Loyarburok 2d

My sister wanted a cake with the Loyarburok logo for her birthday this year. I started with 2 layers of lime buttercream cake and covered it with black Satin Ice fondant.  It was very easy to handle and had a very nice finish. No dusting required at all which meant that the jet black of the fondant was preserved. For the logo, I printed coloured versions in the exact size I wanted.  Then I cut pieces of templates out and segregated them according to their colour. Then I rolled Satin Ice gumpaste that I had coloured with Wilton colours into thin sheets and cut around the paper templates that I put on top of the gumpaste. As I cut each piece out,  I rearrange it back on the cake until it forms the whole logo again. Sounds fairly simple but was 6 hours worth of painstaking work! She says this is number 2 after the Temple of Zeus!

Lemon Meringue Cake

I wanted to use the flavours of the lemon meringue pie and turn it into a cake because I thought a cake would be a lighter alternative. I like the flavours but always thought the thick base of curd was a bit heavy.  Here you see 7 delicate layers of vanilla cake layered with lemon curd and then topped with French meringue and torched to toast the sugar in the meringue. I used vanilla instead of lemon cake because I found that the layering of flavours worked. I would caution the use of vanilla essence though as it would be too strong. I used a vanilla bean. The subtle flavour goes well with the lemon curd.  I also tried this using normal meringue,  the taste is not very desirable and didn't hold too well. French meringue taste much better and can be piped into shapes that hold.

Magical Rainbow

I wanted to make a special birthday cake that would host tons of candles for my friend. I used red velvet cake batter but dyed it different colours and iced it with a cream cheese frosting topped with roast pistachios. The result was a visually stunning jaw dropping cake!

Sinfully chocolate

I made this chocolate cake for our New Year's party. I didn't have enough raspberries to cover the cake so I used a stencil to improvise. The chocolate cake is made with cocoa powder melted in boiling water which totally takes out the raw cocoa taste and gives you a sinfully rich chocolate cake when made with pure butter. The ganache is 1 part cream and 2 parts 70% dark chocolate

Bees and Roses

I just got back from my hometown and it was my friend's birthday and she was over for tea. This was the best I could do in a few hours! Turned out nice and clean all thanks to Satin Ice fondant and gumpaste.  Very nice texture but good price at the same time. I have always been a Wilton fan but I am now sold on Satin Ice.

Pistachio Lime Carrot Cake

I have never liked carrot cakes as they are usually quite dense. I like the flavour profile of the carrot cake though,  a hint of cinnamon with cream cheese. The solution was to modify a standard carrot cake recipe. The recipe I used called for bread flour and 45 minutes of baking, things that created the dense texture.  I replaced the bread flour with plain flour and instead of 45 minutes, I divided the cake batter into 3 equal portions and poured into 7 inches baking tins. I then baked them for exactly 12 minutes in a moderate oven.  I also omitted the walnuts called for in most carrot cake recipes and opted for pistachios instead but not in the cake batter. The results - 3 fluffy layers of carrot cake. Now comes the all important cream cheese frosting.  Equal amounts of cream cheese to icing sugar beaten together.  For the zesty flavour I opted for the citrus fruit that is very uncommonly used in baking - Lime.  Most recipes would call for orange or lemon.  Well, I love lime.  It's one of my favourite acid source when I  cook. It is bold and distinct. One lime zest into the frosting. Assembling the cake is to layer the 3 fluffy layers with the frosting and then cover the cake as well and pat the chopped roasted pistachios around the cake. Top with more lime zest.  The final product is a fluffy carrot cake with a zesty sweet frosting and a crunchy outer layer of nuts. My carrot cake is definitely one of my most requested flavour amongst friends and family.

Bubble bath cake

I made this for my sister's birthday.  She loves her bath and homespa!