White Matcha Azuki Bar

Success sometimes comes quite accidentally/ coincidentally - speaking from personal experience with making this matcha azuki cake :) And it's when you can really achieve consistency each time that you know you have finally "made it".

I was pretty lucky the first time I put this cake together - the sponge layers were soft and fluffy; and the consistency of the chantilly cream was just right. And I managed to take the above shot that attracted a new high of FB likes.

But when I actually tried to make it again for actual orders, I failed a few times, with issues ranging from a flat/ dense sponge to overbeaten cream. The mistakes were quite painful (imagine having to make things from scratch over again) but it really made me pay attention to every step along the way, so as to get things 'right'. I don't think I am a 100% consistent yet, but at least I know I am somewhere close!

D would know how many meltdowns I have had when trying to bake for sale; and strangely baking has made me more conscious of how high unnecessarily "high-strung" I can get in times of crises! :P I have since learnt to take mess-ups more calmly (still work-in-progress though!) and am really thankful to the home support (sometimes emotional, sometimes physical ie. help with clean-ups) during those times.

And the happy outcome from minor setbacks along the way has been pretty positive feedback from customers who ordered various renditions of this cake! Check out Niji Sweets for some recent photos/ comments! :)

Punggol Cake

I feel a little sheepish about my long absence, but my pace of life has suddenly picked up considerably and it's become tougher to bake regularly - much less blog about my bakes. I suppose things are always tougher at the beginning, and hopefully when I am more settled down in the new job, I can gradually find time to experiment in the kitchen again! So pardon me if my updates become a bit more infrequent - but do check back from time to time!

I just wanted to share a very short update on a "fun" cake I made this week - a chocolate cake in the shape of Punggol Town, covered with caramel swiss meringue buttercream; complete with a mini Punggol Waterway and Coney Island. The little white marshmallows are supposed to represent HDB blocks along the waterway. It was a very unusual order from an architect for an urban planner's birthday. Since I've never made any odd-shaped cake before, was admittedly a little doubtful how it would turn out in the end. Thankfully all turned out well and the customers were pretty happy (not to mention amused)! :)