Baublelicious!

I'm not a fan of the colour 'green', so I decided not to have X'mas trees on my X'mas cupcakes! The result was Baublelicious - baubles-inspired designs of festive red, blue and gold!

This was one of my early attempts at piping... a bit shaky, I suppose!

What's better than homemade goodies to bring some festive cheer?

Tis the Season for Fruitcakes!

Come November, I start bringing out my fruitcake bundt tins, chopping up the fruits, and toasting the nuts. It's the only time of the year I make fruitcake - that wonderfully dense confection with AMAZING keeping qualities!

My version of fruitcake is a pretty rich Dark Grand Marnier Fruitcake - the ingredients list is long... but I love what the orangey tang and hint of choc lend to it. It is exceptionally moist (with a heady dousing of Grand Marnier), almost a brownie-pudding, and meant to be enjoyed in small doses.

Because of this richness, I prefer to make it in 5" diameter bundt tins - a lovely and most appropriate snowflake shape. It is also a fantastic size for festive gifting, and all my fruitcakes come giftpacked in gold/silver boxes with ribbons and trims, and a handmade hand-embossed gift tag.

Birthday Cupcakes for Three Fashionable Gals!

Little girls love Barbies, and big girls love their designer shoes and bags! They don't seem to have enough of them, and even want them on their cupcakes!

This was designed for a birthday celebration for 3 very fashion-savvy young ladies. Their friend was spot-on on their first loves and it was most appropriate to decorate the cupcakes with shoes and bags. We even worked out what each one of the birthday girl's taste in shoes/bags was - YinYin is all prim and proper in her perfectly matched stilletoes and prissy handbag, Agnes loves monochromes and is into comfy chunky sandals and roomy bags, Alicia zooms in on platforms and large carryalls.

The cake was all-time fave Moist Choc with bittersweet choc ganache topping (the surprise was a filling of homemade raspberry jam) - an indulgent double dose of choc - and the 16-pc set was perfect for the party of eight.

With all the hand-moulded fondant shoes and bags on the cupcake, I went back to my scrapbooking kit to whip up hand-embossed name banners for the birthday girls.

I heard the girls loved it - Agnes, who has 'lost' her sweet tooth for a while, actually indulged in 2 cupcakes!

Mango Passion Rose and Durian Lime Mousse Cakes

I personally have a soft-spot for European-style mousse (fresh cream) cakes. They were my first ventures when I tried baking at home as I missed eating them after I stopped working (there were less opportunities to visit a good bakery!).

For anyone who have tried baking one of these, it is really simple as it involves baking a sponge-base cake, soaking it in some syrup/liquor and layering it with mousses. The trick is in finding a great combination - and there are lots!

I love to use the denser genoise (a French-style sponge) which is more fine-textured, and almost always there's fine liquor. Some of my best flavours are Mango Passion Rose, Durian Lime, Black Forest Cheese Mousse, Java Coffee, Choc Raspberry, and Peanut Butter Choc (above are the Mango Passion Rose and Durian Lime). These are very 'adult' cakes I must say - as the genoise base always gets a generous dousing of liquor, and the flavours are often a sophisticated combination of sweet and tangy.

Mousse cakes are finicky to transport though, as refrigeration is a must. Definite no-nos for parties, weddings or in gift boxes as these are occasions when the cake will probably be sitting at our rather warm room temperature for prolonged periods. Perfectly sophisticated for small group celebrations though!

The Wedding That "Launched my Cupcake Career"!

I've always done small catering on and off - the whole works - curry, beehoon, desserts etc... so it was 'just' another project when my hubby told me a client of his asked if I could cook up some brunch for her wedding registration at a Buddist temple.

Her menu was simple - 'meat-free' food that could withstand the heat at the reception hall (no airconditioning)! She asked for brownies - which I sincerely think are only heavenly when served warm with dollops of icecream and choc fudge sauce - which of course wasn't possible! So I suggested cupcakes - since I know they've been the new chic choice for weddings, especially informal ones.

The marble glaze effect on the cupcakes were created with homemade raspberry jam and lemon curd over Varlhona white choc glaze - pretty tedious but very pretty. I just started learning how to pipe designs, but the piped buttercream hearts were really easy! She had my 'now-famous' vanilla white choc cake, and lemon poppy seed. The sweet-tangy combinations were perfect.

Those cute wedding couple toppers I happened to chance upon at a curious shop were the 'icing on the cake'!

Thks Cass - you're wonderful and the cheeriest bride ever! This also marks the end of my full-menu catering - I knew from then on I had the greatest passion for cakes, and cakes only!

3-D Birthday Cakes

Some of my earlier attempts - birthday cakes for my little sweetie pie and a dear friend's son. My girl actually had two - one for the celebration at her playschool and one for our own celebration at home! That gave me a lot of opportunities to try out some designs. All these were first attempts - luckily they turned out well!

Only mishap - the balloon on the teddy cake burst when the candles were lighted!

Fairytale Castle B'day Cake for Two Princesses

Large cakes are never my strengths - and I only mainly make them for my own family's celebrations. Nonetheless, I couldn't talk these 2 girls into switching to cupcakes, so began the challenging journey of creating this cake!

The brief was simple - pretty, pink, fairtytale-like! I think a castle would only have a fairytale feel if it is on top of a hill, so I decided to precariously tier a small castle on top of the lovely Wilton Cascade bundt shape - the perfect hill! I used rounded shapes for the castle, and soft swirls to decorate the turrets, so as to keep it magical and girly... and lots of edible sparkles and shimmer for a dreamy fairytale effect!

With some last minute ingenuity (thks to some kind suggestions from a guest at the party) - I managed to tier the castle on top of the bundt cake - on site - without dowelling. Pretty petite cupcakes topped with flowers and butterflies surround the castle, some spelling out the birthday princesses' names - Marilyn n Marissa. I particularly loved the two little handmoulded fondant bluebirds holding up the "Happy B'day" message banner! I'm such a sucker for all the glittery petal dusts - they do add magic to the cake!

Well - the final outcome was pretty good - the girls do love it! Happy Birthday princesses!