Kiddo's 5th birthday - My Little Pony Cake

Kiddo just turned 5 and I planned a small party for her.  She requested for a My Little Pony rainbow cake and of coz I had to fulfil my little girl's wish. 

So I came up with this idea, thinking that it will definitely cut down on preparation time without compromising on taste and how the cake will look.

So the idea I had was to bake the rainbow layers using Betty Crocker white cake mix and then frost the cake with the Best Ever Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe from Wicked Good Kitchen which I have tried and loved.  However, I added way lesser sugar coz my family prefers desserts that are not overly sweet.  I would then decorate the cake withMy Little Pony figurines that we bought from Toys R Us and top it with cake bunting flaggies which I see lots of online.  

HOWEVER, two nights before the party, as I was preparing the rainbow cake layers using the cake mix, Kiddo squealed at the sight of pastel coloured layers but at the same time turned her nose up and remarked that the cake smelled like play dough.  I thought so too myself, but couldn't put a finger to it.  I asked Kiddo if she would like to try a small piece of the cake and she declined firmly.  I took a small bite of the cake and was rather turned off by how over the top sweet it was and how artificial the vanilla taste was.  *Urgh*... I wrapped up the layers, parked them in the freezer and called it a night.

I had a bad bad feeling as I went to bed... Knowing that with Kiddo's heightened taste buds and sense of smell, I knew that she wouldn't eat the cake no matter how pretty it will look.  So I got out of bed to look for a white cake recipe.  

The recipe that I followed was the Heavenly White Cake Recipe from allrecipes.com 

I am glad I decided to bake the cake from scratch coz it turned out really pretty without the off putting smell of play dough that came with the cake mix that I first used.  The texture of the cake that I made wasn't fabulous though, it was rather dense.  Coz I had to mix in the colours while folding in the meringue mixture which must have caused lots of bubbles to pop. 

So, here's how the cake looks like with all the ideas put together. 

We spruced up the place a little with these pompoms which both the kids and adults loved.

As for food, I prepared Curried Yong Tau Foo... 

Cold tea...

Pumpkin soup....

And we ordered lots of pizza! 

Here's how the inside of the rainbow cake... Kiddo and I both agreed on a less vibrant, pastel rainbow layers. 

The kids loved the cake, but the adults found it much too dense which I totally agree.  Well, I'll still call this a success since the cake turned out the way that I envisioned it to look! (",) 

The first cake that I baked for Kiddo was when she was 3.  

This My Little Pony rainbow cake is the second cake that I've baked for her birthday.   

I wonder what kinda cake she will ask for next year ... I hope I'd be able to fulfil her wish too for her next cake request. 

Talk to you ladies soon!

Pumpkin Cubes - Easy Pumpkin Recipes

Hihi friends of Hazelnutt House (",) 

The pumpkin cubes that I bake is always a hit with kids and adults alike.  Some kids turn up their noses at the mention of pumpkin but once they start popping these cubes into their mouths, they come backing asking for more (",) 

The first time I baked these pumpkin squares, I followed the  Pumpkin Bars recipe from Food Network.

It was atrociously SWEET!  Well, to be fair, not everyone has a sweet tooth... so I decided to cut, cut, cut down on the amount of sugar since pumpkin is already sweet on its own.   I also added chocolate chips coz I think it'll go well with the pumpkin.  So here's my take on the pumpkin bars.  I cut mine up into cubes so I'll call mine 'Pumpkin Cubes' instead.

I make my own pumpkin puree so, if you are interested to DIY, click here.

Cubes

Wet Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 can of pumpkin puree (appx 2 cups)

Mix the wet ingredients together.   

Dry Ingredients 

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Mix dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients.

I did all the whisking and mixing with a whisk instead of an electric mixer.

• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Once the wet and dry ingredients are nicely mixed, fold the semi sweet chocolate chips into the mixture.  Pour mixture into a baking pan (13 x 10 inch).

Set oven to 180 Degrees Celsius and bake for about 30 minutes.

Once the pumpkin mixture is in the oven, you can start prepping the icing.

Icing

• 250g cream cheese (soften) 
• 1/2 cup butter (soften)
• 1 cup confectioner' sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon powder

I used a handheld mixer for the icing.  Mix everything together at low speed until combined. 

Set the icing in the refrigerator while waiting for the pumpkin mixture to bake. 

Once the pumpkin mixture is baked, allow to cool for at least 30 mins. 

I shaved off the sides and started cutting it up into cubes.

Start pipping the frosting on each cube (",)

Kim the opportunistic pooch waiting around as usual... I gave her some roasted pumpkins.. though (",)

Magnum Cafe in Siam Centre, Bangkok

Hey hey :)  The Hubs and I were in Bangkok, Thailand for a couple of days.  I've heard quite a lot about the Magnum Cafe in Siam Centre in Bangkok.  I managed to coerce The Hubs to visit the place for some sweet treats. 

Right outside the Magnum Cafe, there's a long stretched table, the decor on the table looks very much like how The Mad Hatter's tea party would look like.

 I ordered the Brownie et conj fumee @ 160 baht.  It is a "hickory smoke brownie served with magnum green tea and thick chocolate mousse" as described in the menu.  

I thought it was gonna be a Magnum green tea ice-cream, but it was a vanilla ice-cream dusted with green tea powder.  When the dish was served, it came with a glass cover.  When the server lifted the cover, I smelled burned wood.... which is what you see in the tiny saucer in the dish.  Well, it's an interesting concept... I am really not a food critic, so all I could say was; as I was eating the sweet treats, the smell of burned wooden chips was rather welcoming!  It kinda lightly smoke over the intense sweetness of the dish.  The chocolate brownie and thick chocolate mousse topped with the ice-cream was a fab. combination... sweet, dark and creamy (",) 



 

The Hubs ordered J'adore les bananes (i love bananas) - 260 baht.  It is a 'crepe with caramelised banana served with magnum strawberry and caramel biscuit'.  The Hubs likes the strawberry Magnum and the bananas but I could tell that the dish was way too sweet for him.  

He removed the caramelised sugar coat that was on the slices of bananas and did not eat the ultra sweet caramel biscuit.

Here's some pictures of the stretched table that is outside the cafe... 

I love sweet treats and as much as I enjoyed my dessert at the Magnum Cafe, I would say it is a place I'll visit just for the ambience and experience.  The decor which I did not featured, is indeed beautiful... quirky with an Alice in Wonderland theme.  

I prefer my ice-cream straight from the tub or in the form of a simple banana split ... I don't need the fancy mishmash and hodgepodge when it comes to ice-cream.   

That said, I'll definitely take Kiddo there though, coz I know she'll like the place.  Besides, the desserts aren't expensive for the ambience.

Talk to you ladies soon (",) 

Bakin' - Blueberry cupcakes with Blueberry cream cheese frosting

Hi hi, friends of Hazelnutt House (",)

The Kid wants to do EVERYTHING when we bake... we hustle and wrestle a lot whenever we bake something.  Flour to be sieved, accurate measurements to be taken, eggs to be cracked, batter to be mixed.....

 and it can become quite a war zone when The Kid wants to have a hand at all these. 

Well, with pancake mix, baking with Kiddo is easy breezy...

Cupcakes with pancake mix... YUP! No Mess!

For the cake,  mix the following together:

MAKES 12

• Two cups of pancake mix
• One and a half cups of water 
• Half cup of blueberries (optional)

Study the instructions of your pancake mix, different brands may ask for different amount of water.

Bake for 10-15 mins at 170 degree Celcius.

For the frosting, use an electric mixer and mix together the following: 

• One block of philly cream cheese (250g) 
• Blueberry jam (adjust amount according to personal taste)

The cakes were too 'pointy' and not exactly suitable for frosting.

So, I shaved off the peaks and they are ready to be frosted.

Kiddo scooping the frosting into the pipping bag.

 Made some lil' flaggies using these patterned tapes.

Oh yes, I picked up this packet of pipping bags from Daiso ($2 store) and they worked perfectly.  It comes with 3 different pipping nozzles and the bags are pretty sturdy.

Have a great Sunday ahead, ladies!

Baking made easier with pancake mix (",)