Aishah's Hantaran Cake

First of all I would like to congratulate Aishah on her wessing today! May she be blessed with lots of love and have a wonderful marriage..

She ordered this cake from me.. It's a hantaran cake where she will be giving it as a gift to ze husband.. :) The cake design and colour scheme was requested by her.. Overall I had lots of fun doing this cake and I learnt a lot... yeap.. alot..

I realize that my work now is so much faster.. I guess I'm use to all the work and I get more efficient as time goes by... Which is good, because it gives me more time on my decorating.. I really love the design that she gave me.. Simple and clean, yet the main attraction is the lace border which is made entirely by piped Royal Icing makes it so pretty and interesting.. Not the ribbon border at the base of the cake but the top of the cake..

I think I've come to realise that I love piping and working with Royal Icing.. And I learnt that, in Royal icing, you just have got to have confidence.. Lots of confidence!! Y? because you can't erase your mistake.. You can, but it's not gonna be easy.. And of course your most important tool is a good quality tip.. PME tips are the best!! You have to have lots of patience too.. But I think everything needs patience anyway... :)

At first I was quite skeptical about myself and whether I can pull this off.. And I did it!! Well.. I thought the borders were fabulous.. I'm so proud of it.. However, the challenge is always writing.. It's easy to write on the table.. But when your hands have no support.. I don't know how.. I need to practise my writing skills.... alot alot alot..

The weather here has been harsh lately.. Rain, sun, Rain, Humid, Rain, Humid.. AAarrrghhhh~ It took 3 days for my simple flowers to dry.. And when I put it on the cake.. It fell on me.. very frustrating.. But thank god it's still looks ok.. And thank god to the person who invented silica gel.. I would have died without it... My flowers will never dry..

Overall, I am happy with the product and I hope Aishah loves it too.. Although I know I could really improve on the writings... Ooh.. And I love the embroidered ribbon that I source for the cake too!! You have to give me credits for the wonderful border right?? :)

~But that's the way that it goes
And that's what nobody knows..
And everyday, my confusion grows..~

Rainbow Cake

My mom was hinting to me whether I would be making a cake for my niece's 3rd birthday. I was just recovering from making a 3 tier 1s birthday cake from last weekend. But I guess I couldn't disappoint my own family and my niece. 

My mom mentioned that she wanted something with flowers. My niece is this vainpot who likes pink. She looks like the younger version of me. But I was a tomboy, unlike her. I didn't really like pink. I loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Mighty Max. Hahaha... She likes Dora and Barney. 

Since I made a 2 pink cakes for 2 little girls previously. I decided to go with a white covered cake and I made a edible pink crown using gumpaste and patchwork cutters. For the cake, I decided to make the Rainbow cake that I've been wanting to make as really inspired by 2 of my favourite bloggers.. Sweetapolita and Whisk Kid. You should check out their blogs. Very inspirational. 

I realised kids only get excited blowing candles and seeing how colourful the cake is. So, it was a perfect opportunity for me to try making this cake. 

It turned out really pretty. I thought the colours would be too dark cos I was quite generous with the colour paste. I decided to play around with gliters too. I wanted to put glitters on the flowers but I was to tired running around and cleaning up all the glitters that I stopped at the crown and the butterflies. Anyway, I was so anxious, waiting for the time to cut the cake. I wanted to see if the 7 layers worked very well and whether it tasted as gorgeous as the cake.

The cake was layered with Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I didn't dare to put too much buttercream in between because I was worried it wouldn't hold the weight of the fondant. But judging after cutting the cake, it was just nice enough for me. My sisters said it tasted yummy too. I was proud of this cake although I think there's some improvements I can do on the cake. 

Rainbow Cake (taken from The Whisk Kid)

White Cake (but not really)

2 sticks (226 g) butter, room temp
2 1/3 c (426 g) sugar
5 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 c (426 g) flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/2 c (355 ml) milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave to bring to room temp
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple GEL food coloring. Liquid will not be vibrant enough!

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Oil and line how ever many 9” cake pans you have (I have three and I just reused them). (I used 8" pans instead)

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter, then add the egg whites (I cracked them all into one bowl) and add them a little at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture in two parts.

Divide the batter amongst 6 bowls (It's about 1 c each, but I did it by weight. Weigh your mixing bowl before you begin adding ingredients and then subtract the weight of the bowl from the final measurement after the batter is completed. Divide that number by six and add that weight of batter to each bowl), and then whisk a fair amount of the appropriate food color into each bowl. Keep in mind that the color of the unbaked batter will be the color of the baked batter. Pour into the pans and bake for 15 minutes each.

When you remove them from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes. Then flip, cover, and stash them in the fridge to cool quickly.


Lemony Swiss Meringue Buttercream 
(This recipe makes more than enough for me)

To fill and crumb coat:
9 egg whites
1 ¾ c (350 g) sugar
4 sticks (452 g) butter, room temp
2 tsp lemon extract

To frost:
5 egg whites
1 c (200 g) sugar
2 sticks (226 g) butter, room temp
1 tsp lemon extract

Cook the egg whites and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved (test by rubbing some between your fingers. If it's completely smooth, it's done). Pour into another bowl (a stand mixer is preferable) and whip on high speed until room temp. Then, on a medium-slow speed, add the butter, waiting until each piece is completely incorporated before adding the next. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer back to high speed and whip until it has come together, about five minutes. Add the extract, beat briefly and then use.

If the buttercream seems soupy after all of the butter is added and does not come together after whipping, refrigerate for 5 to 7 minutes and continue whipping until it becomes fluffy and workable.

Assembly
Stack the layers in your preferred order and fill and frost as you would any other cake.

Once frosted, the cake can be left on the counter without any problems, but feel free to refrigerate it. Just be sure that the cake is at room temperature when serving or the frosting will be hard, not smooth. (Cake is taste nicer/better at room temperature when cutting and serving)


~Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true~