{Ready-Mix Baking} A Strawberry Birthday Cake

It's my sister's birthday today. She's not at home often due to her studies so we had an early celebration out last night. It was good meal. But we had no cake. And birthdays need cake.

Strawberry-Kiwi Brown Sugar Pavlova

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." - Wayne Dyer

{Tried and Tested} Sweetapolita's Chocolate-Dipped Brownies

It's officially summer for my youngest sister! Since both of us have roughly two weeks before we become busy again, we foresee a lot of movie/show marathons, pigout sessions, and baking dates together in the next few days. Yay!

CUPCAKE CRAZY

From Harry Potter to Darth Vader and Olympic torches to the NBA, it's been a couple of cupcake-crazy weeks! Let me share with you the result of over 140 cupcakes, 4kgs of powdered sugar, and the countless hours I spent with my brand new scalpel.

Baby Shower Cupcakes (Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe)

After baking for 8-9 hours a day everyday for 3 whole weeks last Christmas, I decided to take a small break from taking on projects. But then my sister presents a project to me: baby shower cupcakes! On the spot, I lifted my "project break". I mean, who could resist making ducks, onesies, and baby carriages out of fondant??

Inside Out Red Velvets

After almost 3 months of crazy holiday baking and adventures, I'm back to blogging! You're still there, aren't you?

Swiss Meringue

'Cause who doesn't like brightly colored, marshmallow-y icing??

Wildlife Cupcakes

My mom's going to South Africa for a business trip/vacation tomorrow. She's always traveling for work but never this far and for this long. So, my sisters and I made her a surprise bon voyage present.

Mirror Glazing

My boyfriend and I celebrated our 14th month together yesterday. He works during the afternoon/night so we decided to celebrate after. So while he was busy with work, I mustered up the courage to go for my first attempt at mirror-glazing a cake.

Trick or Treat Cupcakes

With Halloween just around the corner, I had to make some trick or treat treat. Ok, that's a lie.

Panna Cotta with Mango Gelee

Panna cotta, literally "cooked cream", is a testament to the saying that the simple things are the best things.

My panna cotta still needs some tweaking. This post signifies my quest to perfect it.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

I bought a new ring mold earlier this month. I've always wanted to use it but never had the chance until now. So of course, I had to go with the mousse!

Cinnamon Toast Biscotti

Soccer Ball Fondant

It was the birthday of my boyfriend's brother a couple of weeks ago and I made his birthday cake. It took me about a week to plan the cake and about 2 days to execute the plan - yes, yes, sometimes I'm overly ambitious haha.

Chocolate Espresso Bundt

...with dark chocolate and cinnamon glaze! I just wish the cake was a bit taller, kinda looks like a big donut.

Strawberry Jam

Yet another strawberry post. There are reasons to this, you see. 1) There are a gazillion things you can do with strawberries, 2) Strawberries are expensive when they're not in season so you want to do as many things to them as you can... And when they're starting to get all mushy in the chiller, you can't help but start panicking as the idea that you've wasted P400 worth of strawberries hangs over your head. Luckily, there is something you can do with starting-to-get-mushy strawberries. Strawberry jam!

Strawberry Shortcake

Pavlova or shortcake? Believe it or not, I lost some night's sleep over that question. My mom brought home some strawberries yesterday. They were at the peak of their ripeness so I knew I only had time to make one dessert with them - where eating them raw will still be pleasurable. So...Pavlova or Shortcake?

Vanilla Cupcakes

If you know me, you'd know that cupcakes are my downfall. I cannot bake a good cupcake to save my life. I don't know what happens. They usually come out dry or dense or greasy or tough or rubbery. Never light and fluffy. But if you know me well, you know how much I love baking and that failing at making something just makes me more determined to be good at it.

Peach Frangipane Galette

I looove peaches. When I was a kid, i loved going to my grandma's house whenever she opened a can of peaches - and she opened a lot. Yes, it's a shame that I have never tasted fresh peaches but in a country where it's hard to come by fresh peaches, canned ones will unfortunately have to do.

Dulce de Leche Pudding

A couple of months ago...

Dad: I want bannoffee pie. Can you make me some?
Me: Sure, but i need to make Dulce de Leche and I'm scared to do that.
Dad: How do you make that?
Me: [Explains]
Dad: Aaah. Ok.
---
The following weekend, right after waking up...

Dad: Are you going to do anything today?
Me: No, not really. Why?
Dad: Good, I have a couple of Dulce de Leches cooking in the backyard.

Ah yes. Dulce de Leche, literally "milk marmalade". Tasty enough to make a 50-year-old man go back to his boyscout roots and start a bonfire in the backyard.