Loca Over Mocha

I consider mocha cake as my second favorite cake in the whole world. Of course, chocolate cake would still be my top choice. I didn't like mocha at first because of its coffee flavor and pale color--and I wasn't really a coffee drinker until I reached college. I had a change of heart during my college years because coffee was a total life saver. I always go for the 3in1 coffee mix or iced mocha or black coffee w/ creamer. It saved me from falling asleep when I was given difficult projects to finish. Ugh! Especially those with short deadlines. Since then, I learned how to appreciate mocha's combination of bittersweet flavor and now I really go crazy over mocha! I love its pale brown color. I love its smell. I love its creaminess. I simply love it!:D

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Trick or Treat

I made Halloween cut-out cookies! I've given them to relatives since trick or treating were only (or mostly) held inside the malls and hosted location events unlike the traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating where it usually takes place within the neighborhood. 

 

I have never gone trick-or-treating when I was a kid. Maybe because before it wasn't really that popular here in our place. If my memory serves me right, Halloween parties that involves trick-or-treating have only just begun a few years ago. My son finally turned three years old last April and I've decided to join him in an event entitled "Halloween Thrills". I didn't want him to miss out on all the fun.:)

I thought he'd get scared and wouldn't want to go but he surprisingly did and actually enjoyed his very first Halloween experience. When we arrived at the said event, a lot of children in their Halloween costumes were already there together with their parents and guardians. Oh my! The place was so crowded that some establishments of the building have already run out of candy and other give-away treats.:D

Girly Accesories

I would like to share to everyone the accessories I've made with polymer clay. The teacher who taught me during the workshop said that I could make accessories with this material such as keychains, cellphone charms, bag charms, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, name plates / name tags and a whole lot more. Wow! Isn't that interesting? Now, below are photos of the accessories that I've already accomplished.:)

I think I'm beginning to love this craft. I could make accessories not just for myself but could also be gifts for others. Or why not try to sell them, right? Hmmm... Maybe I will. Someday.;;)

Decorating Christmas Cut-out Cookies

I never thought that one day I'd be making decorated cookies. Probably because I never imagined cookies being decorated in the first place. To be honest, it was only last September that I've heard about decorated sugar cookies or also known as cut-out cookies. Even when I was a kid, when somebody speaks of cookies, the only thing that comes to my mind was the ever popular chocolate chip cookie. Thanks to the magazine I was reading at a dental clinic before having my teeth cleaned which had given me the idea that it actually exist. I was so thrilled about it that when I get back home, I hurriedly opened my laptop and searched if there's a sugar cookie recipe that I could try out over weekend. And yep...there were lots of recipes online. The image below was my first trial. I've used the same cutters that I always use in making my fondant cut-outs.

 Taken straight from the oven.

 Transferred to a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepared icing colors. (I used royal icing)

 Outlined the cookie.

Flooding my cookies.

 I've put additional details on my Christmas tree cookies.

Snowflake cookies and parol cookies (also known as Christmas star lantern cookies)

 Christmas ball cookies and mini heart cookies. (The icing was still wet that's why they appeared glossy or shiny)

 And here's after the icing has thoroughly dried. (Not so shiny anymore)

 Christmas bell cookies

I've decided to make Christmas themed cookies for my first trial because I intend to make some for this upcoming holiday season. The cookies seemed too soft when I took a bite though. Maybe I had taken the cookies out of the oven earlier than I should or I probably wasn't able to preheat the oven long enough. They weren't that perfect but I'm already thankful that the experience had not been a disaster either. I will be posting my other cookie encounters some other time. Of course, I made another batch of those yummy cookies.:)

First Time with Gum Paste

My very first attempt in making gum paste was when I made my dad's birthday cake last October. The gum paste recipe seemed okay at first but dried out so fast that it cracked a little bit. Thank God it hadn't fell apart during the party.:D

I apologize for the bad quality of my photos. I only took snapshots using my mobile phone's camera. I still have to save money for a decent camera. Hmmm... It's actually included in my Christmas wish list.:)

Fun with Fondant

Making fondant cakes is a really fun thing to do. I love its smooth look finish. I just love how cakes could look good, smell good, and taste good.  It even seems too nice to slice or too cute to eat. Lol! Fondant is an edible icing that looks quite like a play-doh. It's like a clay where you can be able to cut and mold a lot of figures. Here's the cake I've made for my son's 3rd birthday this year.

A couple of days after my son's birthday, my brother asked me if I could make a birthday cake for his girlfriend. I immediately thought of a nursing-related cake and so I've come up with the cake below.

I always try to make a fondant cake an all-edible dessert, by the way. The only things that may not be eaten are the supports I've inserted either into the cake or into the fondant cake topper like toothpicks or drinking straws. :)

A Cake I Could Make

I love cakes even when I was just a little girl. I love how a single cake can make an occasion extra special. My mom always bake a chocolate cake for family gatherings and still bakes them even when she has already bought a birthday cake for me or for my brother.  I never actually thought that I would become interested in baking or cake decorating. It seemed quite a lot of work. But my mind changed last year after watching an episode of Ace of Cakes. The people there looked like they were having a lot of fun even when they're so busy finishing a huge viking ship cake. I couldn't believe that sculpted cakes were really possible or maybe I just wasn't that updated about cakes these days. That was also my first time to encounter a cake made with fondant. After watching the said episode, I started searching for fondant cakes online and tutorials on how they were made. I've found a lot of fondant cakes online in different shapes and sizes. Wow! They all looked pretty amazing! Thankfully, I've found videos on how to make fondant and decided to make my very first fondant cake on my 24th birthday (the image on top). After making my first fondant covered cake, I got kinda hooked into making more. I asked my closest friends, my family, and my in-laws if I could make them a cake for their birthdays. Of course,   the cakes were free since I just wanted to practice on how to create different designs and learn more from it. Below are photos of the cakes I've made for them. :)

 For my friend, Katrina ;;)

 For my husband's grandmother, Maday ;;)

 For my friend, Jeline ;;)


I realized that once you like what you're doing, it wouldn't be so exhausting after all. ;)

A Good Day with Polymer Clay

Polymer clay is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I learned about this awesome piece of art just this year. I was googling for cupcakes when suddenly I had come across with little miniature cupcakes. I actually thought they were real just by looking at the image. I was so amazed that those cute little pieces were all made by hand. They looked so good that I've been inspired to try it myself. I've searched Google if I could find seminars that would help me learn that kind of craft anywhere near my place. The nearest location I could find was in Manila. And then I found out that a lot of people were already into this craft for so many years. There's this website which offers a polymer clay workshop inclusive of starter kit and a pasta machine. I hurriedly told my husband about it and asked if I could stay at his family's condo unit for just a short while and of course, he agreed. I also told my parents about my plan and bought myself a round-trip ticket for the weekend. Day#1 for the actual hands-on workshop and day#2 was dedicated for shopping--going to tiangge/s in order to find affordable supplies for this particular craft. The photos on top were some of the projects I've made during the workshop. There were only four of us during the class and we all seemed to have a lot of fun. If I remember correctly, the workshop was supposed to be a 6hour class but we've started at 11:30am and ended at 9:30pm. I enjoyed the free lunch & merienda and was so happy to be able to bring home my very own pasta machine. It had been a long day, but a productive one. :D

Bliss from Brownies

This was my first attempt in making brownies. I made three kinds of brownies and had put them in a box for better presentation. I have prepared them as gift samples for my husband's aunt and my brother's girlfriend. They both liked the flavors but had their own personal favorite. One of the things that keeps me motivated in baking and decorating is the idea that it could actually be a good gift for friends and relatives in times of a special occasion or during the holidays. I also think that it is much more thoughtful since you've put a lot of effort in making it yourself and of course, unique. ;;)

Getting Busy with a Hobby

I started this blog a long time ago but wasn't able to update because I was quite busy with something else. I've deleted my previous entries to make way for a fresh start. Now, I will be sharing here in my blog the things that keep me busy these days. Being a full-time mom is a tough job but seeing your kid grow up is really something special. I am happy that I have this opportunity to be with my son every single day and I'm happier that I'd get to see him reach his milestones. But there is still something that seems to be missing that gets me bored sometimes (or most of the time). To be honest, I also miss my old job working in a company. Meeting friends, having colleagues, exploring the city, and earning money to share with the family. So these must be the reasons why I am much more eager to learn new stuff. Doing some hobbies could be my new job. Recently, I've been busy baking cakes, cupcakes, and cookies for my family and friends. And I also got to decorate them, so somehow I felt that my designing skills were still here in me. After I resigned from my old job, I actually had this idea that my brain and skills might eventually get rusty and that it would leave me with nothing. If there is nothing to boost my confidence, I would only end up as a plain woman with a low self-esteem. But then again, with my family and my husband's support, I was convinced that I can do things that I never did before. I started doing things as a hobby, those things that catch my interest. While getting myself into baking and decorating, I also tried making accessories out of polymer clay and some metal findings. Aside from those, I am still planning to get back at creating computer graphic stuff as well.  I will be taking pictures and share them here soon. :)