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!!! :)

Cake anyone?

Finally... this is the result of my 7 week cake decorating course! So, what do you think??? :) Underneath the fondant is a rich fruit cake - which we are eagerly waiting to try but that means cutting the cake - which means have to take this cake apart! This cake is still sitting on my dining table - not sure for how much longer though! :)


I have to say I was very pleased with it and to my delight and definitely I felt very encouraged, I had friends placing advance "orders" for their future wedding cakes!!! :) Hahaha! Not sure if I'm ready for that huge step - especially imagine doing your friends' cakes - the pressure you would put on yourself!!! :)


These sugar roses are definitely the star of the cake - the end result of the cake definitely made all the hard work of moulding each and every petal so worthwhile! :)



This is likely to be my entry for 2007 - so just wanted to say thank you to all those who have read my blog this year - and I hope to entertain your tastebuds more in the New Year! (I am also intending to go for Level 2 cake class - stay tuned for more amazing sights... I have been promised...)


Have a blessed Christmas everyone and a fantastic and joy filled New Year!!!

Love, Elizabeth

Cake decorating classes!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been eagerly waiting for the time and opportunity to enrol in a cake decorating class! and the time has finally come! Now that CA has been completed and done (praise God!!!), I can start these cake classes :)

This week will actually be Week 5 of the course - there are 7 weeks per level (I just havet got round to blogging earlier!) This is Level 1.

Above is a bear that we made out of icing :))) Cute huh!!! :)


It has been really fun - we have been taught to make sugar roses - made out of fondant and let me tell you - it is hard work!!! No wonder wedding cakes can cost thousands of dollars! I will never look at a wedding cake in the same way again. I love the end result though - at the moment, our class is struggling to find the motivation to make these roses as they are so delicate and time consuming. But they are so pretty!!!


Last week, we were taught to ice kids' birthday cakes! So here is Elmo. Apparently there was something not quite right with the texture of the cream (to do with the manufacturer) so the cream was a little softer than usual (hence the white parts appear a little "wobbley"!) and didnt seem to absorb the colours as it normally does! But here is Elmo - a mud cake Elmo cake :)

There's 5 levels to these classes, and I'm already thinking of signing up for Level 2 in 2008 :) The classes are fun and the teacher is fantastic!!! Whilst it is definitely hard work and I dont think I will go into this full time, it is nice to have a new hobby and learn an extra skill!!! :)

Breakfast in Leederville!

Good morning all!!!

There is something exciting about breakfasts.... I don't deny it is a pain to roll out of bed in the morning, and you may even question yourself why you promised your friend to meet for breakfast on a Saturday morning when all you want to do right now is sleep in!!! This is usually what goes on in my head in the morning, but I never ever regret rolling out of bed and getting ready for a proper breakfast (out of the house).

A few weekends ago, we went to Cafe Villa for breakfast. This is quite THE place to be for breakfast - it was pretty crowded, the aroma of coffee was in the air, and attractive breakfast food was being served to tables.

What's also great about this place is that it serves breakfast all day - so if you wanna have a bit of a sleep in and still grab breakfast, you've got it! :)



I had their famous Eggs hollandaise, yep pretty nice... the muffin was toasted to perfection, had a bit of a crunch yet still soft. Recommended (although have you tried the eggs hollandaise at Dome? Now, that's really nice too). I can't remember how much it was... I think $15-$16.



Adrian had the omelette with duck :) Interesting hey!!! I think we thought the egg was a little on the dry side, but it was definitely something different! I can't remember the exact price but it was probably around about the same price as the eggs.

And... an added bonus... if you have the entertainment card, it is 25% off!

Hope you had a great breakfast this Saturday morning - or made up for it by having a good sleep in.... I did! :))

Pandan Panna Cotta!

As I was thinking what to call this blog entry, I contemplated "Green with Guilt" but then I thought, is guilt green? No jealousy is green... so anyway I thought as well that is perhaps not such a nice title for a lovely dessert! Although honestly this is quite the guilty dessert to consume!

I made these individual pandan panna cottas for a potbless we went to a couple of weekends ago! :) I stumbled upon this recipe from "Smell & Taste are my memory"'s blog (http://jinhooi.blogspot.com/) - and thought it was a great asian twist to a traditional western dessert! Check out the blog for the receipe :)

It worked out well - however the only difficulty is finding the gelatine sheets - Adrian found some from me from a chef friend of his! This is a rich, extremely creamy dessert and the pandan hint is just perfect :) I loved that the colours separated a tiny bit at the moment (somehow it just happened!)

I drizzled some coconut milk for the colour contrast, and decorated it with half a fresh strawberry and some coconut husk pieces (sold in most Asian grocery shops).

[p.s. Big thanks to G for the photos!]

Taiwanese Cakes!

The bubbletea craze that originated in Taiwan in perhaps the early 21th Century has not only toured Asia, but also Australia! There are a couple of popular joints in Perth that asians can get a taste of being in Asia.

One of the more popular, and older chains called "Utopia" recently opened up in the Myaree area. I have to admit, it's actually pretty okay. They serve bubble tea and these really cute cakes! And they have Karoke (Im not one for singing but a lot of asians do like it!).

For those from Asia who are homesick, you should come here! Not only can you purchase these asian delights (which have a selection of green tea, taro (yam) delights), you can get your favourite bubbletea (try the red bean sago - it's different - a huge sago with one bean inside!) and you are "blasted" with asian music.

The above dessert (left) is the Mango mousse with the rice cake skin - it's a good concept. Outside is this sticky, elastic pastry (which is meant to be mango I suspect but doesnt really taste like it!) and inside is layers of mango mousse and chocolate sponge. Separately they are all probably good, but a combination of them in a mouthful is kinda weird. Your tastebuds are not exactly sure where to start from. I think its about $3.50

The dessert above (right) is actually quite pleasant. A very light sponge, very prettily decorated (although I kinda think it is weird to use parsley as part of a cake decoration) and layers of cream and fruit. Well presented for $3.50.



Left - this is the green tea bun with a red bean paste inside. Not bad. $1.80 - I like the asian breads, they are a little different to the western ones in that they are softer and have a bit more flavour to it - usually have a hint of sweetness to it.

Right - again, a green tea swirl with a thick green tea paste. Not bad. $2.20



The cakes are packed in this cute little box for you to take away!

Oh and one great thing about this place is that they are open till 12am on weeknights and weekends till 2am. An additional place you can add to your list of hang out spots should your local cafe close its doors on you! :)

Cooking catch up! From Japanese to Western!

I'm going to be making up for my blogging absence of recent times! :) Hence the double entries in one night!!!

Last weekend was full on cooking *claps*! I had some of my old girlfriends over for dinner, and what's really unique about our bunch is that

1) we never fail to arrive late,
2) never fail to COOK AMAZING food
3) Always cook enough to feed an army,
4) have more courses than people at dinner :)

We always have way too much food but that's what I love about it - everyone seems to always be able to throw something tog really quite amazing! The theme was "Japanese" - see pictures below.



On Sunday (the same weekend), our cell had a BBQ. Adrian and I made a roasted vegetable, with bacon and chorizo pasta salad. It was really yummy! Really easy - literally chop the eggplant, pumpkin, and cherry tomatoes and the fetta cheese, season and drizzle with oil, bake in the oven. Cook the pasta will al dente, and toss the roasted veggies with the baby spinach and olives. Best eaten chilled. Especially with a BBQ.


Okay - this was dessert on Saturday night. I LOVE strawberries... I saw a huge pile of them at the shops yesterday and that made me happy. Bizarre but true. It's just so sweet, so nice... hard to describe *sigh with happiness* I'm going to try and make full use of the strawberry season!!! See future entries :)

This is one of my latest favourite crowd pleaser and also chef pleaser desserts! Why? Because it is so simple to do and looks fantastic! Just melt some chocolate in the microwave (Warning: be extreme careful and watchful as you do this - otherwise you may set your smoke alarm off!) and dip the strawberries in, place them on baking paper and chill them.


I hadnt made this in ages... but now I remember why I like cooking it! It is fast to cook, tasty and really quite healthy! (besides the salt content :P) because you dont use oil at all. I think the proper name is Oyaku Don - the non-katsu version.

Don't overcook the egg - pour it over at the last minute, let it cook for a couple of minutes, till the edges start to cook, turn off the heat and cover for a few minutes then serve immediately on top of japanese rice.

Gyoza! Japanese dumplings! I am so grateful to this japanese book for teaching me in simple terms how to fold these dumplings. I have never been good at folding but I think this method (although not visible here) was good - take a piece of pastry and put in a bit of the meat filling, fold it over and wet the edges to seal the dumpling, and then crimp/fold the edges to form a fan shape.

Okay that's about it for now! Hope you all are doing well! I will blog again soon - I do have quite a few entries more to go!!!

Have a great week - those in Perth, hope you did not melt in today's 39 degree heat!!!

Wedding Bells Again!!!

Yes wedding bells again! Infact 2 more wedding bells!!! My good friend Cheryl got married over a month ago - I was honoured to be her maid of honour! :) It was so much fun! We had a lovely time before and during the wedding. I took a day off during the week leading up to the wedding, and we went to this lovely spa place in Observation City Hotel - called Vanilla Spa. We had the Vanilla slice package! Wow what a treat!!! We then went to Trigg Cafe for lunch - I have heard so much about it, and did it meet expectation? Well the view was amazing - and unlike Cottesloe, it was "untouched" - it wasn't touristy and didnt have heaps of shops or anything around it. Will blog about it next!

Anyway, back to the wedding! The day was fun! It was tiring - I can't imagine how tired Cheryl and Michael must have been! but hey I was so glad and honoured to be a part of their special day. I couldnt imagine a better way to have spent a day with such a good friend!

Check out the photos below... :)

Mirrin and I

Me, Cheryl and Mirrin

Cheryl's lovely bouquet!!!
I was SO delighted to have my own fresh bouquet! :)

Edwina, Holly, me and Sasha! UWA Uni mates! :)

So what's the OTHER wedding bell??? I'm going to be Bridesmaid again!!! Yay!!! For a really good friend - Eehui! Remember my gardening, rose farm and weeding buddy? Yep I'm going to be part of another wedding in 2008! Stay tuned!!! :)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and stay COOL! It's going to be 39 degrees tomorrow (Monday) in Perth, Western Australia!

(p.s. I made a couple of new things over the weekend - will blog them soon!!!)