The dance of the Peacock - Part 2

Salam buat semua..alhamdulillah diberi kelapangan sedikit untuk mengupdatekan blog ini...sewaktu menghilangkan diri buat sementara waktu ada ramai yg bertanya kenapa tak diupdatrekan blog..and that kind of questions really make my day..and ada yg cakap they love to read my celoteh here..syukur alhamdulillah semuga ada diantara paparan disini yg dapt menghiburkan hati and juga memberi inspirasi kepada rakan2 especially to thosse yg baru hendak menjinakkan diri dalam dunia dekorasi kek...to be frank, my personal opinion..being a decorator won't make me kaya raya apalagi di Malaysia dimana ramai lagi yang tidak tahu hendak menghargai seni hiasan kek..to them a cake is still a cake walau macam mana dihiaspun..people sanggup berbelanja ratusan ringgit untuk hiasan hantaran yg mungkin kemudiannya akan dibuang begitu sahaja..but untuk membelanjakan ratusan ringgit untuk kek kahwin amat susah...my wish and maybe harapan kawan 2 decorator yang lain..semuga masyarakat kita makin menghargai hasil seni kami..setiap hasil kerja yg cantik dan lain dari yang lain memerlukan belanja yang tinggi dan juga perlu meluangkan masa yg lebih lama especially bila semua bunga2an dihasillkan manually...sedih juga bila kadang2 dimajlis perkahwinan celebriti terkenal..beria2 diperkenalkan siapa yg mereka pelamin, siapa yg mereka gaun pengantin mereka, siapa yg menyiapkan hantaran...but perasan tak..jarang benar or maybe tidak ada pasangan pengantin yang sudi mengwar-warkan siapakah yang bertanggungjawab menyediakan kek perkahwinan mereka..sedihkan..tapi tak apalah. Kepada rakan2 decorator jadikan lah ia sebagai cabaran untuk kita...kita tidak minta disanjung melangit or dipuji berbakul2 but cukuplah kalau waktu menempah mereka tak kata "takkan kek kahwin pun mahal"..yup itu lah hakikatnya..selalu pasangan pengantin mengimpikan kek yg cantik lain dari yang lain..but bila diberitahu harganya..kita pula akan disoal balik "kenapa mahal sangat"...well what to do ..itulah cabaran buat kita untuk meng"educatekan" masyarakat...



Well back to the wedding cake competition..as I had mentioned earlier ..I wanted everything to be 3D and very grand and majestic..so I decided to do a peacock..but the peacock mesti a very grand and proud peacock...but before I introduce my peacock..let me show part of the cakes first...keknya merupakan kek 4 tingkat..the height was very important for me to display the flows of the tails later on...semua bunga dibuat sendir..and since I was very short of time, I decided to do ribbon flowers..which is easy to do..all what u have to do is just to roll the fondant and potong panjang...maybe about 2 inci x 5 inci...kemudian dilipat dua memanjang..but make sure jgn tekan diatasnya..biarkan macam ada gelembung angin..and kemudian digulung sampai habis..so semasa penggulungan tersebut pandai2lah mengubah bentuknya and make sure jgn tertekan sampai flat pula..it's very easy. As for the color..mesti ramai yg dah dapat agak warna apa yang I akan pilih..yup..definitely gold..Ada yg tanya kenapa I tak pilih warna biru, hijau..warna merak..Hmm..I just need my artpiece to attract people's attention from far..and definitely gold and white are the best colors...By the way..actually from my readings...or maybe u all notice...we do not need lots of colors on wedding cakes...2 or 3 colors should be enough and if we decide to have more colors..the additonal colors should compliment the base color. So I guessed I used hundreds of these flowers..dari pada saiz kecil hingga saiz yg besar...penat juga tapi taklah sepenat buat kuntuman ros malas yang selalu I buat...ha..ha..ha...kiranya bunga ni memang amat sesuai dibuat sewaktu emergency or sewaktu kita dilanda sakit malas yg teramat sangat...ha..ha..ha...but janganlah asyik malas aje..sekali-sekala kena rajinkan diri...So seperti selalu..cake tersebut diairbrushkan dengan americolor gold sheen..actually everything was airbrushed...termasuk semua bulu2 peacock..well in order to produce beautiful things memanglah kena buat lebih kerja sikit...actually bukan sikit..banyak....



As for the cake board...I decided to draw feathers on it...Ha..ha..ha..actually ada cerita disebalik cake board ini...and let me share my secret with all of you..Actually my cake board was very uneven...just imagine..tak pernah i cover cake board jadi macam ni...macam tahu2 pula i nak masuk competition..berbagai2 dugaan yg datang...sedih betul tenguk cake board yg buruk...Presentation of cake board is very improtant for all cakes..tak kiralah samada untuk competition ataupun utk tempahan customers...my prinsip..beautiful cakes should come with beautiful cake boards..i really hate to see beautiful wedding cakes on original stupid ugly cake board yg dibeli dari kedai...if kita dah luangkan masa berjam2 and sometimes berhari2 untuk menghasilkan kek yg cantik..kenapa harus dicacatkan dgn cake board yg hodoh...cake board yg hodoh hanya akan mencacatkan hasil kerja kita...just imagine...kita berbaju kurung cantik..siap bersulam..berlabuci lagi...sikitpun kalau boleh kita tak nak ada kedutan dibaju kita...but bila tenguk kak kaki..kita hanya berselipar jepun...ha..ha..ha..some of u might think it looks funny...actually it looks very ugly...so hiaskan lah cake board kita dgn cantik..so berbalik pada cake board I yang dah cacat tu..puas I fikir mcm mana nak buat..then teringat pada Mitch Turner's creation....so base on that...I kata why not I applykan the same technique but my own drawing...so dilukiskan bulu2 burung as if sedang bertaburan...and hasilnya alhamdulillah..infact mendapat pujina dari judges..phew...so to decorator friends jgn panik bila ada kecacatan...mesti ada cara untuk cover semuanya..Guess have to stop here and to be continued soon with more excitements...taaa...salam kasih untuk semua...

Juntaian kasih

Salam buat semua...have been busy lately with dugaan kehidupan yg benar2 mencabar keimanan...but alhamdulillah walaupun dugaan tersebut berat but one of the hikmah is..my siblings semakin rapat and i'm very lucky to have my sister and brother and also my ipar-ipar...tanpa they all, rasanya dah lama I tumbang dlm menghadapi ujian Allah..tak payahlah cakap ujian apa...but sekadar peringatan untuk kita semua...usahlah kita cuba mengecapi kesenangan dengan merampas kebahagiaan org lain dengan cara yg dilaknati Allah..walaupun didunia kita mungkin boleh tersenyum..tetapi ingatlah akan janji Allah...setiap perbuatan yg menyekutukan Allah neraka jahanam lah tempatnya. And I thank Allah for giving me the strength walaupun kadang2 I almost give up...

Ok..forget about problems..let's talk about something which I adore so much..cake decorating..and this time this cake is so special...it was ordered by a very special friend who had placed the order di awal career I...she always had the cofident in me..The cake was specially ordered for her cousin and to be delivered to Dean Dato Osman Saad di Kem Wardieburn Setapak..and color theme was tiffany blue...and immediately terus terbayang a very feminine concept but elegant...Lots of planning and hard work were put into this cake...and cake nya tiga tingkat...13in, 9inch and 7in...tinggi every layer was about 4 in...so jenuhlah menguli and mencanaikan fondant..but I have my own way dlm mencanai fondant and mengalas kek..tak kira saiz besar or kecil and I learned it from the internet...senang aje sebenarnya...what we have to do is..to get two pieces of large thick plastic...normally i gunakan plastic alas meja...first bentangkan the 1st plastic..put the required amount of fondant atas plastic..and then cover dengan helaian plastic yg kedua..So geleklah fondant tersebut sehingga ke tahap nipis yg sesuai...Angkat fondant tersebut but do not peel off the plastic and cuba letak atas kek..Caution jgn letak dulu...just agak2..bila rasa dah sesuai dgn saiz yg dikehendaki...barulah peel off one of the plastic..preferable plastic yg pada permukaan fondant yg kurang memeuaskan...then angkat fondant tersebut and letakkan diatas kek...perlahan2 peel off the other plastic layer...Tada!!! Senangkan...masa I belajar, normally my instructor akan cakap guna roller..and it was really a nuisance espcially bila lapisan fondant yg nak digunakan bersaiz besar...so that's the tip for today...selamat mencuba...



As usual my favorite flowers digunakan..and this time...warna putih and diairbrushkan dgn americolor pearl white..and it makes the flowers very satin or porcelain like..if I'm not mistaken sebanyak 98 kuntuman bunga ros digunakan and kesemuanya disediakan seminggu lebih awal supaya ia benar2 kering.

Untuk dapatkan warna tiffany ni..I gunakan warna teal wilton and plus sedikit warna hijau..bila dah siap semuanya..diairbrushkan dengan pearl white..itu yg nampak jelas warna tiffany..really stand out bila dah diairbrushkan dgn pearl white..for those yg stay di Melaka..Americolor is sold in Kinh Hin Bukit China,..ha..ha..ha..as usual..this is not a promotion and I do n't earn anything from Mr Lim walaupun I kenal rapat dgn dia..this is my way of helping fellow decorators...To me apa yg kita boleh share..harus diberitahu..tak rugi apa2 pun...Ada yg tanya I ..tak takut persaingan ke? To me why nak takut..rezeki Allah beri and setiap org ada cara kerjanya sendiri..we might have the same recipe but bila dimasak, rasa or texturenya mesti berlainan..coz tukang masaknya berlainan..




Untuk kek ini, I mahukan ciri2 feminin yg ketara..so I chose pearls..I love pearls soooo much...cantik sgt butiran permata...and mesti ada yg tanya mcm mana pearl I boleh sama aje besar...I use my silicon pearl mould bought from SF Bangi...I lovr the silicon pearl walupun harganya boleh tahan coz its very flexible. And for this design, I gunakan juga the tear drop pearl...but adjusted panjangnya...Notice or not the upper part...That's the tier separator....styrofoam dibalut dgn riben warna biru juga...I memang tak suka gunakan kaki plastic for my cakes...So I normally dapatkan bantuan my munchkin to come up with the design...I just akan beritahu my munchkin konsep yg I mahukan for my design and he will do all the tier separators for me...dari memotong hingga memasang riben...Ha..haha..I tahu semuanya dah ready untuk I...Yup, he helps me a lot in my work...and maybe that is one of the reason why i'm so spoiled..but two heads are better than one..at the end of every projects..we'll sit down together and and give comments to our work. OOopps..back to this first tier...atasnya I letakkan kuntuman roses mengelilingi tepi kek...and gabungan roses and pearls diatas kek warna tiffany nampak elegan...as requested by Datin X..he..he.hee..sorry..atas sebab2 tertentu have to rahsiakan nama my good buddy ni..By the way, everything is airbrushed..so do not hesitate to get yr airbrush set for cake decorators..its so easy and menjimatkan banyak masa.




As for the second tier..still gunakan pearls but kali ni..I buat tiga lapisan pearls...and semuanya menggunakan mould...but dipisahkan individually and dilekatkan satu persatu mengelilingi kek...konsep yg sama juga..white roses mengelilingi kek..



For the top tier...The height was about 5 to 6 inch...and memang mencabar juga nak balutkan fondant disebabkan oleh ketinggiannya..but dgn gunakan teknik plastic yg i sebutkan diawal tadi..alhamdulillah tiada masalah. And for this tier..I emphasizekan on the tear drops pearl...suka tengok juntaian pearl tersebut mengelilingi kek...and atasnya dipenuhkan dgn kuntuman bunga...

Finally....the whole cake...all the tiers were handsomely done by my dearest munchkin ...Both of us memang very particular about the tier separators..to us...bila dah buat kek cantik..separatornya pun mesti cantik juga...decorating cake is about everything....from A to Z...penat if kita buat kek cantik2 tiba2 nampak "cake board kedai"..no offense...but pada I mcm mana cantik sekalipun kek tu..if nampak jelas cake board kedai tu..nescaya ia akan mencacatkan hasil kerja kita...Oh ya...for the cake board..I "alaskan" setiapnya dgn fondant. Ha..ha..ha..actually tak alaskan pun...dulu2 memang I alaskan cake board dgn fondant...lepastu angkat kek and alihkan pada cake board yg dah dialaskan tu...But now my work becoming easier..one of my decorator firends ajar..tak payah alas...cukup hanya kalau kita "alaskan" keliling kek sahaja...Maksudnya..put our cake on the board yug tidak dialas...balutkan dgn fondant..then canaikan fondant and alaskan atas board mengelilingi kek..so easy and kemas...tak payah susah2 nak alihkan kek..




Finally the cake was delivered to kem Wardieburn...hmm...notice the name...? I wonder who chose that name for an army camp...mula2 pergi WAR..then DIE...malangnya naib lepas tu kena BURN...pulak..WARDIEBURN...ha..ha..ha...We arrived around 6pm to dewan Datok Osman Saad..and sampai sahaja I terperanjat bila tengok hiasan khemah...HIJAU TURQOISE...and my cake was TIFFANY BLUE..immediately I rang up my Datin X..tanya dia..sebenarnya warna apa walaupun I memang confident dia cakap dgn I warna tiffany blue..but seriaulah juga..nasib baik I tak deletekan pesanan sms nya..memang warna Tiffany katanya..dia pun wonder kenapa warna Turqoise...So we assembled the cake..tiernya memang dah siap dipasang..so just assemble aje..tapi terpkasa diletakkan dibahagian belakang pentas dulu sementara tunggu majlis berinai..which later the cake was brought ke depan....Alhamdulillah Datin X was happy with the cake...and warna baju pengantin senada dengan warna kek..how I wish i dapat letakkan sekali gambar pengantin bersama kek..To Hani and Abu..selamat melayari bahtera rumahtangga...banyak2 timba ilmu rumahtangga..banyak2 bersabar...semuga bersama hingga ke jannah...To my good buddy..Datin X..tq so much for your trust...tq for yr encouragement...am I very lucky..so many people whom I loved are always there to give me all the supports..and I my praise to Allah for all HIS wonderful blessings...





Sehingga ketemu lagi...insyaAllah...me so busy now with Indonesian layer cake project...and maaf segala tempahan untuk birthday, hantaran or wedding cake tidak dapat ditunaikan sehingga habis bulan Ramadhan..jutaan maaf pada yg berhajat..

The golden wings

Salam pada semua..what a week! Finally dapat bernafas semula..alhamdulillah semua permintaan dapt disiapkan tepat pada masanya walaupun banyak sgt dugaan minggu ni..but alhamdulillah yg tidak terhingga coz minggu ni keluarga kami menerima seorang lagi family member..my anak buah Muhammad Al Fateh was born on the 24th..3.5kg...he is soooo cute macam "ibu" dia..ha..ha..ha..that's me lah sudah pasti...semuga anak buah lelaki nombor dua ini akan membesar sebagai seorang anak soleh yg akan menjadi khalifah Allah..amin..Bila melihat wajah Fateh...hati ni bertanya2 macam mana seorang ibu sanggup membuang bayi kecil..and yg paling menyedihkan bila baca berita..terdapat more than 74,000 bayi Melayu Islam yg dilahirkan sebagai anak luar nikah for the past 5 years (source from majalah al-islam..baca waktu tunggu baby Fateh keluar)..tu tak termasuk bayi yg dibuang or dibiarkan mati begitu sahaja...Apa nak jadi pada masyarakat kita...angka tersebut begitu menakutkan.kenapa statistik ini begitu tinggi? Apa sebabnya? Maybe masyarakat kita tak macam dulu..."suka jaga tepi kain org"...to me it's nothing wrong if kita jaga tepi kain org utk tujuan kebaikan.apa yg salah patut ditegur...Sometimes kita nampak anak jiran kita buat perkara tak elok..tapi kita selalu cakap ..mak bapak dia pun tak kisah...lagipun bukan anak kita..biarkanlah..Begitulah sikap org2 kita sekarang..Sometimes nak tegur ahli keluarga kita sendiri pun tak terkeluar dari mulut kita..biarlah..adik kita dah besar panjang..padahal adik kita boleh bercumbu mesra depan kita dgn pasangannya tanpa segan silu..anak-anak buah tenguk melopong...kita sebagai abang or kakak tutup mata aje..tak nak tegur sebab kita memang abang and kakak yg sporting..lagipun mak bapak kita tak kisah pun...Tu depan kita, apa lagi belakang kita? Ada pula yg nak menghalalkan semuanya ambil jalan paling mudah...tunangkan aje....apa salahnya dia bawak tunang dia..As if pertunangan itu menjadi tiket yg membolehkan segala2nya...semuga ahli keluarga kita dijauhkan dari semua ini..amin Ya Allah...dan marilah kita sama2 "menjaga tepi kain org" supaya dapat memastikan org tu tak pakai kain koyak..takut dia tak perasan....org ketawa dia ketawa...but bila dia nangis meraung..semua jauhkan diri...



Ok..let's talk about cake...all together this week dapat siapkan 2 kek lapis hantaran, satu kek ulangtahun company..yg diorder at very last minute..satu kek hantaran fondant dan 2 set kek kahwin fondant 2 tingkat...my munchkin keep on reminding me..pls do not accept anymore orders for this week..ha..ha..ha..sebenarnya I nak mencuba mem"pressure" myself..nak tenguk terbuat atau tidak..mesti ada yg tertanya2 ada tak org yg membantu I? Of course ada..my bibik..tukang cuci and kemas semua peralatan I...my munchkin selalu cakap I ni macam cerita..the shoemaker and the elves...buat kerja sampai mlm..bila mata dah ngantuk..tak larat nak kemas...should see my workplace..with all the gadgets and sepahan yg ditinggalkan...but bila bangun pagi..semua dah kemas...memang macam cerita the shoemaker and the elves..and my elf cakap Indonesia.and saya juga bisa ngomong bahasa Indonesia...My other helpers are my kids..yg kadang2 kena paksa buatkan bunga2an untuk I...my daughter age 12 and my son age 8..they are very good with the roses..maksud I dlm membuat kelopak bunga..and the most important of all..my darling mucnhkin..he makes sure semuanya ok..cake boards..pillars..ribbons..and he is my best logo maker...most of the times he will suggest ideas bila I'm hving my day of "idea block"...and my dad too..he gives me ideas..he loves to watch me doing my work..Without these superb people in my life, rasanya tak terbuat kot semua kerja..thankyou Allah for your wonderful gifts...so this week..dlm keadaan i nak "test" my power...my main helper..my munchkin demam...anak i juga and my dad..so basically I was a lone ranger...had to everything sendiri..


As the title mentioned...the golden wings..memang cake kali ni..rasanya one of the cakes yg i puas hati sgt..full with wings and color emas lagi...This cake was specially done for Ismail and pasangannya..sweet Yana..they had placed the order since last year and they were among my customer yg berani "ambil risiko" untuk kek perkahwinan mereka...Actually if u all perasan...I'm so new in this cake thing...sometimes bila customer nak tengok contoh kek kahwin...I had to tell them the truth..they will be my portfolio...so that's the case with Yana and Ismail...they trusted me with my work..infact they all tapau semua kek perkahwinan mereka...for both sides..termasuk kek hantaran sekali...it was a big honor for me...so as to show my gratitude and appreciation for the trust in my work...I did this stacked full fondant covered wedding cake for their final special day..as a big suprise for them...they requested for buttercream icing actually...happy to "give" something back for their trust..



Ismail wanted a gold and white cake..he wanted something sweet and beautiful...and he wanted the human toppers too...but.after second thought...few days before the big day...I sms dia tanya boleh tak without the toppers..coz it wont fit with my design...he didn't mind as long as cantik...good..he made my job easy...



So sebagai ganti human toppers..i penuhkan atas dgn lots of "wings" butterflies..and gold dragees...I used my butterflies patchwork cutters to do this..



As for borders..bahagian atas dibuatkan bunga2 kecil and dibahagian bawah dengan lingkaran mutiara...dibuat dati my pearl mould bought from sugarflours..I love the blue pearlmould coz it's so flexible and ada tiga saiz pearl yg kita boleh buat.

As for the gold color....this was the first time I used my new airbrush utk spray the whole cake..actually it was so easy to use the airbrush and more economical lagi...coz I pernah buat a gold wedding cake...and it cost me RM55 for a can of gold spray..which was not enough to cover two stacked cakes...but with my airbrush..I only used few drops of my Gold sheen and wolla! hasilnya excellent...whole bottle of 255g kot...cost me only RM26 and I only used few drops..I highly encouraged using airbrush...memudahkan kerja banyak sgt...tak payah terkial2 nak sapu...few minutes dah siap dah...By the way..before I spray on the cake..I test dulu color gold yg I ada..actually I ada 2 types..americolor gold sheen and jenama "X"...the verdict..Americolor is much better...lebih berkilat and warna kilauan emasnya menakjubkan..guess if Jay Wong from Baker's Choice is reading this..he must be smiling big..he..he..he..more discounts for me Jay...By the way, sebenarnya..semua hiasan atas kek ni di colorkan dgn semburan airbrush...termasuk rama2, flowers and the pearls..sebab tu semuanya berkilat...



Atas cake board..I taburkan dgn bunga2 kecil sebagai penyeri..and by the way..cake board juga I balut dgn kertas emas...actually board tu memang dah dibalutpun dgn kertas emas..but to me..it will spoil the look of my cakes..tak apa keluar modal sikit..penat kita buat kek cantik2 don't spoil our artwork just because of nak dapat untung few cents more...





So finally presenting the whole cake...THE GOLDEN WINGS!!!! To Ismail and Yana..a very big thank you from me..I promised both of you to give my best..and this is my best..hopefully my cakes turut menyerikan majlis u all berdua...




The cake was delivered to rumah Ismail..and for the first time I met with the pengantin sewaktu hantar kek....maklumlah sebelum ni yg menempah semua pengantin perempuan...ni pengantin lelaki..so tak payah di solek..Ismail sibuk melayan tetamu masa tu...and from his face of course everybody knows he is the happiest man on earth...Why not? Now dia sah bergelar suami pada permaisuri hati nya.



Ha..ha..ha..masa hantar kek tu ada sorang nenek cute yg sedang duduk ditepi meja kek..so tak sampai hati nak suruh dia beredar waktu ambil gambar..so tak banyak gambar yg dapat diambil..and after that this nenek jadi penjaga kek..dari dikerumuni oleh bebudak..kids were surrounding the cake..and they were chased away by this nene..Menyesal I tak snap gambar nenek tu..hanya nampak tangannya...


By the way...as for the kek hantaran...I buatkan kek lapis serawak yg bertemakan gold and rama2 juga..hmm...actually I just baked the cake..yg susunnya mucnhkin I..sebelum dia demam....he is good dlm menyusun kek serawak...

Well...I hope u guys have enjoyed viewing the pictures of my work..as i had enjoyed producing it.....To Ismail and Yana..semuga berbahagia hingga ke Jannah....bertolak ansur and banyak bersabar..always cari kebaikan pasangan kita...jgn dicari keburukannya...terima kasih sekali lagi...




p/s : Hmm..Datuk Shahrizat baru sahaja hari ni announcekan 4 langkah pencegahan pembuangan bayi...Rasanya dah lama kita dgr sahaja but no action being taken..why can't they see what's the real problem actually? hopefully kali ni bukan perancangan NATO lagi...cukup2 lah tu...

RED ! HOT! SEXY! AND WILD!

salam pd semua...hving my break after a very tiring but fun weekend....a weekend yg penuh dgn suspen, panik, gelabah and penuh dgn cabaran...actually penuh dgn disaster but alhamdulillah semuanya dapat diatasi...Last week...for the first time atas special request from special people, I did 4 buttercream hantaran cakes for weddings and bertunang..will post the pictures in another entry....

This is the most special wedding cake yg I pernah buat...it's red and black! Mesti ramai yg akan terperanjat tenguk warna kek ni..memang merah garang..ha..ha..ha..as I've told some of my friends..i love to play with bold and vibrant colors.. To me this cake is very sexy, wild and hot!!! and I was so pleased with the result...sound easy kan..but the thing is..this cake merupakan diantara kek yg paling banyak memberi msalah...infact it was a big disaster at the beginning!!! However dgn pertolongan my munchkin and also my kids...everything berjaya diatasi..tq to all of u..this cake tak akan berjaya disempurnakan without the help from them...hugs and kisses from me...

This cake was ordered by Izan...last year somewhere in November..she told me she wanted a red cake..bunga putih...bentuk hati and I agreed..BUT..it was totally a very big disaster. With buttercream susah nak dapt warna merah hati...the color pecah..mcm gambar kat atas tu...I was so frustrated...very frustrated...called up Izan she said it was ok..as long as it is red...Well...selesai masalahkan...customer tak kisah...phew lega..!!! But being me, I was not satisfied..coz bila Izan placed the order..I dah bayangkan I wanted something very hot red...sexy..and wild and infact i yg rekomenkan supaya pilih warna padanan hitam instead of putih..i wanted the cake to be something different...a cake which will make heads turn...My munchkin also felt the same..to us, if we are not satisfied...customer akan lagi rasa tak puas hati juga...

Puas juga I cuba dapatkan warna merah yg dihajati..but tak dapat..so was thinking of using my new airbrush set...maybe Allah benar2 nak menduga I malam tu...the airbrush set tak boleh digunakan...rang up Sammy pukul 9.30 malam..by the way she is one of my sifusvand she is Tan See Fong's wife...munchkin i beli dari dia...She asked us to come over and tukar...but masa dah terlalu suntuk...I had to do the frosting ...so munchkin i yg pergi..we were thinking to spray dgn airbrush...Hampir putus asa dibuatnya...tak pernah ada perasaan begini..so I tried to calm down..and finally I decided to guna fondant...at it will be on me...To me, I am willing to tanggung kerugian daripada spoilkan harapan and kegembiraan my customer...walaupun diMelaka ni..wedding cake kurang bermakna pada para pengantin...to some..kek pengantin hanya untuk tujuan bergambar aje bila pakai wedding gown..it's not something special...jgn terperanjat if ada yg suruh simpan kek pengantin dlm rumah...To me kek pengantin sgt istimewa..sebab tu I really put the effort to decorate my wedding cake...And atas sebab itulah...i decided to buat kek fondant...tak sampai 15 min, i dah dapat warna merah yg dihajati...Alhamdulillah...it would be a big suprise for Izan...



Dari awal lagi I dah cakap dgn Izan...let's do a red and black cake...and she agreed..padanan hitam dgn merah yg sgt terang menghasilkan kesan yg sungguh dramatik and benar2 hidup...so untuk hiasan, i buatkan mawar hitam and also lingkaran hitam mengelilingi kek...by the way..the black color memang hitam berkilat barulah dapat kesan seperti yg i hendak bila diletakkan diatas warna merah tu..



This cake dua tingkat and seperti biasa, I do not like to use the normal plastic pillars...sorry but no offense..rasa mcm outdated pulak...So dgn pertolongan my munchkin..I used a heart shape styrofoam sbagai pengganti pillar plastik..dibalut dgn riben hitam and kemudiannya dilapiskan dgn renda hitam bercorak...Begitu juga dgn base dibahagian bawah...and perasan tak corak lingkaran ditepi kek senada dgn corak di renda hitam...



As u notice, cake board i yg berbentuk hati sama sja ukuran dgn cake...Actually, susah nak dapat cake board bentuk hati yg sepadan dgn saiz kek..so sekali lagi dgn pertolongan my munchkin...cake board terpaksa dipotong sesuai dgn saiz yg diperlukan..and dibalut dgn kertas emas khas..memang board tu dah siap dibalut..but warnanya berlainan....everything has to be perfect and nice...sebab tu dibalutkan dgn kertas emas yg lebih menarik...and semuanya dibuatkan oleh munchkin I..it wasn't easy to cut the hard board....apalagi dlm saat2 yg really menguji kesabaran i pada mlm tu...I ingat, bila dah guna fondant, masalah I akan selesai...NOOOOO...fondant pulak buat hal....sebab cuaca lembab maka ia jadi a bit berair and melekit..tu belum lagi mention..bunga2 hitam and daun2nya pun dah start menjadi lembik....everything had to be done at a very quick speed...supaya i dapat pindahkan dlm bilik berair-cond secepat mungkin..yup..fondant alah pada humidity...



I decided not to do the "tradisional" setting....I wanted something different in everything termasuk susunannya..so...disengetkan tingkat yg kedua...susunannya tidak selari...lagipun i nak pertontonkan setiap sudut kek...





Finally..at 3.15 in the morning..after facing all the problems and disaster moments...the cake was done..and hasilnya...fantastic...pada I lah...memang puas hati sgt...hopefully Izan would be happy with the cake...





This cake was delivered to Izan's house very early in the morning coz I had to rush to segamat for my cousin's wedding and majlis pertunangan adik ipar I yg berjalan serentak di Segamat pada hari yg sama...The best thing was..kek hantaran adik ipar i masih belum siap lagi...ha..ha..ha..dah terbayang muka ibu mertua kesayanganku....by the way..sewaktu i type this entry..my dearest MIL berada dlm pesawat menuju Mekah...untuk ibadah umrah..semuga dipermudahkan segala urusan ibu disana...

Sempat jumpa Izan seketika...and juga cik andam Erin yg glamor sewaktu hantar kek...dah agak dah..she must change her mind for her wedding cake..everytime she sees different design..sabar ya cik Erin..yr wedding bulan 7..lama lagi...belum lagi ada design untuk u..if ada design mesti banyak kali kena ubah...;)

Well to Izan..tqvm and semuga berbahagia hingga ke jannah bersama suami tercinta...banyakkan sabar and bertolak ansur and semuga dikurniakan zuriat soleh and solehah....by the way, Izan did send me a very lovely and sweet tq msg...biar i saja yg tahu..but her sincere sweet message really menmbuatkan i lupa dgn segala susah payah and kesulitan yg dialami sewaktu hendak menghasilkan kek yg benar2 sexy and wild ini...tq so much dear

Green Wedding

Salam pada semua..smuga semuanya sihat especially in this extraordinary hot weather...do drink lots of plain water...and sabar banyak2...this hot weather really mempengaruhi emosi juga...;) Actually I'm hving a very short break from baking...terlalu penat sgt last week...ada lagi tempahan for this weekend and am working on the design...

This wedding cake was specially done for Nor Hidayah..and she had chosen white and green for her wedding theme...mula2 memang i rancang nak buat green and white theme aje..but bila tenguk banner kahwin dia dlm FB warna purple...apa lagi...terus terfikir nak buat bunga purple..3 different tones of purple..As I had told before...I love to play with colors and try to be different from normal wedding cake..yg normally warna putih and sarat dgn bunga2 krim..so I had chosen soft green as the main color of the cakes...sebab tu I always confirm with my customers on the color that they chose..and so far alhamdulillah most of my customers dah tahu my style..infact ada few in March yg excited with the color they have chosen ... very stunning color..infact one of them, Sis Yana said..let it be kak..I want something different and biar org takut nak makan coz of the color..guraunya...looking forward for the cakes in march...



Kek ni dua tingkat...and this time I decided to do bunga cherry blossom...eventhough nampak senan tapi ambil masa 2 hari suntuk untuk buat bunga ni..coz each type of flowers i kena buat at least 80 pieces and altogether rasanya altogether i buat nearly 600 pcs..biar lebih jgn kurang...

So bahagian bawah kek, I gunakan bunga2 besar and bahagian atas bunga2 kecil..tengah2 bunga untuk menambahkan seri. I pipekan royal icing and letakkan beads perak..begitu juga dgn bahagian tepi kek...my munchkin kata biar nampak elegant...as for the cream, i gunakan buttercream icing..so it won't melt. For bahagian atas, sengaja I tutup permukaannya dgn bunga2..



As for the pillars...i buat sendiri cz sebenarnya I don't really like to use kaki plastik tu...anybody tahu mana boleh pillars yg cantik and murah pls let me know...coz the one yg selalunya jual kat kedai kek semuanya yg plastik biasa...nak beli Wilton pillars..mahal pula harganya..yup, that's my dilemma coz in Melaka ni harga kek kahwin memang murah sgt if beli kat kedai and normally people will compare my price with harga dikedai..well, just to inform..I sendiri buat survey kat kedai2 kek di melaka..memang for untuk kek dua tingkat boleh dapat dgn harga RM150 but pls do remember..keknya kek sponge and hiasannya hanya bunga2 cream..and kena bayar lagi untuk harga pillars and delivery charges..wherelse my cake selalunya kek butter or choc for the basic price..and my flowers normally bunga fondant yg dibuat sendiri...Bukan nak kata apa, maybe our society in melaka belum biasa dgn this type of cake and to them wedding cake is not important... sebab tu, sebelum hantar I akan minta supaya disediakan tempat untuk wedding cake...coz to me..a wedding cake should be display pd tetamu..bukan setakat untuk dipotong sahaja..wedding cake should have a special place...Sometimes sedih juga, coz people rather pay high price untuk bekas hantaran...i was suprised when I was told ada set bekas hantaran yg harganya RM100+ untuk satu sahaja..just imgine if 11 dulang dah berapa? So kenapa when it comes to wedding cakes we are so berkira dgn harga...sebab tu bila ada yg call untuk buat tempahan sometimes I have to menolak dgn sopan when they wanted a very elegant cake full with fondant flowers but bila disebut harga mereka kata mahal and minta murah....Ha..ha..ha..I guess most of cake decorators will be having the same problem.




so back to this cake, it was delivered to Ayer Molek...bahagian bawah sekali memang I taburkan dgn bunga2 fondant untuk nampak lebih sweet lagi..tak sempat nak jumpa pengantin coz Nor sedang sibuk dgn persalinannya...so insyaAllah next time kita jumpa..to Nor and Amer semuga berbahagia hingga akhirat..dikurniakan zuriat soleh and solehah..banyak bersabar and bertolak ansur.

Hole in one ?

Salam pd semua...alhamdulillah dapat menyiapkan segala projek tempahan pada minggu ini. And memang kali ni tempahan yg ada semuanya mencabar..lain dari yg lain but I'm happy coz my cakes are making an impact in Melaka..at least among the circles of my customers and their friends...will upload the phgotos later



Well...cake kali ini merupakan tempahan istimewa dari seorang anak untuk bapanya..mesti ada yg cakap..biasalah tu...anak buat tempahan kek birthday utk bapanya...apa yg istimewanya? Biasalah tukan...Ada something yg luar biasa about this cake..coz this cake sebenarnya merangkap kek perkahwinan..and this is my first humor wedding cake..totally lain dari kek perkahwinan yg biasa and I was really suprised sewaktu dapat tempahan untuk kek ini...by the way, pada mereka yg ingin menempah kek perkahwinan...please confirmkan betul2 warna2 yg diidamkan coz tak mahu ada salah faham waktu penerimaan kek..maklumlah kan kek tu utk hari penting....sebenarnya belum terjadi apa2 masalah lagi..just takut manalah tahukan coz normally I ni jenis yg suka lain dari yg lain..especially dari segi warna and design..for my melaka customers, please do not expect yr cake will be something like apa yg terdapat di Italy Bakery, Massie or Mei Chong....I do not like to use buttercream and sponge cake..with all the cream decoration..that's another reason why my cake harganya lebih tinggi dari harga kek dikedai..normally I will use buttercream icing and fondant decorations...as for colors..normally i will play with colors..so pls do not expect a totally white cake from me..ha...ha..ha...So to all my dear customers...if u are asking for a red cake..definitely u will get a red cake...so be ready to be different...;)



To be honest, I was really excited masa dapat tempahan kek ni...By the way yg menempah kek ni was Ain...Ain told me she wanted totally a different wedding cake..not the tradisional one..she wanted some humor too...and paling penting she wanted a golf wedding cake coz her father loves golf soo much...Oh dear, memang excited terus..terbayang the a golf course with the lakes and bunkers...a week before the due date...I discuss with my darling munchkin about my ideas...so as usual he challenged me to do something different...soo I decided to do a two tier cake..with a golf buggy as the second tier..As u can see.. the buggy I elevatedkan sikit coz tak nak nampak penyek..so bawahnya I letakkan base yg dibalut dgn green fondant...The buggy was created from an 8" cake...yg diukir menjadi bentuk buggy...pd sesiapa yg berminaat nak buat kek sebegini...before potong, sejukkan kek dlm peti sejuk dulu..so the cake will be firm waktu dipotong and tidak pecah...bila dah dipotong sapukan dgn buttercream icing and balutkan dgn fondant...



Sebelum I went into further with the buggy, let me introduce u all to the "couple"...yup among Ain's special requests, she wanted toppers pengantin on the cake..wearing tuxedo and wedding gown...so seperti biasa she had to answer lots of questions..so that I can produce a very highly customised cakes...another reason why my cakes harganya lebih tinggi dari kedai..coz semua decorations are very highly customised...and normally the design is exclusively for that particular customer only..cz to me...the customer special day is my special day too..and kalau boleh biarlah designnya mempunyai nilai personal yg tinggi...and yg paling penting the design is specially utk dia sahaja...alhamdulillah setakat ni tak ada repeated design lagi..I always pray to Allah to give me ideas..and tonnes of ideas...






As for pengantin lelaki, dipakaikan tuxedo hitam and with muka ceria..maklumlah pengantin baru...notice the young face? Sengaja di buat pengantin muda...nak bagi credit and buatkan hati pengantin lelaki lagi berbunga2..






As for the pengantin perempuan, dipakaikan wedding dress yg berbunga2 kecil and dihiaskan dgn manik2 kecil yg berkilat juga. By the way, gaun disapu dgn pearl sheen utk nampakkan kilatannya...Ain told me, it was ok if buatkan pengantin tk bertudung..but sebab I really nakkan cake higly customised..buatkan juga tudung...pakaikan tiara perak..I had fun "mengandam" kedua2 pengantin ni..mcm buat Barbie and Kent pulak...Sebenarnya tak susah sgt buat figurine ni..practice and practice..ha..ha..ha..talking about practice, i only practice my skill bila ada tempahan and normally practice waktu beginilah paling challenging coz we have to do it perfect terus and minimisekan error..more picturs of the pengantin for you to enjoy.






So, sebab ain wanted a golf cake..dibuatkan padang golf..if u notice..memang cake ni tak dilevelkan coz nak create image range yg berbukit and tidak rata...dibuatkan juga bunker dari brown sugar yg ditaburkan atas buttercream yg di warnakan coklat..dibuatkan juga golf bag..actually my munchkin yg buatkan...first time dia tolong i buat figurine sebab dia boring duduk ngadap i buat..Dibuatkan juga bola2 golf for the border...






No platenya memang very personalised..tak boleh beli kat JPJ walaupun at a very high price and tak berkaitan dgn kenderaan askar...ZMY49 stands for Zainal Mohd Yassim 49 sempena nama pengantin lelaki dan usianya..yup he was celebrating his birthday too, so this cake gabungan kek kahwin and bday juga...bahagian depannya diletakkan kanggaroo bar so biar nampak garang ... hiasan yg lain, flower bouquet and dah tentunya sign "sudah kahwin".




Dah tentu ramai yg menyangka, I akan buatkan pengantin lelaki yg main golf..nope..u are wrong..kan kek ni sepatutnya kek humor..so I buatkan pengantin lelaki duduk atas boot buggie perhatikan pengantin perempuan yg main golf...sekali sekala biarlah isteri main golf...sering i dengar dari my friends merungut ditinggalkan hubby semata2 kerana golf...and ada yg sanggup buat oversea trip hanya untuk main golf..ha..ha..ha..i'm lucky coz my munchkin tak main golf...so in this story, I buatkan hubby yg jadi caddy pd isteri dia..sebab tu golf bag disandarkan di tepi kaki pengantin lelaki...



and as for pengantin perempuan, smpai tercampak kayu golf yg dipegangnya coz of excitement sebab hampir2 buat pukulan hole in one...way to go girl! Tu yg hubbynya buat thumbs up...congratulating isterinya....




So the cake was delivered to rumah pengantin...and immediately i was surrounded with anak2 pengantin..they were so excited with the cake..."huyoo! siap ada buggy and golf ball"..."ayah ni asyik2 dgn golf"..the kids and the cheir cousin duk mengelilingi I waktu setup kan cake...toppers hanya diletakkan bila sampai..coz takut "tercedera" sewaktu dlm perjalan if dipasang awal. Lupa pula, diletakkan juga "Happy birthday" and "Selamat pengantin baru"



To Encik Zainal dan pasangannya Puan Siti Sa'adiah....semuga berbahagia hingga ke akhirat bersama2 anak2 tersayang...and to Ain...actually I'm amazed with keberanian u mencuba something yg terlalu lain dari yg lain....tqvm sis..i had fun buatkan kek ni untuk yr dad...memang lain dari yg lain....hopefully kek ini akan menjadi pembuka kepada kek humor yg lain...;)