Friday, October 26, 2012

Super Mario Cake and matching cupcakes

Made this cake for a friends son's 10th birthday.






Giant Cupcake

I made this giant cupcake because I wanted to try out my new giant cupcake mould. It wasn't for a birthday but just for some girly fun.
It has a chocolate mud cake bottom with a white chocolate (tinted pink) cupcake 'wrapper' and the top is German Chocolate cake topped off with white buttercream frosting and pretty pink flowers and butterflies.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Nuoc Mam

This recipe was give to me by a Vietnamese friend as well as the tip on using the one and a half spring roll wrappers tip!

Ingredients:
1 kg minced pork
600 g minced green prawns
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
6 shitake mushrooms, soaked in water then finely diced
1 large carrot, grated
100g rice stick noodles (rice vermicelli), soaked in water
                                      then chopped roughly
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground white pepper
2 Tbs fish sauce

200 spring roll wrappers
2 egg whites

Method:
Mix all ingredients together from the minced port to the fish sauce mixing until well combined.
Take the spring roll wrappers out of the packet but keep wrapped in a damp cloth so they don't dry out.
Remove 2 spring roll wrappers and cut one in half to make a triangle.
Place this triangle on top of the other wrapper to fit into one half of it.
Place a heaped teaspoon full of the mixture onto the spring roll wrapper on the double triangle.
Roll it up starting from the pointy side of that triangle, then tuck in the two end and continue rolling until it is in a spring roll shape-using a little of the egg white to stick the ends down so they don't unravel when cooking.
Its easier to line up 5-10 of the wrappers on the bench, then put on the filling on each one then roll them all up.
Deep fry them until nice and golden.
Serve with Nuoc Mam dipping sauce and lettuce leaves. (roll the spring roll in the lettuce leaves and dip in the sauce then eat!)
You can freeze the rest in single layers until required and cook straight from the freezer.

Makes 120-130 rolls

Nuoc Mam
2 tsp palm sugar, grated
4 Tbs boiling water
4 tsp fish sauce
2 red chillies,  finely chopped
2clove garlic, finely chopped
6tsp lime juice

Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water then add the fish sauce, chillies, garlic and lime juice.
Place in the fridge to cool.
Serve with the spring rolls-this is enough for 2-4 people.


Chocolate Overload

I made this cake for a friends daughters 7th birthday. Its chocolate fudge cake with a layer of chocolate mousse (not a cream based one) then covered in chocolate ganache which is what sticks on the kit kats and M & M's.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Lalaloopsy's House birthday cake

This is the Lalaloopsy cake I made for my twins 5th birthday.

Lalaloopsy cookies

I made these cookies for my twins birthday at Kinder-to give all their Kinder friends.


 I made girls ones for the girls and boy ones for the boys.


Saturday, May 5, 2012

Baby Shower Cake Pops

I have never made cake pops before. I saw a basic cake pop (just a ball on a stick, dipped in dark chocolate then topped with white chocolate and sprinkled with cachous on top) on a fantastic cooking website called Taste.com. I really wanted to make some so when my friend decided to have a baby shower I thought I would have a go at making baby inspired ones.

What can I say, I am now hooked. I had such a ball making them and now my children are putting in orders for themselves for their birthdays etc!


My Vietnamese girlfriend told me I couldn't only make 'white' ones I had to make dark skin coloured ones too. So I made a couple of dark skined ones and a couple of Asian ones too!


And some little feet too!


Baby Shower Gingerbread


I also made these gingerbreads for my friends baby shower. I used cutters to cut out the shapes and iced them with royal icing (made out of egg whites) tinted with pink and purple and little decorations.

Baby Shower Cupcakes



Made these cupcakes for a friends baby shower. They are just a basic chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream icing and pink/strawberry buttercream icing. The decorations are hand made out of rolled and coloured fondant.

Chocolate Mousse filled Eggs

Ingredients:
1 box Cadbury hollow eggs

125g dark eating chocolate
3 eggs, separated
1Tbs Orange flavoured liquor
grated white chocolate

Method:
Carefully split the hollow eggs in half along the seam (Its best it you use a hot, sharp knife).
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in short bursts until all melted and smooth.
Mix the egg yolks with the Orange flavoured liquor.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Mix the egg yolk mixture into the melted chocolate, this will turn very thick.
Mix through 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture (this will lighten it and make it easier to fold through the rest of the egg whites).
Fold through the other 2/3 of the egg whites.
Fill the egg halves with the mousse then sprinkle with grated white chocolate and refrigerate until firm.


Birds Nest's

Ingredients:
1 packet Chang's brand fried noodles
200g milk chocolate
2 Tbs crunchy peanut butter
mini chocolate eggs

Method:
Melt the chocolate and peanut butter together in microwave in short bursts.
Stir until chocolate is completely melted then stir in the fried noodles.
Place the noodle/chocolate mix into lightly greased muffin trays to make nest shape.
Refrigerate until set.
When set, remove nests from the tray and place 2or 3 little eggs into the nests.


Easter Gingerbread

Ingredients:
75g butter
6 Tbs golden syrup
85g sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
300g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 Tbs milk

Method:
Place the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently stirring until sugar has dissolved.
Stir in the cinnamon, ginger and allspice into the butter mixture.
In a large bowl mix together the plain flour and the bicarbonate of soda.
Add the butter-spice mixture and milk to the flour and knead until dough is smooth.
Cut into shapes and place on greased oven trays and bake in oven 180 degrees for approx 12 mins.
Once cool decorate with melted chocolate, icing etc.

Dinosaur Cake



My son loves Dinosaurs so I made this cake for his 2nd birthday. It is covered in chocolate ganache then I made the dinosaur out of rolled fondant.                                                                      

Strawberry Shortcake's House

I made this cake for my eldest daughter's 7th birthday. 
Was a bit of a dud, I should have made it with mud cake as it is sturdier but made it with a light chocolate cake. It was too soft and it collapsed on itself and ended up being a flat strawberry that cracked in the back! Oh well, you bake and learn!


Monday, March 26, 2012

Zucchini, Date and Walnut Cake

Have put this recipe on my blog to share with my dear friend Stav who really enjoyed this cake as did her husband. Its very simple to make and tastes fantastic too.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
400g  coarsely grated zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture 
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup walnut halves, coarsely chopped
1 cup dried  dates, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

For the icing:
250g  cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
2 tbs fresh lemon juice

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C
Grease and line a 28cm x 18cm slice pan with non-stick baking paper.
Beat the sugar, oil and egg together in a bowl until pale and creamy.
Add the zucchini, flour, walnuts, dates, bicaronate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir until well combined.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 50 mins or until cooked through.
When cooled completely top with the cream cheese icing.

To make the icing, beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon rind and juice until thick and creamy and thoroughly combined.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Cinderella #2

This is my 1st ever cake I have made for someone (other than my kids) for a party. My friend asked me to make her a Cinderella cake for her daughter's 1st birthday.

Lotso-from Toy Story 3

                           My girls insisted I made their Daddy a Lotso cake for his 50th birthday!

Belle-Beauty and the Beast

                      I made this for my friends 30th birthday. She loves Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

Snow white


 For my twins 4th birthday.

Noah's Ark

                                                       I made this for my Son's 1st birthday.