I don't cry. I bake...My Birthday Cake!

MY BIRTHDAY CAKE!!

One of the things I've been obsessed with lately are tiered wedding cakes. I've been cake-stalking online for so long and as much as I like novelty cakes (a la Planet Cake) I still can't stop going through galleries and galleries of tiered weddings cakes. I became wrapped up with the idea of making one and since I'm not at the level where I consider myself worthy of making a wedding cake for weddings (like Sharon Wee, Faye Cahill and Peggy Porschen...maybe one day *sigh*) I thought why not make one for myself?

No, not for MY upcoming wedding! We've been through this I'm not the one getting married. I decided to make my own 2-tiered birthday cake. Who said tiered cakes are only for weddings, hmm?? I know, I know...it's a little sad making your own birthday cake...but a baker's gotta do what a baker's gotta do to practise. When I attended the Planet Cake cupcake class one of the teachers told us that the way she got into her sugar art career was by making her own birthday cake. People at her party were so impressed they started asking her to make cakes for them. Inspirational, non?

Since I'm a baker-on-a-budget I had to figure out how to put together a tiered cake without having to attend a class. So after weeks of researching online and in baking books I was able to work out the basics of assembling a tiered cake. My bestie bought me the Peggy Porschen Cake Chic book which had instructions on everything from how to bake cookies to assembling a tiered cake! Ahhh bless my bestie's heart.

oopsy, the tin was smaller than i thought so had to make an extra mini cake.
which became my afternoon tea- see i told you there are no tears in baking :)

white chocolate mud cake batter

So as you can imagine I spent my entire birthday weekend surrounded by all things baking. I stayed up till midnight making a white chocolate mud cake for the bottom tier followed by a smaller coconut cake for the top tier. My back was actually aching from standing for so long but like a determined baker I soldiered on and made my HUGE bowl of ganache the next day.

gooey-lala

Standing for about 1-2 hours I ganached both cakes and then finally was ready to assemble...

ta da!!!

Perhaps if you are a wedding cake maker you can tell me whether or not I was overreacting but I sure felt overwhelmed when something I had been dreaming of became reality.

I nearly shed a tear as the top tier and bottom tier became one.

I'm not game enough to try fondant yet so I took a bit of inspiration from Faye Cahill's website to finish off the cake with minimal decorations. Enter the pink ribbon from the box of cupcakes my sister had delivered to me a few days ago!

I don't cry. I eat...at Seoul Korean BBQ and Peaberry

I don't know anyone who doesn't love a buffet. I mean who'd say "no" to unlimited food? However, not all buffets are created equal. I've been in search for a good value buffet since the days of Sizzler and Smorgy's. I haven't seen good ones around without having to pay more than $40 for decent food. Even Korean BBQ buffets in Sydney are quite expensive and you can't help but feel the restauranteur is trying to discourage you from having too much by either not putting a huge variety out to choose from or you have to keep ordering from the waiter. 

So when my friends (both Koreans) told me about a place in Belfield, Sydney where Korean BBQ buffet is around $30 I was quite intrigued. I've paid $40+ for Korean BBQ buffet before in the city and it didn't feel like a buffet to me as you had to keep ordering from the waiter and every plate that came was rather...light. To satisfy that curiosity my friends said they'd take me there for my birthday! 

The little house of BBQ

In a little block of its own, Seoul Korean BBQ sits at the junction of Punchbowl Road and Water Street in Belfield. Apparently this place use to be a Pizza Hut (another old buffet joint!). My friends didn't tell me much about what to expect so I was picturing a smallish establishment with a few varieties of meat, some ice cream for dessert and maybe some appetisers (if we were lucky) but when I got there I was extremely impressed with the huge choice of raw meat, seafood, Korean appetizers, salads, pasta (yes some spag bol!) and dessert. I couldn't believe there were cooked prawns, potato noodles, sang choy bow and fried chicken...obviously I couldn't try EVERYTHING but we had a pretty good spread  (I would have loved to taste test everything for you readers but I think my digestive system would hate me for it) . Check it out!

I don't cry. I squeal...at my Cupcakes surprise!!!

Hands up who LOVES a good surprise? I do. Especially when it comes in the form of cupcakes!!

You see, it's my birthday in a few days and the presents are starting to come. This tends to happen every year because my birthday usually falls around the Easter break and people are often away and want to spoil me early. Yes, I am surrounded by very lovely thoughtful people :) which is probably why I love making food and feeding those around me.

So today here I was thinking it's just another work day...same old same old...when my Inbox lights up telling me "There's a box at reception for you...and it has a pink ribbon on it!" I bolted to reception straight away, heels and all, to find said box with pink ribbon and a card telling me it's from my sister! My heart skipped a beat when I saw the sticker saying "My Little Cupcake". Then slowly I opened the box to find 6 beautiful cupcakes nestled in pink crepe paper!

Too beautiful to eat, non?

*Squee* My lovely sister knows me too well. These cupcakes have my name written all over them. Frangi panis? Check. Pastel colours? Check. Butter icing? Check.

ahhh my little pretties...

I paraded them around the office a little (teehee!) just to show off the cupcakes (and what a thoughtful and sweet sister I have, of course!) before I reluctantly but excitedly ate one...

I don't cry. I eat...at Cafe Morso, Pyrmont

I have such a love-hate relationship with Sydney. Five days a week I have to catch the yucky train to work in the city then 9 hours later repeat the same process. I get cranky especially when it's a chilly day like today... and if you live in Sydney you'd know what I mean with all the negative news about train delays lately!

HOWEVER, when I get to have brunch by the water on a sunny day all seems to be forgiven especially at Cafe Morso, Pyrmont. I've been here a couple of times so I decided it was worth mentioning to y'all. It's a chic little cafe by the water on Jones Bay Wharf that's really popular for brunch (good thing we booked!) We arrived about 30 minutes early being the eager brunchers that we were and it was no surprise when we saw that it was full house. So while we waited we walked down the wharf to soak in the sun and the harbour views. We even got a bit of live music when a boat passed by with a live band practising on board!

When we got seated it took me no time to decide I wanted the soft scrambled eggs with gruyere cheese. This is the 2nd time I've had the soft scrambled eggs with gruyere cheese and I have to admit  I didn't taste the gruyere cheese as much as I did last time but being the forgiving person that I am I decided it was just an off-day for them and I'm sure it'll be better the next time I go there :)

Soft scrambled eggs with gruyere cheese

mmmm drooltastic

Unfortunately I don't have any more photos of Cafe Morso but their website (click here!) has a nice gallery of the cafe, the food and the view. I think that will give you an idea as to why I'm so forgiving about the lack of gruyere that day :)

love, 

idontcryieat

PS No baking this weekend as I have bridesmaid duties at the much anticipated wedding but I have a baking project coming up soon for a HUGE occasion...stay tuned!

I don't cry. I bake...a naughty cake

Sometimes there comes a time in a woman’s life when she has to wear a tiara, don a sash saying "Bride-To-Be", take some tequila shots and decorate a cake in the shape of a dildo.

SAY WHAT????

NO NO NO, I’m not the one getting married (yeah…cos that’s what really stuck out in that sentence…). My good friend is getting married this weekend and as what awesome bridesmaids would do we threw her a great Hen’s party! I haven’t been to many Hen’s parties so at first I was a bit stuck for ideas as to what activities we should have but I know Hen’s parties seemed to revolved around all things [insert word for man body part here]. I knew we had to have some activities involving things that made us giggle and blush. We also had to incorporate some fun girly things such as cakes, fine foods and maybe something arty as well (I’ve heard nude art classes are quite popular for Hen’s parties).

Strawberries: "Pour champagne all over me, pleeeeease!"

At first we were looking at doing something tame like go to a baking class together…until I was quoted something around $100 plus (PER PERSON?!) So we all came up with an idea – DIY!!!! What’s so hard about baking some Betty Crocker cake mix, preparing some icing and letting the girls loose with it all? AND to make it even more fun and interesting, let’s make it a contest: ”Design a D*ck”!! I mean what other game incorporates cake, fine foods (hey, Betty Crocker cake mix is fine ok?) AND naughty art!!

Ready, set, DECORATE!

The Canvas aka Choc Fudge Cake

Icing pens- what a great little find at the supermarket!

So on the day we armed the girls with marshmallows, frosting, icing pens, nuts and choc buttons all ready to go with their pre-made rectangle choc fudge cakes (choc fudge was the only flavour left on the shelf, I swear). It was great to see that the game had everyone in fits of laughter while they fight over frosting, carve and decorate away. I have to say laughing and cake decorating at the same time is quite a challenge! Also, we should have had some aprons...something to remember for next time!

So…..I guess I’ll have to show you the final results…but click for the rest of the post below if you’re mature enough (as in over 18 years please!) and make sure you don’t have any inquisitive kids around you…unless you want to answer them when they ask you, "what IS that?"

I don't cry. I learn...

I came across this video tonight...and all I can say is, the best kind of school is "old school". Her outfit and hair may be outdated but I'm definitely watching this video for my future cake decoration!

I don't cry. I eat...at The Boathouse, Palm Beach

If you've ever been lucky enough to visit the Northern Beaches area in Sydney, you'd know why I love it so much. It's so far away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney city that I can feel myself relaxing as I drove past the many beaches to reach the Palm Beach end of Barrenjoey Road. About an hour's drive from Sydney's CBD, Palm Beach is an expensive area to live in so it was no surprise that it's a little bit more expensive to eat. Full of many beachside eateries, Palm Beach is a very tranquil beachy community where you can eat by the sea, take a swim while you wait for your brekkie order or kayak past your friends while they brunch on the deck of a cafe like the Boathouse.

Opened in November 2008, the Boathouse is a cafe, flower shop and gourmet food stockist. When we arrived, from the outside, it looked like a humble little establishment with mismatched outdoor furniture and a gorgeous selection of flowers and crates of fruit balanced on top of lobster traps (which made them look very glamorous! who woulda thought lobster traps could be home-deco-glam?).

sorry, doggies.

 lobster traps!

have a seat while you sip your coffee and decide which flowers you want to buy

As we walked through the entrance of the Boathouse I was indeed taken back with what I saw: Amongst the beautiful striped pink wallpaper, a wide assortment of flowers and antique wooden furniture was a giant vase holding massive branches of frangi pani in the middle of the room. I thought I just walked into a Vogue Living editorial!

beautiful calla lilies

yummy baked goods!! hard not to press your nose against the glass...

Unfortunately (actually it wasn't so unfortunate) we couldn't find a seat inside so we opted for outside on one of the picnic benches on the deck of the Boathouse. The Boathouse didn't just leave the Vogue-ish decorating for the inside. The deck brunchers were treated to even more antique wooden furniture, cool knick-knacks such as antique watering cans, porcelain and candles and most importantly an unblocked view of the sea.

I don't cry. I ganache.

Ok, I have a confession to make. Before this year, I didn’t even know what  “ganache” was. I mean, I’ve heard of the word before but I didn’t know exactly what it was until I started upping my knowledge on cake decorating. I’ve done a basic cake deco course before but still had never heard of the word…maybe I wasn’t paying attention at the time? 

Ganache is a type of icing made of chocolate and cream and acts as a "glue" in cake deco. Since it's such a foundational part of cake decoration I thought I should learn how to make it and practise decorating a cake with it and what better way to do so than making cakes for your friends! As I’ve been a little obsessed lately I find any excuse to make cake. And my friends are ever so grateful. It’s my good friend’s birthday this weekend and she has kindly allowed me to make her birthday cake and be my guinea pig (bless her heart!). Birthday girl went through my Planet Cake book with me and requested a coconut cake with dark chocolate ganache. Woohoo! My first project for someone!

Step 1 was making the coconut cake. Easy! And it made the house smell wonderful! So wonderful that I had the guilts when I said to my family they weren’t allowed to have any.

Step 2 was the ganache. As you can imagine attempting to make “ganache” only months after I’ve learnt what it actually is was quite the daunting task. My mission was to turn 1.2kg of dark chocolate and 600g of cream into a gooey paste. I actually swallowed my throat a little bit when I placed all the dark chocolate chips in the bowl. I think being confronted with that amount of chocolate is already unsettling enough.