PASTRY PASSION

A HONG KONG CHRISTMAS

2012-01-04T00:37:00.000-08:00

This year's Christmas was extra special mainly because I celebrated it with my hubby in HK. Usually, we would go home to Manila for the Holidays, but with my baby due soon, we decided to stay put here. At first, I was a bit apprehensive and reluctant to spend the Holidays in Hong Kong as I spend every Holiday season in Manila.

Though the HK's main religion is not Catholicism, most residents are keen to celebrate Christmas. The city certainly does celebrate the holiday, gets into the spirit of things, spruce up the malls where you can hear Christmas carols playing in the air. During the season, the weather is nice and cool with temps dropping to the low teens C. With the decorations, nice weather, off course endless shopping makes HK a perfect winter destination for people in Manila. And with a 90 minute flight from Manila, it's definitely my home away from home...happy to be close to family and friends. 90 minute flight vs. 20+ hrs from NYC last year to get to Manila...priceless and price savings!!! =)

Here are some of the foods that we're binging on last Christmas:

Rack of Lamb with Balsamic Reduction

Lawry's Prime Rib

Chocolate Molten Cake

2D ELMO CAKE

2011-11-22T02:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, we were asked to create an Elmo cake which portrays as a gift box. Originally, the mom of the little girl wanted a 3D version of Elmo, but we were pressed for time, so I instantly thought of making Elmo's face in 2D cut outs instead. Since there was no specific cutter for Elmo's face, I had to improvise and make my own by drawing his face on a cardboard paper and cutting it. The cut-out served as my cutter for Elmo's faces were incorporated in the cake. I also wanted the cake to have green bows and green stars (Sesame Street colors), but the mom requested the pastel pink instead. Overall, I think the cake turned out to be cute and striking speacially made for the birthday girl as requested by the loving mom.

PERSONALIZED COOKIES

2011-10-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

Happy weekend everyone! I just want to share some pictures of cookies that we did for a corporate event.

DESSERT BAR FOR INIKO

2011-09-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was my god son's Christening and I could not think of a better way to complete the celebration than preparing a dessert bar. Since the reception was held at home, my cousins and I helped decorate the dessert table. One was assigned to make the tags and labels for the desserts and candy bar. As you would expect, I was responsible for whole dessert spread and while other folks made the lanterns, banners and posters that you see in the picture. You can really call this a family project :-)

the whole set-up

irresistible bars

the candy bar--assorted flavors or lollipops, mallows, gummy bears, chocolate kisses and choco wafer sticks

moist chocolate cupcakes in baby theme toppers

sinfully rich cookies

ANGRY BIRDS CAKE FOR BEA

2011-09-13T02:47:00.000-07:00

This cake was especially made for my niece Bea, who celebrated her 8th birthday last month. With the advent of Ipad and its increasingly popular Apps for games, it looks like the Angry Birds fever is really hitting an all time high! At first, I was clueless as to how to design the cake that I decided to download the game from my Ipad and actually play it. By doing so, it greatly helped me to visualize what design would I execute. This is what I came up with:

This was a moist chocolate cake with espresso caramel filling.

UPDATE AND A TASTE OF HK

2011-08-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

a glimpse of our new flat---still a work in progress

view from The Peak

boxes from NYC

Dimsum Academy

I apologize for my absence in blogging these past few months. I actually have been travelling frequently as my husband got a new role overseas. We had to visit our new location and find our new "home". My husband and I actually relocated to Hong Kong...yes Hong Kong in the Far East. If you noticed, my last posting was May which was the time we found out of my husband's new assignment with Pepsi and we had to be based in HK by July. Since then, we have been on a whirlwind of never ending things to do ---- find a home in Hong Kong, decide what we will be bringing to HK or what we will leave in storage, sell our cars, see our friends/family, fix our apartment in New York so we can rent it out, etc. On top of the new job for my husband, new work & home location for us...we have actually been blessed as well with the coming of our 1st child. Yes, I am expecting and I'm on my 4th month. You can just imagine the never ending "chores" we had to do to make us "ready" to move our home, our life to HK. Now in HK, we have more "chores" as we have to get our apartment here in the Mid-Levels to be our home in HK at least for the next coming years.

As you can imagine, we had a lot of moving boxes marked "Kitchen". When the movers here in HK started to bring our air shipment to our apartment, they were scratching their heads with the amount of boxes destined for the kitchen. Dear friends, HK is one of the most populated cities in the world...something to the tune of 60,000/sq ft or sq m...can't recall but something ridiculous. Hence space is a premium in this very, very vertical city. With space as a premium, my oven in out apartment here is probably just 1/4 the size of my LG in NY. This is no joke, some of my baking pans won't fit the oven. Very different...maybe this is an opportunity for me to create "mini-me's" of my work in NY...hahaha. I will post a picture of the oven so you can see what I am talking about.

Given the pregnancy, everything for me is sensory overload. HK Island is like Manhattan but with A LOT LOT LOT more people...this is no joke. If you think it is a jungle walking the streets of Manhattan during rush hour...you haven't seen anything yet like HK. It is ridiculous the amount of people specially in Central & Causeway Bay...I am not even talking about the tourist spots on the Kowloon side but more so the place where Hong Kongers live.

Oh well, a lot of things going on. As much as I want to work, our OB here advised me to take it easy. I will try to test out my oven and see what I can do out of it. I will also blog about my adventures in Hong Kong Island - both personally and from a culinary perspective.

JB PRINCE: KITCHEN WONDERLAND

2011-05-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to go to JB Prince in Manhattan to buy some chocolate molds and some pastry toys. I went totally nuts seeing all the kitchen gadgets, equipment and tools for the professional chef. Every imaginable kitchen tool can be found here. Most importantly, JB Prince carries top of the line, superior quality brands such as the: Robot Coupe Hand blenders, Japanese mandolines, Silpats, Misono Knives, Ateco cutters, Chocolate molds from France, Refractometers, Digital Thermometers and much more.

As a baker, I was very happy and pleased with the wide selection of pastry/baking stuff (who doesn't want Silpats, metal cutters, flexipan molds and every size and shape of ice cream scoops) and the gamut of kitchen necessities that you would want in your kitchen cabinet. As these gadgets are precision tools, I must warn you that prices are rather steep, but remember they're long-term investments.

Also, it's worth pointing out that JB Prince is not visibly located along the street. The store is located inside a nondescirpt Midtown office building, on the 11th floor and behold JB Prince. Even if you don't have any intentions of buying something, you'll find yourself carrying a loot bag!

MUPPETIZE WITH LAUREN KITCHENS

2011-04-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a 1-day Muppets class with the amazing and uber talented cake artist Lauren Kitchens of Fancy Cakes by Lauren. Lauren and her assistant Ashleigh travelled all the way from Dallas to Nicholas Lodge's cake studio in Norcross, Georgia. I too travelled from New York and I must say that every mile was worth the trip.

Lauren is one of the most fabulous, fun, generous and down to earth person I've met. To those who don't know her, she is a Food Network Gold Medalist and known for muppetizing the judges at the Sesame Street Cake Challenge. I've watched that episode so many times and it never fails to amuse me. She guided us through the construction of the internal structure of the muppets, gave us tips on handling the temperemental modeling chocolate and shared techniques on how to form the body parts. They made all the students - professional decorators or not- feel comfortable with what they are working with.

Here is the wonderful line-up of the muppets cake designs. Each one has its own personal touch as you could see the different facial features, expressions and accesories attached to the muppet. My cake stands on the far left and the photo below. It was such a wonderful experience to be in a room with people who have the same passion as I do. One minute everyone is chatting and the next minute, there is complete silence as we are all focusing on putting the details and the finishing touches on our muppets. I loved the fact that I was in my element.

DERICH'S CARS THEMED CAKE

2011-04-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

When I got a request from a close friend about making a 3D car cake,I was actually apprehensive about doing it. I'm a newbie when it comes to making 3D sculpted cakes. The first time I attempted making a sculpted cake, it really didn't turn out the way I had envisioned it to be. So this request was really a challenge for me. I hope I did justice to the actual Lightning Mc Queen.

ROB-SELENE WEDDING

2011-03-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted anything this month. I've been busy with a lot of stuff...organizing the shop in Manila, celebrating birthdays and weddings and finally, preparing my trip back to New York. Anyway, I want to share some pictures of the wedding cake I made for my dearest cousin, Selene. She just got married 2 weeks ago. Her color motiff was a bit challenging for me, but I think I was able to achieve the right color palette and design for her theme. The cake was inspired by bows and blings. The bows were made out of gumpaste and I sprayed edible lacquer to have a nice sheen. The blings were store bought brooches, which were just pinned on the ribbon gumpaste. Since Selene is allergic to chocolate, the cake's flavor was lemon scented butter cake filled with strawberry buttercream. Happy Viewing!

cake cutting ceremony

Rob & Selene

Christ the King Church

Valle Verde 6 Reception

March 19, 2011

Manila, Philippines

A SWEET TRIP TO BANGKOK

2011-02-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

I recently went on a trip with my parents to Bangkok. It was our first time to go to Thailand and we were all excited to go shopping, sightseeing and most especially - dining! Usually, my parents and I would go to Hong Kong, but this time I insisted to go to Bangkok because I've been dying to attend the chocolate class of famed Pastry Chef, Eric Perez.

the cacao bean

Being right here at the Macaron Pastry School with Chef Eric Perez would be every chocoholics' dream. For the past week, I've been getting up early, curious and excited about the next amazing 3 days of mouthwatering, sinfully rich and decadent chocolates, truffles, pralines and bonbons that we'll be making. On my way to school, I would eat little breakfast, taking a mental note that I will be tasting many kinds of chocolates in a couple of hours. I know I should be on a diet ASAP but it's just hard to resist these treats....

coconut and raspberry truffles

I must admit that I was like a little child in a huge candy store as I first entered Chef Eric's school. You would first see his dessert cafe shop with displays of assorted classic French desserts--indeed, I was in a happy place! Adjacent to the store is our classroom where you could see his pristine kitchen. Chef Eric and his wife greeted all of us and they offered espresso or tea with his freshly baked pain au chocolat and croissant paired with his homemade candied ginger jam! What a treat!

our classroom

First day was all about the history of chocoloate and its origin; how it is derived from the bean of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cocoa); the kinds of cacao beans; the three groups of chocolates; tempering the chocolate according to its kind and finally determining the percentages or appropriate chocolates for dessert and/or baking purposes. Chef Eric allowed us to taste the different Valrhona niblets so we can better understand its taste profile. Day 2 and 3 were devoted to making ganaches, casting and enrobing our chocolates.

no guts! no ganache!

"Blending a chocolate is just like making a perfume---seeking the balance is everything. In fact, I have even made perfumes with a hint of cocoa in them. And, like the chocolate-maker, the art of the perfume-maker is entirely manual: I'm not a chemist, I'm more like a cook, experimenting with flavors and mixtures.....And if you close your eyes, what trace does a woman leave? A scent, a taste...." Jean-Paul Guerlain

Graduation Day

yours truly with Chef Eric Perez

A GIANT CUPCAKE FOR LAUREN

2011-02-24T01:04:00.000-08:00

I got so busy over the past 2 months that I forgot to post some of my cake photos. I will start posting them soon though...Anyway, I'd like to share with you my recent creation. I made this cake for a little girl named Lauren, who just turned 5 last month. The mom asked me to make a giant, cute cupcake for her daughter's party at school and this is what I've came up:

the cake was red velvet smothered with a yummy cream cheese filling

putting the fondant cherry on top of the cupcake!

VALENTINE'S DAY 2011

2011-02-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

Say "I LOVE YOU" with these sweet treats this Valentine's Day!

IVYN'S PINK BABY CAKE IN 3 LAYERS

2011-02-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, my friends and I hosted a baby shower party for our dear friend, Ivyn. Everybody agreed to have a potluck party and of course, I was assigned to make the cake. For this event, I wanted to make Ivyn a 3-layer fondant cake with cute baby decorations. Here's a more detailed look at the baby shower cake I made:

All sequins used for bling are inedible~the jeweled chucks and rattle were kept as souvenirs.

CARVED CAKE: NIKE SHOE

2011-01-25T23:34:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been doing a lot more more sculpted cakes than the traditional wedding cakes and I want to share some photos of the Nike shoe that we sculpted out of cake. The groom loved his Nike Air Jordan shoes so much and his fiance wanted us to replicate his favorite pair. The shoe and the shoe box were both chocolate cakes filled with espresso cream and iced with delicious vanilla buttercream. All of the details (stitching, Nike logo, shoe lace) were done freehand. It was definitely a lot of fun to make, quite challenging and yummy too! Hope you enjoyed the photos!

FLORAL BOUQUET WEDDING CAKE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-17T01:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. 2010 was definitely a fun and successful year at Pastry Passion. I've done a lot of celebration cakes, challenging designs and met wonderful clients through my "caking."

My first cake for 2011 was a Garden inspired wedding cake. This cake was a gift surprise from the sister of the bride and she wanted a simple 2-tier ivory fondant cake with assorted flowers to crown the top tier. To match the wedding's color palette of rose pink and taupe, I sculpted gumpaste roses, hydrangeas, leaves, filler flowers and adorned the sides of the cake with taupe lace appliques. The cake's flavor was red velvet filled with cream cheese icing and iced with vanilla buttercream.

Below, I'd like to share some nice pictures and comments from the bride and the sister:
"Everybody loved your cake, Shirley. Thank you!"

Here's a close up view of the lace applique.

gorgeous sugar roses and hydrangea leaves

"THE SWEET LIFE: FILIPINA CAKE MASTERS CONQUER NEW YORK"

2010-12-18T03:24:00.000-08:00

see link
or read the full article below

Thanks to Momar Visaya and to the staff of Asian Journal for this well-written article.

The Sweet Life: Filipina cake masters conquer New York

Friday, 17 December 2010 11:01 Momar Visaya | AJPress New York

Filipinos have that proverbial sweet tooth, no doubt about that. We consume a lot of dessert, from our traditional rice cakes like suman, bibingka or puto bumbong to the more modern fare like macarons, cupcakes and crepes, diabetes be damned.

A few Filipino entrepreneurs here in the US have realized this fact and have embarked on business ventures that cater to this sweet dream.

Shirley Santos-Yanga, a pastry chef born and raised in Manila, operates her own baking company out of her home in New York.

“I was inspired by my late grandmother, Mary Santos who used to own Azotea Diner, a Spanish restaurant in Quezon City. On weekends, I would help in the kitchen, experiment on recipes or watch the chefs execute the dishes,” Shirley shares.
While growing up in Manila, she was exposed to the food industry at an early age and she was also fond of watching cooking shows (Cooking with the Dazas, Wok with Yan—to name a few) and reading cookbooks.

“I would linger over dessert sections, with their photographs of layered and decorated goodies. I’d stare at each fluffy monument, imagining the taste. Then my eyes would wander to the text. Soon I was making those desserts myself,” she recalls.

It was a dear family friend, the late Mama Aurely “Els” Yap who Shirley considers as her mentor and her biggest inspiration to join the world of baking.

Candy Tamano Iannelli, on the other hand, is one of two women behind the recently-opened cupcake shop in the Upper East Side called Purple Elephant. Like Shirley, Candy’s very first inspiration was her aunt, her mom’s younger sister, Zawiya Espino and describes her as “a great cook and baker and always made great meals during family parties.”

Growing up in Manila, she was also inspired by culinary icons such as the Dazas and Sylvia Reynoso Gala. She fondly remembers taking classes with Ms. Reynoso Gala at her home in Pasig back in the early 80’s.

Candy’s turning point was an article she read in the New York Times about a decade ago, about the lucrative wedding cake industry in NY.

“Because I had always aspired to do something creative I felt I had a chance to break into the industry if I had the proper training and experience,” Candy says.

This dream had to take a backseat though as she initially pursued a different career path.
Candy had a day job as a pharmaceutical sales executive but at the back of her mind, she still harbored the hope of one day fulfilling her dream of creating special occasion cakes and making delicious pastries for a living. This was the reason why she enrolled at the prestigious French Culinary Institute in New York, where she met her soon-to-be business partner, pastry chef Jin Hee Sonu.

The dream that was put on hold was destined to become a reality when in 2009, due to the effect of the recession on the pharmaceutical industry, Candy was part of a company-wide downsizing and found herself unemployed two weeks after giving birth to her twin boys, Brooklyn and Michael.

Despite her extensive 10-year experience in the field, Candy had a hard time looking for a job. After months of actively applying for countless positions in pharmaceutical sales, the reality of a floundering industry saturated with thousands of unemployed, recently laid off applicants in one of the worst job markets in decades was a bitter pill to swallow.
Call it blessing in disguise, Candy’s joblessness made her realize that she had something quite solid as a fallback.

“Early this year, Candy and her culinary school classmate Jin decided it was time to take that proverbial leap of faith to set up their venture by joining forces.”

It all started with a text message from Jin, “let’s have lunch on Monday if you’re available”. To which Candy swiftly answered with, “So are you finally ready to partner with me so we can open up our own pastry shop?”

And the rest is as they say, history. The wheels were set in motion for great things to come for this dynamic duo. After a brainstorming session at a nondescript diner/coffee shop east of Penn Station, Purple Elephant Cake Inc. was born.

Plans
“I’m focusing on putting up a custom cake business here in New York. I believe that there is a larger market here and I have a niche for my products. I want to go global than local to broaden my culinary/pastry experience. By spending time in NY, I actually developed my skill sets in creating custom cakes, which I really did not do a lot in Manila,” Shirley says, explaining her future moves.

As a businesswoman, Shirley used to operate her own coffee shop in Quezon City called Pastry Passion, which she opened at the age of 21. When she left for the US, she left the business to her parents.

“My parents encouraged me to become an entrepreneur and supported me financially and emotionally. At age 21, very inexperienced and naïve, I was given the opportunity to open my won business. This was my brainchild and my biggest accomplishment,” she says.

Eleven years later, Shirley, now New York-based, has worked and studied with notable pastry chefs (Chef Richard Leach of Park Avenue Desserts, Chef Nick Malgieri, Cheryl Kleinman—to name a few).
“Working with these chefs helped me to improve my pastry techniques and broaden my culinary skills, which can be applied to my business in Manila,” she adds.
It’s not all glamor and fun though, and both ladies agree that being in this kind of field requires a lot of hard work and perseverance.

“You should have the passion, perseverance, dedication and love for the craft. I remember working 12 hour days, 60 hours a week in NY, as well as waking up at 4am to prepare myself to go to work and the job just took a heavy toll on me. I got burned out and stressed at some point, but I feel so blessed that I wake up to a job that I still love,” Shirley says.

“There were a lot of long nights and 14 to 16-hour days. In short, many a sleepless nights,” Candy says in agreement.

As Anthony Bourdain puts it in his new book Medium Raw, ”If you’re planning on spending big bucks to go to culinary school at your age, you’d better be doing it for love—a love, by the way, that will be, almost without a doubt, unreciprocated.”
As Filipino-Americans in this field, these ladies try to incorporate their history and culture to their products.

“I love to infuse Filipino ingredients and flavors (calamansi, ube, cassava) to my pastries and create desserts that are uniquely Filipino. If given a chance, I’d also want to create a wedding cake, inspired by our barong tagalog, or capiz shells,” says Shirley.

“Right now our cake shop only offers American cakes and cupcakes although our inspiration is truly French pastry. But eventually we plan to expand our menu to include both Filipino-inspired cakes as well as Korean inspired cakes and pastries,” adds Candy.

(www.asianjournal.com)

(NYNJ Dec 17-23, 2010 LifeEASTyle

ETHAN'S CHRISTENING CAKE

2010-12-08T22:44:00.000-08:00

I was asked to create a christening cake with only 1 request, that it would have a pair of cute baby shoes or booties on it. This was my first time sculpting baby chucks on sugarpaste and I loved how the cute rubber shoes turned out.

THANKSGIVING 2010

2010-11-29T02:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog friends and readers. I hope you had a wonderful (quality) time with your loved ones. I am grateful to have you all in my life. CHEERS!

Fall-inspired birthday cake

BURBERRY INSPIRED BIRTHDAY CAKE

2010-11-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

This cake was inspired by the Burberry check pattern, and the top tier was based on the quilted Chanel classic purse bag.

The shoes were made out of gumpaste and I painted it with black gel paste color to have that ZEBRA pattern on the sole. The dogwood flowers were sculpted using a special veined mold. HAPPY VIEWING!

MICKEY'S SILHOUETTE

2010-11-08T17:40:00.002-08:00

I had a request from a mom who had a vision of her son's birthday cake design. Below was her sketch of Mickey Mouse. At first, I thought she wanted Mickey's face on it, but after several e-mails, I found out that she just wanted the silhouette and specified that she doesn't want any facial details of Mickey. It was an unusual request but the cake turned out so cute and original.

Mom's sketch/requested design

My interpretation of her sketch.

details! details! details!

Happy Birthday Aadi!

ASTON'S 2D LION CAKE

2010-11-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

I made this birthday cake for my godson, Aston. He celebrated his birthday today at The Verona Boathouse, NJ. The cake was inspired by the invitation and it was a chocolate cake with Oreos and Cream buttercream filling. I also made mini red velvet cupcakes dipped in milk chocolate and topped with M&M's.

2D lion

the invitation

Happy Birthday Aston!

with mini red velvet cupcakes

A VISIT TO CHRISTOPHER GARREN'S LET THEM EAT CAKE

2010-11-03T10:01:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, hubby and I flew to California to attend his cousin's wedding at Newport Beach. When we have trips like this, I'm the designated ZAGAT or the researcher of the restaurants/places/shopping malls that we'll try. On top of my list is Christopher Garren's shop. Being a fan of his show, Amazing Wedding Cakes, his works are showstoppers and truly works of art. I think he is the BEST in his field, as his cakes are varied (whimsical, floral, masculine, elegant, etc.) and very impeccably done. If you dream it, he can make it.

His shop is very quaint and I was surprised that he also offers individual cakes, some bite-sized pastries and coffee. We had cappuccino and tried his Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake and it was sooo good. I also felt that I was walking in a gallery as you could see some of his masterpieces hanging and displayed in a clear glass. Overall, the experience was awesome and I can't wait to visit again and hopefully, take one of their sugar classes next year.

Yours truly and Christopher Garren, star of Amazing Wedding Cakes

CAKE HEAVEN!

Chris was so gracious enough to invite me to his kitchen. Here is Marjie, working on a wedding cake.

with Marjie Chua, Chris' right hand and production head

the patiserrie

ANOTHER TAKE ON TIFFANY BOX CAKE PLUS A TUTORIAL

2010-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

I got an order from a client who requested for a Tiffany Box cake. This time around, it's not for a bridal shower or an engagement party, but, it's for a WELCOME HOME party for her sister who is arriving to NY and obviously loves Tiffany. This is my third take on a Tiffany Box cake and I decided to have a "closed lid" style. To achieve a more sophisticated look, I airbrushed the sugarpaste bow with pearl white color - a simple detail like this adds a "WOW" factor to the cake. The cake was a red velvet one with a vanilla buttercream icing. As a result of this project, I am adding a tutorial for my readers on how to mix the right colors to achieve the tiffany blue fondant. I hope you all enjoy my bonus!

For the tiffany color, use 20% yellow, 30% royal blue and 50%white. Knead your fondant ito a ball until it's pliable. Using a toothpick, add streaks of icing color into several areas.

Knead the blue fondant until color is evenly blended. Do this with yellow as wll.

Roll a log each of the tinted and white fondant. Knead.

Knead fondant until all colors begin to blend in. Patience should be your virtue at this point!

Getting there....

TADA! I pulled out my tiffany box to check if I got the color palette!

EASY NO CARVE MINI PUMPKIN CAKES: A TUTORIAL

2010-10-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

For those of you who missed my tutorial at Pink Little Cake, I will be posting it again in its unedited version. This is my technique of “sculpting” pumpkins without the intimidating task of actually carving them. All you need is your good old bundt pan (the 9” one if you want it large, or 4” individual, if you want it mini) and this would definitely do the trick.

INGREDIENTS:

1 box cake mix (any brand and any flavor)
1 recipe Wilton Vanilla Buttercream (see Wilton website for recipe)
1 lb. store bought Wilton white fondant
Orange coloring
Black coloring
Green Coloring for the stem

PANS:
4 to 6 pieces-Individual Bundt Pan (4”)
0R 2-Large Bundt Pan (9”)

Grease and flour your mini bundt pans. Mix cakes as directed in the cake mix recipe. Pour batter into individual bundt pans. Bake until done.

Spackle the 2 bundt cakes with Vanilla buttercream and position them upside down. Crumb coat the cakes.

Crumbcoat your cakes with Vanilla Buttercream Icing.

Tint your fondant with different colors: orange, black, green, etc. (You can play with the colors of your pumpkins---depends on your creativity and style.) Now, roll your orange and black fondant and cover your mini pumkins.

Using a veiner tool, press on the lines of the pumpkins.

Opional: You can airbrush the cakes to enhance the ridges of the pumpkins.

Make the eyes, nose, mouth and stem.

Serve your cakes on a decorated platter.

MY SISTER'S WEDDING

2010-10-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

When I first heard that my sister is getting married, I had mixed emotions over it. I felt very happy for her that she's finally tying the knot, but at the same time, sad, because our baby is leaving home and that means, our parents would be empty nesters. Well, you're probably wondering why I said that because here in the States, kids are very independent and leave home at age 18! In the Philippines, we leave home until we get married or sometimes not even! :D

I wasn't physically home to help my sister plan her wedding but I promised her that I'll do her wedding cake and dessert buffet. It's been 10 months since my sister, Sheryll and Ian got married. And, I know that this post is so delayed simply because I was extremely busy during the wedding reception and didn't have time to take pictures of them and my cake masterpiece. I had to wait for the release of the photos from their official photographer before I could finally publish this post.

Sheryll and Ian had such a personal wedding that was such a joy to go to. They had a big and fun celebration with family and friends (around 300 guests) and definitely picked a team of great vendors to help them with their special day. I was simply blown away with how gorgeous of a couple they were. You could definitely feel the love beaming in the air. I think the best way to describe the fun I had at Sheryll's wedding is by showing you some pictures of the event:

cake cutting ceremony

The wedding cake was inspired by their color motiff. This was a white on white cake, with hand sculpted peony flowers and leaves.

GUEST BLOGGER AT PINK LITTLE CAKE

2010-10-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm thrilled to be a guest blogger at Kathia's site, Pink Little Cake. Kathia was gracious enough to invite me to be part of her 28 Days of Sweet Halloween Ideas. For this project, I created a tutorial on mini pumpkin cakes, which are perfect as favors or centerpiece on your next Halloween party. Make sure to swing by Pink Little Cake for more details, and a bunch of sweet inspiration for Halloween.

MY NEW TOY

2010-10-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

The airbrush system (by Kopykake)

ready to use airbrush colors by Americolor

This is a white gumpaste carnation which I airbrushed with a gold luster color.

Guess what my new toy is? An AIRBRUSH! I was so happy when I got it in the mail. Now, I can easily and quickly add color to any cake by using this system. Airbrushing is a technique in which edible liquid paints are sprayed through a needle tip by using compressed air. While airbrushing systems may be a little costly, it's definitely worth the investment if you plan to decorate cakes on a regular basis.

BABA'S LUGGAGE CAKE

2010-09-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

This luggage cake was requested by a dad to welcome his wife and son back from a trip. The cake measured 9" by 13" and it was a chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream filling. The details were mostly sculpted out of gumpaste and the tags were just images that I got from clipart.

CHACE'S BABY BLOCKS THEMED CAKE

2010-09-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, I got a call from a mom requesting for a 1st birthday cake for her son. I asked her what the theme of the party was and she said that there's no theme, which was unusual from my experience. She just said that she loves pastels and blocks. So, I did my own little research and came up with this design:

Perfectly mini cubes accompany this cake.

ISN'T SHE A CUTIE?

2010-09-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

it's hot outside!

My first yorkie puppy cake! I had so much fun making this little one. Everything was made of cake - vanilla chocolate chip pound cake and the icings/fillings were strawberry and vanilla buttercream. The puppy's hair was all fondant, rolled from a pasta machine, with a spaghetti blade. The eyes, nose, mouth and tongue were all sculpted out of black fondant. To give this puppy a nice sheen look, I airbrushed the body with tan and silver colors.

THE BAKER COOKS TOO!

2010-09-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

During weekdays, I make it a point to cook breakfast, lunch, dinner at home and TRY not to eat out. It's not only expensive to eat out here everyday, but it would also be a shame not to use my culinary skills! Lately, I've been experimenting with pasta and I'd like to share with you my recipe of PORK PARMIGIANA WITH DIAVOLO SAUCE:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. spaghetti

1 lb. bone-in pork steak

panko bread crumbs

4 pcs. eggs, beaten
salt and pepper

Sauce:

2 Tbsps. olive oil

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 can whole tomatoes, crushed (28 oz.)

1 cup roasted red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/4 cup chicken stock

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Season pork with salt and pepper. Dip it in the beaten eggs and dredge with panko bread crumbs. Pan fry.

2. For the diavolo sauce: Saute onions in oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned.

3. Stir in tomatoes, bell pepper, wine vinegar, sugar, pepper flakes and chicken stock. Cook and simmer for 20 minutes, then puree in blender.

4. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain.

5. Toss pasta with the diavolo sauce and serve the pork on the side.

CARS THEME CUPCAKES

2010-09-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

these cuties were packaged in clear tubes & tied with a satin ribbon

Lighting Mc Queen

Guido

Luigi

These cupcakes were made for a little boy's birthday who obviously loves CARS. The decorations were all made out of royal icing and these were the toppers of the chocolate cupcakes.

THEY GOT ME!

2010-09-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

excited to use this for my next project!

Yesterday, I went to Michael's to buy some cake supplies for my upcoming project. As I was browsing through the shelves, I saw this new pan from Wilton---the pillow pan performance cake set. I was thinking of buying it now or later down the road, but I knew if I left empty handed, I'd wish I had bought them in the event someone I know wants a pillow cake one day. During my Michael's visit, I had an ace on hand or should I say I had a 50% coupon which made it "easy" for me to stop thinking and start buying...yahooooo. You probably guessed already that I bought the pans and I'm glad I did. I'm excited to make a cake with this design. This product will definitely save me time in carving and perfecting those throw pillow cakes. I think this design would make a great gift for a mother's day celebration, birthday, wedding or sweet 16. Find them at any Michael's or Wilton store.

3D ELMO CAKE

2010-09-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. As for me, I was "working" on a birthday cake for a cute little girl turning one. It was a 3D Elmo cake. I was so excited for this project since I'll be using a new medium for sculpting Elmo. In Manila, most bakers usually use a styofoam or pure fondant/gumpaste in making 3D figures. But here in the US, most cake decorators would prefer using rice krispies because of the ease of handling/manipulating this medium. So, after researching for some recipes and pictures of Elmo, I decided to try my hand on sculpting Elmo out of the rice krispies. I must say that the process was very easy and the results were impressive. I let Elmo dry for 3 days before piping his fur with red royal icing. I was happy how Elmo turned out. The heart and one figures were made of gumpaste. And for the bottom tier, it was a 12" cake covered with 2 layers of fondant. The blue fondant was rolled over an imprint mat from Wilton. The cake's flavor was a moist chocolate cake with a devil's food chocolate mousse and crumb coated with vanilla buttercream. Elmo was delivered to Long Island, NY.

NY YANKEES GROOM'S CAKE

2010-08-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had the pleasure of creating this groom's cake for a wedding held in Long Island, NY. The bride wanted to surprise the groom with a NY Yankee themed cake. She came up with the concept of a Yankee Jersey made out of fondant, which was draped over a grass field to represent the grounds of Yankee Stadium. The cake's flavor was banana chocolate chip filled with a chocolate truffle icing.

EMMA'S CHRISTENING CAKE

2010-08-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

A huge pale pink gumpaste bow was the highlight of this simple yet dainty christening cake I created last weekend. I also imprinted a diamond pattern to achieve a "quilted look" on the sides of the cake. All layers were chocolate cake filled with an espresso-caramel icing.

CELEBRATION CAKES

2010-07-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love making baby cakes --- they're cute and fun to make! Last weekend, I made 2 cakes: one for a christening and the other, for a birthday. Both clients wanted somewhat elegant/modern cakes but still focusing on their chosen themes. Here are some photos of the recent celebration cakes I've done:

Mickey Mouse cake

Retro inspired christening cake

CALLISTA'S CHRISTENING CAKE

2010-07-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

I know I've been out of the blog scene for awhile. So, where have I been? I was in Las Vegas to visit my relatives (and unwind a little bit) and Canada to see Niagara Falls! I'll be sharing some of my work in between my trips & my last posting.

This cake was inspired by the invitation's color. Instead of the usual cross design, I made a clean white gift box accented with a huge mauve bow. This time, the gift box was closed and wrapped with a ribbon compared to my previous designs which have propped lids. I also did some booties out of gumpaste and some carnation flowers. This was a mosit chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and was delivered to Flushing in Queens, NY.

DINO GOODIES

2010-06-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

decorated cookies ready to be packaged

It was a cake-filled weekend for me. 1st project on tap was a birthday order for Tristan who loves dinosaurs. To fulfill the birthday boy's wishes, the proud mom asked a dinosaur cake plus dino cookies as party giveaways.

GIFT BOX CAKE

2010-05-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had the pleasure of making Layla's 5th month birthday. Yes, it is that time of month again! It's Layla's cake once again! What a lucky baby to have a mom who celebrates her birthday every month. This gift box cake features a silver teddy bear sitting on top of a propped lid. On the lid as well, I added silver cut-out dangling stars with each letter of Layla's name spelled on the 5 stars. The flavor of the cake was red velvet with a rich vanilla buttercream. This cake was delivered to Times Square, NY.

ASIAH'S TIFFANY ENGAGEMENT BOX CAKE

2010-05-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

All girls know good things come in little blue boxes. To celebrate the engagement of her sister, Aleth decided to give a Tiffany box inspired cake. This is my 2nd engagement cake and I wanted it to be different from the 1st one as each engagement moment is unique. This is a chocolate cake filled with a fudge frosting. Sugarpaste pearls peek out of the box and a gumpaste faux diamong ring adorns the cake.

SUGAR COOKIE TUTORIAL (PART 2)

2010-04-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

I use tip #2 for outline.

After the outline dries, flood cookies using your squeeze bottle.

Let dry for 24 hours before packaging.

I'd like to share with you how to decorate and finish your sugar cookies. After you've baked and cooled the cookies, you have to outline it with Royal Icing. Royal Icing is a type of sugar icing that's very stable and it dries up like a cement. This will give you the security when you "flood" your cookies with Color Flow Icing. It's very important to dry your outlined cookies overnight and flood it the next day. I have two recipes for Royal Icing as I have a recipe that I use in the Philippines and one that I use in the US. The one that I use in New York has Meringue Powder (powdered eggwhites), which is not readily available in Manila. I suggest trying both recipes and see what works best for you. Happy Decorating!

*Royal Icing by Wilton:

3 Tbsps. Meringue Powder

4 cups Powdered Sugar

6 Tbsps. Water

Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7 to 10 minutes until icing form peaks. Makes 3 cups.

*Philippines Royal Icing:

3 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

3 pcs. Eggwhites

1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar

same procedure as above

*Color Flow Icing:

Royal Icing plus Water

CHRISTENING CAKE, COOKIES & CUPCAKES FOR LAYLA

2010-04-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

The cake was decorated with multi-colored french edible pearls and accented with floral inspired cross and gumpaste bow.

souvenir cookies individually wrapped in a clear cello and tied with satin ribbons

It was another weekend delivery for me yesterday. On the delivery list was a baptism cake for Layla, cupcakes and sugar cookies which all needed to be brought over to Staten Island. The weather was not ideal as it started to rain in the NY metro area but nothing will dampen the celebration at hand. When the goodies were delivered, the proud mother was very happy with her order and took a lot of pictures on her end as well. Seeing the appreciation on the proud mother's face for the goodies she ordered makes all the effort in creating and delivering them very satisfying.

TEENA'S CAKE DECORATING PARTY

2010-04-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

Working with kids, decorating cakes and cookies, an afternoon of smiles and fun - what more can I ask for. Last Sunday, I held my very first kid's cake decorating party at the Moya's residence in Wilton, CT. Doing anything for the first time gives me butterflies but when I got to Yazzy's house to set up for Teena's party with four of her girlfriends and see the kids, my butterflies turned into excitement. The kids (Teena, Emma, Isabela and later on Ashley) were very excited to get the party started along with the beaming mother who wanted to have her own cookies and cake to decorate as well...hahaha. Before we started the cake decorating party, kids will be kids as you can hear shouting and see them running through the Moya household. When it was time to start the party, all the girls were listening to the instructions and were all serious in decorating their cakes. It was fun for me to share my passion for pastry with the kids and even more gratifying to see the kids enjoying and really engrossed in the activities I had planned for them. All the girls ended up with very pretty cake decorations and were all happy to bring their creations home to share with their families. I was so happy after the cake decorating party because you can just see in the girls' eyes that they really had fun and enjoyed the activity. Seeing the smiles that everybody had on their face after the party was priceless. I can't wait for the next opportunity to be able to share my passion for pastry to children. So, I'm looking forward to your call to host another fun-filled and educational cake/cookie/cupcake party for your kids-again I'm based in Westchester County, NY...e-mail me.

LAYLA'S 4th month BIRTHDAY CAKE

2010-04-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is the 3rd birthday cake that Layla's mom, Ann, has ordered from me. First, it was even before she was born when I created Ann's baby shower cake. For the past 2 months, I have created monthly birthday cakes for Layla. Since her mom is fascinated with headbands, I thought of making a gumpaste headband topper accented with a large yellow open rose flower. The cake was a moist marbled cake with chocolate buttercream filling.

BRIDE & GROOM CLASS WITH SILVINA BARBOZA

2010-03-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges I face as a cake artist is modelling human figures out of sugarpaste and when I saw this class on figure sculpting, I immediately signed up to take the class. I was very excited to attend the figure sculpting class since it has always been a challenge for me to make animals and human figures (babies, bride and groom, pregnant women, etc....) Honestly, I'd rather stick to making sugar flowers which have specific instructions and special cutters which I can utilize. Sugar flowers have become my specialty so I have a natural bias for them but as an artist, I always want to improve and learn something new. Making human/animal figures are so time-consuming and there are no set guidelines in making them. If patience is not your virtue, stick to the flowers :-D

The class was taught by Silvina Barboza, a cake artist who specializes in figure sculpting and modelling. She taught us the basics of constructing a human body and head out of rice krispy treats, which was a better medium to use than fondant. The class was very challenging but fun at the same time. It was difficult and we didn't have enough time to finish both the bride and groom. Overall, I enjoyed this class but I think I'll stick to my first love, sugar flowers!

SUGAR COOKIE TUTORIAL (PART 1)

2010-03-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

For the past weeks, I was busy baking, experimenting and decorating sugar cookies for my upcoming project in April. I researched different recipes and found this one recipe from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion book to be the most delicious. To guide you through the preparation and baking, I took some shots out of my home kitchen. Hope you'll try them out! Happy Baking!

King Arthur's Special Roll-Out Sugar Cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsps. baking powder

2 tsps. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional)

1 large egg

1/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream

3 Tbsps. cornstarch

3 cups all-purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, vanilla and almond extract until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Add half the cream, all of the cornstarch, and half of the flour; beat well. Add the remaining cream and flour, mixing until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.

Divide the dough in half, flatten into rounds and wrap well. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more, to facilitate rolling.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Transfer the chilled dough to a lightly work surface and place a piece of plastic wrap over it while you roll it out to keep the dough from sticking. Roll the dough into 1/8 to 1/4" thick and cut it into shapes of your choice.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they're set but not browned. Let cool for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

JUNGLE THEME BIRTHDAY CAKE

2010-03-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

This jungle theme birthday cake was created for Layla, a 3 month old baby. The proud mother, Ann, requested for a bright colored cake so I came up with lime green and bright pink hues. I was very excited to make this cake which led me to develop several animals in party hats, which included an elephant and monkey sitting side-by-side on top of the cake.

GARDEN BIRTHDAY CAKE

2010-03-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

I created this cake for a client who wanted something dainty and simple. The cake was made of moist chocolate layers filled with vanilla buttercream and decorated with hand-sculpted roses and butterflies.

Jaime's BEN 10 cake

2010-02-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

"Dear Shirley,

Thank you so much for preparing this beautiful cake for
Jaime." --- Archie and Shawie

I made this BEN 10 cake for my adorable nephew, Jaime, who just turned 4. This cake was made of moist, dark chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream, decorated with BEN 10 toy characters (as requested by his parents) and covered with pistachio green, blue and black fondant icing.

PULLED & BLOWN SUGAR CLASS WITH CAKE ALCHEMY

2010-02-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

It was a gorgeous day to go to Manhattan and I was looking forward to attend Chef Lauri Ditunno’s Pulled Sugar Class. Chef Lauri is a star in the TV show Amazing Wedding Cakes and also owns Cake Alchemy in the lower East Side. In the show, Chef Lauri and her staff creates gorgeous wedding cakes, artfully decorated with pulled and blown (glasslike), sugar balls. Aside from being a fan of her show, I was ecstatic to learn her signature technique for pulled sugar work. Not all bakers have the skill set nor the patience to execute this upcoming trend in the cake decorating world.

To my readers, the secret to creating artful pulled sugar and blown sugar is PATIENCE! Not to mention ISOMALT. Isomalt is a form of sugar that does not crystallize, unlike regular granulated sugar.

Here's what I learned: Place the ISOMALT in a saucepan and add enough water to cover it. Clip a candy thermometer and heat up to 165 degrees C. Pour on to SILPAT and fold until pliable (make use of the SILPAT when folding). The SUGAR is VERY HOT! (Be very careful you may be at risk of burning your hands!)

Please note that these instructions are over simplified --- this requires patience, practice, trial and error.

CUSTOM DESSERT TABLES BY PASTRY PASSION

2010-02-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

The complete dessert spread

decadent cakes: hazelnut dacquoise, rum cake &
strawberry shortcake

all-time favorites: le macaron (melon & cafe/cocoa),
russian tea cookies, chocolate explosion and
chunky white macadamia nut cookies

Pastry Passion creates dessert bars that caters to your unique and personalized concepts and your chosen theme. Whether it's for a simple birthday celebration, christening, or an extravagant wedding reception, these desserts cannot only be a dazzling treat for your eye but also an explosive, delectable and divine treat for your palette.

PASTRY PASSION FEATURED AT "SHE.KA"

2010-01-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

A short TV clip where I shared one of my best selling recipes. In this video, I demonstrated how to make chocolate truffles, a very elegant, decadent and simple chocolate dessert. This particular segment was aired at "She.Ka," a morning show at NBN-Channel 4, January 7, 2010, hosted by Issa Litton.

Courtesy of NBN Channel 4

HAPPY 2010!

2010-01-01T03:02:00.000-08:00

I would like to greet everyone a Happy New Year! I hope you all had a relaxing and fun-filled week with your family and friends. Sorry for the overdue post as I was very busy working on Holiday orders and attending Christmas parties with good old friends and "long time no see" families. I promise to post pictures of my past projects and blog more interesting topics this year.

My deepest appreciation goes to all my staff, whose efforts made it possible to complete our Holiday orders. I also want to thank my loving husband and parents who continuously support me in all my undertakings. I'm looking forward to another exciting and fruitful year.

THE ULTIMATE COURSE IN CAKE DECORATING

2009-11-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

Me and Chef Heny Sison

Labor of Love!!!

Stringwork/Overpiping Technique

I had a fun and challenging week as I took the Lambeth course at the Heny Sison Culinary School. For those who are not familiar with this technique, the Lambeth style is the ultimate course in cake decorating. As Chef Heny puts it, the Lambeth technique is considered the PhD of the cake decorating world. It covers intricate overpiping borders on royal icing and bevel layers of fondant covered cakes. The cake I made during class was labor-intensive since I had to make hundreds of tiny flowers made up of royal icing. It was a very loooooooooong week but worth it.

BUTTERFLIES & SWIRLS WEDDING CAKE

2009-10-31T03:34:00.000-07:00

I made this 4-tier wedding cake for a pictorial web shoot. Thank God, these cakes were all dummies (styro) and the assembly of this cake was such a breeze. I was inspired to use apple green and brown hues and applied butterfly and swirl cut-outs.

I'M FINALLY HOME

2009-10-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

It's really good to be back home! After 22 hours of airport stop-overs and back to back flights, I'm very happy to be with my family and friends in the Philippines. I took a week off to manage my jet lag and treated myself to spa and salon services. Now, I feel rejuvenated, I'm back to baking and spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

The very first project I did was a STRIPE & DOT Peony wedding cake. I love the hot orange and pink colors and I used these as my color palette. It's a very simple 2-tier wedding cake, with the ivory white fondant as the base and I just sculpted a big peony flower to accent the whole cake.

BAKING WITH THE MASTER

2009-10-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am in meeting Chef Nick Malgieri. Chef Nick is one of America's best pastry chefs and he is the author of several notable baking books including The Modern Baker, Chocolate andPerfect Cake, How to Bake, among others. He is also the Director of the Pastry Program at The Institute of Culinary Education.

Overall, I was very impressed and pleased with Chef Nick's techniques. His method of instruction was very organized and hands-on. Each group was tasked to prepare the 5 chocolates cakes and he guided us throughout the recipes.

On the menu:

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Chocolate Bourbon Cake

Hazelnut Cake

Individual Almond Chocolate Cake

Perfect Chocolate Roll

LOU'S BABY SHOWER

2009-10-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

It was a fun-filled day as we got to see and celebrate with our friends, Lou & Tong the forthcoming arrival of Sebastian. Friends and family gathered in Livingston, NJ to spring the surprise for the unsuspecting mom to be. As Lou said, "this was not on my schedule!"

We were informed of the shower early this week and of course, I wanted to make something special for her. I made her a simple baby blue cake with a stroller cut out on top. I just added some floral accents at the side of the cake to make it more elegant & dainty.

SUGAR FLOWERS

2009-09-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to the world of Cake Decorating 10 years ago and didn't care much about it. For me, it was one of those pastry courses that I should take and learn. Living here in New York and seeing beautiful places of inspiration like Central Park, Botanical Garden, etc. - I learned to appreciate the beauty of nature and I thought to myself that I can turn these flowers into works of art using sugar as my medium. So, here I am with a renewed sense of passion and appreciation for creating sugar art.

THE CANDY CLASS WITH NICOLE KAPLAN

2009-09-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Recently, I took a class with the renowned Pastry Chef Nicole Kaplan at the Institute of Culinary Education. She was named one of the Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America, and trained with best talents such as Pierre Herme, Alain Ducasse, Patrice Caillot and Frederic Bau. She was also the acclaimed pastry chef of Eleven Madison Park, Del Posto and the Plaza Hotel.

On the menu:

* Vanilla Shortbread
* Lemon Cream Cookie
* Cheesecake Brownies
* Triple Death by Chocolate
* Caramel Popcorn
* Chocolate "Oreo"
* Linzer Cookies
* Peanut Butter Cookie
* Buttercrunch aka Almond Roca
* Almond Chocolate Chip Biscotti
* Dark Chocolate Fudge

POLKA DOT TEDDY BEAR CAKE

2009-09-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

This polka dot pink and brown baby shower cake features a 3D hand-sculpted teddy bear & a rubber ducky on top! The flavors include moist chocolate & red velvet cake with vanilla buttercream icing. This cake was delivered to Manhattan.

COMING SOON!

2009-08-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm working again on another baby shower this week...It seems like that there's a "baby boom" these past months! Check back again for the finished cake project.

SUGAR PNUT

2009-08-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

With the Tri-State area under the threat of weather disturbances from both the West (low pressure area) and the East (Hurricane Bill), the show must go on for the Khetarpaul’s baby shower last Saturday in Stamford,CT. Call time for the baby shower was to be in Jim and Kitty’s house before 3PM. We left our home to deliver the baby shower cake and even with an hour lead time to get to our destination, I was nervous we won’t make it on time because of the heavy downpour that greeted us the moment we got on the 287. Cars were moving slow, visibility was hard and water was starting to build up on the freeway but as we got to the 95 to head to Stamford, the skies cleared and it was smooth driving onwards.

The husband, Ricky, planned and executed the baby shower that really surprised the expecting mother. Friends and family from the tri-state area joined the Khetarpauls to celebrate the coming of their first child, Sugar Pnut.

This hexagon cake was made of dark, moist chocolate cake layers filled with rich buttercream. This is a very apt design for anyone anticipating for their new bundle of joy. As you can see, I added the name on the clouds of steam from the train.

BABY SHOWER CAKE & CUPCAKES

2009-07-26T17:22:00.001-07:00

I delivered this cake today to Lighthouse Park in Roosevelt Island, Manhattan. I surely enjoyed making these cupcakes and cake! Thanks to my dear friend, Apple, who always remembers me in her cake needs!

This teddy bear cake will make a striking centerpiece for your christening celebration and is equally suitable for boys or girls.

ROMANTIC BIRTHDAY CAKE

2009-07-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

I disappeared completely from the web again to work on an interesting cake project. I had a client order a 3-tiered birthday cake who celebrated her 50th birthday last Saturday at the Polonaise Center. It was an exhausting job but the cake turned out elegant & beautiful.

I started making the sugar flowers the week before. I colored the roses in shades of lilac, deep purple, pink & mauve and sculpted them in their various stages. Here's a shot of some of the sculpted flowers:

I must admit that I struggled assembling this cake. Since I crumbcoated it with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, the fondant didn't adhere as strong enough as I expected. I was kind of intimidated by the whole thing. I was a little worried too because the deadline was getting closer.

I finally made it to the events place 10 minutes before the start of the reception. The catering head and I managed to assemble the cake onto the table as quickly as we could. I even got to take some pictures before running off to my hungry hubby who was equally tired as I am!

FATHER'S DAY 2009

2009-06-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wishing all dads, grandpas, brothers & uncles a very Happy Father's Day! Thanks for making our lives a smooth sail!

* Dart Board Cake - 9" red velvet cake, cream cheese icing & marshmallow fondant

TIFFANY GIFT BOX

2009-06-07T11:29:00.001-07:00

Just this week, a friend of mine asked me to make an engagement cake. Since it was a rush order, I just bought a fake ring instead of making it out of sugar! (Oh well, next time!). This was a simple cake, with the Tiffany blue colored gift box as an inspiration. The cake was made out of moist red velvet layers filled with a rich buttercream!

SESAME STREET CUPCAKES

2009-06-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yummy cupcakes were decorated with Sesame Street inspired buttercream icing (Elmo Red, Big Bird Yellow, Cookie Monster Blue & Abby Caddabey Pink). A sure hit among kids and adults alike!

CONCORDE INSPIRED BIRTHDAY CAKE

2009-05-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

A different take on the usual fondant finish cake. This cake is made of vanilla cake layers, filled with dark chocolate mousse and artfully decorated with chocolate meringue sticks. The number cut-outs and the stars are gumpaste.

MUSIC THEMED COOKIES

2009-04-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Made these cookies for a friend in California, whose daughter just celebrated her 7th birthday last month. Her theme was CAMP ROCK (by Disney) and my original plan was to decorate these cookies with the CAMP ROCK logo! Unfortunately, the shipment of edible icing images arrived late so I had to think of PLAN B. So, I came up with these designs...electric guitars, half-quarter music note and colorful star cut-outs!

GUMPASTE PEONY CLASS WITH CHEF RUTH DRENNAN

2009-04-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I was so excited to go to the city and attend a sugarpaste class by Ruth Drennan. I met her years ago thru my good friend, Faye, who worked for Gail Watson. Now, both of them have established their own businesses here in New York and Pennsylvania respectively. I admire Ruth for her elegant style on cakes and her amazing sugar flowers.

Chef Ruth demonstrating how to attach the large petals

CAKE PROJECTS, ETC.

2009-04-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! I'm still here...I've been very busy for the past months, hence, I apologize for my late post. March has been a very hectic month for me since I had a lot of cake projects and not to mention, I had to ship decorated butter cookies to California :-) I'm not complaining though! I always have fun decorating and making cakes for people.

I've made 3 cakes last month. The first was a Spring-Themed Debutante cake which was made up of 2 layers of chocolate and red velvet cakes alternately filled with vanilla buttercream and chocolate mousse (9"& 6" respectively). I decorated it with polka dots, some flowers, butterflies and bows. The second cake that I made was a Christening cake which I called the Delicate Rose Crib because of the baby sleeping on the rose flower (like Thumbelina). It was a simple yet elegant cake because of its monochromatic color (white) and a large rose attached to the side of the cake. The third cake that I made was a dark-chocolate glazed cake decorated with white hand-sculpted roses.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

2009-02-13T14:58:00.001-08:00

Love is in the air! Say "I LOVE YOU" with a cake this Valentine's Day! Visit our shop at Mary Santos Artcade Building, # 48 West Avenue, Quezon City and check out our complete Valentine cake selection. For details, call (632) 415-0108.

Red Velvet

VDAY FONDANT CAKE

FIRST CAKE FOR 2009: "SPONGEBOB"

2009-01-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

A nephew of mine celebrated his sixth birthday at Fish and Co., Shangri-la. Being a Spongebob fan, Nigel, my nephew wished for a Spongebob character cake for his birthday. I made this 3-D cake made up of moist chocolate cake layers filled with buttercream icing and covered with marshmallow fondant. It's a hit among the guests especially the kids present.

FONDANT FRUIT CAKE

2008-12-11T05:06:00.000-08:00

A showstopper that both tastes good and looks great! These fruitcakes which come in individual and whole sizes are decorated with gold-painted edible holly leaves and red berries that will add a special touch on your Christmas gathering.

HOLIDAY THEMED CUPCAKES

2008-12-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

The holidays just aren't complete without desserts---but who says it has to be in a cookie, cake or pie? Knock tradition on its ear, and give this cupcake a try!

Visit us at Pastry Passion (Mary Santos Artcade, 48 West Avenue, Q.C.) and let us complete your holiday table!

BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR LITTLE JAMES

2008-10-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

I recently made a fondant birthday cake for my friend's niece who lives in Queens, NY. It was made of 3 layers of dark, moist chocolate cake, filled with orange scented chocolate mousse and iced with creamy Vanilla Buttercream. Aside from the cake, I also did chocolate cupcakes frosted with chocolate-orange ganache and the classic buttercream icing.

PUMPKIN SPICE FOR THANKSGIVING

2008-10-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

A cake that can be placed as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving; Made up of layers of spice cake filled with orange cream cheese frosting, frosted with orange buttercream and decorated with hand-sculpted leaves and berries.