March 31, 2010

Why is the cake so small?

"Why is the cake so small?" my nephew exclaimed when he saw the birthday cake I brought out of the fridge. :P

My eldest brother is turning one year older and since he came home for dinner this year to celebrate his birthday with us, I had the honour to bake his birthday cake again this year ;) How "fortunate" he is isn't it cos' he got a birthday cake from this dear sis of his for two consecutive years. Last year, it was a durian mousse cake ;) hahaaWell in fact It wasn't a successful cake, so i wasn't that honoured after all! :P The chocolate sponge cake somehow wasn't cooked entirely even though when I inserted a toothpick, it came out clean. I had to discard one of the layer so i ended up with only two layers instead of three, making it a really short cake.

Another hiccup arised from the whipping of diary cream. I couldn't whipped it to a peak so I left it for a while to get a bowl of ice as a cushion for the bottom of the bowl, only to get a curdled cream that got all separated miserably:( So I had to make do with only raspberry jam for the fillings between the layer. The ganache wasn't done as well as it could have been.

I actually had second thoughts giving this cake to brother but eventually I think he won't mind. :) Only thing was everyone had to admit the cake looked really small! Well, it was a 6-inch cake but because it was too short, it appeared small and of cos' one look at it you'll know its homemade. :P

I think i need to attend some cake courses, especially on cake decorating. It's always easy and fun to self-taught and learn as you experience failures but the process of learning is longer. I wanna learn how to bake beautiful cakes! Anyone wanna join me? :P

6 comments:

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi Aimei,
I can understand how you felt about the skewer came out clean but the cake is not fully cooked! Whatever you have gone through, I have experienced it too! I can definitely relate to how you feel! However, as long as everyone knows that it's been made with TLC, it doesn't matter anymore about the presentation, does it?
I'm sure it'll get better with practice. Just don't give up yah? ;)

Aimei said...

Hi Passionate about baking, Yeah I just have to continue to practice and learn from experiences. Also got to be patient when baking. Glad that i have my friends and family's support. Thanks for your encouragement! :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Aimei, it is the thought that counts :)
I can understand your desirable to bake a beautiful cake, I wish someone can teach me too! In my opinion, not everything can be self-taught, especially skills like piping and frosting a cake. I am sure by attending workshops and baking courses it will speed up the learning curve and learn the right techniques and skills. Do go for it if you can find the time, cheers!

Anonymous said...

I've been in your same position, and it's definitely the thought that counts. I'm sure your brother appreciated it! :) I'm looking forward to taking up classes as well, but have yet to find the time to. Hopefully next year!

sarabara said...

heya, i stumbled upon your blog while searching out baking courses in Singapore. Im actually interested in attending some cake decorating courses. I noticed u have been to creative culinaire before. would u suggest going there? there is also www.b-i-y.com that has several comprehensive courses on baking. im confused as to which is the better course to attend! haha

anyway your cake looks super yummy!!

cheers,
sara

Aimei said...

Thanks HHB and Ovenhaven fir your encouragement! I'd love to attend classes when i can spare the time. Also need to look out for good classes. :) Both of you are already so good even without going for claases!

Sara,

Creative Culinaire is quite good, as you really get to practise hands-on and work on a few cakes each lesson. But it's better you attend those hands-on class rather than workshops. I'm thinking of attending her other classes too. I'm not too sure about BIY though. I went to their website. Looks good too but seems like theirs are more on wilton method on cake decorating. :)