Ladybug Fondant Birthday Cake

Here you have it, folks: the end result of all those Wilton Cake Decorating classes I took during Spring. The reason why I even took them in the first place--to create my baby niece's First Birthday Cake!

I went with a Pink Ladybug theme, because she is our little ladybug! The top tier of the cake is strawberry and the bottom layer is dark chocolate. We had her party by the lake on the last holiday of the summer: Labor Day Weekend.

I must say that the Wilton Color Mist food color spray was a real time-saver on the base fondant! I didn't have to knead the yellow color into the fondant! I just sprayed away!

I made the gumpaste flowers a few days before the cake itself, as they need time to harden. I discovered that I could use the clear lid on our egg trays from Costco to hold the flowers in!

Now what should I learn next? Should I learn guitar? Wait, maybe ballroom dance? Ballroom dance to pop songs like they do in "Dancing With The Stars!"

Sandcastle Cake!

My baby niece turned 11 months old recently and I decided to do something summery for her monthly cake photo shoot: a sandcastle cake with fondant starfish and flags! Can you tell that I wear my heart on my....windows?!

Later this month, she'll be turning a year old! How time really flies. And every month since her first month, I've managed to bake something for her! I hope I don't disappoint with the first birthday cake!

We have mailed out baby invitations for her first birthday party, and we are planning a ladybug-themed event (because she is our lovely little ladybug!).

Splendidly Splenda-fied!

We celebrated my mom's birthday the other weekend and I made a sugar-free cake just for her. The only "sinful" sugar on this cake are the icing flowers and icing greeting--the rest are guilt-free ingredients that will satisfy your sweet tooth!

The flowers were made out of home-made royal icing about three days prior to the actual occasion because royal icing can take days to harden. The yellow hearts are actually fondant which I had cut out with a cookie cutter then carefully perforated the edges with a decorating tool.

 

My cake isn't perfect for many reasons, a major one of which is hidden underneath that green frosting. When I removed the cake from the pan, parts of it got stuck in the metal that it partially broke. I remedied this cake catastrophe by "gluing" the broken cake back into place with icing. That's the thing with icing: you decorate with it and you can "camouflage" mistakes with it!

I love how the "drop flowers" turned out...they look like purple swirly asterisks in royal icing.

Royal icing can be a royal pain to create, but is royally rewarding in the end! Speaking of rewarding ends, our Flowers and Cake Design course will end this Monday after Easter with us bringing our final cakes filled with our favorite royal icing flowers and a basket-weave icing technique we'll be learning that night!

Balloon Birthday Cake

My cousin turned 18 this month and I eagerly created this birthday cake for him, applying the latest decorating techniques I learned in class using "dimensional icing."

Yes, I did say it was for a "he." I wasn't able to achieve a deeper shade of the green and purple as I had hoped when mixing the icing colors, so it ended up in these pastel hues instead. My cousin didn't mind!

Those are balloons with smiley faces, by the way. You can tell how frantic I was to finish the cake in time to bring it to the Chinese restaurant where we would gather for his birthday dinner that night.

I used three different decorating tips to put the borders. An expert cake decorator would probably sneer at the cake crumbs that are visible on the icing. We were taught that it means the frosting I applied wasn't thin enough, thereby allowing the cake's surface to stick to the spatula as I spread the icing.

I'm a beginner, cut me some slack! Or better yet, cut me some cake! Save the Sensa for later!

The lettering was done with Wilton Sparkle Gel icing tube. It adds instant sparkle to any cake! Am proud of my cake decorating improvement!

Oh, and I just signed up for next month's Wilton course: "Flowers and Cake Design!" That's one course away from the "Gum Paste and Fondant" course!

Life Is But A Cream (Frosting)

The Devil bakes Devil's Food Cake! I added heart-shaped candy sprinkles for Valentine's. I love my Bundt pan.

By the way, Happy Valentine's Day!

Check out another heart-shaped item I found at the frozen foods section at our grocery! Heart-shaped ravioli! Do you think it's too...cheesy?

A few days ago, I tried red velvet cake from Duncan Hines for my cousin's 21st birthday. I was careful not to splatter the blood-red batter!

Since she's "legal" for all intents and purposes, I went with a playing cards theme to reflect casinos, so I drew the card symbols with gel icing. I know it looks crude but it's freehand and I wanted to finish it in time for it to be brought to New York where my cousin is. The black sprinkles look paltry because I couldn't get them to stick to the white frosting which has already hardened a bit.

And speaking of cakes, I signed up for Wilton Basic Cake Decorating classes in March at our local Michael's Store! I took advantage of the half-off tuition plus extra $5 discount offer.  I only paid $17.50 for four sessions! I'm taking my confection infatuation to the next level! This is part of my list of promises for a better me! Who knows, someday I just might be able to travel across the United States by land and consider things like motor home repair. For now, my sweet dreams are made of these!

Litratong Pinoy #95: Kaarawan (Birthday)

What's a birthday without a cake, right? This was my sister's birthday cake: Ube (Purple Yam) Macapuno from Red Ribbon Bakeshop in Jersey City. It's kind of a big deal to have ube-flavored cake around these parts, because that means having to drive 30 minutes just to order it. A milestone birthday definitely calls for this cake.

My sister turned 30 on Christmas Day. Yes, she has a Christmas Birthday. She doesn't like the fact that she gets one gift for both Christmas and her birthday.

The candle on this cake plays the birthday tune when you light it up. But with all the loud singing surrounding her prior to blowing her cake, the candle was virtually inaudible.

Remember that Jennifer Garner movie "13 Going On 30?" Her mantra there was "Thirty, Flirty and Thriving."

What's your favorite kind of cake?

Speaking of trenta, alam niyo bang may bagong size na ang Starbucks na kape dito? "Trenta." Yes, folks, pati Starbucks supersized na.

Pencil Portrait

One of the things I promised myself this year to do more of is to create art. This is technically the first artwork I did this year, a pencil portrait of a family friend who turned 70 on New Year's Day. I took her photo then copied her profile on a piece of heavy paper, then framed it. This was my birthday gift for her, this lady who travels between London, Denmark, New Jersey and the Philippines to visit her other children and grandkids. I added musical notes around her head because she loves to sing, especially during worship. She's a grandmother/mother to all of us in our little community.

I wonder if I'll also be a traveling grandmother someday. I hope I have strong enough knees and back to do that. Which means I have to work on my calcium intake more than trying to understand what AEM cold air intake is about.

Kawaiiness For Kayni

My birthday wish for Kayni, my fellow East Coast inhabitant, is that her camera would capture all things colorful (like these cute plush celfone charms from Chinatown in New York, photographed in October 2010) every chance she gets; that her life be filled with all her favorite things: whether they be books, postcards, travel souvenirs, memories to cherish, but most of all, loving people to share precious moments with!

You know what else would be cool? That I would someday meet her in person. I have more luck meeting new people in Times Square of late!

My birthday isn't until September, so instead of my own birthday wish, how about my recent Christmas wish? Chronologically speaking, it may be (hopefully) granted well ahead of my birthday wish, which although unformulated at this time, will surely be similar to said Christmas wish.

Happy Birthday, Kayni! Nevermind that the Zodiac Chart recently went awry with "Ochiuphus," all signs should point to a wonderful birthday celebration!

Wanna join Kayni's Birthday Blog Giveaway? Lovely prizes await! You could be one of three lucky winners! You and ME hopefully!

The Cake Chronicles Continue

So I bought a fluted cake pan so I can enter the next baking level: from cupcakes to cakes! I used Betty Crocker German Chocolate cake mix for this attempt.

With this pan, the cake looked like a giant donut! I was pressed for time since this was supposed to be a birthday cake the same afternoon I made it so I quickly dressed it up with white frosting and red sprinkles.

Supersized birthday donut! Homer Simpson would be drooling!

It tasted moist and chocolatey sweet just like the box described. We brought the donut-cake to the Puerto Rican restaurant where we celebrated my sister's boyfriend's birthday. It was the same day that I had that freak accident. Good thing I wasn't carrying the cake when it happened. But I still enjoyed my Bacalao dinner that night!

Last night, I was watching "Wedding Cake Wars" on the Wedding Central Channel. They had a contest for mostly amateur cake-makers and the theme was "locations." You pick a famous destination and decorate your cake with that place in mind. One of the contestants was Carolina Lara, a Puerto Rican housewife with three kids who made theme cakes as a home business--she baked in her own home! Her cake was supposed to look like El Morro (which looks like the doppelganger of Manila's own Intramuros), that Puerto Rican landmark in Old San Juan (which I have a postcard of). Her husband was her assistant. She didn't win, but her efforts were inspiring. Another team with a gorgeous African Safari themed cake won first place.

Could fondant be in my baking future? Watching those cake shows make fondant-forming look like playing with modeling clay, except it's edible. Maybe if I try my hand at it, I could create some fantastic fondant cakes, too...especially for my niece's first birthday in August next year! That way, I won't just be sending the 1st birthday invitations, I'll be baking the cake too!

Make Mine Minado

There was a tornado watch in our county on my birthday. But thankfully, we didn't end up in Oz. Instead, we celebrated indoors at my favorite Japanese Buffet Restaurant, Minado.

It had a broad spectrum of sushi plus other Japanese food made fresh from a kitchen visible from behind the serving section.

Well at least, it's the prep area that's publicly visible.

Oishi Sushi!

I should let you know that the kitchen crew at this Japanese restaurant is mostly Hispanic. I don't mind at all. I was there for the food!

And my sister gave me this raspberry walnut cake from Viking Bakery to make a wish on. I wonder if eating too much nuts would necessitate acne pills in the long run? I thought it was funny that the cake had "Viking" written on it. It definitely emphasized the fact that I ate like a Viking that day.

Burstday

Gingmaganda created this pretty birthday greeting for me, originally posted at our travel blog here. Thank you! ♥

Weather forecast for my birthday is stormy, but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate indoors! What about my astrology forecast for the year ahead?

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (Sept. 28). Your actions will have a tremendously positive effect on your environment. The loving gestures you exchange in October help you to feel secure in your relationships, which are your personal kingdom. Romance develops through November. Firm in your convictions, you'll make important deals in January. Scorpio and Leo people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 5, 11, 24, 39 and 26.

Ace of Cupcakes?

On Friday night, I decided to try my hand at baking cupcakes for the first time with this box of devil's food cupcake mix I got at the dollar store. I've always been intimidated by baking.

I also bought a set of icing writer tubes by Wilton from Target for $1.98. Cupcakes are essentially cakes in cup size that can still be written on!

It was a simple mix of ingredients to create the batter: two eggs, some vegetable oil, water and the cupcake mix itself. I used Fairly Odd Parents-themed baking cups which I had bought ages ago because I had planned on trying to bake a long time ago.

As per the box's instructions, I set the oven at 375 degrees then allowed it to do its magic for 24 minutes. This was the result!

I added chocolate frosting on top of each cupcake. The can of frosting was also from the dollar store.

 

Then I wrote the birhday greeting with the icing writer and sprinkled each cupcake with green candy sprikles and M&M's minis. I added chocolate cookie fingers to complete the chocolate theme and this was my cousin's birthday cupcake! It was all gone as soon as the birthday candles were blown.

I'm no Betty Crocker, but these just might be my baby steps towards Ace of Cupcake-hood!

Birthday Loot From Europe!

Unexpected birthday loot from two of my Miss Iggy blogging sisters in Vienna and Dublin: namely, Princess Ody and LittleMsFirefly. Both postal surprises arrived on the same day, too!

LittleMsFirefly got me this fairy-themed birthday card by PaperChase, a stationery company I recognize and adore that is available from Borders. But that's not all, she stuffed the card with pretty postcards, including a self-designed one with the "Hope" poem by Emily Dickinson (which is sort of one of my mantras).

I was also pleased to get a tiny Flickr print tag of her wedding photo in General Santos City, Philippines...tied with red baker's twine which I presume was part of the bulk of spools I helped ship to Ireland. Thank you so much!

And from Princess Ody came a regalo poquito from Lomography that's big in fun: a Lomolito single-use camera with blue flash! Blue! Just happens to be one of my fave colors! I'll use it up in a jiffy till I'm blue in the face!

And Tutti Frutti candies made in Germany! How sweet! I also loooove the birthday postcard with the girl holding an umbrella.

Big thanks to both of you for your thoughtfulness! You really hit my weak spots!

Leaving On A Jetplane

I'm off to the "Windy City" (Chicago) with my parents today, an early flight (6am!!!) to catch an aunt's 50th birthday party scheduled at noontime. It's my first time flying to Chicago because we usually opt to drive 12 hours on the road to visit relatives there. Road trips are more fun! The last time I was in Chicago was two summers ago.

We have a layover in Detroit, then arrive at Chicago's Midway Airport around 9am.

We'll hang around till my own birthday on the 28th, then fly back to Jersey on the 30th.

I really want to see the shiny "Cloud Gate" sculpture at Millennium Park. Not sure if that's gonna happen when lots of relatives will want to see us at their homes. Illinois is so big and they live far apart from each other that it's always at least an hour to get from one house to another.

But I'm not complaining. I really didn't expect to spend my birthday in Chicago this year!

my best birthday ever

after much thought and consideration, i finally decided to join ghee's birthday contest (as she's celebrating her own birthday this month) so i can have a chance at winning her rirakkuma (yes, i'm an adult and i adore san-x! got a problem with that? haha) plushie, which would make perfect company for my afro ken and kogepan plushies (both salvaged at thrift stores--"ukay-ukay"--in cubao).

the lucky winner gets to choose one of these three toys as the prize. (photo by ghee) i have my eyes set on the king rirakkuma one!

her contest requires me to share my "best birthday" memory. i should really put "my best birthday YET" in the title, but i must follow rules. i confess that i already concede to one of the contestants, vanidosa, a barangay captain who celebrated her golden birthday with her entire constituents. how can anyone beat that?

Rules:

1)Write an article, short or long, it doesn`t matter, entitled “My Best Birthday Ever”.
It could be about the present that you had received. It could be romantic, funny, touching/dramatic, thrilling, kinky(hehe) stories or what so ever! Anything will do.Write them in a language that you are comfortable with,as long as we can translate it through the help of babels or any translation sites.

2) Please put this pic above the post as a virtual kiss for you!Thank you in advance for posting.Muah!

3)Link your posts here then let me know if you`re done by leaving me a comment.

http://www.akoni.info/?p=660

********
so anyway, here goes:

milestone birthdays are always memorable. after turning 18, the birthdays that followed seemed like a blur. for filipino girls (unlike here in the states where it's the "sweet sixteen" that matters), turning 18 is a big deal, and i was lucky to have experienced this whole debutante thing as a young lady (then! haha) in the philippines.

my family lived in a small, duplex-style apartment in pasig at the time before the floodings eventually evicted us to higher ground in novaliches. most of my childhood was spent in this three-bedroom apartment while our mother spent most of our growing-up years toiling away in the middle east, then finally, new jersey.

me being the eldest daughter, my parents decided to throw me a special 18th birthday party. why was it so special? my mom flew home from new jersey for this event, bearing little hats turned into birthday favors made by a crafty aunt (also in new jersey) who couldn't make it to my party. the hats had pink ribbons on it that bore my name and my birthday.

speaking of pink, my mom brought me a pink lacy gown to wear for my party! haha. how many times does a girl get to wear a gown for herself (and not for someone else's wedding or a school dance or a costume party) in her lifetime? (unless you're a celebrity, maybe) i can only think of the other instance being her own wedding (unless it's the civil-type). this was a coming-of-age party, so what better way to usher in womanhood than by wearing pink, right? and i had a corsage with orchids on my left hand!

the party was just in our small apartment, but all of my relatives and neighbors that were close to my heart were present. my party wasn't as extravagant as you might imagine, but my pink gown, goldilocks cake with pink icing (and a girl figurine standing on top of a stairway), lechon, home-made food and most of all--my family, made it just perfectly priceless. i mean, even if you took away all the pinkness and left me with just the food (haha) and my family and guests, i would have felt like a princess nonetheless!

i did have my "18 roses" dance...but i ran out of males to dance with me so some cousins and uncles got to dance a second time with me just to complete the ritual, haha.

i looked at my old photo album for this precious birthday moment and saw all the love that surrounded me that day. in every photo with me in it, there was a glow to my smile--not from my pink gown, but from the genuine happiness that i felt.

there were two grandmothers in the photos who have both passed away, one of whom was very dear to my heart and whose funeral i attended just last december in the philippines. i just got teary-eyed remembering how she helped rear me during my childhood.

and so this is my "pretty in pink" birthday memory...a special milestone in my life. it's a little embarrassing sharing something this personal, but that king rirakkuma is beckoning me. haha! (is there a consolation prize?:P)

happy birthday, ghee! :)

livin' la vida treinta

so the mystery is gone: the candles reveal my true age...i'm 30! i can no longer hide behind the veil of vagueness when asked how old i am and reply that i'm a "twenty-something." i'm as old as jollibee! the day i've been watching out for with much apprehension finally came. it's one of those inevitable things in life: aging. but with it comes the inner resolve to do the things i must do.

it rained on my birthday (yesterday)...so instead of going to new york city as i had hoped, i stayed home with my family. after all, a small party with some family friends already happened the day before. people kept remarking, "you're ONLY 30? you're STILL YOUNG!" well, they were significantly older than me so they can say that.

an aspiring lawyer friend from croatia sent me a parcel for my birthday consisting of a funky postcard, vanilla-flavored nougat candy (which my sister eyed suspiciously as potentially laced with something undesirable), and a handcrafted necklace from malta. that's the most "exotic" gift i ever received.

i ate the nougat candy today and it tasted good. i'm still alive, by the way. special thanks also go to gladys for the birthday card and postcard, and to shiera for the kawaii hello kitty birthday card from japan.

the most entertaining card i received came from a sweet romanian couple: it was a large, musical card with a fortune teller named madame delphi instructing me to click on this link to find out my birthday horoscope. want to find out yours? just enter your birthdate, then type in 2008 for the year to get your own reading. go on...try it!

the url is http://www.clickwishes.com/fortuneteller

craving crabs

last weekend, my family drove to south jersey in a historic maritime town called tuckerton.

tuckerton is located close to other beach attractions such as long beach island and atlantic city.

the weekend get-away was to celebrate my aunt's birthday, so her four kids tagged along. traffic along the garden state parkway was moving slowly with other cars also headed to the jersey shore.

we bought her a cookie cake so she can blow candles. cookie cakes are easier to transport and don't melt. i did the lettering on the cake with red gel icing. the tube was just enough for the entire greeting.

no, she's not twelve years old, if you counted the candles. the four blue ones each represent 10 years, so she's actually 48. she doesn't read my blog, so it's okay to reveal her age...haha.

the house where we stayed at is actually owned by a doctor friend of ours. his family was kind enough to let us use their vacation house for the weekend. this house is right next to the waters which lead to barnegat bay and ultimately to the atlantic ocean. almost all the houses there own fishing boats such as the ones you see on the first photo.

it was my first time to experience "crabbing" here in the east coast. at first, i thought we would actually be submerged in knee-deep seawater and catch crabs using only our hands and maybe crab baskets as i remember watching on the GMA 7 reality show "extra challenge." thankfully, the task only involved crab traps that look like square cages with small pieces of raw chicken inside for bait. you attach a long string on the trap and tie the end onto something sturdy then plunge the whole thing into the water.

and then...you wait. you don't have to sit by the water forever, though. you can do whatever else you want then check on it after about 30 minutes or so. our cousins abby and jason were so into it, that they'd check like every 2 minutes.

an unlucky crab would eventually find its way inside the trap, then we'd extract him using a pair of tongs.

most of them would really hang onto the walls of the trap, unwilling to surrender to the wrath of the tongs. but, they'd end up inside the pan, anyway, ready to meet their fiery fate in the name of dinner.

we'd cook the crabs whenever we caught four or five. it's really a treat to eat these critters straight from the waters. nothing beats fresh!

even if i didn't do any swimming, the summer sun baked my skin. it was also relaxing to sit by the waters as the seabreeze swept my hair. my little cousin abby was the one who enjoyed this trip the most. i reckon she even gained some muscles lifting those heavy crab traps from the water. here she is willingly striking a nautical pose:

my family is planning to go back here in the fall for my birthday. we'll see how the crab crumbles.

"the more the manyer!"

my friend in the philippines, rizza, sent a little something (literally) in the mail for my birthday which i got this morning. it's an itty-bitty gift book entitled "the more the manyer! pinoy cliches and other words of wisdumb", published by tahanan books.

it's a handy compilation of funny, philippinized idiomatic expressions that end up sounding idiotic, english phrases of the carabao species that make you go, "ex-squeeze me?!"

the selection of humorous slang is complemented by elbert or's comical artwork with a cartoon network-y feel to it.

here's a sampling of what the book offers, some of which you may already be "family" with:

"the sky's the langit!
"keep that bear in mind"
"it's a blessing in the sky!"
"the idea crossed at the back of my mind"

it's hilarious. "THANKS GOD", rizza! you know my taste buds! :)