Engagement Bear

My officemate, My...is engaged to Ainul on 5th June 2010....for that, I plan to present her with an engagement cuppies ....unforeseen circumstances leads to disastrous cuppies...unfortunately, I can't give it to her on that day...but since I've made a couple bear...I gave it to her on later date anyway  as a congratulations cuppies...

N is for Neza (My's second name) and A is for Ainul...wish I can buy fondant alphabet tappit...it would be more nice to use it...I cut out the heart shape with different size cookie cutters...

It took me all night to sculpt this figurines....I tried to make it looked like forever friends bear...but without any reference, I just go wild with my imagination...if u see some mess on it...blame it on the packing box I've used and  the rough handling during transportation...ngeee

Rules in sculpting figurines:

1) Always have some reference pic of the object...it will allow you to estimate the shape n its sizes

2) Always sketch the overall design of ur cuppies (I did, but it didn't follow through coz of the 'unforeseen circumstances')

3) Use deep packing box or measure the box's depth before sculpting ur figurines...to avoid damage to figurines (like mine...)

4) Allow the figurines to set before topping it onto ur cuppies...because fondant is not a gumpaste...a little rattle could disintegrate the form...be gentle...

Cuppies for Girl and Farah

This is my old good friend, Suzilawati (we called her Intan)...after15 solid years without any words from each other...we finally met. I am so so happy to catch up with her. You see, all these years I've tried to look for her but couldn't...and with the help of technology, thanks again to FB..we got reconnected....it is such a blessing.

I have missed years from her life. Now she is a great wife and a mother of 2 adorable girls Girl and Farrah. But one thing will remains the same...her fighting spirit, she is very determined and full of life...

 Intan and I :)

Catching up with someone who knows the real me is very refreshing...feels like I am back in time, where I can be dumb and stupid for all I care...

Feeling joyful and wanting to make up for long lost years, I've decided to present special gift for her lovely girls.

So I made figurines of Farrah (short hair and pink shirt) and Girl (long shiny hair), additional is a bear (which I made for my bro just for fun)

 I'm filling the design with a simple flower cuts with festive colors..u can see the fondant looks glossy...that is because I've kept the cuppies in the fridge...so any creepy crawlies didn't get any chance at tasting it :) (but is not recommended though...storing decorated cakes in frigde would cause fondant to loose its rigidity and crack)

  As I make these, my mother can't help but to admirer my vast collection of cake decorating tools in my toolbox...hahahah...that aint nothing yet....and I daresay, I've impressed my parents with my cupcake obesession...hahaha...and now they know, how serious I am with this baking thingy.

The below left pic is of Intan's sis, Norlia and her cutesy son, Adib....my future regular customer as Intan puts it...while the right pic is of Farrah and Girl. I think both on them wears the matching shirt on purpose,do you?

Watching happy and delighted faces when looking at my cuppies are PRICELESS....

A Girl in the Garden

Lady In Garden ~ 5 June 2010

After learning about fondant, I did not jump into it as my focus is solely on my work....so I can't juice out my creativity...a fail attempt to bake an Ultraman theme birthday cake for my nephew demotivate me furthermore...
 

Days, weeks and months went by...n I've yet to explore my deco skill. But I am diligent (or greedy) enough to purchase some of the required tools and ingredient :).

A good friend of mine, Nanie have converted her interest in shopping to baking. Obsessed with her new found hobby, Nanie always doing her own practice with buttercream decoration. I'm at awe with her creation. (and a bit jealous too!)....I'll post her creation for your eyes pleasure (with her permission of course!) later...

After months of feasting my eyes on others cuppies n cakes creation....and at Nanie's encouragement...I finally push myself to have practice on fondant. You see...when I am obsessed with sumthing, I will search high and low anything about it....I have many ideas with fondant but the questions remains...when will I get my butt off my sofa and start walking the talk..




Then...something hit me and finally I have a great idea...Since Nanie is my closest bake in partner, why not introduce her all about fondant (after all she have mastered the art of buttercream) and may be she would love it like I do! It would be fun to explore new things with her since we share the same interest...and FUN it is (psst...Nan is LOVING fondant now....hahaha) . By the way...Nan sculpted this cute ducky...

I am so engrossed in sculpting figurines that I did not realize the time flew  by me...and the challange of all is making poeple figurines....I want to make a cute adorable girl wearing cute gowns...but turned up my doll wears baju kurung hahaha....oh, well...what we can't do , we improvise...Nan did that bunny also...and other things that I cant post in here *winks*.

 It took us whole day to finally complete the Lady in Garden cuppies...I am very excited how well it turned out...not after having trouble getting the fondant consistency right (we used up to 1.5 kg of icing sugar ~maybe due to humid air but it turn out really smooth and pliable) and my undefeated effort to get a bright red color (I am mixing 2-3 different reds to get the right hue *sigh*).

If u love or hate this...leave me your comments....I would love to hear your say...

Happy Birthday to Azali - thanks to Iza

This my first commissioned cuppies and my first football themed cuppies....and all I can say is PHEW! Glad I really did it....

These cuppies was ordered by my colleague, Iza for her hubby's (also my colleague) birthday yesterday 7th July 2010...She wants a green colored cuppies with a football player standing with a leg on top of a ball...initially I agreed, but thinking the figurines would be taller than the standard box, we settle on squatting position instead (and still, I can't close the cuppy box.).

 I am very excited by this project but at the same time, I'm scared that I wouldn't be able to pull it through...especially doing buttercream icing...I have bad memories with buttercream...But for the sake of my new found obsession and great encouragement from Nan..I brave myself...and here goes

I plan the design and work carefully...to minimize error. But things never follow according to plan, do they? I have plan to sculpt the figurine during the weekends (which, thankfully I did)...to bake cuppies Monday night and Tuesday night I'll whip up the buttercream and decorate...

If u know about Murphy's Law, you would guess that my plan is not going smoothly. Anything that can possibly go wrong, does....Of all the WRONGS that could happen, who would have guessed a broken kitchen sink faucet!!...OMG!

You may think...whats the big deal, just get a plumber to do it...The big deal is where to look for a plumber who can come to your house after office hour...after much struggling, my faucet was replaced on Tuesday night...Great! I have only few hours, to bake and decorate...unwilling to surrender and admit defeat, I push myself the whole night with few hour sleep to accomplish the job.

 Unlike fondant, buttercream needs a whole lot of practice...it is not easy to maneuver the piping tip while squeezing the piping bag (and with my problematic hand..it is more difficult)...u need to prepare different buttercream consistency for different design..

 It is not easy to achieve my desired colors...thankful for my basic knowledge in arts, I manage to get deep red, grass green and black by mixing lots of other colors (mental note: need to buy black Americolor).

 I am sheepishly proud to say I've got myself a good collection of piping tips which I never got a chance to use before...and I have used 3 specialized piping tips for the grass, goal net and the ribbon stripe...3 different sizes of round tips..(I'll get u the tips number when I can).

 

 When u look carefully, my handwork is not fine..means I need a lot of practice

If u must know, I am not good estimating the amount of buttercream to be colored...hence my original design need to go...and this is my impromptu design...(mental note: double the buttercream recipe)

Although my work is nothing to shout about...but I am still sheepishly proud of it, and will do a better one next time..InsyaAllah

To dear Iza...thank you for trusting me, and hopefully u are satisfied (albeit the imperfections)...hope u n Azali enjoy the chocolate cake :)