Celeste & LB at Overseas Restaurant, Ipoh (3rd September, 2011)

The wedding of Celeste and LB, Ipohans working in Singapore who comes back home nearly every weekend. That much I know about them, and off course where they stay. Celeste is so sweet, offering to get me Precious Moments figurine from S'pore if I ever need them.

 

A 5-tiered cupcake tower in light blue, light pink and white. Design given by the Celeste in the form of a 2-tiered cake. Something along the lines of Made in Heaven or Love in the Heavens...dreamy sort of look. So I convert it into cupcakes and gave them a blue swirl using a round tip...keeping it rounded and fluffy.

The Precious Moments figurine given as an ROM gift to the couple...they used it for their wedding cake. Isn't that meaningful? You can see the dummy cake belonging to Overseas Restaurant in the background. This Overseas Restaurant is the new building in Jalan Datoh. What you will see in the next few pictures are only half the banquet area, approximately 30 tables. There was another birthday celebration on the other side.

Here's a closer look. A total of 9 tiers and full of white roses...about 200 white roses?

Rarely do I get the opportunity to see briefings nowadays. That's what goes on before the arrival of guests. A briefing session done by the captain on the food menu, service sequence and any special requirements for the event.  

Following that is the rehearsal for food presentation, first course only. They could do better with the use of props though. 

 That's part of the 2-piece band tuning and rehearsing for the night.

The main table setting.

 Centrepiece for the main table. Cute ya? I was told everything belongs to the venue, so the set-up is by them.

Setting for a normal table. You can see the individual door gifts in light blue and light pink. These are the only thing matching the wedding cupcakes. A this point of time they have switched on the yellow lights, everything looks yellow on camera.

As I leave, there were already guests waiting outside...must start setting up time earlier in future if I want to take more pictures. Hope you enjoyed all the pictures...it's everything you see here, and more, that makes a wedding...A Wedding!  

Macarons: Macaron + Cake Pop (Part 4)

My fourth consecutive blog post on macarons...I really must stop so I could get on with my real job. Macarons are consuming me! This time it's macarons + cake pops! Here's a gist of a cake pop pictorial...the part to ensure the cake is secured to the lolly stick.

Make round cake balls.

Dip lolly stick into melted chocolate and poke them into the cake ball. Do this for the whole batch and by the time you finished, the first one would have hardened, so you could proceed to the next stage as shown below.

Coat the whole cake ball with the melted chocolate, drip off excess and stick them upright onto a styrofoam block to dry. I left the top flat...

...that's to attach macaron shells as hats. We, at Mackie Mania call them Mackie Babes. Cute? There are five of them...

Happy Mackie 

Shy Mackie 

Cheeky Mackie 

Winky Mackie 

 ...lastly, Mackie in Love. She has hearts as her eyes...as they say "Blinded by love, blindly in love, love is blind"...haha...I love emoticons!

Can't wait for Halloween...they shall be in costumes, but before that Deepavali. As well as Christmas, Chinese New Year...etc. till the next Hari Raya and Hari Malaysia, where they will be one year old!

Big plans for them...but for me now, its back to work while I put Mackie Mania on auto pilot as much as possible. My next post shall not be on macarons...I promise!

The Day Wedding •August 6, 2011

Last weekend the wedding bells were ringing again! The Wheaton’s, our long time family friends, threw a wedding for their daughter Heather and her new husband, Wes. Heather grew up with my girls, so I was honored when she asked me to do their wedding cake. This cake was yellow butter and devils food with a whipped cream filling. It was complete with a butter-cream icing done in an all-over lace design. The Bride had given me ribbon she wanted to go around each tier in order to compliment her black-and-white-themed wedding. The day was just beautiful and what a pleasure it was to create their wedding cake.

Macarons: A Cookie Tutorial -Part 3

This is my first cookie tutorial! And its in fondant...normally my preferred choice would be royal icing, but this macaron cookie looks more realistic with fondant. Its done by the request of my "cakie" FB friend by the moniker Dusty Crow, who operates B'Jewel Cuppies. Let's get to it...

Tools needed: Wilton rolling pin with guide rings (use the purple one), pizza cutter, Wilton round cutter (medium size), toothpick, dusting bag, and coloured fondant. 

For the cookies, use the round cutter to cut out cookie dough, flatten them top and bottom to get slightly oval shape, then bake them.

Using the same round cutter, cut out fondant. Half the fondant, and cut away two strips, equal in size...this gives you macaron shells, top and bottom.

Paste them on the cookie. Roll out white fondant.

The white fondant acts at the buttercream for the macaron...make sure it is bulging and not flat, so that it looks like buttercream oozing out...yumm! Score two lines where the feet should start from.

Use a toothpick to make feet. My toothpick has only one sharp end. Firstly, use the blunt end to indent (as in the bottom shell), then use the sharp end to poke all over it (as in upper shell).

And you have Macaron Cookies!

Macarons: A Cupcake Tutorial -Part 2

Gotten side-tracked from cupcakes doesn't mean I have forgotten my cupcakes! Here's a cupcake tutorial...How to Shape A Macaron from Fondant.

Tools needed: Wilton small rolling pin with guide rings (use the purple ones), blade, pincher (or anything sharp like toothpicks), Wilton round cutter  ( it comes is a set of 3 sizes, use the medium one), dusting bag, and some coloured fondant. 

Roll out (using purple guide ring) coloured fondant (for the macaron shells) and white fondant (for the buttercream filling), use 1/3 only.

Roll them into balls and press them into circles of the same size, in diameter.

Sandwich them together.

Use a blade to score a line in the middle of both shells.

Use a pincher to make holes for macaron feet. At this point, the macaron most probably will be out of shape...just barrel roll it on the table, let it stand and lightly press again with your palm. Use the centre of your palm as it will give a dome shape.

That's it! A macaron made out of fondant...cute and sweet!

Macarons (on the Side) - Part 1

This has been the longest break from blogging ever! Glad you are still with me.

I've ventured into macarons...making, playing, eating and selling them. To justify the long absence, here are some pictures...aren't they sweet? Exactly as how they should taste, just sweet!

My rainbow! 

Did I find the pot of gold at the end? I've not reached the end yet...but there is a clear path shown, just taking my own sweet time, follow the rainbow, smell the roses along the way, and the journey will be sweet as well! Its all about the journey, and I don't wish it to end as I would not know what to do when I reach the end...period.

Let me introduce someone whom I am working with in this macaron business, Andrea, who manages the marketing part, get to know her through her blog. Its was through a mutual friend, Hansel, that we got to know each other...by the way, she's just as crazy about macarons as I am...me, more to the making part, she, for its aesthetics and Hansel, the tasting and eating part.

I just love working with young people, they have taught me much.

The Ciccone Wedding • April 30, 2011

The bride visualize a "romantic-vintage" wedding, so she went with a cake inspired by milk glass. It was a yellow butter & devils food cake with a whipped cream & chocolate mousse filling. It was complete with butter-cream icing.