Sneak peek (or not)

Where has all the time gone? In just 5 months, my grandson Lachlan will already be 2 years old!  It hasn't even been that long since I shared about his existence here! He is my world these days and everything I do seems to revolve around him. When he is with me (which is a LOT), I can't do anything much that doesn't involve him and I have had to adjust my own life according to his schedule. It is much like being a first time mother all over again! It has been a great challenge but I am not complaining.  I am happy!

When Lachlan is not with me, that is when I squeeze in my baking. I try to finish cake orders first. If by some miracle, I still have the time (and will) to do some experimenting then that is a huge bonus! Today, for instance, Lachlan is at daycare.  Guess what I am having for lunch? Cake 🙅!!  I made a Rocky Road cake this morning,  the recipe of which I intend to include in my "I don't know if it's ever going to get finished" second book.

It's another copycat of a Red Ribbon bakeshop cake.

Truth is, I have been making new cakes for the past several months with the same intention of putting all of them in the book. Sometimes I have to time it when there's an occasion, like this Chocolate Pistachio cake which I made for my husband's birthday last November...

Or this Biscoff (or Speculoos) cake for my sister in-law's birthday in December.

Other times I make cakes just because it makes me feel guilty not to exert more effort...

Mocha crumble cake

Coconut almond (Rafaello) cake

Chocolate mousse cake

There are still more but I am going ever so slowly with the writing and drafting 😢 And I still have this whole list of ideas for cakes to do!

I know I have been real unfaithful to this blog. But I do hope you are all still out there.  And I hope you are still willing to wait patiently for me. Motivate me, please 🙏 If you have any request for cakes that you want me to "copy", let me know! Make my list even longer 😄!

Ok that's it for now!  I have to go and clean up everything I used to make my Rocky Road cake.  I just dumped them in the sink so I can update this blog while I still can.  Till next!

Frosted Heaven eBook on Etsy

Just dropping by quickly to let everyone know that the Frosted Heaven eBook is now available in my Etsy shop. To those from the EU member countries that have been interested to get the eBook but couldn't because of the VAT issue, here now is your chance.  Etsy takes care of adding the VAT to the total purchase price!  This is an instant download and unlike before where problems downloading occurred rather frequently, I do not foresee any difficulties with Etsy.

I am really hoping I could get some time off from my super hectic life to work on a second recipe book.  It's been a long time coming!  The ideas are all there but how to squeeze working on them into everything else that is going on in my life, I really don't know! Fingers crossed, maybe before the year ends?  We'll see!

Look!

... at what I recently got in the mail!

Printed copies of my book!  I ordered a few to send to my family. One copy is for my aunties, to whom I dedicated the book. Only 2 out of the 5 sisters are remaining and my aunt, the baker, is already 89 years old. I am excited for her to know how she has passed on the love of baking to me.  

I wish I could have more copies printed out but the cost is just too much.  Even with the least expensive option - softcover and standard paper, it is still very pricey.  The book quality is alright but I find the photos, including the cover, rather dark.  (It is not really as bright as it appears in the photo above.)  Overall though, I am still very happy to see my hard work published and bound :).

Last Saturday, it was my youngest son's Confirmation.  I chose to make him an old-fashioned chocolate cake.  I had the book open while I was making it, just to make sure I was doing everything according to instructions!

I reckon I did a fairly accurate job!

Many people are asking me for the recipe of this particular cake.  Unfortunately, I cannot share it here as I had already indicated before that it will only be shared in the book.  Only fair to those who have already purchased it, right?

If anyone wishes to get the printed book instead of the eBook, the BLURB BOOKSTORE is offering a 20% discount till the end of September. Just enter the code SEPTEMBER20PERCENT at the checkout.  Otherwise, you can get the eBook from here, if you haven't done so already. 

Enjoy the rest of the week!

The Frosted Heaven eBook is here!

Someone once told me that the recipes on this blog make Filipinos all over the world "closer to home".  Isn't that such a nice thing to know?  When I first posted the Ube Macapuno cake recipe, I never expected such a huge response.  That inspired me to post more recipes.  I have lost count of how many people I have corresponded with because of the recipes - some had one-off questions but some had gone further and formed friendships with me, even just through constant exchanges of emails.

Not too long ago, I took a break from selling cakes.  In my down time, I thought of working on compiling my recipes into a book.  As it is, I have a lot of my recipes scribbled in different sheets, scattered in different parts of our house.  The more used ones have been stuck in the fridge door for years!  I thought it would be a great idea to have something concrete to pass on to my children, just in case they would be interested in baking in the future.  Another thought was to share them to the rest of the world, in particular, to those who have faithfully followed me through the years, trying one recipe after another, sharing cake photos, and giving me feedback or telling me of their experiences.

So finally, I finished it!  An eBook containing the most popular chiffon cake recipes from this blog PLUS more new ones.

Front cover

I am very happy with the way the book turned out.  It does look like it was very professionally-made.  In the near future, I will have this printed into an actual book.  But for now, the eBook will suffice.

To see a preview of the eBook, for more information about it and how to purchase it, please click here or on the image link at the sidebar.

Here's hoping for your kind support.  Please help me spread the word! Thank you!