A Birthday Cake and Few Awards!!!

Hi friends, as many of you might have noticed my blog has been inactive for almost a month now.  Sorry for disappearing just like that without any notice, but then it was not a planned one.  It started with me being unwell and later a motivation fatigue to cook.  Few of you have been asking about my absence. Thanks for asking, I'm fine now but still have'nt started to cook anything bloggable just because of sheer laziness.  So here I'm posting a cake I made for my better half's birthday last year.

Since I did this when I was not a regular blogger, I don't have the step by step clicks.  To see a similar cake's demo please click here.

There are few awards which where long due to acknowledge.  Here goes...

Ganga of My Favourite Foods, Cool Lassie of Pan Gravy Kadai Curry and Aparna of Ladies Special Adukkala have passed on this lovely award!!! Thanks a lot dearies!!!

Rules for accepting the award:

Thank the giver, display the award and brag about it, say 10 honest new things about yourself and pass it on to 10 people.

Me Me... :)

1. Whenever I cook I think of my mom, trying to do things the way she does.  I have always wanted to be just like her.

2. Make a wish upon a fallen eyelash and I got my son and hubby into the habit.  I literally nag my hubby to do so. 

3. I am a strong believer in God and any debate or doubt about the existance of the supreme power takes me into a panicky, insecure state of mind.

4. Get uncomfortable, cautious and apprehensive about strangers who try to be very friendly/talkative. I don't warm up to strangers until I know them better.

5. I love music.  I can listen to old melodies, MJ and Lady Gaga with the same passion and enthusiasm.  Though a li'l biased towards soft melodies.

6. Always concious about what I eat, keep a count on calories and I check my weight many times a day and I get my legs pulled often by friends for doing this.

7. Easily angered, stubborn and at times rebellious but getting mellowed with each year of marriage, thanks to my cool, calm, liberal best half!!! I had a very strict orthodox upbringing and marriage was like a door opened to have all the freedom I craved for as a teenager.

8. At my worse when I have to deal with aggressive, intrusive and over inquisitive people. Their questions and ways affect my nerves and I just can't tolerate them.

9. Like everything feminine. Love laces, frills, pinks and pretty lingerie.  If I can't find what I'm looking for while shopping,  I end up buying lingerie to soothe my disappoinment.

10. I adore my friends.  They are treated very special and are pampered often with lot of attention and quality time.  I value friendship, believe in accepting a friend as he/she is and respect their likes and dislikes.  Hate possesiveness and rivalry among friends and try my level best to avoid both.

Tired of hearing about me????? :D

I'm passing this on to Tina, Dolly, Jagruthi, Sunitha(for A Pensive Adagio as well) and Namitha, Sarah, Vrinda, Fathima,Vineetha, Mythreyi Dilip, Sushma Mallya and Preethi Rajeev . Please accept this award and looking forward to hear more about you. :)

Hamaree Rasoi and Ganga has given me this lovely one.  Thanks a lot for considering me worthy of this!!!

Preethi Rajeev has passed the Kreativ Blogger Award!!! Thanks Preethi!!!

I would like to pass these awards to all my blogger friends.  I find all of you very smart and creative and that is why you all are here in blogosphere!!! So please feel free to accept these awards. :)

Cheers!!!

Honey Glazed Pineapple Cake

Pineapple cake is the one I have baked the most. Got this recipe from the 2005 Christmas edition of the Vanitha magazine.  There were number of cake recipies in that edition, posted by many expert chefs. I cut those pages out and stuck into my recipe book and they have stuck with me till date!

You will need...

Self raising flour - 225gms

Butter - 250gms

Caster sugar - 250gms

Eggs - 5

Lemon juice - 1 lemon's

Glaced cherries - few

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Pineapple essence - 1 tsp

Canned pineapple rings - 9-10

Honey to brush

Make sure that the butter and eggs are kept in room temperature for sufficient time.  Seperate egg yolks and white and keep both aside. Chop four slices of pineapple into fine pieces and gently squeeze out the juice. Keep the pieces aside. In a mixing bowl mix butter and caster sugar well, preferably with an electric hand mixer.  Add egg yolks and mix well.  Add lemon juice, cinnamon powder, pineapple essence and mix well.  Take out the hand mixer, add pineapple pieces and mix well with a spatula. Beat egg whites seperate until stiff peaks form and fold into the mixture(mix gently, avoid vigorous stirring to maintain the frothiness of egg whites).  Line the bottom of the baking tin with baking parchment(preferably 2 layers) and arrange the pineapple pieces and cherries as in the picture or according to your liking.  Pour the batter on top. Preheat the oven to 200 degree celcius or gas mark 5 and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack, place it upside down on a cake stand, pour honey on top and spread it out with a pastry brush.

This cake can be moistened and is good to serve as a dessert. To moisten you will need...

Pineapple juice - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2 tbsp

Rum - 2 tbsp(optional)

Mix everything together and sprinkle on top of the cake evenly before taking out of the tin.

Note:

If you are planning to decorate the cake with sugarpaste or fondant, avoid the pineapple and cherry base. 

If you are using plain flour instead of self raising one, swift the flour with 1/2 tsp of baking powder.

You can divide the batter into three, bake three thin layers and assemble with fresh cream and cherry filling like for black forest, finishing with fresh cream frosting.

A Pink Birthday Cake!

A birthday cake for a little girl who is very fond of books.  She's my son's schoolmate as well as my friend's daughter.  We had a wonderful party at their place - the highlights were the dance floor and the karaoke singing which kept as awake till the early morning hours of Valentine's day. Some of the songs have still not left my lips...Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein...How I love music!!! Had a gala time... :)  

This time I've got the step by step snaps for you :)

I am a book-taught ametuer in cake decoration.  Few of the techniques I use here might not be the proper proffesional way.  

Things you will need...

A little patience, no special talent other than this is needed
A cake 

White Icing/Sugar Paste or Fondant

Marzipan - 500gm

Sugar Modelling tool kit(if you don't have can adjust with few kitchen equipments and cocktail sticks)

Paste food color
Marmalade(shredless) or any jam without bits
Cocktail sticks
Pastry brush
Icing Sugar
Rolling pin
Paint Brushes(preferably sabel hair brushes) - few of the different sizes
Non stick icing sheet
Cake board/stand
Cling film
Flower cutter - 3 different sizes
Wafer Biscuits

Marmalade glace:

To marzipan a cake you need a glace which helps the marzipan to stick to the cake.  I have used marmalade glace here. To make marmalade glace you will need...

Marmalede - 200 gm

Water - 45ml

Place marmalade and water in a saucepan and heat gently until the marmalade dissolves fully.  Bring to boil.  Take off heat and set it aside to cool. 

Note:

Any jam without bits can be used.  If using a jam with bits, strain after boiling. 

Marzipaning  the Cake:

Marzipaning is essential for a smooth, even, blemish free cake. To do this unwrap the cake and remove the lining paper.  Place the cake on the cake board, lightly roll the cake with a rolling pin to flatten slightly.  Brush the top and side with marmalade glace.  Knead the marzipan to make it smooth.  Sprikle the work surface with seived icing sugar.  Roll out the marzipan to suit the shape of the cake. To transfer it on to the cake, roll the marzipan loosely around the rolling pin.  Lift the rolling pin with the marzipan on it and place it on top of the cake positioning it correctly.  Smooth it and trim off the extra lengths. Save the extras for later use. Some people don't like the taste of marzipan. In that case use sugarpaste instead. Check out the links I've given below for a clearer understanding.

To make the sofa:

To make the sofa arrange the wafer biscuits as shown in the figure(let your imagination run wild, personalise your sofa, love seat or even couch, to your liking).  You might need to trim off the extra lengths of the wafers which makes the handles. Once you are happy with the look, stick them together with marmalade glace. I have used marzipan to stick the back rest.  Employ marzipan wherever you find it difficult to stick with just marmalade glace.  Make the side table with same techniques.  Can cut the wafers to a size of ur liking.  Use a sharp knife while cutting to prevent the chipped edges.  Once assembled you need to cover it with marzipan to get a smooth finish for the sugarpaste decoration. Can do this by bushing maramalade glaze on the sofa, roll out the marzipan on a smooth dusted surface  and cut it into desired shapes.  I used a ruler to measure and cut it with the tool shown in figure.  The tools are very handy, helps to attain better perfection and worth the price.  I highly recommend them.  

Colouring Sugar paste:

You can manage with just the primary colours red, blue, yellow and black.  Other colors can be obtained by mixing these.  It's better to buy brown since you need to knead way too much to obtain the color with red and green.  I'm giving few combinations here. You might be knowing these combinations already, but just in case if you don't remember, here it is...

Red+Yellow= Orange, when a small tinge of both are used with white as the sugarpaste base you can get skin colour.  

Blue+Yellow=Green

Red+Blue=Purple

Green+Red=Brown

The sugarpaste I used here is storebought and comes white in colour.  You can make sugarpaste at home(I've never tried, choosing the easier option since decorating itself is so time consuming). If you need the recipe for sugarpaste please feel free to ask.  Coming to coloring, we need paste colors for this, powder colors can also be used eventhough pastes are more effective.  Take as much as sugrapaste you need.  With the help a cocktail stick transfer the color paste to the sugarpaste.  Go slow starting with very less color since the paste colours are very concetrated.  Knead until you get an even finish.  Cover the sugarpaste with cling film until use to prevent drying out.(Kneading is the toughest part for me...phew...)

I used dark brown for sofa and covered the marzipaned sofa and side table with brown sugarpaste, following the same steps as we did for marzipan covering.  

For the side piping in pink, color the sugarpaste with very little red and you can get pink.  To get the piping threads  use an icing gun(i don't have one) or if you are familiar with the idiyappam press(chakli maker, shown in figure) use that(it's very handy, I use it for all my sugarpaste attempts).  Stick the piping along the sides. To stick, brush water lightly with a 0 brush. Cut out different shades of pink flowers with the flower cutter and decorate the sofa with it. Stick using water.  If you dont have flower cutter make small balls of sugarpaste and flatten it with hand to get polka dots of different sizes.  This would look equally good. To make the drawers I have cut out sugar paste oblongs and marked the edge design with the tool shown in figure.  

The frills can be made by rolling cocktail sticks along one side of sugrapaste stripes.  See figure.

Sugar paste Figure:

To get the skin colour add very little red and yellow to the white sugarpaste.  For the hair I used the chakli press(icing gun) or can make this with the help of a seive.  Press a small ball of sugarpaste through the seive, you can get fine strands. Mould the body parts as shown in figure. Assemble them on the sofa.  Two tones of frills can be used for the skirt. For the eyes prick the face with cocktail stick tipped with black color.  The tool used for mouth is shown in figure. Use water to stick the body parts together.

Sugarpaste Books:

Table Lamp:

Slippers:

By the time i reached the flower cushion I was running short of time and missed out the clicks. If you are really keen on it, let me know, I can do it again and post the pictures for you. I am a last minute doer and usually finishes things in the nick of time.

Here are few links and refernces which might come handy.

Marzipaning

Frills

Figures

Book Reference:  The International School of Sugarcraft Books 1 and 2 by Nicolas Lodge.

I have tried to be as clear as possible.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask, I'll be happy to help. 

A Superman Birthday Cake

Made this cake almost a year and a half back. A superman cake for my li'll superboy!!! I was overjoyed when I saw his face light up seeing this Superman.  Tried painting the eyes but messed it up and the big black goggle-like eyes is to cover that up! The supeman finally ended up looking like he was taking a sun bath with those shades!

Again a pineapple cake since its one of our favourites.  The frosting & filling are fresh cream and the superman of sugarpaste.

My First Award and A Cake!!!

Hi Friends, I'm so happy to receive the first feathers in  my cap from Devi(http://fresherscookbook.blogspot.com/ ). Thanks a ton Devi for your kindness and encouragement.

Rules for accepting this award

Thank the person who gave you the award.

Copy the award to your blog.

Place a link to their blog.

Name 7 things people don't know about you.

Nominate 7 bloggers.

Place a link to those bloggers.

Place a comment letting those bloggers know about the award.

7 things people might not know about me:

1. Feel like I have conquered the whole world when someone comments, "You have lost weight!", and the more I lose the greedier I get.

2. A spoilsport in extreme weathers and i hate the winter.

3. At my best while shopping for clothes - my all time obsession.

4. A nocturnal when preoccupied with something creative.

5. Bring the entire place down yelling on confronting a spider. 

6. Breakfast with bhelpuri often, can have it round the clock for any number of days and never get tired of it. 

7. My Dream impossible - Fruits and fries swap places in the calorie chart and hence I indulge sinfully 24/7.

I would like to share these awards with

Sunitha and Namitha - http://cookingpals.blogspot.com/

Tina - http://kaipunyam.com/

Jisha - http://jishaskitchen.blogspot.com/

Aparna - http://ladiesspecialadukkala.blogspot.com/

Sarah - http://www.vazhayila.com/

Adukkalavisesham - http://adukalavishesham.blogspot.com/

Fathima - http://thattukada-myblog.blogspot.com/

And to share the joy I'm posting a cake which I made for my son's Birthday.  The party theme was space and hence and a space cake.  The rockets and the astronaut are made of sugarpaste and the cake is iced with fresh cream. It is a pineapple cake, moistened with rum and sugar syrup and layered with fresh cream and cherry filling .  The yellow sugar stars are storebought.  I was in such a pathetic state of mind at that time, with a lot of things to take care of,  forgot to put a birthday message with my son's name on the cake which was later done in a haste by my hubs dear just before cutting the cake.  It was his idea to put the message on a flag.  Missed a good click of the cake as well. 

A Christmas Cake

Christmas in all its regalia is never complete without a Rich Fruit Cake/Plum Cake. Here's a cake that I made for last Christmas, a rich fruit cake with sugarpaste icing.  And it was the first time i got this cake right! Ofcourse with the aid of my ever reliable lifeline which prevents me from cooking havocs-"Phone-ma-mommy"! A universal lifeline for cooking!!! isn't it? :D

A Wedding Anniversary and a Cake...

Here is a cake I made for one of my friend's Wedding Anniversary.  We were invited for an eat out with them and after the dinner they blew the candles, cut the cake and we gave a toast !!!  Not sure whether folks blow candles on wedding anniversary, but as always she had her little unique ways!!!  On seeing the cake what she adored most were those kisses on the guy's cheeks ;) Yippeee...I knew she would love those :D. One month later she left for India and I'm missing her badly, which is one of the reasons why I'm here blogging, diverting myself rather than craving to play cards and blah blah blah-ing over tea with her.

As I said, I was not a regular blogger when I made this cake and hence I'm sorry to say that I don't have the step by step snaps, will be doing that for sure on my next sugarcraft attempt.  This is a coconut cake with sugarpaste icing.

Macaroons

It's been some time since i've cooked something special for my little tiger!!! And recently he has been calling me "yummy-mommy" quite often, which makes me think - 'has he inherited his Dad's skill of pulling others legs!!!???'.  Hence, I decided to bake something and keep the reputation literally true.

Macaroons, I thought, is a good idea!!! The almond flavour makes it taste like I've spend an eternity baking!!! Not just the little one, but all of us keep nibbling on it until it's over and my little tiger keeps complaining, "Hey, it's made for me...only for me...".

I wanted the aroma to linger in the house when he was back from school to hear him asking, "What have you made? Smells yummy...gimme that."  :).  So made it in the afternoon and was rewarded with the prompt query i was looking for...Yippeee...

You will need...

Egg whites - 2 meduim  or 3 small eggs

Caster sugar - 200-225gm (It was sweeter than the usual cookies, so adjust according to your preference)

Ground almonds - 130 gm

Almond extract - few drops

Blanched almonds - 25 - 30

In a clean bowl whisk egg whites stiff. Gradually fold in the sugar.  Mix the ground almonds and almond extract to make a paste. Spoon teaspoonfulls of the mixture into baking trays lined with baking parchment, spacing them apart. Press an almond into the centre of each one and bake at 180 degree celcius, gas mark 4 for aprox 15 minutes or until golden and firm when touched. Take out and give a 7 -10 minutes standing time and then  cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. On cooling they have a soft chewy centre and harden up after a few days.

Egg whites beaten until stiff peaks form

Recipe Reference - Good housekeeping cookery book