Hello Kitty Cheat Sheet

I was so pleased to come across these Hello Kitty toppers during a recent trip overseas. Just bake the cake, frost it and top it. All in 2 hours. Birthday girl was very pleased with the results, and I had time to do ... 2 other cakes and some homemade marshmallows.





Happy Lunar New Year to one and all! Thank you for your generosity in supporting Hearts and Hands.

Lunar New Year Offerings – Double Happiness Mandarin Tangerine Cupcakes

This Lunar New Year, break away from tradition and give Mandarin Tangerine Cupcakes instead of the ubiquitous mandarin oranges! This limited edition concoction comprises a mix of mandarin oranges and oranges, resulting in a cupcake with a fragrant tang of Mandarin oranges minus the tartness you get from pure oranges alone. The cupcake base contains the juice of mandarin oranges, while the orange curd filling is made with both types of oranges, lending a sweet and piquant but not sour taste. Topping it all is a buttercream with more orange!

Minimum order of 12 which can be packed in pairs, or in boxes of 4 or 6 – just pick your auspicious number. Retails at $3.80 each from now till 16 February. Gong xi fa cai to all our supporters!

Confession: I must apologise for the unbecoming swirls of buttercream in the picture - was trying out a new decorating tip without much success. Have vowed to go back to my trusty 1M tip!

Green Tea Souffle Roll and Linus Van Pelt

This is taken from Okashi by Keiko Ishida and is one of my personal favourites. It is light and subtle, looks modest, is not too sweet, and is perfect after a hearty dinner when you feel like having something sweet but don't really feel like stuffing yourself all over again.


And here is something that I made with icing the other day for a Peanuts fan. Anyone remembers Linus Van Pelt, the kid who constantly lugs around a security blanket and sucks his thumb? (Well, if you do, it shows your age! Gotcha there.)






And here is the original picture.









Chinese New Year is around the corner. Do look out for some Chinese New Year inspired cupcakes on the blog soon.

Gingerbread Biscuits

I was inspired by Faithy's lovely iced biscuits, and the book the Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits, so I decided to have a go at it. It is quite addictive fun, though very time consuming. Here are some photos of the cookies, which my family really enjoyed.

Gingerbread recipe taken from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookies, a book I highly recommend for those biscuit lovers out there.

425 g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
180 g dark brown sugar
170 g unsalted butter
160 g unsulfured molasses
1 large egg

1. Sift and whisk together all the dry ingredients save for the brown sugar. Set aside
2. Process brown sugar in food processor till fine.
3. Add butter (can be straight from fridge) with the motor running.
4. Process until smooth and creamy.
5. Add molasses and egg until incorporated.
6. Add flour and spices mixture and pulse till dough starts to come together.
7. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.
8. Roll out between 2 parchment to about 1/8 inch. Cut with cutters.
9. Bake in 350F oven for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on size of cookie.

Have fun!

Festive Offerings

A new cupcake in celebration of Christmas and the new year will be offered for a limited period, up till 31 January 2011. These are our limited edition Baileys Cupcakes. We believe festive occasions call for a bit of booze, so we are pleased to introduce a dark chocolate cupcake filled with creamy chocolate ganache, and topped with the piece de resistance - frosting laced with Baileys Irish Cream. To add to the spirit of the occasion, each cupcake is decorated with handmade Cranberry Sparkles. Yes, we believe in spreading holiday cheer and goodwill all around, hic.

Each Baileys Cupcake retails for $4.00, with a minimum order of 12.

A New Beginning

We are pleased to inform that since we embarked on raising funds for Eden School through the sale of our cakes, we have to date (since April 2010) raised a net sum of $1068.20 for the school. We must thank you, our supporters and fellow cake lovers, for your support in making this possible. We couldn't have done this without you, so a heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who bought our cakes!

We are also happy to report that Eden School has met its target for their school building fund, and as such, with immediate effect, we will be channelling the funds from future cake orders to a new voluntary welfare organisation. Details will be announced soon, so check back again. We hope you will continue to support us as we begin a new chapter of "Hearts and Hands".

Hello Kitty Cake

A year ago, if you had asked me if I would be making kiddy cakes on a frequent basis, I would have answered without hesitation "Nah, not a kiddy cake person". Anyway, I eat my words. Here's the very pink Hello Kitty Cake I put together for my daughter's last day of preschool. I am going to miss her school and the super adorable little tikes in her class. As for the cake, I must say it's a nice change doing a 2D cake where nothing is going to collapse or shift, after all that 3D excitement.