The very belated third birthday and aqiqah for Dina

I am in the midst of drafting a post on the the kids' birthday when I realized I didn't even blog about their previous birthday. Haha. For memory's keepsake, here we go..

We had Dina's aqiqah and Sara's third birthday somewhere in December 2011. I even hired a photographer for the event and I have hundreds of photos that I found just now after rummaging through my very tidy workstation. We started off the ceremony with marhaban and the usual ritual for Dina's cukur jambul and continue with Sara's birthday celebration later in the evening.

 

Since this picture was taken, one got hitched and one lost 20kgs. Haha.

"Kakak, pujuk adik please..."

After she failed in her attempt to console her sister, she cried. Oh, well...

The cake that I made for Sara's birthday was the biggest cake I've ever baked. It was a three layer red velvet cake with whipped cream and cream cheese frosting. I used three recipes and 1 recipe is about 1.2kg so that makes the whole weight of the cake almost 5kgs.

Yep, my cake was THAT good. Haha.

Easy Peasy Chocolate Cake in 5 minutes (and that includes the cooking time!)

I'm not a big fan of cake. So even though I bake cakes on what use to be a daily occasion, I seldom eat my own cakes.

When the craving to suddenly eat something chocolaty kicks in, I remembered seeing the recipe for chocolate mug cake (baked in microwave) in few websites/blogs. And I'm always game for an easy recipe, especially those which does not involve having to haul up my mixer and whatnot ;p

After tweaking here and there, the most perfect recipe for me is :

1) 4 tablespoon of flour + a teenie weenie pinch of soda bicarbonate
(can substitute for self-raising flour if you have those)
2) 2 tablespoon of sugar
3) 3 tablespoon of cocoa powder
4) 1 egg
5) 2 tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk
6) 3 tablespoon of coffee (preferably with creamer)
(I usually use 3-in-1 nescafe)
7) 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil

The method is soooooo easy, even my two-year-old can do it. Dump item 1,2 and 3 together. Give it a good stir. And then dump item 4 until 7, giving it a good stir after each item. Set microwave on high, and pop the mug/bowl in the microwave for two minutes, and voila...your chocolate cake is ready. Top with ice cream, ganache, nuts and serve warm...yummmeeeehhhh...

Thank you to you too :)

This is the reason why I enjoy baking :

The face of a truly satisfied customer (her words, not mine). Soooo glad she likes it, makes all my effort worthwhile.

Sophie, thank you to you too :)

After the long hiatus *__*

Hi *small voice*

Yeah, after all the big talk on updating the blog more regularly, there I go again, MIA for almost 1 month. Huhu.

To those who've asked, yes, I'm still taking rvc orders :) And, speaking of rvc, last two weeks I've managed to bake the largest cake I've ever baked : A 32cm two layer round cake. Okay, this might not be a big deal to some people, but I had to bake twice as the first one collapse as I tried to layer them together. I just hope that the bride and groom enjoyed the cake.

Besides that, I've also managed to make hantaran cuppies for engagement and wedding. And, speaking of cupcakes, I'm going to impose a new condition : my cupcake design will strictly consists of chocolate ganache topping and buttercream and/or fondant deco. Like this:

Or this:

But, I'm open to any suggestions and recommendations :). And for those who've asked, below is the packaging for mini RVC, in an upside-down plastic container (reason : I can't seem to find a box that can fit the cake as its quite tall for the size)


Okay, moving on to other things, last week I was away on a course and when I reach home, I was seriously struck by Sara's development. But, I'll leave that story to tell in another post. :)

Hantaran cuppies

I was so nervous regarding this order. 1) She's a return customer 2) She wants fondant deco. I really suck at making really cute little things. Let's just say, I lack the patience required to deal with such minuscule proportion. Anyways, here it is, a blue-turquoise-white hantaran set. Hope she liked it.

Presenting : The MINI Red Velvet Cake

So, I've been getting a lot of inquiry to do the cupcake version of my red velvet cake. I did try a few times, but it turns out not as good as the cake version. Somehow, the cupcake turns out to be quite dense and nowhere near the velvety soft taste of the cake.

But, I do understand that some of my customer wanted a smaller version ibarat kata cik tini "Order satu velvet cake makan sendiri adalah racun kepada diri" ;p

Without further ado, I present to you...mini red velvet cake : a five-inch two-layer cake with cream cheese frosting. Price is only RM30.


Forgive the picture, can't seem to rotate it. The above image is mini RVC and the below image is regular RVC. To order, email me at phatmummy@yahoo.com :)

Red velvet cake

These were ordered from Farhan, Nad (My sister's friend who is now out of confinement) and Erna (return customer, currently at her 8th month and looks positively glowing). Thanks for the orders and hope u like it :)

More red velvet cake(s) and cuppies

I've been busy. Alhamdulillah ;)

click on image for better view

She likes it. She does too. What about you? :)

Red Velvet Cake(s)

Thanks to her, I've been getting my hands full with RVC order. Alhamdulillah.


I know, I know, the deco is nothing to be shout about, but I was happy making them, I can only hope the person on the receiving end was happy too.

Cuppies for engagement (Purple and Gold)

I made these for my boss's sister's engagement :) I had to scratch my head when she said her theme was gold and purple, as I was dumbstruck on how to combine those two colours. I made 60 individual cuppies for her to gave out to guests and one box for hantaran.

Red Velvet Cake

I know I've been posting about red velvet cake for 3-4 times, but without any actual picture of the insides of the cake. So here it is, the insides of the red velvet cake :)


I bake this to give to my favourite blogger; Iza@thepinkstilettos. When I read at her blog on how she loooovvveeeessss RVC, I decided to brace myself and emailed her whether she wanted to sample mine. It took me a lot of guts, I mean what if she hated it?? What if she said it tasted awful?? I bake this with all my heart, hoping she'll like it...

And, she did!! Thepinkstilettos actually said my cake is delicious! Ngeee....actually I was so starstruck upon meeting her (what with her being such a famous blogger and all). She looked so radiant, tak macam orang dalam pantang.

So, yeay for my RVC. To all that wish to order, I am so sorry but I could not provide delivery. Meet-up is available in Putrajaya during weekdays or can self pick-up at my house in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi (near KLIA Sepang area).

Raya Cuppies

These were ordered in Ramadhan. Here's to hoping for more orders in Syawal. :)

Ramadhan 2010

I just realize that I haven't made an entry about Ramadhan this year. Part of it is because my work kept me sooo busy, I didn't even realize Ramadhan is nearing to the end.

This Ramadhan, I embark on another project "Chocolate Chip Cookies Project". Actually, chocolate chip and I, we go way back. My chocolate chip cookies is what saved me from near bankruptcy back in the days when I was jobless. I still remembered, my dad gave me about RM1k to buy an oven and the necessary things to begin my project. This was in Ramadhan year 2006, I had already quit my old job without actually getting a new job. That year alone, I managed to sell about 200+ jars of cookies and I got to "beraya" despite the lack of financial incomes. I even have my own special sticker :


This year, I decided to re-start the project again. But, this time around, I have to be realistic. I could not bake all-out like I did past four years, what with my job and the little angel at home. So, I took about 75++ orders and last weekend was the last batch I had to make. Whew!! I'm so glad I managed to finish all the orders.

To top that off, I have been getting a few cupcakes orders, but all the decoration was done by my youngest sister, who is currently jobless. Hey, we got that in common, I was jobless in Ramadhan too. I have also another three pending cupcake set and two red velvet cake to be delivered tomorrow. Gasp! And right now, I'm still in the office, working, blogging, helping hubby with his thesis.

Yeah, life is busy. But its still good. And I'm blessed. With a very supportive and loving family.

Happy birthday cuppies

These cuppies were ordered by my office colleague to celebrate her dad and sister's birthday. She requested pastel colours and I hope she liked it.

Another red velvet cake

I just love the combination of red and white...don't you?

Red Velvet Cake

This is my third attempt of making a whole cake. Sure, there are A LOT of room for improvement, and I will surely try my very best to improve my skills in decorating these kind of cake. This is a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting ordered by a dear colleague.

A red velvet love cake for a lovely wife from a loving husband *Pardon the pun

Cutie Pastel

I love pastel colours. I will have a really hard time choosing what colour I like most. I made these cuppies with lots of happy feeling because of the colours. I hope you like them as much as I do. ;)

Happy Teacher's Day

Some friends from the office ordered cupcakes and cake for teacher's day. While making the cupcakes, I can't help but to reminisce about my teachers. To me, teachers play an integral part on shaping me to be who I am right now.

I still remember how it was in my days, where all the teachers use to be so passionate about what they do, and how the parents would support the teachers rather than to blame them for their child misbehaving.

Time changes, and changes bring good and bad impact in life. For instance, teachers nowadays (especially primary school teachers) are those from KPLI rather than those who took teaching as their degree. If the said person is wholeheartedly invested in teaching, then its a good thing BUT if that person is only teaching as a means to living, it will greatly affect the quality of education.

I have a very high respect for teachers as I think that being a teacher is like being a mom. Its a 24-hours job that requires constant attention and focus. On top of that, it also requires a lot of determination and perseverance.

I think that teaching is better left to people that are truly interested to teach (not just anybody with any kind of degree). My teachers made me who I am today, and I think I turned up pretty good. I just hope that my child will be able to experience education as I did. Happy Teacher's Day!!

The LOVE cuppies

This customer requested the cuppies to be decorated in red, purple and green colour and I remember thinking to myself, hmm, how can I make this colour combination work? This is the result and hope they'll like it.



This kind of cuppies made me sigh and think to myself "Ahhh, to be young and in love...."

Farewell cuppies

These cuppies were ordered to celebrate a farewell party. To me, farewell is such a sad thing. I mean, you got use to the person then having to find out that the person will be transferred to another department is just downright sad and depressing.

Recently, I had to say goodbye to a very dear colleague. She was in her confinement leave when she found out that she was transferred to another department. We weren't close from the get-go (when I was transferred to my current department), but as time goes by, we became closer. We discovered that even though we were quite different in terms of our approach towards certain aspect and problems at work, we do complement each other and we work VERY well together.

Slowly, our working relationship turned into personal relationship. We could share stories about almost everything. From husbands, families and when she discovered she was pregnant, we were both ecstatic. We can trade children stories! God knows how bored she is with me gushing about Sara every now and then.

She was with me throughout my pregnancy (and all the emotional hormonal outbursts every now and then). She took over most of my job, as I was so tired (read : lazy) to work. She helped me through so much and willingly listen to every child related story. I tried my best to repay all her favours when she was pregnant, and I missed her soo much during her confinement leave, consoling myself with the fact that she'll come back after 2-months leave.

So, when she told me that she received a letter saying she has been transferred to another agency, I was shocked and dissappointed. Don't know about her, but I'm certainly missing her. I can only hope that I've been there for her as much as she's been here for me. I can never thank her enough and I sincerely hope that we can continue our friendship even though we are no longer in the same deparment. Miss you babe, and hope for nothing but the best in all your future endeavours.