Entrepreneurship: BE you own BOSS...

If you do not like to be under the command of an annoying, demanding, unreasonable boss... then I suggest
YOU be your own BOSS!!!

Well, as easy as it sounds, you need to consider quite a number of factors before you BE your own boss. First you need a business. You need to view and study the market. You need capital to start your business. Being an entrepreneur is not a walk in the park. You need to be determined, confident and of course unafraid to risk-taking. Before venturing into entrepreneurship, it would be helpful to conduct a self assessment to see if you are ready for the multitude of tasks ahead of you (StraitsTimes).

Questions you should ask yourself before you embark on your entrepreneurial voyage:

Question 1: Are you self-aware?

Question 2: Are you self-confident?

Question 3: Are you self-disciplined?

Question 4: Do you have a high level of self-esteem?

Question 5: Are you self-motivated?

Question 6: Do you know your self-worth?

Ponder upon these questions and see if you are ready to be your own boss... =)

Nur Scarflet... The Budding Business...

This semester, we will be covering consumer education and yes... we will get a chance to be entrepreneurs!!! Honestly, I was both excited and scared as I was not sure of what to expect. My group, comprising of Jehan, Nurul Ain, Fattasha, Nadira and myself have embarked on our entrepreneurship experience by forming Nur Scarflet, an online business whereby we will be selling to the scarves, shawls and brooches. Starting off was a bit rough as all of us were unsure about how to go about doing it, and most of all, we are doubtful that we are able to attract the market and make some sales.

Nur Scarflet was first founded in 19 January 2011. Looking at the marketing trends lately, we noticed that there are many online businesses that are operating their sales in facebook. It was simple, convenient, cost effective and efficient. Thus, we set up a Nur Scraflet facebook page, where we will upload our stocks on facebook and attract potential customers to view our page and hopefully they like something they see.

It is no doubt that there are many challenges that we faced. One of it was sourcing for the materials. We need to find outlets where they sell items (such as scarves, shawls and beads) at wholesale prices. This is crucial so as to ensure that we could minimise our expenditure so as to maximise the returns. We need to buy stocks at very cheap costs and sell them at common market prices of these items.

Though we just started our sales, we received great number of responses from facebookers. This is when, networking plays a big role. We tag friends on our stock albums, in turn (with hope) that their friends will see our page and recommend it to their friends and so it goes on...

For now, we are still working to keep the business running by bringing in more stocks ( more designs), attracting more potential customers and of course, providing the

best service we can to our valued customers who have supported us. =)

Eco-Friendly Lifestyle (I) - Shopping » Make Your Own Quiz

2 Tier Fondant Decorated Cake =)

Finally, I have something to post again!! Ok ... I think from most of my previous post, you would know by now that I’m just too crazy in love with food decorating.... especially for bakery goods! Since the day I signed up for the ...

“Fabulous 2-Tier Fondant Cake Decorating Workshop” at Sugar Inc. ,

I’ve been anticipating for the day to come ever since. This time, I really had the chance of assembling a cake from scratch...

Let me guide you through the normal cake assembling process:

1^st

I call that gadget to cut the cake into perfect halves "THE SAW"

Look at the perfect half!! i would never be able to do it with just a knife =S

– cut the cake into 2 halves or 3 halves (if the cake is tall enough, cut it across the height of the cake)

2^nd

YumYum Vanilla Buttercream!

– spread buttercream on one halve (here is where you can put your surprise in your cake... such as fruits or ganache or nuts!! So that when you cut open the cake.. u see a layer of decadent fruits awaiting for you to take a bite! =D), then top with another layer of cake

3^rd

– Crumb coat the cake. Basically this is just spreading a thin layer of buttercream ALL over the cake to fill up for holes and unevenness of cake. With crumb coating done, you will get a close to perfect cake! Hehe =P

4^th

– Refrigerate the cake to allow the buttercream to set (for me... I feel that to allow the buttercream to slightly harden or become firmer... so that it is much easier to cover the cake with fondant later on =) )

5^th

– Rolling out of fondant (the size of the rolled out fondant has to be big enough to cover the whole cake)

6^th

– take out the cake and covering cake with fondant. Smooth the sides and top, cut the excess fondant and TA DA!!!! A cake covered with fondant!!! =D

7^th

– decorate with anything your heart desires... Just make sure... they go well with everything that is on the cake!

In the class, I learnt how to stack the two tiers together. Just like a building, cakes need support too... can imagine a 5 tier wedding cake without any support system??? Well... that calls for a disaster!!! From what I’ve learnt through baking shows and books, dowels are the basic support system for a cake. They are like straws that are either made of wood or plastic. The one that we used in the class were rather innovative... Considering our cakes weren’t too big, we actually used bubble tea straws!!then we topped it with royal icing and stack the second tier on top... the royal icing will harden thus acting like an edible glue!! Hehe... doweling was one of the technique I’ve been yearning to learn and I’m glad that the workshop covered it! =D

Miss Anna showing us how to add the "dowels" into the cake and marking them so that we can cut off the excess...

here is dowels! in the cake!

Next thing that excite me was the fact that I got to do stencilling!!! I am super glad that I have the chance to do stencilling!!! It is one of the easiest way of decorating a cake but requires you to be very neat! =)

As you can see on the second tier, I have stenciled the pattern. Now moving on the the bottom tier.. this is the only stencil the helper found that was small enough for my cake hehehe so yea... the cake was not that big =)



Alright... I think I have said enough... Let the pictures do the talking!! =D 

My finished cake!!! so do you like it???!! =)

suddenly my cake look so dark... poor lighting

I learnt to make this ribbon from YouTube!! by a cake decorator named EDNA (she works for Wilton)!

Details of the ribbon... guess wat! we actually used a sewing tool for the details... the tool is the one that we used to draw lines on fabric... the one that looks like a pizza cutter with jaggared edges =P

My fellow workshop mates' creations!! plus mine

I love the colour of this cake... very unique and modern!

Cakes are afterall meant for eating... so no matter how pretty it is... cut it and enoy the burst of flavours that awaits you! =D

I hope you have enjoyed my blog post!!! Do drop me a comment yea!! will like to hear from you!!

Believe It or Not...

When I visit the library, all I will be searching for are books that have got to do with food decorating and cakes. It’s amazing how something so simple such as food can be applied in such an artistic manner. I’m not an artsy person, but I do believe that food has more potential than just to satisfy our cravings. Food is definitely a form of art if you know how to visualise, imagine and simply play with your food. You might not believe what you will be seeing below...

Here’s a job for you.... look at the pictures below... and guess what they are... =)



Stuffed Chicken???



Crinkly French Fries???

Eggs on a tray???

Cockroach????EWWW!!

Indian corn???

Chinese Takeout???



pizza with olives???and lots of grated cheese???



Well, made your guesses??? I’m sure my introduction above has given you an idea that these are actually food... but... what are they exactly??? Hmmmm... Cockroach gummies??? Spring chicken gummies???

Well...All the above are simply your

humble little CUPCAKES!!!!

Amazing isn’t it!!, the way it is being decorated and presented. THIS is what I call ART. Karen Tack the author of “What’s New, Cupcake?” is the creator of these picturesque cupcakes. Her speciality is to decorate cupcakes out of... no...not so much of fondant.... but rather the sweet treats such as biscuits, gummies, marshmallows,dates, coloured sugar, taffy and more!!! I got to know about Karen Tack’s work when I was watching Travel & Living Channel (TLC). They were filming on her work with cupcakes and how she came about with ideas to decorate them. One thing that she said in the show interest me:

"anything in your pantry can be art"

Well, it sure shows in her art creations with cupcakes!!! =D

To know more about her books visit:

www.hellocupcakebook.com

www.whatsnewcupcake.com

FOOD that ENTICE you...

Garnishing and food plating plays an important role in creating the perfect dish. Flavour is one aspect, but the presentation is another important factor of producing really good food. I’m sure all of you will feel more tempted to eat food that is well presented than food that is plopped into your plate. Well, let me feast your eyes with some of the pictures of “beautifully plated” food that I managed to take recently. ENJOY.... =)

=)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HIDAYAH!!!!!!