The 'Transformation' of a 5 year old!

Lachlan, for his 5th birthday, requested for 20 or so of his kinder friends, to bring their energy cubes to his Transformers Birthday party. And THAT is a lot of energy packs crammed into the longest 3 hours of my entire life! Phew!

He is one transformers (and voltron) mad kid, thanks to his hand-me-down transformer toys from his daddy's days. He loved them to bits. So for his birthday cake, he wanted you guessed it right, a transformers cake! And gee, that was a little mind boggling for me for days as I was cracking my head, thinking what this cake would be or if it has to "transform" or not.

So 25 kids (including some siblings) or so went hunting for toy soldiers who went missing on a mission to fight the deceptacons (I made that up). Kind of stole the soldier hunt idea from another party we went to earlier in the month. And then, they saved aliens from a frozen ice block. The kids were divided into 3 groups. It was a race to melt the ice with little bowls of warm water that the kids took turns scooping, walking or running to, and pouring over the ice block. The first group who manages to free up the alien wins. I would have made 10 frozen blocks of ice if I knew how entertaining this would be for five year kids. Thank goodness the weather was warm enough for this game. It was so warm that the buttercream icing on the cake was literally sliding off the cake!



Speaking of which, I am so so so in love with this chocolate cake recipe by Nigella Lawson. It is so super moist, so ultra decadent. You can find the recipe here. Click click. The cake was a simple rectangular chocolate cake covered with red buttercream. We make a lasting impression with our parties, and I am sure the kids would be bouncing off walls when they got home that day with all that red food colouring they had with the cake. Not to mention all the lollies from the pinata. Sorry moms and dads! For the autobot logo, I looked for images on the web, printed one out on an A4 page and cut the shapes out. Then I used it as a stencil to cut out the shapes on rolled out fondant icing. And yes, it did "transformed" to nothing, as each piece get cut and eaten off.

So 2 parties down, and 1 more to go........ I hope someone left an energy cube behind, because I will need it muchly. Lucas turns 3 next week!

(Top photo: Lachy pictured with this kinder teachers who were so kind to pop by for the party)

Birthdays and more to come

Crazy is what I would describe the last couple of weeks. And that is an understatement. There seem to be things popping up to-do everywhere. I hope by the end of next week, things will settle down a wee bit. Another project awaits us... but more of that to come.

I can't believe my little girl is 1 year old. I am a mother of a 5 year old, a soon to be 3 year old and a 1 year old! My precious babies are growing up way too quickly.

Lily's birthday was a huge success. Having 3 kids around your knees doesn't quite go with throwing big parties especially when you're doing all the catering and entertaining by yourselves, but luckily for me my guests were really easy peasy to please. Some even brought along some delicious party food. We had about 50 people, young and young at heart.



I am so pleased to say that I made this cake myself! I'll let you in on a little secret. (It is no secret anyways haha!) I have been eagerly, waiting, wanting, yearning for a girly girl cake. No choo-choo trains, pirate ships, blue or green dyes. Just sugar and spice and all things nice! Uhmm... actually just sugar, lots of it.

It's a two tiered vanilla butter cake with a fondant icing, some farm animals: a chocolate cow, a pink pig, little ducks in a pond, a wooly sheep and since it was Easter, 2 bunny rabbits in crocheted dresses. Oh no, I have not gone mental enough to weave dresses for animals on a cake, I bought those two bunnies from a little shop, they came on a skewer that I thought would be perfect to keep those 2 cakes stacked atop one another. Everything else was hand crafted.

To keep to the easter theme, the little ones went on an easter egg hunt in our garden. We had such a good time, but before the day is over, I was already planning for our next party...



...to be continued.

The Omnitrix

I remember those days when sugar crafting was completely alien to me. And now I'm crafting mysterious watch-like alien device out of sugar! By the way, this is a birthday cake for a Ben 10 themed party.

For those who don't know, an omnitrix is a device worn by Ben 10 that is used to transform him into some kind of alien form (I think).



It was Nigella Lawson's old fashioned chocolate cake recipe, an old favourite and lots and lots of ready rolled out icing.



Disclaimer: No person(s) were transformed into aliens in the making and the demolition of this cake.

Check out some of the other cake creations that I've made in the past. Click click.

Four Kids

Last weekend, we played mum and dad to 4 kids. We were minding a friend's 5 year old son, Isaac, for the day.

We had 4 child restraints in the car, the third row of seats in our 7 seater SUV resurrected. It was the hubby's dream come true! In fact, he bought the car for exactly this reason. To fill the seats with kids. Though I'm pretty sure he ain't getting anymore from me!

So off we went, Isaac, Lachlan, Lucas, Lily, Gary and I to attend not only one, but TWO birthday parties that day. Packing the family into the car was uneventful. Pffftt... easy. 2 minutes tops per child. It just felt like the whole house was coming with us. Bag for Isaac, bag for Lachlan and Lucas, baby bag, water bottles, stroller, baby carrier, sun screen, hats for everyone, birthday presents, costumes etc etc etc.

The first was a party for a pretty little girl. She turned 4 that day. It was held at a park. What an awesome park it was! The kids had a ball, running free and wild, climbing, swinging, sliding. (Mental note: must have kids' birthday party at a park next time.) It was a lovely day for that too. They decorated gingerbread men and fairy biscuits, did crafty things. 4 hours and lots and lots of cupcakes, sweets, jellies (and maybe a little too much sun) later, we were ready for the next party.

A superhero party for 2 year old super-e!

Just imagine 4 little superheroes, tearing into the house of our next hosts. Cape flapping, a little worn out from the previous party, maybe a tad (ahhh just a tad) sugar high. Sheer terror, for me that is! I don't know how the hosts felt. It was a great party no doubt!

I had the darting eyes all day that day. Uh, where did he go? OK, now where's the little guy. Eeeps, I'm sure he's just hiding in the bush. What? You mean a 15 year old got shot in this very park? Gaaahhh better keep both eyes on the kids. Yeeeeekkk, where are they. Can't they ALL stay in just the ONE place at the ONE time? OK, so you need to use the toilet? What I need to go with you? Here use this tree.........

By the end of the day, I really didn't care if the kids ate chips for dinner.

The best part of the day was when Isaac called out to me... "mum, mum, mum!" I was like "huh? you're calling me mum?" Isaac says, "yes mum, I want to be part of this family FOREVER!"

*smiles*

4 kids? Pfft... easy. Uhmm... but no thank you.


Happy Birthday Master Elliot! You are just too cute!
Photo credit: "borrowed" from someone's facebook page. :) Just can't resist it!

Super-E!

We're off to a superheroes party!







Happy Sunday!

The Icing On the Cake

Lemon Butter Cake
with White Chocolate and Lemon Ganache

Royal Icing

Hand Moulded Toppers, Marshmallows and Sugar Fairies

...

Let me explain. This is what I love doing.

A lot of people asked me where I'd find time to do all these. Well, I just do. I would happily give up that extra two hours of sleep to dust out the rolling pin and roll out the icing. I don't mind the red and blue pigments around the edges of my fingernails, even if they stay for weeks. I love creating that little fairytale scene on the cake. Little pirates on a pirate ship. Toadstools and fairies and chocolate freckles. To see their smiles on their happy faces... it takes them to a different place. It takes me to a different place.

By the way, this cake was especially for a little girl named Elizabeth. She turned 6 years old this week. Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Notice how the pictures of all my cakes are taken in the dark? Haha... that's when the pixies come out to work! (Or rather when all my little pixies are fast asleep!)

XOX

Click here to see some of my other creations.

Moments That Matter

Some time last year, we attended the first birthday of a lovely little girl, Kiara. And along with her birthday festivities, she had a Naming Ceremony to celebrate this very significant milestone. The day was beautiful, clear blue skies, lots of sunshine and a light breeze playing on our hair and we all stood under a shady tree in the front garden of her house. The kids were playing on the grass. There was a happy, positive energy in the air.

This ceremony was the first I have ever heard of. It was officiated by a civil celebrant, who was actually also the birthday girl's grandmother. It was special. Such a momentous time in her life, it needs to be celebrated and remembered.

"Ceremonies mark life’s essential moments. They may reflect your beliefs, hopes, traditions, culture and spirituality but they must express who you are. They should be celebrated because of who we are and with whom we share our lives."

Anna Wong, civil celebrant.

Anna is an Australian registered civil celebrant, mother of 3, trained nurse, midwife, childbirth educator and founder of Moments That Matter.

Her passion for family, children and life led her to train as a Civil Celebrant in 2008. She now combines her specialist training in Childbirth Education and Parenting with Civil Celebrant services in a business that celebrates the love, passion and wonders of life's "Moments That Matter".

Anna trained as a nurse and midwife in England and moved to Singapore in 1980. She founded her own health education centre called Birth & Beyond in 1985 and quickly became a leader in the field of childbirth education and parenting. She has spent over 24 years educating, supporting, empowering and inspiring women and their partners through pregnancy, birth and beyond in Singapore and Indonesia.


Call Anna on 0412 601 398 or visit www.momentsthatmatter.com.au.

Birthday Buddies

Lily Jade, Lachlan and Lucas have birthdays a week apart from each other. So, 2.5 weeks in, after the birth of Lily, we celebrated the boys' birthdays. Lucas turned 2 and Lachlan 4.

My boys were so handsome on the day.



Lucas was full of energy, running, spinning and tumbling around, a result of all the lollies and chocolates he has eaten for breakfast. Lachlan has this huge smile on his face, his excited chatter filled the house as his friends from kinder and pre-kinder years rolled in. And presents! Oh my goodness, I have a lounge room that resembles Al's Toy Barn and storage space that looks like Santa's!



My plan for the party was a simple one. I know I will have my hands full with a newborn, and I shouldn't be doing anything more than pizza and cake. But mom being here, she insisted on cooking up a storm. Her Malaysian dishes were a big hit, but that left us with more than half a dozen boxes of uneaten pizzas.

The kids played pass the parcel and had a go at a home made pinata which Gary and I put together the night before. There were so much lollies I feel like sending each kid home with a "sorry" note for their parents in anticipation of the 7pm hyperactivity. You see, being "confined" at home with a new baby, I had to send Gary out to shop for the party. And the list for him was quite simple really, lollies, chocolates, fun stuff for the pinata and lolly bags. He came home with enough sweets for 15 pinatas and 10 parties.



And as for the cakes... well, I think I deserved two big pats on my back. But what I got was even better, two huge smiles on two very happy boys. Lucas chose a lollipop birthday cake, a design from the Women's Weekly Kids Birthday Party book (Phew, an easy one!). And Lachlan, we all know he wanted a scary green alien cake. The alien turned out to be one of the friendliest looking thing. It's hard to make scary looking things unless I let the boys decorate the cakes themselves!

Next year? Let's not think about it yet...

And a special Happy Birthday to our birthday buddy Aunty Lins, we love you! XOX

April (And May) Babies

It's that time of the year again!

Birthday parties, cupcakes, more parties and more cakes! We have birthdays coming up back to back, and a very pregnant mother in her final nesting mode. She is making sure the presents are all wrapped and ready, the cornices and skirting boards are free of dust and cobwebs, her hospital bags all packed and she's ready to pop! She looks forward to all the birthday parties with glee, so she can kick her boys out and have the house all to herself.

So how about my Ben 10 Alien party mom? Says her almost 4 year old son. And he decided that this year, she will make him an Omnitrix birthday cake that could transform into 10 various alien forms. And he could invite all his kinder friends over for a party with green jelly, green spaghetti and green drinks. It would be aweeesommee says he, and baby could come too. Yep, his week old baby who undoubtedly will also be exploiting her services and be hanging off her boobies just like tassles! Wonderful.

And how about the second born child, who will soon turn 2, going about his usual business, oblivious to the hoo-haas of birthdays and parties (Because no one has told him so)? Should she just turn a blind eye and pretend oh it's really nothing, re-light the candles of the Omnitrix cake just minus two and sing him a birthday song. What cruelty would that be?

Oh bother.... two Panadols and I'm off to bed!

Girl Next Door turned 4

So, Girl Next Door came over one day and we baked mini choc chip muffins, if you remember that not so long ago. That day, she actually pointed out to me, what she really REALLY wanted for her birthday cake this year. It was on the cover of the Women's Weekly Kid's Birthday Cake recipe book. I couldn't say no... So it was my promise to her.

It was my second attempt of making a fairy toadstool cake. Threw in some cupcakes for good measure!

Click here to see the collection of celebration cakes that I've made over the years.

Cherry Ripe Cheesecake

There is absolutely no reason why any of us shouldn't indulge in a spot of wicked eating from time to time, especially if it's your birthday. And there would be no excuses for not having your favourite chocolate treats, Cherry Ripes, more chocolate, cream cheese and more cream in your cake, if you were going to indulge anyways. You should do it the proper, wicked way!



So for my hubby's 34th birthday (and you think I wasn't going to reveal his age?), I made him a Cherry Ripe cheesecake, adapted from one of the Women's Weekly recipe book, Wicked Sweet Indulgences. This would be the second time I've made this cake, the first was also on his birthday some time ago.



Ripe Cherry Cheesecake
(Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly, Wicked Sweet Indulgences)

Ingredients:

125g plain chocolate biscuits/plain sweet biscuits
75g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
200g dark chocolate, melted
170g Cherry Ripe bars, chopped coarsely
425g can seeded black cherries in syrup, drained

Method:

1. Grease 24cm springform pan.

2. In a food processor, blend biscuits until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in melted butter and process until just combined. Press biscuit mixture evenly onto the base and sides of the pan. Refridgerate for about 30 minutes, or until firm.

3. Beat cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well in between additions. Fold in melted chocolate, cherry ripes and cherries into the cheesecake mixture.

4. Spread mixture into the prepared cake pan, bake in preheated moderate oven for about 50 minutes or until set. Cool in the oven with door slightly ajar. Cover, and refridgerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

5. Decorate cake with freshly whipped cream and Cherry Ripe bites.



To decorate, simply whip fresh cream in the mixer at high speed with a tablespoon of icing sugar and a splash of rosewater essence (which went delightfully well with the cake!). Spoon whipped cream into a piping bag, or a ziplock back with a small cut on one of the corners. Recently I bought some disposable piping bags from the supermarket, which was made by GLAD. It came with 3 small plastic nozzles and 5 disposable bags. It was fantastic! And costs next to nothing. I've used up all the bags, but kept the nozzles and have reused them over and over again with ziplock bags.

Top with bite size Cherry Ripe pieces.



In moderation, these wicked little indulgences are actually quite good for the soul. So, relax a little, live a bit more and immerse yourself in this decadent sweet treat!

Happy Birthday Babes!

Today is my hubby's birthday!

I know it was a little last minute, but the two boys and I spent half of yesterday shopping for daddy's birthday present. Yes, he does need new shirts, new pants, a new wardrobe, some new techy toys would be nice, a new lens for his camera etc. But I really really KNOW what he wants for his birthday! And even he knows that I knew what he wanted, and he knows that I would get it for him. And oh, we can share! :)

The trouble is, over the years, having grown in our relationship and matured into well... adulthood and parenthood, we somehow simply do NOT buy anything full-priced anymore! We would shop for the best bargain, search the internet for the best price, ask for a price match, use a coupon etc. So yesterday, I saw his shiny new toy at the shops, at it's full recommended retail price of $349 *gasp*, I left it there. Bugger it, we'll shop for it together another day... even if we could knock $20 off!

So we walked all around the shops, my boys and I, just wondering what we were going to do for our dear dadda. Surely, we have to DO something special at least, to honour and cherish someone that we love so dearly on his birthday! So, if lavish and pricey gifts are out of the agenda, we'll have to do what we do best.

Bake. It's gotta have Cherry Ripes in it. Because it's his absolute favourite!

A Cherry Ripe Cheesecake...yumm!

Make. A card, hand-crafted and hand-printed by all of us, with love.

Celebrate! We just HAVE to. What is a birthday without a party and lots of food and good company? We had takeaway pizzas and fizzy drinks and cake. It was a good party.

Happy Birthday our dear Dadda. We hope you enjoyed your day!

A Birthday Cake for a little King!

Little-e celebrated his 1st birthday real grand! He had a kings and warriors themed party. His birthday cake was made by yours truly.

Oh, just another one for the collection!

Wishing you a wonderful birthday little-e. May your days be filled with grand promises and magnificient surprises. We hope it had been a memorable birthday for you.

Pictures from the Weekend

On the weekend, we attended not one, but three birthday parties! We drove up to the picturesque Mount Martha on Saturday for a dear friend's 30th birthday (pictures will follow in another post), and on Sunday, we went to a pirates and fairies themed party AND little-e's 1st kings and warriors birthday. It was definitely grand. There were lots of dressing ups as you can imagine.



Arrr me hearties..... too handsome to be a pirate, Lucas doesn't like anything on his head! Half his pirate gear has already been taken off even before we got there.



Shivers me timbers, bless me soul, talk to my hand cos my face ain't understand! This is pirate Lachy spotting land ahoy!

It was a lovely lovely day, the weather was just brilliant. I wished the sun would stay for a while...

Special Birthday Wishes

She is our biggest fan, and we are hers. She reads our blog like EVERYDAY, we know that! And it's her birthday today. Happy Birthday to our darling Auntie Ching Mei. Here's a song for you:

Kisses for you
Kisses for you
Muaks Muaks Muaks Muaks
Muaks Muaks Muaks Muaks...

We are so happy to have you in our lives.

Just Another Icing on the Cake!

We attended a couple of birthday parties last weekend. I helped a friend ice this cake for a special little boy who loves Thomas and donuts.

I raided Lachy's toy box for this one because I really didn't have a clue at first what to come up with, with a dozen Krispy Kremes and an Indonesian layered cake (which I didn't bake).

I'm adding it to the list Of All The Cakes I've Made Before.

McHappy Weekend

We celebrated a friend's birthday at McDonald's this weekend.

The boys had their Happy Meal. Their nuggets and fries were wolfed down even before I had time to say Boys eat up your Veee.... but wait, there's none.

Look how big Lucas has grown now. He's still a little unsteady on his feet, could walk a couple of steps but looses his balance and tips over. So he crawled all over the soft playground, still wet from the rain, splashed in puddles, got soaked and got very very happy.