Quwaidir’s 2nd Birthday

Quwaidir turned 2 a week ago! My nephews have all grown up to be funny toddlers now.

I was glad his birthday celebration was postponed to the weekend. That means I can finally decorate his cake!

Last year I was too caught up with month end till I could not even contribute anything.

When we asked him to choose his cake, he decided on mickey mouse, then angry bird, then guitar, minion was mentioned once, returned back to mickey mouse / angry bird, then piano. Fickle minded but since he repeated angry bird many times (I kind of psycho him to choose that), here it is:

Reminded me of pokeball with face. 😂

Darwish’s 3rd Birthday!

Edible print can save a life! Unlike his first and second birthday, I took an easier way out this time.

He still love his cake though! I’m hoping that my laziness will disappear and I will start baking soon!! Need to be prepared for Quwaidir’s 2nd birthday cake too. I did not have the time last year for his 1st birthday. Feel a little guilty.

Anyway Darwish’s 3rd cake was just a simple sponge cake with eclair nutella filling. Nutella makes everything taste so wonderful!

Victoria Sandwich Cake

I had promised to bake a cake for Mama’s birthday. As usual, Mama had chosen fruity kind of cake. She even had a recipe in mind for me to try. The recipe is then adapted from Bisous À Toi of course! 

Ingredients – cake:
250g salted butter
250g sugar
250g self raising flour – sifted
250g eggs (I used about 5 eggs, please weigh your eggs!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk ++

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160C
Beat butter and castor sugar together until really light, pale and fluffy.
Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Then incorporate the vanilla extract.
Fold in the sifted flour delicately with a spatula.
Add enough milk in order to get a smooth dropping cake dough consistency.
Pour into two greased 8″ round pan and smooth out the top with a spatula. – I had also used 2 pans to bake the cake batter. It is so much easier. Better than making a mess while cutting 1 very tall cake.
Bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Ingredients – fillings:
Strawberry jam
Slices of strawberry mixed with a tbsp of sugar (Mix them and set aside for 15 mins)
Whipping cream (This whipping cream I used tasted nice on its own)

By now, I had spread the jam on the first cake and piped down the whip cream. Please do wait for the cake to cool down for 10 minutes or so before you spread the jam, etc.

Then I added the slices of strawberry I mixed with sugar earlier. What a brilliant idea this was! My strawberries were on the sour side. The sugar made them taste so much tastier.

Cover them with the other ‘half’ of the cake. Decorate with sugar powder and whatever you have/want.

The simplest cake ever! No need to crumbcoat and worry about the appearance that much. I was thinking of substituting the strawberries with other fruits. Like blueberry yum yum! 😉

Darwish’s 2nd Birthday

It’s been ages!! I’ve been missing in action from the baking scene.

I have forgotten to upload Darwish’s 2nd birthday cake last June! From the cat cake to this train cake. I was trying so hard to make it Chuggington-like but .. it looked a little off somewhere.

 

Next big cake will be Quwaidir’s hopefully. But since I’m working full time once again, I doubt I can make it. :S

Adik’s Birthday: Macaron Pyramid and Bouquet of RVC

Finally!! I cheated a little and bought the macaron pyramid from here. Baked macarons on the previous weekend using the same recipe as always.

Ta-dah! Macaron “Tower”. Wait, it’s Macaron Pyramid. It reminds me of the Lourve Museum. I went there last year but I didn’t get to take the photo of the pyramid. Regrets! Only the picture below.

Anyway, Mama baked Red Velvet cupcakes and this time she used the recipe from Bisous À Toi. Mama added nutella creamcheese frosting inside the cupcakes and top it with the normal creamcheese rosette. And she made them into a bouquet of flowers. Last minute idea in the middle of the night!!

I hope Adik is happy with the bakes we did for her birthday. Did not really have an actual round birthday cake though. And after one year, finally, there’s macarons! With pyramid!! 😀

I shall try to bake something else soon.

Mama’s: Red Velvet Cake

Mama and I joined forces again for BIL’s birthday cake yesterday. A very simple last minute cake.

Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese frosting! 🙂 We baked the RVC using Kitchen Guardian’s recipe here.

Cat Shaped Cake! (Darwish’s 1st)

It’s been a looong time! I’m gonna post some pictures of the cake I decorated yesterday night for Darwish’s 1st birthday. Initially we thought of ordering a cat shaped cake but then, I was thinking, why not we create them ourselves since we can bake right?

Quite ugly right?! We already fill the cake with chocolate ganache.

Anyway, please see here to know more about the cutting of the cake. 🙂

And the outcome!

Ta-dah! Proud of my art work, heh. Not perfect yet but at least Darwish knows that this is a cat! 😀

Mango Flan Cake

Have been reading a couple of baking blogs for so long. Always dream of baking fancy cake or something a bit different from what I always baked (chocolate, cupcakes..).

With Mama’s birthday coming up (Oct 10), I was searching for ideas. Intend to bake cakes for everyone’s birthday if time permits. I know it had to be something fruity cause that’s so Mama. I thought of strawberry or blueberry but Mun gave me the idea of mango cake. Think mixed fruit cake at Polar or Prima Deli.

Baked two 9″ vanilla cakes. Recipe from Sweetapolita’s blog. (I read “An Epic Tale of Vanilla Cake” and choose from there.

 

Whipped up the “whipped” cream. Almost failed and Mama saved the day! Note: Always whip at the highest speed! Put towel over the mixer to avoid the splashes of cream.

I added in chopped mangoes for more mango taste of course!

 

Crumb coat the cake. I can still see the crumbs and the cream wasn’t listening to me. So I put it in the fridge and this made the next step easier.

 

Afterwhich I added and smoothen up more cream. I still can’t get the smooth look but by then I realised the smooth look is not necessary.

 

Added in almond slice all around the cake. I think the right word will be “throw” almond slice. So darn hard!

 

Slice mango thinly and spread it on top of the cake. Mama gave the idea of dipping the strawberry with chocolate! Even mango with chocolate taste awesome! My mistake was putting the chopped mango in between but so difficult to take it out once I added it in.

Brush up or glaze jelly mixture on the fruits for shiny apperance and ta-dah!

 

I amazed myself. 😛

Overall, I love the cake! Though I think the vanilla cake is not suitable for a Mango Flan Cake. The cake was a little dense. I should have used sponge cake recipe. Also, the cream in between was too little! Must double up the recipe!

Here goes whipped cream recipe (adapted from Joy of Baking):-

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream (35-45% butterfat content)
2. 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3. 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar (I used more than 15 grams but I don’t have the exact figure because I tasted after each addition.)

Methods:

I added everything together and whipped them in high speed till it hold a soft peak. It depends on individual actually.

Practice: IMBC Cupcakes

Mun requested some cupcakes (like the one I “made” in class) for her birthday this year. I had doubts about IMBC cause it’s known to be temperamental but I tried anyway. Prolly because it’s Mun’s birthday and she’s pregnant.

 

Baked my usual vanilla cupcakes (note to self: recipe from the class – alternating flour and milk version). Then did the IMBC. The tough parts for me were timing and temperature! Like when to stop beating (do not want it to be underbeat or overbeat!), when to add in butter, is it too hot, etc.

I think I received this photo from Luqman because he wanted to eat it.

Anyway, the final outcome is:-

1. My IMBC is not “strong” enough for any decorations (only simple ones will do)
2. My IMBC easily melt when I hold it (in the piping bag)
3. Taste too buttery for my liking (compare with the class ones which I don’t think was this buttery!)
4. Mun likes it.. maybe she lied!

I need to try again! Not that happy with first try cause I didn’t get to do more “complicated” decoration. 😦