A holiday, a birthday & a castle cake

What are your plans for the long festive holiday? Go Cuti-Cuti Malaysia perhaps? We're just gonnna stay in KL during the 4 day break (the girls' school holiday is only on Mon & Tues). In a way I am glad that the school chose not to go on a week-long school holiday -- sekolah baru sangat start balik.

And the girls have somewhat gotten into their new weekday schedule at home... when I come home from work most days dah start buat homework dah without me having to tell them to -- though ikut mood deruang jugak. Sometimes I do have to remind them, but at least when I mention the word 'homework', they'll immediately go to their room... so my point is, ok lah tak cuti seminggu... nanti momentum lari lagi...

Since we're not going anywhere, I decided to organise Misha's 8th birthday party this Sunday. She'll only turn 8 on Feb 3, but am organising it earlier to take advantage of the long festive weekend. The party kecik-kecik je... more of makan-makan with only close relatives attending.

Since I tengah demam cupcakes (heheh), I had told her that I'd make her fancy cupcakes on a tier for her birthday (she's one of those who is forever planning her birthday party every month of the year -- a day after her party pun dah nak start planning for next year's!!). She was ok with it until she saw a Wilton castle cake mould at a baking supplies store sometime end of 2008.

the castle cake mould

She begged me to get it but I firmly said no. Reason #1 is that the mould isn't exactly cheap, plus I foresee we won't be using it often after the party (setahun sekali pun ntah tidak!). Secondly, I don't think I can decorate the cake as nice (or nearly as nice) as per the photo and instruction.

She has been sulking ever since. Everytime there's mention about the party, she'll put on a pout and muka kesian, demanding a castle cake. Kesian la pulak...

So on Monday, after taking my car for a visit at the clinic (kereta sakit!), I headed off to Cake Connection @ PJ One. Walau dah kata tak nak beli, my motherly instinct was pleading with myself to turutkan kehendak anak. What I know is, she'll be extremely delighted to know that she'll be getting the cake that she wants. After all, she'll only have an 8th birthday party once... and so I went home with the mould.

Actually, she's been wanting a castle cake for a couple of years now. I made a castle cake for Maira on her 4th b-day (no mould was used -- just my creativity berpandukan Australian Women's Weekly Children Birthday Cake Book) and she's been wanting one like her sis' ever since. (I'll upload a pic of Maira's cake when and if I manage to find it nanti).

Some nights ago, I baked a cake in the mould to see if the cake can detach itself easily... alhamdulillah, ok... the challenge is decorating it with buttercream. Three more days to the party and I'm getting nervous about getting the cake to look like it should when the time comes. I already told Misha, "kalau tak lawa kita tak payah tunjuk orang, ok?" hahaha...

this is how the cake should look like after decorating with buttercream

Wish me luck!!