Ying told me she loved me today...I was flustered for a moment; and then I began to wonder if she loved me before I catered at her 21st birthday party *laughs*.Despite having sat in same lecture halls with her for more than 2 years; we've only began to get acquainted better recently. I wished I had made more of an effort before; she's been a gem of a girl in her very own unique and charming way. She often reminds me of my competitive self; it may have something to do with us both being Virgo's, Chinese? *shrug* haha. Have a great 21st Ying...here's a BIG BIG hug from me! and I'd like to wish you the VERY best in your many years to come; stay smiling, pretty...and its bout time you stop GROWING vertically! Haha...*sigh* you make me feel so stumpy.
Now on to the party food....preparation...etc.
My kitchen looked like it was hit by gale force winds before her party this evening! I've been baking and cooking for approximately 15 hours the past couple of days. *I should probably clean that mess up after the "coffee sale" tomorrow*
I baked her cake on Friday and enclosed it in a white chocolate lindt box decorated with silver dragees along the bottom, shiny pearls, imprinted butterflies and a classy black sugar bow. The box was filled to the brim with strawberries and cream and sticks of chocolate coated strawberries, white chocolate truffles and strawberry chocolate bits. 
I also made a batch of vanilla buttercream cupcakes to match with tiny bows, strawberries and pieces of ribbon.
I woke up this morning to many unanticipated shocking events which made my day longer than it initially should have been. Despite being extremely down the past couple of days, I took matters pretty positively this morning and it helped me pull thru with a smile all day. The first horror was the cake cracking!!! My heart dropped to my toes as I watched it; but luckily enough, there was a little bowl of the same color chocolate to fix up the little patch without making too much damage. Despite the many "calculations/logical analysis" of the cake's support structure and decorative weight; I sometimes forget a couple of probable issues along with my sketches. I'm so glad I do Building Construction Management at uni...Haha, it really does come in handy *wink*Transporting the cake to Ying's place was probably the most stressful part of the day. The weather wasn't on our side and the heat from the blistering sun refused to give me a break. After many OOo's and Aaa's...I got it to Ying's in one piece....but had a couple of patching up touch up's to do. It looks good here though, and she seems really happy with it.
I had a piece after the cake cutting was done; and *mmMm*...I love my own Irish Cream cake recipe. *rubs tummy*The Food:
Tortilla Roll ups with chili chicken+ginger...I wrapped in a couple sprigs of lemon thyme to give the flavors a boost. It was great! I was a little worried about making the chicken a little too spicy with my Malaysian "spicy" proportions...but there weren't any complaints at the party; and I was relieved.
Roast Duck+ hoisin sauce served in crisp wanton cups and spring onions
Pasta tossed in Chorizo and kalamata olives and sprinkled with freshly chopped oreganoRoasted Sweet Potato + Avacado salad with freshly chopped mint and crispy proschuitto shreds
Smoked Salmon+ herb and garlic Cream cheese
Desserts:
Dark Chocolate creme caramel liquor fountain! this was the star of the show....(*thanks my darling friends for the absolutely AMAZING birthday gift...I'm truly touched by how wonderful and thoughtful you guys are*)
I bought an entire box of deliciously enormous strawberries for Ying's party and chopped up my 2 kg stash of Couverture Lindt chocolate for the fondue fountain. The fountain was sensational! I loved it!
Gold+Cookie treats packed in cute chinese take-out boxes filled with Ying's favorite cookies she pointed out from a special book she gave me for my birthday last week. 
Being the cultured chinese person that I am...I decided to have a little something on her 21st birthday to represent good fortune and prosperity; which should explain the neccesity for bright red containers filled with gold coins made from chocolate. I hope Ying-y enjoyed her party...as much as I enjoyed catering for her. It looked like the guests had quite a bit of fun with the food too...
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5 comments:
hi. wow, your spread looks fantastic! Feel hungry just looking at the food. And the cake..wow!
I have a question to ask about making cakes. When you make layered cakes, do you bake the cake in one tray, and then spilt it so that you can put in the cream filling between the layers? Or do you bake the cake mixture in a few trays and then join the 2 cake layers sandwich style?
And when i bake cakes, my cake always cracks in the middle or rises up in the centre to form a weird "mountain" shape. How to avoid this?
thanks!
WAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I want an cake like that!!!! ....i had 2 cakes for my 21st birthday and both sucked...
alma: thanks :)..lol I'llpass some goodies to you the next time I'm baking for ourselves through amrit! hehe
hmm...for layered cake, I usually prefer using 2 sandwich cake tins and bake them seperately as it gives it a neater appearance when youre done. I never had a good cake knife before; and slicing straight through a cake can get a little messy, especially if you have a crumbly and dense cake when is hard to flip/lift off.
Centers usually rise up from baking and 'mountain peaks' are extremely common. It's actually from the different levels of 'rise' in the cake as it bakes. The corners always cook faster as they are closer to the hot cake tins, try lowering the temperature a little in the oven or switching the cake to a lower rack in the oven to allow a more evenly distributed 'bake+rise'levels. It could also sometimes be the excessive baking powder or just a glitch in the recipe :).
Poking the cake in the center to check if its done too early can also lead to cake batter rising up from the middle and flowing to the top of the cake like a volcano. LOL My favourite way of fixing it is a good layer of smooth frosting :P yum....
teckiee: Haha...im guessing you love strawberries
creative ideas
Hihi
Have seen a no. of your recipes and postings, very creative, so different for an engineering student. I was also studying overseas 2 yrs back so can understand you must be a blessing to your friends. Gd cooks r a rare gem. It's also a good avenue of using extra time and energy, who knows? You may set up a biz in Aussie.
Btw, can I know what brand mixer do you use? I am planning to get one. can email your reply to me? Cos I may miss your reply as I am not sure where you will be posting it. am qt new to blogging, so bit sotong. :)
my email: yummycarrotcake@yahoo.com.sg
xie xie
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