Sunday, October 5, 2008

Birthdays And Cupcakes

What in the world are these??? My birthday cake??? Yes, happy birthday, Keshia!!!

Can't make out what we are trying to spell???...HAPPY B DAY KESH and of course a heart-shape. It was supposed to spell 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY KESHIA' but the cupcake recipe yielded only 16 small cakes when I clearly needed 19, so I had to abbreviate. We got hungry half way thru the job and devoured the extras.


When I decided to make a cake for Keshia's birthday, I know it would be a near impossible task for me to make a cake and decorate it, convincingly that is.
So I took a baby step and go small, cupcake small. I figured that would be a piece of cake (not exactly!). 
Surfed through the internet and looked through the recipes of all those bloggers I admire (namely terri, nee, ganache..) who can so easily whip out such awesome work of art one after another. 
Hopefully by going into their blogs their magic might rub off on me :p. And of course, to look for tips. I needed all the help I could get. 
Nee's butter cream looked sooo beautiful and satin smooth but I wasn't confident enough to attempt the sugar syrup thing and I wasn't so sure of the freshness of the eggs I have in the fridge. 
I don't want coloring and plasticky whipped cream, so I ended up doing butter icing, plain and with melted dark chocolate for contrast.

Certainly not a piece of cake as I thought. The icing was not as obedient as I expected and the cheap plasticky whatcumicallit I bought specially for this task was not much help either. 
The icing landed not only on the cakes but also our hands, table and floor. I should have done this when our part-time helper was in. 
I know now why I never like working with icing...it is the cleaning up. I had to mop the floor with detergent, if only I could pour hot water over it like i did the oily dishes!

Thank goodness for this cupcake stand from Mee Fung and the smarties which Leanne insisted we needed. They certainly helped to make these little cakes more presentable.

By the time I got to this last cupcake, I was finally getting the hang of it and enjoying it...Leanne and myself had a really fun time decorating...

and eating these as we worked...


And the look on Keshia's face was priceless when she walked in and we surprised her with the cakes. Happy birthday, my girl.

18 comments:

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

happy birthday kesh!! hugsss

Anonymous said...

HaPpy BiRthday to loVely KeShia!!! Aunty, please help me send lots n lofs of hugs n kisses to her :)

And wow those cupcakes are so pretty, and i bet they are yummy too...

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday, Kesh! Nice cupcakes!! Eeee...must be a lot of work! Easier to have one big one! After all, it all ends up in the same place! Hahahahahahahhaha!!!

Anonymous said...

KESHIA!!! happy birthday! :)

all the best for the coming year! plenty of health, love, happiness + good fortune ya! :) hugs hugs!

cupcakes look wonderful! especially the in the detail at the sides of them! must have taken forever to do!

when are the sario's coming to kl!? :)

Heather said...

Happy Birthday my most darling Kesh!

I love you so so so so much!

Hugs and many kisses,
Che

a feast, everyday said...

To all the aunties, uncles, che che and koko - thank you!!

JENCOOKS said...

Happy Birthday and nothing more than happiness spread with lots of hardwork to make this a beautiful one, could see the smile there; why not, the cupcakes comes from the warmest heart.

irenebui said...

Happy birthday to Kesha, i still remember her as a little girl and Leane a baby...how fast they've grown... and yet we still look so young, hehehe...

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

hey, i've awarded u the Brilliante Weblog Award. pls check on my site.

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

those cupcakes look so tempting!!!!! Slurrp!
Happy Birthday to your sweetheart kesh

Big Boys Oven said...

Such a simple and beautifully done cupcakes.

Happy Belated Birthday!

a feast, everyday said...

terri, TQ

starr, tq, i see ur computer is back in working condition...

sui, a whole cake has no room for mistake...

natalie, how r u??? hear u daily over the radio!

daisy, chat with u tonite.

jencooks, tq it is harder when the fingers are all thumbs :P

Irene, yes, they r growing older but we r getting younger...

denise, tq, used a butter cake recipe 4 the cupcakes, very sinful

big boy oven, coming from u tt's so encouraging. I just saw ur choco cupcakes with macaroons n had to mop d drools off my floor :P

denise,

red | hongyi said...

happy birthday dear! those cupcakes r so pretty!

a feast, everyday said...

tq, hong yi
from keshia

Precious Pea said...

Happy Birthday Keshia! Lovely cupcakes!

a feast, everyday said...

Thank you,
from Keshia.

ganache-ganache said...

A very Happy Belated Birthday to your girl ! That's what we called home baking, hubby & the girls are involved in my baking most of the time, you can see the 4 of us making cupcakes together, baking, piping, decorating & packing, it's really fun to make it into a family affair !!

a feast, everyday said...

Tq, yes, we had a really great time.