Abigail's 3rd Birthday Party

It's not a cliche, when one says, time really flies..esp..when you are watching you own kid grow up before your eyes.
It may seem like yesterday, when I have just popped this missie out, and guess what, she just turned 3, and is anything but a baby.. As parents, we feel very privileged and blessed to have been given this great gift of God bestowed upon us, and yes, every birthday is worth the celebration! A mark of the achievements she did in the previous year, and embracing many more years ahead of her.

Abby has always had a sweet tooth, however, we have always limited her candy intake to outings, or weekends. However, to celebrate her this year, we decided to give in to her sweet tooth just for that one special day.. and it's themed :All things sweet party, just for her and her friends.

Hence, her cake is designed with her utmost love of sweets and ice cream. And the mark of how successful the cake was, is by the expressions on her face when she saw it. She squealed! and just after I tucked her in her bed at night, she said, mom, i really love those ice creams on the cake. :) that really made my day!

Noah's ark Birthday

This cupcake collection is dedicated to none other than my lil niece..Gaby.. It's her first birthday, and to spice up her exciting year, all her aunts and uncles from Singapore flew back for this special occasion. She has grown a love and keen awareness of the various animals and soft toys she had. So, I decided to bake her this cupcake tower based on noah's ark theme..except it's a girlie version of the animal kingdom, and to incorporate as many animals of her love on it.

Boy, how I love her expression when she saw the animals.. Since she hasn't spoken much, she communicated with her finger pointing at the animals, and said.."ooooohhh".. now, that's really gratifying coming from a one year old :)

god bless you Gaby in this new year of many milestones.., with great health, joy, and wisdom from above..

A girl's dream..

Every child has a dream, a character that they fantasize about or a picture of a perfect day in their life. To this girl who is turning 5, her fantasy is to be a princess with her sparkling tiara, residing in her very own castle on her special day. Having done several superhero themed cakes, I am just ready to be connected to my inner girlie power..:) Attention, pink, purples and all the sparkly, glittery stuff...Here we go!

Cheers to our birthday girl! May this dream continue to live in heart!

Power Rangers

Its funny how, I have been doing pretty much everything related to girls and Abby, and suddenly, I am switching gears to superheroes.. Well, Superman, is an easy feat, but power rangers..seems like familiar characters, but it was somewhat a learning curve for me..Things that popped in my head are..Is it 5 or 6 individuals, and what colors exactly?? i thought i remembered pink and yellow being my favourite colors, but wait, isn't that voltus 5?? hmmmm..so, i decided to seek "counsel" from my very reliable friend..Goggle..and i got even more confused! why are they wearing different shirt designs and head gears?? Are they more than one series of power rangers..*think*think**..at this point, i wish there is a power rangers dummy guide..summary page explaining everything about this characters for me..ha!

So, to simplify things, i had asked the mommy for her son's 3 favourite colors, instead of playing guessing games as to which ones are the main characters. Red, blue and Yellow..and while i was doing all these characters, came along Abby and after taken a look at the colors, she frowned and said, there is no green color mommy, i want green color robot, that's my favourite...kids, will forever be kids..its all about ME and mine! :)

So, here's to our power rangers cake in a downtown skyscraper facade! Cheers to being 3!!

Superman on Marina Bay Sands

This cake was our gift to our dear friends from Chicago, who was celebrating their son's 40 days old celebration. When I inquired about the any preferred theme or character, the wife quickly responded with "superman"! Now, I haven't done any cake for 40 days old celebration, but i was thinking more like little cute animals, or pacifiers or pram, but definitely not a superhero theme! I couldn't help, but said, are you serious? ha! at that point, i must validate that request for a fact. :) She said, it is the dad's fav character! alright then! Let's embrace baby peter future as our superhero in the next generation~! And while brainstorming more on the cake, Wijaya, exclaimed what about marina bay sands! since it is the grandest and latest development here in singapore, it is definitely a landmark here. Let's localise this cake to our singapore flair! I was definitely excited..I am about to build the marina bay sands..:)i have always loved buildings and architecture, and it has always been my aim to be able to build a skyscrapers of some sort or building facade to appease my love of buildings. And the opportunity has arrived! ..
For those who know me, I come from a big family, with many many members...and it happened so, that my parents and my sister's 2 families are visiting singapore and staying with me. So, the juggle with this cake was to balance my sanity with the crowd at our house with 5 children spinning around the house as if on sugar high, spending time with them as well as forking time out to get the cake done.:)
But i managed to get it done in time according to what i had envisioned, amidst the zara sale and the last minute zoo trip temptations too. :)

Ball time at the carnival!

As a kid growing up, I have always fancy the idea of carnivals and seeing those cleverly trained animals doing tricks. Not that I have been to a lot of these events, actually I think i have only attended ONCE! :) but well, it was enough to carry a sweet memory growing up, that's all that matters, rite? :) so, for my cousin's son's 2nd birthday, since the only description i got from the parents is that he loves balls, I decided to adapt the carnival theme ball party! Balls..balls..There are to be seen everywhere! So, with this cake, I have the birthday boy emerged in a pool of balls and surrounded by an elephant and a clown juggling balls.
When i looked at this picture, i couldn't help but recount a rather nerve wrecking yet funny incident. Of course, this story is not far from mischievous abby! typically, I am pretty good about warning abby along the way, that she is not supposed to touch the cake that i am preparing, and I would set the finished cake in a plane beyond her reach. No, its not the cake that was in jeopardy, luckily, phew! While we were waiting for my cousin's arrival, I had set the tent canopy and a candle in a paper bag on the floor by the door, so I would not forget to bring them. And while i was in the room preparing myself, I had noticed that I haven't heard much of Abby in the past 5 min. Now, based on my experience, the most dangerous moment is when she is the quietest. :) when i come out of the room, i saw her on the floor, next to the bag totally unraveled, and there she was trying hard to jab the candle into the canopy, and she did it several times with such frustration that it won't penetrate!! That was such a scary sight! No!!! luckily, this was not a successful attempt, it only made several indentations on the canopy. Oh my, I should never take chances with anything, around a curious toddler. :)

CookieTime!

I have never been a great fan of sugar cookies, however, I do love shortbread cookies. So, one week, I decided to bake a batch of shortbread cookies and to have fun with it. Of course, this effort does not get unnoticed by our curious toddler, Abby. So, I decided to recruit her as my little cookie helper. She quickly ran to her little kitchen set to put on her apron and chef hat, and aimed for the rolling pin even before i offered. I gave her a chunk of dough and she started rolling and making her cookie shapes. That was a very fun first experience for her. We put the cookies to bake and while Abby takes her nap,, i began to ice my cookies!Icing may look very easy to do in picture, but in reality, there is so much hand control that is needed to produce delicate lines. I couldn't help but really appreciate the nice cookies that i see in the store fronts, its definitely a skill to be acquired. Overall, this was a fun baking session and most of all, I loved the taste of shortbread in my mouth!!