the girl turns (almost) 21 :)

2 days ago, my darling-est partner in crime turned 21! or not quite. 'Part 3' and I threw her a surprise birthday party 10 days before the actual date itself since I was going home for easter break.

our elaborate plan involved a test trial for the cake - which unfortunately, failed the taste test by the birthday girl. making the cake a week before the actual day, and presenting it to her as some cake we bought from 'the cake shop around the corner', she said it was not that fantastic. I swear, my heart literally sank. Then again, it was indeed constructive criticism, and no one is ever that perfect on first attempt. So, second attempt at the cake is the one seen above! Looks-wise, I believe this is one of my best decorated cake to date, taste-wise, it was not bad. I made a chocolate-banana cake (inspired by 'Part 3.5' nonetheless), before coating it with delish chocolate ganache. And in a bid to cover the ugly un-frostable (i ran out of frosting - big mistake) sides, I ran down to get some cadbury chocolate fingers. So, using melted chocolate as glue, 'Part 3.5' and I spent a good half an hour 'gluing' and pasting. It was great fun as we reminisced about the days where we would watch 'Dessert Circus'!

so 8 hours later, with a lot of breaks in between, the cake was done! transportation of the cake proved to be another challenge! For some strange reason, not a single cake shop in Chinatown would sell us cake boxes. And on top of the irate, resounding 'No', I would get a glare that almost rendered me helpless. So. Chinatown is definitely NOT the place to buy cake boxes sans cake. However, because I had to continue with the original plan to go shopping with the birthday girl, Part 3 had the daunting task of the logistical aspects! (doesn't this sound like a huge project?)

Amazingly, jia did not for a single moment suspect anything. Not when we bumped into almost every single person that we invited to the dinner over the course of the day. And, not even when Part 3 and flat boarded the same train AND the same carriage as the one we were in- carrying both the cake and the present. Imagine my sheer horror and thought bubbles going 'Ok. This is IT'. But, my dearest kitchen partner STILL failed to detect any conspiracy.

While we successfully surprised her with both the dinner with close friends, and 'the present of the year- DS lite (in Pink, no less)', the best part, for me at least, was seeing her face when I brought out the cake. The look on her face, when she realised that I had not been spending the past 10 hours watching Korean dramas, but baking the cake for her, was priceless.

If you are reading this hun, I hope you enjoyed the night. And even though you are turning 21 soon, you will be, always and forever, 18!