Kuya Mark..

Mark aka. my Kuya Mark is the youngest of my two elder brothers...

He was turning 29 and with spare cake I allowed for the rubber ducky practice I transformed it to Johnny Bravo!

The story behind the cake dates back to when my brother was still in Highschool, he was known as Johnny Bravo by his friends because of his awesome physique from playing basketball. Although through the years of course people get lazy and gain a little weight!

Hahaha!!! Happy Birthday Kuya Mark!

Naila ...

Naila...



Naila is my first ever official customer. She was having her very own baby shower and wanted something different from the traditional baby shower cake - so she asked for a Rubber Ducky.
It was the very first time I ever had to do a shaped cake and of course with her being the very first customer, nerves were all around! But of course - with my loving friends and family for support, I got through the nerves and went through with it along with Naila's suggestions and encouragement! Thanks Naila!!

Dark Chocolate Mudcake with Chocolate Ganache

All boxed & ready to go!

T'is the Season to be Jolly....

...falalalala-lalalala! =)

And as per usual, the Palacio residence smells a mixture of butter, vanilla, syrup and liquers!!! Ahhhh what a place to be...!!! It's probably just what living in the Northpole with Santa & the Elves would be... [according to Buddy the Elf] except that it's summer and there's no snow around here.

It's been a tradition now ever since I have learnt the Filipino delicacy - Food for the Gods - to make it every Christmas. I guess the fact that it is so indulgent is the reason why it's so suitable for the season. I don't know how other people make it - but my recipe involves 3 different syrups & 3 different liquers for this dessert!

Food for the Gods
- aka -
Date and Walnut slice with 3 syrups 3 liquers and
everything that's bad for you.. =)

and of course I cannot forget the people at work.. DJ's Cake Department gets their own cake too!

Chocolate Cake baked in with Marshmallows and Covered with Chocolate Ganache

Maggie's 21st.

It's not everyday your little sister turns 21.. so when the day came for her party - I decided to go ALL OUT with H'ors D oeuvres & Petit Desserts!

So Here's to you my little 'sister' ... Love you Maggs!

The preparations started off with meringue nests the night before the big shindig and then with 2 hour sleep straight to Flemington Markets for the fresh foods!! With the help of Ate Angeli on a 38 degree day.. everything was perfection!

Ceviche of Ling

Ling cooked in citrus with coriander, capsicum and chilli
for a little bit of OOOOMPH on a bed of cucumber.

Salami et Boconcinni!

Boconcinni slathered with Pesto and wrapped with hungarian salami
and topped with roasted capsicum stuffed green olive!

Berry Delight!

Chocolate Meringue Nests and Rosewater Cream topped with Summer berries,
Caramel Shards and ground pistachios

Tropical Fantasy!!
Meringue nests and Passionfruit cream with Mangoes, Peaches
and Mint topped with Pomegranate and Sugar Mint

Melbourne in 08...

This is a bit of a diversion from the current blog... but this event holds a special place in my heart and must be dearly noted...

As I may have mentioned before, I was blessed enough to be acquainted with a wonderful family down in Melbourne about 2 years ago. Tita Cecile is my auntie's bestfriend and I was lucky enough to meet with her, Tito Turry and their son Carlos in New Years 2008. By the Queens birthday long weekend of the same year - I had met everybody in the family with the addition of Gino, Roselle, Kat, Mike & Justin, after which I became great friends with everybody!

On my second visit to Melbourne, I decided to throw a surprise dinner party for Tita Cecile & Tito Turry with the help of the rest of the gang this is what we came up with...

~ROMANTIC DINNER FOR TWO REMINISCENT OF THE 1970s~

Chicken Fettucine ala Francesca!

Oysters Kilpatrick!

Wagyu Beef with Guilluame Mash with Truffle,
Sauteed Baby Spinach, Wild mushrooms in Red Wine Jus!

Chocolate Fondant & Peach Gallette!

Thank you wonderful Bellos!!!! =)

Birthdays! Birthdays! Birthdays!

The following series are all about Birthdays! These are the birthday cakes that I have done within the last few months of the year for very special people...

~GLORIA~

Banana Cake with Passionfruit creamcheese icing

And it was all yellow!! This birthday cake is for one of my parents' friends at work. My dad decided very last minute that I would need to make this cake!!

~UWA~

White Chocolate Mudcake with White Chocolate and Passionfruit ganache

This birthday cake was for my grandmother's 91st birthday... Old Rose is her favourite colour and I decided to decorate the cake with white dog roses, cachous and decorative piping for an elegant effect - fitted for a queen!

~JACINTHA~

Lemon Poppyseed & Buttercake with Lemon buttercream

And Finally, this birthday cake was for a very special girl, Jacintha who was born on the 25th of December - Christmas Day!!!

Kevino!!!

Kevin was my sister's old flatmate when she was living in Sydney city for about 2 years or so. And when she was living there, I was over on odd times and I would cook her and her flatmates some dinner. I instantly warmed up to Kevin with his charming personality and with him being Scottish and all- of course I cannot help but imitate and make fun of his accent! Kevin quickly became somewhat like a brother to my sister and I, and I really appreciated the fact that he was such a good friend to my sister. When his birthday came last year - I had to make a tribute for the Scots!! So that being said - here is Willie the Scotsman Groundskeeper from the Simpsons - on a birthday cake!!

Handmade Sugarpaste Willie the Scotsman Groundskeeper
plaque on Banana cake with Passionfruit Icing

Black & White.

After having attempted these creations just from my own experience with fondant and sugar art, I decided that I would do a cake decorating course to learn a few more skills that I don't know how to do yet. So I joined a cake decorating class in my local community college and was mentored and tutored by Janis Boon.

At the beginning of the course, we were asked to draw a sketch of what design we would like to do for the final project of our course and I was quickly inspired by the colours Black & White. Something retro and classic about the idea of the colours I thought -- very 1920s Hollywood. The first idea that came to mind was to make a tiered cake, however since I was in a beginners class, it needed to be simplified. So I decided to make a hat box cake with a flower feature on the top to finish. During the span of the course we were taught how to mould different kinds of flowers, different piping techniques and also a few tricks of the trade with Cake decorating. And in the last haul, even I surprised myself with the final result - can I say, Vavavoom?!

Dark & White Chocolate Mudcake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Little Faye.

Faye is my big brother Mark's first born, and every time I look at her I am always reminded by the innocence of my youth. She is such a character ever since I met her when her and her mum migrated here in Australia to be reunited with her dad - she was 2 1/2 years old then. I remember her being a timid and shy little girl who would just stand frozen at the sight of strangers even myself when we first met.

Four years have gone by and Faye is now a bright, smart, extremely creative and extremely talented little girl who is always by my side whenever I have some baking adventures to conquer. So as a surprise for her 6th birthday in September - I made her a Cherry Blossom in Spring inspired cake - just perfect for the start of Spring!

White Chocolate Mudcake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Trial & Error.

Chocolate Mud Cake with Chocolate Ganache & marbled chocolate pieces

Chocolate Mud Cake. The quintessential Australian chocolate cake -- it's rich chocolate flavour always tend to either draw or drive away.. for me usually it's to drive away. Something about the cake always seems to be so heavy that it should be served as a main course rather than a dessert. But nonetheless I had to try it out as I was to enroll into my very first cake decorating course and I simply refuse to bake a fruit cake because no one really eats it at home.

Looking back, I remember trying out a mudcake when I was probably in Yr. 8. I cannot remember the details - but I'm pretty sure it was a big massive flop, uncooked middle bits and crusty tops... I think it was a complete disaster. So I have always been against making one, however I came to try a recipe from the Planet Cake book and found it absolutely FABULOUS... cakey & moist but not so heavy - but of course I had to tweak it a little bit more and add a few liquers & flavours! The only error I did for this cake however was the ganache - the chocolate had set as hard as a rock for me not measuring the chocolate (oh silly me!) but nothing a microwave before eating couldn't fix - and it was gone in no less than a day!

Make me a Croquembouche!

Cream puff with toffee is pure heaven. But on a crazy rainy and windy Sydney day - making such thing is impossible. Well at least a tower of it would be - something about the humidity in the air that makes it collapse especially when it's in transit. Thank God I didn't jump into doing it like I usually do and actually did some research first! So instead settled for the second best - Profiteroles.

A little story behind these profiteroles came about one day at work which involved a couple of my really good friends Dawson & Bianca! There is a huge display of a fake croquembouche sitting on one of the counters at work and Dawson decided to ask Bianca and I if we could make a something like that - Bianca is a pastry chef who studied in Le Cordon Bleu and of course her answer was yes, I had no formal training at all but I also attempted a croquembouche on my 21st birthday which was rather successful (it was demolished within minutes!!!) - so I said yes. So I'm guessing out of curiosity of what it would be like to have a cake like that - he asked either of us if we could make him one for his birthday.. Bianca laughed and said no but I was more willing to take up the challenge once again! However time constraints at work meant that his cake was delayed and a really crap Sydney weather during the time I could make one meant that he had to settle for a profiterole cake... Let's just say that I heard no complaints about the puffs not being covered in toffee!

C'est Français!!

Ever since I started highschool in Australia, I have been fascinated by the French culture. I know it seems strange that I associated France with Australia seeing that there really is nothing "French" about the country. But when I enrolled in my highschool they asked me between Italian or French as the language I would like to learn for the year - my answer? French. Something about it that seemed very elegant & classy I thought... then I remembered their sighs of relief when I gave them my answer, though I did not understand why it quickly became apparent to me when I saw that a good proportion of the students in my school were from an Italian heritage. Though feeling left out with my choice in language study, I quickly became fascinated with the language and its culture. Cafe lattes, baguettes, French patisseries and the most romantic city in the world - Paris! So I excelled in it & dreamed of it. I wanted to live there. That is where my final destination is... and 9 years later I am still dreaming about France.

So when a time came where I pondered about what challenging thing to do next in my baking adventures- Inspiration came from nothing other than: France & the French culture. And what is anymore challenging than attempting to make French Macarons!! Let me tell you, there is nothing more temperamental to make! My first attempts included flat, inedible macarons that had to be chucked away - second attempts included lumpy topped macarons then at last - Perfection....! Complete with smooth tops and little feet! =)

Pistachio & Almond macarons with Pistachio Buttercream & Almond Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache, Coconut Macarons with Passionfruit Ganache & Strawberry Macarons

Childhood Memories Revisited..

I don't know about you but whenever I think back into my childhood - cupcakes always pop into my mind... well that- & pancakes.

I grew up in the Philippines in the 90s. Life was so slow and simple back then and even now that basic living in here would probably be considered as a luxury!

Summertime when I was younger usually meant that I spend almost all of my days with my grandmother - Lola Star. Of course me being a stubborn child usually meant a lot of disagreements and me getting in trouble with her, but she is such a loving grandma that I usually get away with a lot of things. She had raised me for most of my time as a kid- probably since I was in nursery throughout the middle of my primary school years until she had to go back to Bacolod. One summer, I remember having a guava tree on my backyard and on my school summer break we would both pick the fruits and sell them for a peso or two just outside my house and be happy with what we have earned that day even if it was only a small amount. Another fond memory of her would be the two of us making pancakes - she taught me that when the batter bubbles - you flip them and when the middle starts to rise it's cooked! While she was probably the greatest with pancakes, my grandmother was also known as a "maskipaps" cook (our funny little way of saying improviser) - seeing that she lived a privileged life when she was younger in which she didn't have to cook or do a lot of things in the house as a lot was being done by the help. So when we are both in the kitchen everything and anything could go wrong... fortunately for us though, no major burns had occurred and almost everything we made was edible... Yay!!

But memories of making the Filipino delicacy Puto that my mother and my grandmother taught me when I was about maybe 8-9 yrs old probably tops the list. Although it is not cupcakes - it is probably the closest thing that we have for it. Unfortunately my memory of making such thing needs to be refreshed seeing that it was around 13 or so odd years ago. I remember having such great memories with my grandmother and mother making them together, measuring or not measuring the flours and sugars and eggs & placing them on little foil cupcake containers and then steaming them on bamboo steamers.

My Lola Star - and yes that is her name... only fitting! She is a star!!

So in the memory of such a great women - I dedicate the following to them especially my Lola Star.

Double Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Creamcheese Icing... baked one sunny afternoon in winter. The smell in the kitchen was soooo divine! Oh vanilla, vanilla!

These decorated cupcakes were done through a cupcake course that I did with Jan Boon - my goodness she is filled with warmth, knowledge and passion for cakes!

Masterchef...

In 2009, Australia held its very first Masterchef. Although the show was entertaining to say the least - I found myself almost resenting the whole idea of the show. Having had experience in the
'real' kitchen, I found the entire thing unrealistic and exasperatingly glamourised.

Nonetheless - I am a sucker for challenges and when the show finished, A really good friend of mine - Kat sent me the recipe for one of the 'challenges' in the finals of the show:

The Aria Chocolate Tart - How can one resist such a tempting challenge and put a little twist of my own in the recipe... So here I go!

The Aria Chocolate Tart ala Francesca - Hazelnut base with Tia Maria infused chocolate custard topped with chocolate glaze, cocoa powder, icing sugar/spun sugar & strawberries.

There's no other store like David Jones...!

Starting in May 2009, I had the delight of joining the Cake Department at David Jones in Market St. While working I was inspired by the numerous and the variety of cakes that we sell... one supplier more so than the others... Simmone Logue. She has got to be my hero. She has thought out fantastic flavours and combinations of cake that is absolute heaven so .... for the next series of cakes... It's Me Vs. Simmone Logue.

Chocolate & Walnut Brownies

Hummingbird Cake & Hummingbird cupcakes

This cake has proven to be the winner of them all - most of my cake orders are because of this little beauty right here... =)

Banana Cake with Passionfruit Icing

Birthday Repeat!

Carrot cake with White Chocolate Ganache

After making a few rustic cakes to get back into the game, I decided to go all out for my birthday again and somehow redeem myself from the previous 21st Birthday cake catastrophe.

And guess what i came up with? A gift box cake.. funky & playful... just how I like it!!

The Beginning...

I started my first fondant cake with probably the most embarrassing way possible... with no knowledge of things such as RTR fondant icing (I had to make it myself!) and royal icing and piping techniques.. I dove straight into making a three-tiered cake for my 21st birthday party.. which resulted in of course ... disaster!! Complete with an unpolished looked, messy scribbles and uneven cakes... It was my own worst nightmare.. but had no choice but to serve it...!

Lemon-Butter Cake with Lemon Buttercream

After that embarrassing start... I made a decision that the next time I make this kind of cake... It would be better! And when my Aunt's birthday came... I was a little bit more prepared for it... and even attempted to make some sugar roses...!! 

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Icing