The Red Cherry

Been busy the past month planning and preparing for the opening of my pop-up shop : The Red Cherry. It's in a spanking new mall - The School which opened its doors just last week on the first day of December. The School is Malaysia's first enrichment mall to cater especially for kiddos. The main tenants are Yamaha Music School, Learning Fresh, Junior Science Lab, Bee Bop Circus Play gym, Blok Space and Center for Asian Photographers. As for my little shop, it's actually located in an area of The School called Pop. 

Pop is a retail hotel for vendors like me. There are many lots available for rental varying from XS size to XL size. Rental charges depends on size of the lot and duration. I can check in  and check out my goods any time e.g. 1 day, 1 week, 1 month etc. I don't have to be there physically to sell my goods as Pop has a centralised cashier system and vendors are provided with barcodes. 

The Red Cherry stocks Gymboree children's clothing, LEGO toys, lunch boxes, toothbrushes and baked goods e.g. cupcakes/cookies/cakes/macarons. So far, business has been rather slow due to the low traffic to the mall - being new. In anticipation of this, Pop is giving all vendors 3 months stay at the price of 1. Hopefully more and more visitors will drop by The School once all tenants have moved in.

My kids posing with a huge letter 'I' - for ice cream with a red cherry on top!

My Pretty Flower Girl!

Marissa was one of the flower girls at a church wedding recently.  She walked down the aisle hand-in-hand with little Emma, without any glitches! I was so proud of her!

The flower girl dresses were purchased by the bride from Flower Girl Boutique, 1 Utama. They stock a wide selection of lovely dresses at affordable prices. The dresses worn by the flower girls above costs RM79 each.

I made a 3-tier wedding cake for the couple. One of my CG members helped me with baking 180+ cupcakes for the lunch reception at Klang Wesley Methodist Church.

The butter cupcakes were frosted with vanilla bean butter icing and topped with a fondant heart.... and displayed on 2 cupcake stands. 

The wedding cake was actually a dummy cake just for display only! I used fresh imported white roses between the lower 2 tiers and crafted a pair of figurines during a private masterclass with my cake decorating sifu. 

Kuali Cake Decorating Challenge 2012

Kuali organized its 2nd Cake Decorating Challenge recently at the atrium of Tropicana City Mall, PJ. I've heard about the challenge last year when I was just beginning to dabble in cake decorating. This year, Kuali had 2 different categories for the challenge : beginner/amateur and open/professional. 

I was unsure whether I should take part or not because it's kinda scary doing cake decorating in a mall with judges looking at you... not to mention all the onlookers! Yikes! Eventually, at the very last minute, I submitted my entry... 2 photos of my cake creations. A week later, I received an email from Kuali stating that I've been chosen as one of the 10 finalists of the challenge! They selected another 10 finalists for the open category as well. I also found out that there were over 90 people who submitted about 300 cake photos for the challenge! Wow! 

The theme for the beginners category was 'Sea World' while the open category was 'London Olympics'. Every finalist was also given a figurine related to the theme to replicate at home. The beginners had to replicate a leaping dolphin. I made a mermaid princess riding on a carriage pulled by a pair of dolphins for the cake topper. Anyway.... the cake was supposed to be a true blue color instead of the pastel blue.... cos the organizer didn't allow me to use my own blue color! That made me waste quite a lot of time just to color the fondant........ and it didn't turn out as blue as I wanted! Well.... that was the major mistake on my cake! Was disappointed that I didn't win although overall I must say it was a good learning experience (should have just used my blue fondant!). But I didn't return home empty handed that day - all finalists received a goody bag from the sponsors. 

I didn't bring my camera along that day so I pinched this photo from Kuali's Facebook album! Do I have what it takes to be a cake designer/sugar artist?

Macarons by Crumbs

I first heard about macarons more than a year ago. At that time, I was a sceptic….. no way could macarons be more popular than cupcakes!  But looks like I’m proven wrong! Macarons are taking the world by storm – with so many cookbooks written on the subject and more and more cafes are offering these delectable bites.

Macarons are basically confectionery made using 3 main ingredients: almond powder, sugar and egg whites. Macarons are not to be confused with macaroons which are cookies made from coconut, sugar and egg whites. Macarons come in a variety of fillings/flavours ranging from sweet to savory.

I’m now officially hooked on macarons after tasting one of them – yup – I am a convert just after eating ONE Madagascar Vanilla Salted Caramel Macaron. It’s a mouthful to pronounce but the taste and flavour is truly unforgettable. For the uninitiated, Madagascar produces the world’s finest vanilla beans, I repeat, the world’s BEST vanilla beans! By the way, I got my hands (and teeth) on ‘em MVSC macs from Crumbs during the recent Little Red Market bazaar. Crumbs is managed by Aleena (a mom of 3!) who loves to bake. What was first a hobby is now a biz. Absolute coolness. 

There are a myriad of flavours to choose from e.g. Cempedak (bestseller), Milo and Hazelnut. We are not talking about cheap dime store macarons here but premium quality macarons made from the best ingredients available which is something I like as I am also very fussy about ingredients used for my cakes.

The macarons come in lovely packaging perfect for gift-giving. They are also ideal as wedding favors – packed in pairs – and in the wedding theme color! Not to mention, perfect for baby showers, full moon celebration, wedding anniversary, birthday party packs and the list goes on! Cookies, chocolates and cupcakes are so so yesterday.  By the way, macarons also look good on cakes or stacked up in a tower! It will certainly make a statement for any function.

 

Crumbs gift box. Photo with permission from Crumbs

If that’s not enough to tempt you, Crumbs has also come up with designer macarons – and the latest design is Hello Kitty! Kawaiiness to the max! All fully hand-piped without using molds or any added sugar embellishments (cos that will be make the macaron too sweet).

With Marissa’s 4^th birthday coming up next month, I’ve decided to order Hello Kitty macaron pops from Crumbs to be given out to the little ballerinas at the ballet school. Probably I will bake a small cake as well.  

Hello Kitty and My Melody designer macarons – the first of its kind fully hand-piped with macaron batter. Photo with permission from Crumbs.

It’s official – I’m MAD about MACARONS! I can’t wait to see what other new designs and flavours that will be coming out soon! For enquiries, drop Aleena an email [crumbs.my@gmail.com] and LIKE their FB page! All orders are freshly baked in Aleena's home kitchen in PJ.

*update* 13 June 2012 : I'm now part of CRUMBS! I've joined forces with Aleena and now Crumbs is open for cake and cupcake orders too! 

Everything Lego!

For Lego enthusiasts - Bangsar Village II is currently having a Lego Star Wars exhibition (free entry) opposite Zara. There are large scale models of various scenes taken from Star Wars movies e.g. The Battle of Hoth, Planet Endor and The Pod Race.  

There's also a section just outside the exhibition hall for Lego fans to build an 8-foot tall R2D2. Just purchase RM100 in a single receipt or donate RM20 to join this fund-raising activity. Each time R2D2 is completed, BVII will donate RM5000 to charity. So, the more people who join and help build R2D2, the more money BVII will donate. The target is about RM60K. 

Taking advantage of the school hols and Christmas season, TRU is having a 50% off sale on all Lego Toy Story & Lego World Racers merchandise. Other selected Lego sets are on 30% discount. There are coloring contests during the weekends too - open to kids aged 7-12 yrs.  

As this post is about Lego, I would like to share my latest cake creation....
Lego brick cake and 9 cupcakes topped with real Lego minifigs and edible Lego bricks. The lego brick candle holder was specially made by me too. All this for my brother a.k.a. The Brick Boss.

Busy Bee

Was rather busy the past 2 weeks and somehow neglected this blog!

Anyway, I was busy splurging on books at the recently concluded BIG BAD WOLF Sale. It's the 4th year in a row that I've attended and so far, this time it's the best in terms of venue, logistics and organization. Plus this year, I managed to score passes for the media preview sale which made shopping much easier cos there was no maddening crowd!

I've been rather busy baking and caking too! Here's my latest creation : a 9" rich butter cake and 4 cuppies for little Kristen's 2nd birthday. Her mom and myself decided on a cake based on one of her favourite songs : Old McDonald Had a Farm. Had tonnes of fun making the 3D animal cupcakes - my favourite one being the sheep which was a last minute idea. The cupcakes were baked in Wilton's Silly Feet silicon cupcake cases. The entire cake is fully decorated at the sides : barn, apple tree, fence, tractor, Old McDonald, E-I-E-I-O, chicken and duck in pond. Kristen's mommy says the cake was very delicious and she says that I can now set up shop already. Not very sure about the setting up shop part as I think that I am still at the amateur level.... anyway, would love to apprentice or partner up with another cake designer.... or should I start "Sugarcraft Delights" or "The Sweet Tooth Fairy"???

Birthday Celebration at STSDS

Another birthday celebration - this time at the dance studio. Toiled on this mini  cake for half a day..... from baking the cake (lemon & poppyseed  cake with lemon glaze) and then covering the cake and cakeboard with fondant and then modelling Evan's favourite Angry Bird and an evil Pig ready to devour those eggs! The ballet class ended 10 minutes earlier to allow enough time for the birthday celebration.

 Evan - trying to split but not flexible enough. 

We didn't serve the mini cake cos aaargh! it was too cute to eat! So 'sayang' to put  a sharp knife through the cake. Anyway, I brought ready-cut slices of the cake and served those instead. The entire mini cake was presented to Evan's ballet teacher : Ms Alice Yap who very generously presented Evan with his birthday present : a pair of black ballet shoes - which he wore during the class!

Marissa also joined in the eating - she was pretty excited too even though it was not her birthday! Evan distributed the party packs and shook hands with his friends. Glad I made the last-minute effort to prepare the cake and all cos Evan told me that he enjoyed the celebration very much.

Joint Birthday Celebration

Today's Evan's 6th birthday! He had a joint birthday celebration with Abigail in kindergarten today. Abigail also celebrates her 6th birthday on 18th August!

I baked some mini cupcakes frosted with white chocolate buttercream. In the photo it looks lemony yellow cos I colored the icing.

Evan distributed the party packs to his friends and finally exchanged party packs with Abigail. Each party pack contains a Lego coloring sheet, dust-free eraser, choc wafer and a Lego sticker.

Marissa enjoyed feeding herself an entire slice of the Hello Kitty cake! Evan gladly walloped her mini cupcake. I baked extra cupcakes for the After School Program children as well. The party ended within half an hour. Most of the kids could finish both cakes and some even polished off whatever was packed in their snack box from home.

Medieval Lego Birthday Party

Evan will be turning 6 on 18th August! We had an early birthday celebration for him on the 14th. Will let the pics do the talking...........

Medieval castle 'cake' with and without the Lego minifigs.

It's actually a 'dummy cake' - styrofoam covered in fondant.

Took me about a week to complete - little by little each day.

Reason for dummy cake : gives me more time to complete the decorations which are quite overwhelming for me doing it the first time.
'Cake' can be displayed and kept or recycled!

Ordered a fabric bunting from Snazzy n Such for wall decor. Will be hanging this in Evan's bedroom after the party.

 Cupcake tower & carrot cake behind the birthday cake

Party food from Dish Deli & Tony Roma's : Fish Pie, Chicken Murtabak, Asian Salad & Fried Mushrooms. Prepared cocktails sausages, croissants, grape juice and grapes

Larry printed labels for the food - this one a mistake - should be 'Crispy' and not 'Grilled' chicken.

Lego party packs

Some of the kids posing with the birthday boy.

Post party supper - instant noodles!

Marissa says she wants this for me (cos I like the red one)!

Evan's favourite pressie - ANGRY BIRDS!

Next up, joint birthday celebration in Evan's kindergarten together with his classmate : Abigail..... stay tuned.

Wilton Method Fondant & Gumpaste Graduation

I've successfully completed my Wilton Method Fondant and Gumpaste course. I took the course at ICCA Section 14 PJ. My instructor was Azalia Zainal. 

The course content is mainly on flower making using gumpaste - also known as flowerpaste. The flowers taught in the course : rose, calla lily, chrysanthemum, carnation and daisy. All pretty simple, straightforward and basic.

If you are wondering which cake is mine...... it's the bright red one topped with daisies.... and it's actually a dummy cake (styrofoam). Was too lazy to bake a real one!

Busy with Baking

Been busy experimenting with various recipes. So, here are some pics of the cakes that came out of the oven! Evan's birthday is coming up - and I'll be baking his birthday cake and cupcakes (still undecided on the flavour!)

Lemony cupcakes with Princess edible image.

 

Cinnamon cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream

Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

 Modelled some sugar figurines : teddy bear & bride (too short!) & roses

Wilton Method Better Baking Series 1 Graduation

After completing 4 days of baking classes within a month, I received my certificate from Mr. Michael Heng of ICCA.

Group photo - taken after the final class.

 

For the final class, we baked Genoise - which is a type of sponge cake. Then layered it with ganache and frosted with fresh cream. Pic above shows my sifu demonstrating how to remove the cake from the cake tin, which must be done immediately after baking otherwise the cake will collapse.

Genoise cake

Next, we watched the demo on baking the lemon chiffon cake.

End result : lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd topping

All in all, a very interesting and informative hands-on class suitable for beginners or for those who want to improve on their baking. There's actually a second series with another 8 cakes but I won't be attending that.

Wilton's Better Baking Classes..... the story so far....

Here are more pics from my baking classes - no.2 & no.3. To read about my first class, click here.

 Baked carrot cake! Ingredients : grated carrots, almonds, raisins, cinnamon etc

Frosted the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! Not difficult to do at all - the cake and the frosting. Will certainly try out the recipe and substitute almond with walnuts! Anyway, had a simple home cooked dinner at home and carrot cake for dessert on Father's Day.

Baked a pumpkin spice cake as well......  here's a pic of the pumpkin after being removed from the oven.

This is the pumpking spice cake - with lots of mashed pumpkin, mixed spices, ginger etc

Here's another cake : Red Velvet - seems to be the rage now.

 It's basically a chocolate cake but with red food coloring! 

Baked the cake in 2 separate special cake moulds

Then fill them up with french buttercream frosting. Ideally should be cream cheese frosting made from mascarpone cheese.

 My baking partner busy frosting her cake

 Stacked both cakes together and added on more frosting

Here's how the cake looked like when sliced. There's a heart shape inside! Perfect for Valentine's! 

 Here's one of the steps in cooking the French buttercream frosting.

 Have to stir fast fast - otherwise burn

Another cake : lemon pound cake with lemon glaze poured on top. Looking forward to my final class end of this week!