I realize that I might not have time to post this tomorrow, so I guess I shall post this before the year ends and I'll be a year late posting this. LOL!
These baking projects were just some that I did...there were quite a few others that I did with Justina and some other friends, but I mostly helped out so it doesn't seem right to post photos of those projects here. Anyways, here's to a better year next year =) Hopefully I'll be able to find some time to post about my resolutions and what not..
Lemon pepper cornmeal cookies (left) and chocolate chip spotties. The lemon pepper combination was quirky, but surprisingly good! I don't know...some people may not like it, but I did =) Together with the cornmeal, the cookie has a bit of bite. Yum! The chocolate chip spotties were made for my cousin in Singapore...these were a favourite of mine during CNY when my aunt would make tins of them. I would devour them like crazy! Now I have the recipe, I tried it out and the taste is still amazing *grins* Not the prettiest kind of cookies, but all is forgiven when one bites into them!
Pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving...LOL! I had a craving to want to try out pumpkin pie recipes after seeing so many friends in the US post about Thanksgiving dinners and what not. As it turns out, pumpkin pie filling or even just sugar pumpkins are not found here in Malaysia =( So, I googled and found that butternut squash / pumpkin can be used! This was made with butternut pumpkin, and I'm glad it turned out well....so creamy and the spices incorporated into the filling are quite heart-warming. So perfect if served with a cup of hot chocolate =)
Fruit cake! I made this about 2-3 weeks before Christmas as the recipe called for some rum / brandy to be soaked into the cake and needed to be kept for the flavors to meld. This recipe was my Mom's...I still remember how yummy it was when she made it! And it did not disappoint even now. I soaked the raisins in some rum & orange juice too the day before I made this, and I ended up using the rest of small-ish bottle of rum to soak the cake. Result? Boozy, citrus-y and jam-packed fruit cake, especially after cooled in the fridge. Mmmmm....I still have ingredients leftover. Might just make it again once these get finished. *grins*
This was quite a last minute cake that I made for my colleague's birthday....this was made just one day before her birthday celebration itself, but thank goodness the recipe was fairly easy and pain-free =) It's a chocolate brownie with some caramel in between, frosted with some buttercream and topped with a chocolate ganache. Initially I had just wanted the ganache to just drip to the sides like a decor, but I didn't know that I needed to chill it a little so that it's a thicker consistency to pour...I ended up having to cover the whole cake with ganache. Not a pretty result =( But I DID love the flowers on top! These were super simple to make, following a tutorial from Bakingdom on how to do it...they end up being the 'saving grace' of the cake =)
These were the latest caveat of mine...adorable miniature cakes for my manager on her birthday. Cake was chocolate sheet cake cut into rounds and frosted with some chocolate ganache, then covered in fondant. I was super gung ho, thinking that I could finish it in a couple of days...but just in case, I asked Justina if she would be free to help me out with the decor coz she told me she wanted to try and play with fondant as well. It was a God send that she came to help, because I don't think I would have been able to accomplish this all by myself!
The initial plan was to do 15 cakes like this, but the 4 in the middle would be 'hot chocolate cupcakes' a la Diary of a Ladybird, but my mismanagement of time, humid weather on top of rain, bad decision to put the ganache-covered cakes into the fridge and poor handling of the fondant caused the cakes to sort of disintegrate from the inside out. As you can see here, some of the cakes on the right already started showing signs of melting compared to the rest. *Sigh* This was taken right after everything was done so that I have proof of what I envisioned to be....and it would be super cute if the cakes remained like this till it was cut the next day.
I LOVE this little bow ribbon. Got the inspiration from my sis' Delectable birthday cupcakes from her friends. I wanted to also follow the stitching pattern around the 'ribbons' but alas, the tacky stitch embosser tool I got was a knockoff and couldn't do the pattern at all! So we could only do this....
Others were little rose buds with leaves....They're the cutest thing I've ever tried so far!
The final result....this was done barely 2 hours before I rushed off to work. I had lost 5 cakes to the melting, so took them off and made some quick fondant letters to personalize the cakes a little and to cover the huge spaces. Even then, some of the remaining cakes were already showing signs of melting yet again =( Luckily, Susan didn't mind that much...she told me it looked cute, so that's ok I guess. I shall attempt to do much better next time...found some techniques to cover fondant that seemed to work for the last few cakes (they held up well compared to the others!) so was thinking of trying it soon =) Hopefully there'll be more chances to play with fondant soon!
That's about it for this year I guess...lots of ups and downs. I love roller coasters, but having a roller coaster life is not all that fun. Still, c'est la vie, no? Happy New Year to you who is reading this (if there is anybody out there reading this!), and may the new year bring you blessings, joy and happiness!
So, do you deliver ;-)?
I love good cakes -
And cookies too -
Except I'm not sure it would work with the red I'm drinking, I'd lop off a slice of the red velvet with cream cheese and white chocolate icing I have in the frig -
That is what they make tomorrow for, right?
Awww...I wish I could!
Yes, tomorrow will be a better day. I'm having high hopes for it :)