Pretty in Pink Cupcake Decorating at CW Cakes

It has been another scorcher in Melbourne today - even though I am a Queensland girl, I am feeling the heat.  Of course, I chose today to book into a cupcake decorating class!!  Luckily, the classroom was airconditioned, so the class offered a short reprieve from the relentless heat that we have been experiencing.

Once again, the class was at CW Cakes in Malvern, and the teacher was once again the cheerful Ella.  I did not learn any new techniques in this class, but it was a good way to consolidate my existing knowledge and make some cute cupcakes.The base cupcakes were pink and white swirl butter cakes, and the flat fondant iced cakes were prepped with a coating of buttercream.

First up was a buttercream swirl topped by a fondant butterfly made using stamper cutters, dried in a folded position over a styrofoam block so that it "flies": 

 
Next, there is a lovely bow made using a silicone mould (tips - use half as much fondant as you think you'll need to press into the mould, roll a sauasage to fill the top of the bow and work it with your fingers to fill the rest, and don't allow any fondant to overhang the edge of the mould shape), sitting prettily atop a fondant disc patterned using an impression mat: 

 

Here is a bird made using a silicone mould, sitting in a stencilled (using royal icing) and be-glittered cage:

The next cupcake is a garden of roses and green cachous nestled in a buttercream swirl:

We made another stencilled cupcake, this time feauturing a cupcake:

And finally, there is my favourite, the pink gerbera on a black background with balck cachous for the centre glued on with sugar glue:

It was a lot of fun doing this class, although I think that to keep learning, I will have to move on from the cupcake classes.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

FFwD - Cheating-On-Winter Pea Soup and Herb-Speckled Spaetzle

This Friday, Dorie has us cheating on winter with Cheating on Winter Pea Soup - but it ain't winter here, so I couldn't demonstrate my infidelity to the seasons.  The day that I made this soup (well, the Thursday night before reveal) was 32 degrees (86F) outside. 

I was a little reticent about this one - as you know, I am not a soup fan.  But again, this soup surprised me, and I quite liked it.  I made a half recipe using half frozen and half canned peas (because that is what I had about the house).  I had no issues with blending the soup because I just blitzed it in my little-used blender - I had more technical issues with the blender's safety lock than with the soup.

It isn't easy being green, especially this olive hue, but don't be fooled - this plain Jane soup is quite delicious.

I also finally got around to making the herb-speckled spaetzle from early January:

I enjoyed this dish but without a spaetzle maker, it is a real pain to make - I thought my left arm was going to fall off as I pressed the dough tediously through a colander-spoon with my bare hand (which worked better than using a spoon).  I served my spaetzle with beef stroganoff and green beans: 

This was a pretty awesome meal.

To see what the Doristas thought about this week's soup, visit the LYL section of the website.

WWDH - Food Processor Banana Cake

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe is Food Processor Banana Cake, chosen by Margaret from p160 of Off The Shelf.  You can also find the recipe online here.

To make this cake is a breeze - you bung everything in the food processor, wazz it up, pour it into a bundt tin, bake and and voila - you have cake in under an hour. I used up some aged bananas that I had stashed in the freezer, and though they looked gross when thawed, they were perfect in this cake. 

If you need a snack for a child's lunch box, I think this cake would be perfect - it is not too bad nutritionally while still maintaining the treat factor.

To see what Margaret, Kayte and Chaya thought of this cake, visit their websites.

BWJ - Boca Negra



Last night, I went to see Neil Finn and Paul Kelly in concert at The Palais in St Kilda. It was a stiflingly hot night, but no-one seemed to mind with the class acts that we had come to see.  My favourite song was Neil singing Split Enz's Message to My Girl - I was shivering with delight. Other great moments for me were Paul singing Before Too Long, and the Neil-led sing-along of Fall At Your Feet. Magic!

This week's Baking with Julia assignment was the very decadent Boca Negra (literally, "black mouth" which is what you will have after taking a bite), hosted by Cathy of A Frederick Food Garden.

If you are a chocolate fan, you will love this cake.  If you eat it warm, it is kind of like a chocolate self-saucing pudding, but  if you refrigerate it, the cake turns into a fudgy delight that will take you to heaven.  Here is my heart shaped version:

Eat this cake with icecream and raspberries to cut through the dense chocolate.  Enjoy!

To see what the other Baking with Julia bakers thought, visit the BWJ website.

Mascarpone and Fig Sponge Cake - Kate Gibbs recipe

Last night, I went to see Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band at Festival Hall in Melbourne.  It was an amazing evening on all kinds of levels.  Ringo is 72 years old, but jumped around on stage, despite the stifling heat, and has the physique of a man half his age.  His voice is still good, and his sense of humour is still sharp as a tack.  Can you spot Ringo in the photo below:

The All Starr Band was comprised of guys from a number of famous bands who played a range of hits from the 70s and 80s.  However, for me, the best part was Ringo himself.  When I was a little girl in kindergarten, one of the songs we learned was Yellow Submarine by The Beatles.  Imagine my delight when all these years later, Ringo led me and the rest of the audience in a rousing rendition of Yellow Submarine!  He also led us in A Little Help From My Friends.  It was a brilliant evening, and I am so glad that I went.

Now on to the cake.  This Mascarpone and Fig Sponge Cake recipe is by Kate Gibbs, and was published in a recent Sunday Life  magazine.  It caught my attention because it contained two ingredients that I just happened to have on hand - fig jam and mascarpone.

This cake is light and delicious, making it a perfect tea time treat.

To make this cake, you will need:

Cake

95g self raising flour
25g cornflour
4 eggs, separated
100g + 2 tbs sugar 
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Filling

320g fig jam

2 egg whites
500g mascarpone
2 tbs icing sugar
extra icing sugar and dried figs to decorate

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 22cm springform pan.

Sift the flour and cornflour together into a bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the egg yolks, 100g sugar and vanilla until thick, then set aside.

Beat the egg whites until they start to foam, then add the cream of tartar  and beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.  Fold in the 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Fold a third of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the flour, and finally, fold in the remaining beaten egg whites.

Place the batter into the prepared cake pan, reduce the oven temperature to 170 degrees Celsius, and bake the cake for 30 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before unmoulding onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the filling, beat the egg whites until firm peaks form, then fold in the softened mascarpone and the icing sugar. 

Cut the cake into two layers using a serrated knife.  Place the bottom layer cut side up onto a cake plate or board.  Spread the layer with the fig jam, spreading right to the edges,  then spread the mascarpone mixture over the jam.  Place the second cake layer, cut side down, on top of the mascarpone.  Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar and decorate with dried figs as desired.

Slice and enjoy.

FFwD Valentine's Cookie Exchange - Dark Chocolate Cookies with Sour Cherries

Despite this week being one of the most demanding of my working life, I left for work with a spring in my  step this morning - because I was off to the post office to pick up my FFwD Valentines Cookie Exchange package from the post office!  It arrived right on time on Valentines Day, but unfortunately I did not get home in time to pick it up before the post office closed.

Off to the post office I skipped at 7.30am today, and there was my parcel, neatly wrapped in brown paper.  The yellow tape on the outside and a note inside indicated that the Australian Quarantine service had been there before me:

but nothing could spoil my excitement at receiving a parcel of cookies all the way from the USA.

My cookies were from Maggie of Always Use More Butter - thanks Maggie!  Inside the Tupperware container in the package, I found some beautiful bright dotty paper:

which I lifted to reveal the carefully wrapped contents:
 

 
 
On top was a beautiful heart mobile carefully hand crafted by Maggie:
 

 
 
together with a card that was very appropriate to send to Australia, land of the marsupials:
 

 
 
with the following punchline and message inside:
 

 
 
and beautifully individually wrapped in wax paper were the Dark Chocolate Cookies with Sour Cherries pictured at the top of this post, in perfect condition.  These cookies were baked by Maggie from a recipe in Martha Stewart's Cookies book, and they are special to Maggie, as she made them as favours for her wedding.  Thanks Maggie for sharing such a special recipe with me.
 
And the taste of these cookies?  Absolutely scrumptious!  Chunky, deeply chocolatey cookies are offset by the zing of sour cherries, making them just right.  Because I opened my package at work, I shared my cookies with a select few people, who were amazed at receiving a homemade cookie all the way from the USA, and all of whom enjoyed them as much as I did.  I still have a couple of cookies left for the weekend, just for me.  I look forward to eating them very much.
 
If you are dying to try these delicious cookies for yourself, you will need:
 
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups dried sour cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla extract; beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture, and beat on low speed, until just combined. Do not overbeat. With a wooden spoon, fold in chocolate and cherries.  Maggie also added in some white chocolate chunks.

Form balls of dough, each about 1/4 cup; place balls on baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake until puffed and cracked, 9 to 11 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Thanks to Alice of A Cooking Mizer for organising this fun event, and to Maggie for sending me my package.

 

FFwD - Coeur a la Creme

 

 

 

 

This week's French Friday with Dorie challenge had a Valentines Day theme, in that the dessert we made was Coeur a la Creme - literally a Heart of Cream.  To make this dessert, comprised of cream cheese, icing sugar, whipped cream, vanilla and alcohol of your choice (I chose Chambord, a black raspberry liqueur), you are supposed to have the special heart shaped moulds with holes in the bottom.  I used a strainer lined with cheesecloth instead, in the correct belief that I will never make this dessert often enough to justify buying the moulds, and hence we have Blob a la Creme: 

 

 

 

As the name suggests, coeur a la creme tastes overwhelmingly of cream.  I paired my coeur a la creme with some raspberry coulis (frozen raspberries and sugar warmed up together until a sauce forms).  The raspberry pairing is a good one, as it cuts through the creaminess.

Without a doubt, this dessert tasted nice if you are a creamy dessert fan.  For me, this was just OK, as although I love cheesecake, this dessert erred too far on the creamy side for my liking.  However, it got very good feedback at work - proving that I am a fusspot of sorts. 

To see what the other FFwD cooks thought, visit the LYL section of the FFwD website.

Hope you had a Happy Valentines Day!