Strawberry and Cake

Besides using strawberry for the topping, it's a good idea to dice them as cake filling so that there's some in every slice of the cake. I decided to give it a try after seeing it done in a few episodes of Cake Boss. I think the strawberries subdue the sweetness and richness of these cake and cheesecake. But, the tricky part of using strawberry is that you should use whip cream for the topping, and trying to smooth the topping is not so easy.

The cake in these pics were made a few weeks ago using M'sian CH and Korean strawberries. My favorite Driscoll strawberry is available at the nearby Giant store this week, and at a reasonable price, thanks to the current forex rate i guess.

Pics of recent cakes made added here...

Anytime Cake

My hubby's aunt ordered a cake for her grandkids to enjoy, and the 2 kids really did enjoy this cake, half of it is already gone while I was enjoying my laksa kebuk.
Laksa kebuk (in our family) is fresh home made noodles made from wheat flour, not from rice flour like the dried kind sold in grocery shops. Kebuk is the hand press used to squeeze the dough through, so i guess u can make the dough from semolina or rice and still call it laksa kebuk, ....... as long as it's served with fish based gravy :)

Good Bye 2009

Ordered by staff at a government department for an end of the year tea party at the office. The blue n red dots is the department's logo.

Good bye 2009, it has been an eventful year for me and Bakeryna....

Ana Uhibbuk, Ana Bahibbik

It is really sweet when couple celebrates their birthdays together. Murni and her husband share the same birthday on Hijrah calendar; but they decided to have a cake on hubby's gregorian calendar birthday since hers was during Hari Raya season.
One of the beauty of Arabic language is in its grammatical gender, i.e. masculine (muzakkar) and feminine (muannas), thus the 2 lines of "I love You" messages on the cake. The cake was decorated per a sketch from Murni; the fondant faces were plumpier than her sketch and them actual in person, i'm soooo sorry ya....
This is the 1st time I use chocolate ganache decoration on a cake. The 1:1 ratio of choc bar & cream was too runny, so I added some choc fudge to it. Cake was choc moist & choc sponge with strawbery/raspbery cream filling.. yum!
Murni loves to write too, do visit her at MurniHati

P/S This pic was taken using hubby's Blackberry, so much clearer than my E71. Our cybershot camera is out on a camping trip with Sue ; "bilalah nak mampu beli dslr pulak....."

Blue & Yellow Geometric Patterns

Syamil requested these cuppies for his classmates at ACMS; blue & yellow are the colors of ACMS logo.

P/S I guess the smell of ketupat and rendang from the throngs of family members and friends visiting Asyraf on the 1st day of Raya was too overwhelming. Asyraf insisted to be discharged from the hospital on the 2nd day of Raya. . Asyraf's tracheostomy was decannulated,  his IV tube removed while we were busy searching for a hospital bed and oxygen tank to place at my mil's house.  There were a couple of panic episodes when  Asyraf coughed heavily and gasping for breath, and was stabilized when my sil administer him oxygen by mask. He's doing better now judging by how much he enjoyed PS3 guitar heroes jamming session with his cousins. We are also seeking complimentary traditional methods to help him recover....

Strawberry & Chocolate Cupcakes

This order came from Reen, requested strawberry & chocolate cupcakes to celebrate arrival of Ramadhan (and her birthday) with her family in Perlis. Thanks Reen!

These are mostly moist chocolate cupcakes (with a few vanilla cupcakes) topped with a layer of chocolate fudge and/or whipped cream. I hope the cupcakes made it back to Perlis okay, since the strawberry quickly turns soft after I washed them just before placing on the cupcakes.

Read over the internet that fresh strawberry can only last 4 to 5 days after picking. Since these are from Driscoll's USA, I believe 3 days have passed before they hit the local supermarket shelves here. So.... in future I will only confirm fresh strawberry cupcakes order 2 days before delivery, that is if the strawberries are available at the local supermarket ;) The Gunung Jerai (Kedah's highest mountain) strawberry farm project has started to bear some fruits since early this month, hope to see their strawberries here in near future.

Ramadhan Mubarak to everyone.... (Many of my non-Muslim friends also welcomes the month of Ramadhan; to them it's an opportunity to sample various traditional delicacies from the Ramadhan bazaars)

P/S Asyraf has gone through his spinal surgery earlier today; surgery was postponed for 5 days since the ICU ward was fully occupied with H1N1 patients, and..... the surgeon was down with ILI. Thanks to all who have express your sympathy