfish, scorpions and seahorse on display.

Caramelised fruit on skewers.

Steps leading up to one of the palaces in the Forbidden Palace grounds. The steps are for the normal folk and the engraved centre bit is only for the Emperor.

The Great Wall of China. We drove 140km from Beijing to the starting point of Jinshaling for the 12km walk. From Jinshaling we ended our journey at Sematai within 4.5 hours.

Yes, we walked all that...

... and we completed all that.

Some bits were frustratingly steep, especially when there were no steps/stairs at a more than 45 degree angle upwards. Looking back now, I can say that it was actually fun.

Even with the amount of water we consumed, for reasons unknown to us, the desire to visit the loo evaded us during the whole walk. I find that rather amazing.

Cartoons & Anniversaries

2010-06-12T19:00:00.001+08:00

Who needs Barney and Elmo when you can have Calvin and Hobbes?

I was not a huge fan of C&H back in its hey-day, but I did read it in the newspaper (and in full colour on Sundays!) and pretty much came to the conclusion that I would attempt to portray the personalities of these two characters through their facial expressions. I decided on fun-loving and mischief-causing expressions for the precocious Calvin, and sarcastic for the smart-alec stuffed tiger.

The faces of C&H are hand painted onto fondant. Which reminds me - I need to get a new brush, old one no longer gathers into a point at the brush tip :(

Bumble bees were requested as part of the ensemble. To tell the sexes apart, the female bee is adorned with a pink bow while the male bee gave me an excuse to pay homage to the Mad Hatter :)

Bee's stinger protruding from its bum

Hobbes and his paper hat is A's favourite!

C&H kicks Barney and Elmo's a**, any day ;)

I know I've been rather quiet for the past few weeks and owe you guys pictures. Hopefully, I will soon find the time to let you in on what I've been up to. In the meantime, here are pictures of lovebirds for a 10th wedding anniversary along with birthday cupcakes with a purple theme.

Cookies

2010-05-19T16:13:00.001+08:00

It's always a thrill make cookies for kids. Apart from the Christmas gingerbread cookies that make the kitchen smell oh-so-heavenly as they bake in the oven every December, I hardly get the chance to make decorated cookies. And it really rawks my boat when the cookies are distributed as party favours.

The taste and texture of these cookies remind me of those old fashioned butter cookies we use to savour as kids. I find them absolutely YUM! About twice a year, whilst strolling at the supermarket, I would give in to the tiny pitch-forked creature on my shoulder and indulge in a blue can of Kelsen butter cookies (at least that's better than caving in every month at the junk food aisle). So yes, not only do I have a penchant for cakes, I seem to have a low threshold in resisting cookies too. Whatever its contents, let's just say I appreciate a good cookie. Now THAT'S how the cookie crumbles ;)

Sealed in individual packs and topped with pink bows, these colorful buttery delights are decorated with textured fondant.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T22:17:00.001+08:00

For Mother's Day, baked an old fashioned yummy tender butter cake and layered it with strawberry puree and whipped cream. Topped the cake with an edible hand drawn picture of mom, in chocolate... she found it quite amusing :)

When it was time for dessert and I was about to cut into the cake, Mom goes - "Don't eat my face, please keep it...", so we obliged and chucked it into the fridge. Hope she eats it though, I used 70% cocoa chocolate that Mom gifted me from Dubai.

The cake was an all-round success, the whole family loved it. After trying so many different recipes, tweaking the ingredients and finally coming to this adaptation, this one is definitely a keeper.

My freezer door is acting wonky, it won't shut tight. Last week, when I ran to check if it was shut, I found snowflakes forming in the ice tray!!! Nice.

Happy Mother's Day!

What the Deuce?

2010-05-05T23:08:00.000+08:00

I've always wanted to do cupcake toppers with 2D cartoon character faces. And that opportunity came when the girlfriend of BFF's brother, Pete, requested cupcakes for Pete's 26th birthday. I was ecstatic to hear that amongst other things, his favourit-est show is Family Guy ("he loves loves loves it!").

As little as I know about Family Guy, I just had to do it, had to, had to, had to.

Some of you may know (and love) Family Guy, but for those of you not in the know, it's that football-head fowl-mouthed hairless baby, Stewie Griffin, the one that yowls "What the Deuce?", and spits out profanities like, "Butt Scratcher!".

Understanding how cartoon lovers insist on staying true to the visual aspects of their beloved characters, I could not subdue the goosebumps as they rose on my cheeks and along my jaw with each drawn stroke of black outline. I have always agreed with them purists when it came to the simplicity of keeping true to things, sticking to the archetype, as they say... (alright, alright, I'm a purist. There. I said it.). With a tiny paintbrush and some edible black colouring, I put off painting on the features and outline until the eleventh hour. I had to psych myself up to be "in the zone", har har... Wish I had a soundtrack to sing to while painting though, like how the Transformers theme song helped to calm the nerves with the Optimus Prime cake.

A few of Family Guy's characters - Peter, Stewie, Brian and Chris, are smiling, grinning, smirking, glaring, and whooping in the cupcake ensemble. Pete's fave character - Quagmire, tops a number of the cuppies in various expressions.

A cute ~~mouse~~ rat sits in front of the numbered candles. With a humongous orange stripey polka-dot bow tie around the neck, the grey rat depicts the Chinese year/animal Pete was born under. Smiling with its neck bent looking up, Rattie holds a heart in his hands while a microphone lies at its feet (Pete enjoys singing with his band. His girlfriend Lydia thought it nice to include a microphone).

I had the opportunity to hear Pete sing on several occasions, and he is rather fabulous at it. Seeing that he is so passionate about it, more microphones were added into the cupcake arrangement, along with gold stars that say "Superstar" and "You're A Star!". Some of the stars have quotes from Stewie.

2D face toppers are made from fondant, and the facial features and outlines are hand painted with edible colour.

Thanks Lydia for the opportunity, it was great experience. I'm so delighted that you all love it. Happy Birthday Pete!

Handbag Cake

2010-05-01T12:35:00.001+08:00

An early Mother's Day cake for an early bird.

What could be better than receiving a Louis Vuitton handbag for Mother's Day? Yes, you've got that right - a bag that can be ooohed and aaaahed at, then sliced up and eaten.

As much as I love my indiscriminating handbags and shoes, designer bags leave me confounded. I never quite caught on to the hype ~~because I can't afford to own one~~ - an item that is utilised to lug around scrunched up receipts, unreferred business cards and used blotting paper (well, that's what you'll find in my bag if I were to carry one). This is coming from someone who does not carry a handbag, someone who is tsked tsked at by on-lookers as I fumble with wallet, handphone and keys while opening doors on days when I wear pants sans pockets. So imagine my surprise when a young man puts in an order, specifically for an LV Speedy 30 Multicolore cake.

After consulting a girlfriend who owns one of them bags, I thought it safer to google it up. Looking at pictures of this model, I noticed that the leather (for the handles and the bits that cover the seams) is light brown in some pictures and beige in others. To be sure, I clicked on the LV website and there, officially, the leather is a creamy almost skin-tone beige. So beige it is then.

I attempted to make the top zipper buckle as similar to the actual thing. Unfortunately, I could not, for the life of me, write the LV brand onto the buckle because by the time I was done with the gold buckle, it was too tiny and there simply was not enough space.

All decor is in fondant. The monograms are handpainted in various colours of purple, mauve, fuchsia, green, turquoise, blue, yellow, orange and gold. The gold bits at the zipper track and the lockable buckles are made from gold fondant and finished with a dusting of shimmer dust.

Thought I'd include the bag's leather tag that normally hangs from one of the bag handles. Instead of tying it onto a front handle, it is laid on the cake board with "Happy Mother's Day" written on it. The cake is black velvet.

This handbag cake was at first a tad nerve wrecking, the thought of having to handpaint the monogram bit with such little time to prepare. But all in all, I'm glad to have done this. It was really good experience. I like it when I get asked to make designs that I've never done before. It can be scary, but given some planning prior to taking the leap, most of the time it turns out alright. It makes me happy to see the look on people's faces when they see their cake - that's worth all those hours hunched over the kitchen counter.

... more than meets the eye...

2010-04-25T18:28:00.004+08:00

What does every 10 year old boy want for a birthday cake? Why, a Tranformers cake of course! :)

The order came in pretty late, but seeing that the kitchen was free and I've always wanted to make a geek cake, I jumped at the opportunity. I asked which one of the Transformers they would like, and I was told "one of the good guys". Okay, the leader of the Autobots it shall be then.

I have waited and waited for the chance to make an Optimus Prime cake. I enjoyed watching the cartoon series in the 80's - actually to be honest, I just loved singing the theme song and when the show started, I'd lose interest and wander around bothering my bro who was plastered to the TV screen, har har.

Hurling myself into something I feel is a gravity defying feat, panic set in when sketching on the cake's structure. Then I started cussin' Takara for his invention and groaned a *tsk tsk* at Hasbro for designing dials and antennas on Mr Prime's head.

I put off going back to the drawing board for a few hours. But seeing that there was limited time, and I couldn't stop thinking about the facial angles of the robot with the handsomest voice, I googled up some images of Optimus Prime. It was then that I decided that I'd make a cake of Optimus Prime's head resting on the All Spark cube. Being only ten, the birthday boy was probably introduced to Transformers by watching the 2007 feature film so I decided to incorporate the All Spark into the design.

With a slightly clearer picture, I thought I'd calm myself down by coloring the fondant blue. My Gawd! I was so determined to get the right shade of blue that it took me forever to achieve just the correct shade (and I ended up with Mystique hands). The next day, sculpting work was started on the dials, antennas and the mohawk-thingie that goes on top of the head. By then, I was deliriously happy and repetitively humming to myself, "... robots in disguise" (hey, I get into the feel of things, ok?). Just before the sculpted fondant hardened, some detailing was added with some strategic indentations. With Mother Nature on my side (hot sun!), and after only four day's worth of setting the fondant, I added more details in grey fondant.

As delivery was scheduled at two in the afternoon, the cake was baked the day before (ie. bake, cool, level, tort, fill, chill, sculpt, frost, cover in fondant and add details). My fingers were tightly crossed in the hopes that once everything is stacked on, the whole structure would (must!) set by the time of delivery (read : PLEASE DO NOT TILT).

True to it's theme song of more than meets the eye, a lot of hidden structural reinforcements held Optimus together, I did not want to risk him toppling over in transportation. It's at times like these that I wished I had my own garage stocked with carpentry stuff and gadgety power tools to whip me up made-to-measure sturdy skeletons for my cakes. Until that day comes, I swear by dowels.

The Optimus Prime cake - robot in disguise.

post note : Upon delivery at the venue, I was tickled to see the cake table centrally placed on a platform, wrapped all around to the legs in a Transformers-themed plastic table ~~paper~~ cloth. Wished I had brought my camera. It was such a great feeling that the cake was the centrepiece of the party (I was dancing inside) . The birthday boy was gleefully happy when he saw it. He stared at it and asked me, "Is this a rubber cake?" ;)

The Cat's Meow

2010-04-23T20:00:00.001+08:00

This cat lover requested for some cupcakes with her feline friend as the topper. And guess what her cat's called? Cupcake! How adorable is that?

Cupcake the cat snoozes on top of three bitter chocolate cupcakes. Tried mimicking the fur's texture from photos provided but I guess fondant can only do so much when you're working on something so tiny. Made every effort to make sure all the orange spots are in the right places amongst all the black fur. The fondant cat's belly and chubby paws are white, nose is pink, and yes - the real cat's ears really are that perky (with a bushy tail too!) :)

Cupcake is surrounded by a heart of black velvet cupcakes, topped with choc-cream and dotted with tiny hearts.

Somethin' Stupid

2010-04-22T02:55:00.102+08:00

I did the stooo-peee-dest thing yesterday. I got a really late order and long story short, I made a cake. I incorporated the birthday girl's favourite things (golf, wine and Formula One) into the cake. And in my stupid disgusting frenzy, I FORGOT to take pictures!!!

*Argh*

There are simply no words for this mother of a boo-boo, but *argh*

It was not because there was no time. It was not because it was really late at night when I completed work on the cake. It was not because I couldn't take out my trusty lamp for better pictures. It was not because I was lazy, nor was it because I had no batteries in the camera. I put the blame on simple stupidity.

~~Smiling~~ Looking at the two tiered cake (it had a large textured Callaway golf ball top tier, a suspended red ferrari, and a tilting bottle of wine), I was thinking to myself, "hhhmmm, this shade of green would really pop in the pics", but my brain pretended not to listen when I thought that. I placed my camera on the bar counter in plain sight, but on that fateful night and the next morning, my eyes turned a blind one on it.

How can someone forget to do something that is part of a routine? Make a cake? Check. Take pictures? Check. Pick up/Delivery? Check. It's a three-part routine and I skip ONE step. I must be the reason why the red-thread-on-finger was invented.

*Argh*

Have A 'Cado

2010-04-08T13:50:00.000+08:00

Around the same time every year, when the bougainvilleas bloom over the main flyover in town, when the sakura tree guarding the old Japanese underground tunnel bursts into pink and white blossoms, this is the same time grandpappy's avocados ripen in profuse numbers.

As children, whenever we get the fruit in its ripened form, we would fill containers with guacamole, blend the avocados into smoothies, or mom would whip up her famous prawn and avocado salad for dinner. This year, I attempted to make cake out of the green and wickedly creamy flesh of the avocado.

I love that the fruit gives the cake a gorgeous shade of green, and the oily texture makes the cake really moist. The cakes were distributed amongst family and friends who raved that they loved the texture and how it never occured to them that avocados could be made into cake :) I'm glad that they're glad.

Many years ago, we tried planting the seeds straight into the ground in our parents' garden. Never did it sprout. So this time, I took some of the seeds and suspended them over some water in a container. The seeds are poked in its sides with toothpicks, leaving the top bit exposed and the flat end immersed in water - tap water that is changed every fortnight.

I checked on one of the seeds the other day... I think I see a root! *joy*

Taking A Stand ;)

2010-04-04T22:41:00.000+08:00

Recently, I've been obsessed with cake stands, and you can imagine my ecstaticism when I spotted an adorable ceramic pink stand, sitting on a shelf in the store (I was certain it was crying out my name). It's really tiny and not very high, but the size is perfect for cupcakes.

Since I baked some chocolate cupcakes over the weekend, what better time to christen my spanking new gorgeous pink hue stand?

I am so loving this stand, especially infatuated with the sweet flower cutouts along the rim. Cake stands are my new obsession. Goodbye cookie cutter hunts, hello glossy lacquer painted gorgeous dessert platforms.

Of mice and sushi

2010-03-30T18:51:00.002+08:00

What's the right way to eat sushi? Why, on a cupcake of course!

When you think about it, it's funny how a lot of us want our food to look like food. Let me elaborate... A cake is an article of food. A cupcake falls into the category of dessert hence defined as food. And when I ask clients their preferred cake/cupcake topper, some times they tell me to make toppers to resemble their favourite food. There's the cupcake pops, the barbecue grill cake, and the sake cake. This week, there's sushi cupcakes.

Don't get me wrong, I love making food out of food :) It's mind boggling when you think about it. Our species must be so in love with food that on top of eating the actual thing, we desire to consume our chow with more fodder replicating fodder. The 21st century takes "food looking like food" to a new level. I like it.

Salmon on rice wrapped with a band of seaweed

Egg on rice

If I could, I would eat sushi every weekend. Have you ever met an overweight Japanese person? Neither have I, sumos excluded.

This sushi project was fun. The toppers are sculpted from fondant and modeled after sushi pieces with vibrant colours - salmon, tuna, salmon roe, egg, prawns, and a few makis with avocado pieces. I placed the pieces on beds of white fondant "rice" and wrapped some black fondant strips around it.

The three things I know about the land of the rising sun would be (1) Sushi; (2) the Sakura flower; and (3) Akira Kurosawa. I'm really glad that the project called for one of the things I knew, although limited. I was able to mold these morsels by picturing personal faves from the top of my head.

Prawns on rice

Amongst the sushi is a small grey mouse. Mr Mouse offers a small maki in his hands. Pretty pleased with the way the mouse turned out, with his pink nose, perky ears and polkadot bow tie. Made every effort NOT to make it look like a rat as I was going more for field mouse (the order specifically mentioned "cute" and rats are not cute *squirms*).

My dad once mentioned that the California Roll did not originate from Japan, that it was created to cater to the taste buds of non-Japanese. Out of curiosity, I Wiki-ed it up.

"In the 1960s, Los Angeles became the entry point for sushi chefs from Japan seeking to make their fortune in the United States. The Tokyo Kaikan restaurant then featured one of the first sushi bars in Los Angeles. Ichiro Mashita, a sushi chef at the Kaikan, began substituting avocado for tuna (toro) and after further experimentation, the California roll was born. (The date is often given as the early 1970s in other sources.)

Mashita realized the oily texture of avocado was a perfect substitute for toro. Traditionally sushi rolls are wrapped with nori on the outside. But Mashita also eventually made the roll "inside-out", i.e. uramaki, because Americans did not like seeing and chewing the nori on the outside of the roll.

After becoming a favorite in southern California it eventually became popular all across the United States by the 1980s. The roll contributed to sushi's growing popularity in the United States by easing diners into more exotic sushi options."

Fusion, eh?

What did sushi A say to sushi B?

Cupcakes for a Lil' Princess

2010-03-28T16:13:00.002+08:00

When you hear "princess cupcakes for a little girl turning 3", waddaya think of?

The word "princess" made my Disney corrupted mind picture a plump blue old lady, swinging her wand at a pumpkin singing, "Salaka doola magicka boola, bibidi bobidi boo".

Can't really explain why the pumpkin came to mind instead of Princess Aurora, who by the way is my most likable Disney princess.

Princess cupcakes it is then.

Many many princesses...

... pretty maids all in a row...

...princesses come with castles. And let's not forget the pumpkin :)

After placing the little princesses on the cupcakes and taking pictures, the sight of these fondant figurines reminded me of "The Dancing Princesses" - yes, since the owl on pillow cake, I've been reminiscing videos I watched as a kid. I can't imagine why but I blame this nostalgia on Tim Burton's remake of Alice.

While watching this Faerie Tale Theatre episode, I remember whining to my brother because I didn't know any of the actors... up until Peter Weller shows up as the soldier. And in unison, we both cooed : "Oooo... fun! It's Robocop!" :)

Dad's 60th Birthday Cake

2010-03-28T00:33:00.003+08:00

For those of you who love your fairy tales, do you remember "The Nightingale"? I loved reading this Hans Christian Andersen tale as a child and was in seventh heaven when Mick Jagger played the Emperor in Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. 80's TV ~~rocks~~ rawks!

As you can most probably tell from the title of this post, it's my Dad's birthday. Around the same time last year, when I had just begun to meddle with fondant, I decorated his birthday cake with some tiny beer mugs. Seeing that dear ol' Dad is now a happy trotting tee-totaller, this year his cake is very loosely adapted from the tale of the Nightingale (I say "very loosely" because the initial idea came from the bird resting on a pillow). I always imagined that the nightingale is presented to the Emperor on a plush velvet pillow.

Dad's hitting the big 6-0 and I thought it would be nice to commemorate this special occasion with a cake that is more than just "a cake". You see, my Dad loves chocolate in any form, so it is only natural (for him) to always request for the said cake (birthday or not, he calls dibs on cake flavours almost every time). As much as I love chocolate myself, I reckon it would be nice to have something different for the celebration of a milestone cum jubilating his gracious temperance.

I had to make sure that the cake contained NO NUTS of any sort (no walnuts, pecans, or almonds) as Daddy-O loathes nuts in all its glory with a burning (more like fuming) passion. Of course I had to incorporate some form of chocolate into the cake... so arrived at the decision to throw in some chocolate chips :) The cake is a Buttered Chocolate Chip Cake, one that A declares "Yaaaarrhhh-mmmmeeeeee" (he got the crumbs, poor guy).

As much as Dad loves to sing, instead of a nightingale I thought that a wise owl sitting on the pillow would be perfect. The owl is pretty much made of very masculine colours, the base is brown and the feathers are white, orange and yellow. I thought it would be nice to have a different flavour for the owl and made it a red velvet cake.

As I'm inclined to make fondant sculptures that are happy-happy-chirp-chirp, I could not for the life of me make the beak smile! Maybe treat the beak as the nose and add some smiley lips... but, but, but, that's anatomically wrong! Argh. So no smiling owl, just a pudgy one sitting on his fluffy pillow, staring at you with its large feather encircled eyes *hoo-hoo*

The pillow is carved out of a 2-layer 11" square cake. The two layers of cake is sandwiched with chocolate ganache. It was so much fun sculpting this cake, tricky at times, but still fun. Covered with sky blue fondant, fondant tassles fall from each corner of the pillow. The side bias is also fondant with specks of icing. The front top bit of the pillow is covered in a mehndi motif that was later dusted with edible gold shimmer. I've come to realise that my camera cannot capture the shimmer so I only added the shimmer after taking the pictures. Also, the shimmer confuses my camera's macro focus :(

Some film reels, magazines and a small turntable sit on the cake board (Dad loves his films, books and music).

post note : On the way over to the birthday party, we were stuck in a traffic jam. It was twilight and I took a quick shot of the beautiful golden colours in the sky as it reminded me of the colour combo for the pillow. And there I was thinking I was oh-so-clever coming up with those colours, should've occured to me that a higher authority laid claim on the combo waaaayyyy before me... :) Funny how and where we draw inspiration, unknowingly even to ourselves.

These are a few of my favourite things...

2010-03-25T17:17:00.000+08:00

Cupcakes of a birthday boy's favourite things.

He loves the crabs from a particular restaurant. Initially thought of making "cooked" crab, on a dish. But decided a live one with pinchers in tact was more distinguishable.

Since it is his "moral obligation" to resume the role of the organiser, he's labeled "Okui-niser" (Okui meaning tortoise in hokkien). This tortoise sits on one of the cupcakes, with a pencil and clip folder.

He listens to Phantom of the Opera's OST in his car frequently and sings to "Masquerade!". In the background are his omnipresent flip-flops.

He messes around (a lot) with photoshop. And because of some recent photoshop pictures he published on facebook, I made a boo-boo and assumed he liked Avatar, so...

... sculpted Neytiri onto one of the cupcakes. Turns out he doesn't like the Navi :( Oh well, got 8 outta 9 of his favourite things correct, not too bad :)

Here are some pictures of butter cookies to make up for the lack of posting recently.

Another Shrimp on the Barbie

2010-03-12T11:50:00.005+08:00

Barbecue. Grill. Sear. Roast. Open-pit-cooking. Cook-over-charcoal. So many names to define cooking over a framework of metal bars.

The request is for a cake sculpted into an electric barbecue pit, the modern variety that uses knobs to regulate heat and varying modes.

After some research, I discovered that most electric pits don't come in the classic round shape so I modeled the cake after a rectangular prototype.

Instead of the usual metal grey tone, this one is in a pinkish hue... adds interest to an already contemporary model, don'tcha think? Did consider adding some "charcoal" below the metal bars for more character but "electric" means no coals so scratched that idea.

The make/brand of the barbecue pit is
replaced with the horse from the Mustang logo,

upon the client's request.

So what's grilling? Kebabs, jumbo mutha' prawns (or shrimp if you prefer to slip another one on the barbie), T-bone steak, burger patties with cheese, sausages, corn and pork ribs. All decor is hand sculpted from fondant.

The melting butter on the corn glistens :) The metal bars are dusted with edible shimmer. In the background are three mugs of beer.

Pork Ribs!

Fondant napkins are strewn on the cake board with the birthday wishes. A bottle of Heinz BBQ Sauce lies amongst the napkins, squirting out the recipient's age.

And about that Ozzie commercial, I thought Australians say "prawns" instead of "shrimp"? Isn't it only the Americans who call these succulent water babies shrimp? (... tsk, tsk, Paul Hogan).

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

2010-03-07T12:31:00.001+08:00

Before emailing CC your questions, please go through the FAQs :

HOW DO I PLACE AN ORDER?

Please send an email to constantcraving.kuch@gmail.com containing all the following information:

> date of your event
> occasion/nature of event (wedding, birthday, etc)

> amount of people you will be serving

> your contact number
> your email address

> your preferred cake flavour

> an idea of the cake design/theme (something that the recipient likes and can relate to - a hobby or item perhaps)

Note :
Apologies, CC cannot suggest a design if the client does not provide the ideas.
Each cake is customised to the client.

HOW MUCH ARE YOUR CAKES?

CC's cakes are priced individually by the complexity of design. Due to the one-of-a-kind nature of customised cakes, there is no standard price.

I NEED TO TALK TO YOU DIRECTLY ON THE PHONE...

CC is an online cakery. To start your order process, please email constantcraving.kuch@gmail.com with all the info required (refer to top).

In the initial stages, all communication is done online. Once the order is confirmed, and if the client still insists, a telephone conversation can be arranged.

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED TO PREPARE FOR AN ORDER?

I appreciate each and every order, and it is crucial that each order receives a sufficient amount of brainstorming, drafting and sketching, preparation, and the actual baking/stacking/decorating/constructing to ensure the project ends in success.

For small orders (cupcakes or cake), please place your order 2 weeks before your event. For wedding cakes and orders catering more than 100 servings, a minimum of 2 months is required (the more time given, the better).

For peak seasons (like Christmas), please place your order at least 4 - 6 months in advance. You'll be surprised how many people must have their cake and eat it too :)

WHAT FLAVOURS DO YOU RECOMMEND?

If you have a specific flavour you like, please let me know.

CC's popular flavours are :

> Buttered Vanilla

> Yummy Chocolate

> Bittersweet Chocolate

> Strawberry *

> Chocolate Chip

* only available for cupcakes

I WOULD LIKE A X-kg (kilogram) CAKE...

Due to the weight of the fondant that covers the cake, novelty cakes are heavier compared to your typical cake. Cake quotes are not based on weight but rather based on design and serving portions. This is why it is crucial to provide the details (refer to top) in your email to CC.

I WOULD LIKE TO PLACE AN ORDER FOR 10 CUPCAKES...

The minimum order for cupcakes is 12 pieces.

I REALLY NEED YOU TO TAKE MY ORDER, MY EVENT'S TOMORROW...

As much as I would like to help you, it is pretty impossible for me to rush an order overnight. There is a lot of planning and preparation involved for novelty cakes. Please place your order ahead of time.

DO YOU DELIVER YOUR CAKES?

Delivery is available for wedding cakes and cakes that require on-site assembly. Generally, clients can transport their own cakes.

Self pick-up is recommended for cakes that are not sculpted and for cakes less than 2 tiers tall. Additional charges may be incurred for delivery.

I DON'T WANT TO EAT THE CUPCAKE TOPPER, I WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT - HOW SHOULD I STORE THE FIGURE?

Lift the figure off the cupcake and gently wipe off any residue on the base of the figure. Place it in a loose-lid container. Do not use an air tight container - it locks in moisture and might soften the fondant. Fondant sets rock hard when exposed to air for long periods.

If you intend to keep the figure for a year, chuck it into the back of your freezer and it will keep. (Important : Never keep your figure in the fridge, store only in the freezer. Once removed, the condensation will result in "sweat" and maybe even melting of your figure.) If you plan to keep it for a few weeks or a few months, store it at room temperature. Colours on figures fade in time.

Tailor-Made Cake

2010-03-05T00:52:00.001+08:00

I've always liked those old fashioned life-size dummies that tailors use, not the new plastic mannequins you see at all the clothing stores nowadays. I would presume that they are now considered rather vintage eh? I got a bit adventurous over the week and decided to challenge myself to sculpt a cake into a tailor's dummy and dress it up.

The cake is covered in white fondant with layers of cloth-like folds to replicate a flowing dress. Everything you see is edible (except the cake board, du-uhh). It was tricky, to say the least, to smooth the fondant into the curves while the rest of the heavy fondant pulled its weight from below (a tall and narrow cake is never ideal for fondant laying I tell ya).

The main dress is covered in white fondant and dusted with edible silver shimmer dust. Trimmings in gold on the dress' bustline is dotted with glittery "pearls". Yes, I realise that my mannequin's bosom is rather disproportioned (read : huge!) but taking into account that the dress is Indian themed and fuller assets are called for in such an outfit, that's a redeeming thought (... and I won't get so carried away the next time) :)

The shawl with its gold motif is "tied" from the back on a large pearl-studded golden bow. It flows onto the dummy's waist and closes in together, meeting at the front. The floral motif is hand painted onto the fondant with a "pearl" in the centre of each flower. Edible gold dust gives the shawl a finishing touch.

I did not mean for the shawl to have the effect of Louis Vuitton's monogram but somehow it did... oh well *fluke*

Guess it's not too hard to interpret this :

To this :

The train for the dress falls to the right and gathers itself in folds aplenty. The many layers of "cloth" are bespeckled with pearls along the hemline.

Creases, the shawl bends around the waist

To finish this project off, I topped it with a fondant sculpted "wooden" stub and gave the entire cake a final dusting of shimmer. This was a fulfilling assignment and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It may have consumed a lot of brain power + quick-hand-action but it was highly stimulating, so much so that I totally snapped out of a week-long mental freeze :)

Orange Enzyme

2010-03-04T11:17:00.005+08:00

What does one do with all the oranges after Chinese New Year? A whole household could not possibly finish them before they rot. When the citrus' skin turned all wrinkly and spotty dots started to overcome most of it I resolved to not waste these few kilograms of CNY abundance.

Armed with my trusty large measuring cup (measures 1 litre or 1000 ml), some brown sugar and a large air-tight plastic container, I sliced the oranges up. Into a very large container, I poured 10 litres of water and stirred in 1 litre of brown sugar. I stuffed the oranges into the measuring cup to get 3 litres and mixed them into the sugared water. The lid is replaced on the container and closed tightly.

What happens now is I'll leave the container and its contents in a dark (and dry) corner that's out of the way. The fermentation process will produce gas in the first month so I'll need to release the gases every day for 30 days.

If you're interested in making your own enzyme, here's how :

Ingredients

Water

Brown Sugar

Fresh Kitchen Waste (Fruit and Vegetable dregs only)

Step 1 : 10 Parts Water

Fill up 60% of a large container with water.

Step 2 : 1 Part Sugar

Add in sugar that is equivalent to 10% of the water content.

Step 3 : 3 Parts Kitchen Waste

Add in fruits/vegs that is equivalent to 30% of the water content.

Step 4 : Close Tight

Keep for minimum 3 months. Open daily to release gases for the first month.

Note :

> Do not use glass/metal container that cannot expand.
> For the garbage, do not use paper, plastic, metal or glass materials; cooked food like fish or meat may not be used.
> Ideal colour of the enzyme is dark brown (after 3 months).
> Do not fret if there is a white/black/brown layer on the top - the fermentation process will resolve it.
> Should you encounter worms in your enzyme during the fermentation process, add in a few tablespoons of brown sugar and the worms will be gone the next day (to avoid this, ensure your container is air-tight).
> The enzyme is best after 6 months of fermentation.
> Garbage enzyme does not expire, it can be kept for a long, long time (do not store in fridge).

As I bake quite a bit, I find that the enzyme is really good to remove residual oil on my utensils and bowls (don't you just loathe cleaning up?). The butter/oil comes off easily. Another use for the enzyme which I simply love is that I can soak my vegetables (ratio is 1 tbsp : 500ml water) to wash off any remnants of pesticide! Isn't that wonderful?

Just today I mopped the house tiles with half a bucket of water mixed with a few tablespoons of enzyme (no added floor cleaner or detergent). Result : an eco-friendly insect repelling solution + clean tiles. Clumsy me, I sometimes drop bits of gumpaste onto my kitchen floor when I do my figures and end up walking around the kitchen leaving marks of hardened sugar on the ground. The enzyme solution effortlessly mopped this residue up.

Multiple Usage

Natural household cleaner; Air purifier; Deodoriser; Insecticide; Detergent; Body care; Car care; Organic fertiliser; Anti bacterial for homes, etc.

Reduce Pollution

Methane gas released from disposed garbage can trap 21 times more heat than CO2, contributing to global warming

Dish Wash = 1 part enzyme : 10 parts water

Wash Vegetables = 2 tbsp : 1 litre water

Floor Cleaning = 2 tbsp : 1/2 bucket of water

I've made an apple enzyme before but this orange enzyme smells incredible so far. Apart from reducing heavy metal (no, I don't mean AC/DC) that is trapped in the clouds, making your own enzyme from kitchen waste catalyses the release of ozone gas that reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Save our earth and give it a go, let me know how yours turns out.

Garbage enzyme is developed by Dr. Rosukan from Thailand in the hopes of easing global warming.

Three Tier Tree Cake

2010-03-04T00:15:00.000+08:00

What a tongue twister... a three-tier tree cake ;)

I didn't mean for the tree to get so huge. As the tiers were piled on, I just had to go with it. I don't quite know what "species" this tree is, just thought that red fruits would look nice juxtaposed against the green leaves. Next time I'll try cherry blossoms - just love how the pink and white flower buds outweigh the leaves in those sakura trees.

All the decor you see is made from fondant. Waddaya think?

The Rainbow Connection

2010-02-28T00:34:00.003+08:00

I love rainbows. The colours and dogma that back this beauty up just does it for me (hey, I'm easy to please). With images of leprechauns running about in my head, the mere sight of a forming band of colours in the sky makes me happy. So when I was asked to make a cake, from 5 grandchildren for their grandma, guess what popped into my mind the minute the words "happy" and "fun" were uttered?

This Black Velvet cake is covered completely in fondant (apart from the sticks that prop up the topper-letters). The weather has been hot, hot, hot since last week and I'm ecstatically pleased with the extreme heat... that means the fondant set well (no melting blob of frustration, and I could finally store my dehumidifying "agents"). O, how I love the sun! *joy*

This cake has two tiers, with the lower tier covered in a light green fondant outlined with a white picket fence. The top tier replicates the blue sky with puffy clouds surrounding a rainbow. Toppers are 5 figurines of the grandchildren sculpted from fondant, and the words "Ah Ma" (meaning grandmother in Hokkien). The words, figures and rainbow were made in advance to give it ample "setting time".

Hope they like the cake - taste wise, image wise and otherwise :) Happy Birthday A.S.H.!

United Colours of Pink, Blue & Purple

2010-02-09T22:14:00.003+08:00

The lunar new year is approaching and Chinese all over the globe are preparing big time to usher in the new year. These cupcakes are for a clothing boutique for their pre-Chinese New Year get-together. Buttered vanilla cupcakes with heaps of frosting in subtle shades of pink, purple and blue, and some fun sprinkles. I kinda lean more to keeping my piped frosting simple and clean... (well, I do try).

I had thought that tomorrow is Friday. I'm two full days ahead... could be the mad scramble preceding CNY that got my brain playing tricks on me. I'm not rushing, it's the sight of the maddening traffic and the accelerated supermarket-sweep-scene at the stores that get me all frantic. So flustered that my body clock propelled to Friday... Huge sigh of relief, it's only Wednesday and I've actually got two more days to prep *phew*

It's the same scene every year for CNY - the big rush to buy new year clothes (red), planning out the menu for the reunion dinner (customary family fare), placing orders for cookies (pineapple tarts), getting a new hairdo to wow the masses when they visit (there's a surcharge for salon washed services a week leading to CNY), going to the bank to exchange dough to smaller denominations for red packets (and for gambling), buying truckloads of carbonated canned drinks (to feed those masses that are in awe of your new do), decking the entire house with mandarin oranges and red packets (I think it means luck or prosperity or something along those lines), and cleaning house at the very last minute.

For those of you who don't quite get it, let me explain. You see, the lunar new year represents the first day of the year in the Chinese calendar. We Chinese greet the new year with new clothes and we extend our hospitality by welcoming friends over to the house to munch on pineapple tarts and maybe a meal. On the eve, the family comes together for a reunion dinner and it is usually rather lavish with really really GORGEOUS food. To rid the preceding year's bad luck, we give our house a good cleaning. As a child, the most important "rule" I kept in mind was not to sweep the house on the first day of CNY - you might be sweeping away some good luck that's coming your way in the new year.

I remember looking forward to CNY in my younger years. I can't recall why though. Maybe it was the angpow (red packets of $$$). Maybe it was the fun in wearing pretty new frocks. It could be due to the feeling of bending my nape upwards to take in the fireworks lighting up the midnight sky, or the noisy 6-foot long string of firecrackers lit from tall bamboo poles (it's believed the noise scares the evil spirits away). Or perhaps it's because I never get a scolding from anyone as it's believed to be bad luck. Then again, I won't be surprised if it was the pineapple tarts.

Happy Chinese New Year.

Cars, parcels and chocolate

2010-02-08T18:18:00.000+08:00

Up until recently, I had no idea what a Porsche Carrera GT looked like. A sports car is a sports car to me, heh, not very informed in that area. But when a project came for cupcakes topped with a "dream car" (that Porsche model to be precise), I couldn't wait to get started.

This was one of those assignments that's simply so much fun to undertake. I was a tad worried that I wouldn't be able to get the correct shade of red but with a lot of elbow grease and patience, the colour turned out perfect *joy*.

Got a call for some CNY giveaways and came up with loaves of Walnut Cake. I was in a festive mood and was determined to present these loaves in celebratory packages, approaching cautiously to avoid an OTT-red-lanterns-ablazing-Chinese-New-Year look. I was ecstatic to come across some CNY stickers in red and gold that completed the gift parcel perfectly.

Remember how I mentioned that there are a handful of people who are not inclined towards fondant, or like Marie Antoinette they just want to "eat cake"? One of my recent bakes was the Black Velvet cake, an order that requested for a pretty finish without the fondant.

I chose to encircle the cake with chocolate, topped with a light sprinkling of almonds. I kinda like the sleekness to this look - very minimal yet chic, with a sorta immaculate finish. Waddaya think?

Matthew's Baptism

2010-02-01T16:46:00.001+08:00

Yesterday was baby Matthew's baptism. He is just the cutest baby ever.

As promised, here are some photos of the mooksiecutiepie, along with pictures of the themed cupcakes.

Half the cupcakes are chocolate, the other half is strawberry. Hand-sculpted fondant toppers include pacifiers, baby feet, baby booties, baby bottle, bib, sleeping baby with blanket, and bible with lit candle.

A good time was had by all. Matthew is such an adorable little bub, smiling cheekily at most about anyone who passes his view, what a delight!

Pink & Brown Wedding Cupcakes

2010-01-30T22:30:00.002+08:00

Here's a "twist" on some wedding cupcakes.

As elegant as classic swirls and dragees are, I opted against that and decided to add some funk into this wedding (but only incorporating as much funk as permitted, seeing that weddings and "funk" don't exactly always go hand-in-hand) :) The request was for fresh cream, with a play on the two theme colours.

Chocolate cupcakes topped with choc cream, with dots of strawberry cream. My fingers were tightly crossed, hoping (and praying) the cream wouldn't melt in the afternoon heat. Lucky me - it did not *phew*

Back to the drafting board for now... Tomorrow is baby Mookie's baptism. And guess who was asked to make the cupcakes? Guess, guess, guess..... ME!!! Woohoo! (dances in small circle in my private mosh pit). Stay tuned... :)

Post Note : Thanks to Isabella of Spiral Eventz for the following gorgeous pictures of the cupcakes.

Cupcakes versus Muffins

2010-01-28T00:29:00.002+08:00

So what's the difference exactly? They both look the same. But do they taste the same? Are they siblings or merely related through paper liners?

Cupcakes first arrived on the scene in the late 18th century (Cupcakes, Chicago).

The word "cupcake" first appeared in E. Leslie’s receipts, published in 1828. It comes as no surprise that the name most likely came from the measurement of ingredients in creating a cupcake - a cup each of flour, butter and sugar (much like the pound cake). Either that or some baker took one look at the small cup-shaped molds, applied simple human ingenuity and lo and behold, the cupcake was born.

Cupcakes can be made from any cake recipe. Use the exact same ingredients from your favourite cake recipe, divide the batter into cup liners, bake them babies, and voila - cupcakes.

Just like the cake, cupcakes are sweet (although there are many who experiment in using bacon and cheddar cheese in their renditions). What cupcakes are to the Americans, Fairy cakes are to the English. It's the same thing - tiny little cakes baked in paper liners topped with frosting of pretty colours.

Unlike cupcakes the muffin initially used yeast as a leavening agent resulting in a spongier and porous consistency, much like bread. Created by the English, muffins were originally served for breakfast with butter and jam. It is not a wonder why a lot of us confuse muffins for cupcakes seeing that it's also baked in similar paper cups.

A muffin is not a cake hence a muffin is not a cupcake. A muffin is bread presented in a small cup, or in other words, a "cupbread".

:)

Cupcake = Cake

Muffin = Bread

Fore! (and messin' around with designs)

2010-01-22T12:36:00.001+08:00

Cupcakes for a golfer. Chocolate cuppies topped with flags, golf balls and clubs, with a brown golf bag resting on green fondant.

***

Here's a sneak peek at one of the designs for the back of my still-in-the-process business card (yes yes, I will get to printing them once I settle on a design).

Waddaya think? It would really top my cuppy with cherry if the design makes people want to run around town on an imaginary sugar high, screaming "Give me some shoo-gah, bay-beee!".

I've incorporated my new theme colours of turquoise, light lime green and some greys. The picture of the cake is the white cake I made last year.

I haven't exactly decided on a design yet. I'll just continue posting potentials onto the blog until then :)

Monkeying around

2010-01-02T18:45:00.000+08:00

Here are some pictures of cupcakes to start the new year.

These cupcakes are for 5-year old Shawn who is well-loved for monkeying around :)

Happy Birthday Shawn.

Glide (or cook with it)

2009-12-29T20:48:00.001+08:00

Christmas is my favourite time of the year. Even if this part of the world is met with plenty of rain come December, somehow it can't dampen the season.

What is it exactly I love about Christmas? Everything.

I like how Christmas wraps up the year with its ever constant theme of love, joy, peace, forgiveness, family, counting blessings and giving thanks.

I like how families come together over Christmas - siblings recollecting childhood memories, mothers in aprons baking up a storm, fathers putting up the tree and filling the house with carols.

I like Christmas carols. Unlike blaring Chinese New Year songs, carols are lovely to listen to, so delightful that we don't mind filling the whole room with its glorious sounds for the whole week.

O how I *heart* Christmas.

I like Christmas because it is the perfect justification for consuming large amounts of food.

Turkey, ham, taters, bread, smoked salmon, meatloaf, x'mas logs, cupcakes, brownies, cheesecake, gingerbread cookies, fruitcake. As I munch on leftovers, I can safely say that there will be no sign of anemia this December.

But most importantly, I love Christmas because the significance of Christ's birth humbles us and I love that as we conclude the year we realise how fortunate we are (I applaud Live Aid '85 for teaching me compassion at a young age).

So when Christmas is over, what's next?

Yup, you've got that right - thinking up our new year resolutions. Funny why we can't resolve to change bad habits some time in June or maybe September... Sooner is better than later, no? I've never really made resolutions for the new year. I tend to wing it.

So for 2010, I resolve to go where the tide takes me.

I am determined to have a non-stick Tefal outlook on life : gliding the stuff that doesn't matter, and cooking with the ones that do.

Happy New Year. God bless.

Santa, Frosty and Freddie

2009-12-22T20:55:00.002+08:00

Bet you're wondering who the hee-haa is Freddie. It's an impromptu name for a new character, just in time for Christmas too. Since Kermit was taken, I thought that Freddie would be the next best name...

Can't really explain why Freddie has a petrified look on his face, could be the fact that he's new to the Christmas scene and all. Why shouldn't frogs be part of the lovable ensemble this joyful season? Ol' Fred's even the right colour, more so than Frosty or the Gingerbread Man actually.

Okay okay, so I lied... Freddie's look is more love-seeking and not so much petrified. The heart he's holding against his chubby chest pretty much says it all. Actually, I've just now decided that he's a shy frog... so shy that he almost hides his face behind the heart. Poor frog.

Frosty's established himself, nothing to be shy about... until the sun comes out that is, heh heh.

Give dear Fred a few years and he'll get used to the limelight (fingers crossed that the others grant him his moment though, don't think they care much for Fred this year).

Christmas Cuppies

2009-12-19T02:10:00.001+08:00

Tis the season to be jolly... :)

Here are some pictures of cuppies with merry toppers.

Two guesses, where's that phrase from?

*pssssst... hint : high pitched voice, missing both legs,
son of the muffin man*

Niah Caves

2009-12-16T15:44:00.000+08:00

"The Niah National Park is located some 120 km by road to the north of Bintulu. The faeces of bats (guano) at the caves are an important source of natural fertilizer. The west mouth of the Niah Caves is one of the most important archaeological sites in Southeast Asia. It is significant because of the wide range of stone tools used from the old stone age, discovery of skulls (of earliest human in Southeast Asia). Prehistoric wall paintings also exist in one of the caves." - Wikitravel

Last weekend, we took a short trip to Miri with the main purpose of visiting the Niah Caves. The drive from Miri to Batu Niah is 2 hours. From the main reception of the Niah National Park, the 3km journey on foot to the Niah Caves was rather nice, surrounded by forest as we walked along a well-maintained plankwalk.

River at Batu Niah town

Interesting shop near the town market

The cave is an important prehistorical site where human remains dating to 40,000 years have been found. The Painted Cave, situated in a smaller limestone block of its own, boasts rock paintings dated 1,200 years old.

On our way to the caves...

No need for nails here!

Regretfully, we were unable to visit the section with the cave paintings. Hopefully next time.

We stayed at TTL Motel, a lovely place. Spanking new with clean and comfortable rooms (TV, hot water, aircon, toiletries, a proper duvet - the works!), it was way beyond expectations. We were welcomed with warm smiles and handshakes, fresh fruits and refreshing drinks. Our room's airconditioning was switched on prior to our arrival which was just fantastic (that earns them many many brownie points in my book!).

Our room at TTL Motel

Tebakang, prawns and cocks

2009-12-07T01:48:00.000+08:00

"Big Headed Prawns". These bad boys breed naturally in a river that flows through a small village 60km from Kuching town - Tebakang.

To the prawns, the river of no return

These wondrous prawns (we're talking big, fat, juicy, fresh outta the river prawns here, not shrimp eh) do not fail to impress every single time. Cooked in a tomato based sauce with onions and just the right piquancy of everything else, it tastes not too different from lobsters in a milky cheesy sauce. The succulency of every bite, squirting with juices, I'm rather proud that I only stained my white top with one tiny speckle, har har.

Silly me, was too excited that we forgot to take pictures before devouring everything

Directly in front of the small family-operated restaurant is a large chicken coop. We were serenaded with crowing cocks as we stuffed our faces. At 3pm, we figured that the cocks' body clocks went kaput from the gloomy weather.

Happy Birthday Eugene

2009-12-04T12:02:00.001+08:00

BFF's sister ordered a Garfield cake for nephew Eugene. The request was for chocolate cake covered with fresh cream. A thumb-up (yeah, singular - one thumb) Garfield is to lean, smirking on the wide cake.

Usually I don't venture into character cartoon cakes with fresh cream. Concentrating mainly on fondant cakes that cater more to grown ups, the reason for this decision is that character cakes are widely available at almost every other bakery.

Aiming to cater to a niche market inclined towards clean and simple cakes, sugarpaste is my preferred choice for a celebration cake. Baking from home and seeing that fondant modelling is a very recent interest, I really hope people understand when I put into the backburner orders that frankly, I do not have the means to commit to (like last-minute orders in bulk, and kid's character cartoons).

Don't get me wrong, I love trying new things. But to me, the thrill is lacking when there are probably 5,000 bakers out there who can produce a piped cartoon cake. I appreciate the support and belief from friends and family but my main motivation is to make and bake cakes with a different twist. Even if there is only a small group to cater to, that's pretty okay as the kitchen's really small and I've only got two hands :)

Besides fondant cakes, there are cakes that come with specialised frosting - our signature cakes. To appreciate the cake's texture and to compliment taste, these are cakes that should be consumed sans fondant. There are a large number of people who love the look of fondant but do not appreciate it's sweetness. What do they do? Quite simple actually - once the cake is served, peel away the fondant and eat the cake :)

Air Flown

2009-12-03T12:18:00.002+08:00

Some pictures of a R.O.M. cake.

Cake is three layers, chai cake layers sandwiching a gingered madeira. Frosting is cream cheese.

The gumpaste handcrafted roses were packed separately from the cake, stuffed with loads of paper to prevent breakage. The instructions for assembly is included :)

Topped with a small bouquet of roses, the cake is encircled by green leaves with the couple's names. Hope they liked it.

Thanks for the many pictures! :)

And a partridge in a pear tree...

2009-12-02T14:48:00.000+08:00

It's not a partridge, heh heh...

These Christmas themed hand-painted fondant will go on cookies - planning to make the cookies slightly larger than the fondant. Hopefully these will look like paintings within a wooden frame, cookie being the frame.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2009-11-23T12:46:00.002+08:00

The kitchen smells incredible as the whiff of spices fill the air. Scents of ginger and a smorgasbord of spices never cease to launch that ol' feeling of Christmas.

It's that time of the year for Gingerbread Cookies!

Individually sealed in transparent air-tight packages, these crunchy babies come in a set of 5 designs - Scarfed Boy; Ribboned Girl; X'mas Wreath; Snow flake; and the Joy Tree.

Orders can be made from now until 8th December, via emailing constantcraving.kuch@gmail.com
(collection period : 15th - 20th December)

Elmo & Cookie Monster

2009-11-17T17:06:00.002+08:00

Fluffy strawberry cupcakes for the kiddies. The centre for these cupcakes are filled with a creamy chocolate mousse.

Cookie Monster. I contemplated on sticking a cookie into its mouth but after much thought, I think the kids would appreciate a smiling monster :)

Elmo and Cookie Monster's eyes are made from fondant and their fur is piped with buttercream frosting. Black cup cases are used to accentuate the bright colours.

Elmo looks pretty tame compared to the loopy blue monster. Personally, out of all the Sesame Street characters, my favourite has got to be Cookie Monster. Why? He (if he's a he) doesn't talk much and stuffs his face with cookies. The only thing he ever says is "cookie" and how can anyone not adore those crazy eyes? He comes in second only to Kermit (I love that frog).

Black cup cases

60th Diamond Anniversary Cake

2009-11-15T17:39:00.005+08:00

A clean damask motif contrasts the three tiers of cakes covered in white fondant. Theme for the occasion is pink hence the pink roses.

Bottom tier is Madeira, middle tier is the Black Velvet, and the top tier is Banana.

Am not exactly thrilled with the fondant - the humidity causes the formation of air pockets under the otherwise smooth cake and the fondant is heavier than usual, resulting in a not-too-perfect finish. It was impossible to get the fondant to set due to the perpetual rain, and grey weather (was not prepared for the ridiculous high level of dampness - c'mon, it hardly rained for the pass week and it just had to pour the day I laid these babies with decor?).

So now I've decided that for the wet months, I will take to making solid fondant. Mental note : Do not underestimate Mother Nature.

Plagiarism is NOT cool.

2009-11-07T16:25:00.002+08:00

For those of you who might have noticed, the price structure for my cakes has been removed from this blog.

Recently it came to my knowledge that there is someone who is plagiarising our ideas. Not only ideas mind you, down to the layout of our price structure and even the words used. I was shocked beyond belief when that particular baking person did not bother to paraphrase MY words, and the biggest shocker, my prices.

I thought that bakers would respect their fellow culinarians' ideas and be a tad more original with their own. Inspiration is drawn from different sources, coming from places we go to, the people we meet, and every day experiences we come upon. Where in the world does inspiration ever come from blatantly carbon copying (not merely imitating mind you) statements word-for-word, or by freebooting the formation of words that are given much thought to make a comprehensive sentence? That, my dear fellow baker, is considered literary theft.

Also, another issue that cannot go unnoticed - you should not use other bakers' pictures on your site. It is unfair, both to the actual owners of these photographs and your clients. You are looting people's hard work (the effort put in to bake and decorate these cakes, the prep and set up for the photo taking, and the photo itself). And, you are providing your clients with false representation of your products, as you and I both know that those pictures do not belong to you therefore the creations we see are not made by your hands.

Since we both share a similar profession and especially since we live in the same country, you should acknowledge that the presence of competition is healthy and respect other people's work. Competition should not lead you to pillage from your peers.

It is an honour to receive admiration but to plagiarise one's ideas... it is just NOT COOL.

Closed for Orders

2009-11-06T02:42:00.000+08:00

It's the year end. Can you believe it? Another year. Some folks look back fondly at months passed while others have a "should've, would've, could've" lornful sigh. For those who look to the coming year with an "Oh, Joy!" beam in their eyes - good on you :)

The year end brings much hustle and bustle to our tiny kitchen, leaving our counter tops speckled with flour and our hearts filled with joy, singing chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

As we are kept busy with on-hand orders until Christmas, regretfully we are closed for orders for the months of November and December '09. Thanks for your support.

post note: I'll still be updating the blog with pictures :)

Cuppies for A Goth Girl

2009-10-31T16:31:00.004+08:00

The request was for birthday cupcakes. The birthday (costume) party is on Halloween and when I asked for the theme (for cupcakes), I was told "goth and rock". Hmmmm...

My goth knowledge is lacking. All I know is goth consist of 3 primary colours : red, black and white. Apart from black lipstick and heavy eyeliner, the only few ideas that entered my mind was the ankh, blood red roses, body piercings, and the tight corset-like bustier dresses.

So that's exactly what was done (turned out more goth than rock though). Two ghouls are included in the goth mix - it is Halloween after all :)

"You'll Never Walk Alone"

2009-10-30T03:18:00.002+08:00

Farewell cupcakes for KK who is leaving on a jet plane.

Seeing that the recipient is a huge Liverpool FC supporter, her friends requested Liverpool themed cupcakes as a parting gift.

These chocolate cupcakes are decorated with fondant. Mini footballs on grass and numbered red jerseys frame the football club's logo.

Some designs

2009-10-24T16:53:00.001+08:00

I've been thinking about getting some business cards made. Playing around with a few designs, mostly in turquoise, white and grey.

This one was conceptualised and completed in 5 minutes so it's pretty basic. Wadda'ya think?

Millions of peaches, peaches for everyone.

2009-10-23T21:54:00.002+08:00

Just peachy baby. On top of all the berries and different citrus fruits, personally I find that peaches go superbly with cheese cake. Why? I don't know... could be the fact that while growing up, my mom would bake her glorious cheese cake and top it with chunks of peaches suspended in clear gelatin. The gelatin always made that particular dessert seem surreal, like an offering that was meant for the Gods. And biting into it was definitely a slice of heaven, the feel of the soft smooth rounded flavoursome cream cheese on the tongue... wowweeeeee!

Twenty over years down the road... and I pay homage to mommy with an interpretation of her peach cheese cake, sans gelatin.

The Black Velvet is an alteration from red velvet, the latter being a southern cake - red in hue and velvety in texture. The Black Velvet is almost similar but not quite. Sans the red and filled with the lusciousness of chocolate, B.V. is inspired by Alannah Myles' song : "Black velvet with that slow southern style, A new religion that will bring you to your knees, Black velvet if you please...". Talk about an aptly named dessert, eh? :)

Usually, the inner filling for B.V. is cream cheese but this photo shows it with a chocolate mousse filling.

Now for some mental stimulation :

Let's say it is teatime. You are sitting in a sprawling garden on a shaded wicker swing, enjoying a good book over a hot coffee and the grass tickles the soles of your bare feet as you swing lightly in the breeze. You hear Nina Simone faintly from afar as birds chirp in the trees, almost masking the crooning of her melancholic voice. Your senses are alert and yet you are lulling in these few moments before twilight. At this point in time, can you think of anything better than a union of bananas and pecan whipped in maple syrup, crowned with molten chocolate icing and held together in tiny paper cups? ... neither can I ;)

Grin and Beer It

2009-10-19T20:26:00.004+08:00

Happy Birthday Adrian!

~ apologies, quality of this shot not too good - bad lighting :(

Beer Mug Cake - chocolate cake covered with fondant.

oh, fudge

2009-10-17T21:10:00.004+08:00

Two cheese cakes and a chocolate cake. So I thought to myself - let's not make the usual choc cake and the customary cheese cake.

The chocolate cake is presented with the title "Her Royal Fudginess" as it is chocolate fudge made into a cake *heh heh*. HRF is covered with a smooth sticky chocolate fudge icing. Can you say faaaaddgeee?

As for the cheese cakes, there's the Boysenberry cheese cake, made with the fruit's preserves (can't find fresh ones here).

The other is Curb-Your-Cino, a cappucino cheese cake with the bitterness of coffee and a complimenting tanginess from sour cream. Seeming not unlike the Tiramisu, HRF is similarly made with mascarpone but sans the sponge fingers and liquor. I reckon that coffee lovers are bound to love this one, hence the name :)

Who says chocolate isn't a food group?

2009-10-07T00:02:00.003+08:00

I seem to love chocolate... :) Or should I say the people who eat my cakes like chocolate? Or is it that everyone on this planet would rather eat chocolate cake than any other cake? I can't decide.

This two-layer choc cake has a light and fluffy cream slathered between the layers. The frosting is whipped cream covered with ladles of a funky choc fudge, sliding down the sides. Can you say YUM?

End note : Save our earth (it's the only planet with chocolate) :)

M-m-m-mocha Cake :)

2009-10-03T16:45:00.004+08:00

This is one of my favourites - moist mocha cake frosted with chocolate ganache, sprinkled with chocolate bits. The cake's sugar content is reduced to half, to accentuate the mocha taste and to compliment the sweetness of the frosting (frosting has no added sugar). This recipe has been tweaked several times and this is, according to them, precisely the way coffee lovers like it :)

To ensure that the cake remains moist at serving time, it does not need to be refrigerated (the high butter content hardens the cake and the mocha flavour is subdued if refrigerated). The ganache is "stabilised" to stand at room temperature for roughly half a day without melting into a glossy blob.

Durian Tarts

2009-10-02T22:54:00.004+08:00

Even if the King of Fruits emits an intense scent, there are loads of Asians who love durian. Durian can be found in many savoury and sweet forms, from cakes to ice-cream, from puddings to crackers, from kampung to urban households, and from Asia to all the reaches of the earth (wrapped tightly in clingwrap :) ).

These tartlets here are shortcrust pie shells filled with homemade durian custard. Mmm-mmm-mm-m-mmm... From the first bite, *!!PUNCH!!* there it is - the distinctive tang of the delicious spikey fruit, its depth further enhanced by custard... Woooowwweee... what other way is there to awaken those taste buds? :)

Okay okay, I know those durian haters out there are probably wondering how we (pro-durianers, that is) can get so gungho over a smelly fruit. But c'mon, durian really does taste fantastic. Its velvety texture rubbing against your tongue as it glides down your throat, the sweet pungency of its aroma, lingering in your car days later (even if it was only in the boot for 20 minutes, har har...).

Yesterday, just after a heavy downpour, I managed to go to my uncle's soho office and took some snaps of his blooming flowers. Here are 2 varieties of water lilies (purple and white), a white rose (I think they were roses), and a jasmine-scented flower/tree. Really, really happy with the real raindrops on the petals :)