House on the Moon

from cosmopolitan living to being stay-at home mom.

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Ube (purple yam) cake in buttercream icing.

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pumpkin cheesecake with gumpaste leaves and pecan 

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Gumpaste and home made fondant Princess Sophia cake for my daughter's third birthday.  

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Strawberry cheesecake

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My first character sheet cake. 

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This is the cake I made for our last Wilton Course session.  We-premade stargazer lilies, which is ONLY my most favorite flower in the world (roses, calla lilies and tulips comes next). Sadly, I didn't get to use it since my cake was too small to accommodate it.  I made the fondant but it didn't turn out as well as I hoped it would. Rolled fondant have good consistency and are more reliable so if you're making a cake for a customer, opt for those. I've only used Wilton so far and it's performing well. I read that Satin Ice and FondX are good brands although I've never tried them myself.  

Yellow cake in fondant icing with blossoms, a briar rose, stephanotis flowers, sweet peas and ivy leaves.

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This is my 4th Paragon 100 character.  Currently I have a monk, barbarian, witch doctor and wiz at 100. It would be nice to have a DH maxed but it's very difficult to achieve that in 150-200 hours with my current DH gear.  Getting ready for Reaper of souls!

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My first full fondant/gum paste cake and also my final project for Wilton Course 3. Our instructor took a photo of my cake, I guess she was happy with it. :D 

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Practice makes perfect. It makes me hungry too.

Tried making cake pops as a gift for a friend's son's birthday. It was my first time making one and though it got a little frustrating, the results came out decent so I was able to bring it to the party. 

 chocolate cake pops

I also tried to make pretty cupcakes for the first time. Well, it's not exactly my first time making cupcakes but the previous ones I made were not pretty at all. :D 

Lemony lemon cupcakes with vanilla frosting 

And here's another one I tried to make last weekend: 

Devil's food cupcakes

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The Comedian (Watchmen)

I'm so happy about winning this bid on Ebay that I'm planning on getting the rest of Watchmen too. :D Things to do today:  1. Farm in Diablo 3 (getting ready for big changes in the game/expansion next year.)

2. Get my grocery list and coupons done and ready.

3. Bake a dark chocolate cheesecake as requested. 

4. Daily home workout routine. (possibly blogging an article on how to make one soon).

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Pecan Praline Cheesecake. I just remembered I made this cheesecake last week. It looks pretty delicious so I definitely will make another one sometime this month or in October so  the whole family can enjoy it too.  

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I've been kinda busy

When I'm not baking, I'm wither watching Korean dramas or playing video games.  

We're learning about gum paste flowers in Wilton course 3, I ended up eating them on the way home because I got so hungry haha. But it's a fun lesson so I'll post pictures as soon as I get my practice done at home. Meanwhile here's a photo op of me and my little sister who's on the other side of the globe. Although this is the first time we've played Diablo 3, she's been bothering me with Candy Crush requests since summer.  <3 

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My final cake for Wilton course 2. Tried the basket weave technique for the first time. Pre-made the flowers and leaves using royal icing. 

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Small CVS trip: Huggies Deal

Prior to this trip, my husband and I went to CVS to purchase supplies that were about to run out like facial moisturizers (which takes a big chunk off my personal health care budget) and kids' stuff.  They weren't current deals and I wouldn't earn EBs for so I didn't use my extrabucks on that trip. Still, with manufacturer's coupons and CVS coupons I had at hand, our total went down from $60+ to $29 for: 1 Olay Regenerist facial moisturizer

1 Olay exfoliating scrub

4 Head and Shoulders shampoo

1 CVS oatmeal body lotion

1 CVS baby wash

I used to buy my personal effects from the grocery and if I bought all of these at once it would've totaled to around $70.

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So this is how the Huggies deal  from the website couponmom.com turned out: 

3 packs of Huggies Little Movers Jumbo (8.99 ea)

1 Suave Kids 3 in 1 (3.49 ea)

I didn't get the $5 off $15 worth of purchase from the CVS kiosk, what printed out was a $5/15 worth of CVS brands but before this trip.  So I used my $6/$25 baby products instead plus three $2/1 Huggies coupons, and my $16 Extrabucks.

Paid $3.16 with tax, got $10 EBs back.  Right now, to avoid mistakes like the last time, I try to plan my trips according to deals and scenarios on the web. 

Also, reading the CVS coupon policy is a must! 

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Target freebies and cheap deals!

The last time went to Target, I wish I had just banged my head on a wall . But I got a $5 gift card from that trip, which I put into good use today:  

2 Quaker Real Medleys

1 32 ct Reynolds foil baking cups

1 BIC 8 ct mechanical pencils

1 30 ct facial cotton rounds

1 Gillette Fusion Proglide Shaving Gel

1 BIC Soleil Razor (3 ct)

1 Right Guard men's deo

The total was $20+, which went down to $4+  after coupons, which I paid for with my $5 Target gift card.  So $0 out of pocket expense this time! :D 

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CVS has a good deal on Huggies diapers starting tomorrow. It's a good opportunity for moms who would like to stock up on diapers so if you want to know how you can take advantage of this deal, you can read about it here: couponmom.com

It's the weekend! Go have fun!  :)

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Books of (pastry) Spells

I love decorating cakes, making cheesecakes and Filipino delicacies, but I gotta admit, I still don't "get" cakes that much. I tried making devil's food cake the other night, and it turned out to be the sloppiest cake I've ever made from scratch. But I'm not giving up yet! I'm going to work those cakes one day.   To be able to do that, I read baking principles as much as I can. I have two good books at home:

The Essential Baker by chef Carole Bloom is a reliable reference for baking basics and troubleshooting. 

Chef Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my Home to Yours has many great recipes. With a narrative that is very engaging and very passionate, it is easily my favorite cooking book to read during my leisure time. 

Lastly, from reviews on the web,  this book from the Culinary Institute of America seems have the most recommendations for those who are interested in pastry. Thinking of buying a copy and find out for myself why a lot of people recommend it.   

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Royal icing flowers from Wilton's cake decorating course 2 week 2.  The lessons are getting harder but it has been fun as well. I recommend Wilton's class if you want to know how to decorate cakes. If you are into advanced pastry arts, the whole Wilton's course itself is not sufficient. But don't let that stop you from making pretty and delicious desserts! There are a lot of tutorials in the internet  about topics you are interested about. So if you have the time, Google, Pinterest and Youtube is the way to go.