Thank YOU!

Baking has always been my passion...It used to be simply a hobby of mine but thanks to the support of family, friends & some sweet strangers I met via the online cake & bake community ( who are now my dearest of online friends ), my passion is now a lil home-based goodies business :-)

I remember when I got my first order...I was practically a nervous wreck! And yes, I still am one till now *blush* I somehow can never get rid of the nervousness :-P I guess my nervousness is a good thing in a funny way as it will serve as a reminder to myself to do the very best for each of my goodies :-) 

I am obviously new in this venture of mine and yes, I do still have tonnes to learn but receiving orders from around my local community really help boost my confidence in creating my goodies. So when I started to get orders outside of my local area, I'm beyond speechless! 

Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am now without your support my dear goodies lovers :-) From the bottom of my heart, I THANK YOU! I hope I will be blessed with more support & love from each & every one of YOU ✗o✗o

I end this post with some cupcakes photos - an order I received from my dear sweet friend Ree, who's all the way in Australia. She requested that I bake this cupcakes for her best friend here in Ampang :-) Thank you so much Ree for giving me the opportunity to bake for you. I am truly grateful for your friendship & support. Hugs!

Simple Red Velvet Cupcakes

Going Naked!

Whoaaa! Don't let the title of this post freak you out :-P I promise, it's nothing vulgar! Just read on & you'll see ;-)

A simple cake with a slight touch of frosting - some call it naked cake...Some call it bare cake...Some even call it rustic cake. Yes, I call it naked cake, hence the title of this post :-) See, I told you it's nothing vulgar ;-)

Whatever you call it, I just have to try it - again! I've actually done something similar before for my previous order. That's where dear sweet Ms. Shafaleena saw it & requested that I make one for her engagement day. Always the romantic fool, of course I jumped up with joy for the opportunity :-)

To my sweet friend, Shafaleena, I know this post is wayyyyyyyyyy too late, but I just want to wish you all the best in your future. May you find tonnes of happiness & joy in your new life's journey :-) You're such a wonderful person & I know deep in my heart that you'll be blessed always ✗o✗o 

Naked Style Red Velvet Cake

Every Day Is A Learning Process

Yes, the title above is actually my life's mantra...Every day is indeed a learning process for me. It really amazes me at just how many new things I can learn in a day! The learning process never stops for me - ever! From something complicated like the meaning of life ( am still wondering the answer to it though ) to something simple like I can actually use baking soda as a cleaning solution to clean stuffs :-P

Every day when I wake up from my beauty sleep, the first thing that will cross my mind is "what will I learn today?"...I'm just like a kid when I find new things to learn, especially when it comes to my passion - baking! I get all excited & at times I'll giggle non-stop! Really!

I was sort of that way recently when my dear friend, Edura, requested for some Elmo & Cookie Monster themed cookies :-P Mind you, fancy cookie making is sort of new to me. I think I do pretty well with cut cookies, you know those type of cookies that is cut out using cookie cutters. But cookie cutter patterns can be pretty basic & there really is not much choice available here. So it was quite impossible for me to find cookie cutters in the shape of Elmo & Cookie Monster.

Now, this is when I get to learn new things :-) Yup, after much googling ( there is such a word, right? ), I learned that I can pretty much create my own cookie cutters! Yipeee!

So here's the outcome of my "free-style" cookies :-P Do bear in mind that it's my first time trying this out so it looked pretty rough *guilty!* Hhhmmmm, with more practice & time, I'm sure I'll be able to master it ( hopefully! ) :-P

Chocolate Butter Cookies With Elmo & Cookie Monster Theme

Together with the cookies, Edura also requested for this Nuts 'Bout Nutella Cake :-)

Basic Nuts 'Bout Nutella Cake

To my dear Edura, thank you so much for trusting & allowing me to try out new things :-) Your support means the world to me! Thank you & I do hope that you've enjoyed the goodies. Big hugs to you my dear!

To my readers, remember, every day is a learning process. Bask & accept all the knowledge as it is precious!

Thank you for reading my post & much love to all! ✗o✗o

Peanut Butter Nutella Cupcakes

Greetings & hello there goodies lovers!

Hoping all is well with you & your loved ones *flying kisses* Been wanting to update my blog as often as possible but I somehow couldn't manage to do so *sad face* So much has been happening plus, with the Ramadan & Syawal month recently, 'lil old me was swarmed with 1001 chores. Busy time indeed! 

To be honest, my few coming posts might be a bit 'short & simple'...Why? Well, I had to resort to some very basic & simple post entry in order for me to be able to catch up with my other long overdue post(s) :-P I tell you, I do have TONNES of pending posts in my draft box! Hope you don't mind the 'quickie' style entry as it's the best possible way ( that I can think of at the moment ) for me to clear my draft box :-P Ermmmm, that is if I can stop yapping - like what I seem to be doing right now!

Gosh! I'm such a yapper! No wonder I have loads of pending posts stuck in my draft box! I just can't stick to my supposedly 'short & simple' entry! Okay..okay! I'm so trying to stop my yap right this second!

Here's my Peanut Butter & Jam Cupcakes With Nutella topping which I made specially for Ms. Farah, all the way from Sungai Buloh, Selangor. Farah requested 50 pieces of this & I was more than happy to bake it for her. I have to admit that this is one of my personal favorite cupcake flavor...I mean, who wouldn't like a peanut butter base cake with strawberry jam filling & a 100% Nutella topping?!! :-P

As you can see from the photo, I stick to a very simple deco as requested by Farah herself. According to Farah, she just wanted to enjoy the goodies as it is - no frilly deco or anything of the sort ( just how I like my cupcakes when I eat it! ) :-P

Peanut Butter Nutella Cupcakes

My sincere thanks to dear Farah for her order & acquaintance. Farah, it was indeed a pleasure meeting up with you & I truly hope you and your family had enjoyed the cupcakes :-) Thank YOU & much love to you! ✗o✗o

An Angel Indeed

What does one do when one received a cake order from a customer?...Nothing serious, right? Just bake the cake & move on, I would say...Well, let me rephrase my question then. What does one do when one received a cake order from a customer AND customer requested for a mermaid figurine ( Princess Ariel to be exact! ) to accompany the cake? Errr, do bear in mind that THAT someone has never made a figurine in her life! I guess by now you already would have guessed that THAT someone is me :-P

Here's what actually happened the moment I received such a request from my dear customer, Miss CKN...I honestly 'blanked out' & if my jaw could physically drop to the floor, it really would! I was so panicky & repeatedly told CKN that I've never done any figurine...Even suggested that she try another baker. Yes, I really was THAT panicky + scared + nervous + oh you know all those feelings! CKN however wouldn't budge & lovingly insisted that I do her cake.

For dayssssssss ( and I really mean for days! ), I literally sat down staring into space wondering what I'm supposed to do. You have to know that I have never EVER done any figurine modeling before. Heck! Even as a kid, I fail at playing plasticine. Can't even shape a decent apple from plasticine, so how am I supposed to make a mermaid figurine with fondant?

Yes, I did turn to You Tube & try to learn on how to make fondant figurine from all the videos they have online but being a first timer, I was totally lost! Being all panicky didn't help too. I must have been too nervous that nothing I see on You Tube actually registered into my brain :-P

I was about to give up ( even plan to call CKN & tell her that she'll have to make do with a toy or something to replace the mermaid figurine ) when I suddenly decided to try my luck and seek help from one of my online cake idol, Lesley of Royal Bakery.

Let me tell you that it took me a lot of courage to write up an email to her & tell her of my dilemma. Embarassing too, I might add *blush* I was desperate & as the saying goes, desperate people do desperate things :-P Lesley was my last hope & to be honest, I really didn't expect a reply from her. I've decided that should I not hear from Lesley, I definitely ( and reluctantly ) would call CKN & tell her that I'm not able to come up with her mermaid. When I press the 'send' button from my email, I was really leaving it to chance :-P

Imagine then my surprise when I received a reply from Lesley. Not only was she kind enough to reply to all my inquiries, she even went out of her way to guide me on how to make the mermaid figurine. Honestly, I was so inspired by Lesley's patience & dedication that I finally gathered enough courage to start making my first ever figurine!

Now, the world premiere of my very first figurine :-P

Princess Ariel Themed Birthday Cake

Yup! My Very First Figurine *blush*

I even made some seashells themed cupcakes to go with CKN's mermaid cake ;-) Yup, I was that inspired! *chuckles*

Colorful Seashells

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how the cake & cupcakes turned out :-) I really couldn't have done it if not for the support & encouragement I received from CKN & Lesley. 

CKN, thank you so much for never giving up on me & for always pushing me on to try new things. Your love & support means the world to me. Thank YOU!

To Lesley, words can never describe how thankful I am for all you've done. Not only have you shared your knowledge but you've also changed my life. You have truly inspired me & because of you, I'm a much confident cake baker/decorator :-) From the bottom of my heart, thank YOU! Lesley, thank you for being my cake angel ✗o✗o

'THANK YOU FOR THE 1,000 FACEBOOK FAN' GIVEAWAY LUCKY FAN

Finally the time is here for me to announce Ritz Passion's lucky fan for the 'THANK YOU FOR THE 1,000 FACEBOOK FAN' giveaway! Yeayyyyy! 

Honestly, I was really looking forward to this moment ever since I started the giveaway :-) 

Now, without further ado...Drum roll pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Congratulations Li Na ( Win Lyn )! I'm looking forward to share the goodies which I have especially chosen for my lucky fan - YOU! :-) Thanks so much for joining in the fun & I look forward to hear from you :-) Please message me at my Page's message box or email me at ritzpassion@yahoo.com within four ( 4 ) days from today's date once you have read this good news so that we can coordinate on how you can redeem your prize ;-)

On another note, I wish to convey my sincere thank you to all my goodies lovers who had taken the time to participate in my giveaway. Your support & love means the world to me :-) For those who were not so lucky this time around, please don't give up as I will definitely be hosting more giveaways in the near future ;-) *pinky promise!*

A personal THANK YOU goes out to Lesley from The Royal Bakery for being such a dear in sponsoring her fabulous tutorials in this giveaway. Lesley, no words can ever describe how grateful I am for your continuous support & friendship. You are indeed my cake angel! 

Once again, thank you all for participating in my giveaway & for sharing my joy in achieving my Page's 1,000+ Facebook fan :-) I wouldn't be where I am now if it's not for the love & support from each & every one of YOU! 

Thank you & much love, always! ✗o✗o