Claudine's double digit birthday

How time flies! Gone are the days for girly girl cakes. The birthday girl requested a mini IPad in her favourite colour.  She's 10 (double digit  according to her) after all.

I am quite pleased with the smooth cake but not so much of the "IPad".    The IPad was made of chewy muesli bars covered in chocolate and dipped  in melted chocolate melts. I tried to make it close to the original size.

While waiting for the "IPad" to harden, I covered the classic chocolate cake with coffee buttercream filling in dark chocolate ganache.

Classic Chocolate  Cake in Dark Chocolate Ganache

See how almost perfectly smooth my ganache is? Thanks to all the tutorials and tips from the internet. I now know the correct ratio of chocolate to cream to achieve a perfect ganache. I then covered it in fondant.

I am so pleased with the fondant too. The smooth ganache resulted in a smooth fondant finish. It may not be perfect compared to the professionals but good enough for my first try after following the tutorials and tips. Let's continue on with the "IPad".

 

IPad Cake

It came out too thick, about twice the normal depth of the real one. I was so tempted to cut it to make it thinner but I was running out of time. Besides, I couldn't afford to make a mistake or else bye bye edible image.  I had the edible image printed out from a cake supply shop for a polished look. Truth is, I didn't have sufficient time and patience to make the little icons with fondant. Plus, the icons would not be realistic if  raised from the "screen".

Mini IPad Cake

I had several ideas for the cake decoration but I found it difficult to execute. So, I made up the design as I went along finishing the cake.

Classic Chocolate Cake with Coffee Buttercream filling and Dark Chocolate Ganache

The apple logo was supposed to be  the border around the cake. It was time consuming to cut several pieces of the logo without a mold.   Anyway, A is for apple.  Here's the complete cake.

Mini Ipad Cake

The IPad can be actually carried separately.  Since she is too young (and  it's expensive !) to have the IPad , this will do for now!

Mini IPad Cake with the birthday girl

Let's have a slice of the moist classic chocolate  cake with coffee buttercream filling and ganache.

See you next post!

Rafael's 18th Birthday

This post has been long overdue. Even the celebrant posted it first on his facebook. Too many cakes came in between!   Anyway, I made this cake for Rafael for his  18th birthday in July 2013. Rafael is like a nephew to me.  His family , along with 2 other families, and my family  came to Australia almost at the same time. He was 4 yrs old when I first met him. Since then,  I have been making cakes occasionally for them.  This is one of the cakes I made for him when he was a little boy.

Sylvester Cat

Now he is all grown up and plays drums. Thus, he requested this cake.

It  really took a long time to make and yet still looked a little lopsided.  Let's have a closer look. Can you see him?

It may not be perfect but the birthday boy was so happy with his cake. That's what matters! Here's the birthday boy with his cake.

Rafael with his cake

Let's look  inside.

See you next post!

Bridal Shower

What was written on the greeting card

  

 My team had another reason to celebrate at work.  Our colleague, Sarann, is getting married in two week's time! So, an office bridal shower was in place. It was a "bring a plate" morning tea.

Morning Tea

 

Of course, who else brought the cake but me! Yup her motif is black and white.

The Mannequin.  It took me 7 hours over 3 days to make just the mannequin.  Even the bride said that it was more detailed than her actual gown.Let's have a closer look  'ala' ramp walk at the cake topper.
 

 



Unlike other similar designs made of cake you can find on the net, the mannequin was made of foam and fondant. In this way, it doubled up as a souvenir for the bride to be.

The Souvenir

Nice box huh?  After we ditched the crappy one I made, my co-worker,  Sangeeta,  made the packaging 'Barbie' style.

The Cake.  it was  Black Velvet with cream cheese frosting to fit the motif.

Black velvet with cream cheese frosting

 

Let's have a slice!



Black velvet Slice

 

See you next post!

The Help: Minny's Chocolate Pie

I watched the 'The Help" movie and liked it so much that when my daughter pointed out the book at a 'Church Sale', I did not hesitate to buy it. Plus, it was only $2. Don't be deceived with the price. It does not mean that because it was cheap, it was not worth reading.  It was for fundraising  and besides it is just the way it is here, used items are sold cheaper.

I read it everyday while on the train to and from work. I was reading it in the voices of the movie characters (like a live audio in my head). After I finished reading, I wanted to watch the movie again. It is that good!   Whilst any present day  experience  of some people are incomparable to what was back then, the issues are still relevant today.  It reminds me of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who despite being University Graduates are working as "helpers".  We have read stories on how the OFW are being maltreated and discriminated.

The character that stood out for me is Minny. Her excellent cooking skills were matched with a big mouth. Oh yes, she did not take crap from anybody (except form her husband)  instead  she gave them "crap".  People put up with her because she was a good cook. I hear you sayin' " I like her coz I am like her"!

At Jacksonville, Minny was famous for her chocolate pie. The author of the book shared  Demetrie's recipe ( her dear helper ).  I replicated it here but made it smaller.

Demetrie's Chocolate Pie

During the filming of the movie, 52 pies were made. So I tried Lee Ann Flemming's recipe  too from The Help Movie.

Chocolate Pie (Source: Lee Ann Flemming)

I liked the book and the movie so why not do both?

Chocolate Pie from the movie on the left and Demetrie's on the right

Both versions taste nice. It all depends on what you prefer. Demetrie's recipe is more chocolatey and almost mousse like while Lee Flemming's recipe is gooey and "milky".

I made mini ones too.

Let's eat. Don't worry, I did not add Minny's secret recipe!

See you next post.

Angel of Inspirations

I dedicate this book to every wannabe cook 

who will dare criticism by getting into the kitchen 

and stirring up some groceries.

- Maya Angelou

I first heard of this great poet and author  while watching Oprah's show.  What an inspiring lady! From then on, I can't get enough of her. It is very rare to come across people  who  can inspire you nowadays. She has a lot of books but  I bought the one  that has both my interests - food and stories.

After an incident with a teacher, she came home to a luscious layered caramel cake baked by her grandma to make her feel better. The story is inspiring so  I made a mini version of  this traditional Southern cake.

Caramel Cake

There are many recipes for this cake out there. But  her recipe is so traditional and didn't use brown sugar. I love the taste of the burnt butter for the frosting. It has that distinct taste that  makes you eat more even if you're already full. ( I know, I know it's gluttony ).  Try making it and you'll know what I'm sayin'!

Let's have a slice.

 

See you next post!

Strawberry Fields Forever

Strawberries are cheap lately. I paid $5 for 3 punnets (250 grams each) last week.  The regular price ranges from  $2.49 to $4 each. Last time I checked, it was $3 for 3 punnets.  I was tempted to buy more but still had two punnets left. Bbefore it becomes another episode of the 'rotten bananas', I had to bake a cake.   I hate throwing food and stuff. I'd rather spend more to make it useful.

I got inspired with  Heart of Mary for the Strawberry Shortcake. She had a take on Mrs Yulo's cake
(one of the ten best desserts in Manila). I adapted her recipe but tweaked it a little. I added more baking powder to the cake batter, less cream cheese and more powdered sugar plus gelatin to stabilize the frosting.

But then only 1 punnet was used. So I made not one but three more cakes  using my recipe for chiffon cake ( cheap strawberries remember?) and my version for the frosting this time.

Let's have a slice !

First Cake

See you next post!

Father's Day in Australia

First Sunday in September is Father's day here in Australia. Don't ask me why it is different from the rest of the world. I am still searching for the answer.  Maybe because it is also the first Sunday of Spring here.

In 2011, my daughter painted this for Father's Day,

Voltes V with the pilots painting

In July this year, my son made this 3D mask fitted to his head size,

Voltes V 3D Mask

Obvious ba na he is a fan of Voltes V.  Tananana, nananan,  ume echo ba yung Theme Song . For all youngsters out there, Voltes V was a famous cartoon TV series in the '70s banned by the president back then because of   'violence'.  Ano daw? How ironic isn't it?  Anyway, it is now my turn  to make  it with what I love doing best - cake! (padadaig ba ako hahaha)

Voltes V Cake

I had to make sure he was already sleeping para surprise. I was in cahoots with the kids who were watching out for him  in case he wakes up. My little one cut out the letters with her Kuya who was my my technical adviser. Kuya also  'decorated' this Krispy Kreme Box box to store the cake.

"Thanks for enduring us for so long" daw hahaha!

It's orange and chocolate cake recipe sans the checkerboard style from  The Australian Bake Off covered in fondant. It took me 2 hours to decorate plus baking time.  So sayang naman pinaghirapan just to cut it, so yung 'spike" na lang ...

Spike off

My daughter, Aiko was chosen to represent her class to give a speech for Father's Day Liturgy.  Here's a copy:

Aiko's Candy Crush Speech

You need to turn off the music below now to view the video . (haha bet you are wondering how and where to turn it off!) Credit goes to my eldest daughter, Janinna for fixing it.

Here's a video of her  "Candy Crush' speech. It shows what kind of father my hubby is,  don't you think?

 Happy Father's Day  Papi!

See you next post!

My Mother's Special Day

I remember the days when I used to buy  Red Ribbon  Chocolate Mousse cake  for my "Mami'" on her birthday.  But always half a cake  'lang kc yun lang kaya ng allowance ko eh!'

It's  her  64th birthday today.  Whilst we are miles and hours apart,  I would love to continue giving her the same cake.  This time,  I will make one!

 According to Red Ribbon's Product description, Chocolate Mousse  is "A bed of rich chocolate pound cake, topped with delicious cream-based mousse and chocolate chips".


I have been scouring the net for recipes however  I cannot find one recipe that is similar to Red Ribbon's.  Some recipes have flourless base, others use a different cake base. I want the cake to be as close as possible to the real deal.  Anyway, I  mixed and matched 3 different recipes. Click the following  links

1st layer - chocolate pound cake

middle layer - mousse

topping - whipped cream

Here's the finished product. 

Artibakes Chocolate Mousse Cake

Eh 'paano kaya makakarating to? ' While on facetime early morning, I told her 'na ipapadeliver ko.'

Eto o she received it in the afternoon, ang bilis daig pa fedex, dhl o superman..ay si Flash nga pala ang naghatid!

Actually, I asked my 'sistah' to buy one for her. Let's have a slice or two.

Artibakes

Red Ribbon

Looks the same, pwede na. Sa lasa na lang magkakatalo. Final verdict?  Taste it and be the judge. How?  Lick na lang the screen ( wag pikon)

 Let's toast to that!

Chocolate Mousse Cake Trifle

 See you next post!

Baby Shower

Shower to Baby Shower! Our team threw a surprise baby shower for the Team Leader.  She has two more weeks before she goes on leave but we decided to do it yesterday to beat other "well wishers".  We did all the works like games and prizes , baby decor and the baby gift.   Someone bought the table cover and serviettes online, another member made the chain decoration until 3am!

The training/meeting room was converted to a 'sit down' lunch. Each team member brought homemade stuff  or bought food.  I brought  paella, 

Filipino version with chicken breast adobo

and as expected, 'The Cake'.  I was not planning of decorating the cake but the team  had a few suggestions. This is my version of all those similar designs out there.

white cake with cream cheese white chocolate frosting. 

I did not want to cover the whole cake with fondant so it was just the top that was made of fondant. It doubled as a souvenir too. Let's have a closer look.

No cake just 'tricks'

We don't know the gender of the baby as the mum-to-be  refused  to find out herself. So 'bi-color' it is. Funny thing is before baking it was the right blue and pink shade. Look at those layers! 

Someone commented that it's scary the layers were so perfect and  asked who taught me to bake.  My reply? It's inborn ! ( nyahahaha bigat naman ng  silya ko)

See you next post!