The Wedding Cake of Hawaliana Selamat and Khairul Ismadi

It was my dear classmate’s wedding on 15 September 2013. Hawaliana Selamat is now a married woman, Alhamdulillah may your marriage leads you together to the end, InsyaAllah.

Flower Sprays and vines

I was anxious to be given the honor to create her wedding cake which the order was made much earlier. After going back and forth, price and design she finally decided on a 2 tier stacked cakes with separate cake flavors on each tiers. Bottom tier was Moist Chocolate Cake, and the top tier was Lemon Pound Cake.

Finished cake with Royal Icing detailing

The sizes of the cakes were 12” bottom and 8” top in round shape. After the cakes were done sandwiched and iced, they are stacked and secured with enough pillars inside to support the heavy cake. Both cakes were filled with lemon buttercream and chocolate buttercream respectively and iced with basic crisp white fondant and embossed with quilted effects all around. Marzipan tool was used to manipulate the fondant to mimic the pleats and folds at the button points.

Quilted effects Fondant

The sugar flowers were made ahead of time just to spare all the last minutes to the cake. the color pallet for the flowers was not decided in specific but the bride said she wants it in pastel colors. The sugar flowers gathered into two sprays one was larger than the other. The larger flower sprays was put on top and the other was put on the side of the cake.

Top tier Flower Spray

Towards the end of constructing and building up the cake, how I not realize the cake weighed so much that I panic thinking of how to transport the cake in one piece. But I’ve managed to transport it just fine, Alhamdulillah. And as it was really late that this cake finished to be transported, only lousy kitchen lighting been utilized for the pictures hence the darkness in all of the pictures. Apologies for that~ :-)

Bottom tier (side) Flower Spray

Scarlet Rouge - The Love of Syaza and Shakir

Lets start this entry by wishing Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all fellow Muslims in Malaysia and all over the world and Maaf Zahir dan Batin. May Allah bless us with health and wealth through physical and spiritual, ameen.

Yet another complimentary cake for the Butik Kaseh Collection package. The first wedding cake made after a long break from Ramadhan. White and Red were chosen by the future bride and groom and the cake was made especially for them - Syaza and Shakir. Congratulations for both.

The flavor of the cake was moist chocolate cake of a new recipe to replace the older. it is super moist and deep in chocolaty flavor. Enriching its flavor, Strawberry Buttercream sandwiched in between cake layers and crumb coat the whole cake underneath the fondant. Moist Chocolate Cake is by far the most loved cake flavor ever and to accompany that with Strawberry Buttercream, it translates a new dynamic flavor profile of the cake. The choice of Strawberry Buttercream was driven by the red theme of the wedding.

The construction of the cake was a one piece cake without any tier stacked up. the dimension measures 4 inches high and about 8 inches in diameter.

Keeping it simple but yet sophisticated, the cake adorned with Royal Icing detailing. Shells, Scrolls, and Dots embellished the the cake that contrast the crisp white fondant. Polka Dots on the side of the cake while Shells finish the bottom sides neatly.

Piped Little Roses also helped in bringing up the overall cosmetic appeal of the cake as they were also tinted in deep scarlet red hue. Scrolls beautify the top edge of the cake all the way round and layered with a simple swirl of the same royal icing. This gives a little more delicate touch and dynamic to the design.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake – Little Random Excitements Through Scrumptious Decadent

 Despite the sharp sour taste of lemon, this lemon poppy seed cake brings out the mellower side of lemon. Teamed up with Blue Poppy Seed, this cake can never go wrong.

Lemon poppy seed cake also baked in different forms. You may find it baked in Bundt cake pan, loaf pan, cupcakes and also the regular cake pans. Either way, the taste should be the main appeal and the blue poppy seed makes the cake even more interesting. Not just to the eye appeal, but also the excitement in every bite. Blue poppy seed gives random little crunch as you munch the cake. I personally love the overall taste of creamy and moist with little crunchy bits. L.O.V.E.Dot.Com!

The recipe I own and cater for clients is a rather creamier tasting than the average true-lemon tasting cake. It is a little crumbly in texture, but the moistness of the cake overcomes the crumbliness mess just fine. Also, I changed the recipe to be a little less sweet since overly sweet cake can mask the creaminess and the lemony taste.

As far as the frosting goes, I believe this cake has always been served with cream cheese frosting or poured with lemon flavored flat icing. Flat icing is a type of sugar icing similar to royal icing. Recipe can range from just as simple as icing sugar and water, to ones with additional flavoring and coloring. Some also glazed with lemon flavored syrup that I think can be a little too much for my liking and for clients with sugar-conscious diet.

Lemon poppy seed cake has been baked and served through the years and believed to be originated from the Britain. Then, it was a serving for the breakfast but now, we can just have it anytime. Some people also said that this is a variation of the traditional pound cake or butter cake. I’d say, with vast range of ingredients nowadays, lemon poppy seed cake has been taken to another level than just the ordinary pound cake variants.

Winner takes all: Chocolate-Butter Swirls, Flavor–Appeal Twirls.

Swirls of Goodness - Butter and Chocolate

Chocolate marble cake is another famous classic cake known from around the world. Despite the heavenly dreamy taste, the marbling swirls in the cake create an attractive look. The contrast of golden yellow batter and deep chocolate batter works well and it ignites your glutton inside. Sometimes, having a solid color cake can be a little bit dull. Imagine you slicing your wedding cake and you discover a marbling design in the cake instead, wouldn’t it be nice? Beautiful design not just embellish the outside of the cake but also all the way through the center.

It is a rich buttery flavor decadent! Combination of butter and chocolate really tickle your taste buds and its dense yet fluffy texture is just luxurious. As a derivative from basic butter cake, chocolate marble cake carries the classic and timeless flavor of butter cake but with a slight more excitement – the chocolate. I have to admit that the recipe of chocolate marble cake is so simple and thus, might fool you into thinking it’s just another boring cake. Well, for those who love the combination of dairy and chocolate, you’ll love this cake as much as your milk chocolate bar, only fluffier and cottony soft. And don’t forget that 2 colors whimsically swirls and marbles together.

Some would say that chocolate marble cake is a true meaning of “killing two birds with one stone” - Having a wonderful flavor and eye appealing marbling design (I know I did once think the same). But, come to think again it is rather a “winner takes all” cake - due to the fact that it looks just as amazing naked without any icing. Chocolate marble cake stands on its own sweet sovereign.

Chocolate Versatility - Chocolate Ganache

Smooth Criminal - Guilt-free Chocolate Indulgence

Chocolate Ganache is just voluptuously divine! Why? First of all, it’s chocolate!, second, it tastes awfully wonderful and chocolaty, and third, its smooth texture caresses your glutton inside. It's a definite chocolate decadent regardless of anything else! Lol!

Soft enough to spread, Firm enough to its hold shape

It is actually not that hard to make your own Chocolate Ganache. Two simple ingredients that make up chocolate ganache are; the quintessential – chocolate, and cream. Some will add in butter for additional shine and some will use vegetable oil instead. How simple are the ingredients? People say “less is more”, with Chocolate Ganache, I couldn’t agree more. Simpler ingredients really do make an powerful impact.

Some example of Chocolate Ganache used as Piped Ornamental Decoration

Chocolate ganache is a soft textured chocolate cream used in variety of different purposes like icing a cake, as filling for the cake or cookies, and also as centers to chocolate truffles. The ratio of chocolate to cream may be different in recipes as some require ranges of specific consistency and firmness. Simple principle suggests that more chocolate incorporated, the final ganache will set firmer and on the other hand, with lesser chocolate, it will result in softer ganache. Considering Malaysia is a tropical climate country, with hot and humid climate, firmer ganache is much favorable. At least it can hold through high temperature of the climate and what's more important, it'll taste even better with higher ratio of chocolate to the cream (don’t you think so?). Plus, firmer Chocolate Ganache will allow you stability in piped decoration like those with Royal Icing.

Piped Ornamental Decoration - Shell

Using chocolate ganache as a cake icing will require strict temperature control as it will melt in higher temperature environment. As mentioned earlier, having to cope with tropical climate all year round, has made chocolate ganache used widely only for fillings. Some will get away with the ganache iced cake served in an air-conditioned room, or offsetting the chocolate-cream ratio in the recipe by gradually increases the chocolate amount. Draw backs to this - taste, structure, and consistency of the end products may also fluctuate accordingly.

Piped Ornamental Decoration - Fleur De Lis

Come to think again, who cares if it melts down or firms up, we indulge chocolate guilt-free in any consistency it offers right?

Piped Ornamental Decoration - Rope