Strawberry Cupcakes!

I must be in a cupcake crazy mode!!! :) Here are more cupcakes for you!!!

My favourite colour :)

These are strawberry cupcakes, with fresh chopped strawberries and margaret river strawberry jam folded into the batter. Topped with slightly sweetened whipped cream, with a touch of pink! And fresh strawberries to finish off!

I love my cupcake carrier! It's perfect to pack cookies, cakes and especially cupcakes! That was what always put me off about bringing cupcakes to friend's houses - unless you had a box high enough not to touch the frosting, all your hardwork would disappear!

Stay tuned for more yummy goodies this weekend... :))) I'm still thinking and can't choose what to bake and cook!

Hope you are all enjoying this festive season... :))) I love it, there's something very special in the air - and we're blessed this year, it has not hit the 40 degree mark that our Western Australia's Christmases usually have!

Rainbow Cupcakes!

I must have been on a cupcake rampage for the past couple of weeks! I baked these kiddy totally colourful cupcakes last weekend for a friend's 2 and 4 year old daughters. They are SO cute... the girls I mean... :) I haven't got any photos of them with me, but these cupcakes totally match them, girly, cute, vibrant and energetic!


These were vanilla cupcakes with a white chocolate ganache (with a drop of colouring to make it this gorgeous pink!) and decorated with all things colourful! :)

The cupcakes had a nice fluffy texture, but I think the vanilla essence, together with the vanilla bean paste I used was a little over the top - then again, to each to its own!

Hope you have a great week ahead! :)

"Cool Bananas!"

I know I know, it has been months since I last blogged! I've been around, just been rather slack about blogging and uploading pictures etc! Anyway, thought I would quickly write whilst my banana cupcakes/muffins are in the oven!

I love banana muffins - and today, I was craving banana bread! The place that does it really well, surprisingly is actually McCafe! A colleague and I would sometimes get a coffee and slice of banana bread as a Thursday morning treat. Well today, we didnt coordinate it, but boy was I craving it! Then I got told Cinos does a good banana bread too! The choices and dilema!!! Conclusion, I had a piece of honey butter multigrain toast and a cup of tea.

Why? I figured I should save the treat for tomorrow, since it's Friday! Well before I got to that conclusion, I was thinking banana bread vs saving $ vs lazy to walk there vs is it really a need or a want! Too many equations ended up with me having a toast and tea at work! (well now that I made this, Im not sure I can justify buying banana bread from someone else! HMMM!!! Perhaps will have to save it for Monday then, as a treat to kick off the week! Hahaha! :))

So, what is your Friday treat? Is it a bought lunch, a piece of chocolate, a drink at lunch or some nice banana bread and a good cup of coffee? :)

The smell of warm bananas is one of the nicest fragrance - I feel like bottling it up now! :) Makes a house a home!!! :)

Enjoy these banana cupcakes - they were made for a special someone!!! :)

Happy Fruits! Strawberries and Lychee!

I love strawberries! Absolutely adore them! I think they are one of the happiest fruits on earth! If you could put an emotion on them - they would be radiating happiness! It must be something to do with their heart shape and their bright red colour! Whenever I see these punnets and punnets of strawberries - I cannot help but buy them! My hand just automatically reaches for a punnet of these happy fruits and it goes straight into my shopping basket!

Lately, they have been in season! Yay! I always thought they only turn up on our shelves in the summer months - or at least they are much more in abundance! The thing is - I dont always enjoy eating them... sometimes they can be kinda sour and that is an unfriendly feel :P Ok, I sound a bit odd here - :) But the punnet I bought on the weekend from Coles was absolutely perfect!!! Sweet, juicy, bright red and happy!


Came across this fantastic - my new favourite receipe - from a great blog! It is a Lychee butter cake with rose syrup cream and fresh strawberries. The texture was perfect - how do I describe it... the perfect buttery yellowy colour, light, fluffy yet not too airy - you got the feeling you were biting into a piece of good cake without feeling like you were consuming more air than cake!



May I suggest though that you follow the recipe - the second time I made it, I thought I would be more generous with the lychees - bad idea - cake turned out more like a Lychee mud cake :) But then again, if you prefer it more dense - perhaps that wouldnt be a bad idea then!

For the recipe - please check out this fantastic blog: http://www.dessertfirst.typepad.com/
She has some fantastic creations - I am amazed!!!

Enjoy!!!


(Food Photographer: Thanks for the photos, Gerard!)

Hey, blog is still alive!

I know! It has been forever since I last blogged... I can't believe how fast time is flying, and now we are into the 2nd half of 2008!!! Hope you guys have all been doing well!

Well, I haven't had much time to bake lately (but tonight, I will be! Will blog it after! I'm really excited about this new recipe!) - I'm just starting to do further studies which will no doubt make me feel guilty to be in the kitchen or on the blog instead of into the books! Argg!!! Even now, I am procrastinating...!

Anyway, just wanted to say Hi! And to leave you some photos that I promised months ago to post - Adrian and I went to a lovely winery called Millbrook and here is the evidence of the place... Enjoy!

Millbrook Winery

Millbrook WineryOld Chestnut Lane

PO Box 48

Jarrahdale Western Australia 6124
Telephone: (+61 8) 9525 5796
Restaurant: (+61 8) 9525 5796
Facsimile: (+61 8) 9525 5672
Email: tastingroom@millbrookwinery.com.au
http://www.millbrookwinery.com.au/

Anzac Cookies!

Everyone in Australia last weekend enjoyed a long weekend! It was ANZAC day (25 April)! So being occassional, I decided to make a couple of batches of these lovely golden syrup oat biscuits! It is honestly one of the easiest cookies ever to bake! Just mix with a wooden spoon! I followed the following recipe very closely but you could probably lower the sugar a little if you dont like the traditional anzac biscuit sweetness!

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
3/4 cup brown sugar
125g butter, chopped
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in oats, coconut and sugar.

Place butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until melted. Remove from heat. Combine bicarbonate of soda and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Stir into golden syrup mixture (mixture might become frothy). Add immediately to flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Roll mixture into balls (size depending how big you want it to be! I wanted mine small and thin, so basically about a teaspoon of mixture!).

Place biscuits on each baking tray. Flatten accordingly, allowing room for biscuits to spread.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until biscuits are golden.

Allow biscuits to cool completely on trays. Serve.

Notes & tips
You can store Anzac biscuits in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
These are crisp Anzac biscuits. If you prefer them chewy, flatten biscuits to 10cm (diameter) rounds and reduce cooking time by 1 to 2 minutes.

(Recipe taken from http://www.taste.com.au/)

A golden mass of yummy golden syrup, butter, oats and flour!!!

It is perfect eaten with a cup of tea or coffee! :) Hope you had a lovely long weekend! :)

90th Birthday!

This is the 90th Birthday cake I was telling you about previously! Finally, all done! :) My colleague requested for a fruit cake, which is a great type of cake to cover - as the cake is solid which makes it easier to handle.



I covered it with rolled fondant, which is basically icing in a mouldable form. This can be purchased from specialist cake decorating shops. Rolling and getting the fondant was not at all easy! :)

Each rose petal was handmade with special sugar paste - this was started a few weeks before. This was a little tricky to do because to get this burgurdy colour, I had to use quite a bit of the liquid colouring, which made the paste very soft. So normally, you would cover it with cling wrap so that it doesnt dry up, but this time, I let it "air" a bit before rolling it out. You just have to adjust and be flexible, depending on how your paste feels! :)

The roses... up close and personal. I use three different types of ribbon to provide variety and different textures.

All in all, a great experience! Truly gives you a deeper appreciation of how much work and time goes into making such cakes! :)

I know - I haven't blogged for awhile! Hope you guys are doing well! :) Well, it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago - and it was a lovely one! *smiles* It's amazing how fast birthdays seem to come these days! I had a couple of lovely surprises and these new cookbooks *claps* are part of them! They were from thoughtful friends who gave them to me - I'm touched! :)

For years (and I dont think Im exaggerating!) I have been waiting to get my hands on Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess" book. For some reason or another, I never got around to getting it. So as eager as a child that opens a block of chocolate, so was I with this book! Pages and pages of delicious desserts, treats that will no doubt widen your hips but, provide many many moments of pure delight, lay before me.

Each recipe is written with a lot of enthusiasm and fun! Now, I just need to decide which one to try!

Another sweet friend of mine gave me the above book - it was so thoughtful - it was the perfect addition to my cooking library! Gosh, talk about varieties of cookies, this one will create jars and jars of delicious crispy treats for all ages, tastebuds and moods! I can't wait to try them out!

***Small announcement!!!***
A couple of weeks ago, my colleague enquired if I would bake a Birthday cake for his grandmother who was turning 90. I couldn't believe I was actually getting a proper order!!!

It has been so fun so far - it's going to be a square cake for about 80 serves. They requested for a fruit cake, and I'm going to cover it with fondant and decorate it with roses and ribbon :) I'll post the photos up as soon as it is ready - it won't be for another month - but stay tuned!!! :)

More High Tea Goodies!!!

I have started this post numerous number of times! I am determined to finish it tonight!

Happy Chinese New Year to you all! We are still within the 15 days of the CNY festival - so hopefully you guys all had a great CNY and lots of feasting!!! :)

For the high tea a couple of weekends ago - in addition to the cupcakes, I made pineapple tarts (above) and the durian puffs below. I dont like adding too many spices to the pineapple filling - I just used some clove. Be careful not to go crazy with this spice as a bit goes a long way! :)

Durian is a fruit that some may consider truly offensive. It is a sharp looking fruit that I am sure can do much damage should it drop on you! It is known as King of the Fruits (I think!) - the smell is rather unique - I am sure many have heard the many descriptions of its smell. It's flesh is creamy and yellow with a big brown seed.




To make the filling (outside is just choux pastry - which I made!) - just simply stir the fresh durian flesh through freshly whipped cream - and if you prefer it a little sweeter, you can swirl in some honey. Be careful not to swirl in too much honey as you dont want it to be a noticeable flavour. The star of this dessert is the durian!


Happy Chinese New Year to you all!!!

(p.s. Thanks to G for the photos!!!)

High Tea Cupcakes!

Everytime I read through my cupcake books, I am so inspired. There is something so sweet and cute about a cupcake. It is your mini cake - minus the guilt - well, limited guilt anyway!

Last weekend, I had some friends over for a "High Tea" and everyone brought a plate or two of very yummy goodies to share around. Gosh there was an overload of food! But exactly what a high tea should be like!!!

Our resident photographer, G, took this really nice photo of my cupcakes! He honestly makes food look SO much yummier!!! Before I go into the actual cupcakes as well, we have to look at the cupcake stand.

I first laid my eyes on such a cupcake stand at this cafe at Garden City. I even went up to the lady to ask her where she had bought it from. Some shop in Perth, but I couldnt seem to find such a stand. I figured, perhaps it was not to be. But it was always at the back of my mind.

Over the recent holidays, I went over to Melbourne and... yes... it was meant TO BE! :) I found it!!! It was sitting proudly on one of the shelves in the "Let's Cook" shop and it was the last one left. An 18 cupcake holder stand. It was mine. I did not think of how I would have to take it with me to Tasmania, drag it to Hobart and Lauceston and then drag it back to Melbourne and then to Perth. Heart over head. It was honestly one of those purchases where you sigh and smile with relief. It was a great purchase! I know I sound kinda obsessive and a bit over the top, but for those who have purchased something they have been eyeing for, for a long time, you know what I mean! *grin and wink*

Ok, so to the pretty little things on the stand... I made 2 types - a Coffee and Walnut Cupcake and the Butterfly Cupcakes (Vanilla cupcakes) with Margaret River Raspberry Jam and Piped Fresh cream with half a Fresh Strawberry on the top! These were from the Crabapple cupcake book.

I love these cupcakes! The texture was fine. And I mean fine. Not lumpy, not heavy but fine and light! Apparently there was not enough coffee flavour though (probably because I didnt make the coffee icing to go with it!) but other than that, I liked the texture :) This recipe is for keeps!

Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

(ps. There will be more High Tea entries happening soon....)

Elephant Pancakes anyone???

I thought I would share with you one of the more interesting name places we ate at during our Melb/Tasmanian holiday! This place was called "Mount Elephant Pancakes" (see http://www.mount-elephant-pancakes.com.au/ for more details) - and the restaurant is in this old cottage.

The name of this place is very catchy and makes it sound like you went to a really weird/different place! I was thinking if only they had real elephants in their gardens, now how cool would that be!!! But I checked - no elephants in sight at all!!!

We actually ate pancakes that were more like crepes! Very yummy and fairly big portions. It was a very nice holiday feel to it, as the cottage was surrounded by greenery.



This was their mixed berry (strawberry + raspberry) and banana pancake, with cream and ice cream on the side.


This was their chocolate and banana pancake - this is one of the best combinations when baking cakes or muffins - yummo!



A very homely feel to it - a very comfortable place to have breakfast at! We went to the original one - which was on the east coast of Tasmania - they have another branch in the city of Launceston.


By the time we left the place about 10.30/11am, many more cars were pulling up into the carpark and the place started getting packed out! Visit this place if you're in the area next time! *wink*

The Cupcake Craze has started.....

Yes it has started! I was determined to start this, after studying, analysing and reading and flipping my cupcake book that I received for Christmas! So many lovely cupcakes, so many yummy toppings, so which should I choose?!

Sitting on my kitchen top right now are 12 "Blueberry, Almond and Yoghurt Cupcakes" - but the title of it was "No fuss" cupcakes - which is so true. No mixer needed, just mix. I always have my doubts when recipes seem too easy - I doubt its result. It's cooling in my very cute, pastel coloured cupcake cases at the moment. I went crazy and bought so many cupcake cases - I couldnt decide which ones, so I bought them all, and since it is hard to get hold of pretty cases, I figured it was a "long term investment" :P

These cases are Robert Gordon cases that I bought from "Let's Cook" in Melbourne, the equivalent of the "House" cooking shop in Perth.

I got home at about 10.30pm and started in the kitchen, and it was in the oven by about 11pm. And I used minimal equipment - so it really is "no fuss". Original recipe asked for Raspberry but I used Blueberry instead - raspberries are often too sour!

I'm going to have a quick taste now, so I can let you know what it tastes like!!! :)


Verdict: YUM!!! Super moist and I love the delicate, subtle grainy texture of the almond meal in the mixture. Each cupcake was bursting with blueberries as well, and the yoghurt enhanced it's smooth and moist texture. I am starting to believe in these "no fuss" recipes!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy & Blessed New Year to you!!! :) Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, feasting and enjoying great family moments and also a great New Year's - with new resolutions or perhaps rolled over resolutions! :)

I was away in Melbourne and Tasmania over the Christmas Break - so didnt get a chance to do a full Christmas Feast but we did have a small one in our serviced apartment which was nice! I love the Christmas period - it's such a happy period and I have to say, I LOVE the decorations, the hundreds of cooking and baking Christmas ideas! I need two christmases in a year!!! I felt Christmas came WAY too fast this year - I still want to do a full roast, pudding and everything!

Anyway, a group of us organised a very nice, civilised and proper Christmas dinner (big thanks to the host and everyone who was there! It was so nice!) - and I brought dessert. After thinking literally for probably a couple of weeks at least, I decided on a Christmas Truffle bouquet. This was inspired by Su Yin from "The Journal of a Girl who loves to cook" - check out her fantastic blog at http://www.cookingismypassion.blogspot.com/.



After lots of curling of ribbon, twirling of chocolate, rolling of truffle balls, drizzling of chocolate to make designs, rolling in crushed hazelnut... this was the result...!!!



To my surprise, if you actually google truffles, there are lots of recipes out there but basically this one was biscuits of your choice + cream cheese - and basically blend. Su actually demonstrates it very well in her blog, so do check it out there! I made the following flavours:

• Mint Slice
• Double chocolate Tim Tam with a hint of Rum
  
• Hazelnut biscuits with a whole hazelnut in the truffle

I had so much fun doing this eatible bouquet arrangement!!! Thanks so much to Adrian who helped me out lots with this! My friends loved it, which made it all worth it!!! :)

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and may your year be extra special and blessed!!! :)

Stay tuned for more yummy photos - I am SO inspired to bake and cook and decorate even more this year!!! :)