Sexy Lingerie Cake

If it weren't for my sister, I wouldn't have made this cake. She was the one who pushed for me to take this cake order. Otherwise, I would never had made a sculpted cake. Thanks, De! :)

I also need to thank my friend Kim who was the first person to tell me to make erotic cakes. :p Although this cake is mild, it's the start of an idea that Kim had told me. Thanks, Kim! :)

Even though I really enjoy baking and making creations in my kitchen, I don't really have the creativity to decorate my cakes. But with the help of Alvin, I managed to pull this one through. Thanks, babe! :)

This cake has a story of its own too. My sister told me that her friend's getting married and they're throwing a bachelorette party for her. They wanted to have a lingerie cake for the event and so I made this cake. However, I made a white velvet cake with vanilla buttercream - not knowing that the bride-to-be is more of a chocolate person.

Once again, because I don't really have confidence in the cake I had made complementary banana cupcakes to accompany the cake. I covered it with fondant and decorated it with hearts. :) After all the cake and banana cupcakes were ready to go, I called my sister to pick them up.

My sister then asked, "Ci, these are chocolate cakes right?"

I said, "No... the cake is vanilla and the cupcakes are bananas"

She said, "Err... but my friend likes chocolate cake"

And there I am without anything chocolatey for the bride-to-be. So I rushed to make these chocolate cupcakes to further complement the cake and the banana cupcakes. LOL

Although I had to work a LOT for this cake, I was glad that the cake actually looked like a lingerie and both cupcakes were well-received. :)

It's a Boy!

This one is long overdue :p I've had the draft of the blog entry done in August, but it's only now that I have time to finish writing it up and posted it up. For those of you who's been wondering about my being MIA, I apologize for the long absence but I really don't have anything to blame. Working and adjusting as a wife plus the slow Internet connection here in Indo makes it harder for me to update blog often.

Anyways, about the cakes and cupcakes...

This is my first fondant cake order in Indonesia and I am very happy with how it turned out although the process was a little chaotic. The story begins with Quincy asking me if I would be able to make a baby shower cake for her cousin's wife. I was so excited that she asked me and it was such an honor because I don't have much experience with fondant cakes and yet for this special occasion, she gave me a chance to challenge myself. :) Thanks, Quin!

The cake that you see in this blog post is actually the second cake that I made for the event. The first cake "melted" under the hot Jakarta weather before it had a chance to make it to the event. See, I made a blueberry cream cheese cake for this event that requires refrigeration. This is a big NO in Jakarta because of several reasons:

1. Fondant cakes cannot be refrigerated
2. If you think that putting the cake in an air conditioned room will work, it won't - it was my experience with this cake

The cake was supposed to be picked up at 9AM Sunday morning and I discovered the disaster at 9PM Saturday night. So I hurriedly baked another cake and buttercream that doesn't require refrigeration. While waiting for the cake to cool, I rushed to re-make all the fondant decorations. By 2AM, the new cake was done :) Yay!! Praise the Lord!!

The cupcakes were for bonus. I was worried that the buttercream cake won't suit their taste, so I made some cupcakes as complements. Plus, I got addicted making the baby's face :p

I hope that there will be more cake orders coming my way :) And perhaps... I can bake often once more

A Few "MIA" cakes

Many of you must think that I've abandoned this blog. It's been too long since I last posted something of my baking or even informed you all that I'll be out for a bit. Well, just to give an update of what had happened to me since the last post...

1. I quit my job at KPMG Houston
2. I've packed all my personal stuff and shipped them back to Jakarta
3. I'm now bunking at Jane's place (she's so kind to let me stay at her place these last few days I have in Houston)
4. I'm still in denial about going back home (Jakarta) for good in the next 5 days

That being said, I'm still baking. :) Although I haven't baked as much as I'd like to because of many reasons (my last month at work had been crazy long hours; all my baking tools have been boxed up and shipped off; I have no place to bake), but I'm thankful of the several chances I was provided to make cakes and other desserts. :)


This is a cake for Brian's birthday.

This is a cake for Donna's wedding meeting.

This is a just-for-fun shortbread cookies with fondant.

I can't promise that I'll be able to bake and post as often as I did in the past, but I'll continue to maintain this blog and post as much as I can. I have no idea what life holds over there in Jakarta, but I know that if I hold on tight to God, He will lead my life. :) I really hope and pray that I'll grow in Christ in Indonesia and be a blessing to others around me.

Thanks for being so encouraging all these while... :)

"Surprise Me" Cake

Last week, before I went for my one-week training in Dallas, Suha asked me to make a cake for him. He didn't give any specifications on the kind of cake that he wanted but he only said "surprise me!" So I turned the wheels in my head, trying to come up with a cake that will really surprise him. When I made the cake, I had no clue as to whom the cake is for... is it for a boy or a girl? is it for 5 or 20 people? does he want fondant or no fondant? I was very confused. Thankfully, after I returned from training I had the chance to meet and asked Suha these questions. :p

It turned out that the cake was for a birthday boy and it'll be consumed by quite a few people. So Suha decided that he wanted a 10-12" fondant cake.


The cake itself is made of 3 layers of vanilla sponge cake filled with orange-infused buttercream and lots of jackfruit. I've never made nor tried this flavor combo before but I'm pretty sure many will be surprised. LOL. :p It was very difficult for me to decide on the kind of cake to make because there are too many possibilities!

I also had a hard time deciding on the cake design. You see, I'm not a very creative person and over the past fondant experiences, I realized that I may not been very good at it. One of the biggest challenge for me in working with fondant is covering the cake with it. It seemed like a simple step and one of the basics of using fondant. But somehow, I'm not very good at it. It's always such a challenge to have a smooth cake. This has been a particular challenge since I started using Satin Ice fondant.

But something was different when I covered this cake with fondant. I remembered my mom's words: "If your heart's not in the right mood, you can't make a good cake." So I calmed my anxious heart down and I felt relaxed and at peace. I started weighing the fondant, then rolling it out, and lay it on the cake - and everything went very smoothly. I didn't have any cracked sides and the caked looked alright. :) Thanks, Mom!

After passing the most difficult stage of the fondant process, I played around with some decoration ideas. I know the cake is for a boy and so flowers, pink stuff, and hearts are out the door. Since this is a gift, I decided to make the bow and some contemporary polka-dots. I choose the ivory and dark brown color combination for the cake because I believe that they really compliment each other. I think that the cake looked simple and rather elegant. What do you think?

This cake will be picked up later tonight, so we'll see how the taste test went! :)

Under Water Themed Fondant Cake

Yay! Another fondant cake for me :) I have to recognize all the people who contributed to this cake:

My mom and my aunt - thanks for baking such delicious Spekoek for the cake
My bff, Nana, and my fiance, Alvin - thanks for your labor in coloring the fondant
My dad, my mom, my aunt, Nana, and Alvin - thanks for triggering my creative vibe :)

Alvin's nephew was turning one (yes, his first birthday!) and I was given the honor of making the birthday cake. :) The request from the mom was really simple. She wanted Spekoek for the cake and she wanted an under-water themed cake. I had never made spekoek before and the number of egg yolk used in making that cake is really scary for me (about 20+ egg yolks!!). Thankfully, my mom was visiting from Indonesia for the week and she is a PRO at baking spekoek. My aunt, who was visiting from New Mexico (to see my mom), was her right had assistant in the process. :p

The timeline for the cake is really interesting:

Friday - Mom and Aunt made the Spekoek; I made the fish (Daddy fish, Mommy fish, and Baby fish)

Saturday evening - I made the rest of the decorations; Alvin and Nana helped color the blue fondant

Saturday night - Mom, Aunt, and I rolled the blue fondant to cover the cake (thanks mom for your patience with me); Nana and I arranged the decorations on the cake

Super late Saturday night - Nana and I colored the remaining blue fondant to a darker shade and tried very hard to make the "happy birthday Ethan" letters and then arranged them on the cake

It's really a lot of fun making the cake with a lot of people, but it can also be very frustrating (for me, at least). It's really worth the frustration, though :p The cake turned out to be really cute and exactly what I had imagined it to be! I am 100% satisfied.

Below are some close up pictures of the figurines :) I think Baby fish is just adorable!

Here's Daddy fish, surrounded by anemones and starfish.

The birthday celebration was at church and the little kids loved the cake. :) This makes my heart even happier. I told everyone that my mom made the cake and they really enjoyed it. What can I say - my mom taught me how to bake. :)

When I took a picture of the cake at church, the color of the cake looked a lot brighter than it was at home. I guess lighting played a great role in how the cake turned out. I shall bear that in mind in the future. :)

If you're wondering why some of the pearls at the bottom of the cake came loose - well, it's damage due to travel. The cake was moved around quite a bit at church and I guess all the commotion caused the cake to "break a sweat." :p Nonetheless, I am very happy with how the cake turned out.

Hmm... I wonder what my next fondant cake would be?

My First "Tiered" Cake

I had the opportunity to make a birthday cake for 6 people this past weekend. The event was hosted by my girlfriend who had just bought a beautiful house and decided to celebrate the birthdays along with her housewarming party. :)


I thought a lot about this cake and I had a very difficult time trying to decide on the kind of cake to make. I was initially planning to make a half sheet chocolate cake, but then realized that this was an opportunity to make a tiered cake (since there'll be lots of people available to eat the cake). This is my first time ever to make a tiered cake and I make lots of mistake on this one. >_<>
One thing I love about this cake, however, was the flowers. I made tons and tons of daisies for this cake. I wanted to make a spring cake that looks simple but also elegant. I don't know if I really achieve that look, but I'm very satisfied with the field of daisies that I made. :) Each one was made with love (and lots of patience).

Just in case you are curious, the top cake was a vanilla cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting while the bottom layer was a red velvet cake with vanilla bean frosting (recipe from Bobby Flay).

I will definitely give tiered cake another try when I have an opportunity for it. Next time, I'll make an 8" and a 6" cakes so that the tiers can be more obvious. :p

As a farewell note on this blog, I'd like to share this video with you guys: http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8616c1559ab4221b3910.

I've been so blessed and encouraged and rebuked at the same time. Hope it brings hope to your lives too! :)

Teddy Bear Cake

I've made cakes in large quantities before, but nothing compared to this cake order. :) Last month, Ellen called me about making the cake for Baby J's first birthday. She had seen some of the fondant cakes I made and asked if I could make one for her baby boy. It's such an honor for me... I'm a novice at baking and even more with fondant, but to be given the opportunity to explore and learn, I am really grateful.


We spent some time discussing how the cake should look, the theme of the party, and the flavors of the cake. As we keep in mind that little children will be consuming the cake, we can't have any alcohol in the cake. So, tiramisu is out and so is black forest cake (my 2 favorite cakes). We also can't have cakes with caffeine, so coffee and mocha cakes are out too. Green tea is not quite good for little kids too, so it's out. *sigh* We finally settled on good old fashioned vanilla chocolate cake for the 8" round cake and chocolate vanilla cake for the half sheet cake.

In terms of design, Ellen wanted a teddy bear themed cake with blue as the background color. I think I managed to hit the high points in the request with this cake. :) The idea for the cake started with the desire to make a teddy bear birthday cake that is unique but at the same time, kid-friendly. I've seen a lot of teddy bear cakes and they are all cute and adorable, but I wanted to make one that's slightly different. So I thought of Care Bears (a cartoon I watched growing up) and I thought that bears sitting on a cloud would be cute. Alvin further expanded the idea to include rainbows with Baby J's name on it to make the cake merrier.

The half sheet cake was supposed to be a simple buttercream cake but as I'm in a fondant mood and the fact that I was running out of unsalted butter to make the second batch of IMBC, I decided to make this a fondant cake. However, this cake was a LOT of challenge for me.

First of all, the cake was huge. I've never had to cover a cake this size with fondant before and I had a lot of trouble trying to roll out the fondant quickly enough before the fondant dried out. I was also difficult to roll out even thickness of fondant for such a big cake. I also felt that I burned lots of calories just rolling out the fondant - this is good for me. :)

The original thought for this massive cake was to make it into a gift box for Baby J. I guess the creative mind was redirected to bees during the process. :p

There were times when I was feeling frustrated with the cakes because decorating cakes is really not my expertise. I can say that I am not a creative person. But a wise advise from Bertha for me was to take it easy and enjoy the process. :) I'm really thankful to have friends that encourages me! Thanks, Bertha!

Marble Cake with Vanilla Frosting - Version 1

This is my second fondant cake. It's a simple decoration but I think that it's really cute. This was for my friend's coworker's daughter's birthday. The story of this cake began when Eva brought the black forest cake that I had made for her to work. Her coworker tried the cake and liked it. She then asked me to bake a cake for her daughter. I never spoke to her directly but Eva's the messenger between the two of us.

She had wanted a marble cake with vanilla frosting. I'd never made a marble cake before but I'm glad to have a chance to try. :) I also used simple vanilla buttercream to fill the cake and strawberry buttercream to cover the cake. I don't usually use this "american" style buttercream, but from past feedback from my american friends, they liked their cakes to be more on the sweet side. So I decided to use a sweeter frosting for this cake. After finishing with the cake, I covered it with pink fondant and decorated it with a teddy bear and a few hearts. :)

However, after long thoughts about the cake, I realized that this is not my kind of cake. I don't usually bake butter cakes and I don't usually use simple buttercream to ice my cakes. It's too sweet for me. I started to doubt this cake and so I made a second cake... just in case...

Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Raspberry Buttercream

It's my very first fondant cake! I am VERY excited about it and I'm pretty satisfied with it.


The story began when my friend asked me to bake a birthday cake for her daughter's 1st birthday. What an honor for me! First birthdays are always very important for the parents and for the little girl herself (when she's old enough to understand). I was very excited about this "prospect" and at the same time nervous. I wanted to make a cake that is memorable, taste good, and looks cute. When I got this cake order, I had never touched fondant before. I believe the call was on a Saturday night. Then on Sunday, I started playing with fondant. I made a little duck, little boy and girl, and a little turtle. It was after the turtle that I decided to make a fondant cake for my friend's daughter, Stina.

I had so many ideas floating in my mind. I knew that I wanted to make something simple - since this will be my very first time covering a cake with fondant. I also knew that I wanted the cake to be cute and girly. I also wanted the cake to be one of a kind. With all that in mind, I finally decided to make a cake in the shape of the little girl's face. :)

The cake itself is a 3 layer buttermilk chocolate cake filled with dark chocolate ganache and raspberry italian meringue buttercream. I then covered the cake with vanilla italian meringue buttercream. I waited for the frosting to crust and then covered it with fondant. It was SO MUCH FUN!

The sad part was that I couldn't make it to the birthday party. :( I really wanted to go, but I had to work that Saturday. The cake made it to the party with Alvin's help and, from what I heard, they loved the cake! It's all worth it... all those hours and energy... it's totally worth it!

I think that this cake really boost my morale in making more fondant covered cake. Which is exactly what I did for the following Sunday. :p