New Banner!

Hello!

I spent this afternoon drawing up a new banner for the blog - I thought it was about time I updated it. It now contains lots of my baking adventures, the things I like, and little bits about my life really (my pets make an appearance!). So I hope you enjoy.

I wish I could bake and post right now, but unfortunately I have glandular fever :(

It means I have to rest completely for a couple of weeks to a month, so that I wipe out the illness for good and don't get something even more nasty like chronic fatigue! So I'm pretty tired right now, but hopefully once I pick up, a new post will be on its way!

To keep myself out of the abyss of total and utter boredom, I've been drawing and crocheting my heart out. I love these things but haven't really had a chance to really get back into them until, well, now, when I am at home with literally nothing else to do!

So I thought I'd put up a drawing I did the other day. I love the simple art of sketching or using felt tip - it allows me to do the little details that I love, and frankly, I don't really think it needs colour. I have come up with this idea of drawing little "themed" circles - this one is a fairy tale one.

I have a lot of time on my hands, so if you have any suggestions for another theme, I'd love to hear it and attempt it! 

x

Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

It's super weird how things move really quickly, isn't it?

Well, things "in general", like, say attempting to maintain a blog for leisure, seem to pass in a millisecond and other things, sometimes unwanted and uncomfortable things (like the final exam period in your final school year EVER) take an eternity. In short, I'm sorry I have been away for so long, I have missed you, my little blog!

Much has happened over the time I have spent away from the joys of baking + photographing. Exams were done, holidays to Vietnam were taken, marks were given back, oh, and that little thing called Christmas happened too. Everything is happening and changing so fast now, I'm at the edge of this new huge part of my life. In one aspect, I absolutely cannot wait to go to university, and move out, and do all these things I've been dreaming of doing forever. I got the marks to get into my ideal course, I have everything sorted to move away, and I have been slowly accumulating vintage teacups and sewing bunting to decorate my room at college! But then, on the other hand, I'm scared. And nervous. And I absolutely positively have no idea what I'm about to get myself into. Help!

But then, change seems really scary until you're actually doing it. And everything seems really hard and scary until it's done. So I guess I'll keep on going with life, baking and taking photos and IN NO WAY THINKING ABOUT SCHOOL OR STUDY. 

^This is my vintage high tea stand. Do you like my vintage high tea stand? It is one of my most favourite things in the whole world, and I will use it and love it until it can be used and loved no more. I enjoy putting things on it, like these Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes I made.

Christmas was lovely, and I am hoping that yours was too, whoever you are. These would have been good to make at Christmas, I think, but hey, who needs an excuse to make Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes!

The cupcake itself is gorgeous and has a nice dense, but not heavy, crumb. Then I decided to put chocolate ganache in the centre to emphasise that this was not just a chocolate cupcake, but was a true ode to the delight of chocolate dipped strawberries that I have made with my mum and devoured from a young age. Nothing says love or family or summer like chocolate dipped strawberries. The buttercream has pureed fresh strawberries in it instead of strawberry essence to make it actually taste like strawberries, because really, strawberry essence tastes like sweetened medicine and nothing at all like the delicious berry we all know and love. Then I topped it all with a chocolate dipped strawberry... because it was necessary.

So please make these for your family and loved ones, they will speak for themselves. It's basically like giving someone a hug in the form of a cupcake! Enjoy baking, and keep doing the things you love, no matter how much time has passed and how out of practise you feel!

Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Makes 12

{Chocolate cupcake recipe adapted from 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly}

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

300g milk chocolate, chopped

300g unsalted butter

5 eggs

115g caster sugar

115g self raising flour

Chocolate Ganache:

200g milk or dark chocolate

150ml thickened cream

Strawberry Buttercream:

375g icing sugar, sifted

225g unsalted butter, softened

200g chopped/ pureed strawberries

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries:

Chocolate ganache (see above)

12 strawberries

Method:

For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius and place 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin.

In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter together. Leave to cool a little.

Beat the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl until pale and thick, then fold in the flour, then the melted chocolate and butter. Mix well.

Spoon mixture into cases and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes in muffin tray. Then move to a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before scooping out little divets in the tops.

To make the chocolate ganache, Place the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until it melts. Add the cream and stir until uniform and glossy. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour, until thickened. Then, spoon a teaspoon of the ganache into each cupcake - you should have scopped out toe divets into

Chocolate M & M Cake

Ooh! Hello!

I'm good, thank you :) I'm assuming you're great too? Well, if you aren't, I'm pretty sure that this cake will make you feel jolly again.

I'm feeling sort of jolly right now. Tomorrow, school goes back, and it will by my last term of school EVER in the history of the world! It's extremely exciting, but also kind of scary and a teensy bit sad. But I think I'm ready for life outside of school. There's a whole big world out there waiting for me, and now I can contribute to it. Yay!

But then there's the HSC exams to think about, which occur before any of this exciting stuff happens. Maybe, if I close my eyes and cover my ears, and hum nice songs for the next three months, it will go away? Here's hoping!

In any case, there's always baking therapy to get me through.

Now that I think of it, keeping this blog, and baking for people, making them happy, has been one of the things that have kept me motivated throughout this rigorous period of school. Baking really does have an impact on your emotions. I think I've dealt really well with all the adversities of my final school year.

I mean, who wouldn't be happy looking at this cake? I definitely had a fun time making it, the rainbow-ness of it all put a smile on my dial :)

The "heART" word on the top of the cake is there because I made this cake for my art class last week, when we had an art workshop for the day. I think it went over rather well, very colourful for the bright, bubbly artists! And I can never resist a pun...

I first saw the M & M technique used on Sprinkle Bakes, but the technique is a well-known and well-loved one! It does take a bit of time, separating all the lollies into their colours, putting them individually on the cake etc. But it's impressive, and if you need some baking therapy, this is it my friends!

You could most definitely use Skittles instead of M & Ms, or some other miniature coloured lolly,  but since I was making a chocolate cake, I thought M & Ms were highly appropriate. The cake itself is gorgeous and soft, and the coffee in it brings out the chocolate flavour even more!

I have a large cake tin, but if yours are quite small or shallow, you could divide the mixture into three pans for a layer cake. You could fill it with some chocolate ganache, or the buttercream used as the icing here - you could even be adventurous and sprinkle some extra M & Ms in there, if you aren't convinced there's enough already!

Happy baking folks!

Chocolate M & M Cake

Makes one glorious, jolly cake (serves about 30)

Recipe adapted from the Sprinkle Bakes Cookbook, by Heather Baird

Ingredients:

Cake:

200g dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups strong black coffee, fresh and hot

2 1/2 cups plain flour

2 cups caster sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

3/4 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream:

250g unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Milk, if necessary

3 packets M & Ms

Method:

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line a large (or 3 shallow) 20cm cake tins.

Put the chocolate and hot coffee in a heatproof bowl and stir until fully melted. When smooth, set aside to cool. Sift together flour, cocoapowder, soda, powder and salt. Stir in sugar until combined.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer until thickened and light. Add the canola oil and cooled coffee-chocolate mixture. Beat again until combined.

Add flour mixture and beat on medium until just combined. Pour batter into cake tins and bake for 1 hour, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool completely in tins before turning out onto a wire rack. Ice when completely cooled.

For the icing, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and icing sugar. Mix on low speed until mixture is crumbly. Increase to high and beat for 3 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and beat for another minute, until light and fluffy. If too stiff, add a little milk until consistency is firm, but spreadable.

Spread evenly over cake with an offset spatula. Separate M & Ms into separate colours, and order M & Ms into colour gradient (eg. red, orange, yellow etc.). Starting at the base, press M & Ms individually into butter cream, making your way around the cake. For the next row, above the bottom, position the M & M of the corresponding colour slightly to the right of the first one, and continue around. Decorate the top however you please!

Toblerone Cookies

Happy (winter) Holidays everyone!

I've just returned from a four-day trek in the bush. Let's just say it was fun, but I am sooooo happy to be experiencing the joys of my shower and bed. When you're in the bush, you start fantasising about all the different things you could be doing, foods you could be eating etc. when you're at home. I think we all went a little crazy! Don't get me wrong, sleeping in a dirty cave is... nice, but I appreciate my home a great deal now!

The fact that it was so cold and wet on the trek made coming home a lot more satisfying I think, too. I was absolutely soaked to the core out there, so I'm glad to be in the dry. And now that I'm at home, typing away, it's such a beautiful day! Dammit, weather! Humph.

I actually had a great time on the trek. I really improved my navigational skills, and talked to kids and teachers that I might not usually have been able to talk to. So all in all, it was a good experience. And I did get to test out some... ahem, interesting combinations of ingredients.

Fact:  Vegemite + raw carrots = winning combination.

Fact: Sultanas + dry crackers = surprisingly tasty.

Fact: All food tastes better in the bush.

But really, we all know that these Toblerone Cookies I whipped up this morning for my sister's friends, look DAMN TASTY.

Ooh yes. I decided to chop up a big ol' triangular prism of the stuff and incorporate them into some mighty fine biscuits. The idea just came to me, most probably because I was in serious need of baking therapy after my stressful time in the bush.

And I made them little triangles! So they would look just like... you get the idea.

These cookies are so cute and triangular! Chocolate enjoyers will... enjoy the reference to the Swiss prism-y chocolate bar, and will most definitely appreciate their amazing, overwhelming chocolate and almond taste. To top it all off, the chunks of Toblerone inside the cookies stays all melty, even when the biscuits are cooled - yay! I know how much you all enjoy melty chocolate chunks :)

Well, I think that settles that. You shall make these cookies, and rejoice when their soft crumb teases and delights your palette. And also, these are most definitely a milk-and-cookies kind of cookie, so please don't disrespect that. (Unless you're a bit of a biscuit-rebel).

Toblerone Cookies

{Cookie dough recipe adapted from "Chocolate Magic" by Kate Shirazi. Toblerone idea adapted from Angela's brain.)

Makes 20

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarb)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

85g unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

300g milk or dark Toblerone, coarsely chopped

150g slivered almonds, lightly toasted

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Sift flour, baking soda and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and fluffy, then add the vanilla and eggs. Fold in Toblerone chunks and slivered almonds until evenly spread throughout. Fold flour mixture through wet mixture until combined.

On a large square of baking paper, place the mixture and mould into a triangular prism shape (like Toblerone) with floured hands. Fold baking paper over the sides, shape further, and freeze for 10 minutes.

Remove from freezer, cut into triangles about 1 cm thick, reshape quickly if needed, and place cookies on baking trays. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Cookies will firm up when cooled.