domestic goddess

28.2.10

81st Birthday

A grand dame celebrated her 81st birthday this weekend with her family and friends. What an honour it was for me, to be commissioned by her daughter, to bake and decorate the centrepiece. Her mum enjoys fruit cakes but for the birthday cake, we went for something less 'heavy' to cater for all the guests. I chose the Australian Blush Cake that's basically a dense (necessary for a tier-style) butter cake with red cherries, glacé ginger and almonds. The red cherries give the cake a pink hue hence the name Blush Cake!

Now, here's what takes the cake. The tiers (10' and 8') were covered in buttercream! Trying to achieve a perfect finish with buttercream icing is near impossible and being a perfectionist as I am, I had to have that 'coiffered' finish for my cakes. With a thin base coat over the cakes, I spent a loooooong time piping fine Sotas - a lace design, for a textured finish. My right hand was pretty much out of commission the next day ;-).

The birthday dame's favourite flowers were orchids and I chose lovely yellow Cattleyas with a burgandy lip for personalisation. Also made the mandatory Chinese birthday features : "sau-thou" -longevity peaches and the Chinese character for longevity "sau", to complete the cake.

11.2.10

Chinese New Year 2010

23.1.10

Chinese New Year

It's 3 weeks to the new year of the Golden Tiger - on February 14th, 2010; and I'm taking this timeline to dedicate the days leading up to this Chinese New Year with spring cleaning, hanging up the red cloth and lanterns, cooking pineapple jam fillings, baking pistachio cookies and of course, baking for you.

Do plan early. Whether they're for corporate giveaways or the necessary gifts to relatives before you leave town to one side of the family, it'll be good to work on several batches over the Chinese New Year period. My baking dates will start from now till February 11th (Thursday) with the last pick-up date on the 12th (Friday). I'll be back on the 22nd to cater for the last week of the celebrations. Drop me a line with your orders as soon as you can and secure your pick-up date. Limited quantities per day (or I'll be flat-out!!).

GREEN TEA CUPCAKES
Something oriental this year with a simple, light yet, moist green tea cake. The cupcakes will be fondant-covered and decorated in the Chinese New Year theme - along the lines of those you see in the photo above. Not necessary that exact combi (as I tend to 'branch' out when I idling creatively...;-).

RM36 for a box of 6 cupcakes
In 'auspiciously'-coloured cases and gift-packed in gold and/or red that will bring the giver and receiver abundance of good luck!

ORIENTAL SUGEE CAKE
Loyal customers will know of this Great Bakes' Chinese New Year speciality. It's a Penang Nyonya sugee cake recipe tweaked by yours truly, to include auspicious ingredients in it - red cherries, almonds, mandarin oranges etc... and using only the best Australian butter. A naturally-sweet, moist, rich and buttery cake, it keeps well and very much favoured by the older folks. Hint! Hint!

For a 7" round cake (800gms) and gift-boxed:

RM58 for an undecorated cake.
RM68 for a decorated cake.

14.1.10

Buon Compleanno Isa!

Having known her since she was a little over 1, she has grown in the last 8 years to become a sweet and intriguing young lady. And what a treat to bake her these 2 sets of cupcakes in her favourite chocolate and decorate them in girly theme colours for her school mates! In her "tweens" now, she's more than familiar with those nail polish, lip gloss, ring, earrings, necklace, sling bag, flowers for the hair and her faithful ballet slippers... ;-) Buon compleanno Isa!

8.1.10

G = Guinness

A pint of Guinness for its biggest fan! The cake is of course, the infamous Guinness Chocolate Cake! The cake was intentionally left uncovered with icing so not to interfere with its wholesome tastiness (remember the local tagline - Guinness, good for you..). But I did add a notch to the mandatory 'head' by using cream cheese icing. I'm no Guinness drinker but I do love the cake!

Painstakingly free hand-detailed..