I feel fabulous at 23... Last March 20, I celebrated my 23rd birthday and, thought of making something special for myself. At first, I wanted to make a 3-layered fondant cake with the topsy turvy theme from Alice in Wonderland, but, seriously, with only a day to make it and for someone who never made fondant before, I admit, it's a little ambitious. So, i decided to level it down a bit. I wanted to make a cake, which was easy to make, not that hard to decorate but still make it turn out like it was bought from the store.
I started with the idea of making a mini 3-layered cake, instead of the full-scale size. So, more or less i was headed to the cupcake department. I looked through "Hello, Cupcake" and "What's Up! Cupcake" for ideas, and there was one which i liked a lot. It was made of 1 mini cupcake, 1 regular sized cupcake and 1 jumbo cupcake, put on top of each other to give it a 3-layered cook look. But, the problem was, i dont have a muffin pan for the mini cupcakes and the jumbo cupcakes and i dont want to buy one for now. So, back to the drawing board. That's when i decided to look through my pans and see what i could use. I tried stacking the pans together to try and see what i can make, and tada! i decided on this.

The baking was the hard part. Instead of going with my usual banana cake, i decided to push through with a new recipe which my aunt provided (Carrot Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting). I started making the cake at 6 pm and finished the crumb coat frosting at around 8 pm [I cheated! I didn't make the frosting, i bought a ready made one from Betty Crocker]. I know it's really small and all but the frosting part was the hard part. I tried to give it a really clean finish, but seriously, I can't perfect that overnight. Maybe with more practice. Anyways, after doing the crumb coat, i topped it off with the second coat and decided on different colors for each layer. Bottom was Dusty Rose, Middle Part was Teal and the Top part was Pretty Purple. and for the finishing touch, i decorated it with gumpaste cartooney flowers with the cutest colors ever (violet and lime green). Finish product? I liked it a lot. It was absolutely adorable.

Bottom: Dusty Rose Middle: Teal Top: Pretty Purple
If you look closely, the cream cheese frosting is melting. It was sooo warm that day, the moment i took it out of the fridge, it started melting and i didn't have time to clean it up anymore. Oh well!

The blue candle started melting on the gumpaste flower. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! 

Last weekend, i had a dilemma. After my fun lunch date with my friends, they decided to extend the fun-ness, by going on a drinking fest at a park. the problem was, it was on the same day as my niece's 6th birthday. Now, most of you would probably go to the drinking spree, but i already made my promise to my niece that i was going to her birthday party... and i don't like breaking promises, especially to a kid...

Overall, i didn't regret going. the food was absolutely killer (c/o my cousin-in-law from culinary school), the company was great (met my new niece Kierstenne who is 3 months old), and my nieces and nephew were very entertaining. Especially my nephew, Juan Carlo 2 years old, who wouldn't stop putting out the candle... watch the video, you'll know what i mean... and, the children thought i was the best aunt too, coz i started blowing up some balloons...which they found interesting and loved me for it. Plus it helps that they thought i made the cake... when in reality i only decorated it. they're used to the fact that i always bake they're cake, but i didn't have the time for this one, so i bought a pre-made one and just jazzed it up with some decor.



He kept puffing and huffing even when my mom tried to stop him. Isn't he the cutest? He didn't even care almost getting burned with the lighter. And, i love how my birthday girl didn't mind sharing her moment with her cousins (she's such a sweetheart).