The colorful Robin Williams

Photo from Parade

It's not like we were friends, it's not like we met regularly for coffee. 

He didn't even know I existed. 

But I certainly knew Robin Williams; through his films. 

Death is never easy. 

And when it's a person who's familiar - even if it's remotely, through a movie screen - the sadness feels a little more personal.

Robin Williams struggled with many inner demons, but he single-handedly brought SO much joy and laughter to so many people who encountered him, on and off-screen.

I just caught Patch Adams again on the movie channel last night, and it definitely did justice bringing the real life Williams to reel life. 

In celebration of this wonderful man's colorful personality, today's post is about a rainbow balloon cake. 

Particularly since the tear-jerker Pixar animation UP, balloons have come to represent hope and positivity.

The skyful of balloons air-lifting Carl's house in search of Paradise Falls... forever etched in our minds as we futilely fought back tears for his missing Ellie...

There's a certain freedom in balloons as they flit and float over everyone and everything, going where no one else goes. 

Their haphazard abandonment carries such carefreeness, just what we're wishing for the iconic comedienne especially now. 

These little fondant figures with their gold shimmer, hold the key to a blue open sky filled with innumerate round bubbles of dreams, as colorful as Williams himself.

Surrounded with fluffy white clouds of royal icing and white fondant cut-outs, the future is always open - for you, for me, for cakes and desserts, for dear Mr Robin Williams. 

More summer colors:

> A summer carousel

> Color me happy!

> A very hungry caterpillar

> A purple green birthday

> Poppin' dots cake pops

> World Cup colors

A summer carousel

The thing about being so near the equator is that we're perpetually in the sun's path, getting the full-scale blazing love. 

Which is why we don't fully appreciate, or even comprehend summer.

We're too busy trying to stay cool and not inflict tropical humidity wetness to the next person to even think about the summer concept.
> How do you stay cool?
> Best uses of beer

Summer fun? 

More like eternal furnace.

But with all the crazy extreme weather happening around the world, I am very grateful for this somewhat normal summer here in Singapore/Hong Kong. 

So dressed in my best summer singlet and breeziest summer shorts, I'd like to invite you to celebrate the summer sun with a dappy day out to the summer fair carousel, with the happiest little birthday girl!

More summer colors:
> Color me happy!
> A very hungry caterpillar
> A purple green birthday
> Poppin' dots cake pops
> Yellow and green, colors of world cup

Don't believe Wilton products that say 'easy to use' in the instruction manual. You usually need an engineer's degree to assemble their showpieces, after which you'll need to spend considerable time decorating them.

This carousel top took several hours to put together, starting with orange and purple fondant panels.

Red, green, blue, pink and yellow accents are hand-piped with stiff royal icing, make sure you have enough time for everything to dry so that it's all nice and sturdy when you put it on the cake. 

A cheery pop of yellow crowning the cake's top tier, 

as the ponies get a-galloping after their royal icing dries off.

20 little fingers eagerly inching closer to the cake, as the finishing touches go up.

Rainbow cake (recipe here): A perennial favorite with kids, and perfect for the summer carousel party!

I love theme parties, the crazy OCD in me just gets such a kick out of 

matching colors and patterns. The birthday girl's mom did a fantastic 

job getting these cute little buckets for giveaways, every 

child was a SUPER happy child by the end of the party.

> Eat kind for kids

Happy birthday, beautiful Ellie!

More happy birthdays:
> A busy day at the construction site
> Dinosaur roarrrr
> Rabbity cake pops

> 10 years young

> A Rilakkuma birthday

> Elmo cake pops

> Curious George, is that you?

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

3 cherries in a row, jackpot!

"My aunt loves the jackpot, I want a jackpot-themed birthday surprise for her!"
And with that, I ventured into my first jackpot cake pops.

There's something for everyone, check out some other birthday themes:

> Coming of age: 10-years young!
> Golf for the boys
> Elmo-lovin 2-year old 
> A mom who loves her dogs

I'm no gambling expert, but I do know my three cherries in a row, and when to jump and holler "JACKPOT!"

I decided we also needed to have the 7s in a row, some money bags and poker chips to set things right. It's just not a proper jackpot-do without these.

After letting the rum cake balls chill for a bit, I set to work bringing lady luck to the table.

The money bags were the most challenging.

I molded them to look like big fat teardrops, in hopes they would look like sacks. Hmm, not quite right. No bag of money is that symmetrical.

I pinched the sides a little, indented some parts.

There, better.

Next were the sack tops - molded individually, laid to dry out and stiffen, before getting fixed to the grey-coated cake pops.

1cm wide fondant circles marked with $$ signs left no doubt these were money bags; dusted with lustre pearl for the extra moolah-shine, and added.

Something was still missing.... Rope!

Rolled-out strings of pale beige fondant went round the top of the sacks.
Finally done.

Yay! One design down.... just oh, 3 more different types to go.
Yes, a little ambitions, I'm realising now.

Ah well, if I could get the toughest one out, the rest aian't gonna stop me.

Fondant add-ons waiting to join the party

Teeny cherries (half the size of a 5-cent coin!),
big on luck - 3 in a row, JACKPOT! 

Keep these poker chips in your pocket
for an extra bit of luck when you hit the casino!

JACKPOT WINNER!

The next time you're feeling in need of a lil' luck, head over for a Petite Pops boost, it could well make you a millionaire!

10 years young - the cake (Part 2)

The kids had their share of fun at the pool, now it was time for Gabby's family to get some!

> Read about Gabby's poolside party cupcakes

Gabby wasn't tired of my chocolate yet, so here's the plan: top her 10 years with even more chocolate - a big ol' fudgy chocolate cake! 

If I could make her a chocolate hot tub to swim in, I would. She loves chocolate ... you might have figured that out by now.

> Another themed birthday cake: Hole in one, anybody?

Ok, so when her mom ordered the cake for 10 pax,  she mentioned Gabby would love some extras to eat over the next few days. I might... just possibly... have taken the 'extras' just a little overboard... 

You can't tell from this innocuous photo, but this is actually a 4+kg cake!

A few days before assembling the cake, I started on the centerpiece - the lime green ribbon that made this a 'present cake'. 

The loops were individually cut and shaped into giant teardrops, dried and hardened, and the center strip mint green applied.

The loops have to be fairly thick, about 1/8 inch, to hold their shape

Side view: Debossed texture added to each loop for richer look 

Then I started layering the loops and building the ribbon, usually 2-3 tiers, capped with a final loop towards the center. The weight of the loops all bear down on the bottom tier, so you have to work gingerly and lightly so the loops don't start cracking. 

Make sure you give plenty of time for all this because it's gonna to take a while for the drying to kick in, and give you a sturdy, pretty ribbon. 

> Rose Bakes has a good tutorial on how to make a fondant bow

Now we're ready - time to build us some cake!

Smother the cake in fudgy chocolate, it's a big cake so don't be cheap on the chocolate, we don't want any part tasting dry and leathery.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble... how all yummy fudges start

Keeping elements from the poolside cupcakes,
the 'gift tag' for cake was shaped like a sun

Shades of cloudy blue, also from the pool cupcakes

Top off with the bow - viola, done! 

Gabby's mum:" Gabby loves the cake. And oh, by the way - your cake could feed a small village!"

Mission accomplished.

Tanjoubi Omedetou, a Rilakkuma birthday

I have my friend Z to thank, for introducing me to the world of Rilakkuma.


She’s mad about all things Jap + cute, and Rilakkuma ranks high up there in her top 10. Naturally, my first exposure to the little bear was through Z, she just about went nuts when we went to Japan – Rila heaven.

When the request came for Rilakkuma cake pops for a little 6-year-old's birthday, I knew exactly what she wanted, and I already had visions of how they would look.

Thank God for Z and her fanatical loves.

Rilakkuma (left) means' bear in relaxed mood',
perfect for this cheeky lil lazy bear!

> More on other well-loved characters: There's never too much red around with Elmo, Curious George (or rather his look-alike!)

As always, work started with the add-ons to the pops beforehand, what I call ‘fun & frills’ – the most fun parts about pops, but also the most painstaking.

Hmmm, colours...

Rilakkuma is a malty brown, so I started mixing up tawny fondant for his ears, and added tiny yellow insides, each ear barely half a cm small.

Make your 'fun & frill' parts beforehand so they
get to dry enough to stand on their own on the pops 

No bear should ever have to be alone, so I brought his pal Korilakkuma along.


This cheeky fellow - his name means 'small Rilakkuma' - is a creamy pale yellow, and I gave him tiny pink insides for ears.


I drew on teeny mouths with an edible black marker (I find these markers work well only with fondant, they're pretty much hopeless on any other material!). 

All set, let the dipping begin.

The 'fun & frill' parts are holding up well, yay!

Wait, something’s missing…. 
It’s a birthday, so we had to have some party hats! I shaped cone hats out of fondant, added confetti dots, and set the hats on a few lucky bears. 

Ready to party

Wait wait... something's still missing.
It aian't no party without Kiiroitori! For the uninitiated, this yellow duck-bird completes the Rila trio, and I just had to throw in a special Kiiroitori surprise for the birthday girl.

My fave - Kiiroirtori

Tanjoubi omedetou or 'happy birthday to you', my little Rilakkuma fan.

There's never too much red around... with Elmo

There's a little pressure when you're doing characters that are as well-loved as... say Elmo.

Which is exactly I found myself doing.

You wanna make sure you do justice to such characters, because their fans - 8 or 80 years old - WILL let you know when you're doing a crappy job.

Gotta tread carefully....

For 2 year-old Zander's birthday party, the request was for Elmo cake pops to share with his little friends.

Yay, this was going to be such fun!
More on birthday pops: Hole-in-One, Monkeys, Ponies, Doggies

First, and most importantly - his eyes. The trademark Elmo eyes are white and round, they had to be just the right size in proportion to the rest of his head. That's probably one of the trickest parts of making any cake pops - getting the sizes of all the parts right. or they'll just look like looney bins.

L: Orange/red little candy bullets for nose, you can substitute them with orange tic tacs
R: Perfect mini white Jawbreakers for eyes from Candilicious

This was just the occasion to break open my new jet black fondant pack, to create his mouth. I preferred not making these too much in advance, didn't want them too stiff and dried out so they would fit better into his fur.

Cut with 1.5cm round circle cutter, and cut them further
into 2 halves - there, you now had 2 Elmo mouths.

Special effects out of the way - on to Elmo himself.

After dipping each strawberry cake ball into red Wilton candy melt (apparently available only at Bake-It Yourself), create his trademark fur-running-amok with a toothpick, raking and lifting through the coating immediately after.

By the 10th Elmo, you begin to get a slight cramp from gripping the toothpick in continuous raking motions.

And by the 20th - you're asking yourself "what on earth am I doing??"

When you reach that point, this is what you have to do: Put toothpick down, unlock fingers, look at army of Elmos you've created.

High on hats!

It'll be worth it. You'd smile. Guaranteed.

The process was tedious, but it made the design forgiving at the same time - the ruffled fur helped conceal coating imperfections.

To add a special touch (this was an order from a very good friend!), I created a special 'Zander' name plate for the birthday boy, made out of fondant. It was a little laborious, but just like all the other little cake pop effects - added a zing to the Elmo army, and was all worth it.