3-in-1, Barney, Harold and Thomas

Busy, busy, busy! It’s the last weekend before the lunar new year arrives!! It has been a very busy week for me! Started from last week, I kicked off my project by molding the figurines, giving it ample time to settle and harden. I took a longer than usual time as in between all these preparations, I had to oversee my children’s work, meals, shopping for new year clothing etc.

I had to forsake my pineapple tarts making for this project, forgetting it wa the last weekend before the Chinese new year and time was running out for me. I had only managed to bake some kueh Bangkit, which is a must since it’s my favorite and green peas cookies.

All the sacrifices were for this cake:

Hope all the sacrifices were worth it for such cake and with this, I wish all my readers 龙年行大运，万事如意！

Happy Lunar New Year!!

Happy 2012

Happy new year!! 2011 had gone and 2012 has just started. How has it been so far for you? For me, so far so good. Managed to live quite eventful for the 1st 2 days. Had some family times with the kids on the first day while rushing through an order of the 1st birthday cake for a friend’s friend. It’s also the first huge cake for year 2012 for me. It’s a shaped “1″ fresh cream mango cake with fondant figurines of aeroplane, banner and stars! The design was from the mummy of the birthday boy. It was a huge cake that serves about 40pax. Here’s the cake before the placement of the fondant figurines.

And here’s the completed cake:

With such a success on the cake, I hope 2012 will be a more smooth sailing year for me. I also hope that I will be able to attain a higher level in cake decorations and cake baking in the year. Hopefully, some certification as well. I hope this is not too late, I wish everyone of you a prosperous, healthy and fulfilling year ahead!! Happy 2012!!!!

Birthday cakes & bakes

I haven’t been updating this blog often enough. I has been very busy ever since my boy started to cruise around. He has been sticking to me whole day long for as long as I’m home., hence baking a tab bit of difficult.

However, I still managed to do some baking in between with the Help of my husband and gals who will take turns to look after my boy for me.

Here’s some photos of bakes which I had done over the period when I’m not updating the blog.

Macaroon, macaroons

Macaroons are my “enemy”. All these yrs of trying, I’ve never been as successful as this time. The feets are just nice and the texture are good as well. The whole batch turns out to be perfect in terms of feet and texture!!

Those who had been with me knows that I’ve tried green tea macaroons and the result wasn’t as successful as this time.

Here’s the recipe that I’ll be sharing:

30g ground almond
30g caster sugar
50g icing sugar
1 egg white
3gm chocolate powder, change to matcha or other flavor as you wish

Mix ground almond, icing sugar and chocolate powder in a food processor or blender and blend till well mixed.

Sift through a big eye sieve.

Whisk the egg white to frothy at high speed, add in the caster sugar and mix at medium speed till almost peak. (tail of egg white at the whisk when lifted up)
Fold in half of the almond mixture to the egg white.
Then fold in another half until no streak of white is seen. Under fold will cause big “feet” and over fold will cause no “feet”

Bake in a preheated oven of 170 deg c for 8-10 mins till u see the “feet”

Turn to 160deg c and bake for 1 min and turn 10deg c down every 1 min till you reach 120deg c.

Bake at 120 deg c for a total of 20mins.

Remove from oven to cool.

In the oven.

Out from the oven.

Thomas the train engine

This is the 5th Thomas the train engine themed cakes that I’ve done.

As some of you may know, due to family commitment, I have been cutting down on lots of cake orders lately.

This was requested a few months back which i can’t reject since I was told of this cake few months back.
Well, since I have enough advance notice, I have no reason for not doing a good job. What really fails me is the weather. It was a humid afternoon!!!

Luckily things goes well and I’ve only get to do some touched up on the day of delivery. (God is great!)

Here’s the photo of it:

Please pardon the background. :p I’ve been using iPhone to update the blog, hence I was not able to do any photoshop to hide away the background. :p

It’s a chocolate cake with buttercream icing.

Here’s the comments quoted on our whatsapp conversation:
“D cake’s superb! Not dried”
“Ur cake…melts many hearts!!!!Even my hubby pinching away d fondant!!!”

Surprised cupcakes

It’s lemon cupcakes again!! But this time round, it’s more for a surprise.

My friend asked me to help her bake some cupcakes to surprise and “wow” her colleague. She saw my posting on the lemon cupcakes and asked to do it for her.

Not quite of what I am expecting, abit disappointed with the designs. However, I hope her colleagues like the taste of this cupcakes.

Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Happy mid autumn festival

Today is the eve of the mid autumn festival, also known as lantern festival.

Tomorrow is the day where the adult enjoy a slice of the mooncake while the children go around the estate with their lighted lantern.

My sister came to my house today to do her lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting:

While I made the shanghai mooncake with the leftover lotus paste from the snowskin mooncake which I had done earlier.

I wished everyone a happy mid autumn festival!! 中秋节快乐！花好月圆，人团圆！

Strawberries overloaded

Baking a cake is getting more and more difficult without hubby’s help with a constant attention seeker who will cry when I’m out of sight.

Well, thanks to hubby and a co-operative boy, I’ve managed to bake this cake very early in the morning before the boy woke up at 9am and completing the decoration by noon. Stealing an hour or two in between to take care and showered him as well.

Birthday girl request the strawberries cake and here it is:

I planned for a half basket of “flowers” and half basket of strawberries. Due to time constrained, I changed the design to a “basket of strawberries” instead.

Pandan custard snowskin mooncake

It’s time of the year again. It’s mooncake festival!!

9 yrs ago, I married to my man on this day (lunar calendar, 15 august). On this day, the moon is the fullest for the year and it’s believe to symbolize life is full and perfect with all family members reunion in harmony (花好月圆，人团圆)

This year, my household is perfect, with the additional of my boy.
Anyway, long story short. It’s been 2-3 yrs that I haven’t been doing mooncakes. I’m starting again this year.

I’ve recent bought a mooncake cookbook by Alan Ooi from the bookshop (mooncake resonance) and tried out the pandan custard snowskin mooncake. Here’s a picture of it:

Inside of it:

On behalf of 3Rs bakes and cupcakes, wish all my readers 花好月圆，人团圆！