PERSONAL CLASS : MS. AYU PART II on the 15th of JANUARY 2011

Salam once again, dear friends!

Welcome to another edition of Norbaini Cakes blogspot!

Firstly, Chef Baini would like to apologise to all her friends who were made to wait for two weeks (ulp!) since the last blog entry. Chef Baini has been so busy with so many things that she lost track of the blogs updates, plus a little comment from a close friend about the Norbaini Cakes Blog that resulted in a light bulb turning on in Chef Baini's head. Its what people call an epiphany, that is in a sudden flash, a new light, or idea sets off that changes one's viewpoint in a singular, revelatory moment. 

So for the next few blogs, Chef Baini will do away with the fancy graphics, obscure European languages  and erudite poems to just focus on the event itself by emphasizing good old fashioned story telling with lots and lots of pictures. That is a more direct and personal take on the Norbaini Cakes experience. If you like it, please tell others; if you don't, please tell Chef Baini immediately!

Okay, so today, CB welcomed Ms. Ayu from Singapore once again for part II of her long distance learning! She's back to learn the designer handbag cake, the teapot cake, the moist chocolate cake ( probably Chef Baini's most popular cake to date), shoes and fancy cookies.

But not long after class began, a customer dropped in with the Mod Squad (her children, that is) to order a wedding cake. The wedding is set for the March school holidays, but she placed her order today, almost two months ahead! Just to be sure that Chef Baini will be available on that date!

 Lets start with the designer handbag cake first. Why? Because its the most complicated of all cakes amongst all the cakes that Ms. Ayu wanted to learn today. As you can see, Chef Baini is always hands on, here she shows Ms. Ayu how to put the base cake together.

After which Chef Baini explains the cutting away of the parts to sculpt a handbag shape out of it. You know the old line most sculptors frequently quip: The handbag was already in the cake, I just removed the other parts from the cake to show that it is there! What a line!

 Chef Baini stands afar to watch Ms. Ayu  follow CB's instructions.....

Just look at Ayu's concentration.... you can see that she is seeing a handbag in the cake that she is holding...

She's slowly persuading the handbag to come out of the cake....These handbags can be very, very shy you know!

Now that the handbag has come out of its shell, it's naked as a bald blue baby; so it must be clothed immediately.

 Slowly but surely the entire cake takes it's true form...

Its pretty much the same for the teapot cake, Chef Baini won't repeat the sequence of events here otherwise the blog will take ages to read!

 Its pretty much the same thing for the shoes as well.....

 Finally, the both of them are assembled together on a presentation board. The white lace is made from fondant too, as you may have guessed. It would make a nice gift, don't you agree? Plus the cake tastes good too!

Now for a cake that tastes really, really good, there is the Moist Chocolate Cake! Ayu learned that also; she didn't want to pass the opportunity up. By the way, Chef Baini teaches her cakes in the exact same manner as she sells them; CB does not believe in holding anything back.

 Now comes the fun part of Ms. Ayu's personal class...the Fancy Cookies! The Babams commented that the fancy cookies segment alone took up almost a whole quarter of the session. He thought that Ms. Ayu was having too much fun taking too long to finish the fancy cookies.

 The real reason for the Babam's griping ( or complaining ) is that he had to wait longer before he was allowed to eat some of the fancy cookies! In this segment, Junior Chef Jannah showed Ms. Ayu how to make these edible jewels of art!

So Chef Baini will not write to describe the obvious, so please enjoy the visual treat of the fancy cookies...especially the Butterfly and the Flaming Valentine cookies below! Can you spot them amongst the symphony of colours?

Personally, Chef Baini thought that Ms. Ayu did a fantastic job picking up the skills, but she was not done yet...after her personal class, her husband picked her up and they scooted off to Petaling Street and Uptown Danau Kota to do some late night shopping! Can you believe these Singaporeans ?!? Just goes to show that you can take the girl out of Singapore, but you can't take the Singaporean out off the girl! Well, today's blog won't cover that!

 To close off, Chef Baini will let the Mod Squad say goodbye! Thanks, guys!

2 TIERED BUTTERCREAM WEDDING CAKE PERSONAL CLASS on JANUARY 4th 2011

Salam, Dear Friends!

Chef Baini is delighted to be back with another blog post. Today, Chef Baini

had just 2 students who wanted to learn 

wedding cakes made covered with buttercream.

Thus today Chef and family welcomed  

Kak Faridah and Hana into their home.

Buttercream tastes really delicious but they are rather fattening 

(if you have seen the Babams lately, you will understand why!), but 

buttercream is very cumbersome to make. Usually most things 

that are worthwhile doing take a world of while to do!

 As you can see, Chef Baini is a little amused at seeing

her two students discover that making the buttercream

isn't exactly what they thought it would be!

 Too late to back out now! Anyone who knows Chef Baini will know

that is either Chef Baini's way or the highway!

 Like Chef Baini as mentioned a wee bit earlier,

things that are worthwhile to do

take a world of while to do!

Just look at the beautiful flowers crafted by

these two lovely ladies....

 At the end of the evening, the two ladies

outdid themselves with their masterpieces...

See for yourself....

 Kak Faridah opted to go all the way before

she hit the highway....She plonked as many

buttercream flowers on her cake as she could!

 Well done, Kak Faridah!

 Not to be left out, here is Hana's cake...

Hana preferred to use her flowers sparingly but each flower 

is accented on the rim of the petals with a 

bit of gold. It turned out just as nice,

wouldn't you agree? Good job, Hana!

Chef Baini congratulates her two students for 

having the stamina and the patience to put up with 

Chef Baini's Gordon Ramsay style of teaching! 

Only Chef Baini is a lot more polite than Chef Ramsay!

INVICTUS by WE Henley

WE Henley, Gloucester, England 1849 - 1902

INVICTUS

by


William Earnest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul

~***~

Salam, Dear Friends!

(Personal Class: Kak  Ayu from Singapore 18 - 19 Dec 2010)

Chef Baini is honoured to present today's blog post on a personal class for Kak Ayu who came all the way from Singapore. She came with her family who decided to paint the town red while she diligently works on learning the craft of fondant and cake decoration. As you might have expected, finding her way around KL would be quite a challenge, as she is not from here. But this determined lady would not be denied her opportunity to learn what she has travelled far to learn.

What Chef Baini found truly amazing was that Ms. Ayu put aside food and drink and went to work non-stop! On the first day, she spent at least 12 hours and on the second day an incredible 14 hours! On the first day she travelled from the dead of night to arrive in KL at 8 am, which means that she went without sleep for a continuous 18 hours with little nourishment! So determined is Kak Ayu that Chef Baini thought only the INVICTUS poem by WE Henley is the only fitting poem to describe Kak Ayu.

The poem is a sort of compulsory poem that every schoolboy and girl would have learned in school. Had they gone to school in England, that is. It is a classic in the English language: it professes the indomitable desire to rise above oneself that makes the human spirit unconquerable. If it is inspiring enough to read, what more to see it embodied in a person! Chef Baini has mentioned before that she learns from her students as much as they from her. This time she is inspired to greater heights as well.

Kak Ayu wanted to learn 1) Cupcake Hantaran 2) Pillow Cake 3) Kebaya cake and 4) 3 Tiered Wedding Cake. But in the beginning she had to learn to roll out fondant icing properly, just like everyone else. In a relatively short time, she picked it up just like everyone else too!

Thank you Kak Ayu, for coming all the way from Singapore to visit Chef Baini. It was definitely worth the long hours you spent here in Malaysia. And thank you to all of you too, who spent some of your precious time visiting Chef Baini's blog today. We will see you again soon. Take care!

Love Always,

Chef Baini

3 VERY SHORT SONGS by Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker, New Jersey, USA 1893-1967

A Very Short Song
by
Dorothy Parker

Once, when I was young and true,
Someone left me sad-
Broke my brittle heart in two;
And that is very bad.

Love is for unlucky folk,
Love is but a curse.
Once there was a heart I broke;
And that, I think, is worse


~***~

Résumé 

by 

Dorothy Parker

 

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

~***~

One Perfect Rose

by 

Dorothy Parker

 A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet -
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the flowerette;
'My fragile leaves,' it said, 'his heart enclose.'
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.

 ~***~

Salam once more, dear friends!

(MS. YATI FROM KEMAMAN, 

TERENGGANU PERSONAL CLASS)

Chef Baini is back once more with a home class for Ms. Yati who came all the way from Kemaman, Terengganu. But first, CB would like to begin with not one but three short poems by the American writer Dorothy Parker. In case you don't know who she is, think of that famous line

' GENTLEMEN DON'T MAKE PASSES AT GIRLS WHO WEAR GLASSES'.

Ms. Parker wrote for VOGUE and VANITY FAIR magazines back in the Roaring Twenties and was described by her bosses as "the quickest tongue imaginable, and I need not to say the keenest sense of mockery."  Though nowadays people would say wicked instead of keenest! Her wry sense of humour made people see the positive a life beset with unpredictability, giving rise to a resilient spirit that led to the Women's Suffrage Movement.

Why is this relevant? Because that is exactly how Chef Baini felt upon meeting Ms. Yati, another determined individual who keeps a positive attitude at all times. Yati is determined to make her mark in her hometown of Kemaman and is unafraid of the challenges that lay in her way....Just look at her winsome smile (and the peace to all gesture)...it says it all about her personality!

Ms. Yati spent 2 days here at Chef Baini's home in her effort to learn baking and she wanted to learn about cakes and cookies...So Chef Baini taught her 10 types of cookies plus the Fancy Cookies, of course...

And the Kek Lapis collection, including the Siber, Al-jannah and Ketupat Rolls!

As you would expect, it drained the poor girl...but she just kept smiling away, never once complaining... but the aches and pains eventually show!

That's when Chef Baini recommended Yati to visit a Spa or a Reflexology Centre nearby! Unfortunately, Norbaini Cakes do not have such services in her repertoire!

Here are Yati's Kek Lapis creations....

Chef Baini congratulates Yati on a job very well done and advised her to take a slow relaxing drive home. Chef Baini looks forward to meeting Yati again in the future which she hopes will be as bright as her smile! Thank you Yati, for coming all the way here to visit Chef Baini and family!

That's all for today, dear friends! Thanks for visiting today's blog, see you again very soon!

Love Always,

Chef Baini.

HOME CLASS - PERSONAL CLASS 17th, 18th and 19th May 2010

 Salam again, dear friends!


Yes, you guessed it, this blog is about personal classes. 
Once in a while, Chef Baini gets requests for one-on-one instruction.

17th - 18th May 2010 : 
Personal Class - Cheah Guat Im from Jitra Kedah.

Ms. Cheah is an old school chum from Jitra, Kedah. As you may have predicted, these Kedahans are very state proud. To call them patriotic would be a gross understatement. Ms. Cheah wanted to learn as much as she could from Chef Baini, so she flew in town for a two day official visit. She learnt cupcakes, fondant and 3D cakes.

Chef Baini enjoyed her visit very much. 

As you would expect, the two spent much time catching up!

19th May 2010 - Kak Siti From Seremban

Kak Siti drove in from Seremban (which is one and a half hour away from Chef Baini's home)
to learn fondant.

19th May 2010 - Tini Kebaya cake

But Kak Siti had company...Tini who also sat in for a personalised kebaya cake class.

Didn't they do a fabulous job!

That's all for today, friends!

Love, Chef Baini.