The baker vs the decorator Part 1

I've been baking since I was fourteen. I can't remember what was the first cake I baked but I used my mum's really old english cookbooks. The ones with thick bindings and dusty looking pictures full of spread on the table. Even the tablecloths were english...of course.

But those were my humble beginings. Didn't know how it all started or what got me to open the book and bake but I did. One cake lead to another.

I remembered I bakes a CAKE a DAY! Made one for tea everyday. Since dad comes home in the evenings and early dinners were unheard of, tea past 5.30pm was not just served in a cup. I remembered my dad ate the ginger cake I baked earlier that day and he said it was good. Well, dad being a dad. Of course to his daughter he said it was good. But ginger cake then sounded exotic and I did thought it was pretty ok. Too bad there weren't digital cameras and internet and blogspot or facebook and so on back then. Would have been great to have all those pictures ok cakes I did when I was a teenager.

My blue eyed friend

It's amazing what a phone call can lead to. I made a call to my blue eyed friend whom I haven't heard from in quite awhile. Soon into the conversation, I found myself an order. Cuppies for engagement. Theme here was apple green. While sitting with a pencil sketching for ideas to come up with a design with initials on hearts, tried them out but didn't work out. The "prototype" didn't come out as good as I originally thought. So I came up with another way of using initials on the cuppies but then there would be two designs in one order.

Called up my friend and explained my concept and she agreed. But still I did not quite know how  the second design would turn out. 

That explains the "out-of-tone" apple green I came up with. Made a small batch which got used up by making the hearts, left me so little. But I mistakenly use a different tone of green and it came out more "teal" than apple green. But I proceeded, didn't have much time anyway at this point. When all was assembled, the hearts looked pretty boring. Then I decided to add the dots just like the "cuppies with initials" and it turned out pretty cool. At least to me.

Sent an MMS to my blue eyed friend and she LOVE it! Phew...always nervous about my client's perception of my work , since they would let me come up with the design. All that was provided was color and initials. Even the bride-to-be love it. So I rest easy that nite, laying down with a back ache just doing the dots and leg cramps sitting down about an hour doing it!

The end product! Ta...daa...

The trip back from cuppies school

Ok...now armed with a teeny weeny knowledge of how to decorate a cupcake, i made this.

and these....

Cuppies Crazee

Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes. It only dawned on me this craze after about a year in existence. Hey, I thought, what a great idea. Just take an old product, give it a twist and a rebrand of small cakes in a cup. Fantastic but Duh! Why didn't I catch on to this craze earlier. Always, always late and not up-to-date. Sigh. And like the envious green baby hulk in me I had to make some of my own. Thought it was simple and this was what happened.

Pretty obvious I needed to learn more. So off I went, with my tools, books and of course, the internet, my journey to be a better decorator to taking off again....destination -> cupcakes!