Sunday, February 3, 2013

Starting 2013 with a big BANG!

Ok, I have to admit it - I anticipated Doomsday 21.12.12. I went out to buy candles, batteries, instant noodles, 30 litres of drinking water, and even got my Dad to fill up the spare gas tank for the stove.

My reasoning was, at least I was somewhat prepared for the 3 days of darkness that was supposedly to happen on the 22nd of December. I was warned that it might happen, so I went out and did what I had to do to "ride out" the 3 days.

It obviously didn't happen. And that meant, having to get back to work. 

DAMN.

The end of 2012 was very busy for the business, with loads of preparation for operation BIG CAKE that I had lined up in  the last 2 weeks of January 2013.

The first project was a 5 tier wedding cake, for a sweet girl who ordered it from Australia. She's Malaysian and was having her wedding reception in KL for 700 guests. She wanted something pretty in pink with sugar flowers to suit her Vintage theme. And her other requirement was that it had to be BIG. 

So, this is what I came up with :

























The top tier had a full posy of sugar roses, peonies, and filler flowers, and it was lifted on a candlelabra stand, with a beaded trim. The second tier had pearl drape piping, the third tier had a lace stencil, the fourth had swags with bows, and the final tier had pink and ivory stripes. 

I do apologise for the bad photography. It was a horrible day with torrential rain and the hotel foyer that we were in, had dim, yellow lights. So it was not a great day for cake photography. Such a shame, I wish I had better shots. It was such a gorgeous cake!








The second project I had was for a corporate client, Nikon. Their theme this year was, "Going Green" and they wanted a cake to suit this. I made all the sugar leaves on this cake as well, in different sizes and colours, veined them, wired them, and also glazed them to create a shiny effect. The cake flavour inside was green tea.

Each tier was 4.5" tall and the largest tier on the bottom was 11" x 11". It weighed a ton!




The next project in BIG CAKE was for the Royal Family of Pahang. It was in fact a double wedding, held at the The Zenith Hotel, in Kuantan, Pahang. I had to do 2 cakes, for the same night, as well as 22 Mini Wedding Cakes for the VIP table! And on top of that, I had to go to Kuantan to assemble the cakes a few days before the wedding. 

The brief was an elegant wedding cake, to look like present boxes, nothing to "weddingy". 

I suggested one cake to be in squares, and the other in round boxes. The square one was to be in green and yellow with gold embellishments, and the other in different shades of gold and ivory.

It was a fantastic experience for me to pack up all my tools and equipment, cakes, supplies etc for 4 nights away on a job. And not just a job, it was for a Royal Wedding! 

I started all the preparations a month in advance and trust me, I spent many, many long hours through the night, planning, designing, and creating these 2 cakes.

A driver was sent for me and we transported all my supplies in an air-conditioned van, safely. There was only one small accident on one of the cakes, which I cleverly disguised later. No one knew.

My workstation for the stay there was in one of conference rooms at the hotel, and a stainless steel bench was brought in specially for me to work. It took around 3 hours to get there, and another 2 hours to set up my space, and check into my room.

Work began immediately that day and went on every night till around 10pm. There were tons of people about everyday, working on the wedding. Staff for the flowers, decorations, gifts and favours, drivers, security, hotel and palace staff, and little ol' me, working by myself on the cakes. 

There was a conference room set up for all the wedding staff, for meals, 24/7. It was a nice touch. I was well-looked after by the hotel staff and spent a few hours with the pastry team too, demonstrating my craft. I managed to get some help for one day from the pastry team, and they helped me with some gold painting and icing the Mini Wedding Cakes. I wouldn't have been able to finish without their help. 

Here are the photos from the event.

The Ivory and Gold Round Present Box Stack


Close up




The Square Present Box Stack

Close Up

On the stage
Yay! I'm finished!
My cake being wheeled into the ballroom by the Pastry Team

Safe and sound!


Mini Wedding Cakes for the VIP table

The ballroom

VIP table for the Royal Family
The stage
Interesting fact : Some of the gold dust that I used on the Royal Wedding cakes were made from 24 K gold! 

What a huge month it was for me, and now it's time to kick back, and relax for awhile... :)

Thanks for reading and until next time...