16 Years - A boy grows up fast

16 years old today. How time flies. It seems like only yesterday that this young man was but a small little fellow running around in and out of the house to play. Now, he is still running in and out of the house but to attend school activities, sporting activities and also to have fun.

As tradition has it, Mike was woken up on the morning of his birthday after his presents were hidden under his bed. As he gets older, it gets more difficult to but him presents as toys dont quite cut it anymore. Also, for his 16th I wanted to get him a keepsake. Something useful that he could keep and remember as his is 16th birthday present.



With that in mind, I got him a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. He also got a football as both he and his sister seem to go through footballs really quickly! Another present is due and that is a pair of shoes but he needs to come along to buy it.....

It was off to school then for Mike.

As for the cake. Well, this will be the 16th cake that I have made for him. A quick check on the history of his cakes revealed that I started making dessert cakes for him on his 10th birthday back in 2011. Prior to that it was always a butter cake decorated in various shapes and patterns. SO this would be the 7th Dessert cake and the fact that I have never repeated a cake recipe is pretty good!!

There's this cake that I had tried, called a Trianon cake, also known as a Chocolate Royal Cake and obviously very French. When eating it, I realised it had a Joconde or Dacquoise base, a layer of Praline Feulletine and finally a topping of Mousse. Didnt seem too diffcult as I had made all three different components before. So I decided I would do it.

A Princess enters her teens with a Mocha Mousse Meringue Cake

My little princess turns 13!

The 17th of February 2017 was the date my little Princess turned 13 and she is certainly not little any more. Being a school day, we woke her early and as usual we hid her presents under the bed.






This year she got a Puma Hoodie, two personalised Arsenal Mugs and two T-shirts. The mugs were ordered from Photobook and as there was a special for two mugs, I designed two different mugs. She was delighted with the mugs but remarked that it may have been better if I hadn't personalised it with her name as that would look more authentic - as if it really came from Emirates Stadium! Nonetheless, she was delighted with her two mugs as well as the Puma hoodie and t-shirts.

Although she is in afternoon school for Form One, she had to go in for the morning session today as there was a farewell for one of the teachers. So it was a bit of a rush to get both her and her brother off to school in the morning. Later at night, we bought some of her favourite Chinese Fried Rice from the shop in Bangsar (Vincent) and had dinner at my Mom-in-Laws before coming home to cut her cake.




I had made the cake on Thursday night and had spent a considerable amount of time trying to decide what to make her. She had said she would like a dessert cake and preferably something new that I hadn't made before. She likes anything chocolate. She also likes anything sour. I contemplated making a lemon cake but thought that would be too simple. Then I thought of a lemon meringue cake - something like a lemon meringue pie. However I wasn't sure whether all of us would enjoy it enough to finish a whole cake. Orange Chocolate mousse cake....orange cake with choc ganache....Sacher Torte.....Coffee Cake..... Mocha Mousse Cake......hmmm.

15 Years old with a quiet celebration.

15 years old today!

His birthday this year fell on a Tuesday and it being a school day, we did the usual hiding of his presents under his bed before waking him up.




This years gifts were sports themed and he got an Adidas t-shirt and cap as well as a sports bag. As a bit of a gag, we got him a Captains Armband and we also got him 4 training cones so he can improve his football and hockey skills in the garden!

This morning, he had a hockey tournament that he was representing his school in so he was more than happy to be able to play hockey rather than go to school! While having breakfast, he 'cut' his cake and wolfed down a quick piece before I dropped him off at the hockey stadium.

I had made the cake the previous night. We knew that we weren't going to be able to really celebrate his birthday as Sarah had her primary school 'graduation night' dinner on the 15th as well that we all attended.



I decided I would try and whip up something quick that he would also like.

He loves lamingtons and I considered making a whole bunch of lamingtons but opted to take the easier way out and just make two lamington cakes. I chose to make two cakes so that the cake portion would be thinner and also so there would be more to go around! The recipe was basically my butter cake with a chocolate ganache and dessicated coconut liberally sprinkled all over.

I kind of felt sorry that his special day had to be spend at his sisters graduation but that is all part of life and growing up. It's never all about you and I am proud that he didnt seem to take any issue with not really celebrating his birthday. He is indeed growing up to be a fine young man.

Happy Birthday Son!!

Chocolate Tart for a 12th Birthday!

My princess turns 12 today! How time has flown. Her birthday this year fell on a Wednesday. Although it was a school day, she woke up early, together with her brother, to watch the Chelsea-PSG European Champions League game on TV. They both woke up at 345am! At 530 we went down to wish her and then she came upstairs to look under her bed for her presents - as is the tradition. For her birthday this year, we got her a few things. First up was a set of 3 mini rubber balls (football, basketball and tennis ball) since she loves to toss them around; next we got her two 'magic' colouring books - just for kicks - the books magically turn into coloured pictures when you apply water to the pictures. Then we got her a really nice Puma tshirt, a Reebok tshirt, some fancy sports socks that she likes and finally the clincher was an Arsenal Backpack!





She was really pleased with the Arsenal backpack. Although I call her my princess, she is hardly a princess in behaviour and is a real sports buff!

While having breakfast, she painted the colouring books with water and both brother and sister were laughing away. Sometimes the silliest presents give the greatest joy. It was then off to school for the kids and off to work for us.

Chocolate Mousse Royale Ice Cream Cake for a 14th Birthday

Ahh, how time flies. My little boy is no longer a boy and is now a 14 year old young man! His birthday this year fell on a Sunday and we started the day off by going to church. We were running a little late so we didnt wake him up to open his presents as we usually do. I managed to quickly place his presents under the bed just as he left his room and then we went back in and wished him.

He got a Chelsea t-shirt and a lego mini figure. We were supposed to get him a pair of sneakers that he wanted but there wasnt time to go shopping so hopefully we can go get it soon. After church we went for lunch the grandparents and then headed home to cut the cake.

Egg and Bacon Pie and memories of a Milk Bar

When I was a Uni student in Melbourne I lived an an apartment that had a Milk Bar nearby - less than a 100 metres away. This Milk Bar was our stop whenever milk ran out(obviously) or bread, for a quick chocolate fix or snack. Even for a can of corned beef or when we had run out of something like tomato sauce. The milk bar was also a 'saviour' whenever we wanted a quick meal and that was usually a four and twenty meat pie with loads of tomato sauce squeezed into the pie. Joe and Claudette, the proprietors of this milk bar, served up another fancy pie that I absolutely loved - Egg and Bacon Pie. Joe and Claudette orginated from Lebanon and since I lived in that apartment for more than 3 years, we became good friends. They would know what I wanted based on what time of the day it was. If I sauntered in at around dinner time, Joe would welcome me before asking "Meat Pie or Egg and Bacon mate?"