How to pull off a WONKA Themed Party!!

It was my 21st birthday at the end of May, which explains why my blog wasn't very active.  During the month of May a lot of time was going towards uni and my birthday celebration. I thought I would do a quick post on my 21st birthday celebrations and  how to pull off a WONKA themed party!

Firstly, I celebrated with my family early by going to Wagaya and VIVID Sydney at Darling Harbour. This was then followed by a smashing 2 hour family karaoke session! =D

One of my closest girlfriends surprised me early on a Sunday morning. My dad had answered the door, and she asked him to call me out but not to mention why. I run to the door in my pjamas, to find her there holding a cake with a candle, sparkler, and singing me Happy Birthday!

Orange & Fig with cream cheese from Black Star Pastry

On my actual birthday, I went to have lunch with one of my uni mates, and at dinner I was spoiled with a dinner date at the Quay. This was then followed by a stroll around the Sydney Harbour VIVID lights.

The following day, my highschool girl friends surprised me with more cake. First, one of them came over and we were talking. I then could then hear some noises coming from outside, I opened the door to see more of my friends, and one was holding beautiful tulips. We will be growing old together! =D

This was not a staged photo

Cake from Cavallaros

The last of my birthday celebrations ended with my WONKA themed birthday party. With about 2 months worth of preparation and planning, it was the best party I have ever hosted where nothing went wrong! The idea came from a friend who one day said 'you should have a WONKA themed party' and that is what I did. A special shout out to all those people that dressed up! =D

Key points:
1. PLANNING! Key to any event, but mainly to themed ones!
2. My favourite store during this time was Ronis & Reject Shop @ Liverpool. They had everything I needed for all colourful things for the event. Including the balloons + helium hire.
3. GOOGLE for different ideas and approaches to how others have done a WONKA PARTY!
4. The Professors was my go to online candy shop. Free shipping for purchases over $80, and has a great variety of all different confectionery at really good prices. 
5. Dressing up! The theme was WONKA, I therefore strongly encouraged a lot of colours for outfits, or to come as some of the characters. I myself, went as Willy Wonka.
6. If it is for a kids party, you can have candy related games and such, but since it was for my 21st, it was about food, fun, friends and family!

WONKA Golden ticket invitations

A lot of people wondered how I did the invitations, and the design all done in Microsoft Word. I googled golden tickets designs and then I created my own. I purchased the paper from Eckersleys, which is double sided gold paper, and printed double sided. The red envelopes were from OfficeWorks, and I printed and glued on a WONKA Bar IMAGE that I got from the internet. 

Mushroom backdrop

All I did was purchase some white spotted wrapping paper and cut out mushroom shapes. For the stalk, I cut out the shape on brown cardboard.

My Wonka Candy Buffet designed by me

Poms Poms (Ebay): POM POM seller

Thanh Bars made by Bak3rlicious: https://www.facebook.com/Bak3rlicious?fref=ts

Some of the lollies. Labels made by Bak3rlicious

My close friends with our GIANT boxes of WONKA Candy Urban Outfitters - OVERSIZED CANDY

The Confectionery was either WONKA or WONKA related (by the characters/film/movie concepts). My Candy buffet was composed of:

• Pixie/Sherbet sticks: Placed in glass jars.
• WONKA Fabulicious Raspberry twists: Placed in pull up straw containers.
• Lollipops: Stuck into foam cones from Lincraft.
• Augustus Gloop Cupcakes: Chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate centre, labelled with edible WONKA label (image and links further down).
• WONKA Red Skins: Buckets purchases from Ronis @ Liverpool.
• Violet Beauregarde Gum: Blue Chewing gum in paper party boxes
• WONKA sweetarts: Little packets that came with the oversized box. Placed in buckets.
• THANH BAR: Instead of a Wonka Bar, personalised by Bak3rlicious.
• Veruca Salt Golden Eggs: I found a random place that was still selling GOLD Cadbury easter eggs, and I created a Good/Bad Scale on word, based from the first movie.
• WONKA Tofee Apples: The candy version, not the actual apples. Places in paper party boxes.
• Mike Tee Vee Snacks: Arnotts Tee Vee Snacks, placed on a plate
• Gobstoppers: Little packets that came with the oversized box. Placed in buckets
• WONKA Nerds: Little packets that came with the oversized box. Placed on a plate, however I purchased more from an online & local store: LINK HERE

My backyard was decorated with balloons, giant striped umbrellas from the clothesline, noodle candy boxes and coloured citronella candle

My driveway/walkway filled with balloons lollipops, poms poms and a bubble machine (not in photo) Auburn Party Store

For the balloon sticks, I bought 100 pack of normal balloon sticks, and then taped 3 together per lollipop for a stronger structure. I also purchased the tie died balloons from the party store. Each balloon was wrapped with about 1 metre of cellophane. As people walked into the party, there was actually a bubble machine going, as from the first movie made. 

Oompaloompas

Augustus Gloops

Violet Beauregardes

More Oomploompas

Veruca Salt

Augustus Gloop Cupcakes, with edible WONKA Rice Paper labels LINK HERE

A WONKA Birthday Cake - Made by my sister and sister-in-law

Lemon & Blueberry layer

Chocolate & peanut butter layer

There are so many people to thank for making my 21st birthday celebrations the best birthday ever, and for making my party a success. I just want to thank everyone again! You have made me feel  special, loved and I am extremely lucky to have you all in my life! <3

Good food, Good times!

Blackjack/Casino Themed Cake

As a part of a joint friends 21st birthday celebration I was asked to make a cake. There were a few requirements for the cake:

1. Since it was 2 peoples birthday, it had to look/be 2 cakes.

2. It had to have the birthday theme which was casino.

3. Feed about 100 people.

After some late night Google search sessions, I finally came across a concept that was perfect for the occasion...Blackjack. I am not sure if people understood the cake, but it was Blackjack (since it was a casino themed) and when you get Blackjack it equals 21, which is how old they were turning. Inspiration came from: http://showusyourcakes.com/cakes/blackjack

For the cake, I used the Thunder Cake Recipe. I had to make two cakes, so the recipe was doubled/made twice (since I only had one cake pan, I could only bake one cake at a time). I used a rectangular cake pan that was larger than an a4 sized piece of paper (sorry but I don't know the exact specifications).

The ganache for the cake was 600ml cream with 600g chocolate (200g dark, 400g milk). I made the cake in the morning, of the day before the cake needed to be ready. So before any cutting or assembling was done, it had been refrigerated for about 6 hours.

Assembly

Stage one: Preparing

1. To make sure the cakes worked out, I scanned two playing cards (Jack and Ace) and enlarged them on a4 paper. I used them as my templates to how I wanted the cakes to be shaped, and for the outline of the cake.

2. The cakes were cut to shape. I put a little bit of ganache on the board before placing the cakes on, so that the cakes would be stable.

3. After getting the correct shape, I placed a crumb coat of ganache on the cake. Refrigerated for 2 hours.

4. Final coat of ganache, and then I evened out the cake and smoothed out the edges.

Stage Two: Decorating

The decorating of the cake was done on the morning of the birthday (since the party was hosted at night). I used the following products (most were purchased from Glasshouse Cakes):

• Black buttercream icing tube (CK decorating icing 113g)
• Yellow buttercream icing tube (CK decorating icing 113g)
• To use the buttercream you will need an icing tip, I used one at home, but the lines were quite thick, so if you want thinner lines buy a smaller tip.
• Red writing icing tube (from Woolworths)
• White vanilla flavoured fondant
• 18" square cake board and board

1. I traced the same two card print outs onto grease proof paper, and then traced those on to white fondant that I had rolled out, cut to a4 size and left to set (in a dry cool place away from any light).

2. To trace the image onto fondant, I used a blunt pencil so I didn't get any lead on the cake, but still had noticeable indents along the cake so I knew where I was decorating.

3. Using the black buttercream I started with the Ace of spades and traced along my lines made. Set aside.

4. Using the black buttercream again, I outlined the jack, and the patterned lines. I accidentally drew the line to far at the top, so to fix that I cut out that part of the fondant and flipped it over, and put it back together.

5. Using the red and yellow, I began to fill in the blanks of my outlines with the colours.

6. I carefully placed the ready made images onto the cake, and using the black buttercream, I outlined the outside of the cards.

7. For some final touches, I used white fondant to make out the birthday message. I stuck them on the board with some water. The box was then packed and ready to go.

The whole entire cake was finished on the night, with some people not being able to have a slice. The overall feedback on the cake was great, and it was definitely fun to make with only a few mishaps that definitely won't happen next time.

Good food, good times!

Chocolate Buffet @ Sofitel Hotel, Ha Noi, Vietnam

This was one of my best and favourite of my Vietnam culinary adventures. It was a CHOCOLATE BUFFET! Vietnam doesn't have a great variety of chocolate, or any good tasting chocolate for that matter so this was close to being heaven on Earth, especially after not having a decent chocolate hit for about 2 weeks. It cost USD$25, which included a 2 hour chocolate/high tea buffet and a pot of tea of your choice. I didn't take photos of the high tea buffet, but they had provided an assortment of freshly cut fruit, sandwiches, fruit smoothies and other cakes. There really isn't much to say about the experience as the photos say it all. *licks lips* =9

Chocolate fountain with assorted fruits, marshmallows and biscuits

Assorted chocolates 

Create your own crepe station, with choice of chocolate fillings

Chocolate brulee

Stuffed Macarons

Ice-cream tubs

Various cakes

Plate one

Plate two

Plate three

Plate Four

Tea with biscuit

Good food, Good times!