Spongebob Takes The Cake!

I put my Spongebob Square Pants cake in competition run by Milly's which is where I did my cake decorating training. They have a monthly competition for the best fondant and buttercream cakes of the month.

My Spongebob won the fondant cake of the month for March! YAY! I won a $25 voucher for the Milly's shop which I will be VERY happy to spend!

Top Five For Friday

My Top Five Favourite Chocolate Bars

1. Bounty Bar - This is a chocolate coated coconut heaven! I intend to make my own versions of these one day.


2. Cherry Ripe - Cherry Ripes aren't that easy to get hold of in NZ, but when I do get hold of one it's magic! Cherry Ripes are also fabulous in cupcakes!


3. Perky Nana - I love the sweet yet sharp taste of the centre in these choccy bars, I made some Perky Nana cupcakes last year for the SPCA cupcake day -yum!


4. Picnic Bar - I know this chocolate bar seems out of place here but if I'm really hungry this little bar is a great fix, plus I love their TV ads!


5. Plain Dairy Milk Chocolate - I love just biting off a piece and seeing how long I can keep it in my mouth without chewing...doesn't take long though!

First Time Meringues

Choosing a dessert to make, for me, is a HUGE decision! Last weekend we were going to my parents place for dinner and I'd organised for them to make Indian food and I was going to make Naan bread and dessert. I had it all planned out, I had a Naan bread recipe, I decided on apple blackcurrant crumble, then I realised two things, 1) I have to make it all gluten free and 2) Mum HATES apple crumble (bad childhood experience)

I didn't make the Naan bread, all the recipes online had tonnes of ingredients I didn't have (like Xanthan gum and Tapioca flour) I still wanted to bring something for dessert though, looking through all these GF recipes online took up so much of my time I didn't actually have much time to make anything! I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie but again, didn't have all those fancy GF ingredients so I settled for meringues with lemon curd.

I used this recipe and followed the directions exactly to try and get the best result (this was my first attempt at meringues) They looked a little on the brown side to me and I wasn't all that happy with them, I know they're close to white but I'm sure they were ever so slightly overcooked. Next time I'm going to use a lower temperature to cook them and see if that helps.

I stuck them together (very rushed - I might add) with some store-bought lemon curd (Barkers) and tried to take some very hurried photos before rushing out the door. They were a bit hard to eat (being so large and all) we all ended up pulling them apart and eating one at a time. They tasted delicious though and that's the main thing!

Top Five For Friday

My Top Five Favourite Kitchen Essentials:

1. My Sunbeam stand alone mixer (Her name is Cherie) - gives me so much more time in the kitchen to run around while it's busy doing the mixing for me!


2. Silicone spatula - I know it sounds like something everyone has but it is actually a very important part of making macarons! ...and we all know how much I love macarons!


3. My babushka measuring cups - these making measuring flour and sugar WAY more fun!


4. Cupcake cases - I have to have half a million cupcake cases in the kitchen at all times, you know...just in case I need to make half a million cupcakes!


5. A good sharp knife - I can't STAND to be in a kitchen without a good sharp knife. I have two! They're massive and very very sharp!

Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns, Hot Cross Buns, One a Penny Two a Penny, Hot Cross Buns. That is all I learnt on the recorder at primary school. Now whenever I think of the deliciously sweet Easter treat that song gets stuck in my head! I randomly felt like making my own hot cross buns in the weekend and, to be honest, wasn't sure I'd get much success from it! But I followed the recipe...sort of, and it turned out great!

I don't know if you've ever tried chocolate chip hot cross buns but they're amazing, it's sort of like cheating at Easter, it's not really a spiced bread and there sure isn't any fruit in there but they're soooo good! I decided I'd actually experiment and try to make some of my own and at the same time, try making the traditionally ones (semi traditional, as in, no mixed fruit, just a few raisins)

Sticky Hot Cross Buns (Traditional)

Recipe Modified From Here

1/2 C Milk
1/2 C Boiling Water
1 t Muscavado or Brown Sugar
1 T Yeast
4 C Flour
2 T Muscavado or Brown Sugar (extra)
1/4 t Salt
1 T Butter
1 C Mixed Fruit or Raisins
1 T Mixed Spice
1 Egg (lightly beaten)

• Pour milk and water into a bowl. Stir in sugar, sprinkle over yeast. Set aside for approx 5 minutes or until yeast mixture is nice and frothy.
• Using a larger bowl, mix together flour, extra sugar and salt. Rub in butter, add fruit and spice.
• Make a well in the centre, pour in yeast liquid plus egg, mix thoroughly, dough should be slightly sticky - a little more warm liquid may need to be added, could be up to 1/4 cup extra.
• Turn onto a lightly floured bench. Knead for 10 minutes.
• Return dough to a warm, greased bowl, leave in a warm place to double in bulk. Approx 1 hour.
• Punch dough down, turn onto a lightly floured bench and knead for 2-3 minutes.
• Divide the mixture into 16 pieces. Shape into balls. Place onto a lightly grease tray one finger width apart. Return to a warm place to double in bulk. Approx 1 hour.
• Carefully place on crosses.
• Bake at 220 degrees C for 8-10 minutes.
• Brush hot buns with glaze.

Crosses:

• Rub 1 tablespoon of chilled butter into 1/4 cup flour then mix to a soft dough, using 2 tablespoons of cold water. (note, this didn't work for me, I added lots more water and flour until I got the right consistency)
• Divide into 6 portions then roll each into a long string the thickness of your cross.
• Cut into appropriate lengths and place carefully onto risen buns just before they go into the oven.

Glaze:

• Mix 2 tablespoons muscavado or brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon with 1/4 cup of boiling water.
• Microwave for 2-3 minutes (it will bubble and boil)

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns (Delicious)
Using the recipe above, substitute 1 cup of mixed fruit for 1 cup of chocolate chips (YUM!) and 1 tablespoon of mixed spice for 2 tablespoons of cocoa.

Top Five for Friday...on Monday!

Another late post, I know, I know, naughty me! Work was extra busy last week!

Last night I tried my hand at making pizza dough from scratch and it turned out great! Will post the recipe sometime, although I didn't get any photos cos I was so hungry! Thus, today's post is on my fave toppings!

My Top Five Favourite Pizza Toppings:

1. Salami, cheese, tomato and basil -Mmmm this is the pizza I made last night, I'm so excited because I made so much it's dinner tonight too!


2. Chicken, cranberry and Camembert -I love making this flavour for something a bit different and a little bit fancy!


3. "Funky Chicken" - Okay so this one is a bought one and I can honestly say I haven't bought pizza in a very VERY long time *sigh* this is a chicken pizza from Domino's with a mayo swirl! Who puts mayo on a pizza?! Glad they thought of it, it's genius!


4. Meat Lovers - This pizza topping tends to please everyone....everyone except vegetarians that is, sorry veggies!


5. Good Ol' Hawaiian - Who can overlook the staple in any pizza menu, Hawaiian, with it's ham, pineapple and cheesy goodness.

Vanilla Macarons

I decided to try out another recipe/method for French Macarons yesterday. I got the method from this amazing book:

I decided to go with vanilla flavoured macarons.....mmm vanilla!
The main difference between the Raspberry Macarons I made last time and these vanilla macarons was the beating of the egg whites. In this method, after I added the caster sugar I beat the mixture for a further 8 minutes (the recipe said 10 but I was scared it wouldn't turn out right!) This made a very light and fluffy meringue mix, which I then added the tant pour tant (icing sugar & ground almonds) and went through the stage of Macaronage (mixing the dry and wet ingredients together) I think this was the most critical part, the mix was very airy so you have to break it up, but also remember not to over mix as this can lead to a runny mixture which means you'll have no feet on your macarons!.

The outcome I had was somewhat successful. They had the right texture, they had feet and they tasted good! My only problems were a) the had a little tip on them from the piping and b) they browned very quickly. I think I needed to mix a bit longer in the "Macaronage" stage to prevent the tip from showing (it must have been too thick) and the oven temperature needed to be lower as mine were mini macarons (3cm)

My next attempt is going to be the Swiss method, this is where you heat the sugar and add it to the egg whites...wish me luck!

Top Five For Friday!

My Top Five Favourite Donut Flavours...

1. Boston Cream Donut - with it's delicious chocolate icing and creamy custard centre, it's to die for!


2. Maple Donut - Dunkin Donuts stopped making these a while back (well, in NZ anyway!) but later brought them back with new improved "chocolate sprinkles"


3. Jelly Donut - I love biting in and finding my way to the delicious jam (jelly) filled centre!


4. Pink Icing Donut - With sprinkles! Sprinkles are an integral part of the pink iced donut!


5. Bavarian Donut - Similar to the Boston Cream except coated in thick white icing sugar. *drool*

Every time I do my top five I get hungry for it! Darn, now I need some donuts!

Spongebob Square Pants Cake!

Here is my latest creation. A Spongebob cake made for my work mates niece.

Hope you like!

Sour Cream Pound Cake

When I decided I was going to make a Shoe Cake I realised I would need a good strong cake so I could shape it. I got given season one of Cake Boss on DVD for Valentines (Hubby knows me well!) and they always use Pound Cake when they want the shape and carve a cake. So I went on a hunt to find a nice yummy Pound Cake recipe...

Sour Cream Pound Cake
Adapted from All Recipes.com

Ingredients:
3 C Flour
3 C Sugar
225g Butter (softened)
1 C Sour Cream
6 Eggs (room temperature)
2 Pinches of Baking Soda
1 t Vanilla Essence

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line two 23cm square cake tins.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add sour cream and eggs to the butter mixture and mix to combine.
• Add sifted flour and baking soda and mix well.
• Pour cake mix into prepared cake tins and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

Recipe Notes:
The cake smelled so good while cooking and tasted even better! This would be fabulous with some fresh strawberries and cream. If you don't have two cake tins (I didn't!) then you can just bake your cakes in two batches.

Converse Chuck Taylors Shoe

My hubby is moving within Customs, from the mail centre to another area of work. So, naturally, I said "Can I bake a cake?!" his answer? "Sure!" We came up with an idea of making a shoe with drugs (sprinkles in my case) coming out of the sole because people always try to conceal drugs in shoes!

The cake was a delicious Sour Cream Pound Cake with lemon buttercream icing. If you'd like to try your hand at making a shoe cake check out the recipe and tutorial.

Top Five For Friday

My Top Five Favourite Ice Cream Flavours:

1. Cookies n Cream - I love this flavour the best because no matter where you buy it, it always tastes good!


2. Pineapple Lumps - This flavour is sadly extinct :-( I think I should start a petition to get it back though!


3. Jelly Tip - Sort of like Pineapple Lumps ice cream with it's jelly bits and choc bits all throughout the ice cream, yummy!


4. Goldrush - When I was little I used to pick out the chocolate goldrush bits and save them till last....yeah, okay so I sometimes do it now too!


5. French Vanilla - I'm only saying vanilla for when I'm eating a yummy berry pie or a rich chocolate dessert, vanilla ice cream goes perfect on the side!