Melbourne ♥ ...

Sometimes when I feel like Sydney is getting the best of me rather than me getting the best out of Sydney, I like to do a little get away.. may it be an hour drive away for a diverting hiking trip for an hour and a half or a 3 day getaway in the Southern part of New South Wales. It's nice to get out from the hustle and bustle of the Sydney City life - considering I'm pretty much there every. single. day.

So when a much needed holiday is in order - It's time to hit up Melbourne & pay a visit to the wonderful Bellos.. and what other fantastic time to visit than Tita Cecile's Birthday!!
During the stay there, Kat and I organised a day for a baking session complete with Mudcake & Macarons and look what we came up with...!

Dark Chocolate Mudcake with Dark & White Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate & Coffee Macarons with Mocha Ganache filling

Happy Birthday Tita Cecile!!!

Chelsea ...

Chelsea is the cutest little munchkin ever.. she's one of my four nieces and probably the cheekiest one of all! She recently celebrated her 3rd Birthday ... and when I asked her what colour cake she'd want to have.. of course she said PINK! Tita loves you, you cheeky little monkey! ♥

Joan...

Joan is a very dear friend of mine dating from more than 5 years ... and when the news came up that she is expecting a baby... I cannot resist the opportunity to make her very first baby shower cake of course!

Photography courtesy of Rheaa Mae

So for my dearest baby girl...
♥ =)

T'is the time for the Baby Shower!!!

The proud parents... Shaun & Joan ♥

& Pressies!!

Competition time!!!!!!!!!!

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is coming up and this year I decided to join the creative cakes competition for the Royal Arts Show... very very very stressful week considering submissions happened to land on the most eventful 2 weeks of my life and with a full time job and party season on full blast ... I like to think I did the best I could.. I know it's not perfect but there's lessons to be learned.. planning is CRITICAL for these things ... especially when using dummy cakes!

So without further ado...

Lizelle...

Lizelle is my dad's god daughter ... Her birthday party was on 14th of March and my dad decided to give her one of my creations for her birthday ... I hope she liked it!

Mummy Dearest....

March 1 is such a very special day for me... firstly because it signifies the start of autumn secondly it means that my birthday is only 22 days away.. but mainly because it marks my Mum's birthday!! So to celebrate her birthday .. I decided to make her a Frangipani cake... this time with buttercake filled with orange buttercream.. =)

Love you Ma!

Voila! Pain Au Chocolat!

I guess this little gem was inspired by watching too much movies now that I'm having quite a bit of free time from work... The movie was It's Complicated and Merryl Streep with her bakery & patisserie makes me want to be just like her in the movie.. I guess that's a place I'm kind of aiming for in the future, with a little bit of Francesca tweak of course...

So anyway... after watching the movie I felt a sudden urge to make some croissants. Last time I made croissants they turned out a bit doughy with no layers at all.. for some reason I blamed the cookbook and the beurre - only to realise it's my ability to skim read and "winging it" was the culprit.

So in a second attempt with croissants.. I present to you.

Pain au Chocolat.