Homemade Christmas Goodies

i came in to work & saw this cute penguin ice-skating on my desk. Yippy! what could it have brought? :)

my co-worker Ryan sent the little penguin to me with lots of yummy Christmas treats made by his wife. They're SOOO SWEET (Ryan, his wife & of course all of the yummies!!!!! there's a pretzel stick, 3 cakepops, 2 fudge caramels & 2 chocolate-drench'd oreos. Lucky Me! =D

the cakepop was SOOOOO DELICIOUS!!!!! not overly sweet since the cake was actually baked as a ball, rather than crumb'd & mix'd with frosting to form the ball (gotta inquire about the baking pan for this =P).

to the oreo! OMG! even better: it's DOUBLE-STUF'd! =D

i wonder if the rest of the goodies will last me until lunch time. =D

spam buns anyone? =D

anyone who follows me on facebook gets freak'd out see'n how much luncheon meat aka "Spam" i eat. i can eat it 3 meals/day - with eggs & toast for breakfast, with macaroni for lunch, with spicy Korean stew for dinner, even with rice, or fried rice, or ramen. all that fat & sodium...terrible diet of mine! LOL! i don't think i'll ever get sick of it, still got lots of new ways to enjoy it like spam musubi - Hawaiian spam sushi! i just came across another new way: Luncheon Meat Buns! think i'll finally try my hand @ making bread, work'n with with yeast :)

don't these look yummy?

belated bday post

been too lazy to post pix of my Hello Kitty Birthday Bash. here are a few from my phone.

all the food - not much, ran outta time. clockwise: katsu sandwiches, salad with sesame ginger dressing, Japanese hamburg patties, my cake, vanilla cupcakes w/ strawberry swiss meringue buttercream made w/ powder'd dehydrated strawberries, tiramisu & giant sugar cookies of Hello Kitty's head, mini apple pies, miso soup with Hello Kitty shaped tofu, Korean curry with Hello Kitty die-cut carrots & potatoes, more katsu sandwiches, rare green tea yogurt cheesecake :)

my most interesting birthday cake ever!!! hehehe. Hello Kitty end'd up look'n funny & i almost gave up on her. LOL! good thing i didn't cos she sure was delicious - 3 layers of Ghirardelli chocolate cake sandwich'd with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, coat'd with made-by-me marshmallow fondant & decorated with CandyMelts. too bad i forgot to take a picture with her - we wore match'n dresses! :) and vanilla cupcakes with Hello Kitty rings

Japanese chicken katsu (fry'd cutlet) sandwiches with wasabi mayo & tonkatsu sauce (Japanese worchestershire sauce)

Rare Japanese matcha (powder'd green tea) yogurt cheesecake

Judy's mini apple pies - they have Hello Kitty imprint'd on them! :) and big BIG big naked sugar cookies, ran outta time to ice them & make them pretty :(

Phuong's uber-cute Hello Kitty macarons w/ raspberry jam

i gave Hello Kitty a bath! a Korean curry bath equip'd with potatoes & carrots cut-outs of herself.

the most amazing tiramisu i've ever made & ever eaten!!! i didn't use a recipe & pretty much wing'd it, but it's simple to make - egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, sugar, heavy cream, fresh-brew'd Starbucks espresso, fabulous melt-in-mouth French lady fingers from Trader Joe's & dust'd with Ghirardelli cocoa powder & powder'd sugar

everyone was full by the time i got around to cut'n the cake, so i end'd up taking 75% of the cake home - the head only. when i woke up the next morning, the day of my birthday, i lit a candle, made a wish & had yummy cake for breakfast. =D

alongside the cake, i had macarons too! lucky me!

breakfast for the birthday girl =D

after dessert, i had a Hello Kitty egg (& ketchup) sandwich

more pix to come!

and of course, more Hello Kitty parties!!! WOOT WOOT!!!

are you STRESSED?

have some or make some DESSERTS!

uber fun photo from Annie.

plan'n for bday party & thanksgiving

so for my party, i think the final menu will be: curry, hamburg, katsu sandwiches, miso soup, coconut madeleines, tiramisu, green tea yogurt cheesecake, cake, bakery-style vanilla cupcakes with pink buttercream, iced cookies, and bubble thai iced tea :) i hope this'll be enough food. i still wanna add other desserts of novel flavors though - kurogoma, marron, strawberry, mango, lychee, redbean. maybe i'll add a cup'd dessert - mousse or panna cotta...hmm...think think think...

for thanksgiving, i have 2 ideas in mind for desserts, featuring the most appropriate thanksgiving dessert ingredients - pumpkin & cranberries. i've never had pumpkin anything & i only like cranberries when it's a juice mix'd with pineapple or when it's dried & in my tarragon chicken salad...

...hmmm...is it bad to bake/cook something for others to enjoy if i won't even try or enjoy? ....errrrr....i think it's alright! same goes for yogurt, i don't like it, but i plan on making a yogurt cheesecake for the Hello Kitty party...=P

so, back to the pumpkin & cranberries. for the pumpkin, i found this REALLY cool recipe in one of the 4 books my brother just bought me from Hong Kong - a custard baked inside a pumpkin with marshmallows toast'd on top. the custard is simple - just water, eggs, milk & sugar. but i think i'm gonna add some of the pumpkin flesh to it :) as for the cranberries, i start'd with a cranberry cheesecake to a cranberry red or white wine jelly to a cranberry souffle cheesecake (attempt #4) - just a vanilla cheesecake with cranberries on the bottom.

exciting!!! hope all goes well. :)

cake decorating classes & Hello Kitty

SUPER DUPER UBER EXCITED!!! I just sign'd up for 2 cake-decorating classes @ Amanda Oakleaf Cakes - an intro to decorating with fondant & gumpaste & a more advanced class on creating multi-tier'd cakes decorated with fondant & gumpaste. Can't wait!!! First class is next Tuesday - WICK'D EXCITING!!!

Fun With Fondant

this class is another beginner level precursor to the other classes that focus on fondant decorated cakes.  you will be given a pre-crumb-coated cake and shown how to fondant and decorate it with decorations you will also make out of fondant and gumpaste.  class is approximately 3 hours long and includes all supplies needed to create a fondant decorated cake 5″ in diameter -which you can take home to display and devour after the class is over!

Fondant PT. 2 – Elegant Multi-tiered Cakes

As a fun class for more advanced students, you will be creating a elegant, two-tiered, fondant covered cake that would be appropriate for a small wedding or birthday. Will discuss various fondant, gumpaste, and piping techniques as well as structural requirements for multi-tiered cakes. 
 
the first class happens to be 3 days before I make my Hello Kitty birthday cake so it works out fabulously. it'll prep me to make, hopefully, my proudest cake creation ever. LOL! none of them ever came out as plan'd...sometimes better, sometimes worst, but either way, something's wrong with it (according to me)...=(
 
here's what i had in mind - the keroppi cupcake stand cake & coincidentally it'll require fondant. i used fondant once ever, last year @ Sanrio's Small Gift LA making a Hello Kitty cupcake & a Chococat cupcake. Awfully fun, but i didn't eat the fondant - who does?!?!?...
 

Since Judy, Julie & i are gonna wear our Hello Kitty dresses for the event, i'm gonna dress up my Hello Kitty cupcake-stand cake in the same dress! =D gotta start work'n on it ASAP so it'll come out the way i plan. IT'S CRAZY! i'm gonna use the lace from tofu's Halloween dress to make tutu on the cupcake stand (see Keroppi's striped red & white "body"?) this'll be totally crazy fun!!! just gotta start preparations early!!! plan'n has been underway. i must not wait til last minute, must not disappoint (myself)! LOL! i've gotta feed 20 people with all Hello Kitty-fied food & desserts. last year's Hello Kitty Brunch underfed everyone since i ran outta time on cooking/baking. then the Hello Kitty Sushi party for Judy's bday turn'd out to be only 50% Hello Kitty. SO...this time, it's gotta be BIGGER & BETTER!!! =D

preliminary menu

korean curry with rice, hk potatoes, hk carrots w/ "hk in a curry bath" - head (nigiri sushi mold) & paws (rounds) floating atop curry, hk eyes will be kampyo, nose takuan, whiskers seaweed

japanese chicken katsu sandwiches - bread'd & fry'd chicken sandwich'd with hk-shaped bread, wasabi mayo & tonkatsu sauce - brush on tonkatsu sauce for face (same as brunch)

japanese hamburg - hk-shaped hamburger patties pan-fry'd & served with rice & okonomiyaki tare

mixed greens with ginger sesame dressing

miso soup w/ hk-shaped tofu & scallions - anchovy broth

cake - hk head cover'd with fondant - 3-4 layers of mini cake - flavor TBD

cupcakes w/ buttercream - flavors TBD

big iced HK head cookies for favors (20) - sugar cookies iced with color'd wilton royal icing

coconut tapioca pudding with pineapple top'd with a tiny hk-head sugar (veggie cutter size) cookie

madeleines - "baked" in wafflemaker - vanilla, green tea & chocolate?

mille feuille - layers of hk-shaped puff pastry sandwich'd with sliced strawberries & vanilla custard, dollop of whip'd cream & half strawberry

tiramisu - firm'd with gelatin - mascarpone, whip'd cream, egg yolks, lady fingers, cocoa, espresso - frozen, cut, then dust'd with cocoa & then powder'd sugar for hk face

rare cheesecake mold'd in mcd hk case - what flavor? with crust?

or jelly or pudding or panna cotta mold'd in mcd hk case

non-HK bubble thai iced tea

caffe latte w/ hello kitty cocoa design?

HK head-shaped fruit tarts - almond crust with custard & berries

Judy's HK apple pie "cupcakes"

more TBD =D

Sugarminuet Balletusa

my next fun baking project will be this weekend! Yay! i'll be baking for Lici's Baby Shower =D the cake will be a 2-tier carrot cake fill'd with white chocolate cream cheese buttercream, frost'd with white chocolate ganache, & top'd with an iced cookie of Balletusa, the pink genius ballerina bunny from Sanrio's Sugarminuet. can't wait!!!