Friday, January 1, 2016

Top Ten Cakes of 2015!!

Here we are again, at the end of 2015! As part of my year round up, I'd like to compile a list of my favourite cakes for the year. 

This is a really difficult task to do, because how do I choose from the hundreds that I make every year? Each and every one, mean something to the recipient, and also to me! I put a lot of effort into each and every cake that leaves my premises. They are my babies.

So this list will be based on creativity, level of complexity and also by the number of likes on my Instagram page, Missshortcakes

Here we go...

10. Harry Potter, the Chamber of Secrets
My first ever international collaboration cake to celebrate JK Rowling's 50th birthday! 54 cake artists from around the world, teamed together, to form a a group known as Birthday Mischief Managed. Led by Mitchie Curran and Suzzanne from the USA, each artist was hand picked based on their love for Harry Potter and of course, their skills! I was over the moon, when I received an "owl" mail in my inbox. How could I say no, when I was asked to contribute an edible piece? We had a year, to bring this all to life. And boy oh boy, what an effort it was. Our collab was featured in the news, on TV, in print, by international media from all corners of the world! It was amazing!!!

I chose the movie, The Chamber of Secrets. We had to incorporate a few twists as well, in our piece. It wasn't really straightforward, and our brief was very thorough. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of time and effort these 2 ladies put in, to coordinate this international collaboration. We even got nominated as "Best Collaboration of the Year", by Cake Masters UK!

Anyway, I'll stop rambling and show you my piece :)



9. Darth Vader
In ninth place, is none other than Darth Vader!! This was sculpted completely from 3 cakes, using a real Darth Vader mask as a reference. It took almost 6 hours to sculpt it. But once that was all done and ganached, the covering was pretty straight forward and then there were only a few details left to do on his face. It was a lot of fun doing this one!



8. 6 tier Ombre Blossoms
This year was all about big cakes. And boy, do I looooove doing big cakes. They look so majestic and grand! This 6 tier cake, was to match the theme of "Monet", focusing on the florals, by Glam Weddings. The stage was decorated with mauve and lilac wisteria and the cake featured blossoms in mauve and lilacs, going from deep purple towards a soft lilac and finally to white on the top. It took 3 people to cut, shape and colour the blossoms. They were very simple blossoms to make, but we had to make hundreds in different shades to cover the 6 tiers! 

This cake has since evolved into smaller versions and it's turned into my signature design! Love it!




7. Bak Kut Teh
For those of you who don't know what is Bak Kut Teh, it's a herbal broth cooked with pork ribs, belly pork, innards, tofu, mushrooms and served with rice and Chinese crullers. It's absolutely delicious, and can be found mainly in Malaysia and Singapore. 

This was for a birthday boy, who loved Bak Kut Teh! And his wife planned a BKT party, complete with a cake that looks like an actual claypot of BKT! 



I have since done 2 more of these and everyone always has a good laugh, at how real it looks!

6. Marie Antoinette Hexagon
A 4 tiered, French inspired wedding cake for the Royal Wedding of Afzan Shakira, by Glam Weddings. Such gorgeous work. I was given free reign of the design as long as it had white, gold, and white Phalaenopsis Orchids, and carried a French theme. It turned out dreamy and fit into the overall decoration, beautifully.
 



5. Book of Life
The brief for this cake was super tough. The birthday girl wanted all the main characters on the cake! And have you seen what those figurines look like??? I pulled my hair out for 3 days making those things! Hahah!! It was worth the effort though. The colourful rainbow ruffles and tassels just captured the very essence of the fiesta scene.



4. Travel cake
A 40th birthday cake for a couple who loves to travel! I had to include the countries that they adore, and also the ones that were on their bucket list. Each tier and panel, had a different city. I painted the cities silhouettes, then chose one major landmark, to depict each city. There was London, NYC, Istanbul, Warsaw, Paris, Zagreb and Rio. Loved how this cake came together with the bright and bold flowers. Amazing work by Evonn, my intern. :)
 



3. Petal Ruffle
For the Royal Wedding of Tun Putera Yasir and Diyana. Love how this cake turned out and also the depth of colour on the sugar flowers. The bride wanted the entire bottom tier to be covered with petal ruffles. Each petal was wired, thinned out, veined and then set in trays to dry. Some were left on its own, but most of them were taped together to form flowers. I had 3 people working on these ruffles for 8 days straight. We must have used 2 kg of gum paste! 

The upper tiers were pearl white and I matched the flowers according to the arrangements at the hotel ballroom. It truly was a cake fit for a princess! :)



2. Geometric Stripes
This cake was designed by an architect, FOR another architect celebrating his 60th birthday. The design was professionally done on a computer and had all the stripes perfectly aligned, from every direction. I had to make sure, all the stripes lined up, and that they were exactly 2" wide, and 6" tall. The colours, were chosen by myself, and it was a superb combination (if I do say so myself ;)). It's one of my most liked pics on Instagram! 









1.Gold Sequin and Hexagon Black and White 
And here we are at the number one spot! Made for Charvie's special birthday celebration, at the very beginning of the year. This caused a lot of excitement on my Instagram page as well as Facebook page. I will do another reposting of this cake soon. It has gold sequins, all hand cut in different shapes and sizes, a floral print on the second tier, and black and white stripes, on a Hexagon tier. Y'all know I have this love for hexagon cakes?! :)


Photo courtesy of Mint Events and Soirees
 
And there it is! 2015! It's a wrap!

Looking forward to more exciting times in 2016! And we are off to a damn good start already!! yeeeehaaaa!!!

xx Miss Shortcakes 





5 comments:

  1. Beautiful! The colors are gorgeous. Do you make your own flowers?
    Thanks, have a great day!


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