Mad Hatter Tea party

Mad Hatter to Alice......."You used to be much more muchier, You've lost your muchness"
This was a much much fun cake for a much much fun "Mad Hatter" tea party. The hat cake was a delicate orange cake with orange mousse filling. The cup was also orange cake but with orange buttercream filling. The candybar marked "eat me" contained coconut in nougat with pistachios and cashew nuts, very rich.  

The Hatter explains to Alice that he and the March Hare are always having tea because, when he tried to sing for the Queen of Hearts at her celebration, she sentenced him to death for "murdering the time," but he escapes decapitation. In retaliation, Time (referred to as a "Him") halts himself in respect to the Hatter, keeping him and the March Hare stuck at 6:00 forever. The tea party, when Alice arrives, is characterized by switching places on the table at any given time, making short, personal remarks, asking unanswerable riddles and reciting nonsensical poetry, all of which eventually drive Alice away.

Although the name "Mad Hatter" was clearly inspired by the phrase "as mad as a hatter", there is some uncertainty as to the origins of this phrase. Mercury was used in the process of curing felt used in some hats, making it impossible for hatters to avoid inhaling the mercury fumes given off during the hat making process; hatters and mill workers thus often suffered mad hatter disease, mercury poisoning causing neurological damage including confused speech and distorted vision.

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where -' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'- so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.”

Stack of vintage books

This cake looks like a stack of vintage books in “Urdu” the official language of Pakistan also spoken in many parts of India.  The word Urdu is derived from a Turkish word “ordu” which means army. It is a mix of several languages like Farsi and Arabic. It is very similar to spoken Hindi language of India but is written in Persian script. Urdu is the most expressive language. The sound patterns, the cadence, the lyricism, the expressiveness and eloquence are unparalleled. It has the emotional depth and ability to convey so much- virtually any emotion or experience in a mere couplet. It deeply touches and brings together people across age groups, regions, religions, boundaries. It is not merely a language but a culture.

This cake was for an event with an Urdu theme. The stack of vintage books with topics representing Urdu prose and poetry were quite popular at the event.  If you opened the two books on the top you would find chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling covered with chocolate fondant. The bottom two books were carrot cake with cream cheese filling. Enjoy.

Jewelry Box Cake

A jewelry box cake for my beautiful Mom.  The box is a carrot nut cake with delicious cream cheese filling. The jewelry is made of chocolate and edible diamonds.  It was fun to construct this cake; I needed some serious hardware to help stand the lid.  The logo has my Mom’s Chinese name “MoYing” on it. 

This winter has been a tough time for Mom and us all. But difficult times come and then go away if we hang in there and have faith in God Almighty. Plus if we did not have bad times, how would we recognize and appreciate the good ones?. Someone once told me "we get complacent so sometimes we need a "slap" to get back on track". Hopefully this cake will herald better times. 

“I learned there are troubles of more than one kind. 

Some come from ahead, others come from behind. 

But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready, you see. 

Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me.”

– Dr. Seuss

Mushroom shaped

A mushroom shaped cake for my nephew. When he was little, mushrooms fascinated him for some reason.

Did you know that mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus? The word "mushroom" is mostly applied to those fungi that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae) or pores on the underside of the cap. These pores or gills produce microscopic spores that help the fungus spread across the ground or its occupant surface. I actually heard of a scientist harvest fungi from his toes and grow them as mushrooms in the lab and then serve them for dinner. Ewww sounds gross, indeed, but such is the beauty of nature.

Mushrooms are a delicious low-calorie food; an excellent source B vitamins, minerals (selenium and copper) phosphorus and potassium. Many mushrooms have medicinal properties and have been called a miniature pharmaceutical factory.

So while the word “fungus” is mostly applied for a parasite, it can also be a huge source of benefit, like producing penicillin and these gorgeous mushrooms that are also delicious and nutritious. 

Spiderman Cake

This was a cake for a 5 year old boy who is so obsessed with spiderman; his clothes, bed sheets, lunch box, toys---- everything is all of the spiderman theme. The subject of Spiderman has been so very over-used,  I feel like there is nothing very creative about this cake. Nevertheless, I spent a lot of time working on the city scape for the bottom layer; extending the buildings over the sides of the cake to give an extra dimension.  Spiderman on top of the cake was a toy which the birthday boy promptly removed from the cake to play with.  It took a little coaxing to let him keep it on the cake until after the cake is cut. 

Best quote from Spiderman:  "With great power comes great responsibility." Indeed, the challenge is to be kind when in a powerful position.  Unfortunately arrogance invariably takes over and kindness goes out the window when individuals or even nations are in power. 

The cake was yellow chiffon cake with strawberry filling. One layer had cannoli filling. 

owl cake

A wise old owl lived in an oak

The more he saw the less he spoke

The less he spoke the more he heard.

Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

The rhyme refers to the traditional image of owls as the symbol of wisdom, however in some cultures it is highly uncomplimentary to call someone an owl. Are owls the smartest birds? According to trainers many other birds like pigeons and parrots are a lot easier to train than owls.  They just look smart possibly due to their enormous eyes that seem focused and make it look like it is paying attention. Its eyes are also fixed in its head. In order for an owl to move its eyes, it must move the whole head. It gives an owl a intelligent gaze as it scans the surroundings.  I just think it is one of God's most gorgeous creations, and this cake was a hoot to make.  It was a red velvet with cream cheese filling. I only had about 30 hours to plan, bake and complete it, so I had to skip some fun details (like feet and claws).... maybe next time. 

Masjid cake

This masjid (mosque) cake was for a child fasting for the first time in the holy month of Ramadan. It was fun to construct the structure.  It was a plain yellow cake with buttercream icing.  I just hope it is not sacrilege to cut (and eat) an edible illustration of a religious place of worship. 

Honorable mention of my 7 year old great niece, Hana,  who was eager to help with decorating the cake.   She wanted to “help” with everything, even complicated tasks that her little hands could not handle; I felt bad about saying no to her so many times.  The poor kid scrubbed her hands 4 times just so I would include her, so I gave her the task of making the bushes. Good job Hana!  She loved the consistency of the fondant so I gave her some to play with.  “It’s better than playdough” she said carefully wrapping it in plastic to avoid drying.