Bang!!

HUH, GUNS ?!??!?!?!?!?!
Are you for real ??

YES !!! bakingbee has been commissioned to bake a birthday cake in a shape of two guns. It is indeed a rather challenging project since I have to carve the cake myself. The cake is in the oven at the moment. Hopefully it turns out nicely later on.

Thank God for the heavy rain! It has swept off the sweltering heat from yesterday. The temperature was hovering around 38-39 degree Celcius yesterday! My my! And the bushfire has started too! Oh no!! >.<" Hopefully today's rain spreads out to the rural areas where the bushfires are. Oh and to the water reservoir too. Melbourne (Victoria) desperately needs water. OK! B's out for some dinner with her family. More on the gun later. Stay tuned, peeps!! Ciao !!

Hello again, peeps!
Sorry it toook so long to finish this post. As I have mentioned previously, I am going back for good to Indonesia. So the last 2 weeks, I was busy packing and sorting out stuff that I need to give away to my friends and the Salvation Army. It was a stressful indeed as I have a lot of stuff. Thank God for my family and friends who are always willing to lend helping hands.

Back to the guns, it was trickier than I thought it would be !!! The silver colouring didn't come out as I expected. :( I was a bit stressed that time. But thank God Amy loved the cake.. :) So all is well... :)

Little Miss Sunshine

Today has been a long busy day. I had to get the last shot of Gardasil, then run around getting stuff for my next cake orders. I managed to bake 2 batches of cake (a white chocolate mudcake and a lemon cake for Amy and Madam Ho), get a graduation present for my cousin, take photos of my cutesy cupcakes and blog. What a day, what a day!

The reason why I baked these cakes is because I've never really made them before , so I have to do some R&D to make sure that the cakes turn out nicely. So, in the pursuit of moist tangy lemon cake, I tried making this.

Little Miss Sunshine
bringing some lemony goodness

Verdict: Not as tangy, I need to put more lemon zest for the actual cake. The cake is quite moist and fluffy. I'll try the regular size tomorrow to see if it's any better. :)

Oh no!! Just remember that I still need to decorate the other cake for tomorrow's dinner.
I think I'll just do it tomorrow. Oh wait!! Tomorrow is gonna be hot!! NOOO !!!
Must decorate now ?!??!?! What a day indeed !!

Okay! B's out for a cuppa hot tea and decorating cake.
I'll blog about the other cake tomorrow.. :)
Stay tuned, peeps!

OH!! turned out that the other cake is an epic failure!! :(
i'm hitting the sack instead!

Can you spot B ?

B's cupcakes are the current hit! Apart from the usuals who can't stop asking for more cupcakes from bakingbee's kitchen, others who have tried B's cupcakes seem to fall in love with them too.

Today's project is birthday gift requested by Deasy's friends. The cupcake tower is consisted of Red Velvet and Green Tea cupcakes.

For some reason, I still don't really enjoy baking and decorating cupcakes. It requires sooo much work. Oh, and the limitation of my kitchen space, utensils and time, really don't make the baking any better. I think for the upcoming "All-you-can eat Cupcake Day", I will just simply frost the cupcake without piping the icing. More on that later.

By the way, can you spot B ? ;)

Good Tidings!

I know it's super early here in Melbourne, but I can't help to keep this good tidings from you all.
I've just received my final result and....

I'M OFFICIALLY DONE with uni!! ^^v
*no victory dance this time! I'm blogging from bed*

Praise God for His Faithfulness, Mercy and Grace throughout these 5 long years. Without Him, none of this would've happened. Even to the very last minute (read: my final semester), His grace is always sufficient, His power is made perfect in my weaknesses.

My final result turned out to be better than what I expected. Considering I'm not doing as well this semester as previously, I would be happy with a Pass for every subject. The result I'm getting, would never happened to me without His Mercy and Grace, so I'm giving back all the credit to Him.

Even though I've been anxiously waiting for my result, deep down I knew that I had passed, for the Lord will never put to shame those who trust in Him. So, here's to a God who is true to His words; who keeps His promises; who never forsakes nor leaves His children. *raising glasss*

....and now the journey goes on....

There's So Much To Be Thankful For

Indeed, there's so much to be thankful for. This morning, I woke up with overflowing sense of thankfulness to my Almighty God because His steadfast Love never ceases, His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is never ending.

Last Friday, I had a deep and meaningful chat with Julie and CJ while making the mini soccer ball. One of the questions CJ asked was "What is your worst characteristic that God changed?" CJ shared his answer, Julie shared hers, then it was my turn to share mine. I told them, "I used to be very bad tempered. Easily angered, impatient and selfish." They were really surprised to hear me saying "bad tempered". Yes my friend, before knowing Christ, I was really bad tempered. My parents, old and new friendcan testify to that. I am a living testimony that the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, really changes lives. He soften shardened hearts and makes it pliable. When we allow Him to work in us, He continually molds our hearts in such a way to reflect His.

CJ's other question was "What would you be now if Jesus was not in your life". hahaha, I think from his questions, you can tell that he is a thinker. Well, personally, i think He is. He was a good debater, he is a good thinker, and he is an awesome writer. Seriously, i can see him as a writer later down the years. :) Aniway, back to my story, that question has made me pondered upon my life journey so far.

What would I be without Christ in my life? Firstly, I wouldn't be who I am today. As I mentioned above, the Lord changes me. He consumes me from the inside out, renewing and transforming my heart and mind into His likeness each and every moment. I think without Christ, I would've been a very evil person. Yes. E V I L !!

Secondly, bakingbee would never exist without Him and His divine intervention. He is the One who gives me this gift. He is the One who taught me the joy of serving. He is the One who gives me the servant heart. He is the One who opens doors and opportunities for me. Without Him, none of this would have happened.

I believe by now, you can already tell why I am very grateful. I am grateful for my Lord. For the fact that He has called me to be His children. There are other many things that I am grateful for. My loved ones, the opportunity to live and study in Melbourne, even the bad and difficult times. You know what? It is actually through trials and hard times that the Lord grows my character. He has taught me a lot of things. He taught me that with each and every trial, He always provides a way out. He has shown me, that when i chose to follow and obey Him, each trial brings about renewal, to the mind, to the heart and to the spirit. There are countless other things that I can't list here because it will take forever. Don't worry, i count my blessings in my heart! ;)

Referring back to bakingbee, I thank Him for making it exists in the first place and growing it. It is only by His grace that I am who I am today. It is only by His mercy that I am surrounded by the people I know today. People who have been very supportive of what I am doing, precious friends and family.

May the Lord be glorified through bakingbee. May the creations of my hand speak of His Love, Mercy and Grace. May bakingbee be a living testimony of the journey of a girl with her Saviour. For Bebe is a sinner, saved by the Grace of God.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Cupcake Galore on A Rainy Day

What happened to Summer ?? This week has been cold for a December. But I'm grateful for it. Given that Australia is very dry, cold rainy day like this is much better than the heat of Summer. When I checked the weather forecast on Sunday and found out that today would be raining, I decided that I shall try new cupcake recipes on Tuesday.

Round 1: Red Velvet
The first time I tried Red Velvet cupcake, I can't help but wonder why people (read: girls) love this particular cake so much. The one that i tried, was dry, the flavour didn't come out. It tasted like very bland chocolate cake. The icing was not good as well. Unsatisfied with what i tasted, I googled up "red velvet cake". This particular cake is originated from Southern United States of America. Supposedly, one should be able to taste a bit of tang in the cake because it contains vinegar, and buttermilk. When mixed with cocoa, the acidity of vinegar brings out the red colour in cocoa and to enhance this, a bit more red colouring is added.

red velvet

My version of red velvet, turned out VERY VERY good. I really like it. The cake is very moist and fluffy. Although i can't really taste the tang in the cake, the chocolate flavour is quite strong. Combined with the smooth cream cheese frosting, this cake is definitely a hit.
*Initially I wanted to make a chocolate velvet (not adding any red colouring whatsoever) but when I made the batter, the chocolate colour is very pale. So I added 1/2 tsp Wilton pink colouring. I was really surprised to find out that that amount was enough to make the whole batter RED !!!

Round 2: Black Bottom Cupcake
Julie introduced me to this cupcake. No, I've never tried it before, but she has! And according to her, this cupcake will melt you because it is really delicious. When I read the recipe, I knew it would be a little sweet with a BIG taste. Imagine rich chocolate base, topped with cheesecake mixture and frosted with smooth cream cheese icing! When I had a bite, it is indeed O M G !!! This cupcake is not for those who don't like heavy chocolate cake as the flavour is quite rich and the cake texture is also thick and gooey.

black bottom

Conclusion: Happy Bee! cupcakes test has been successful!! Whee !!! ^^v
waiting for some review from my testers :)

The Pursuit of Perfection

I have been baking lots of cupcakes recently. Not because I love eating them (honestly, I'm not a big fan), but because my friends love eating them. On top of that, cupcake is currently the HOT item of sweets. So, there's nothing wrong with trying to perfect my cupcakes. The Matcha cupcakes I made the other day, i believe, have the perfect texture. Very soft, moist and fluffy. But not too crumbly. Following its success, I'm experimenting to get the perfect yellow base cupcakes today. I am yet to try my latest cookies&creme batch that just came out of the oven. My house is very fragrant from the baking. I think, I smell like cookies and cream already! No kidding here!

I shared the previous batch I made with the church office staff for afternoon tea. Sharon, our dear admin assistant who have been patiently dealing with my venue-bookings & key borrowing, will be on leave until next year, meaning I won't get to see her until, God knows when. The cookies&creme icing is yummy. But I think, the texture of the cake is not OK yet. It was still a bit too chewy. I think I baked it for a tad bit too long. >.<" Despite the not so fluffy texture, Sharon still loved it much. She said, "Your cupcake is 10-fingers lickin' good!" ahahaha... Thank you dear! I've made 2 batches after the afternoon tea. I am yet to give some to my official cupcake tester, Ria, and get some review from her. This girl has tried a lot of cupcakes in Melbourne. So I'm looking forward to hearing her review.

the 6th batch of Cookies&Creme

mini Soccer Ball

Remember the "baking to the heart's content" that I've been mentioning since I finished my final exams? Turned out I really have been baking to my heart's content ever since. I had a few very last minute orders, including this mini soccer ball that I'm currently working on.
Jax messaged me yesterday evening asking for a mini soccer ball for his business partner's son's birthday. phew.. that's long! haha.. I assume it's intended for a birthday gift for the birthday boy. But I have a feeling that Jax will eat half of it by himself. LOL.. You know why ? Because he specifically asked for the super yummy cookies and cream flavour!

Currently, the 1st half of the soccer ball is in the oven. I think it's a little bit too sweet. But then again, I'm not that much of a sweet tooth. hopefully it turns out well. :) Fingers crossed!

OK, the cake is finished by the way. It was a bit stressful at the beginning because the smaller templates that I prepared didn't fit as expected. It looked very messy and ugly. So Julie and I decided to just use the big ones that I've been using for my previous soccerball cakes. Oh in case, you're wondering why Julie was with me when I'm doing my cake, she was giving me some moral support.. :) How sweet!!

So yeah, last night/ early this morning I had fun working on a project accompanied by special friend and Michael Buble's singing at the background. Julie insisted on a little bee on the cake because she hasn't seen it in real life. So I made one specially for her and stick it to the ball. Haha. It makes the cake cuter and more colourful. Afterall, it's a birthday present for a 2 years old boy.

Oh and by the way, Jax didn't get to eat the cake at all during the party this afternoon. They said it's too pretty to cut out. LOL. But i just got an update from him, his friends (Harry's parents) said that the cake tastes as good as it looks. And all photos are courtesy of Julie, an aspiring photographer! :) Thank you dears!

White Choc Raspberry Mud Cake

People say that December is the Festive season with Christmas and New Year just around the corner. But for us, international students, December can be a very depressing month. Many of us have to go back to our home country upon finishing our studies here in Melbourne. I too, will be one of them very shortly. As i said previously, leaving Melbourne will be very hard. It is not so much the city that I will deeply miss, but rather the people. The friendships that have grown through the years, the many good and bad times we've shared, the ups and down, the teasing and bullying, the laughter and the tears.

This cake, is to farewell her dear friends. Yu Ying messaged me yesterday morning and asked for a cake if possible. A few of her cell group members will be leaving Melbourne very soon and she specifically asked that the writing of the cake be "May God bless you and lead you in your onward journey." So sweet. We may be on different journeys now, but when God is the one who leads the way, everything will be OK.

No picture this time. It was very rushed since i have to finish Jo's cake too.
It's white choco raspberry mud cake with white choc ganache and choc collar.
I leave it to your imagination to picture the cake! ;)

DiRaffe in the Love Jungle

If chocolate is the food of love, then this dark chocolate orange gateau is the celebration of love. As I said before, chocolate and orange are perfect match made in Heaven. They complement and bring out the best out of each other. The sensation of chocolate melting in your mouth, combined with the freshness of orange deliver the X-factor that leaves you on the 7th Heaven. You can't get enough of this cake.

I just finished making some deco for my next cake. I have once again been commissioned to bake another DCOG. This DCOG is for two very special friends of mine who happen to be big fans of Jaffa (and my DCOG too ;) hehehe... ) I'm praying hard that this cake will turn out nice, taste-wise and aesthetic-wise. Fingers crossed!

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Cake: check! Jaffa mousse: check! Figurines: Check!

They all look alright at this point. I can't wait to assemble the cake later tonight.

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Cake board is too big! Can't fit to container. :( need to go get another one tomorrow.
Tasted the quality control portion of the DCOG. It is THE BEST so far! Very nice texture. Thick mousse. Dark Chocolate. Orange. Rum. Heavenly!!! ^^v

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Tadaaaa!!

Dino + Giraffe = Diraffe!

I was VERY VERY VERY happy with how the figurines turned out! They are ULTRA CUTE! hahahhaa. I had to restrain myself from pinching and poking the cheeks of my babies! When i finished assembling the cake before, I felt like dancing around because of the Joy that blossoms in my heart. It is a very special cake indeed, and I poured my heart out making it. Thank God the figurines and the cake turned out well. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I decided to change the cake design very last minute yesterday. Personally, I think this is even better than what I had in my sketch book. WHee!! ^^v

I've received messages from my happy customers. Ivan said, "Terimakasih bebe, kek'nya lucu bgt, enak sekali. Terimakasih bebe!" Wow dude! You even wrote 'banget' as 'bgt'. not bad not bad. LOL :) It turned out that Jo was the one typing the sms. So all credit goes to Jo. X) Joanne said, "SOOOOOOOOOO CUTEEE!!! Ivan loves the dino.. he was so happy to see the spikes. and he said the leaves look so good. I'm happy of course. yummy, cute and meaningful..and handmade by you! Thank you Jo for ordering the cake. Of course the leaves look good. I'm now better equipped, thanks to your very precious gift ;). Thanks for trusting me to make your special cake. I get to try making figurines :) xoxo

Ms.Giraffe & Mr. Dino (a.k.a Jo&Ivan)

Matcha Cupcake

b's mini cupcakes
photo courtesy of Andrew Soetiono

In all honesty, I'm not really a cupcake kind of girl. I don't deny that they are cute and pretty, but I just don't enjoy making them as much as I do making cakes. I don't mind trying recipes because I know my friends will be more than happy to devour them for me. There's another thing to be thankful for. Without them, I wouldn't be able to experiment as much. Thank you dear friends for volunteering to be my guinea pigs. XOXO

Green tea has sparked my curiosity. I'm a big fan of a cup of green tea, so I would like to be able to make green-tea flavoured desserts. Not everyone will like it, because I think the taste of green tea is an acquired taste. You need to get used to it before you can enjoy eating green-tea flavoured desserts. There are few more that I want to try making.

I recently bought Matcha (powdered Japanese green tea) and this is my first trial at making Matcha Cupcake. I love it! :) My friends also loved it. Even Julie, who doesn't like green tea-flavoured dessert (except for Il Dolce Fredo's green tea gelato), loved it much and said she can eat a million more.

Ria said, "It taste.....UTTERLY FANTASTIC & UNBELIVEABLY GOOD ! ! ! The green tea topping at the top compliments the green tea cupcake in the bottom & vice versa... You can eat them separately, but combining both elements will give you a COMPLETE satisfactory...It's T H E B E S T Matcha Cupcakes I have ever tasted ! ! ! ! :))"

It is my personal favourite so far because the cake is very fluffy and moist. I feel that this is how cupcakes should be. The combination of the icing and the cake is just perfect, delicate, right level of sweetness, and not overpowering. It passed the quality control, and has been added to my bakingbee menu.

Matcha is powdered Japanese green t made from shade-grown tea leaves also used to make gyokuro, unlike other forms of powdered tea, such as powdered sencha.

The preparation of matcha starts several weeks before harvest, when the tea bushes are covered to prevent direct sunlight. This slows down growth, turns the leaves a darker shade of green and causes the production of amino acids that make the resulting tea sweeter.

Only the finest tea buds are hand picked. After harvesting, if the leaves are rolled out before drying as usual, the result will be gyokuro (jewel dew) tea. However, if the leaves are laid out flat to dry, they will crumble somewhat and become known as tencha (碾茶). Tencha can then be de-veined, de-stemmed, and stone ground to the fine, bright green, talc-like powder known as matcha. It can take up to one hour to grind 30 grams of matcha.

Note that only ground tencha qualifies as matcha, and other powdered teas are known as konacha (粉茶, lit. "powder tea").

The flavour of matcha is dominated by its amino acids. The highest grades of matcha have more intense sweetness and deeper flavour than the standard or coarser grades of tea harvested later in the year (Wikipedia).

Matcha Cupcakes

Awesome weekend getaway with special friends, successful recipe trials, and pretty photographs of my babies make me one very happy girl! :)

Stick around for more updates from my kitchen!

Cupcake Craving

I am very encouraged that my friends do come to me and ask, "Bebe, if you have time, can I please have some more of this or that??" It is always my pleasure to cook/bake for them. I love the feeling of watching them eat, I love to see their smiles and satisfaction that they get from eating what I make for them. It is just very very rewarding.

A month ago, Andrew messaged me and said that he wanted some more Cookies and Cream cupcakes. I gave him some samples when I first made it. And you can guess the rest, it was love at the first BITE! ;) So yeah, i made him some more "Triple C Goodness" (that's how i call my cookies and cream cupcakes, in case you are wondering ;)....) This time around, he got to share it with his cell group friends and guess what? they all loved it too!! Andrew told me , "Rio ate so many of it and mind you, he's actually not a big fan of desserts..but in his words, (or somewhere along his words), Bebe made him like desserts!" AWWW.... *teary eyes*

Triple C Goodness

I love the icing. It tastes like Connoisseur's cookies and cream ice-cream. My fave ice cream!
The cupcakes itself still needs improvement. It's not as fluffy as how it should be, but I think I've found out how to make them fluffier. Whee... ^^v

2 more sleeps!

YAY!! 2 more sleeps til the end of my final exams.

after that... it's baking time!!
Along with the special Christmas Project I mentioned in my previous post, I have a few other things I want to try making. Oh, and some cake orders too!
Stay tuned!

Oh oh! I'm very very very happy today! I got a surprise gift from a dear friend. It's a 10 pieces Gum Paste tool set! Awww *teary eyes*... She did tell me that she wanted to get the things for me and I said the 5 pc will do. But today when she passed it to me, it was the 10 pc!! I didn't know that it will be this soon. And I didn't expect it to be the 10 pc!! awwww...*more teary eyes*
Thank you so much Jo!!! xoxo. I opened it already, but I promised I won't play with them until after 24th. ;) XOXO

B is out for some serious studying.
ciao!

bakingbee on facebook

bakingbee has set up a fan page on facebook.
Here's the link.
Do visit and be a fan. :)

What B has been up to lately...

studying hard!!!

B has been studying hard for her FINAL final exams. Yep, that's right! FINAL final exams! After 5 long years of sweat, blood, and tears (OK, I'm a bit exaggerating here, but you get the point.) I finally come to the end of my uni life. I actually still have one more paper to do next Tuesday, but at the mean time, I'm giving the sponge inside my head a rest.

Thinking about life after uni can be scary sometimes. You need to go out there and get a job, you need to be an adult who is fully responsible for your own life. To make matter even scarier, people have been telling me that it's a tough world out there. They tell me to enjoy my uni days as best as I can for before I know it, I will start to miss my uni days again.

Well, in a way, I did enjoy my 5 years of uni. Not all the time, because there were subjects that I just hated and dread, there were long-hours lab and mountains of scientific journals to read, essays, report and mini thesis to write. But hey, I survived! In all honesty, I am very thankful for these 5 long years. It is through these years that I found myself and my passion. I found friends worth keeping for eternity, I found love. I laugh and cry, rejoice and mourn.

So here I am, almost at the end of my uni days, ready to take myself to next phase in life. I'm scared of what lies ahead, of going back for good to Indonesia, and that shortly, I will not be able to physically be around my beloved friends. But one thing I know for sure, the Lord will not abandon me. And knowing that He holds my tomorrow somehow gives me assurance and peace to close my chapters in Melbourne.

PS. I have prepared a very special Christmas Project. Stay tuned! *giggles with excitement !! can't wait for it!*

ichigo. fragola. fraise

It's summer time! it's strawberry time! I love strawberry because it is such a pretty fruit and it smells so fragrant. One thing I don't really like about strawberries is that sometimes, they are sour! >.<" But but...when they are big, and red, and sweet, they are oh-so-heavenly! The sweetness and the strawberry-fragrance can leave a delightful sensation on your palate that will leave you happy for the rest of your day. There you go, another thing to be thankful for. Big juicy red strawberries!

something to be thankful for!

Another thing to be thankful for, CJ'! This strawberry cheesecake would never come to existence had it not been for him following my blog. How is that so ???

B received an sms from Yu Ying on Monday, saying that she found my blog and likes the cake and asked if it's ok if she ordered a cake from me. After the nitty gritty bit was settled, I braced myself to ask her where she found my blog from. Well, I guess by now you would've known the answer, eh? Yep! It's from CJ's blog. :) Oh how I love online social network!!

She doesn't want chocolate cake! So this is what I came up with...

Strawberry Cheese Cake

This is a prettier version of the Indonesian Cheesecake. Victoria sponge cake layered with fresh strawberries and cream, topped with shredded cheese. This time around, I managed to temper the chocolate a bit more properly. It was glossy, and it snaps! :)
Hope they enjoyed the cake.

B's out! Getting some study done while waiting for Yu Ying's feedback.

*update from Yu Ying*
"... Everyone loved the cake. It was really pretty & good. It tastes just nice and very fresh. So don't worry. Thanks very much for the great cake. Hugs :)... "

Hugs back too!! ^^v

BC's Blueberry Muffin

Guess who's back ?!
Yes it's me! Alive and well.
I was down with flu last week. This time around, it hit quite badly, even right now, I still got traces of the illness. *cough cough.. sniff sniff...*

Anyway, I've been craving for some blueberry muffins. When I told Ms. Oriana that, she said, "Try Betty Crocker's blueberry muffin. It's quite yummy! It's fluffy and moist." Honestly, I usually don't trust instant cake mix. Some of them taste quite artificial and the texture is just weird. But this time around, I brave myself to follow Ms. Oriana's suggestion. Being a baker herself, I trust her judgement. ;)

I've got the packet 2 weeks ago, but only got the chance to making it tonight.
Surprisingly, it's quite yummy. She's right. it's very fluffy. The texture is also not bad. For a lazy baking, this one is quite good. You just add milk and egg, stir stir stir.. transfer to muffin tray, bake it for half an hour, and you get fragrant muffins. Given the option, I'd rather follow my own traditional muffin recipe. This one is a bit too sweet for me. :)

Betty Crocker's Lite Blueberry Muffins

B's out. Enjoying her blueberry muffin and Yorkshire tea.

Lulu the Sound Engineer

Every birthday is special as it is a celebration of you. Yes, you were wonderfully and fearfully made. God knitted you carefully together in your mother's womb. His eyes saw your unformed body. He even knows the number of your hair. You are indeed very special.

Lulu the Sound Engineer turned 25 last week. To mark his 'quarter of a century' birthday, he requested a special cake. A not-so-sweet cake in the shape of Sennheiser HD 201. The inside is Victorian sponge with shredded cheese and strawberry.
Sorry Lulu, the cake is no way near the real Sennheiser you wanted. :( I should have listened to Mom and put the headphone as a cake topper instead. It would have been much nicer that way. Another lesson learnt the hard way.

This cake is another attempt of the Indonesian Cheesecake. It turned out very nice. The texture is quite different from the one in Indo, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It was golden, fluffy, and fragrant. Simply yummy!

Victorian Sponge
Layered with Buttercream and Fresh Strawberries
Topped with Shredded Cheese

Since I baked a big cake, this is how the left over turned out. Very minimal decoration as it was already way past midnight and I had an early class the following day. At least it was yummy...

Happy Birthday, Lulu! Many happy returns to you!

New Commissioning

B is back!
After finishing up all uni assignments, I'm ready to bake again. No, it's more like.. I need to bake again. I guess it has become a part of me, so deeply ingrained, that when I don't do it for quite some time, I miss it very much.

Oh oh! I have been commissioned to make something unique. A very special one because it's quite rare. Its existence is not easily found in Google or Youtube. So exciting!

Stay tune for any update about this cake. :)

Every Girl's Dream

Still remember Mr.Strong from my previous entry?
Right after tasting Mr.Strong and loving it, Madame Ho order this cake I'll be talking about.
So once again, thanks to darling Mrs. Citro who ordered Mr.Strong!! XOXO.

Madame wants a cake for her sister's birthday by 9th of Oct. So I asked her what sort of cake she would like to have, a cake with external beauty or one with inner beauty. Cakes with external beauty refer to the fondant cakes, which are very pleasing to the eyes. For me personally, taste wise, cakes with inner beauty are more satisfying to eat. That is because you can get more variety in flavours and textures. On the other hand, fondant cakes need a firm base to support the heavy fondant decorations. Then I told her that if she wants a very satisfying cake, then she should get the dark chocolate orange gateau. My quality controllers say that the DCOG was really a perfect match made in Heaven! Nothing beats that cake so far. As Madame was actually looking for a very chocolatey cake, the DCOG would make a perfect choice.

I was a bit unsure about the deco. I put a slice of orange in the previous DCOG, but this time, the ribbon was pink. So orange, won't do good to the overall colour of the cake. While I was assembling the cake, an inspiration perched on my mind. Why not do a fondant butterfly! PINK butterflies!

Premium Chocolate + Ribbon + Pink + Butterflies = Every Girl's Dream

The birthday girl was very happy. She messaged me on msn,

vanessa says:
BEBE!!!!!!
the CAKE is FANTASTIC! oh my goodness!
thank u soooooo much!! =D
my sis refused to let me see it till it came out
then i saw the cake
SO PRETTY!!!!! (cos i love that shade of pink)
then after blowing out the candles n all, i served the rest first
then their reaction all "WAH!!!!"
hahahaha
so i had my bite...
WAHHHHHHHH!
the base is so nicely textured, n the mousse!
fuyoH!!!!

I'm very happy to find out that they loved the cake, that they enjoyed eating it as much as I did making it.

Happy Birthday, Vanessa! Hope you've had a great time with your loved ones!
Thank you guys for allowing me to be a part of your special day.

In case you're wondering what's with the title, my dear Joanne said this after seeing the photo on Facebook, "Waaaahhh...chocolate, ribbons, pink, butterflies. Every girl's dream!"

the perfect winter comfort food

Those of you who have been to Melbourne or are currently living in Melbourne will definitely know for sure that Melbourne is famous with its "4 seasons in a day." It may be Spring at the moment, but cold weather still occasionally pays a visit. Last Friday was one of those cold Spring days.

Earlier in the week, I got Sticky Date Pudding request from dear friends of mine (thanks to Lala who publicly promoted my Sticky Date Pudding and even rated it as one of the best she had ever tasted so far ;) XOXO). Considering I will be leaving Melbourne soon *sobs*, I better squeeze it in between my schedule. After checking the weather forecast (Yes, you need to do this when you live in Melbourne), I found out that Friday will be a gloomy day, with the temperature topping of 16C. So last Friday, i made the sticky date pudding.

I have to say that Sticky Date Pudding is one of my favourite desserts, especially during Winter time. The warmth and the fragrance of the pudding, combined with the sweetness of the butterscotch sauce ... hmmm... it is just oh-so-Heavenly! Top it up with vanilla ice cream and voila! You get a perfect winter comfort food.

That is the picture of the very first Sticky Date Pudding I made last year.
Still remember Esther's expression when she tried it, her eyes just lit up with happiness. She gave that pudding two thumbs up and a big "super yummy" ;) (thanks for the photo!)

So last Friday, I re-lived the same scene.. ;)
Sharon said, "Wah Bebe, this is SOOO SHIOK!!! I can have this for my dinner too!"
Carilyn kept hmmm-ing satisfactorily and putting big smile on her face while keep digging on the plate. She was satisfied!
John said, "Very nice! Enak!"
Ivan said, "Enak banget, Be!"
and
Bebe said, "I'm very happy!!"

Hahaha.. yes! Indeed, I was very happy, to be able to share my baked goodies with my friends.
Nothing beats the joy that comes from seeing people happily eating what you bake/ cook for them*. When their eyes light up with satisfaction, all the effort and hard work of creating the goods is paid off. It warms your heart up and leaves you excited and joyful for quite some time.

Oh, and yes, I do put a generous amount of love and tender care into my cakes. It makes a huge difference!! ;)

*(except for things that comes from my Creator. I won't discuss that here for my baking cannot be compared to His greatness. The joy that He gives is indescribable, far greater than this joy I am talking about. And when you get to know Him, all the things of this Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace).

Happy Birthday, Mr.Strong!

Bebe is still WIP-ing!!
3rd batch from last night turned out to also be a major failure.

3rd batch
-The Pseudo Dark Chocorange Cake-

She still can't believe what happened last night.
Never before in her entire baking experience she encounters something like this!
On the brighter side of it, the pseudo dark chocolate orange cake tastes good. :)
At least 3rd batch is not going to the bin. Her 'quality controllers' will be more than happy to devour it tomorrow.

So after a quick run the the nearest convenience store, she managed to secure a 4th batch of the same dark chocolate orange cake in the oven!
Half baking time has elapsed. It looks good at the moment.
Be good, baby!
*fingers crossed!*

...@12.25pm ...

Delivery time..
Baby #4 came out of the oven... NICELY !!!
HALLELUJAH!!
hohohoho
It is currently sitting on the table.. cooling itself down...

....@5.00pm...
Mr.Strong is DONE !
Bebe can't complain at how Mr.Strong turn up considering there were so many things that went wrong at so many level.

So.. here's Mr.Strong...

Happy Birthday, Mr.Strong!

(photo by Jojo)

Work In Progress

Bebe is upset!!!
It seems that tonight, all the evil forces is working up against her and her chocolate orange cake!
ARGHHHHHH !!! ><"
Bebe is frustrated!!!
It seems that tonight, the brain, the hands, and the ingredients don't want to cooperate well. ARGHHHHH !!!! >.<"
So many wrong things at so many level.
Bebe feels like crying now!!! >.<"

Problem like this has never cropped up before!
The chocolate was clumpy.. the butter didn't blend in well...
2 batches went down the rubbish bin!
It was ULTIMATE disaster!
Look at this!! Ugly brown thingy!!

Bebe has however managed to whip up the third batch which currently is sitting in the oven.

OH!! the red fondant Bebe bought last time doesn't have nice consistency. Hopefully it will work out fine tomorrow.

Bebe is scared.
Bebe is praying hard.

*Dear Lord Jesus, please help the cake to set nicely. Please don't let anything go wrong again. I'm tired but am thankful for everything that has happened today. including the 2 batches down the drain. May this lesson always be imprinted in my mind that i won't repeat the same mistake in the future. Amen."

Money Bag Cake

bakingbee proudly presents............. *drumrolls*.......

THE MONEY BAG CAKE !!!! *echoing applause*


I have to say, this is the master piece so far! :)
Once again, big thanks to Mrs. Citro for trusting me to bake cakes for her. :)
Thank you for always believing in me and for giving me opportunities to practice and improve myself. You are an angel sent from Heaven. XOXO

When she ordered the cake, she said, "I want a money themed cake, the cake is for an accountant. The design is really up to you. The birthday is on bla bla bla...."
Honestly, i was blank. Got no idea. Money themed cake is not a usual theme for a birthday cake! >.<" Thank God for my dearest brother, who suggested this idea to me.

This cake is also dedicated to all of you, professional accountants out there. May the Lord continue to pour out His abundant blessings so that your money bag will be overflowing with Heavenly riches. But don't forget to share it around, for you are blessed to be a blessing! :)


I was extremely happy with how this cake turned out. Very very pleased! :)

Triple C Goodness

Cookies&Cream Cupcakes = Triple C Goodness !


^^v
Coles was having massive sales of OREO. This is the sole reason of the Triple C Goodness.
Note to self:
1. Don't over crush the OREOs. Chunky bits will give nicer texture.
2. Need to R&D excellent butter cream recipe.
3. The cupcake base was too sweet. Add a pinch of salt perhaps. :)

D*** loved it anyway. :)

Disastrous Experiment

I've been craving for the Indo-style cheese cake.
It's just vanilla sponge cake garnished with grated cheddar cheese. So I decided to give this recipe which i got from my mom's recipe book collections back home, a try. This recipe used TBM, which is "a stabiliser used in baking sponge cakes. It helps the eggs to rise rapidly and stiffly. As it is acidic it also helps the beaten eggs to remain stable and not lose the airy and voluminous texture. It makes sponge cake softer and smoother".

Well, since i never used this kind of substance for my cake (Yes, all my cakes are made of natural ingredients, no preservatives, no artificial flavouring), i didn't put that TBM thingy in. I have a prejudice against this substance because whenever i ate any cake that has this thing in, the cake has "soapy" taste. :( I tried adding more egg yolks and decrease the flour to make it flully to no avail!! >.<" On a side note, Blueband margarine is BAD BAD BAD for making cake! The cake turned out like a stone!!! ARGH.. total failure! It was very dense, hard, and not nice at all! What a waste of eggs!! :(


Just watch out! I'm not giving up yet! The pursuit of the perfect Indonesian Cheesecake still goes on!

Perfect Match Made in Heaven

I say, dark chocolate + orange = perfect match made in Heaven.

Mrs. Citro, my very loyal customer, asked me to bake a cake for Wen and Julian.
I found this dark chocolate orange gateau recipe, and knew straight away that this is an awesome recipe. Turned out, i was right! I personally think this is the best tasting cake i've ever made thus far. Luscious dark chocolate orange gateau layered with jaffa mousse lavished with rum. I just couldn't ask for more!!!

Two thumbs up!!

bumblebees

I say, "Aren't they cute and adorable? Totally love 'em!!" ^^v


A friend of mine said, "Your bees are sooooooooooooo cute! They're so fat, and chubby, makes me want to squish them!"

What say you ?

Let's Sing Happy Birthday!

Have you seen a cake that sings the "Happy Birthday" song? Well, if you haven't, you are about to see one! ;)

This baby blue cake was specially made with love for my dear friend who is a music therapist. The initial plan was to paste individual music notes to make the happy birthday song. However, due to the restriction of modeling tools, the plan couldn't be executed well. After glueing some lines for the music stave, i realised that they were super messy and ugly. So i took them off and switched to plan B instead: drawing the happy birthday songs on sheets of white fondant.

Finally i could produced a smooth fondant covering for my cake. WHee !! ^^v


And here's the cake that sings happy birthday !!


Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Joanne, happy birthday to you!
Mwah! ^^v

Have a soccer-ific birthday!

My little cousin asked if I could make a soccer ball cake for her boyfriend's 21st birthday.
At first I wasn't sure because I'm still a beginner at decorating cakes with fondant.
After some intensive research, this is what i came up with. Not perfectly neat, but i was pleased with the result. ^^v

After this photo floats around facebook, a colleague of her sister asked me to make another soccer ball cake for her boyfriend. YAY ! :)
This is the second attempt. Smoother, neater, more mature.

Jaffa Cupcakes

I was invited to a farewell dinner a few months back and they requested that i bring some dessert to share. Initially i wanted to make Orange cupcake, chocolate mousse, and sticky date pudding. In the end, I decided to make sticky date pudding, and Jaffa Cupcake.

What is Jaffa?
Jaffa orange is named after the city of Jaffa in Israel, where this orange variety is largely grown and exported world-wide. Australians and New Zealanders have Jaffas, a small round candy consisting of soft chocolate center with hard shell made of orange flavoured and coloured sugar coating.

OK, so this is how Jaffas candy looks like:

And this is how my Jaffa Cupcakes look like:

the brilliant Peggy Porschen

Peggy Porschen = pretty cakes!

I bought her new book last month at such a great bargain! ;) (Last time i checked at the shop, the price has increase by $20!!! woohoo!)
The following day happened to be my cousin's, A, birthday. Because i'm just so lousy at looking for gifts, i decided to bake her a cake; and because i just bought Peggy Porschen's new book, i decided to give one of the recipes a go.
This is what i came up with: Pretty in Pink - an adaptation of Peggy's Damask Delight.
The birthday girl loves pink, and chocolate, thus the colour. :)

I'd love to give it another go. This time around I'll use butter cream/ royal icing instead of melted chocolate for piping the pattern.

my very first fondant cake

After much excitement from looking at other people's pretty cakes, I finally got the determination to do my very own. The cake however came out disastrous, as you can see from the dent at the very front of the orange bit. The other side of it, is just as disastrous. >.<"
This is a birthday cake for Viv and Ivan, two very dear friends of mine. On the way home, Joanne and I successfully convinced Dan that the little pearls at the bottom of the cake were bubble gum *giggle*. Yea, Dan, gum-less bubble gum! ;)
I was quite happy with the outcome of my very first fondant cake even though it's not perfectly smooth.

Oh, and I stupidly tried making the fondant from scratch, without any heavy duty cake mixer. 1 hour worth of kneading sugar paste was enough to leave my hands throbbing with pain all night long. Thank God for my 3rd and 4th hands belong to my boyfriend who helped me kneading the other fondant batch and for the miracle I got that night. After struggling to sleep, I woke up with no trace of muscle pain whatsoever!!! So here's to an awesome God!!

bebe...bb...bakingbee...

My brother, H, came up with the name! :)
OK, so why bakingbee? Because its initial is bb and that's the same as my name, Bebe, which can simply be written as "bb" in Bahasa Indonesia.

Cooking was not an issue that bothered me much before I came to Melbourne in 2003. Back at home, Mom cooks scrumptious meals for us everyday. When my brother and I were little, she made lots and lots of baked goodies for us. So, thank God for giving me the innate ability to cook and bake through my mom! ;)

Mom baked that cake for me :)

I got familiar to cooking and baking when I stayed with my dear home-stay family, the GMs, for almost 2 years. Since I helped my home-stay mother, X, preparing dinner quite often after school, my love for cooking sparked. She was the one who shared with me that cooking is a way to love your family. No wonder Mom cooks everyday. She just loves us so much! ;) D, X's sister, who came to visit us often, is a great baker. She taught me a lot of things, from making brownies to muffin to chewy chocolate chips cookies! Moving out from the GM's house, I lived with H for a while and cooking suddenly became a necessity! Since he was super busy with his final year project, I got to be the cook.

I still remember the night H said, "Aiya, you got so confused in putting down your university course preferences now ah. Just wait and see, after you graduate you'll open a bakery!"
Come to think of it, I have to admit that he had a great insight! :)
Here I am, at the end of my 5 years Science/ Commerce Degrees, venturing to be a cake decorator!! YAY to great insight! ;)

In the beginning...

was the word...

Those who know me know that I love cooking and baking, especially for my beloved ones. Earlier this year, I stumbled across a few websites containing pretty pretty cakes. I guess that marked the beginning of my love for cake decorating. So, before I start writing down my journey with my babies, I'd like to thank those amazing cake decorators out there for sharing their work of art and being such an inspiration. Many thanks also go to my dearest family and friends who have always been supportive. Thanks for being my trusted quality controllers. Thanks for giving me the opportunities to create these babies. Thanks for staying up late with me because we were just too excited with the progress of this whole plan. Thanks for believing in me! Last but not least, thanks be to my Creator who knitted me together in my mother's womb 24 years ago. I am nothing without You!