Beanpaste flower piping

What do you do when you feel empty, loss and even start suspecting on your own capability? You stand up, explore and discover new skills.

That is exactly what I did when I was so lost at one point of time, wondering what else I could do other than my 9 to 5 job.

I signed up for Korean beanpaste workshop without even thinking twice (impulsive). Never regretted it because it is fun and therapeutic at the same time.

I think the ‘teacher’ is a baking enthusiastic because she actually major in Accounting instead of bakery.

A little snapshot of what i did whole 5 hours there....piping will my hand shakes

Since this is a piping class, no baking actually involve. About that cake, is just a dummy cake made of Styrofoam. If only it is real cake then my 5 hours there is gonna be even more worth while.

As it was getting really late, i couldn't get the best lighting for the final product. Nevertheless, here is how it looks like with 'cement based colour'.

(Left : Mine; Right : Teacher)

The teacher is so generous that she allow us to stay back to practice. She even gave me some of the beanpaste to practice at home. Which i did! Though still far from expectation but I am super satisfied with how it look like. Just wondering who will eat this this flop of flower made of beanpaste...lol

I still hesitate to really use this beanpaste though:-

1. It is difficult to get hold of this korean beanpaste in Malaysia. It has to be korean beanpaste because it has lower oil content. Those sold in Malaysia bakery shop is usually very oily.
2. It is usually sold in big package and definitely not a good choice for hobbyist baker as it is quite expensive too. 
3. It is quite sweet to my liking. Most importantly I am skeptical about who will eat my hard-piped-flowers. I kept my dummy cake for like months and there is not even a single ant on it (sweet but no ant like??)
4. Yes. You can definitely make this at home but it is going to be time consuming. The pro is that it is homemade and you can control the sweetness. The cons is that it is not going to last for very long.
5. Store bought paste can last much longer but then I will start to wonder what they had put inside to make it last.
6. Not quite sure what cake is suitable for this beanpaste. The original is using rice cake which is almost tasteless

Of course there are good side of it compared to buttercream :-

1. Store bought and save time
2. Very stable and won't collapse even in our scorching sun
3. Cleaner workspace mean shorter cleaning time
4. Can re-do as many time you want (provided it is handle with most hygienic manner)