Birthday cake~

I was asked to bake a birthday cake for a friend at work. Some pictures of the cake from start to finish. I made a 3 layer yellow cake and filled it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream and then frosted the 3 cake layers with strawberry buttercream. It was nice so I heard...actually I've been asked to make some more in the future!

Mocha Cappuccino Marble cheesecake

Yum!! I like certain kinds of cheesecake, especially the ones that have a nice caffeine kick to it. So to prepare for a get together, I decided to bake a nice cheesecake. I have no problems saying that I won't ever have to visit cheesecake factory to grab a bite of their cheesecakes. Like them a lot, but if a similar kind can be made at home, then why bother. Unless of course I'm busy and tied up, because it took me a good half day in making the cheesecake. Nevertheless, it was a fun process indeed. A lot of research went into preparing the pan, the water bath to put the uncooked cheesecake in (this is done to avoid any cracks on top) and also understanding the science behind the process of baking cheesecakes. Yeah right, for the last one!! ;)

A picture of the creamy cheesecake! Didn't click too many this time around! The base was not the regular graham cracker crumbs but goya chocolate wafers crushed up. They are just readily available and they taste good!

Recipe to follow!

Oscar night party!

Firstly, cheers for Javier Bardem. Wasn't he looking so handsome last night?

Anyway, coming to the point...I've been wanting to have an Oscar party for a while. So we got together with our friends last night all dressed up and played oscar bingo and a quiz as well. All in all it was good fun. I cooked up some oscar inspired appetizers and dessert while my friends bought dishes inspired by the foreign film category - yummy egg salad sandwiches, tasty pasta, mexican enchiladas and chicken teriyaki. They were so yummy!


Caramelized onions and cranberries on crackers with cream cheese -

Polenta triangles -

Baked potatoes infused with herbs and topped with pepperjack cheese -

Bruschetta-

Strawberry puree & lemon curd trifle with pound cake/strawberry and lemon jello/whipped cream. Yummm, I love fresh lemon...the fragrance and the tartness. I will post the recipe soon.

The trifle was then topped with Oscar royal icing creations. I drew the oscar statuette on parchment paper and them piped royal icing on them. Then I let them dry for over 24 hrs. Once dry, you have to be really careful at peeling them from the paper, which I didn't do. So unfortunately most of them broke apart. Look closely and you'll see the patchwork. ;) Also, I stuck these figurines in strawberries that were slightly slit to make them stand on the trifle pudding. Else, they would just sink.