Tuesday, May 29, 2012
My First Guest Post
Hello to all of my lovely readers! I've just done my first ever guest post over at my friend, Danelle's blog. Click HERE to check out my recipe for Chocolate Mousse Pie, and while you're there, all the lovely posts from Danelle herself!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oh. My. Gosh. These cookies are to die for!
I saw this recipe posted on NZGirl and had already organised to do some baking with my friend last Thursday. Then I saw this recipe and thought, it's meant to be!
So we went ahead with our baking date and made cookies, they were actually for a charity bake sale that my friends work was putting on, cookies for a cause make them taste so much better!
I have to admit I needed a glass of milk with my giant cookie and the next day when I took one to work I had to have half at morning tea and half at afternoon tea.
They're massive!
The original recipe is from Picky Palate which is a wonderful blog!
I've modified the recipe a little to help us Kiwis out. The actual cookie recipe is really really good so I this could become my staple cookie recipe.
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Picky Palate
Makes approx 20 large cookies
Ingredients
225g Butter (softened)
3/4 C Packed Brown Sugar
1 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1T Vanilla Essence or Extract
3 ½ C Flour
1 t Salt
1 t Baking Soda
2 C Chocolate Chips (I used Cadbury)
2 Packs of Oreos (or 20 Oreos)
Recipe notes:
Don’t worry if the cookies seem a little on the soft side when you first take them out. They cook a little bit longer when you take them out anyway and they will be fine by the time they are cooled…but delicious if you eat them while still warm.
If you’re buying the Cadbury chocolate chips you’ll need to buy two bags because one wasn’t quite enough and those choc chips tasted amazing!
I am entering this recipe in this months Sweet NZ. Please check out Shirleen's amazing blog Sugar & Spice for all of the lovely entries.
I saw this recipe posted on NZGirl and had already organised to do some baking with my friend last Thursday. Then I saw this recipe and thought, it's meant to be!
So we went ahead with our baking date and made cookies, they were actually for a charity bake sale that my friends work was putting on, cookies for a cause make them taste so much better!
I have to admit I needed a glass of milk with my giant cookie and the next day when I took one to work I had to have half at morning tea and half at afternoon tea.
They're massive!
The original recipe is from Picky Palate which is a wonderful blog!
I've modified the recipe a little to help us Kiwis out. The actual cookie recipe is really really good so I this could become my staple cookie recipe.
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Picky Palate
Makes approx 20 large cookies
Ingredients
225g Butter (softened)
3/4 C Packed Brown Sugar
1 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1T Vanilla Essence or Extract
3 ½ C Flour
1 t Salt
1 t Baking Soda
2 C Chocolate Chips (I used Cadbury)
2 Packs of Oreos (or 20 Oreos)
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees C and line two cookie trays with baking paper.
- Cream butter and both sugars until well combined.
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt together and slowly add to the wet ingredients with the chocolate chips until just combined. The mix will be very crumbly.
- Make balls of cookie dough by using a spoon to scoop and your hands to shape.
- Place one ball of cookie dough underneath the Oreo and another ball of cookie dough on top and seal together, making sure the Oreo is fully enclosed in the dough.
- Place cookies onto cookie trays and bake for about 13 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack then enjoy!
Recipe notes:
Don’t worry if the cookies seem a little on the soft side when you first take them out. They cook a little bit longer when you take them out anyway and they will be fine by the time they are cooled…but delicious if you eat them while still warm.
If you’re buying the Cadbury chocolate chips you’ll need to buy two bags because one wasn’t quite enough and those choc chips tasted amazing!
I am entering this recipe in this months Sweet NZ. Please check out Shirleen's amazing blog Sugar & Spice for all of the lovely entries.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Cupcake Review: Bluebells Cakery
After hearing about Bluebells Cakery online I thought I’d check it out and see these beautiful cakes heard all about, then I realized how close I live to it! How fantastic! This area is seriously lacking in the sweet treats and drinks department so Mr S and I welcomed it with open arms.
I went along and introduced myself to the owner, Karla, who is amazing! She started her business up all on her own and has decorated her shop in Hillsborough to look amazing. We ordered a cupcake each and halved them (as we always do) and WOW! They were good!
Delicious Lemon Curd
This one was definitely my favourite. It is definately a lemon lovers cupcake! The cake is light a fluffy, with a generous amount of lemon curd inside then topped with a lovely creamy icing. It was actually perfect!
Raspberry and Chocolate
Yummy! Airy and light chocolate cupcake with a delicious raspberry icing, I could eat several of these, honestly! I also loved the slight tartness you get when you bite into the dried raspberry on top.
These two cupcakes were just right! I'm so glad I live so close, I'm going to have to try every flavour cupcake now! If you're keen to check out Bluebells Cakery, come visit the shop at 161a Hillsborough Road, Hillsborough, Auckland on a Friday or Saturday, you may (probably) even see me there eating cupcakes!
I went along and introduced myself to the owner, Karla, who is amazing! She started her business up all on her own and has decorated her shop in Hillsborough to look amazing. We ordered a cupcake each and halved them (as we always do) and WOW! They were good!
Delicious Lemon Curd
This one was definitely my favourite. It is definately a lemon lovers cupcake! The cake is light a fluffy, with a generous amount of lemon curd inside then topped with a lovely creamy icing. It was actually perfect!
Raspberry and Chocolate
Yummy! Airy and light chocolate cupcake with a delicious raspberry icing, I could eat several of these, honestly! I also loved the slight tartness you get when you bite into the dried raspberry on top.
These two cupcakes were just right! I'm so glad I live so close, I'm going to have to try every flavour cupcake now! If you're keen to check out Bluebells Cakery, come visit the shop at 161a Hillsborough Road, Hillsborough, Auckland on a Friday or Saturday, you may (probably) even see me there eating cupcakes!
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Savoury Sunday: Chorizo Risotto
It's been three weeks now since I had my wisdom teeth removed. The first week I was totally on soft foods, pretty much no fruit or vegetables and mainly eating and drinking liquids...it wasn't much fun. The second week I started eating slightly harder foods and mixing it up a little. My teeth still ached on the odd occasion. but going from taking pain killers every four hours for one whole week to taking them maybe once a day was a massive achievement so I was happy about that. I'm also happy because I think I lost a few kgs in those few days I hardly ate anything woohoo! Silver lining huh! ...I'll probably end up putting that all on now that I'm eating normally again!
On week two I made one of my favourite recipes, Chorizo Risotto, which was nice and soft. This recipe is on the back of the Aborio rice packet I buy and has never failed me. It's super easy and adaptable too, I usually put a cup of frozen beans in but this time I just served it with a salad. I also threw in some leftover bacon I had in the fridge which made it yummy!
Chorizo Risotto
Adapted from Sun Rice
Serves four
Ingredients:
2 C Aborio Risotto Rice
1 T Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 Chorizo Sausages (sliced)
1 C of Peas or Beans
5 -6 C Hot Chicken or Vegetable Stock
6 T Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
1) Heat half the oil in fry pan and cook the Chorizo for a few minutes until lightly browned then put them in a bowl and set aside to add at the end.
2) Add the onion to the fry pan and cook in the remaining oil for a two minutes.
3) Add rice to fry pan and cook for two minutes, making sure to stir continuously.
4) Add hot stock one cup at a time, stirring until it is absorbed before each new addition (about every five minutes). Continue until rice is tender which will take about 25-30 minutes.
5) Add peas or beans and chorizo five minutes before you finish cooking.
6) Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste.
Enjoy!
On week two I made one of my favourite recipes, Chorizo Risotto, which was nice and soft. This recipe is on the back of the Aborio rice packet I buy and has never failed me. It's super easy and adaptable too, I usually put a cup of frozen beans in but this time I just served it with a salad. I also threw in some leftover bacon I had in the fridge which made it yummy!
Chorizo Risotto
Adapted from Sun Rice
Serves four
Ingredients:
2 C Aborio Risotto Rice
1 T Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 Chorizo Sausages (sliced)
1 C of Peas or Beans
5 -6 C Hot Chicken or Vegetable Stock
6 T Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
1) Heat half the oil in fry pan and cook the Chorizo for a few minutes until lightly browned then put them in a bowl and set aside to add at the end.
2) Add the onion to the fry pan and cook in the remaining oil for a two minutes.
3) Add rice to fry pan and cook for two minutes, making sure to stir continuously.
4) Add hot stock one cup at a time, stirring until it is absorbed before each new addition (about every five minutes). Continue until rice is tender which will take about 25-30 minutes.
5) Add peas or beans and chorizo five minutes before you finish cooking.
6) Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste.
Enjoy!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Farewell Cupcakes
Here are some cupcakes I made for a farewell morning tea we held at work for a work mate who was leaving. The cupcakes were vanilla with vanilla buttercream. I piped the icing using a 1M tip starting in the middle and working my way out, this makes it look like a rose. By the time I got into town after catching the bus with my cupcakes they were all messed up so I had to re-pipe most of them. Luckily I took lots of photos before!
I wanted my cupcakes to be kind of special so decided to make some fun cupcake toppers to make them stand out. These are super easy to do! I managed to find some pictures of my work mate and cut these into circles. I pasted these onto some scrapbook paper which I cut out using a scallop shaped cutter. I stuck a toothpick to the pictures using blu-tack and inserted these into the cupcakes. This is such a simple way to make plain cupcakes interesting and the star of the party (these ones were!) especially if you can get some funny or embarrassing photos on there! I also wrote Farewell Ryan in a few different languages too (as he knew French and his fiance is Japanese)
I wanted my cupcakes to be kind of special so decided to make some fun cupcake toppers to make them stand out. These are super easy to do! I managed to find some pictures of my work mate and cut these into circles. I pasted these onto some scrapbook paper which I cut out using a scallop shaped cutter. I stuck a toothpick to the pictures using blu-tack and inserted these into the cupcakes. This is such a simple way to make plain cupcakes interesting and the star of the party (these ones were!) especially if you can get some funny or embarrassing photos on there! I also wrote Farewell Ryan in a few different languages too (as he knew French and his fiance is Japanese)
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| Extra icing especially for Ryan who loved buttercream! |
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| If you look closely you can see the photos on the cupcakes. |
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mothers Day!
Happy Mothers Day everyone! I hope you had a great day either spoiling your mum or being spoilt (hopefully!) I made my mum a yummy flourless orange cake (will post the recipe soon) then went out for coffee and a nice catch up.
What did you get up to this Mothers Day?
What did you get up to this Mothers Day?
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| "Mom" Cupcakes by the one and only Bakerella! |
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Amy Atlas Book has Arrived!
Guess what finally arrived in the mail today?! That's right! My Amy Atlas Sweet Designs book! I'm SO excited about it, it's not funny!
When I got home Mr S asked me when the Amy Atlas book was supposed to arrive and I said, oh I don't know another month or so? Then I realised he had a smirk on his face and that is when I started jumping up and down and screaming! Best day everrrrr!
I haven't had a proper look yet, every time I open it I get so engrossed in it, it really is a book written for me! I know I'll be using all the tips and techniques to create some amazing dessert tables in the future (especially at my nieces birthday parties!) but I feel like I should wait and just take my time so I can really absorb it. I'm also scared of marking it, it seems so perfect!
Oh, for those of you who don't know who Amy Atlas is, she is a genius. She is amazing. She is perfect. And she makes the most amazing dessert tables you've ever seen and pretty much INVENTED dessert tables. Her book is so jam packed full of useful advice, recipes and tutorials, it's amazing!
If you're keen to get your hands on this fantastical book (how can you not be?!) then check out Amazon, their prices are actually pretty reasonable, even for us Kiwis who live so far away!
When I got home Mr S asked me when the Amy Atlas book was supposed to arrive and I said, oh I don't know another month or so? Then I realised he had a smirk on his face and that is when I started jumping up and down and screaming! Best day everrrrr!
 |
| Sweet Designs book by Amy Atlas! |
I haven't had a proper look yet, every time I open it I get so engrossed in it, it really is a book written for me! I know I'll be using all the tips and techniques to create some amazing dessert tables in the future (especially at my nieces birthday parties!) but I feel like I should wait and just take my time so I can really absorb it. I'm also scared of marking it, it seems so perfect!
Oh, for those of you who don't know who Amy Atlas is, she is a genius. She is amazing. She is perfect. And she makes the most amazing dessert tables you've ever seen and pretty much INVENTED dessert tables. Her book is so jam packed full of useful advice, recipes and tutorials, it's amazing!
 |
| My first look at Sweet Designs |
If you're keen to get your hands on this fantastical book (how can you not be?!) then check out Amazon, their prices are actually pretty reasonable, even for us Kiwis who live so far away!
 |
| Me and Amy! |
Monday, May 7, 2012
How to Fill Cupcakes
A few weeks ago I made some awesome (can I say that about my own stuff?) cupcakes to celebrate the Avengers movie coming out. Underneath that fondant and buttercream there was actually some caramel inserted into these cupcakes!
If you want to fill cupcakes the number of filling options available are never ending! Popular fillings are things like lemon curd, buttercream, ganache, jam and caramel. I went with the simple option after Googling around for a good recipe and failing to find one with ingredients we have in NZ and that aren't going to make me set the kitchen on fire (I'm scared of heating sugar!) I bought Nestle Caramel Filling. It wasn't cheap at $3.98 but if you're making a big bunch of cupcakes it's not so bad (I only made 12.)
There are two main ways to insert a filling into a cupcakes. Firstly, inserting the filling. This can be done with a piping bag and if you're fancy and have a Bismarck tip this is really helpful! The second method is to scoop out some cupcake and spoon in your filling, I like to call this the "cut and paste technique". This method is a little messier but at least you can see how much filling you're putting in (unlike inserting it.)
Piping Filling into Cupcake:
1) Assemble piping bag with appropriate tip, I'm using the Bismarck tip which is designed especially to fill cupcakes. Once you're sorted prop it up in a tall glass or container so you can fill it easily.
2) Spoon filling into the piping bag.
3) Insert tip into cupcakes and swirl it around a few times to give the filling room to spread.
4) Squeeze filling into cupcake until you can see a tiny bit popping out from the hole.
5) Ice with buttercream as usual on top.
Cut and Paste Technique:
1) Use a sharp knife and cut a small hole (or big if you want lots of filling!) on an angle so it looks a bit like a pyrimad when you remove the cake.
2) Remove cake from hole and set aside (you'll use this again)
3) Spoon filling into hole in cupcakes.
4) Cut the piece of cake taken from the cupcake so that you are left with just a lid.
5) Replace the "lid" of the cupcake, this is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. It doesn't really matter how it looks as you'll be covering it with icing anyway!
6) Ice with buttercream on top as usual.
As you can see both techniques are fine to use it's up to you. It really doesn't matter how they look in the end because you can cover it with delicious buttercream icing!
If you want to fill cupcakes the number of filling options available are never ending! Popular fillings are things like lemon curd, buttercream, ganache, jam and caramel. I went with the simple option after Googling around for a good recipe and failing to find one with ingredients we have in NZ and that aren't going to make me set the kitchen on fire (I'm scared of heating sugar!) I bought Nestle Caramel Filling. It wasn't cheap at $3.98 but if you're making a big bunch of cupcakes it's not so bad (I only made 12.)
There are two main ways to insert a filling into a cupcakes. Firstly, inserting the filling. This can be done with a piping bag and if you're fancy and have a Bismarck tip this is really helpful! The second method is to scoop out some cupcake and spoon in your filling, I like to call this the "cut and paste technique". This method is a little messier but at least you can see how much filling you're putting in (unlike inserting it.)
Piping Filling into Cupcake:
1) Assemble piping bag with appropriate tip, I'm using the Bismarck tip which is designed especially to fill cupcakes. Once you're sorted prop it up in a tall glass or container so you can fill it easily.
 |
| This is a Bizmarck tip |
3) Insert tip into cupcakes and swirl it around a few times to give the filling room to spread.
4) Squeeze filling into cupcake until you can see a tiny bit popping out from the hole.
5) Ice with buttercream as usual on top.
Cut and Paste Technique:
1) Use a sharp knife and cut a small hole (or big if you want lots of filling!) on an angle so it looks a bit like a pyrimad when you remove the cake.
2) Remove cake from hole and set aside (you'll use this again)
3) Spoon filling into hole in cupcakes.
4) Cut the piece of cake taken from the cupcake so that you are left with just a lid.
5) Replace the "lid" of the cupcake, this is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. It doesn't really matter how it looks as you'll be covering it with icing anyway!
6) Ice with buttercream on top as usual.
As you can see both techniques are fine to use it's up to you. It really doesn't matter how they look in the end because you can cover it with delicious buttercream icing!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Milford Homestore Shopping
Way back in March I entered my Stiletto Shoe Cake in the Milford Homestore cake of the month competition and won! I was really surprised because there were amazingly TWO other high heel shoe cakes in this particular competition that were really good too! What are the chances?! Well, they picked me which I was really grateful for!
Today (yes I realise it's two months later but we live quite far away from Milford) I finally went to spend my $50 in the store. This was my first time in the Milford store, I had been to others and they are all fabulous but this Milford store was AMAZING! It was so fully stocked in cake decorating supplies I think it's better than Milly's!
I decided to be sensible with my voucher and get things I needed, a pizza stone, a gravy boat and some coasters for our new coffee table. With the leftover money I bought myself some cute teal polka dot cupcake cases and a big round tip which will be super useful for cupcakes!
I can't wait to make pizza and roast meals with gravy and decorate cupcakes and drink coffee so I can use the coasters! What a bargain getting all that for $50! I'm a very happy chappy! Now I'm off to take more photos of my adorable kitten, I made her another tie, this time it's a cute pink bow tie. She looks perfect in it!
Today (yes I realise it's two months later but we live quite far away from Milford) I finally went to spend my $50 in the store. This was my first time in the Milford store, I had been to others and they are all fabulous but this Milford store was AMAZING! It was so fully stocked in cake decorating supplies I think it's better than Milly's!
I decided to be sensible with my voucher and get things I needed, a pizza stone, a gravy boat and some coasters for our new coffee table. With the leftover money I bought myself some cute teal polka dot cupcake cases and a big round tip which will be super useful for cupcakes!
I can't wait to make pizza and roast meals with gravy and decorate cupcakes and drink coffee so I can use the coasters! What a bargain getting all that for $50! I'm a very happy chappy! Now I'm off to take more photos of my adorable kitten, I made her another tie, this time it's a cute pink bow tie. She looks perfect in it!
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| Pecan wearing a pink bow tie - I gave her lots of kitty treats, don't worry! |
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Happy Star Wars Day!
May the fourth be with you!
Here is an amazing cake made by Oak Leaf Cakes of a life sized Stormtrooper! If you don't believe that it really is cake, scroll down to the second photo, cake it his head!
Check out the full story at Oak Leaf Cakes.
Here is an amazing cake made by Oak Leaf Cakes of a life sized Stormtrooper! If you don't believe that it really is cake, scroll down to the second photo, cake it his head!
Check out the full story at Oak Leaf Cakes.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Banana Bread
Well it's day five, that is, five days since I've had my wisdom teeth out and I'm still sore! I went to work yesterday, intending to have a half day, then came down with a fever which was weird. I went outside for some fresh air and almost threw up then came back to work, took some more pain killers (story of my life right now) and after a while I was right. I ended up staying the whole day which was good, today there won't be any work for me (I'm a temp) so they said to stay home and rest which is kind of what I'm doing...plus a bit of housework and a few errands to run. Still, it's nice to have the day off!
I made this banana bread a few weeks ago and believe me I wish I had some now! I can only eat soft foods at the moment and some nice soft banana bread with some butter spread over and lightly heated would be delicious right now! I'll have to stick to jelly and soup for now!
I wasn't sure what the difference was between banana cake and banana bread to start with, but I had never tried banana bread and thought the name sounded great! I like bananas, I like bread! Banana + bread = awesomeness? Yes! It tasted so good and was great with a nice cup of Earl Grey tea. Turns out banana bread is more dense and heavy where as cake is lighter. They have similar ingredients but both have different amounts and mixing methods. The big difference to me is what you put WITH your bananary goodness, as in chocolate icing would go well with a banana cake and a dollop of butter would go down great with a slice of banana bread. Either way I'm in love with this simple recipe!
Banana Bread
Adapted from Squidoo
Ingredients:
4 Ripe Bananas
80g C Butter (1/3 C Melted)
1 C Sugar
1 Egg (Beaten)
1 t Vanilla Essence
1 t Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
1 1/2 C Flour
Recipe Notes:
I got my bananas super cheap from my local vege shop, 40c a kilo! These ones had bruises but I just chopped off the yucky bits and mashed up the rest. What a bargain!
I think this banana bread is best the day after when the bananary flavour has sunk in and gotten all delicious!
I made this banana bread a few weeks ago and believe me I wish I had some now! I can only eat soft foods at the moment and some nice soft banana bread with some butter spread over and lightly heated would be delicious right now! I'll have to stick to jelly and soup for now!
I wasn't sure what the difference was between banana cake and banana bread to start with, but I had never tried banana bread and thought the name sounded great! I like bananas, I like bread! Banana + bread = awesomeness? Yes! It tasted so good and was great with a nice cup of Earl Grey tea. Turns out banana bread is more dense and heavy where as cake is lighter. They have similar ingredients but both have different amounts and mixing methods. The big difference to me is what you put WITH your bananary goodness, as in chocolate icing would go well with a banana cake and a dollop of butter would go down great with a slice of banana bread. Either way I'm in love with this simple recipe!
Banana Bread
Adapted from Squidoo
Ingredients:
4 Ripe Bananas
80g C Butter (1/3 C Melted)
1 C Sugar
1 Egg (Beaten)
1 t Vanilla Essence
1 t Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
1 1/2 C Flour
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a loaf tin with butter.
- Mash bananas in a large bowl.
- Pour butter on top of mashed bananas and mix together with a spoon.
- Add sugar, egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Sift the baking soda and salt and mix in.
- Lastly, sift in the flour and mix until combined.
- Pour mixture into the loaf tin and bake for approximately one hour.
- Leave in tin for five minutes then turn out onto cooling rack.
- Slice and serve with tea!
Recipe Notes:
I got my bananas super cheap from my local vege shop, 40c a kilo! These ones had bruises but I just chopped off the yucky bits and mashed up the rest. What a bargain!
I think this banana bread is best the day after when the bananary flavour has sunk in and gotten all delicious!
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