Brother's Engagement Cake - Did not turned out as planned but enough to fulfill a "Hantaran".

Dated May 26th, 2013, my only older brother, Ishak were engaged to Siti Haida. The engagement ceremony took place at Haida's place in Hulu Langat, Selangor and it went smoothly without any problems arose. The only thing we encountered was the fact that we parked our cars at the wrong flat...lol...Ishak was the one who lured us to park so far from Haida's place...hahahaha...but it was fine and everybody was taking it as a joke...

Standing tall against the rest of the Engagement Gifts.

The Engagement Gifts from the Ishak were 7 items in total consisting of the Engagement Cake, Engagement Ring, Bunga Rampai (Potpourri - Screwpine and Jasmine), Sirih Junjung (Floral arrangement of Betel leaves, Gambier, Areca, and Lime Stone Paste), Assorted Fruits, Bride Clothes, and Chocolate Candy with edible images of Ishak and Haida. There was another Ring with Tepak Sirih as what the Malays said "Cincin Merisik". I volunteered to be in charge of the decoration design of the gifts and there was help from our the aunties also. The overall color pallet was Pink and Off-white and I decided to make it simple but sophisticated with Peony Sprays in corresponding colors.

Snap some before it's too late...hahahaha

Of all the gifts for Haida, the engagement cake was the one I was most critical about. According to plan, it was supposed to be shaped in a birdcage replica. However, due to the time constraints and other work to be done, the cake ended up with just a 6" tall round Chocolae Moist Cake. The design was just simple with Fondant Icing, Royal Icing detailing, and Sugar Flowers Spray as Cake Topper.

It is much easier to create finer detailing and handle Modeling paste than with Pastillage.

I've made the Sugar Flowers a week earlier as I was trying out a new recipe which called Modelling Paste. Modeling paste can be said to perform the same purpose as Gum Paste and Pastillage. While Gum paste uses edible gum in the recipe and Pastillage uses gelatin (and sometimes egg whites), Modeling paste uses a powder called CMC (Carboxymethyl Cellulose). This cellulose is derived from plants and in food science it is used as stabilizer or viscosity modifier. I have to say that it helped me a lot in defining detail work in making sugar flowers as it is really pliable almost like a rubber. In comparison to Pastillage as I have always opted, Modeling paste is much easier to handle and less likely to break into pieces. However, owning to the fact that Malaysia is a Tropical Climate Land, the humidity prolonged the drying process.

Filigree in teardrops detailing. Floral Vines twirls down the cake.

The Flowers Spray was actually inspired by Alan Dunn's work in his book; Tropical and Exotic Flowers for Cakes. I took the inspirational wire work as floral vines twirling across the bouquet and down the height of the cake. There were Gradient Pink Roses, Gradient Yellow Roses, Hydrangeas and filler flowers in the spray.

Floral Vines using wires and floristry tape.

Closeup shot for the Gradient Pink Rose.

Roses, Hydrangeas and filler flowers.

The body of the cake design was the most depressing part. I was literally iced the cake with fondant 4 times and I still can't get it smooth on its surface (Owh~ I should be ashamed). But it could be due to the hot weather and also I was so stressed out trying to squeeze in everything in limited time frame. Nevertheless, as a Pastry Cook, I should be able to improvise to overcome difficulties shouldn't I? It's all about tips and tricks or as I've learned in my classes; Tricks of the Trade. After all, desperate time calls for desperate measures right?. Royal icing used to manifest intricate filigree designs but with a twist of using continuous little teardrop shapes. Visually, this helped in "correcting" the unevenness of the fondant surface. I was happy with the result then, Alhamdulillah...

In its box for transportation.

A little tip from me for all of you who like baking and pastry work, always be confident to your products and it will turn out good. If it's not, then improvise in the next step. you should never throw your products just because it didn't turned out the way you like it (unless it turned out overcooked Lol!...). Remember, the good thing about cooking always happened by accidents like fungi-leavened breads. Any faults you made in the process may possibly means new discovery that could be acknowledged.

Contrast but Conclude - Purple and Yellow

Selecting a color pallet or scheme can be overwhelming. While they are just colors, mismatching them can be very unsightly for the eyes. This applies in almost everything the eyes are seeing - garments, accessories, house paints, and even foods.

Color contrast can be worked together

Colors can be contrasting to each other and some colors are complimentary to each other. For example, Red and Green, Blue and Orange, Purple and Yellow, are contrasting colors. But with different shades and concentration, they can work together just nice. Complimentary can be understood by matching colors that have same color undertone or cast for example, Green with Turquoise and Blue, Red with Pink and Maroon.

Shades of Purple over faint Yellow

Purple and Yellow have been the chosen theme for this wedding gift cake. The base fondant was tinted lightly with yellow and adorned delicately with white royal icing. The decor was 3 clusters of purple flowers up top. The flowers represents Roses, Peonies, and Forget-me-not. All in different shade of purple to give dimension to the bouquet.

Delicate Royal Icing - Chandeliers

The cake was Chocolate Cake (less sweet, as requested) frosted with White Chocolate Buttercream (less sweet, as requested also) and iced with Fondant.

Purple Flower Bouquet - Mysterious but Subtle

Sweet Construct: Pastillage

Pastillage is a French word that means "Sugar Paste". It is a sugar-based dough that will dry firm and crisp used to make center piece decors and figurines of certain objects like flowers. Having said it's a sugar paste, it doesn't at all works as similar to fondant. Pastillage will dry crisp but fondant will not (although fondant will dry a little but on the outside of the exposed surface). In contrary to fondant, pastillage isn't created to be eaten. Yes it's sugar and sugar is edible, but the main purpose of having pastillage is for decor purposes.

Ideally, pastillage is one of the classic productions of pastry kitchen. Although it belongs to the pastry kitchen, most pastry chefs in the industry aren't regularly practicing it due to the time consumption and tediousness. However, Pastry Artists may be the ones who worship and perfect the techniques of pastillage making regardless of the obstacles.

Essentially, pastillage is made by just simple ingredients like icing sugar, gelatin, and water. To date, there are many other recipe variations available that will include egg whites, cream of tartar, and others. Along with the process of alternating recipe, emerged the famous "Gum Paste". The discovery of the edible gum called "Tragacanth" has replaced the use of gelatin in the pastillage recipe. Gum paste is more pliable than pastillage and when it sets dry, it will be a little more sturdy than the pastillage would. I personally never tried working with gum paste just because the gum tragacanth isn't readily available at my reach and is priced too high to the quantity that you'll get.

The first ever Pastillage Model I have ever made in my Classical Pastry Class in my diploma years.

Second project in Bachelor Degree's class - Pastry and Confectionery Techniques. Sugar Box made out of Pastillage used for a dessert-buffet Center piece.

Pastel Colored Love

One of my former primary school-mate, Atylia contacted me and asked if I can make her a cake for "Hantaran" on her Engagement Ceremony. We haven't talked as much in school actually, but I guess it's good to know that we always there when in need. She asked for the same design as the Red and White Wedding Cake but with no tiers at all. A little twist made when she opt for Chocolate Cake frosted with Vanilla Buttercream and Iced with Fondant.

Her cake was designed accordingly to her request. However, a slight alteration to the Bouquet Topper had gave the cake it's own personality. Instead of gathering just Roses in different colors, I introduced another complementary flower - The Baby's Breath. Also, some Green color of Leaves tied up all the Bouquet nicely. Another distinct feature in difference to the reference design, the Roses here are made in 3 different shades of the same color. The color pallet proposed was in Pastel Themed - Purple and Pink. I incorporated the colors mainly in the Bouquet Topper with additional flowers of Baby's Breath in Pastel Yellow and Some leaves for the Green. The rest of the design is quite similar to the reference design which is Quilted Effects and Hearts Studded.

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Fondant - Pastel Bouquet Topper I

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Fondant - Pastillage Flower Bouquet in Pastel Hues II

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Fondant - Gradient Shades III

It was Crèmeuss' first ever Wedding Cake

Assalamualikum and hey! guys!... I've been quite busy today with some work. However I managed to tweak some of the features on this blogspot (Geez! it's gonna take a while for me to get used to it). Here are some pictures of my first ever wedding cake dated some when in late 2011. It's a 4-tiered: 3 Dummies and an actual cake on the bottom.

The cake chosen was the classic cake that every bakers should know, it's the Marble Cake. Seductive chocolate cake batter swirled around in luscious vanilla butter cake batter. Who needs only one when you can have two at the same time?

Design wise, the whole unit themed after the color Red and White. However, I squeezed some Green in just to enliven the overall color pallet. Buttercream was chosen to sandwich and ice the cake and Fondant used to cover the whole cake. It was then embossed to mimic the appearance of quilted fabric that studded with little Red Hearts. The construction was mixed of stacked and pillared to make it look more interesting. Also, there was a Bouquet of Roses in different shades of Reds/Pinks and it was not a real flower bouquet, it was made from a Home-made Pastillage - Decorative Sugar Art.

Pastillage - Bouquet of Red Roses

Stacked - Cake on cake

Pillared - Cake pillars