Thomas the Tank Engine: Special Customised Kid's Birthday Cake in Seoul

I know, it's a long title but it makes it easier to come up on related searches in Google (hee hee).

I had the pleasure of creating a Thomas and Friends cake for a special boy who was turning 2 last weekend.  His Mom contacted me after reading my article on the Korea4expats website (Yes, that was a shameless plug) and requested for a Thomas and Friends cake.  Her son is a big fan of the show and has many engines and toys.  She sent me a sample of the kind of cake she wanted and after some discussion, we settled on a 9"/24cm 1 tier cake in Orange and Chocolate flavous lightly layered with chocolate buttercream. 

It was then frosted with Orange Buttercream made from fresh orange juice which had been reduced to a syrup.  Finally came the fondant and the decorations.  I've always liked the chocolate and orange Jaffa combination so it was nice to see the chocolate and orange layers as I put the cake together.  

Here's the completed cake before we put the toys on board

I had other cake orders for that weekend so enlisted the help of two friends who came over to my place and helped me with the decorations.  Between the 3 of us we spent 7 hours just on the fondant decorations!  That is not including the time it took bake, assemble and frost the cake (twice!).  That took about 5 hours.  I frosted the cake twice, the first time was just dry icing it as I was worried about it drying out and the second layer was for the fondant to adhere.  Based on the feedback from Chi who ordered the cake, the cake tasted good but the buttercream frosting could have been a little thinner.  Got to keep that in mind for the next one!

Fondant bow.  Train tracks were made from rolled fondant and then pepero sticks were spaced out on top.

Before we started on the fondant decorations, I drew out the scenery on a piece of paper so my friends knew what I was trying to go.  We made apple and orange trees, mountains, clouds, bushes, leaves and a cheeky little sun.

Do you like the cheeky sun peeking out from behind the mountain and bush? 

At around 2.30am we were already pretty zonked and the conversations went something like this:

Yoko: "I need some more apples."
Gerry: " Wani, just give her some more apples, Dammit!"

You had to be there for it to have been funny, I think.

Here's Yoko putting the finishing touches on the Apples and Oranges

Anyway, we were all pretty pleased with the cake and couldn't wait to see it with the trains on top of it.  In my rush to get out of the house to deliver the cake, I forgot to bring my camera but Chi who ordered the cake was nice enough to take some photos for me.  Here they are!

Moustache Cupcakes: Cute and Cool at the Same Time!

When I got an email a few weeks ago with all the details for an order of cupcakes, I was excited (as I always am) but as I read on, I realised it was a request for moustache themed cupcakes. My first reaction was, "HUH? Ok read that again". Nope I did not read wrong especially when there are accompanying sample pictures. My next reaction was more cautious, "Okaaaay..."

John, the person requesting for them had a lovely story behind why he wanted the moustache cupcakes. His wife really loves cupcakes and they had been looking at cupcakes on the internet and they both really fell for a particular batch that they saw. So for his birthday, he planned a surprise moustache themed birthday party for her! He's such a sweetheart isn't he? I bet he got LOTS of brownie points with that.

Here they are: aren't they cute?!

After a series of rapid fire emails, we hashed out the details. John decided on Snickerdoodle flavoured cupcakes (think cinnamon flavour)and I suggested a Fluffy Vanilla Frosting as a bed for the fondant faces. These will provide a more stable base for the fondant faces which can weigh a little compared to Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Then I created 3 faces for John to choose 2. When initially thinking about styles of moustaches, I immediately thought of Magnum P.I. or Tom Selleck as is his real name. I grew up watching that show and really had no idea why some women liked him and his moustache! (Still don't see the appeal) I am more of a Aragorn from LOTR kinda girl IF I was going to go for someone with a bit of facial hair. Hee hee.

I also thought of Mario from Super Mario Bros, then there was Mr Potato Head. He's a real sweetheart that one. But in the end created three based loosely on a cross between Mr Potato Head and Tom Selleck and Captain Hook from Peter Pan. He settled on the one with a moustache inspired by Captain Hook (blue) and tweaked it a bit, as well as one that I designed based on my memory of a certain maths teacher I had back in secondary school (pink)... right down to the side-parted hair! Mr. Lim that one was for you.

As I started cutting out the fondant faces with my trusty double sided plastic round and scalloped edge cutters (bought them from this seller on Amazon), I was hoping that I will be able to draw the blue face well. The kneading of the fondant into gumpaste and colouring plus cutting them into the right shapes took over 3 hours.

For the hair and moustache for the red face, I started off with chocolate ready-made icing by Bakels which really cut down the time I would have spent trying to make white fondant black! Still, it took me another few hours to form the moustache, cut the hair and assemble them onto the face. I left the drawing of the eyes and the moustache for Blue the next day as I wanted them to dry out properly too.

The moment I drew the eyes on Red, I was like, "Awwwww! So cute!" The eyes really made the whole face look real and Blue was just cool. The weather now is very hot and humid. I can't refrigerate the fondant faces and I was really concerned that if they were placed on top of the frosting, the humidity and the moisture from the buttercream would make the faces droop. This was a real concern of mine as the faces were firm but not rock hard. They were meant to be eaten after all.

Here they are all packed and ready to go

So after a late night email to John, I packed the fondant faces separately in a tupperware in between layers of baking paper so they don't stick. Partially to test it and also so John will know how to place them (ok so maybe I just wanted to see how they looked - hee hee) I put 6 of the faces on and beamed with pride. ^_*

I got an email from his wife the next day who was really happy with the party and said the cupcakes were the highlight of her moustache-birthday-party.

They also got on the CutestFood blog for 30 August! AND

The most popular cupcake blog Cupcakes Take the Cake on 7th September.

Here are some pictures that John sent me of the cupcakes when they arrived and were assembled. I am so impressed with those Moustache party packs!

How to Make a Successful Sponge Cake?

This is a follow up to my previous post about baking sponges and the landmines that are associated with it.  Ok, maybe "landmines" is too strong a word but a lot of things can go wrong.  I have since learned 2 other ways to bake sponge cakes from my Wilton instructor (see my other blog on My Cake Decorating Journal here) Korean style.  I found this article that attempts to dispel the myths for successfully baking a light and airy sponge cake every time particularly useful.

Source: Pamela Clark and Fran Abdallaoui, Australian Women's Weekly

There seems to be a myth surrounding the sponge cake - little wonder so many of us are daunted by the thought of baking one.  Yet a bit of practice, know-how and a few basic rules will help you master the art in no time.

Sponge cakes rely on eggs for their lightness and structure, so very fresh, good eggs on low speed and, as they thicken, increase the speed to moderately high.  Add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time, scraping down the sides occasionally to avoid any undissolved sugar.  This ste requires patience as it may take about 10 minutes to incorporate all the sugar.

Although only experience will teach you the best way to fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, there are a few tricks to it.  Start by sifting the dry ingredients three times to ensure the mixture is evenly combines.  Using a large metal spoon, rubber spatula, balloon whisk or even your hands, apply a light, deft stroke to lift the egg mixture from the bottom of the bowl and drag the dry ingredients thought hte egg mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl.

Deep cake pans give the best results as the depth of the pan protects the delicate sponge mixture, preventing a crisp crust from developing.  Aluminium pans conduct heat better than other types of pans.  Give your pan a light, even greasing with a pastry brush dipped in melted butter to keep the cake from sticking and achieve even browning.  When you are dividing the mixture between the pans, gently spread it to the edge as the mixture will not spread in the oven.  As a general rule, sponges cook best when the tops of the pans are in the centre of the oven.  If you are baking two sponges on different shelves, you will need to swap their positions halfway through the cooking time to ensure even cooking.  As long as you move quickly and handle the pans carefully, you should still achieve good results.

Opening the oven door does decrease the temperature, but will only affect the cake's rising if you do this during the early stages of cooking.  The sponge is cooked when it begins to shrink away from the side of the pan and feels slightly springy to the touch.  Sponges are best made ont he day of serving.  Unfilles sponges can be frozen for up to one month. 

Follow these tips and soon you'll be whiskcing up light and airy sponges that are 10 centimetres high.

Flower Birthday Cake

 

I made this 2 weeks ago for a good friend of mine, W.  She likes flowers and I thought a flower cake might be appropriate especially since I have been itching to try my silicon flower cake mold.   This was my attempt for the 2nd time at a sponge cake.  Chocolate sponge cake to be exact.  I wouldn't say I failed dismally as it looked the part but I overcooked it.  There were 3 layers so I put the 2 round cake pans at the back and the flower pan in the front.  

As the flower pan was deeper, it cooked slower and it didn't occur to me at the time that the 2 round cake pans which wasn't as deep was happily baking ahead.  In the end, I should have taken the round cakes out about 3 minutes earlier.  They turned out a little dry and not moist and spongey as it ought to have been.

The Birthday Girl and friends were happy with the cake, but I know it could have been better.  

The decorations were... pretty but took sooooo long to frost in the star method.  With 2 kids, it is almost impossible to get any decorating done when they are awake.  Especially if my daughter who is 20 months old is around.  She likes cakes and if she sees it, she has to have it.  So that means the night shift.  I started the top at about 12am.  Got to the end of the flower by 1am.  It took awhile as I had to remix the colours after every 2 lines or so to get that gradient effect.

By 2am I was on to the yellow stars and at this point I was thinking, "Damn, I should have used a larger tip!".  Well too late then.  My hand was getting tired from squeezing minutely and moving fractionally to the right after every star.  I had to stop more than a few times to flex the muscles a bit.   Sometimes the stars would be perfect and sometimes they would be go a bit wonky.  Concentration started to get a bit difficult at 3am and I started to run out of buttercream!  Great.   I had to squeeze every bit of buttercream out of that piping bag and this includes pushing the bag right into the tip.   Even then, I still had to sneak some from the white buttercream I had saved for the border.  It worked out in the end though.

I am going to try the sponge cake again to make sure I get it right.  It normally takes me about 3 attempts before I get the result I want.  It has to be a combination of tweaks to the recipe and adjustments based on my oven.  All the same, having spoken to other friends sponges aren't easy to make so I will post some advice I found on Australian Women's Weekly.

'Foiled' for Choice: Foil Cupcake Liners

There's just something about foil cupcake liners that adds a little bit of class and pizazz.  Even without the frosting it looks really enticing and they look amazing in a tower arrangement.  I guess bling is bling is all shapes and sizes.  These are great for adult themed parties and corporate events.  Let me know if you would like to use foil liners for your cupcakes.

Frogs are Officially CUTE!

My Frog cupcakes got on the Cutest Food blog. Yay!

http://cutestfood.com/2206/frog-cupcakes/

*New Flavour* Mocha Bye Baby

I love chocolate. Have you noticed? I love coffee too. I average 1 cup a day of this black gold liquid joy. So chocolate + expresso was always going to be a no-brainer for me. So when I discovered Mocha at Starbucks (that's where I used to frequent as a young coffee drinker). I was hooked. I like it hot, I like it cold and most of all I like it as a frappe.

On days when you don't feel like something too chocolaty nor something too strong in flavour as coffee, mocha is a good option to turn to. So it's only natural that I include this in my list of cupcake flavours. I make mine with espresso by Illy coffee. It goes really well with espresso Fluffy Frosting (aka seven-minute frosting) seen here in the picture below or paired with the creaminess of espresso Italian Meringue Buttercream. This will go into the 18+ section along with some other spiked goodies I will come up with later.

Ingredients: Flour, Eggs, Brown Sugar, Sugar, Butter, Cocoa, Sour Cream, Illy Espresso