Sunflower cupcakes

i always seem to have some thing to appologise for at the beginning of a post and now my reason is semi justified because google wouldnt let me upload anymore photos onto my blog!!! how about that for fine print. so i had to hassle through creating and adding a whole new account to this blog just so i can continue posting! seems ridiculous to me

anyway, sunflowers. yes im in love with sunflowers at the moment and growing my own has only made me love them more (see photos at end of post)

used royal icing for the flowers and a leaf stamp for the leaves made out of fondant. this wussy italian fondant that went soggy after a day of sitting on the cupcake!

i used the black magic cake recipe but i think in the near future (when i have access to an oven, there is no oven in my new house and its stressing me out quite a bit. i keep having this craving for the smell of warm ginger biscuits or urge to ice something or buy some radical baking gadget when i realise i have no oven)

im not sure what flower this is but its definately a christmas flowers over here in italy. they are everywhere and quite beautiful with deep red velvety petals.

christmassy cupcake

these are my own sunflowers that up until a few days ago were growing on my balcony. now they are still growing, but it is no longer my balcony as when i moved houses i forgot to take them with me!! i know, im a bad mother

im in somewhat of a sunflower craze at the moment.

Polcino pio

Polcino Pio birthday cake for Denni. if you dont know who this character is then educate yourself in this young italian trend:  here . Denni's first birthday cake and  the first time i made a cake like this in someone elses kitchen!

i know this blog has been pretty dead for months, i havent been baking as much as i should have and definately not blogging about it. also ive been moving around countries and houses so havent had a solid base for a while with all my goodies in one kitchen! i moved into my new house on monday and am trying to settle down here so that i hopefully dont have to move for  while

there he is! such a heart stopper, he is really cute. cant they stay that size forever?  until my next  baking session adieu. it should be soon because i have to try out the oven in my new house... only testing can tell.

Spongebob and Patrick

Strawberry cheescake- with chocolate crust

think- fresh strawberries and cream with a dark chocolate crunch. yes and my mouth is watering now. this was really good. the cheesecake filling is very fluffy and light and the crust is rich topped off with sweet strawberries. 

one thing i can assure you is that this cake, once cut, does not travel well. i mean thats not that hard to guess because it is a cheescake. but the filling is particularly soft. so one shouldnt eat some for breakfast and then walk to work swinging said cake in a bag and then expect one's cake to look fantastic when presented to one's colleagues. although, my boss (who never eats sweet things) did have a teeny slice. i think perhaps this was out of pity. BUT, there was no cake left to take home. enough said.

rustic looking to the perfect end to dinner on the deck,  those unexpected guests for afternoon coffee or in my case, breakfast! 

if you take one thing home with you tonight folks, it should be that this crust is flipping fantastic and i want to eat it every day of my life. if you need a good chocolate crust recipe. here it is!

Recipe:

Chocolate crust:

adapted from The Australian women's weekly- Sweet old fashioned favourites, recipe book.

for one 18cm cheesecake

185gr flour

30ml cocoa powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

125gr chilled butter, chopped in blocks

1 egg yolk

- mix flour, cocoa and sugar, rub in butter with fingertips until combined. add egg yolk and mix until ingredients cling together. add a little water if you need.

- knead dough on a floured surface (more like press together until it forms a smooth dough) wrap in clingwrap and refrigerate for 30 min

- line baking tin with parchment paper. press dough into the tin with your fingertips, until evenly covering sides and base of tin

- put baking parchment paper in tin over dough, fill the paper with dried rice or beans, bake at 180'c for 15 minutes. remove parchment and beans and bake for a further 15 min. allow to cool before filling it with...

Cream cheese filling:

- 200gr cream cheese

- 5 tablespoons icing sugar

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- 120ml fresh cream (measure out the amount then whip the cream)

1. in a bowl beat cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice

2. fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and spread over the prepared tart crust

3. put in fridge for a few hours or in the freezer (cover tin with tinfoil)

Strawberry topping:

500gr fresh strawberries, washed and chopped
150gr or about 1/2 cup strawberry jam

1. once the  cheesecake has set, place strawberries ontop in a heap. or i suppose you could make a pretty pattern with them.

2. heat jam in microwave until liquid enough to pour. spread over strawberries with the help of a pastry brush.

3. put in fridge until ready to serve

·       

1. 

Everybody's favourite Chocolate chip cookies

these will always be welcome. chewy, soft , eat them straight from the oven or leave them in jars on your counter top to tempt you when you walk past

i used white and dark chocolate chips but you can use whichever chocolate you prefer.
walnuts, hazelnuts or pecan nuts would also taste delicious in this biscuit

this is one biscuit i can never make enough of. within a day or so, they are all finished.

Recipe for Chocolate chip cookies:
makes 24 medium cookies

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup butter
- teaspoon vanilla essence
- small egg
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup roughly chopped chocolate chunks 1/2 cup white choc, 1/2 cup 70% cocoa choc (using chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate of your choice)
optional - 1/3 cup walnuts (or another type of nut)

1. heat oven to 180'C

2. cream butters and sugars, add vanilla and egg. beat well

3. add dry ingredients and mix until combined

4. stir in chocolate chunks and nuts if using.

5. drop large teaspoonfuls 3cm apart on baking tray lined with baking paper

6. bake for 10-12 min

Hot cross buns.. from scratch

so easter has rolled round another year and for the second year running i have stranded myself in a bun-forsaken place where no-one  knows what a hot cross bun is! eish wena.

but what is easter without hot cross buns ek se!
this recipe produces a not so sweet bun that is very soft, glazed with orange syrup and delicious straight out the oven

these beautiful plump spicy delicious buns are a typical easter treat for western countries. they have spices, sultanas and candied orange peel (which i also had to make from scratch by the way). and are best eaten, by the packful. toasted, with honey or jam or cheese.

yes, the glaze is special. its the syrup left over from candying the orange peel for this recipe. 

the pictures are so yellow because i had to photograph them at night. because tomorrow, there wont be any left

recipe for buns i got from taste.com.au, you can see it here

Hot cross buns:

makes 12 buns 

this whole process is going to take about 2 hours including rising times so be prepared, i
had a good book. a movie or other distraction is also a good idea.

ingredients:
3/4 cup warm milk
12gr fresh yeast (or 3.5gr dry yeast)
1/8 cup (30gr) melted butter
1/2 beaten egg
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar (possibly more because these buns werent too sweet)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp mixed spice
2/3 cup sultanas
1/8 cup mixed peel (or home-made version of mixed peel, recipe below)

1/8 cup cold water
1/4 cup more or less of flour to make a paste


1. combine warm milk, yeast and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar in a cup, stir until yeast has
dissolved. leave for 15min or until frothy.

2. add egg and melted butter to milk mixture.

3. in a bowl mix 2 cups flour, salt, spice, and sugar. add sultanas and peel.

4. mix wet into dry mixture until just combined.

5. turn dough onto well floured surface and knead for 10 min or until a smooth dough forms.

place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. place in a warm place for an hour.

6. heat oven to 200'C. knead for a few minutes. divide dough into 12 pieces. line tray with
baking paper. place balls on tray. put in a warm place for anotther 30minutes.

7. meanwhile mix remaining water and flour together. it should form a smooth paste. spoon
into piping bag or ziplock bag. snip off end of bag.when dough has finished its second rise,
pipe the crosses on the buns.

8. bake at 200'C for 10min then turn oven to 180'C for about 15min, check that they arent
burning. they should be golden and sound hollow when tapped.

9. glaze tops with orange syrup- recipe below.



Candied orange rind:

peel 2 medium sized oranges, being careful not to take the white pith, only the orange skin.
eat the orange insides at will.
in a saucepan heat 1/4 cup sugar, cup water, a tablespoon of liquid glucose (not a trainsmash
if you dont have this, just exclude it)

put in orange rind
allow mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally until there is only sticky orange peel in
sticky syrup (be careful not to let it burn when the water level gets very low, stir often).
take the orange peel out, trying to get at little syrup as possible with the peel.
wait until it cools slightly then chop it up with a sharp knife into miniscule pieces.
(yes this is a sticky mess)


Bun Glaze:

but the best part of this whole recipe is the orange glaze!
so, remember the sticky orange syrup that was left in the saucepan after you took out the
orange peel? do not rinse your pot just yet!
so, by now the syrup should have gone almost completely hard in the pot.
add about 1/4 cup water and reheat the pot, stirring all the time.do not let it burn!
now using a pastry brush, brush the syrup over your hot cross buns.
and voila! glossy glazed heavenly smelling buns!

Christening cake

so, this is my first official 2 tier cake! and i had to go find out and source all the goodies involved. mostly i just got blank stares from shop assistants and flat; non capito's. anyway, this cake nearly drained my life force is took about 7 times my usual cake batter recipe. and im still trying to subdue the mighty fondant! but it turned out alright

 

so, i am also experimenting with making royal icing 3d shapes which is a lengthy process because you have to make and glue piece together but it is fun making 3 dimensional objects out of sugar. but if you are going to make something such as this pram a a cake topper, i suggest you attach it at the event, make a spare and keep them in a bulletproof box because they are really fragile. i couldnt take the cake to the event and got my lovely friend nina to do it for me. but, somehow or other, the pram got broken, and she felt really bad. but they covered the top in daffodils and im sure it looked beautiful in the end!

something that did not look beautiful in the end, was my kitchen. it looked like a sugar bomb hit it. for days i  was scrubbing cement like fondant marks off the counter top.

so the cake was, vanilla sponge layered with dark choc chip-white ganache icing. covered in a layer of  white buttercream ganache. covered in white fondant with white royal icing decoration. top tier was 18cm bottom tier 30cm

but at the eye of the storm was this banner and everytime things got too hectic and the cake threatened to  overtake my mind, i glanced over at this happy banner :)

i dont think im going to make a cake this big again, unless i have a shiny  kitchen aid to help me. i salute all home bakers who make wedding cakes, its really hard work!

Sun-dried tomato, feta and black pepper savoury scones

oh my great granny! if you thought sweet scones were good, it was only because you havent tasted  these! savoury,  peppery, cheesy bits of goodness. wish i had one right now

you can almost pipe this dough its so soft

so these are scones, i just cut them into squares because i dont have a round cutter.
you could also form it into thin pieces which would taste like cheese straws.

add a few slabs of mozzarella and you will be in heaven

feta and sundried tomato are the best!!

Ingredients:

450gr self raising flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

60 gr butter

430 ml buttermilk

as much feta and sun dried tomatoes as you like! i used about 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatos and 1/2 cup chopped feta

1. sift dry ingredients together and rub in chopped butter. stir in flavourings and enough buttermilk to make a soft sticky dough

2. turn onto a floured surface and knead very lightly, just until its smooth. press it out to 2.5 cm thickness and use cutters to cut 5cm rounds/ shape it as you like.

3. brush tops with egg, place on baking paper and bake in very hot oven (200-220'C) for 15 min.