Orders will resume End of JULY!!

Hello... Apologies for having not updated recently. I will put those pictures promised up-eventually. But more pressing news is that PinkZeebra will not be taking any orders from now until the end of July or even till August. Will update though if i'll be taking orders before then.

Real sorry for those who have been asking for orders and i've had to say no to.. Hopefully you can understand PinkZeebra is having an extended break and will be Back soon! =)

Busy May..

May has been such an exhausting month for me! And there's another week left!!

But it's been a good month. Lots of challenges and exciting new cakes hehe Don't get me wrong I love making simple cakes but every once in a while i like a challenge.. but this month i've had like too many! I've done a fairy castle cake, my Dad's big b'day cake, engagement cupcakes, last minute cakes- where i have to come up with my own designs!! Ugh thats too much pressure cos i worry that the receiving end of the cake might not like the design!!

I Apologise in advance for the poor photography!! huhu but i have a treat!! (for the next update hehe) I got my very talented photog friend- Chee to come by and take shots of my dads cake- so there'll be some pleasing to the eye images ;p I've only got a few though (the ones i nick off his fb heehee) more will come, eventually =D He's really really talented!! If anyone's looking for a photog you can msg him on his fb 'SChee Mistar'

Okay on to the pictures.. which is what most ppl look at ;p

By the way.. i have my phone back =)

This was lemon vanilla cake.. Highlighted their names with a touch of glitter!

I loved this one. The colours, the hearts and most importantly my client knew what she wanted. Thanx ;)

The castle cake was for baby Azra Bassamah's first b'day! I loved making this.. although i think i need more practise! Little fairies were scattered around the castle. Had a lil'duckie in a pond and jellybeans as gravel.. So cute!!

This was chocolate mud cake. For my lovely sis-inlaw. I was clueless for a design! In the end this is one of my fav cakes! I hardly ever use black in my cakes. But it gave it a bit of a much needed edge to the girly pink and white..

These cupcakes were for Ben and Jojo's engagement last week. Congrats guys! The box had a lid of course.. but i didn't get a nice picture of it hehe...

Finally, my dad's birthday was last week too.. This was the simple cake i made when we had our family gathering. I was also testing out my new cake stand-loved it! The bottom cake was carrot cake, middle was Just Janes cupcakes with strawberry fillings and the top was the same cupcakes surrounded by brownies-Yum! Something for everyone..

So upcoming in the next update will be my dad's other cake-that took 2days to make! My youngest brother's 'random' birthday cake and my cousin's Nikah cake (or first wedding cake).

Till next time. Have a great week! xx

PinkZeebra has no PhoNe?!

I'm very sorry (and embarrassed) to admit i've left my phone in Singapore over my short break. Must of been too relaxed hahaha

I was hoping it would be here tonight (and save me from confessing !!) But looks like i'll only get it Sunday *fingers crossed*

Please contact me through email if theres an urgency. And if anyone has called or texted, my apologies the phone is off. It should be back to normal by Monday 17th May =)

On the bright side my long awaited oven has finally arrived...Yay!! But i can't work it yet till i get an electrician in to sort out the power thingy... But Yay!! =) My mom must be so pleased hahaha

Now i've got to get ready for my cakesessss for this weekend.. Update soon xx

Mother's Day and Birthdays! and Birthdays!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Aunts, Nana, Nini and to all the mother's and mother's to be out there!!

Above: Original Brownie with a little touch to make it prettier for mother's day with carnations. I loved how the carnations turned out.. If i'm not mistaken thats the 'mother's day' flower.

Below: This was an order for a client who wanted handbags, shoes and jewelry on the cake... I have to confess- i suck at making lil'bags n shoes n jewelry.. Note to self: to practice making them!! But i'm really happy with the turn out though. I hope my client liked it too!!

Bothe tiers were white chocolate mud cake. Top tier had strawberries smothered in white chocolate ganache for the filling.. Yum!

Below: This cake is one of my best so far.. I really loved making it for hubby's cousin and nephew!!

It's a double celebration cake: Wafiq turned 5 on Sunday and his daddy's birthday is the day after. "Happy Birthday!!"

Round cake is chocolate mud cake and square cake is chocolate fudge cake.

The figurines are of Rahimin on the phone (as usual... haha) with his sons Wafiq and Hazeeq in Manchester United outfits with their names on the backs of their tops- their daddy's favorite team! And lil'presents filled the top of the cake because it was a little spacey... hehe

Note: I think the cake would have had more fab! if the cakes were actually a little bit taller..hmm... i think i like tall cakes... huhu.. Gives me an idea for my dad's cake.. but still lost on the design side... sigh... ...

Below: Wooow... i almost forgot about this one!! Remember the '1' tin i blogged about previously?! Well a client came up with another fabulous idea.. {Okay i admit when it comes to certain things like football, cars... i get lost! But the good news is.. theres Google =D } So she said why not use the '1' cake because her bf is a goal keeper (so his jersey is #1) Woohoo!! Another reason to use the tin!! And he supports Barcelona.. Once i googled thattt... *BAM* i thought of this design below.. And she said she really liked it *Yay* Thanks again babe! =)

So i've had quite a few enquiries about pricing for cakes and figurines and modelings etc...

Here's a quick brief to give you a rough idea of what pricing is based on. I know for some of you, you wonder why some cakes cost a lot.. I used to wonder this as well- back in the day when I was clueless about cakes and cake decorating!

Cake prices vary from the size/flavour of the cakes, the design, time it takes to make (it's very time consuming), other variables for the designs effects- like sprinkles, frostings, fillings etc...

Figurines are something else all together. They are cute and add characteristics to cakes. They depend on the individuals and are quite unique in their designs and details. Quite time consuming as well.

Modeling on the other hand like animals, fairies, toadstools etc.. depending on their sizes and how much detailing goes into them, colours used, time to make... etc..

I hope this gives an insight into pricing and isn't too confusing.. Best thing to do is email me/call me =)

Quick Note! =)

Just a quick notice for ppl interested..

Saturday 8th May 2010- Morning onwards..

There will be a Charity Bazaar happening at the Kuwaiti Embassy's Residence which is in Kiarong.

There will be lots of goodies available- some PinkZeebra tiny cupcakes and brownies and mini raspberry coconut cakes.. but there'll be lots and lots of cakes i hear and clothes and stuff.. It's for a good cause so if anyones free..or hungry.. hehe

Orders have stopped this week!!

I'll only be taking orders for the 14th of May onwards.. You can still email me orders before then.. Just not baking till the 14th. You could say i'm taking a quick break huhu.. I am FLAT out this week!

Will update this blog next week too.. Just havent had the chance just yet.

This is just a quick note =)

Have a great weekend everyone!! xx

Randomness...

hello...

So i've been kinda slack the last week and this one hehe.. I've been busy with stuff- other than cakes ;p

But i've still been taking orders and i've got a new item to add to the menu- Raspberry Coconut cake- my brothers in-laws are already fans *YaY* I think i need to add more fruity cakes to my menu.. but i'm not a big fan of them hehe.. i only bake cakes i know i'll eat- apart from fruit cake.. I make that because my nini and my aunts love it.. ♥ (everything else is 'manis' for them) hahaha

May is coming up.. and i've got my dad's big 60th b'day coming up. We had a conversation that sorta went like this:

Me: What kinda cake would you like this year Dad?

Dad: Why do you make those other cakes the way you make them?

Me: Huh?! Cos.. thats what they asked for.. ..

Dad: Yes, thats because you don't know them.. But you know me, So make a cake how you feel best represents me! How you feel about me.. (and then walks away)

Me: *Jaw DropS*

This is why i like to get as much details of how a client wants their cakes to turn out or descriptions of the person the cake is for..

My dad also went on about how a design must have meanings and themes..etc.. can't remember how it went exactly but i got the picture!! I'm feeling totally pressured now!

And my mom helps by going 'Why don't you do the IBB building (now BIBD) in Bandar, since it was one of your dad's first buildings?'- Mom i've never made a building out of a cake before!!!!!!

To top that off.. it's my youngest brother's birthday at the end of May.. and i asked him the same thing-'What cake would you like?' and he goes 'i want a cake with random things on it'--Ooookkaaayy...another descriptive person in my family!!

I swear my family members have to be the hardest clients to please-and they don't pay me!!! *hmmpf*

Except my mom.. she knows what she wants =) (she also reads my blog) kekeke

So wish me luck on those endeavors, we'll see how it turns out.. i am open to suggestions by the way =)

I was playing around with some extra icing and decided to try out a piped rose.. it's easy, everyone does them- yeaaa.. till u do it yourself.. took me a while to get a hang of them.. they turned out pretty.. so i randomly stuck them on a cake my ordered for her dinner party hehee..

I got a request to do a rocky road brownie for a birthday.. and the birthday girl's description was: she's a girly-girl who loves fairies, pink, butterflies, flowers- stuff like that..

Okayy... You'd think a brownie was a brownie right?? Wrong!!! hehehe not when i have anything to do with it!

I think this must be the prettiest brownie i've ever seen/made- i am so in love with the frog prince ;)

It was really fun making these figurines.. i call it the Fantasy Forest theme.. Happy Birthday Jojo =)

Oh yea and there were cupcakes too.. Mimo lemon cupcakes!

Ps: Yes Zat, ur cake will totally be awesome this year!! With LOTS of ganache ;p ♥

pushing boundaries..

Another busy week.. but i loved it :)

Okay so...i'm a bit of a dork cos i love making, baking and decorating cakes! Uhuh!

It's only taken how many years to realise this..

So this week..

Was my wonderful Mom's birthday..

Happy Birthday again Mom! xx

Earlier in the month, i showed her all these books to help her make a choice on what kind of cake she wanted, and this is what she chose.

It's a vase of flowers. And she loved it =)

People kept calling it 'a pot' of flowers haha which was fair enough.. The chocolate mud cake turned out well too cos it sorta looked like soil huhu..

It was really quite a tall cake.. about 9 layers of delicious chocolate mud cake.. was quite hard to cut too hahaha...

(i can laugh about it, i'm just the baker :p)

How coincidental is it that my brother's b'day and my brother in-law's b'day both fall on the 19th of April??... and they both have names starting with 'A'?? hmm...

Anyway my hubby requested this...interesting cake for his younger brother (for fun!)- and i was up for the challenge ;) The cake is white chocolate mud cake with white chocolate ganache.. The design is Debbie Brown's.

A Bodice Cake

Happy B'day Bg =)

After the big cakes were all done.. my cousin had an order in for around 200 cupcakes and tinies for my niece's b'day party.. Man.. she is the luckiest!! I had to wait till i got married, to have my name iced on cupcakes- as a give away gift! (I should put those pictures up one day.. i trained all my cousins-well the girls anyway to ice around 600 cupcakes for my nikah huhuhu....i had workshops and everything... i should of known from then i loved making cakes!)

Back to the image below.. these were put in lil'containers for individual gifts for the guests.

Happy 5th Birthday Nabilah =)

My brother isn't here for his b'day (he's over in Brisbane, studying hard.. ..) But i promised to email over the picture of his b'day cake that i made for him (even though he's not here).. My mom actually came up with this idea and said.. 'why don't you just photoshop his name on?' .. and so i did hehe.. (u gotta love Ps)

Happy B'day Rif.. love you lots!! Made this especially for you *winx*

ps: don't tell dad i did this ;p

If Zat was here she'd probably yell at me for using so many font colors.. (she does all the technical stuff for me like.. make the blog, design it, etc..) But she's not here..Oooh well!

Is it weird that i'm sleep deprived cos i think about cakes? How to cut them, bake them, decorate them, the colours... oh it goes on.. yea... it's sad i lose sleep on this.. but i really really love it!!

I was going through designs with my sis in law today and realised i really wish ppl would order more fun cakes for baby showers, kids b'days, baby arrivals, weddings and all sorts of fun occasions.. cos there are just so many many many designs i'm itching to try out!! hehe..

( i can wish :p)

I can't wait for June. . I'll be off continuing on the 2nd part of the course i attended last year in Oz *woohoo* Something i am looking forward to very much!

OKay i'm babbling now.. Good night!

1st week of April

I have seriously had the hardest time uploading pictures today :(

Anyway last week was very interesting. I tried out a couple new things, which was fun..

This post will be brief, i'll just elaborate on the images *lazy* huhu

This was for a cousin-in-law... who's ankle i Accidentally landed on during one of our family games.. who would of thought that.. .. .. hehe

~ 'Sorry' brownies covered in chocolate frostings with fondant letters, and Beautiful Bianca cupcakes (banana chocolate chip)

This is a carrot cake covered in multi-coloured cream cheese frosting with buttercream squiggle designs on top, made this especially for someone dear to me ;)

Left side: 2x rows of chocolate ♥-shaped cakes covered in chocolate frosting and a row of vanilla ♥-shaped cakes covered in vanilla frosting- this was for Fidz!

Happy Belated B'day sweetie!

Right side: ♥-shaped brownies covered in chocolate ganache covered with ♥ sprinkles. Sitting on an icing covered ♥-shaped board, i did for fun.. just because it looked prettier this way!

Hope Didi n Andi enjoyed them :)

Another cousin-in-law, Busera (who i didn't injure) had a brilliant idea for her son's 5th b'day. She got me to bake around 60 cupcakes to bring to her son's school. And she brought along lots n lots (i'm imagining there were lots, because i wasn't there but i told her to bring Lots) of different kinds of sprinkles and lollies for the kids to decorate at whim! I can imagine the chaos of creativity that went on that morning.. Hope they had heaps of fun! =D

Pink Desserts Day!! I attended the Pink event yesterday.. I dragged my hubby along because i hardly knew half the ppl there...He was not happy with the humidity yesterday!! hehehe

It was a great turn out tho! I was very impressed, not only were there tons of yummy desserts (some were even in pink) they also had their merchandise ready for sale. Items included aprons, t-shirts, polo shirts, reusable bags, towels and badges.

So what they're actually doing is compiling original recipes on desserts from anyone and turning it into a recipe book. All profits will go to the Breast Cancer Support group-hence the colour Pink!

i submitted my Beautiful Bianca recipe because it's a real favorite of ours at home. And hope who ever bakes them enjoys them as much as we do =)

But i swear mine was the simplest looking one yesterday, everybody had their desserts on pretty plates/stands or decorated really prettily... sigh.. mine looked like the above! Oh well.. you can't win them all ;p ( i hope Rano doesn't read my blog ;p)

Last but not least, Happy Birthday Ben!

His lovely sister ordered this brownie walnut cake smothered in dark chocolate ganache for him! Unfortunately her sister-in-law (ie: me =] ) has itchy hands and made ducks and sharks hahaha... i hope he doesnt mind!

Till the next update, which should be quite interesting because it's my mom's bday this week and she's already decided on her cake!! Take care everyone!

Number 1

Wow.. what a whirlwind the last two weeks have been.. the Good kinda whirlwind though =)

So i think i've gotten over my 'thing' with portugese egg tarts now. I had the renowned Lord Stow's egg tarts in Hong Kong.. and yea... was not all that- for me!

Then i moved on to Singapore where i had my daily dose of soy latte's and multi grain bagels with cream cheese *bliss* I really should learn how to make my own soy latte as milk is not that great for me =/ And then i went to Bangkok and had daily doses of fruits hehe ok so i didnt try all that many desserts as i said i would but i did.. they were just the usual chocolate cakes, cheesecakes.. nothing to WoW about... but i did buy lots of books... lots and lots =D so i'll be trying out some new decorating techniques (new to me ;p)

During my travels i bought this '1' tin.. Cos i knew i'd be making this special cake for lovely Sarah Imani's first birthday.. So please don't order for any other ages than 1, 11, 111 and maybe i could do a 10 but it'd be a round '0' haha... unless u tell me way in advance- then i'll try to order the numbered tin in ;)

Back in business 5th April 2010!

Hello ppl... Big Apologies for running out of the country last minute.. I literally bought my tixthe day before i left.. Hopefully there will be more scrumptious treats to offer when i'm back =)

I'm out getting inspired in three different cities in Asia. Trying out all the delicious desserts they have to offer..ie: not holiday- Research! ;)

As always if you've got the cravings you can email me for any orders from the 5th onwards.. Cheers!!

Blonde blondies

Hello... Just a quick post. These are blondies (white chocolate brownies) with macadamia nuts in blossoms and bubbles.. These are slightly more pricey because of the macadamia's- normally they have with almonds. But this was a special request, sorry about the wait hee =)

After this i will update the menu because i've had a few comments on it-seeing as i haven't added my latest goodies.. But if you have any special requests that aren't on the menu, feel free to just txt/email me and i can let you know if i can make them or not soon after..

This was for my favourite customer..

I've been doing a lot of browsing ie: googling for ideas on cakes lately and there are sooo many amazing and talented cake decorators out there making crazy cakes!! I wish i had half the talent that all these ppl have- is that greedy?! keke one can dream..

Have a great weekend ppl.. i'll update again next week because (it's not confirmed yet) i might be flying out again next weekend.. =) *fingers crosseded*

The last minute Mini..

Okay i've been very slack about updating this week.. hehe.. I've been baking brownies and cupcakes all week and experimenting with portugese egg tarts and lamingtons -finally huhu!!

Below was a very very last minute order.. and this is what i came up with in one afternoon.

This is a lamington cake with jam and cream filling..Mmm.... with Cheeky Carrie (carrot) mini cupcakes all around.

This was for Bg Adi who loves loves lovessss Mini's hehe so i made him a miniature one of the one he has.. So Happy 20th (+15) Birthday again Bg Adi =D

Hello...Happy March!!

The last week of Feb was fantabulous for me.. I hope you guys had a great week too..

Bangkok is definitely a place i'll return to! I had a surprise cake from my new family- and someone reads my blog!!! They made it a pink-zebra themed for me... i think it was my lovely sister-inlaw Tiyah ♥

Made by none other than the amazing Cits.. of www.citscakes.blogspot.com she does really amazing cakes!

Made these before i left for a birthday, 30 heart shaped brownies...who can resist having just one?! hehe

This week i've been obsessed with Portuguese egg tarts.. first trial came out okay but i wasn't happy with the outcome. Second trial i tweaked the recipe i had and it came out absolutely DELICIOUS!! heehee My brother who doesn't really like too much desserts-ate 3!! Huhu.. i'll post a pic tomorrow..

Tomorrow's adventure-Lamingtons! =)

Short break from 22.02.10 till 01.02.10!

We'll be open for orders on the 1st of March... Deepest apologies for any inconvenience and any cravings gone unsatisfied! It's just a week.. heehee

I'll be off to Bangkok for a few days and its My Birthday weekend!! Woohoo....

To all my loved ones, i don't ask for much butttt...... This is the cake i want!! Just like Rihanna's by Planet Cake... but in pink with black stripes...thanxxxx (I'm probably dreaming here....)

Have a Fantabulous week ahead everyone... i know i will ;)

♡ Zari

Baby Shower Cake

I was chatting with my Emma about cranberries.. and it led to her friends' Meg and Michelle's baby shower.. So then we browsed and came up with a bunch of ideas- cos baby shower cakes are so cute you want everything on them! But thats not realistic! Soo.. we came up with this..

The teddy bear sitting on top of the cake opening baby's present (very cheekily).. While baby is stuck on the bottom cake looking up at baby's presents being opened Awwww...... :(

Which brought them to be surronded by Cry Baby Cupcakes...... hehe

hehehe i loved the cry babies... each one was special...

LV Belt

This was an interesting cake, my first attempt at making a real-life-size-thing! And it was fun in a challenging way! The LV belt buckle was spray painted in edible gold paint to give it that look. I hope the girls that ordered it for their teacher liked it =)

Happy Birthday Dada =)

Happy Birthday Dada!! I hope you had a wonderful lunch with us.. unfortunately i didn't get the group shot.. but i captured lots of you =)

Your now the model for the Raspberry-berry Cheese Crumble!! Which was uber-delectable if i say so my self huhu!

x.o.x.o.

There's something about orange..

This 2-tier fondant cake was for Wawa's special occasions: 2 birthdays and a wedding anniversary.. 'Happy birthday... and Happy anni!!' I'm sure it was a big party ;)

Top tier was white chocolate baked cheesecake and the bottom tier was chocolate mud cake.. covered with blossoms and some hearts.. i hope they enjoyed it..! I really enjoyed making it.. Thanx for ordering =)

♡ Zari