Monday, August 10, 2009

All pretty in pink!

It's Phi's 3rd birthday and Ian's mummy (which obviously is also Phi's mummy) asked if I could make a doll cake for her. I haven't attempted a doll cake before as there were simply no occasions for me to embark on such experiments! haha~

If you are one who quite as crazy as me about cakes and cake decorating (in some sense), I'm sure you'd have come across a doll cake. These cakes are usually pretty tall and "big" in order to fit in barbie's never-ending long legs. So, after exchanging a few questions and answers with regards to the details of the cake, Ian's mummy was looking for a doll probably with a garden as a "background". So I thought, that'd be pretty nice..Without thinking much, I agreed.

After giving it a little thought, I realised it seemed like a pretty difficult theme to match. A doll cake itself would be pretty large and with a large doll on a small patch of "grass". hmmm...looks a little weird and wrong.

So after much research and looking around online for inspiration, I finally settled on what you saw in the picture earlier one. I reduced the doll size by ALOT. to the point, the skirt was the size of a cupcake, shaped to look like a dress. I made a "castle" to go with the Princess and of course, a carriage to complete the princess theme =).

It was my first try in embarking on such a huge assignment that I wondered then and now, during the process of making the cake, if I actually made a wrong decision by wanting to add in tons of details. =X I finally convinced myself that if i do not try it now, I wouldn't know when will I next get the chance to.

It was my FIRST making a doll cake.
my FIRST making a carriage. (I had no idea how to)

But praise God, He gave me the wisdom to figure them out somehow. Everything on the cake is edible except for the 3 little crystals that I've stuck on to the tiara and of course, the doll itself. The carriage, the castle and the 2 towers are all cakes draped in fondant.

As mentioned earlier, the skirt/dress is sculpted from a cupcake. As for the castle towers, they were cupcakes that were trimmed to fit the ice cream cones. I baked the "carriage cake" in 2 bowls and trimmed them to fit together and formed a carriage. (not as round and nice as I'd have liked it, but this would suffice for a first try)

A close-up on the details. There were alot more minor details that I'd have wanted to add on, but due to miscalculations and pure laziness and procrastination, I didn't managed to make the cake exactly how I envisioned it to be. Still, I received nice reviews about the design. Heng arh.

Of course I'd like the cake to taste nicer, but I've yet to find a very yummy chocolate cake that is heavy and "sturdy" enough for fondant covered cakes. Well, the search goes on...

I recently bought quite a few cookie cutters and was estatic to realise that my tiara cookie cutters could be used! I though it'd be just perfect and fitting with the theme. hehe..
Ian's mummy didn't request for this and I meant it as a surprise. After all, they could be doubled-up as birthday cookie favours or a small little party pack for the other kids right?
Although it isn't my first time using royal icing to decorate cookies, my previous attempt was incomplete. So I was never really able to have a real feel how should I go about decorating cookies. Whatever knowledge I had about cookie decoration was from the internet. Thanks for flickr.com, I manage to find some inspiration as to how I should decorate the tiaras. I very much wanted to personalise each cookie by writing the guests names, but i didn't know who would be going! Yet, I couldn't ask as it was meant to be a surprise. So I ended up writing "Phi" on every cookie instead.
I packed it in whatever favour bags I had. Things wouldn't be complete without a nice little gift tag. So I made a really simple one to go along and am pretty pleased with it =p hehe. I hope everyone liked it. Only 1 complaint! I realise the cookies go soft after flooding it with the royal icing and I got pretty upset. The cookies were nice, crunchy and buttery. But after flooding, they turned soft, though still nice and yummy nonetheless. Anyone knows why?
I baked a total of 29 cookies but some broke under my rough handling and so here's some of them, waiting to be dried and packed.

Here's a close-up on the design. I varied very very little amongst the cookies and here's one of the designs. (actually they all look about the same ha~) I'm glad I didn't give up the thought of baking the cookies. I finally got to decorate fully with royal icing and boy! was it fun and really simple. =DD
I didn't get a chance to attend the party but I really hope Phi enjoyed herself. Happy Belated 3rd Birthday Princess Phi!!




14 comments:

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Love the pink tiara cookies! But all these looks pretty labor intensive! Great job!

youfei said...

Hi HBS,

Thanks!

I love them too! they look really girly and princess-y. hehe..

It is a little labour intensive, but I had fun doing them as well! =)

cherry potato said...

I like this! Make one for me.....

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi Youfei,
Wow! Looks like your "business" is really growing! You really spent a lot of time doing up all these! My goodness, they are just so pretty... who wouldn't have like them? *that was y u din attend class on sat right?* Heehee...
Well done, it's worth all the efforts that you've put in! All these works will eventually pay off well for you! Bravo dear!!

youfei said...

Hi Cherry Potato,

Thanks for hopping by =) I'd gladly make one for you =p

Hi Jane,

Oops! My secret's out. *ashamed* hehe..I really wanted to attend the lesson, but I was really short of time. By the time I was done with flooding the cookies and crumb coating the cake it was already 5 am! So bo bian la..started again around 11 and only managed to finish decorating everything by 630pm =XX

I think i fully understand your pain for your mega wedding cake hehe..

Thanks for the recognition =DDD *happy*

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi Youfei,
Oops, sorry for "letting the cat out of the bag"! *pai seh* With your kind of standard in the first place, you still need to go for cake decor class arh? :p They covered choc cakes last Sat. Actually you didn't miss much lah. Heehee...
Actually it's more stressful for you than for me for assignment. Yours is to deliver as "pro", mine is to deliver for assignment. We'll pass anyway! Hahaha...
But seriously, you've really done a great job! Keep it up young lady! You have the potential! :)

Anna Chan said...

Brilliant work Fiona! Congratulations!

youfei said...

Hi Jane,

Thanks for thinking so highly of me..hehe..

Still need to go for classes lah..must learn the proper way mah..hehe..I was a little upset that i couldn't make it to class..2lessons summore =(

Well I'm glad and relieved that it was for a friend. At least..not as stressful as for a stranger. =p

I'm waiting to see more stunning work from you Jane! I admire you for being able to juggle going to classes, working and taking care of the family. *thumbs up*

Hi Anna,

Thanks! Feels good to be praised by the shi fu hehehe..

Ian's mummy said...

Heh Fiona! Thanks for the effort. I was actually clueless as to the birthday cake design. But great minds think alike. Ha ha! That we both thought of the princess theme.

Actually, what I had in mind was slightly different from what you made. BUT yours is GREAT! Everyone WOWed upon seeing it. Seems like the adults are more excited to see the cake than the kids. Ha ha! The details are fantastic - the mushrooms, bees, flowers etc. The portion was good. Not too much leftovers. The cake was nice but I guess cos it's chocolate, so together with the fondant, it becomes too sweet. I had to 'peel' off the fondant and just eat the cake. Hee hee!

And for the cookies, yes! I was surprised! Very surprised especially upon seeing the attached tag - so sweet. The texture is great actually, but again cos of the icing, it is a bit sweet.

Thanks again!

Anna Chan said...

Hey Fiona,
You really do have a flair for decorating and also your baking skills are great! =)

youfei said...

Hey Ian's mummy,

Oh dear! I hope the kids liked the cake too =X Actually I'd have liked more details, but due to my poor time management I didn't manage to do so..nonetheless I'd realy glad you still like the cake. (although it wasn't quite you envisioned it to be =p)

Well actually, I would peel off the fondant too. I mean seriously, fondant is TOO sweet to be eaten. And people USUALLY peel it off. So.. yepp..Although there are people who do enjoy eating fondant. I do hope the cake was nice to eat.

As for the cookies, I personally loved the tag too! haha..I thought it'd be perfect for the theme. Esp since the little girl looked like Phi mei mei also! hehe..And yesss royal icing is sugar sugar and more sugar..maybe i should reduce the sugar in the cookie recipe to compensate? hmmm shall experiment again wahaha!

I'm really really glad you like everything. =) I had fun making and decorating the goodies too!

p/s: maybe we can bake sth to sell for the church food fair? hehe

Hi Anna,

Thanks for your compliments! My head's swelling hehe! Actually, I get my inspirations from the internet else I wouldn't be able to come up with those myself entirely =p Well, nothing would have come this far if I hadn't attended my VERY first baking workshop. (the fondant cupcakes one) That's when it all spiralled to crazy huge projects =DDD Thanks Anna!

You're a great teacher too! A very patient one at that =)

D said...

you just surpassed yourself again..

haha..

but must cut back on the timing ah!

Talita said...

How beautiful!! Love the little crowns! Great work!

youfei said...

Hi Talita,

Thanks! =D

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