Refreshing New Year

Happy New Year to all!! This new year is quite special to me. I'm starting this year as a wife, I'm starting a new job which is a total switch to my previous job and last of all, I'm hoping for a new outlook on everything.

To start this new year, I wanted to share with you guys a refreshing cupcake recipe. It is refreshing to me because of 2 reasons. 1)It uses citrus. 2)It is the first cupcake/cake recipe that I made using heavy cream instead of the normal milk or buttermilk.

I'm actually staying at my husband's place while waiting for our own house to be ready which will be in the next 2 years. The best thing is, my lovely mother-in-law has the same interest as me which is baking. She shared with me her Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book.It has a lot of awesome pictures of cupcakes and interesting recipes. One that caught my eyes was the Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes. I always thought that it was a waste of money to buy the book as all her recipes are actually on her website. BUUUT.. It's totally different when you have the book. The pictures in the books are better for one thing. However the recipes and steps are easier to see in the book. ANND there are some information in the book that is not on the website. Hence, I still think it is a great buy. 

I was deeply curious about how the cupcake would turn out like or taste like with heavy cream as a liquid medium. I've tried using milk, buttermilk and sour cream but never heavy cream. I assume that it would be more moist and dense. The thought of the orange and vanilla just lingered in my mind the whole day. I knew I had to try it. 

I'm a fan of citrus recipes. I love vanilla and vanilla beans. And I simply adore Swiss Meringue Buttercream. So, this cupcake was awesome to me. The buttercream complemented the moist yet light tasting cupcake. It was not too dense but was just nice. And as you bite, you can see the speckles of vanilla bean in the cake which is so pretty and heart-warming to me. It was also my first try making the candied orange. I learnt a lot in the process. So, I heart heart heart the cupcakes. The recipe can be found here.

~A new year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled
tightly concealing the beauty within~

Vibrant Scallops Project

My latest project. The design is inspired from a book I just bought (I will update what book when I get hold of it). This is one of the designs that I fell in love with. I am just happy my customer liked the design too. 

I was intimidated to do this design, the usual feeling that I get everytime I start a new project. It's also been ages since I made gumpaste gerberas. I think the last time I made gerberas was when I was learning it in class. I was really excited that she wanted a gerbera. It is one of my favourite flowers. But the challenge was to figure how to make it without wires. The hard part was doing the centre shorter petals, to make it stand. It was hard to dry it as I was not able to hang the flower upside down with the help of wires. I was pretty successful eventually. But I know I can make a better, more realistic looking gerberas. 

Decorating the sides of the cake was scary at first. The most important tool was a ruler. Without a ruler, you will never get the correct overlapping size. After a while, I got the hang of it. Truth be told, it was quite fun. Then I had to the the words. I am still trying to improve a lot on my wordings. Hence, this is my first hand custom made fondant words. I made strings of fondant with the claygun and free form the letters. The white dots are made from Royal Icing. Dots and Royal Icing are my forte. The most important tip for dots is to use PME tips. I use PME No. 1 tip. 

The new project received quite a number of compliments from my family members and I really love it a lot. It's e type of design I like. I like contemporary designs, vibrant colours. And the flexibility of this design is quite commendable. I can imagining some colour schemes that will give it a vintage look.  

New Cake and New News..



Yes. That's me. That's the reason for my busy-ness and silence. I'm married to the most wonderful person I've known for so long. :) And this picture is my most favourite photo of all the nice photos taken on my DIY wedding. Thank you friends, family, emcee and photographers for making it happen. It will always be one of the days that I will never forget.  


I think I've taken quite a bit of a break. Now, I have to start work. Made this gumpaste gerberas for my new order. This is one of my favourite flowers and red is my favourite colour. But I love Pink Gerberas. Can't wait to show you teh final product. It's a gift cake for an engagement if I'm not wrong. But I totally dig the design of the cake. Hopefully everything will turn out well..