Handi hits town

Handi arrived an hour ahead of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.  What were the chances of having the a real Queen in town....and our very own Queen of cakes?

No sooner had we settled him into the trendy surrounds of Leederville, we were off with classes!

Peering into the fridge, this is what it looked like

Full of the yummy brownie chocolate cakes that Sous chef Carl had baked.

 

First up with the very elegant Double barrel and beautiful peonies to go with it's flawless pearl finish.

Stunning aren't they?

It also happened to be Handi's birthday as well as a long weekend so of course we had to have some sort of cake for him to cut ;) and a flower for the birthday boy.

On top of that, the chefs at Panorama were busily preparing food for the Maltese prime minister (here for CHOGM) and we got to sample some of those yummy dishes!!

Including this divine panacotta with pomegranate molasses and salted white chocolate. Mmmm... totally passed the boobie wobble test. 

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Then over the long weekend we made Madhatters!  Now, a madhatter is made in shape that no cake can ever be baked in.  So, its a long and precise technique to get a cake to defy gravity and yet look wonky, but in a way symetrical.
 

The carving begins........

We were delighted with the design elements that our students had obviously spent a lot of time on, and the preparations done before class to add those great original touches.

The cakes were completely awesome and Handi was so impressed.  See!  Perth fares pretty well for creative talent!

 Amazing work!!  Not a bad way to spend a long weekend at all!

Stay posted for the even more amazing figurines and circus train, as well as the Marvellous macaron class that kinda took an interesting turn.  :)

Love,

Pure joy

A bit of an absense from this blog of mine..... but when your table looks like this.....

There really isnt time for much else!  Oh...and plus about 100 cupcakes not in the photo ;)

So little time in fact, that when I got two of these cakes on time to their venue, I didn't even manage to get photos of them.  *sad face*  Including a massive 5 tiered cake that went to the Convention centre over Telethon weekend.

Anyways, I got some really lovely responses from the last few cakes.  It's always lovely to see reactions and cake enjoyed as it should.

This French inspired cake for Nuansiree.  Pretty blossoms and an Effiel tower keepsake for the birthday girl who's dream is to visit France.

Pic courtesy of friends via facebook

I'd say she liked her cake.

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Another wonderful cake I was commissioned to make, was from doting mum Liza who was working away and couldn't make it to Perth for her daughter's birthday.  Planning a surprise party long distance is no easy task, and I was delighted to be able to help out with the cake in the birthday girl's favourite colour.

this original Planet Cake inspired design along with cake pops and macarons.  Lucky girl!

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Then I had of course darling Isaac's first birthday with a massive 3 tiered cake.

 and his favourite soft toy, Beru from Peru.

I hope he looks back on his photos when he's all grown up and know the love that went into his very first cake!

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Next on the list was bright coloured personalised macarons for Noon. 

Beautifully styled and photographed by Beam.  Happy birthday Noon - hope it was a wonderful sweetness filled day.

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Then more cupcakes and macarons for Grace who turned a fabulous forty, and celebrated in style on the Etro roof top bar on King Street. 

I can't wait to hear how the guests received the cakes, and whether they all got eaten that evening ;)
Thank you Glenda for stepping in and sorting out the cupcakes. xxoo

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And of course, still more cupcakes.....

In class this time.  With our students producing mini works of art, simply too cute to be eaten!

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And I'm signing off this post with a really cute photo of little Isaac.  Sometimes, in our busy life, we forget what it is like to experience pure joy.  It's not cake related, but it is joy that I saw in this little one's face and it sure is nice to be reminded to look at things with the innocence of a child's eye.

Have a wonderful long weekend.  And I'll be updating on all the wonderful cakes that we are producing in class with Handi (who touched down ahead of the Queen - the real one) over the next 2 weeks!

Love,

Blue ribbon

When you were little, did the adults tell you that if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again?

A famous quote by William E. Hickson.  What would he know - he only wrote parts of the British national anthem.... ;)  Perhaps these days, it's more likely to be “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it.” W. C. Fields

So, when the fabulous Glenda goaded me into entering the Royal show again....I was really not a happy little camper.  The idea of spending another weekend unable to lift my arms wasn't really high on my list of to dos.

 

 My arms felt like they no longer belonged to me after this marathon effort in 2009 when I covered these 3 cakes (plus a miniature not in the pic) all in one day for my then Royal show entries.  Definately not the most intelligent thing I've done.......and probably why I refused to enter last year.

Still, the voice of my Aunt pops up at times like this "if you don't compete, how will you know how good you are?"  Yes, Asian relatives are good that way...........

So, off to work.  This year I entered the Open section of the Celebration cake and was delighted with a win for the fantasy carousel cake.

At the start and the design process

Panels for the centre pole - these were stencilled before being joined together by royal icing

 A whole heap of Peggy Porschen inspired roses that never got used.

The beautiful silicon mold that kept giving me horses with broken legs.

 

Adding the fine details to the carousel horses

Painting the gold accents on the hand piped column details

Viola!!

And closer up:

And the blue ribbon!!

Glenda's amazing Peggy Porschen meets Ben Ron Israel wedding cake also came in with an award.  Such an gorgeous cake, with so many beautiful details!

 

The moral of the story: 

If at first you don't suceed, try again.  

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As part of exhibiting at the Royal show, I was also excited to be asked to run a demonstration on the first weekend.  Bright on a Sunday morning, I headed to the Cookery Pavilion and made a whole heap of bright coloured chickies and gave them to excited littlies who were interested enough to sit and watch.

I can just imagine the poor parents that had to hold onto a little sugar bird (so it didnt break) after the novelty had worn off, whilst these kids went off to enjoy the rest of the show.  I hope they all made the trip home safely!

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Bittersweet

I think my friends are all going to disown me soon.  I have become this crazy person obsessed with all things sweet and have no time for them anymore.

Well my darlings, I will, just give me a couple of weeks to catch up and you shall have my undivided attention...well, at least until the craziness starts up again.  ;)

So, to keep you updated on the going ons over the last week or so;

First off was out evening cupcake teaser class.  I think Glenda & I are going to be held accountable for turning a whole new group of lovely ladies into Cake decorating crazies......yeah, you don't really need the money for retirement, or new clothes...or food...just spend it all the fancy cake decorating toys!

We looved our cosy little class, huddled up over a batch of freshly baked cupcakes. 

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Moving on to our weekend Marvellous Macaron classes.  Amazingly the spring rain came down in buckets outside us, but even with all that humidity, the stars alined and our macarons all behaved themselves.

So, what do you do when you are waiting around for macarons to cool?

Gather around and drink pink Champagne of course....  We are pretty responsible teachers - so this was in fact, one of our private classes.  

After you've drunk all the Champagne, you start to find all sorts of shapes in your macarons.  Mickey Mouse is in the house!

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And now to the cakes of the week....

A gorgeously styled wedding at the Royal Freshwater Yacht club for Sarah and Matt, as you can see, the theme was a very regal purple.  According to Matt, it rained all day, but the sun came out just as they were married.  Isnt it wonderful when that happens!

And this very pretty cake for lovely Betty who turned a very sprightly 85.  Design inspired by Handi Mulyana.

and last but not least, this little cake for Langdon.

He is a beautiful, happy child with such doting parents.  It was a special birthday and I feel very honoured to be able to make his cake.  The bittersweet part is of course, that Langdon's twin, passed away several weeks ago - like a little angel that was here for too short a time.   As heartbreaking as it was for all of us who knew them and were there when they entered the world, his family thought that his birthday should be happily celebrated with those that he loved.  I am so glad that he got a great birthday and I hope he has many beautiful memories of his day!

I hope you all had a adventurous week and stayed tuned for the tears and tantrums of the Royal show!!

Love,