Winnie the Pooh

About a half a year ago I was asked to be the God Mother of a beautiful baby girl - Chelsea. I remember I felt very honored and touched that out of all people, my dearest cousin asked me. Thrilled and excited I accepted :) She is a bright shining light in my life and I absolutely love her to bits! :D

So cometh her 1st birthday, I wanted only the biggest and best cake there ever was… thus begins my ultimate journey to make a 3D Winnie the Pooh cake hehehe

Initially I was a little overwhelmed, true to my nature (Queen of Procrastination) I left everything to the last minute…. But to my defence I had another cake order for the same Sat and life always calls at the most inconvenient time.. so what free time I did have was spent on this behemoth project.

The WHOLE of Pooh bear was edible, the head, legs, belly, ears - the lot! I was originally going to carve the head out of Styrofoam (like many other sane cake makers would do), however I couldn’t find a styrofoam ball big enough to fit properly so about 2 days before the cake was due I decided to make the head out of cake too!

My choice for the type of cake recipe used was limited because it had to be dense and firm enough to stand upright and be able to withstand my hacking and sculpting away at it. I opted for a pound cake recipe because when you cut it, it still holds its shape, is firm enough not to collapse yet it is still fluffy and tastes awesome! Buttercream was also used for its dense, shape holding properties.

I made 3 x 10 inch round cakes and 2 x 8 inch round cakes for the base/body. In hindsight I should’ve probably used all 10 inch round cakes.

Pound Cake (1 portion is enough for 2 x 10 inch round tins)
2 cups sugar
2 cups plain flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, softened
5 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 165⁰C, line 2 x 10 inch round cake tins (or you can use a Bundt cake pan).

Whip butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add all dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda). Then incorporate eggs one at a time. Mix in the extracts.

Bake for 60 minutes or until it springs back to the touch.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting (I made like 3kgs of this stuff – Ohhh sooo damn good!)
3 cups icing sugar
225g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp strawberry essence
1 drop red food colouring (optional – I didn’t use this because mostly kids would be eating it and I didn’t want them eating artificial colourings, lol that was my bit of ‘health’ awareness)

Beat the butter until light and fluffy.

Gradually add the sugar and whip until smooth. Add essences and colouring (if using).

NOM NOM NOM

First assembly, I sandwiched the body and cut out the legs from a 20 cmx 20 cm square tin.

This was originally how I was going to do the head and arms - i.e. cover the styrofoam with fondant and shape it into features.

After contemplation that the styrofoam head would be too small I decided to bake some extra cake for the head. If you are wondering how I managed to structurally keep the head up ... I didn't. If you notice from the earlier photos Pooh actually slumps forward. This is because his head got a little too heavy and having the cake at room temp softened the base causing the top part to become as my cousin adptly calls Rhonda's leaning Tower of Pisa effect (I made his wedding cake about a year ago, it was a whoopping 5 tiers .. that started to lean forward too :S lol) But I did try... I put skewers in the base and stuck the head on top. If I were to attempt to do this cake again I would definately invest in using 2-3 mm dowels and a board underneath the head. That would solve the problem of the head falling forward.

This is how the cake looked after I carved out the features.

First crumb coat.

Managed to cover the body with fondant. I did this in 2 stages. I covered the belly first by wrapping the fondant around the cake and patching it together at the back. Then I drapped a second lot of fondant over the top of the head (as if it were a normal cake) and smoothed it down.

Used extra fondant to create features like the arms, ears and I built on the face by adding extra fondant where the cheeks and nose were. It was pretty thin where the eyes were so I also added extra fondant there and pushed it back to create hollows like Pooh bear has.


I covered the legs in fondant separately then I stuck it to the body.

So this was what a naked Pooh bear on the day before the party looked like. He was standing up so proud and tall and was just 'perfect'!


The next day when I came back to dress him and add the proper features he had already begun to get 'lazy' and his head was slumping. I was pretty crushed that my cake had done this but I altered my design to suit what was happening. Lucky for me, Pooh is quite lazy and he usually nods off so I thought at least it looks like I 'meant' to do that and if I put a cake infront of him it'll just look like he is leaning forward to eat his cake! lol



The delivery of the cake almost gave me a heart attack. It was a miserably humid yet rainy day. I had the cake on my lap and the destination was about 1 hour away... but wait for it ... we got pulled over by the cops and it turned out that the Log's (brand new) car rego had expired. As a result... I had to wait in the car with the cake whilst he went back to get the other car. I had the aircon on full blast to stop the cake from melting anymore than it had to but as the minutes ticked by, temptation of the strawberry cake was too much for Pooh and he just kept inching closer and closer :S


Alas, we made it in one piece, Pooh got a taste of his cake before the birthday song was sung though lol!


The cake was a hefty 12-15 kgs and approx 35 cm tall.... it was bigger and heavier than Chelsea!!


hahaha look at her face... "mummy I dont want to cut Pooh bear!"

Yes my heart sorta broken when I had to cut up the cake... oh but ah wells... tasted yummy!!

Look at that perfect layer!!!

BRAINS!!!


Poor Pooh!

Phew, what a feat!! There was enough cake to feed a 200 guest wedding! But I'm glad I attempted it, lets just hope next time I wont take short cuts on the structural stability of my cakes LOL!

♥ HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY CHELSEA! ♥
xox

- Flowers -

Things have been sh*t lately.

I know I whinge and whine alot. All my friends tell me I do. But why oh why is God doing this to me? Maybe it's character building? Maybe I've had it coming for me? Whatever it maybe, I want out.

I want to submerge myself into the land of the sweet and sticky. The soft marshmallowy goodness of smiles and laughter. The brain numbing few seconds worth of ecstacy otherwise known as "WTF, Ooo Ooo OMG, COLD!!" when an icecream is devoured a little too quickly. The comforting, hearty (usually fatty) awesomeness of a home cooked roast with beautiful aromas wafting through the household, to which I float towards with an empty belly and a wide open mouth.

That is what my life should be like. That is what I want. If you are not that then please find your way to the exit, get out of my sight and never return! *foot stamp*

Yes, I can be dramatic. I know, I know.

I tell myself it's not so bad. It's not so bad. Onward I plough. My guiding light? (drum roll please...)

I AM GOING TO THE US of A, baby!!!

I will be going there for 6 months. To do what? I hear you ask?

B.
A.
K.
E.

:)

I have finally built up the courage to do it. I'm going to Orlando, Florida to partake in a 6 month baking course at the Notter School of Pastry Arts. I was inspired by a fellow blogger Su Yin of The Journal of a Girl who loves to Cook.

I used to stalk her blog along with several other food blogs whenever I was having a bad day or just needed some inspiration (usually at work). Somehow all the beautiful cakes & pretty cookies would always bring a smile to my face and erase whatever crap was bringing me down.

Now I can make my own journey, instead of living life vircariously through others. I don't intend for this trip to be a band aid solution to all my problems here. But a good break and a breath of fresh air might just make me see things clearer and teach me the art of "letting go".

I hope this trip will be a good learning experience, both in the kitchen and life in general – take each step with my chin up, big smile and a mouth full of food! :) ... and of course, you guys will be coming along on the journey with me too...so get ready for a ridiculous rollacoaster ride!!! ;)

"But I won't regret ‘cause you can grow flowers from where dirt used to be"
- Kate Nash -

I'm not dead

Hello Everyone!

I know I've been a little M.I.A lately... this year has just been very difficult ...already. I'm sure many of you feel my pain; juggling my work, family, social & love life has been an arduous task to say the least. BUT alas I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

For now.. I dont have any baked goodies to share with you all but I do have a little gem my gf, G and I came across for dinner the other night... its called Sushi Hotaru. Its a new sushi bar that has opened underneath Ichiban Boshi in Galleries Victoria. They have an opening special, where all sushi plates and side dishes are only $2.50!! Bargin, I know!! Hurry, the deal is only until the end of the month tho! Enjoy! x

Sushi Hotaru was a really nice surprise! I was cynical at first, thought that maybe the sushi wouldnt be authentic.. another "Sushi Train" prodigy. But I was impressed, not only do they have an awesome selection, the sushi was true and fresh! It's obviously no Kobe Jones or Sake but I think its good value for money, especially if you want to chill for a mid week dinner out. And who wouldnt want to take advantage at $2.50 a dish!!!

They seriously have the longest sushi train in the world! (Ok not the world but I reckon they could give in the title - "Longest sushi train in Sydney" a good run for its money) It's pretty much the entire width of the building!!

Loved the decor of the place too! The tiled mosaic walls were of the Japanese cityscape, very artsy fartsy :) hehe

Roll Menu

Gunkan menu

Grilled Eel nigiri - $2.50

Edamame beans gunkan $2.50 - this was interesting, I love Edamame beans, so initally I really liked the idea behind it, but I dont think I can say that I am a fan of this one. The rice made the beans too heavy for me.

Kingfish Aburi sushi - $2.50

Kaarage Chicken $2.50 & Gyoza $2.50

Ebi Fry -$2.50

Soft Shell crab salad - Ok so I got a little excited/carried away and thought this was part of the $2.50 menu, unfortunately it wasn't but it was still very delicious, could've lightened up on the ponzu sauce as it got quite acidic towards the end but still good. The crab was fresh and had the right amount of crisp.

Scallop nigiri $2.50 - this has to be my favourite next to the Iku (Squid) nigiri. The freshness and sweetness of seafood really comes through - truely beautiful!

Salmon Aburi sushi - you guessed it! $2.50

Salmon nigiri - $2.50

Strawberry & Red Bean Daifuku $2.50 - one of my favourite Japanese desserts - mochi (rice cake) filled with a red bean paste and a strawberry in the middle. I have to say that the red bean was a little too thick which made it a little heavy and stuck to my throat but all the flavours were there and it was still quite enjoyable!

There were other desserts there too but by this stage I was at bursting point so couldnt fit any more in!! Lol! So I guess I'm just gonna have to rely on you guys to let me know how the other main dishes and desserts are when you go try out this place! ;)

Oooiiissshiii!!! x


Sushi Hotaru
Galleries Victoria, Shop RP1
500 George Street
Sydney, 2000