Cake of Roses

I always intriguing by fondant roses, they are so sophisticated and romantic, very perfect for wedding cake. I've made myself once before but they look dreadful! And then Thata gave me peggy porschen book "Romantic Cake", she write a very detail of sugarpaste rose making, with photos! (Thanks lot Ta...:p)

It's always different when we imagine something in our mind than when we make it real. I have captured all the details and picture of peggy's how-to-make-a-rose and it look very simple. I thought it would be only take a few minutes to complete a rose. In fact, it took me about 1 hour to finish my first rose and it doesn't even look like a rose!

The next attempts show gradual improvement. There must be several trial and error after I found my way to create a rose looklike ones.

Here are the "how-to" for making roses:
1. prepare 3 balls of fondant, one of them larger than the other

2. place these balls between 2 pieces of plastic
3. push down the larger balls until very thin and roll into spiral shape, this will be the centre

4. push down the other 2 balls from middle to side, these will be the first petal

5. take one petal, thin side up, lay it around the centre over the seam

6. tuck the second petal slightly inside the first petal and squeeze around the centre

7. slightly curve the petal out with your finger

For rosebud you need 3 balls, for open rose you just add 3 petals, for larger open rose add another 5 petals and so on. Sorry I can't included the photos, just buy peggy's book for sure! :p

FoodBuzz Featured Publisher

On Feb 2008, I received an email from Shannon Elliot, an editor from http://www.foodbuzz.com/ saying that she interested in my blog and asking me to join foodbuzz featured publisher program. I never heard of foodbuzz before and I astonished that my humble blog could draw such attention to a community which ready to make me their publisher too. There’s a slight thought that it’s only a joke email and I ready to delete it, but curiosity drives me click on the link she sent in her email, then I found out what a foodbuzz are. To become a publisher, there’s no extra effort, I just have to place the banner of foodbuzz and post journals as usual in my blog, and they will pay me money based on how many viewer came to my blog. Nothing to lose and something to win, I sign the contract in March and I become the featured publisher for foodbuzz!

Unfortunately, since then, I have not post anything to my blog at all, what a shame! But of course I have excuse… :p it is my work at office that drive me crazy, year end closing, financial audit, tax issues, blah blah blah… no time and no mood for baking anymore, I even hardly visit my small kitchen during March and April. Until I received a small gift from Shannon today, a box of moo minicard personalized with my name and blog. Very cute and exquisite, make me feel I am already a publisher :p but the same time ring my bell about my absence from publishing. So, finally I write this journal today as a start and there will be lot more journal to come…I hope…:p