Basket of Roses for My Sister's Birthday

Initially I wanted to make a basket full full full of roses. But the royal icing was not enough, so I put some leaves between the roses. There were still some empty spaces though, and I wasn't able to cover the messy parts, too (see from picture below) :(. But this time the colored buttercream was edible! (Last time I made Elmo cake for Rivian, the buttercream was bitter). So it was all okay! :)

Semprit Keju (Indonesian Tapioca Cheese Cookies)

Ramadhan month, where moslems are fasting for the whole 30 days, is coming. The end of Ramadhan, 'Idul Fitri', is celebrated with people gathering and asking for forgiveness to each other. After fasting for the whole month, anyone is overjoyed with so many food in the house. This cookie is one of the most common snack provided in each house during Idul Fitri. Everyone's favorite.

Elmo Cake for Rivian

While I was in Seattle, I had the chance to make a birthday cake for my nephew, Rivian. His favorite was Elmo, so I made him an Elmo cake. To tell the truth, I was quite relieved, because Elmo Cake looked much more simple than Thomas the Train cake, in terms of color and shape.

The challenge was when I made the red buttercream for the Elmo's fur. I didn't expect I would need so many red coloring to actually turn the color of buttercream to red! And too many red coloring made the taste of the buttercream was horrible. I googled and learned that 1. I should have used no-taste-red instead of christmas red, so the taste wouldn't turn out bitter; 2. even if it became bitter, I could still make it less bitter by adding teaspoons of vanilla extract; 3.The red color would turn darker over time; 4. If I added pink color first before adding red color, I would need less red coloring to make the color red.

Well, It seems that I need more and more practice! :)