Adam’s 3rd Birthday Cake

Apologies for not updating for a long time, I am still trying to work through my grief for Abah but do bear with me, I am slowly getting there

Anyway, if you are a regular reader you will know how much our lives have changed now that we have this little guy in it.

Our little Adam, my sister’s three year old son. An energetic funny little boy whose beautiful smile lights up even the saddest of hearts.

By the way, I LOVE THIS PICTURE!! He wanted long hair so he popped the peeled skin of a pomelo on his head. That should give you a hint on how cheeky he truly is.

Anyway, our little champion turned three this year and I just had to make him a fun birthday cake. He has a stuffed monkey he sleeps with that he calls ‘Purple’ and I knew the cake must feature ‘Purple’ in some way.

My siblings and I also have this thing about ‘elephant bums’. In boring wedding ceremonies or long trips in the car, we used to doodle elephant’s bums constantly so an elephant had to be thrown in. Here is what I came up with.

The bottom layer is an 8 inch cake with 2 layers of vanilla and chocolate with vanilla icing and the top tier is a 6 inch strawberry cake with raspberry jam filling. Here is a close up of the layers before I dirty iced them;

Yum yum yum yum

And here is a close up picture of Purple the Monkey and Ellie the elephant.

I had so much fun making the animals on this cake, I couldn’t stop.. So I made 2 more for future projects, a really cute Panda and a hefty lion!

Aren’t they adorable? I can’t wait to use them on a cake oneday!

The birthday party went very well. My sister was very creative with the decorations and we had a bouncer which meant everyone spent the whole party being doused with water. Adam had a wonderful time and had a big smile on his face the whole day Here are some fun pictures of the day.

Finally, a picture of my MAD husband diving head first down the slide of the bouncer

COWABUNGA!!

Cupcake Queen Comeback!

Hello world!!

Will freely admit life was hard without Pete for the last ten months. it wasn’t so much work or family obligations but more the lonely days and nights without him just made everything so much harder. I do apologize for my absence but didn’t really have the motivation or the passion to bake or blog..

But now Pete is back!! He has completed his Msc and is slowly getting use to life in Brunei.  It is so true that you truly appreciate someone when they have gone. Everyday is full of joy again! Menial tasks like washing the dishes is fun especially when Pete is there to have a water fight with. We are spending a lot of time together before he starts work and with so much time together, we are falling in love all over again.

So now, I am back and will make regular entries in my blog so I hope you will comeback to me dear readers! I have missed you terribly!!

Anyway, back to the business of baking…

My nephew had his second birthday a few months ago and my sister wanted me to design TWO cakes (it is his second birthday) for that special day and this is what I came up with.. base cakes are from Le Apple but I did the decorations.

An Elephant cake with mummy and baby elephant

A Fish Cake with daddy and baby fish

I also did a couple of cookies to put in the gift baskets of assorted land and aquatic animals

Animal Cookies

Here is an adorable picture of Adam with his cakes.

Whoops, can’t really see cakes in this picture… oh well

I did this order of cupcakes a few months ago, it was such an unusual request that I had to put this in! The client requested a ‘MONKEY NERD’ theme?? After a few panicked phone calls, found out that it meant a monkey with spectacles! Hehehehe…

Decided to put in a few bananas in different stages of unpeeling and this is what I came up with..

ADORABLE!!

Before I log off, I must share some terribly adorable photos of Toulouse and Murphy! Enjoy!!

Amar has gone home :(

Amar stayed with us for two weeks and went home yesterday! The flat feels very empty without him. Although we were all crammed in this tiny room, he had his own space in the tiny dining room where we had a double air mattress all ready for him so we didnt really get in each other’s way.

It was a nice bonding experience having my little brother to myself for two weeks. We are twelve years apart and I was away from home when he was growing up. When I came home,I only spent a few years there and moved out to my own flat soon after.

So the two weeks were special, we spent a lot of time together seeing all the sights, talking about home, his relationship and university. I was getting to know him all over again, this grown up version of the little boy I knew so well. He has grown to a very mature kind young man and I am very proud of him.

Pete loved having him around as well, they played the xbox until the wee hours of the morning shooting many enemies on the tv screen.  We had a list of places to see and do on a whiteboard by the kitchen which we consulted everyday. Each trip was a new adventure and he astounded me by introducing us to so many halal restaurants in London which we never knew existed!

So yesterday, waking up indecently early, we made our way to heathrow, his suitcase filled to the brim with gifts and treasures. He checked in and was awfully quiet when we had one more cup of tea at a cafe by the departure gates.

I hugged him for a long time at the doorway, wishing we had a little bit longer and cried on the train ride home. I know he will be happy to be home and I hope that he will visit us again very very soon!

Will blog about the many trips we did around London another day. Right now, am buried with work for uni!!

My Birthday Cake

I am so sorry this is a few days late but been busy doing last minute baking for raya tomorrow. This year I decided to make my own cake for my birthday to celebrate my new found love for baking. AND because it is my birthday cake, I could go mad with as much cream/topping/ filling as I want.

Decided on a Victoria Sponge filled with strawberries and cream with chocolate shavings. Although recipe said one layer was enough, I decided on FOUR!!
Here it is, four glorious layers of cake and inbetween it’s layer are strwberries and cream…

As you can see, I went a bit mad with the amount in each layer and everything oozed out!! It was a challenge to transport the cake to my mum’s house!!

Covered the top layer with cherries, choc shaving and cream…
The best birthday cake I have ever had!!