The Surprise Cake

Back in November, I gave my Mom a big surprise by going home for her birthday! I took the 2 kids in tow and we had this elaborate plan with my sister who was arriving the same day (although earlier) to get home at the same time. Boy was she surprised! We followed that with a number of surprises on her birthday including a spa treatment at Hammam Spa in Bangsar Village which was quite an experience as I had never been to a Turkish bath before, then followed by afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton with 2 surprise guests.

In the evening we went for dinner then the birthday cake. She saw me working on the cake which I told her was for a customer. She believed me... LOL! It all went without anyone letting anything slip. This was months in planning mind you. Our Aunt's from US and Taiwan also coincided their visit with my Mom's birthday and they knew about it too so there were so many chances for someone to let something slip but I am glad that nobody gave the plans away and she had such a happy Birthday.

As for her cake, I made the gum paste roses in advance. I chose the colour after seeing a gorgeous... did I say gorgeous gum paste flower online. I no longer have the link to the website where I found it unfortunately as I only saved the photo as a reference. Here's what it looked like.

I made the mistake of putting too much colour into the fondant when I first did the mixing and I didn't want to end up with too much of that colour as it would just go to waste later so I stuck to it and so I had more dark petals than light petals. Really it should have had more pale coloured petals, I think that would have turned out more delicate.

The cake flavour was Red Velvet. She isn't a big fan of chocolate but she really likes the moistness of the Red Velvet cakes/cupcakes that I make. I have tried several recipes to get it right. I covered the cake with Buttercream frosting and piped flowers along the edges with the Drop Flower tip. Well as long she was happy, then I am happy.

Here are my parents with the cake that's been cut. Looks like an earthquake split.