Behind The Scenes Of A Miraculous Irony

Assalamualaikum w.b.t

I have shared in an older post which I mentioned that I bake and that I am running a small humble cake business at home. Alhamdulillah, it has almost been a year of being in this very miraculous irony. From a gal from small who NEVER EVER did fancy cakes and she is now baking and creating a business out of it? Really? Allah indeed creates magic! I wasn't or still not a fan of cakes cause I did not like the texture of cakes and how spongy it feels in my mouth, regardless of how moist it can be. What are birthdays without cakes? Every year on my birthday, yes I insist on having a birthday cake on the table just because it is a tradition. Like I mentioned, what are birthdays without cakes kaaan? It completes a birthday photograph, I'm a girl and allowed to be vain of course hehe but the cakes were always for the rest but never for me. Anyway, in short... I was never a fan of cakes.

A year ago, as many of you know, I hijrah-ed and that was one of the biggest gift from The Almighty (Alhamdulillah) and after a few months, after getting a few things straight and adjusting to my 'new' everyday life He presented me with a gift. It started from a thought, a tiba-tiba wanting to try to bake and then He gave me the ability to. I still remember the first cake I baked, it was vanilla and chocolate muffins. I remember an old friend of Momma's who baked incredible vanilla chocolate chip muffins and they were amazing! They were moist and very vanilla-ish, it wasn't spongy, it was PERFECT! I called her for the recipe and she was kind enough to share and so I went the shop to get my ingredients and I baked and everybody at home started liking them and that inspired me to do more. 

 First attempt on chocolate chip muffin :B

First attempt on vanilla chocolate chip muffin

My 1st Exposure

I was baking my first attempt on chocolate cake one day at home and everybody seemed to like the outcome of it. I was so happy that it was moist and it was perfect in sense of taste, in sense of how it physically looked, well... tak cun of course haha ANYWAY! KakFa, my eldest sister was teaching in Sri Cempaka Private School last year and she brought some of my chocolate cake to school and gave some to the teachers and her students annnnndddd they loved it! I started taking orders and Alhamdulillah, I received a lot of them too. From Chocolate Cake to Red Velvet Cake those were the first two cakes I learned how to bake. 

I remember how my first order from a school teacher from kakak's school. She ordered chocolate moist walnut cake and so I baked it BUT there were complications with the oven. Not so much of complications but I was such a noob back then and the oven wasn't something I knew how to handle. As I put my cake in the oven, I waited for about 30 minutes for it to set and rise so as I thought it was ready, I pulled it out and I noticed it was senget! It did not rise evenly and I baked a night before the delivery that my sister was supposed to take it to school the next day in the morning for the teacher. I was exhausted and me being me, sangatlah gelabah. I wanted to cry. Momma said it looked okay but Kakak said it did not look okay, I should reduce the price and Momma said its okay, its not that obvious so I shouldn't reduce the price. I was pretty bewildered and I was about to flip! So I ended up reducing the price. It was pretty hectic. I am a cepat gelabah girl, so impatient and baking needs U to be patient and ur patience is so well tested. I get really upset when my cake is not how I pictured it to be but it ended up okay. The teacher loved it. 

It looked like this 

My first cake out, Chocolate Walnut 

And then there was the Red Velvet! I made cupcakes out of them 

I loved how my cream cheese had that lemony spike to it but cheesy and creamy as well. 

My attempt on my Red Velvet did not manage to beat the taste of my chocolate cake as the cream cheese overwhelmed the taste of the red velvet itself. I lessen an ingredient to my red velvet that did not give it that umph to the taste and the cream cheese gave more of an impact and that the cake itself did not compliment the taste of the cream cheese. After awhile, I started making some changes and adjusting flavors and ingredients and Viola! It tasted good, Alhamdulillah. 

First Bazaar

Later in June, my niece who owned an online boutique selling muslimah fashion attires (Awesome shawls. I love everything that she's selling) Check out Aroush ! Anyway, she was joining a bazaar held in one of the mosques in Ampang and I asked if I could maybe join her booth and she said OK! So, it started from there where my exposure got wider. The outcome of the bazaar was very very overwhelming to me. Probably my cakes were not ALL sold out but I made profit out of it. I remember how that satisfactory feeling that I felt. Not only that I earned my own money with something that I was able to do and out of all of the possibilities, it was cake that I was able to make and more importantly, I knew this was a start of something great. It was great that I had all the help&support from my loved ones too. My mum, my siblings, my family and even my special man. Imran was there from start of the event till the end helping me out through the haste and the hot blazing weather, forever grateful I will be. The most overwhelming moment that I could remember was a few days after the bazaar, I opened the page of the bazaar organizer and a girl commented below a picture of my booth asking how can she contact me and so I quickly replied and gave her my contact details. I never knew someone would want to search for me and that my cake gave anybody an impact sampai nak cari the organizer page and ask for my contact details and how she can place an order. She called me after and she told me how much she loved my Red Velvet and that she really wanted to order a cake from me for her friend's upcoming birthday celebration. She ended up going for the Chocolate Walnut Cake. 

 I remember the incident when I delivered her cake. I had trouble with the writing which frustrated me to the max. I couldn't remember how many times I scraped off the writing gel off the cake which made me a little late. Thank God I was asked to deliver it at The Curve which was so nearby my place.  I drove the car to The Curve with my Mama and Imran and I remember I was in the parking lot and I was reversing my car and I was too gelabah tak tentu pasal that I accidentally bumped a car behind me. I was shivering in fear, dah lah lambat deliver lepas tu bang someone's car, what are the odds of bad luck. Thank God it was too minor and that it dint leave a scratch to his car or my car but in the end, the cake was delivered safely to Islah, the girl's name. Islah and I became instant friends after. We talk to each other once in awhile and been wanting to arrange for a proper meet up but time has not been that fair so far. In shaa Allah, soon I hope!

Here's a picture of Islah&I at a recent bazaar I had a month ago. She came all the way just to see me and get a taste of my cakes which was so sweet.

And also, Kak Syazana. A follower on Instagram whom I instantly became friends with. She would come all the way for my bazaars more than once actually! I cherish these moments and meeting these amazing people is an absolute privilege for me. I wish I took more photos with more lovely people that I have met through out this journey of mine but bare in mind that I am very thankful for everyone's presence in my life, Alhamdulillah.

P.S: those are not her kids in the picture. Kak Syazana is still Single&Available hehehe 

Genie In A Bottle

An idea from my Mama's best friend, Aunty Rosmah who pitched me this idea of doing my cakes in bottles to make it different and also convenient for people who does not want them in a big portion of a cake and it's been incredible cause people love them! Great for gifts or small little personal events for a small group of people. I sell them with a minimum order of 3 bottles per flavor.

I cannot thank Aunty Rosmah enough for this incredible idea!  

XOXO

My Personal Fav, The Instant Hit

I remember my first taste of this absolutely delicious cheesecake. It was Imran's sister's, Nadiah's Mars Bar Cheesecake that she was selling when we were participating in one of the bazaars that we joined. I remember how everybody loved the cheesecake and I so wanted to try but I did not get the chance to until when I sent back about two leftover tupperware of her cheesecakes to her and she decided to give me one. So, I went back home and gave it a try and it was so lovely. The taste, the filing, the texture, it was really really nice and that was my very first introduction to this superb cheesecake. A few months after, I went to Mukha a nearby coffee chill out place in TTDI with a good friend of mine, Fatin and my eyes caught the Mars Bar Cheesecake in Souka Souka Bakery's chiller! So I thought I had to have a taste of that again and so I did and then I decided that I should google for the recipe and try it out and so I did but I changed the Chocolate Bar into KitKats (I have now boycotted Nestle's products so KitKat is not in the cheesecake list now. Save Palestine!) and I posted on my Instagram and Facebook and it became a hit after. The first one to order was a follower from my Instagram for her office and then I have been receiving repeated orders again and again and again and AGAIN until Now. I gotta say, even for a girl who does not like cakes but this one is my own favorite! It's not baked but chilled and the taste is amazing. My personal favorite would be Snickers Cheesecake and it seems to be everyone's favorite as well. The combination of the chocolate and the nuts in it and the cheese and the chocolate sauce and the biscuit as the base is just PERFECT! Snickers really gives that 'kick' to it. Best part is, these cakes of mine has variety in terms where my customers (I hate using the word customer) can customize  their own cakes. For instance, the cheesecake, they can change the chocolate bars into whatever they wish to for example, Twix,Toblerone,Kisses,Cadbury anything at all, U name it EXCEPT for Nestle's chocolates. They're encouraged to change it up, spice it up as I am very into things that are different and experimenting new things. Not just Cheesecake that they are able to change but also other cakes if they have an idea of what they want to add, no limits! 

For this cheesecake of mine, I thank you to Nadiah&of course Souka Souka for inspiring this cake of mine! XOXO

First Attempt on Fondant 

A few days before I received this order made by my aunt, MakChu. I've always wanted to get my hands on fondants and try it out it's just that I did not have the chance to and I heard they had techniques for fondants. Suddenly, Makchu asked if I could make 100 cupcakes for her Petronas event that was happening in the weekend so I took the chance and said YES! Only God knows I had no experience in fondants and I was taking chances with this. I really believe in taking chances, it's where U kick Urself to learn. So, I went to City Bakers in Kota Damansara. I absolutely love City Bakers. The workers and the owner are my friends now, they absolutely are so helpful with my needs and they give me good discounts as well as a regular (HEHEHE of course that's the best part!) I would really recommend bakers to try City Bakers to buy stuffs or to ask for information about cakes, they are very very helpful and informative. So I went there and asked, Kak Mira how to use fondants so I got my juice and tried it out. Makchu wanted two different colored balloons on her cupcakes. Seeing the picture U may think it's just a balloon and it's easy, UR SO WRONG! 200 balloons, was crazy! Thank God I had Momma. She helped me roll out the strings for the balloons and in the end, it turned out pretty good for a first timer. Delivered them out to KL and Alhamdulillah, received good reviews and that some was too sayang to eat them *blush*

Presenting ' Farisya's Al Kahqa'

I then started thinking of names of what to call this small humble cake thing I'm doing. It has to have a name for it. I wanted something different. I wanted it to sound different from what others are calling their business. English is too mainstream. I wanted something weird as I am weird. I remember when I went to City Bakers they would always say "U, when U come here, U always buy barang pelik-pelik" Yes, cause I am pelik! Anyway, I wanted non of that delicious, or whatever baker, bakery this and that name. I wanted an edge to it. I started translating english words to spanish,french, itallian but it dint have that ring to it that I got hooked on. So, I asked my family on our whatsapp family group. Momma was listing out a list full of names that were really cute, we had a good laugh then my sister, KakFa who was then in Cape Town, back in her husband's place who suddenly suggested "how about 'Kahqa?" It was actually 'Ka'aq' which means Cakes&Delicacies in Arabic but Kahqa is like a bahasa pasar for it (many arabic students asked me this and wanted to make sure I got it right) and I started googling and my heart just was stuck to 'Al Kahqa' so we added the Farisya in front that became 'Farisya's Al Kahqa' well 'Al Kahqa' for short hehehe My last bazaar was coming up so Imran suggested that we make name cards so I could distribute them cause the last bazaar, people were asking how do they contact me and I started writing my infos on tissues! So to be more professional, Imran started out designing my name card and this is how it turned out to be!

Voila! My first ever name card! I posted out on my social networks and they loved the design of it! I absolutely love the spike to it. Imran and I worked out on the design but it was fully Imran's and Alhamdulillah, he did a superb job to it. I was satisfied with how it looked and the name and everything to it. Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, ALHAMDULILLAH! Seriously I never ever thought or did it ever occur to my mind or my conscience that I could ever own a business card at the age of 19 and start something with my bare hands. All Allah's. Indeed it was His magic and with His will. SubhanaAllah.

P.S: If U ever need a graphic designer, or a thing to design such as name cards, banners and etc etc feel free to contact Imran Yusof at : subpop100@gmail.com or PM him here Imran Yusof (All inquiries are only about business and nothing personal for I will hunt U ;p kidding )

Also, in case Ur not so comfortable with dealing with a man then U can contact my Aunt, Julaiza Ismail. She is also a graphic designer and she does amazing work!
Feel free to contact her here!
EMAIL: designbliss@artlover.com
HP : 0178777438

The Munchkins Of The Cake Family 

Imran pitched me with this idea while we were buying my medium sized jars. He saw this small jar and told me it could be a great idea if I had a smaller sized one and I immediately said "Ok, lets try it out!" We went back to my place and after dealing with orders, I tried out making my cheesecakes in these mini jars. I tried only one and posted it on Instagram. Instagram has been such a huge help for me. Facebook was pretty slow but on Instagram my followers were starting to build up, Alhamdulillah and that's where I started receiving all this orders from people whom I dont know and started making new friends! So, thank you Instagram! Anyway, I put it up on my Instagram and asked my followers if they were interested in these mini sized jars. If they were, I was gonna start taking orders and then straight away, I received orders for these! Alhamdulillah. I love how I now have a variety of sizes that people can choose from. 

Buttercream&I

Oh, my new love! My buttercream story... So, a cousin of mine which I now call her the 'Cake Decorating Guru' came over last week to teach me and my aunty Za how to decorate cakes. My cousin, Kak Iza has a bakery business that she's been doing for years and her work is amazing! Check her out and hit the Like button! JulizascakeeNcafe She also conducts cake decorating classes from fondants to buttercream, U name it. U can contact her there ;) Anyway, she started us with how to use tools and create flowers and this and that! Incredible things! Check out what my Aunty Za and I did. 

 Shoes I made from fondant. The structure of the baby shoes were actually different but it was so hard and I gave up so I made my own baby shoes! Melawan Guru, not something to follow! Lol

 Lavenders on the sides of our cakes. Really pretty 

Left side was Aunty Za's clown and the right was mine, the one with the sopan sitting clown ;p

We covered from roses to baby shoes to clowns! It was really awesome! I really needed some guidance on decorating cause I gotta admit that I have a tad or no knowledge at all at cake decorating so having this opportunity with my cousin, Kak Iza was splendid for me. It also helped me cause my sister's friend ordered two dozens of vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting which she wanted flowers on top that weekend which was last weekend and look what I came up with on my own after my 101 Cake Decorating class with Kak Iza. 

The theme was blue so blue roses it was for her! At first it was a challenge and as I went on, Alhamdulillah it turned great and my family was surprised with what I came up with. My eyes wanted to bulge out! It took so much concentration! But Alhamdulillah, it turned out great and the one ordered was so pleased with it and she told me that her mum and herself loved it so it was really overwhelming. 

     Truth is, I don't know how I did this or how I got this and what did I deserve to be receiving all this wonderful magic to be poured on me. I was one of them who received His blessings, Alhamdulillah. My whole life, I never loved cakes and this wasn't my thing at all and I never imagined it to be a thing of mine or having a business at this age was never in my thoughts but Hey Allah can give U anything and change U. I never had the passion for it but truth is, I already miss baking. I'm currently having a break on baking since I got fully sponsored to attend Al Maghrib's seminar on Fiqh of Da'wah, Alhamdulillah (Promise to write soon on this. A whole different story and cant wait to share!) which was last weekend and will continue another two more days next weekend and my sem break is ending and my third sem is commencing this week, so I have to get myself settled with classes and all and shall continue my baking and taking orders next week, In shaa Allah. It's been so great, a whole new wonderful journey for me. I somehow understand why this baking skill was for me, I am a girl with a tad of patience, very minimal. And baking, takes A LOT of patience! In a way, maybe Allah is making me practice my patience and bulk it up by this ability! Who knows? Wallhualam. I cannot stress more on how deeply grateful I am to Allah SWT and how amazing He has been pouring me with His blessings, Alhamdulillah. I secondly want to thank my family, Imran, my friends for helping me and supporting me through out. Alhamdulillah. 

Al Kahqa has been doing really great, Alhamdulillah. My baking business is not entirely about money. It's the outcome of it which I deeply appreciate. The fact that from selling cakes is where bonds were created. The social network has been helping me a lot. New friends that were initially strangers to me became FRIENDS of mine! Silaturrahim was created and I'm just so thankful and I can't wait to continue and get to know more people. Alhamdulillah, I will be forever grateful. May Allah persist this for me and fill it with more good things. Do make doa for me as I will for U, In shaa Allah. Last but not least, Thank U for everyone's support especially to my instagram followers! May Allah shed blessings on all of U. Amin.

Maka dengan ini, habislah cerita panjang lebar about my miraculous irony story! Do check out my Instagram for photo samples of cakes/ my personal Facebook and also, click here Sisters In Hijab for pictures of my cakes but mostly my sister, Kak Jihan's collection of hijabs! ;) 

Jazakallah Khayr 

Wassalam 

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