Cake

Confessions of a Confection Obsession

10/20/2009

Everyone loves sweets right? But how long do those sweets last?

Well, I have stumbled upon a little secret to make them stylish, cute, and last forever; perfect for the sweet lover in all of us. Sprinkles, cupcakes, candies, and chocolates are so yummy, and look almost too good to eat. So now you can accessorize yourself with them and let the whole world know about your confection obsession. With all the colors, the textures, and the sugary goodness, who can resist? I know I cannot, so my inspiration is to make something that looks sweet enough to eat, and cute enough to wear.

My sweet goodies are kitschy art pieces of sweet eye candy. Mix together some sprinkles, glitter, crystals, and cast in clear or colored resin, and then you are good to go like the sweet diva you are! These yummy treats are made to be rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, pins, and everything, to make a scene.

These are the sweets that won’t go bad, won’t give us cavities, or even the calories. These are accessories we can put on to make us smile and feel happy. My goodies, can remind us of the fun times we had when we were just kiddies. Like the birthday parties we went to, the ice cream shops we visited, and the treats we’d get when we were good little boys and girls. These times are often forgotten in the fast paced life a lot of us live. These were the simpler times in our life, filled with childhood dreams, rainbows, and sweets along the way,

So you too can go back to that place and live out your childhood dreams, or just relive them and have fun. I hope my pieces can take you back to that place. One of my favorite childhood pastimes were playing with jewelry and dressing up, and here I am today living that dream. This is what keeps me going, I love what I do and have fun doing it. This is my chance, a chance to love and be with my family, while I live out my passion to create. It is all I ever wanted, and I going for it.

If you should take anything from this piece, I hope you take with you the love and inspiration to live out your dreams. This is the very thing that will keep you going and not want to stop. It makes living that much more worth living. It is wonderful when you love what you do, and get to share it with the world. It makes living that much more sweeter ;o) and soo miseducated!!!

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Crafts DIY

Decadently Decorate your Camera

09/30/2009

Once I saw the milk chocolate camera on Fuji’s official website, I knew I had to decorate it with sweets and delicious desserts as much as I could! haha

Here I bought some very cute plastic sweets (cabochons) from shops at Yu Chau Street in Hong Kong. The street is very popular for its accessory shops. You can find a broad variety of components with different styles, which can be used in DIY (such as earrings, brooches, etc.) or to customize anything you like!

WOW… yummy!!!

This is my nude camera and the components.

Finally I squeezed all the sweets and cream on it! haha!!!! Love it so much! 😀

My boyfriend nearly cried after seeing the new look of the camera (that HE had bought me). He thinks it is to abnormal for one to carry such a cluttered, exaggerated camera to take photos. hehe.. but then I read the information about Miseducated, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss, hoho! That’s right! I know my boyfriend really doesn’t mind my crazy works. It’s really important for us to be who we are or else we will lose our own personalities and the ability to imagine and create new things! 😀

14 Comments

Business Features Visual Splendor

Life is a Cup of Cake in Seoul

12/31/2008

I just love meandering along the streets of Seoul, South Korea — especially when I’m in Itaewon. Seoul is currently ranked as the second largest city in the world (next to Tokyo) and the Itaewon district is a colorful hub of culture and lights! It boasts restaurants and shoppes with owners from around the world and walking the streets is like walking through a global tunnel!

Well, the other weekend I was in this magical place and quite randomly happened upon a lovely cupcake shop called “Life is Just a Cup of Cake.” Needless to say, that’s pretty much the cutest name I’ve ever heard of. Of course I had to venture in to check it out. The exterior was positively darling and lured me right inside.

Like most Korean stores and shops it was tiny, but perhaps a bit bigger than I expected it to be. Two women were sitting at a very tiny table drinking tea and enjoying tasty home-baked cupcakes. To the left there was a tiny room with teapots on display and another, larger sized table, with a group of cute Korean women huddled around pleasing their taste buds.

The owner was Korean but spoke English very well. She asked if we were visiting and was happy to hear we were Korean residents. After snapping a few shots and weighing my options, I chose a charming, “Earl Grey” flavored cupcake speckled with the perfect amount of shiny silver beads (edible, of course!). I devoured it later and am happy to inform you that it tasted very tea-like and was a scrumptious afternoon treat.

Where is it?: If you’re in the Seoul area, get off the subway at the Itaewon station. Take exit 2 and walk straight — you’ll see a side street on your left and the shop stands out like a cherry on a mound of frosting!
Please Ring: 02-794-2908 or 010-4617-2908
Website: www.cupcake.co.kr

3 Comments

DIY Recipes

Rainbow Gelatin Cake Recipe

12/15/2008

Creamy, delicious color topped with color upon color, reach the moon if you must! This cake is absolute fantasy land in a kitchen. If you take the rainbow challenge, please show us how it goes! The only thing better than eating rainbows is gazing upon them~

Feel free to print this for your recipe book/box and keep it close by for celebrations of the colorful sort.

5 Comments

Escapeland

Miseducated Competition Sponsored by RE-MENT

12/12/2008

Grand Prize Winner

“I don’t have space for a dollhouse, so I can set up the “Studio” on the kitchen table and play for an afternoon, dreaming up new combinations, mix and match items, and take notes for my eventual future dream dollhouse. I am NOT too old to play with dolls!”

Runner Up

“I live in a small apartment and my bedroom has become my studio to work on my design. My favorite furniture (my teak dresser) is now used to store sugar creatures and my bed (covered in plastic) is used for air brushing. I like getting the quiet, relaxing bedroom vibe while working although I would not say no to a large, spacious studio where I can make more mess.”

The Contest

This contest is sponsored by Miseducated and RE-MENT Japan, featuring prizes from their new series ‘Flirty Pink.’ This series does not go on sale until December 15, the winner will receive a ‘Flirty Pink’ limited edition blind box of rare archived products hand selected by the RE-MENT company. This contest is only open to registered members.

To enter
1. Send 2-3 photos of your own miseducated space that you enjoy imagining in. What special space makes you smile? Radiates your personality? Strays from conventional mores into a new kind of room?
2. 1-3 sentences about why this room is miseducated (strays from conventional mores and speaks especially to you).
3. 1-3 sentences about why you like RE-MENT and RE-MENT’s miniature series (include your favorite series if possible).
4. Your Name, Age, Location and URL (if any).
5. Email to: [email protected]

All entries must be received before December 15th. Winners will be announced December 20th (date restrictions are due to the release Japan, this is a Japan only release). The grand prize winner will receive a limited blind box from RE-MENT of the new ‘Flirty Pink’ series. Runner up will receive a random selection of a RE-MENT blind box series and limited edition postcards.

RE-MENT also has official Flirty Pink cell phone wallpapers free for fans.

2 Comments

DIY

Take the Pledge to Buy Handmade

12/08/2008

To learn a new recipe or diy project, just explore around the DIY pages of Miseducated and within the links section above for some of our favorites!

I’m sure many of you crafty girls have your own shops so please post your shops and urls here! If you have your own idea for a project you’d love to share, simply email us at [email protected] as always! We love to hear from you.

Why buy handmade?

Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.
The giver of a handmade gift has avoided the parking lots and long lines of the big chain stores in favor of something more meaningful. If the giver has purchased the gift, s/he feels the satisfaction of supporting an artist or crafter directly. The recipient of the handmade gift receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and attention that can
be seen and touched. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is absent in the world of large-scale manufacturing.

Buying handmade is better for people.
The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us reconnect.

Buying handmade is better for the environment.
The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.

Learn more and take the pledge at http://www.buyhandmade.org

1 Comment

DIY Recipes

Make a Colorful Malaysian Layer Cake

11/22/2008

These lovely cakes are created with intricate layers of alternate color, flavor and texture. The name, which is Malaysian, translates to layer cakes. These cakes are not always sweet and many times have very creative flavor combinations.

The bases of these cakes are usually made from rice flour, glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour and green bean flour. These flours give the cakes a firm pudding-like texture.

If you do take the Kueh Lapis feat and bake a layer cake, please submit a photo and it will be added here~

Instructions

1. Boil 225ml coconut milk with sugar & pandan leave until sugar dissolves
2. Separate mixture into two portions
3. Add red coloring to one portion
4. Pour a thin layer of batter into aluminium tray and steam till set
5. Pour into a bamboo steamer
6. Alternate the colors and steam until batter almost finished
7. When last layer is to be poured in, add a little more coloring into batter to give it a deep red color, pour this over as the last layer and steam

160g rice flour
20g green bean flour (lek tau hoon)
150ml water

Syrup

190g powdered sugar
300ml water
2-3 pandan leaves (if none, green food coloring)
250ml thick coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
A few drops red coloring

Method

Combine sugar, water and pandan leaves (food coloring) in a saucepan. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Strain and set aside to cool.

Put rice flour and green bean flour into a large mixing bowl. Pour in water gradually and leave aside to soak for 40–45 minutes.

Add coconut milk and salt to the rice flour and mix well. Stir in syrup. Strain the batter to ensure it is free from lumps.

Divide batter into two. Leave half a portion white and add coloring to the other half.

Place a greased 20cm tray in the steamer and heat up for 4–5 minutes. Pour half cup of the white batter on the heated tray.

Cover and steam over medium heat for 5–6 minutes or until set.

Pour half cup of the pink batter over the white layer and steam covered for 5 minutes.

Repeat the procedure, alternating white and pink batter until all the batter is used up.

To the very last layer add a little more color to make it a deeper shade of pink.

After the final layer is set, steam the kuih for a further 12–15 minutes. Halfway through open the lid to release the steam, then cover again until the end of the steaming process.

Serve

Make sure the kuih lapis cools completely before attempting to cut (will break apart if cut when warm); cut into diamond shapes.

6 Comments

Design Your Life

Cake is Love: A Japanese Chef

11/16/2008

I graduated from Le Cordon Blue in Tokyo. My major was French cake making and my teachers were french chefs whom taught me a lot of details. My teacher’s actions, skills, techniques, designs, chocolates, all kinds of sweets, everything really impressed me very much. They inspired me a lot and are still living in the bottom of my heart. Those experiences made me improve myself.

Since then I have been working at a french cake shop (a shop of long standing), the head office is in France. I wanted to study more and more so I decided to study many subjects in a correspondence course while working at the same time. I finally got a license. I wanted to get it, really. My wish was to broaden my horizon.

I think sweets are art. A chocolate is a jewel, cake is love. I love seeing people think about cakes a lot, which cake they will get (maybe for oneself? or for parents? or for a special person?). I have seen a lot of wonderful things in my life. A thousand broad smiles spread over everyone’s face. It’s like a magic.

Story: Erika Yoshida
Photos: Erika Yoshida

0 Comments

DIY Recipes

Teacakes to Bake in the Microwave

11/10/2008

Have only a few minutes or a tiny-kitchen but want to make a yummy cake for yourself or friends? Make sure after you’ve finished the cake to pop a few coffee mugs with water for 1.5 mins and add your favorite tea to each cup!

Applesauce Cakes

Ingredients
microwavable coffee mugs or similar
non-stick spray or butter
mixing bowl
flour: 1 1/2 cup
baking soda: 1/2 tsp
salt: 1/2 tsp
cinnamon: 1 tsp
cloves: 1/2 tsp
nutmeg: 1/2 tsp
allspice: 1/2 tsp
shortening: 1/2 cup
packed brown sugar: 1 cup
egg
unsweetened applesauce: 1 1/4 cup

Instructions
Line a 1 1/2 quart glass baking dish with wax paper. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and spices together into bowl. Cream shortening and brown sugar into mixture. add egg and beat thoroughly. Mix well after each addition. Fill greased mugs half-way with batter. Bake in microwave for 10 minutes.

Cheesecakes

Ingredients
microwavable coffee mugs or similar
non-stick spray or butter
mixing bowl
package of cream cheese: 8 oz
sugar: 1/4 cup
egg
vanilla wafers or cookies
vanilla flavoring: 1/2 tsp

Instructions
Soften cream cheese. Mix in other ingredients and beat well until smooth. Place vanilla wafer or cookie in microwavable coffee mug or tea cup. Spoon cheese filling on top and microwave on high 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until filling is set. This will make 6 cakes. when cool, top with pie filling or piece of fruit.

4 Comments

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