Checkered Green Fondant Theme

     My fourth fondant creation.  This one is for my friend's co-teacher in elementary.  They wanted to have a green checkered cake made of fondant. They don't have any specific design in mind so they leave it up to me to decorate the cake.

     This is going to be a surprised cake for the birthday girl who will be celebrating her 25th birthday.  I'm was    so excited when they told me that they wanted me to make the cake.  My first problem was how to make the checkered without overlapping the squares. Since I focused on the top portion, the sides will definitely overlapped. I decided to leave it anyway. I instead put flowers to hide it.  Next problem is how to decorate the cake. It's checkered and its for a girl =(  I have a lot in mind. Then again, Ruel reminded me not to overdecorate cause the checkered design already looks good.  Since its for a girl, I made a light blue high heeled shoe with diamond cut crystals on it as a design.  I also put diamond cut crystals on the name to goes well with the shoe.

Brazo de Mercedes

     One of the most popular dessert or snack here in  the Philippines is the Brazo de Mercedes.  It is made of baked meringue or egg whites rolled then filled with yummy egg yolks cooked in milk. Everybody looooves it even though its overloaded with sugar and calories.
     The reason that I haven't been updating my blog lately is because of it.  Since I'm not earning from my blog yet I have to find other ways to earn money. I first  attempted this sweet dessert last year on my boyfriend's brother birthday. Nobody seemed to notice them so I decided to end making it there. Then last New Years  eve my boyfriend asked me if I can make another Brazo de Mercedes for him. From then, its history.
     I got a few customers now for my Brazo de Mercedes.  What they like on it is that the sweetness is just right. Not super sweet like some Brazo de Mercedes in the market.  I purposely lessened the sugar on the meringue so that when it melts in your mouth you get to taste the creaminess and the richness of the egg filling. And like I always say... I cook from the heart maybe thats why it tastes good.

Having Fun With Gumpaste

It was December last year that I started using fondant on my cakes. I find them very pretty and elegant because you can almost do detailed decorations from it that makes it so realistic. Since then I got hooked up to it. I started reading more and more about it on the net and watched tutorial videos on Youtube.  Thats when I found out the there's fondant and there's gumpaste.  Fondant is used for covering cakes because of its soft and its sweet taste and gumpaste on the other hand is used for molding figures.  I personally used Marshmallows fondant because it tastes good and the ingredients can be find in the grocery store.
This time I wanted to try creating figures. In the U.S, gumpaste can be brought in a store or online. But how about in the Philippines? My what am I going to do?! Now I'm in a dilemma. Good thing you can make gumpaste from Fondant by just adding Tylose powder.  Thank God! The local baking store where I usually bought my ingredients have it.  I instantly acquired one and very much excited to try it.
So I spent my afternoon practicing on making roses and a teddy bear that my little brother requested.
I added a few pinch of Tylose powder on the fondant that I will be using and knead it until the consistency that I wanted. So here it is, My first ever gumpaste figures.

Princess Themed Fondant Cake

     Ruel's good friend since college asked him if I can make a birthday cake for her daughter's first birthday.  He had shown her a picture of the last Dora cake I made and I think she must have liked it. She said that she had been going around the city trying to look for a nice cake but the prices are way way beyond her budget.  I'm so excited to make the cake this time since its going to be a two-tier cake. It's my first time to try stacking cakes. So here it is. I know this isn't as perfect or as good as any professional baker but I've done this with so much love and care.

     The first design that we made was 2 tiers of double layer round chocolate cake with a small princess doll on top. Pink would be the color motif. Round cakes are easier to work on with fondant covers.  But then when Ruel saw the Barbie cakes on the net he said that it would be themed-related if I can make one like it.  So I thrashed my design and started from scratch again.  To make the Barbie princess stand out we decided to put her on top of the two-layers cake.
     The color concept of the cake was to make the dress light pink and then make a few tones darker on the cake and the ribbon. I think the blue and yellow flowers blended perfectly on the dress and the base cake.

     If you notice the blue line on the bodice and rights side skirt of the gown, I just hand painted it using a paint brush. For the name Yurika, I asked my boyfriend to have it cut out for me using fondant. I'm not quite good at it. It's nice to have someone whose more crafted on letter cutting.
     Again, the frosting inside was buttercream but I addedd a few drops of red to make the color pink to go with the dress. Everything was edible except the plastic doll, the candle and the cake plate of course. (LOL)
     Even though its not that perfect but it came out pretty and its worth the pain in putting up this cake. I enjoyed making it as well.
     What's important is they adore the cake that after we left the party they still haven't touch it. It is already two days since the party and I wonder if they have already eaten the cake. =)

The birthday girl in her fuschia princess dress with tiara and scepter

With Mom and her two ninongs

    
  

First Cake for 2011

I'm so excited today, I received a text message from Ruel that his classmate from college, Meryl, is asking if I can make a birthday cake for her daughter Yurika who will be turning one year old this January 15.  She had checked some well-known cake houses here in the city but its kind of expensive and the design are so simple
I'll be making a Princess cake this time. Can't wait for it, I'm so excited. Gotta grab a pen and paper and start designing a cake.  I'll post the pictures afterwards. =) See yah!

Hello 2011, Goodbye 2010

     Happy New Year to everyone wherever you are around the globe! I bid farewell to the dragon and welcome the Year of the Rabbit.
     Last year had been a challenging year for me, I suddenly decided to change my career. So tired of being a call center agent. I wanted to do something more for my life, I'm no longer contented on the four corners of the office or shall I say I'm not happy anymore or might be tired of graveyard shifts and never ending schedule change. Okay, so what do I want to  do with my life?  Hmm... I wanted to travel, bake, learn, learn and never ending learning.  I am hoping that this year, fate and luck would be on my side so that I can pursue my dreams. I know this is not going to be an overnight success, it takes time, hardwork, patience and more failures.  I am optimistic that I will be able to reached my goals with the support from my friends and families.  So for all of us, I hope that we all had a prosperous and wonderful new year and may all our dreams come true.