Long time no post - Black Forest Cake

It's been a loooooong time since my last post. Sooo busy plus sooo lazy... Nowadays, by 9.00 pm I have to say goodnite; Dalilah's order *sigh*. I have to 'accompany' her and Hasif; talk to them, sing to them, read to them...whatever... until they fall sleep. Most of the time (in fact, almost all the time), I fell asleep together with them :o...

So, there goes my blogging time....

Let's see one of latest project - my first ever Black Forest Cake. Although I lack of motivation to blog consistently, I never lose the motivation to bake and design beautiful (okay, okay, I admit...not always beautiful :)) cakes and cookies for friends and family.

I have been longing to try create this cake, printed the recipe ages ago and getting all the ingredients at hand so that when the mood strikes, I'd be ready to do it. However, I lacked real cherries and an occasion to celebrate!

Sooo, I had to make do with these processed cherries, and brought the cake along to my MIL's on my weekly visit. Coincidentally, she had some relatives came to visit, and voila... the cake was gone in no time...


Thankfully, the cake tasted great, although the design can still be improved!

Father's Day Cake & Ice-Cream Cake version 2

It has been weeks since I've last updated this blog. Also, It's been weeks that I've not done any baking pojects.



Well, what can I say.... I needed a break, simply a break!



Now, my first project after the much-needed break was this... a Father's Day cake for my dear second-half. Just a simple butter-pandan cake, without all the trimmings (icing?) for the ...errr... more 'matured' Father *smile*. Of course, the more we aged, the more we need to be concerned about the food we eat...

Happy Father's Day dear... (first time we celebrate this occasion too....:) ).


Of course, the cake was requested by our lovely daughter, Dalilah. I can always count on her to remind me when to bake a cake. Even on yours truly's own birthday... *sigh**smile*

Because the Father's Day cake was a bit boring (errr, I mean...well... not decorated), I would like to....ahem, ahem... 'show off' this belated entry... my second try on ice-cream cake and whipped cream topping. For this cake, I decorated the cake with piping jelly (the web design) - my first piping jelly project.

This time around, I brought the cake to my mum's. As usual, ice-cream cakes are more well-received by everybody (yummy!), but, in our hot weather, we have to finish it quickly, lest it will melt. Nobody wants to eat a 'runny' cake!

The piping jelly was fabulous. I would like to try out more on piping jelly decorations after this. But, guess I need to practise more on whipped cream topping. Mine fell 'flat', not 'fluffy' enough...

Happy Birthday Zarif, Hasif & Mr Papa!

This is the most glamorous birthday bash that my family ever had.

Not one, not even two, but THREE cakes were cut on the eventful day, 30th May 2009, exactly on Zarif's birth date. Hasif's was 11th May, but since their birthday was on the same month, so we decided a 2 in 1 celebration.

Then, came Mr Papa whose birth date falls on 1st June. Can he join the celebration too? asked Mrs Papa, thru SMS. Why not, I replied, since Mr Papa is my own dear brother!

So, we had a 3 in 1 birthday celebration, at last!

Let's have a look on the baking projects for this occasion...

Below is the 3D Spongebob Squarepants cake for Hasif contributed by my SIL. Our eyes nearly popped off looking at this creation.... sooo creative....

This is also baked and decorated by my SIL, for Zarif and Mr Papa. It's so neat, really like the ones I see at the bakery shops....

Last but not least, my own creation.... a soccer-themed marble cake.

From left, Zarif, Hasif and Hafiz, before cutting the Spongebob apart....

The three cakes, all lined-up, posing for the camera....

Happy Birthday Zarif, Hasif & Mr Papa!

Cupcakes for Min's friend

Looks familiar? The design is exactly like my SIL's. This particular customer wanted this exact design, but since my SIL was quite busy, I was asked to to do this set. I gladly did!

It was fun doing it, and I have to admit that I like this design too. This is the first time I did a purple & white design...

They are sooo sweeeet and simple. And elegant too, if I may say so *smile*...


Here are some extras for Damia, my niece, whose mother, Min, ordered the above set on behalf of her friend. Damia's mom is also my SIL.

I have done this designs a number of times before. Just practise... practice makes perfect, right?

Thanks a lot to both of my SILs for giving me the chance to do this delightful set of cupcakes.

Thanks a lot, dears.

Teachers' Day Cupcakes

This is a belated post. This is ordered by....who else.... my darling Dalilah. She chosed carefully which teacher she wished to give a 'present', as she hates to bring a big extra bag to school, just to bring presents. As hard as I could, I tried to persuade her to bring more as she currently has more than six teachers, but to no avail. She counted only six favourite teachers shall receive the honour of receiving her, ahem, precious cupcakes.

Six different design of colourful M-sized-solo-cup cupcakes in domed containers for six favourite teachers. posing for the camera...

These two are my favourite ones. They're sooo sweeeet, if I may say so.....*smile*....

Sorry all the male teachers at SKBBS II. Not one of you are counted as Dalilah's favourites! Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise as well because all the cupcakes are pink-themed, not suitable for you guys...hehehe....

Anyway, Happy Teachers' Day for all teachers out there!!

Strawberry Cheese Tarts

It has been quite some time that I last updated this blog. I'm not sure why, but the internet was down since last week, and it took one week before 'somebody' could make it up again. Cost me about RM 300.00, and I have to surrender myself to the wireless choice, thogh I'm not really comfortable using wifi at home. Too much microwave around the kids! I'm concerned about their health in the long run since scientific studies on using wireless connections (including using handphones unnecessarily near the kids) are still not conclusive on it's side effects to human beings in the long run (still at infancy stage).

Anyway, hopefully, this wireless setup won't be troublesome.

Okay, enough on that. Here's my baking project during my 'internet silence'...

Ta-da!!

These yummy cheese tarts took a lot of time to prepare, but it's worth my time. I used strawberry instead of blueberry filling. Enough to share with my parents, sister and brought some for daughter Diana at SSP.

Aren't you drooling by just looking at these beautiful tarts? Hehehe, I know you are... especially Adek, whom I dedicate this posting to....:)

Happy (Pre)Birthday Hasif & Happy Mothers' Day

This is my first ever ice-cream cake, at last! As this is my first try, I just did a small one, a 7-inch cake. Anyway, limited space in my fridge did not allow me to do a bigger one! And this is my first 'whipped cream' topping.

Brought it to my MIL's house last weekend to be shared with he family. Coincidently, the date falls on Mohers' Day, and a day before Hasif's birthday.


Glad to say that even though the cake was not pretty *smile*, everybody loved it, in fact, it was not enough!

Hmmmm, next week I have to do this again!

Chicken Pie anyone?

Chicken pie is one of the savories that my family like, especially my better half. So, last weekend I made some, using the recipe from Norzailina Nordin, the celebrity chef, who generously shares her famous recipes.

However, I'm too lazy to make the pastry from scratch. So I used ready-made 'roti pratha', hehehe.

From the recipe, I managed to get 3 big pies and 6 small ones (egg tart size).

I really slaved in the kitchen last weekend to do this, but, it was worth it. Not a morsel left!

Note: At the moment of this posting, my better half is at Birmingham, UK. I guess he has forgotten my chicken pie already, instead, he might be having a good time eating countless, tastier pies over there! Huhuhu...

Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dalilah has been bugging me to make these cookies, although it is not Raya yet. Traditionally in my family, cookies are for Raya only. If you want to eat cookies at any other time besides Raya, you just buy biscuits from the sundry shop, which is just as good and tasty.

Oh well, Dalilah nagged and nagged until I finally had to relent. So, here's my latest baking project. Thanks Mamafami for the fabulous recipe. My kids like them a lot!

Hot from the oven...

... straight into the bowl!

This is the recipe, from mamafami's blog:

Ingredients :

(A)
250g margarine
160g castor sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

(B)
230g flour
20g cocoa powder
100g chocolate chips
50g Nestum

Method :

1. Sift flour and cocoa powder. Set aside.
2. Cream margarine and sugar. Add in egg yolk and vanilla essence.
3. Add in Nestum and chocolate chips. Mix well.
4. Add in the sifted dry ingredients. Mix till well combined.
5. Spoon a teaspoon batter onto the baking tray layered with greaseproof paper. The cookies will expand slightly when baked.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 165 C for 25 minutes or till done.
7. Leave the cookies to cool on the cooling rack before storing them in an air-tight container.

I ran out of chocolate chips. Just about 50 grams left, so I add 50 grams chocolate rice instead, to make it even, :).

Happy Birthday Rahila!

A little something for my office staff - marbled cheese brownes with walnut - to celebrate Rahila's birthday.


I managed to get 36 pieces from the 7-inch cake tin. So, 30 pieces for the office and 6 for family members. Do you think that's enough?


Yes, enough for home but definitely not enough for my office-mates! Sorry guys, that's all I can afford to do on one sitting!

Happy Belated Birthday Rahila!

Congratulations For The New Birth!

This is a gift fo Yan, my cousin, who is celebrating the birth of her third daughter, Hani Nashreen.

I've been wanting to create these cute little booties since I first saw them at Wilton's website.

Congratulations Yan for the new baby. May Allah bless her and your family too!

Mini Project - Edible Image

Dalilah have been asking for cupcakes with princess edible image for ages. At last I complied, because there are some leftover batter and icing after Doll Cake Version 2 project.

Her little brother also asked for some Ben 10 characters. So, I made them two cupcakes each, with simple dotted borders.

They love their cupcakes and at no time the plate was empty!

Doll Cake Version 2

Me: Dayah's birthday is on April 12, right?
Sis: Yes!...err...why do you ask?
Me: Are you going to celebrate it? Birthday Party, Birthday kenduri, or the like? It falls on a Saturday you know, just nice....
Sis: Hmmm... there'll be a big kenduri at Cik Salmah's, my neighbour, that day... I'm sure our parents would be busy too. Next day, on Sunday, Dayah will have to attend her tuition class, and then off we shall go to my in-laws in Sentul. Ahhh, no time lah! Perhaps we'll celebrate on a small scale, just the family....
Me: I don'care whether you want to celebrate or not, I still want to bake a cake for her!
Sis: Err...errr...ok...ok, if that's what you wish, I'll discuss the matter with her father. What about the following week...

The above conversation was between me and my dear sister sometime on early April. To cut the long story short, at last we celebrated Dayah's and three others birthday last weekend. The three are my nephews (Zahin and Hafiz) and my dear SIL!

Here was my doll cake, specially made for the birthday girls.

Took me a week to finish it, starting from making the sugarpaste from scratch for the alphabets and the doll's whatchamacallit... the 'upper dress'... And then to let it dry a few days. Also, it took me three solid hours just to deco the doll's skirt. Phew!

As Dalilah, my dedicated supporter and critique, commented that my doll-cake-version-1's bum was so HUGE, I made an effort (considerably HUGE effort, because I have to spend money and precious time for it!) to achieve a smaller bum for this doll... Never mind that Dalilah doesn't know that the ladies during the Victorian era intentionally wore 'hoops' inside their skirts to make their skirts appear HUGE and fluffy!

My dear SIL also prepared her fabulous cupcakes for the occasion. Here and here were her creations for that special day.

Happy Birthday Aida, Dayah, Zahin and Hafiz! May Allah bless you!

Mini Project - Sugarpaste deco

Since I still have some leftover sugarpaste, I managed to test my skill on this cupcake deco, which I've learned from Daalia.

What do you think? Can I pass?

This design is suitable for wedding or engagement gifts.

Happy Birthday Lynn!

This 4x4 set of vanilla cupcakes was ordered by Haziq and friends for Lynn, who is still studying at Branang. This is the first time that I use this 'special' cupcake box. Thanks Aida and Daalia for your help!

Thanks Haziq and friends. Hope Lynn likes the cupcakes!

Quick Fix Pizza & Sugarpaste/ Gumpaste

Once in a while, if the mood is okay, and if/when the right 'people' is around, I make an effort to bake some pizza. Nowadays, making pizza is quite simple as we need not prepare the pizza crust from scratch anymore. There are pita bread, roti naan, roti arab and ready-made pratha that can be used as pizza crust. They are all available at the local supermarkets such as Giant, Carrefour and Tesco. But, I have not seen/ found roti arab at those supermarkets so far. Usually I got them from the road-side sellers near my office. In my opinion, roti arab is the best for pizza crust because even after you have baked it for half an hour, the crust still feel soft and spongy, unlike pita bread, which can turn hard as stone!

Just pour your leftover spaghetti sauce or Prego sauce on top of the crust and lump all the other delicious, yummy stuff, ie, frankfurster slices, onion, shrimp, button mushroom, sambal ikan bilis and bell peppers and top it with cheddar + parmesan + mozarella cheese and pop it into the oven. Mmmm...yummy!!

I baked three of this, the last pizza is topped with eggs (special).

And here is my first ever sugarpaste project (some say gumpaste, but frankly, I don't know the difference between both). I made it from scratch. Sooo tiring!

They are for somebody's birhday. Who?

I'll tell the story on my next posting, perhaps. Tunggu!

Happy Birthday Makcik!

This is a request from Dalilah. She wanted a cake to be given to her beloved Makcik, the person who has taken care of her since she was 20 days old. One thing good about Dalilah, my family can rely on her to remember everybody's date of birth!


Steamed fruit cake covered with chocolate buttercream icing, decorated using dropped flowers and connelly (is this spelling correct?) lace techniques.

This is the cake on the inside. I am quite satisfied with the results - fruits evenly spreaded inside the cake...

However, I still need to improve on my handwriting, and, after I had taken the pictures, I realized that I have also forgotten to cross my 't'... (Happy Birlhday) :( .... oh well....

Luckily, nobody realized it!

Cupcakes for my guests

These cupcakes were specially prepared fo two special guests. Butter cheesecake with pink buttercream icing and strawberry filling.

Best eaten with a cup of hot tea. Yummy!

After they left, there were 3 pieces left. I guess they like them because each had second helpings!

Thanks for visiting dears! Please come again!

Happy Belated Birthday Fadlun, Zamey & Akmal!

This 6x6 cupcake set was ordered by Kak Eton for her office's potluck event. This is the first time I tried this font- 'Monosive Corsiva' for the wordings (after receiving feedbacks from my family). I think, it looks better than my previous writings-on-cakes, but I definitely need to improve on my handwriting!

Looks like I have to go back to school and practise more on my handwriting!!

Thanks a lot Kak Eton. Hope En. Fadlun, Zamey, Akmal and the rest of your office-mates like my cupcakes!

Nana's Engagement Ceremony

Phew! At last it's over. Months of planning by Kak Sal and family for Nana's engagement ceremony was successfully executed yesterday. We are very happy for Nana and her fiance.

This is the cupcakes that I humbly contributed for the 'return hantaran', inspired by the English Bouquet from Mama Lea. For this, I baked butter cheesecake, decorated with buttercream icing.



This is the cupcakes inside the casing after decorated by Nana and me at her house, the night before the ceremony...

Another picture of the set of cupcakes beside the 'mini pelamin'.



Last but not least, these are the same batch of cupcakes, only decorated differently (with strawberry filling), for the guests.

Congratulations Nana and Adlan. May Allah bless you both, and please take good care of yourselves....