It's Feng's 2nd birthday! To cater to the kids' small appetite, instead of a big cake, I've made a tower of cupcakes instead. I tried to make it into some rainbow colours, but the outcome was not very attractive. I should have put more colourings, but come to think of the artificial ingredients, I didn't regret that I've held back. Just hope my little boy has enjoyed the sight of having a birthday cupcakes tower with a sweet birthday song from his little friends.
To "compensate" Feng for the not so pretty cuppies, I bought a beautiful Strawberry Napoleon from Prego in the evening for a small celebration at home, it was simply delicious. Hmmmmmm.... Feng, mummy wish you good health and the best of everything always. :)

I had a sudden whim one night, to make chocolate cupcakes! Without much thoughts, I took out my utensils, start whipping up and not long after, the aroma of the chocolate cupcakes filled my kitchen. They looked presentable and taste was just fine, definitely one recipe that I will use again.
Out of the blue, I thought I should try out another recipe which is highly recommended by my ex-colleage. At least for comparison to the common chocolate cupcakes that I have just baked. She met up with me recently and insisted that I should try out this Red Wine Chocolate Cake recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It is by far her most craved for chocolate cake and has sweared by it. Out of curiosity on how amazing can it be and because Ning was with her grandma that night, I decided to give it a go.
This time, I took lesser time than before to bake these treats, hmmmm... the truth of practise makes perfect. Instead of a 9 inch round cake, I divided the batter into 15 cupcakes. The fragrance of red wine together with the bitter sweet valhorna instantly lingered in my mouth, oh my... they were just so heavenly. The fine texture with the softness of the sponge, make it awesome! I can taste the intense flavour of red wine and it kinda makes my tipsy, might not be recommended for kids. Haha.

Finally Feng is coming to a year old. He is now such a little mobile monster, creating a huge mass in the house, however most of the time he is craving for some comfort which makes him become a cuddly sweetie. : )

We threw a birthday party for him on 28 Jan 2012 (his 1st lunar birthday), Saturday and in preparation for that, I decided to bake some cupcakes for the guests. But I am still encountering problems with the frosting. They are either too sweet or they can't stand long at room temperature. So for this round, I went ahead with the vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream which had not failed me. They made nice swirl and could be left out for a longer period. I bake a total of 48 cupcakes (24 vanilla and 24 chocolate). The vanilla one was made a day before cos I knew I won't have enough time for 2 batches of cupcakes on the actual day. So on Saturday morning, I baked the chocolate cupcakes and buttercream. And true enough, I was lack of time, luckily my lovely sisters came to my rescue to help with the decoration and packing them into box for transportation to the birthday venue.

Now... feedback on the cupcakes:
1) Chocolate cupcakes were delicious with just right texture.
2) Vanilla cupcakes were a bit dry.
3) Buttercream cream was too sweet. I prefer the ones with little icing sugar instead.
4) Oh... the cupcakes were beautiful.
5) The kids simply love it, especially the frosting.
6) Can I pack some home?

I'm glad my guests enjoyed themselves at the event. I would call that an eventful day though I'm simply exhausted. But still wanna say... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FENG! Hope you will appreciate from the pictures what papa and mummy had done for you when you grow up.