Asia's flavours this Lunar New Year

There are a few occasions in a year that deserve my stomach's full attention.

Birthdays, Christmas and the Lunar New Year.

These are eating festivals, as far as my family and friends are concerned. People gathering round, sharing meals, swapping stories, indulging in festive snacks.

The stuff of good times.

Food plays such a big part bringing people together, and any excuse to break bread and clink glasses is wildly welcomed.

> But don't throw out your Outside Glow!

And this year, Petite Pops is embracing Asia's flavours in our Chinese New Year goodies.

Matcha and Wolfberry, both native to Asia, are packed with age-old health beliefs, perfect for turning festive feasting into good-for-you snacking. Osmanthus adds a delicate, subtle fragrance for barely-there flavour layers. Just the kind of natural sweetness I like in my snacks.

Share the Lunar New Year love with double goodies in the Twin Baskets, or go solo with the Osmanthus Honey Loaf.
> Details in image above

A wonderfully prosperous and blissful Year of the Monkey to everyone!

What do you get with Petite Pops desserts?

• Small batch baking      The only good way to do quality control.

• Good ingredients          Real and delicious, no further preservatives added.

• Fresh                              Made only when orders come in.

• Balanced                       A little naughty and a whole lot nice. Less sugar & fats,                                            while balancing the yum.

Bringing on my Emmy bling

It's almost Emmy night, 2 day countdown!

Snacking while watching the Emmys:
> Chocolate Almond Sables
> Sesame Ginger Cupcakes, Ginger Crunch

So many things we love about the Emmys...

Predictable clockwork wins we saw from miles away, crazy audacious losses (McConaughey didn't win Lead Actor in a Miniseries??), remembering insane talents like Robin Williams.

And priceless gems making entertainment history - yes, that Ellen selfie, we're still talking about it.

Oh yeah....

Photo from The Hollywood Reporter

Not forgetting the best value-for-money hosts in Hollywood for the night who have to sing, dance, reel off scripted jokes to make sure the most glitteratti audience on the planet laughs loud and long.

And so much bling!

Gorgeous suits, flawless gowns, the most handsome people draped in bling, all gathered in one room.

I want to live that fabulous life too.

But since I'm not even remotely close to celeb-ship in this lifetime, I'll settle for bling desserts.

Gold and black.
Studded with more gold, dusted with gold flecks.

Sounds almost glitzy fabulous.

Good enough for me, I'll take that.

I'm warming up to gold recently, it's quite a sexy sheen.

Elegant in such an... elegant way.

I used to think gold was 'old'.

Guess I'm getting old, might as well embrace it.

Stay gold everyone, place your Emmy bets and let's hope Adam Sandberg nails it!

Celebrate, woot woot!
> Welcome, 2015
> Fairytale weddings
> A lovely elephant day

Indulgent desserts
> Chocolate indulgence
> Chocolate Pistachio Torte

More Cake Pops:
> Bicycle challenge, accepted!
> Pony pops

Cheers to Father's Day!

Yes I know, not all dads take to alcohol like fish to water. 

Very presumptuous.

But because there are SO many gorgeous desserts with such deliciously boozy yumminess, there's really no good reason not to start your dad/baby daddy on a bit of tipple. 

Father's Day is the perfect time for such initiation ;)

> A hearty Guinness cake

> Bailey's salted mint chocolate pie

> Chocolately rum balls

And for dads who do love their drinks, this is for you.

Cheers to awesome dads all round!

How to make a high heel topper

It's the day after, but I'm still inspired by the pretty-and-sweet of Mother's Day.

Plus, this quote from humorist/writer Sam Levenson just cracks me up:" Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children". 

How true.

And so today's post will still be about moms - three things that wouldn't have been the same without them:

1) The real reason sweaters exist

"Sweater, n: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly" - Ambrose Bierce, writer/jounalist. Don't think I need to say more, the love is evident. 

> Chocolately love

> Baked with love

2) Mastering omni-presence

Moms have eyes front, back, side, underside, overside. Scary, but true. And that is how we have in turn acquired chameleon-vision. There's no other explanation for being able to pound away at the computer, and spot a tiny child-hand swiping cupcakes cooling on the kitchen table behind us. All in one fell swoop. It's just not natural. 

3) High heels

Instruments of torture and of exquisite beauty; most women have a love-hate relationship with these towering shoes. I may not have inherited all of my mother's grace on heels, but I did manage to make one for a cake recently.

How to Cook That has a fabulous video detailing all the painstaking steps of creating a fondant high heel. She's done a marvelous job with a frilly Jimmy Choo, and I've adapted parts of it for a simpler girly sandal that the birthday girl wanted. 

Jumping the gun a little with this picture, but it
shows the process of making the shoe.

Start with the heel, let it dry for a day or two.
Add some sugar paste modelling gum to strengthen
when molding, we need the heel to be quite sturdy,
bearing the weight of the entire shoe.

Follow the steps in the video tutorial for the
(pink) shoe sole.

Here's the inside liner of the sole I've done, indented
with stitch marks running round, made with a
toothpick or a wheel tool much like what
seamstresses use. 

Instead of the strappy front in the video, I made this
sweet peep-toe with a template of the same shape,
and embossed it with a swirly texture mat.

Fix to pink sole with a little water, prop up
with tissues to let it dry in a curved shoe shape. 

Make your ribbon for the front of shoe.
Check out this fab video by Amanda Oakleaf
showing the steps.

Start with a rectangular piece of fondant, trim the
centers slightly, glue the two open ends to the center to
form the bows.

Wrap middle of ribbon with a small strip of fondant,
prop the two bows up with rolled up tissue or rolled
cardboard pieces (like I've done in my picture below).

Let ribbon dry, and attach to front of shoe
with royal icing or melted chocolate.

Paint on any labels or numbers you might
want with edible black paint and the
tinniest paint brush you can find. I love using
a lipstick brush. It's so small, it gives you
the  perfect sharp point you need for lettering. 

Let the shoe dry completely for another day or two
if you can. It's a pretty fragile topper, so the more
time it has to dry, the stronger it'll be.

My shoe is propped up on styrofoam here because
I've added a support skewer into the heel
(when I first made it a couple of steps back), to
anchor the shoe when I add it onto the cake,
 and not risk it tipping over.

Let every day be Mother's Day, tell them and show them that they matter to you :)

Some bakes mom would love:

> Summer fruits to beat the heat

> Ombre swirl cookies

> Sugar & spice

> Sweet, sweet strawberries

> Rich red velvet cake

> A very lovely elephant day

> Bunny rabbits at the zoo