Two Bees and a Wedding Cake

BEEEEEEEE MINE FOREVER

Childhood friendships making it through to adulthood are rare. So is the chance to make the wedding cake for a close childhood friend of mine. Back in February my close friend and fellow fashion blogger, Jacqueline, asked me to make her wedding cake for her. As you know wedding cakes was what got me falling in love with cake decorating in the first place so to be given the chance to make a wedding cake for a close friend I was both honoured and extremely anxious. I even tried to fob off the responsibility at first by asking her whether she'd be happier with a professional bakery doing it! 

 But no, Jacqueline insisted I make it for her and it really means a lot to me that she have me be part of a huge event in her life. Cakes at weddings are almost like a centre piece at the receptions (after the bride's dress, of course!) so I was really feeling the pressure leading up to the week of the wedding. Plus I don't think I slept at all the night before the wedding just thinking about the cake!

My only instructions were "purple" and "bees on top". Purple and yellow bees together? That was a color palette I wasn't used to! But in order to keep it simple and not a mess of two very striking colours I made the bees the centre of the cake and kept the rest of the cake simple but with some "flower" element to it, hence, the sugar petals. As much as I was itching to create large sugar flowers I thought the petals were more classy without stealing the limelight from the bees :) (PS each petal was individually cut out and rolled by these precious hands!)

The highlight for me was seeing Jacqueline's reaction to the cake and being so happy with it after leaving me free to design the cake. For me I just felt it was such a nice sentimental moment to share with a close childhood friend and to make my first wedding cake for her was truly an honour. The nerves were totally worth it knowing that I made something the bride was happy with :) (and kudos to Phu and Truc for helping me deliver the cake to the hotel... I may have stressed them out a bit...)

Another highlight of the night for me was that Jason Soon of Jason Soon Photography took some amazing photos of cake! Based in Perth, Jason who was one of the groomsmen at the wedding took some awesome photos of the night and was kind enough to share some with me for the blog. Romantic and striking, Jason's photos really are breath-taking and you should definitely check out his work at www.jasonsoon.com :)

 

Until next post!

Peace and Love :)

Daphne xoxo

Pulau Lankayan ~ April 2012

"HOME, SWEET, HOME"

What desktop wallpapers are made of...

No, I haven't taken up residence at Pulau Lankayan since you last visited my blog. The place just feels like home whenever I come back to this place~ the mere sight of the green island really makes me forget about the civilized world.

The last time I was here my photos were not that fabulous as it was raining and not super sunny. This time around not only was the water so clear you could see right down to the bottom, there was also a new restaurant on the island. **The last time I was here it was under construction

The new majestic restaurant has replaced the smaller older one that was nestled among the trees. Now the common area for guests (where meals are served, books are kept and drinks are served) sits out in the sea creating a little haven on those days you just want to chill outside of your chalet but not on the beach. With a 360 degrees viewing deck I think this new restaurant has all your desktop wallpaper changes covered for the entire year!

I don't cry. I celebrate...My 30th Bday!!

"THIRTY, FLIRTY AND THRIVING!"

This quote is from one of my favorite movies "13 Going on 30" starring Jennifer Garner as the adult girl who, at 13, wished she was 30. For a lot women the age of 30 signals some sort of "scary" age where (apparently) we're supposed to have achieved all our dreams by then and so by our birthdays we panic because, well, we have not. We haven't written that novel, we haven't gotten married, we haven't gotten on BRW's top 30 under 30 etc etc...

I don't dwell on my personal life too much in this blog but I felt like this occasion was little special and thought I'd share a little. Years and years ago I was designing and sewing bags from home and selling them at the Sydney local markets. I always thought I would end up with a bag label but little did I know my heart lied in the kitchen, specifically, the oven. My will to sew waned when I started working full-time but my creative passion never died. I was always itching to be creative but thought that was the end: I won't be doing anything creative in my life anymore. Little did I know my years of frequent cupcake baking would flourish into a business. I just thought every girl loved baking so I never took any notice of my weird urge to play with batter but I held back a lot of the times because it was a waste of money/there's no one to eat it/any other excuse you can think of to deny yourself from doing something fun.

I don't cry. I learn...from Kelvin Chua of Vinism Sugar Art

ROYAL ICING PIPE DREAMS

Confession: Piping scares me. Even when I watch Buddy on Cake Boss do the drop points my heart skips a beat. Dangling royal icing mid-air? Is that even possible in the real world?

But that’s exactly what I did a few weeks ago J It’s been a while since I did a cake course of any kind the last one being my magical time at Faye Cahill’s studio in Sydney. When Sugarart announced that Kelvin Chua of Vinism Sugar Art was coming to KK to teach his amazing piping skills I thought this was a great opportunity to face my fears.

Whoever thinks the world of cake decorating is a bunch of old ladies sitting around in pretty aprons sipping tea and squeezing bags of sugar and butter is completely and utterly wrong. Armed with piping tips, razor-sharp blades and whole lot of sugar, cake decorating is about bringing imagination to life (and tummies). Sometimes I look at my cake deco tool box and can't decide whether it resembles something belonging to an artist or a ninja. Cake decorating is not only back breaking but is somewhat like an emotional roller coaster ride (minus the nausea) which is sometimes the best part of it all.  The piping class was a physically-challenging and emotional day! All worth it, of course ;)

March Madness!!

Bags, Books and Automobiles!

And I thought "March Madness" was just something people say...but I ended up making around 6 cakes in March alone for birthdays! 

Not that I'm complaining :) I've been so blessed with so many supportive friends and family who trust me to make their birthday cakes and I find every cake project an opportunity to practise my cake deco skills and zone out in my Happy Place. I know it's been a bit quiet on the cake deco front lately on the blog so I feel like I owe you guys an avalanche of cake projects so here are some for you to enjoy :)

I've been hoping to have the opportunity to make 3-D cakes but I didn't think I'd be making 3 bags, a vintage Land Rover and a law book cake all in a span of 3 weeks!! I'm quite relieved none of the 3D cakes were adult cakes (phew!)

It's been a fun month and I look forward to many more cake challenges!

Cakes &  Love, y'all!

Daphne

Shanghai Part V - Whampoa Club

BRINGING SEXY BACK TO CHINESE FOOD

Welcome to Part V of my Shanghai trip! Gosh it feels like this trip happened ages ago then I realise that I was only in the beautiful city just under 3 months ago! Anyways, if you have been following my Shanghai series you'd see that Chinese food probably wasn't on the menu a lot (besides xiao long bao) BUT I did have one dinner where Shanghainese food was the star of the night. I have to say I didn't only eat Shanghainese food in Shanghai. I ate it in style :)

If the movie "In the Mood for Love" were a restaurant it would be the Whampoa Club in Shanghai. This place oozes oriental sophistication and sexiness to the max and I hope my photos make you feel the sexinesssssss:

I don't cry. I bake and decorate...Moshi Monster Cupcakes

CAN MONSTERS BE CUTE???

Making children's birthday cakes are always fun for me but I always find it nerve-wrecking as well especially when there are so many colours to work with! I thought the Angry Birds Cake was quite a challenge already but the Moshi Monster cupcakes was even more challenging as it was more detailed!

If you have kids in primary school you may have heard of Moshi Monsters which I am told are the latest craze in the online world for kids (for you oldies, think card swapping but online). Jasmine had requested Moshi Monster-themed cupcakes for her birthday party so her lovely mum asked for some fondant Moshi Monsters on top of some cupcakes. I was given a list of names to google for pics as I had never heard of them before plus there are hundreds of different monsters!

Ecto "floating" on green buttercream

What a cutie! I would smile like that too if I were sitting on buttercream!

 I'm not so sure why some are called "monsters"...like Purdy, the pink kitten with the blue bow!! She was my favourite out of all of them but apparently she wasn't very popular at the party. Perhaps she wasn't monster-y enough! Lol! Apparently the most popular ones were the yellow pyramids and that squid-looking one with the green cape...

A moshi monster parade!

Aren't they too cute to be called monsters?? I have to say even though children's birthday cakes make me more nervous I swear they keep me young. ^.^

Till next time!

Daphne xoxo

P.S In case you were wondering I do have a Facebook business page for my cake business called Simply Sweet (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-Sweet/299336873439057).

I don't cry. I eat...at Silk Garden Restaurant, Pacific Sutera Harbour

KK FOOD FESTIVAL AT THE SILK GARDEN

It's not everyday I get a call from mysterious strangers...especially one that invites me to lunch. Unfortunately it wasn't a handsome man inviting me to a date but fortunately, it was Ms Lim from the Pacific Sutera Harbour Resort inviting me to a food review event at the Silk Garden Chinese Restaurant.!

I had no idea there was a Chinese restaurant at the resort so I was quite curious as to where this place was. Little did I know that this beauty was positioned on the harbour side with a beautiful view of the water and boats!

KK Food Festival Opening Bazaar

EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH KK

KK peeps, this one is for you! Get your empty tummies on cos' KK Food Festival has arrived and will be around until 18 March 2012. I attended the Opening Bazaar on 3 March 2012 and it was a confirmation that KK has become a foodie's dream with so many different types of cuisines to offer. The Opening Bazaar was like a big cookout with lots of samplings and vouchers on offer.

It was really a day for local eateries to show case their menus and it was bit of a sample-fest. As KK Food Festival kicks off for the next 2 weeks it was also for the public to collect their information booklets of the up and coming events (I'm pretty excited about the wine and jazz night at Party Play!). KK is an ever-growing city so there are lot of places people have not heard about (e.g. a steakhouse called Chub?? Bring it on!). Here are some of the local businesses who were on display and who will be partaking in the Food Festival:



I don't cry. I eat...at Fullhouse

Eating + Shopping = Love 

For a lot of people in Malaysia "eating" is on the top of their list of "Favourite Pastimes". "Shopping" probably takes 2nd place on that list (maybe with some tough competition from "napping"). So what happens when eating and shopping come together in one establishment? A match made in heaven, I say!

Fullhouse has just arrived at Suria Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, and I know it's going to be one of my favourite cafes...and possibly the place with the most furniture pieces I want to steal (but I'm a good girl so don't worry, I won't).  The gorgeous interiors of furniture, vintage wallpaper and sheer curtains create a comfortable atmosphere for cafe lovers. It pretty much embodies what my dream house would be (minus the sporadic fake doves). 

Check it out!