"Graduation Cake"

Yay! Finally completed my cake decoration class. It has been over 4 Saturdays which means very busy weekends the whole September. Busy not just because I had to go attend the classes, but also due to the preparations and practice required before the classes. i.e. baking cupcakes/ cakes so that we can use them in the class for decorations.

I was rather busy last week. Originally planned to bake the cake for yesterday's class on Thursday, but there was a brownies order. Although last minute, but due to special circumstances, I had to take that order. Quite lucky to have cake orders last week and this week because my pay cheque is going to take some time to clear. Sigh...

So first thing first, the cake. Baked a butter cake and this is one of the "cool tools" for icing the cake without have the cake crumbs "contaminating" the cake. Trust me, icing the cake can be very time consuming and extremely frustrating.

So, the "cake icer". Which is a giant nozzle so you can pipe on the icing instead of spreading the icing with the spatula. It minimizes the chances of us lifting up the cake crumbs when spreading with the spatula.

The cake icer is to be used together with a piping bag.

Just pipe the icing onto the cake. No sweat. (pictures a bit blur due to "multi-tasking") After that, even out the icing with a spatula.

Cake looks perfect enough? (if you don't look at it really up close). To get a really even surface, run a hot spatula over the icing.

Back to the cake deco class... We were suppose to make a cake with roses decoration as our graduation cake. The roses were to be made before the class and to be assembled onto the cake in the class. The cake needs to be covered before the class also. So due to cake orders, I only baked my cake on Friday night, last minute! The roses were badly made on Friday night, most of them lopsided.

Luckily those I made on Saturday morning were ok. You can straight away recognize these as roses can't you?

I cannot show you "the making" of the roses because I had to hold the "flower nail" (the far right needle looking thing) with my left hand while piping the roses with my right. And I need 2 different nozzles to shape the roses - that's why I have no free hand to hold the camera.

The roses were transferred onto the cake with the "flower lifter", ok, no pictures, next time. It's something that looks like a pair of scissors. After transferring the roses, leaves were added - piped with the leave nozzles.

Shen, if you are reading this. Remember we used to get "split ends" when using the other leave nozzle (not the duck beak looking one, the other one)? Apparently we are suppose to open up the nozzles so we can achieve a sharp end.

Here are the other cakes by my classmates.


We also did the "sweet peas" in class and I actually wanted to give the borders a finishing touch by having them on it. But I didn't have time. So I've added these after I've came home.

My idea of the cake is like this. MC said it looks like a wedding cake. Yeah, I actually agree with her. Roses decoration are rather old fashion, I mean classic.

Project Clown

There was a birthday cake order. The request was chocolate moist cake and the design requested originally was 2 stick man, one fat and the other thin. But erm... The Baker is not good in free hand drawing. So at the end settled with random design that look fun.

However, so happened I just got to learn how clowns are created, I've asked if my "customer" would like having clowns on the cake, one thin, one fat perhaps. Haha...

So here are the clowns!

I've also put one of my new tools in use - the cake leveler. It makes spliting cakes evenly a very easy job and we are talking about extremely even, even.

The cake leveler:

Adjust height of the layer (of the cake you want to cut) by changing the location of the catch:

Just "saw" the cake with the leveler, supported by the working surface:

Perfectly even cake:

A piece of cake!

Prayers

I decided to give up the two back-to-back classes today to go visit Tony at the hospital. But I only managed to leave work at 8.30pm. I would have gone to visit him then continue with work if it hadn't involve two other colleagues.

I will visit him tomorrow. Lunch time.

Please... get well soon...

I need a break?

I'm having a headache. Literally. Maybe because of the weather or maybe because I'm too busy.

I don't know why I constantly feel like I'm too busy lately. I once thought that busy is good, but tonight I feel like I can do with a break. A long break not just from work, but from baking, from gym and from being crazy towards anyone.

I am definitely under stress (maybe PMS) otherwise I wouldn't have felt negative. Instead of having hope and working on things I want, I feel like putting everything aside and just drift along.

Mood forecast told me that there is a storm building up, the next few days are going to be gloomy and impatient. There might even be tornado. Definitely cold and unapproachable.

Whoops. Sorry, was suppose to load some pictures of my new decoration tool and the birthday cake order. But I think I better off going to bed early.

The Pro Set

I bought this today! RM590 with a 10% discount. It's a complete cake decorating set with something called the tool caddy. It's so very cool!

There are 101 items in this set (so to speak, one nozzle is considered one item, there are 18 nozzles inside). Will show you the contents during the next few days. As of now, the tool box is still inside my car, keeping it away from my mum's sight. Hehe...

Today was my third class at ICCA for cake decoration. Next week will be the last class when we had to complete our "graduation cake". I wonder who can help me "settle" (eat) the cake after that. Anyways, these were what we did in today's class:

Roses - need to perfect this. The roses are going onto the "graduation cake"

Bear - erm... must practise.

The clowns - I was so thrilled to find out that, it's actually quite easy! This is going onto the chocolate cake (there is an order for next week).

Did some "faces" too, but won't show you close up. They are quite terrible. We also did some drop flowers, nothing so special.

Timing the Feelings

It's great to still be receiving birthday presents so long after my birthday. And this particular set of present was being referred to by him as the "creme de la creme" set. To me, this is the most "luxury" birthday present I've received so far.

If I had received this present from him say five years ago, I would be at cloud 9. Okay, I'm still extremely delighted when I received the present last night, you should see my expression - grinning from ear to ear. But what I meant is the very special feelings I would have experienced if he were to give me this present five years ago. As a matter of fact, I would be floating even to get a phone call from him five years ago. It used to make my heart rate soar by just calling him.

I used to think that I was extremely crazy for him. I would do anything in order for him to reciprocate my feelings. Once upon a time, I thought I would change myself to fit into his criteria; I would swallow my pride and annoyance just to show him how patience and genuine I was towards making that relationship work. Even though I knew that his character really wouldn't please me and the chemical reaction was just going to be very adverse.

Perhaps he later had better, more special feelings for me, but I don't feel the same anymore now. Oh, how sure I was then that my feelings would never change.

What went wrong?

Realization? That tolerating will not work?

Timing? The right feelings but wrong time?

I consider myself lucky. Because he's still a good friend. Because I am still free and very much entitled to be crazy over MFG.

Working out in Pain

It's no joke. Doing pump with a body full of muscle aches. Last night was my second pump in the week after my very first pump after a two week rest (MIA from gym). I had already been nursing my muscle aches the whole day, and technically speaking, I joined my second pump class in less than 24hours. So, I think I'm entitled to some moaning here. Ouch, ouch...

Haven't done his class for so long but I've always not had any issues towards his classes - sufficient cueing and good song selections. MC seemed to be able quite okay with his class too. So I guess we will be regulars in this class.

The tracks we did last night were all familiar tracks, mostly the older all time favorites. The tracks were also tough enough and the crowd seemed to be quite sporting in responding to the "torture". So MC and me was quite motivated as well.

I could already foresee how I would suffer through the class the moment I lift my bar for overhead presses during warm up. I decided, again, to reduce my chest press weight to only 5kg. MC was doing 3.5kg and that was already a leveled up for her. Yes, we suffered. BUT survived.

I was really hesitated during the transition of chest track to back track. Wanted to only load up 6kgs, but last minutes thought, what the heck, might as well push myself a bit. Geezz... should have known better than to do that!

After burning the triceps fats with many many dips, I told MC (she couldn't remember the sequence of the tracks yet, so I needed to tell her the up coming track to facilitate her choosing of weights to load/ reduce) the next track would be lunges. See, I actually loath the next track so much that I wish for it's non existence. Of course the next track was suppose to be biceps track. Haha... Sorry about that sis.

I think the other track that was really tough was the shoulder track. It was really painful till I had to actually give up a few (more than a few) repetitions. But it was a very satisfying workout indeed.

Lets do this again!