Banana Cake

During the crazy weeks when the resort's occupancy was full and most weddings took place,  I had to juggle several tasks at the same time. No one does breakfast goods and turn down desserts  but me. Meeting the demands of the guests, making the wedding cakes and the wedding's cake selection were physically draining and exhausting. I was just thankful that the request for wedding's dessert selection was not  daunting or I would be working twice as much.

Here's a simple treat made for the wedding reception. It's a basic banana cake anyone can whip up. It was soft, light and fluffy, a far cry from   dense  banana cake I grew up eating. If I were not watching my diet, I would have eaten more than a slice. It was delicious.

Chocolate Ganache Swiss Roll

Apart from the wedding cake, I was also in- charge of dessert selection for the wedding dinner. One of the cakes I made was this Swiss roll  with chocolate ganache filling. I was making all the baked goodies,  turn down desserts and the wedding related stuff on a tight schedule. What I needed was a quick and easy Swiss roll recipe which would not jeopardize my time. I peeked into BBC and was thankful that it has the easy sponge recipe I was looking for.

Onion- Horseradish Sauce Quiche

When I got an email from my boss regarding  my role at the wedding, I hurriedly went online to look for  onion-horseradish sauce quiche recipe - the dish assigned to me. It was not easy. I browsed countless recipes but my search which took hours  was not fruitful.  I asked the head chef if he could give me a recipe I could follow but even he could not find one online. He gave me a different quiche recipe instead and asked me to modify it. So I made some calculations based from that, modified some ingredients called for and this onion-horseradish quiche was born.

White Chocolate Mud Cake

The April wedding season has finally come to an end. As I looked back at those hectic and exhausting weeks of planning, preparation and execution, I could not help but wonder how I managed to do all on my own. It drained me physically but the enormous compliments about my work made my heart melt.

I am back to my normal schedule. Well, at least for a week. While I have my precious free time, let me talk about this white chocolate mud cake I made for one of the weddings last week. The cake can be kept for a few days without chilling but since the  temperature in Thailand is soaring each day, I decided to keep it in the fridge to avoid spoilage. I didn't want to take a risk. It's a dense cake so I advised  that the cake be taken out of the fridge at least  an hour before serving as it is best eaten at room temperature.

Rustic Wedding Cake

A vanilla cake enhanced with fresh Thai orchid. Simple yet elegant. I was doubtful about the way it would look but after adding the flower accents the cake looked stunning. Funny how much time was spent making this cake. I was running late as I did more than a day's worth of work that day. Sabbath was approaching so I went ahead and stacked the top tier on the bottom cake without checking if the latter was firm enough to hold the weight of the top cake. In just a few minutes, the bottom cake began to sink. I hurriedly removed the top tier and redid everything. I had no choice but to let the cakes chill overnight (and that would mean me working Saturday night). So right after sunset the following day, I went to work  so I could continue where I left off. Everything went swiftly the second time. I was relieved! So relieved!

Just Another Wedding Centerpiece and Outtakes

Seeing carved fruits or vegetables excites me. Soon as the sous chef placed the watermelon centerpiece on the table, I grabbed my camera and snapped. As I looked closer, I couldn't help but admire another intricate beauty of sous chef's handiwork. He carved not just one but more flowers into the whole watermelon, leaving just a bit of space in the middle for  the wedding couple's names.

Another Wedding Of The Season

It's been crazy at work. We have been having  back to back weddings at the resort and I am working my tail off making wedding cakes and treats for the wedding's dessert selection. It seems  it's chocolate cake season as this is the fourth chocolate cake I have made for the wedding. I have been using the same recipe all this time and the cake is always a winner without a doubt.

Wedding Centerpieces and Some Outtakes

I felt awe looking at the beautifully decorated beach club. The wedding was being held on the beach. Everyone's eyes were on the bride as she walked down the sandy beach so I took the chance to take pictures of the wedding reception venue. The first thing that caught my attention was this intricately carved cantaloupe. It blew my mind as I examined layers upon layers of its detailed petals.

And The Wedding Season Continues

I love making cakes so you can imagine my excitement as more weddings happen at my workplace. Just recently, I made a fondant-covered square chocolate cake for the Australian couple. The design was based on a wedding cake taken off of the internet. The wedding color was turquoise so I tied a turquoise ribbon around the bases of the cakes. I used royal icing for the simple piping decorations and enhanced the cake with real frangipani flowers. I stick the topper on the cake with  royal icing.

Honey Joys

It took me weeks before I got the name of this cornflakes cups right. If not for a blogger whose blog I follow, I would not have known its  name. Her version is a little different from the ones I made before. Although both recipes use butter-honey mixture as the binding agents, hers uses sliced almonds and sesame seeds as garnish. I used sultanas and raisins but it never crossed my mind to use nuts in place of dried fruit.  Uh, another info learned.

Since my turndown dessert recipe modification, I avoid doing repeat recipes. It's not always possible though. I make treats for the resort's guests seven times a week. If time does not permit, I turn to the old recipes I am familiar with. When I discovered a different version of cornflakes cups, I thought I should give it a try for a change.

A Not So Rocky Road

I was looking for an old recipe in my  stash of notes when I stumbled upon this rocky road recipe. I did a quick review  and  decided to give it a go. It's so easy to make and that's the kind of desserts  I'm always eyeing for  as I have my hands full all the time.  It's  my only way to get a full days work done.

This rocky road crunch bar is made with high quality dark chocolate.  The walnuts and marshmallows I had in stock were just enough for the amount needed. It was a last minute decision  so I had no extra for garnishing, thus the plain looking top. Well, they still turned out deliciously good, chewy and nutty chocolate bar.