Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Happy Birthday to me!


This baker had to bake her own birthday cake!
Not sure if it's a gift or a curse or both. I don't get a birthday cake, I am always expected to make one for myself this past few years. reason being, why give a baker a cake when she can make better cakes.

Not sure if i should feel insulted or proud that some people think I can bake better ones than the commercial ones (not including hotel type cakes or even Secret Recipe). So you can forget me for even asking for someone to GIVE me on because the answer would be "Why?".

Not that I don't appreciate that there are people who actually DO like the cakes I make but they don't get it. Do you? You don't? Does the word "appreciate" strike any meaning. I doubt. I would for sure be accused of fussy, will be disappointed with store bought cakes etc.

Despite, it still hurts knowing that I probably would never receive one since several years ago and years from now.

So this picture is the picture of this year's birthday cake to myself by myself. I bought a checker board cake pan from Wilton. I have been wanting to try it so this would be a good occasion. As well, promote it to my customers....hopefully.

I wanted to post a picture of the piece I cut but somehow clicking "Add Image" doesn't seem to be working. I dunno. So if you can imagine, it's just a simple buttercake with three colors, orange, green and yellow iced with White Chocolate Buttercream. This is the first time I tried doing a white chocolate flavored buttercream. A tad too sweet though. I also bought this cool gold and pearl-like colored dragees and decided to pour them all over the top instead of the sides. Looks a little extinguished, huh. ;)

Oh well...here goes...
"Happy birthday to me...."
"Happy birthday to me...."
.................. but I still had to be grateful to be able to have shared this with my family.

Untill next year.....

Monday, July 19, 2010

Another Blue Love Cake

The Second Blue Love Cake

The first blue love cake garnered a lot of positive feedback so much so my old time schoolmate said she wanted the same one for her anniversary. Months and months later she asked for a "blue love cake", as she termed , for her brother's wedding cake.

Although I don't like to replicate my designs, so i sketched many many designs but somehow on the day i made this, the ones i had pictured in mind didn't came out as good and i found myself lost for ideas and pressing for time. So I resorted to the simplest form , even then it grew by itself and this was the end result.

I checked and checked and looked at it many time trying to convince myself that's it's ok considering the budget. But I was very angry with myself with this one. It insults my creative ability. I should have come up with something better. This looked too amateur even for the likes of me. I was angry...very angry with myself.


Well, this is my friend, Rahayu from high school days. But at the very least the colors all blend in with the whole set up so the focus is well distributed. Any flaws in disappointment would pale a little considering the whole table ensemble.

Thanks Ayu but I hope I can do a much much better work for you some day. God bless you.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Qaf and Nat's Wedding Gift

My brother-in law got hitched early June and as a norm my gift is usually a cake for the hantaran. I dare not risk again another tiered cake coz my first attempt literally melted! I transported the cake all well and good from KL to Taiping. It survived till the nite before the ceremony and I decorated it then. Luckly i managed to take pictures of it BEFORE it tragically melted. I was soo eager to have it displayed on the main table but i suppose that's where my real mistake was.

Besides being in the dampest place in Malaysia, the conditions were not favourable for fondant. But my sister in-law, had to make one this time around and the cake didn't fall the same fate. And I couldn't come up with the reasons, too much or not enough icing sugar, kneading..?? What? What? Only now I came to realize maybe my eagerness have taken the best of me , to display my pride. So I could be complimented upon, so that i could be seen as great. Maybe that was the factor...the higher being reminds me who is great and all my eagerness for wanting to be seen as good have blinded me.

How all this fit in a cake? I don't know. All I can say is, sorry Qaf. I didn't make you a wedding cake as I did your brother. Despite then I was a newbie, this experience have taught me a good deal. Without sincerity in our work, there will be unfavourable consequences.

Selamat Pengantin Baru, Qaf and Nat.

Sesma 1988


My friend ordered this for her husband's high school reunion in Cherating last month. Well, nothing to shout about coz using edible logos, this is what i normally would present them, on a biscuit so the logo could stand upright a little. Sesma is short for S M S Tengku Mahmud, Kuala Terengganu. Thanks for your order Ina.

The Kindy Cake


A neighbour ordered one cake for two of her kindy going kids and yes, why not...a kindy theme with blocks and numbers and alphabets, like what u would find in a kindy.

Updates of the past 3 months

Ok. I know i have neglected my own blog, though i have never intended to be an active blogger. Just another venue to view my some what creative cakes and i have not the time to conjour up any witty story that comes with each cakes because sometimes, there isn't one.

So this time, not just because of the long hiatus but i couldn't update coz my iBook went KAPUT! and i didn't have access to any computer for a while. So i relied a lot on my newly acquired mobile to do the fast instant upload. With that, it has its limits. It not as smooth to type oodles and oodles of words that i'm not sure who actually does read anyway.

So now i am on windows and have grown somewhat awkward to use it. I'm so spoilt by Apple. It's sooooooo much easier. Now It seems I have to redo my entire website! Coz the app that i used wasn't backed up in my backup!!! My dear husband did try do retrieve the source codes so I don't have THAT much work to restart everything. But I have yet to ask of his progress.

So in the mean time, these are what I have done since my last entry.










Sunday, March 28, 2010

Baby Dot Com Carnival



This is by far, THE most extravagantly decorated cake I've made as far as a kiddy cake is concerned. I spent about 1 month doing this. From coming up with the concept, looking for the pics, figuring out how to materialize the idea.

In the beginning, my thoughts were fondant, fondant, fondant but i am not good at modeling with fondant. By now I thought, fondant modeling of cute animals...hmmm, getting all too common, though cute but common. And I was sooooo itching for something different. So I decided to explore the less favored, less common choice...COLOR FLOW. Initially scared because I've never done it outside of class and on cookies but that was the only option since my confidence with modeling is low.

Immediately put to practice what the book says. Since color flow can be used for stand-up decorative items like logos....why not! The wordings, trees and animals...pretty much anything 2-D can be made "3-D".

So this is my exploration with COLOR FLOW. I hope this gives some renewed faith
towards this decorating technique and shows that it can stand just as tall as what fondant can do but often over looked.

It was a tiring day for me. Half of my Sunday morning was taken up by my classes. Rushed home to rest for a really short 15 minutes. Changed and get my groove and headed towards Baby Dot Come, a baby ware supply shop near my house. Christine, the owner and I became friends about 3 years ago and I sponsored a cake for the winners of her baby contest. So that was my first stint ever...introducing myself around and publicizing my services. I wasn't sure how well that worked.

I couldn't participate last year's event so this year, I approached her again and after a short meeting, we agreed on a safari/jungle theme for the cake.

I managed to get my flyers done and by now, I have "grown" as a decorator and this is a far far cry from my first sponsorship. Went around the guests and distributing flyers and introduced myself. After the activities lined up( karaoke contest, baby catwalk which I was the judge and a coloring contest...I was a judge for that too), finally the event ended with posing for the cameras, all the baby contestants and their parents surrounding my cake! It was a great moment for me...in my hopeful effort to increase public awareness of my services in our neighbourhood.

What I've been doing since my last entry

My sincere apologies for neglecting to update my own blog but I was far too busy, not with orders, but life. Well, you know, kids, family, school holidays, new school year...blah, blah, blah. And I was experiencing a "dry" season since last year's school holidays. So there wasn't much activity for LiaCakes to update.

I have just finished my class earlier this morning and some students wanted to look at what I have done. So many thought to come here but I said, "NO! I sudah lama tak update my blog so just refer to my entries in facebook."

Even so when classes finally took of in February, i couldn't find time to update...till now! So, just a short cap of what i've done since my last entry.




A serious LAST MINUTE order i took after much pleading from my customer. I bargained for half the amount she had asked my to do...which was 4 cakes in 1 nite, for 5 different people with 4 different themes! My immediate thoughts were, "are you crazy lady????!!!" Melted by her endless pleas, we agreed that I can only provide 2 of her requests . I also warned her that not to expect too much since there wasn't enough time to ponder what designs would be best...4 cakes with 4 different themes. "Are u crazy lady???!!!"

So the first was a shape of a burger, for the birthday-boy who actually IS a streetside burger seller! And below, is another cake for a 5 year old boy who likes cars. Thank God almighty for a quick thought of doing the car cake with the black-white race flag motiff.






This was an order from an old friend who wasn't confident enough with fondant to do one herself. This was an engagement gift for her brother's engagement. the only requirements were pink and white theme colors and a heart shape cake.


This was an order from one of my seniors who loved the IU cupcakes I did for our first reunion and requested the same. But I coaxed him into a different design since I don't like to duplicate.
Found a different logo pasted on a round cheese biscuits to make the logo "stand-up".

Friday, January 1, 2010

Chocolate Modelling



After such a long long time, i finally took up chocolate modeling...since there hasn't been any orders for the past few month. it's during these "dry" months that I would use the time to acquire new knowledge. So, chocolate modeling class came at the right time. Closed my eyes and paid for the class.

It was fairly simple but as all cakes...it does take work. Which some people couldn't phantom why fondant cakes costs a bomb! We learned how to make the chocolate fondant and how to shape roses out of it. And since roses, beside ribbon roses, aren't my forte, I have long decided to make calla lillies instead. I already had a design in mind for the class and went straight into it after 2 practice tries making the roses. Sorry, no pics. It was so mediocre! And it would jeapordize my reputation as a decorator. So anyway, lillies besides being my fav flower to model, it was simple...much simpler than any methods of modeling roses.

Here's a close up of what i made, which was eaten up by my kids and nephews.

If you look closely, can u spot a flaw?

A cake for my Dido


I don't fancy doing kiddy cakes coz they do take a lot of work to make them real pretty and all kiddy. And it's been a long, long while since i even attempt to make a kiddy cake. As 2009 progressed i found myself indulging into creating elegant cakes...but not much opportunity. but then again...

But since it would be almost blasphemous of me not to make birthday cakes for my OWN kids, i conjurged up all strength in me to make one impressive cake for my son. I was pretty ambitious despite my flesh is as weak as my spirit. But even after procastinating, i got a tad lazy after making the wings at the end of the plane. Make them out of tiger biscuits wrapped in white fondant. it would take me to buy a whole packet of Jacobs crackers but only two was required to make the front wings...so after considering the economics of it (every penny saved is ......). I convinced myself that kiddy cakes were MEANT to have flaws. It didn't need to look like a real plane. So long that it somewhat gives that impression at a glimpse. If anybody who took one look at it and couldn't figure out it was a plane.....now that would mean that something is wrong with THAT person and not this (lazy) decorator. ;)

Anyway, i did thought of how to create the clouds. Used half a muffin and covered it with white buttercream. And what a way to place those "Happy Birthday" candles, eh? Smart? Right! ......always looking for an easy way out.

But at any rate, this is what transpired. And by the looks and the "WOW" response from my kids, I could only be happy that i finally made it without having to shamefully go to a bakery and ordered on instead!



Happy birthday Dido!

And this is what I did for my daughter.

Vegetarian Cake


Ahhh...it's been quite a while since i updated this. And now look...2010!

So just to keep things abreast of the past few months really low activity there was this first unusual request of a VEGETARIAN wedding cake from one of the assistants of a nearby clinic i frequent. But a little help was thrown in...the color's got to be blue and the girl wanted only heart shapes all over the cake. So this was a little easy but i did struggle a little as to HOW to present the hearts all over. Plus, the names of the couple had to be inscribed on it so...hmmmm for a few weeks on a tight budget.....as usual. so, another helper was the budget so I couldn't do elegance. but then again....

I struggled coz what i thought would be beautiful ...what i had in mind would incur more cost. So finally thought os just playing with the color! Blue on white. And 3 shades of blue. Within budget, right? Right on. So this is what came out of blue, 2 tiers, heart shape and a fixed budget.