Since I was a kid, I love to cook and bake. I have been inherit the cooking skills by my beloved mother (mama) and grandmother (nenek), since both of them are a full time housewife.
As suppose, both my mama and nenek really spend their time in the kitchen to prepare meals for the family. Thus, most of their meals are delicious home-cooked meals. Let me list my favourite home-cooked meals by Mama & Nenek.
Mama’s delicacies are Asam Pedas, whether it is Ikan Pari, Ikan Parang or even simply Ikan Kembung. Her delicious Ayam Paprik, Tomyam, Ayam Ungkep (Javanese Dish with a twist of Malaysian style), Labu Masak Lemak with Pucuk Manis and the list goes on and on and on!! Well, usually mum’s cooks are the best cz they cook with their heart! I love you, Mama.
Next will be my dearest Nenek. Before she went ill due to stroke in 2012, Nenek was fond with her cooking skills. Just so you know, my Nenek will always prepare her pastes waaaayyyy early before she even cook! Her fridge were full of Chili Boh paste, Anchovies paste for Atuk’s favourite Sup Bening and paste for marinating her fried chicken. Speaking of her fried chicken, yeap it is licking finger good! Well, to me it is way better than the famous fried chicken chained restaurant. Nenek introduced me to Batang Keladi Masak Lemak. Man, it was superb!!
Now, let’s talk about how I can venture into baking. People who are closed to me know that I love to cook and bake. During my childhood, I love to bake Chocolate Moist Cake. This recipe was given from my Dentist’s mother. It taste so good. Unfortunately I seldom bake when I started to enter boarding schoold and straight to university.
Speaking of me married to my beloved husband, Elmy Halily, he was the man who encourage me to bake. We were married on 8th December 2012 after a year we were engaged.
Few months after we were married, I tried to bake Chocolate Moist Cake with whatever we had in the kitchen. At that time, we had no mixer or whatever, so I baked manually. And guess what, it turned out bad! So bad I had to threw it away! 😂
And at that moment, my husband bought me a Kenwood mixer. I have tried to bake many things but it still turned out so bad.
My first ever birthday cake after we’ve got the mixer. Chocolate cake with blueberry cream cheese. This cake baked for my sister’s and my 26th birthday.
Amateur cake. It was bitter because I used Dutch Cocoa Powder too much.
I even baked cupcakes for my parents’s birthday. Top : Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Sauce & Chocolate Buttercream.
Below: Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
At that time, my decoration skills was better on cupcakes than cake. When I crumbed coat my cakes, I tend to be very very messy!
So then my husband decided to send me to a pastry school, to sharpen my baking skills. However at that time I was still working at an audit firm. We decided to take part time classes on weekends. And we found a pastry school that has the complete set of syllabus with reasonable price; Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
The course was an intensive 12-weekend classes with the final weekend of assessment, from 9am-6pm. So imagine I have to wake up early everyday for the past three months! But yeah, it’s worth it! The classes were consist of Bread, Breakfast Pastries, Tarts, Cupcakes, Traditional Cakes, Petit Fours, Chocolate, Wedding Cakes & Cookies.
I really had a very good experience for that 12 weekends. With friendly and lovable teammates, my cooperate partner cum gossip partner, Moira Zamri and very patient and thoughtful Chefs; Chef Niklesh, Chef Abu, Chef Otto, Chef Angelo, Chef Peter, Chef Lim & Chef Jess. They are so great and talented, and never hesitate to teach and guide us, and even gave us lots of tips on baking.
Cookies class with Chef Peter.
After all the 11 classes, I have managed to get my assessment done a year after that. Yeah, a year. Cz I was pregnant after my last class and decided to take the assessment after I am done with confinement. So I took my assessment in May 2016. Alhamdulillah, I did well and received my Part Time Certificate a month later. I am proud of myself.
Well, thanks to my Husband who has been the most influential person in the world to persuade me into this pastry life. And now as in return, we open up a homemade bakery called Sarwazucar Cakes & Pastries.
Want to know how we establised our baking business? Wait for our next blog post!
Sarwazucar Cakes and Pastries 