I am quite addicted to piping a rose pattern having honed my skills on a wedding cake, a cake for the local Inner Wheel group as well as on the top of cupcakes. So why not use the same technique for biscuits? The blog that inspired the rose pattern posted some Neapolitan Spritz Cookies earlier this year and I knew straight away that I had to make them. Although I didn’t package them quite the way Amanda at i am baker did (which is super cute), I did show them off on my new high tea stand so these Chocolate Rose Biscuits with Rose Water Buttercream could be part two of my high tea series.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Rose Buttercream
Hi. My name is Cath, and I am a cupcake-a-holic.
As you may have gathered, I love to cook, and especially bake. I do love all kinds of baking, but at the end of the day, as much as I love macarons, cakes, biscuits and brownies, my true love is cupcakes. They are cute little packages of delight, sure to bring a smile to anyone’s dial. For years and years and years and years they have been my go to treat and a few of the many varieties I have made are lemon and lime, red velvet (it started the whole red velvet craze in my world), chocolate, lemon meringue and the trusty old vanilla. I love cupcakes that much that I have cupcakes on my dressing gown, apron, two bags, a tea towel and a cupcake shaped plate. I am also going to be getting a vinyl sticker for a wall in my kitchen that reads “love and cupcakes are all you need” after seeing a print that Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction received. So yes, a little obsessed over here.
So for my first foray back into the cupcake world after a long hiatus, I asked my friend C what her favourite chocolate bar was to inspire a cupcake for her birthday. Originally I was going to call these Turkish Delight cupcakes (as that was the answer to my question), and I guess I sort of can because the flavour is essentially there. But when you search for Turkish Delight cupcakes on the interweb, there usually is Turkish Delight in/on them. So I am going to go with the much longer name of Chocolate Cupcakes with Rose Buttercream. Phew!
Rose Macarons
In November there is a little race which stops the nation going by the name of the Melbourne Cup. I am not really into the whole horse racing thing, but I would not knock back the opportunity for time out of the office for afternoon tea.
This year we put on a spread, and over catered as usual, with my contribution being some Rose Macarons.
Rose Petal Scones
Now I am a scone lover from way back. Growing up, I remember going to my Nan’s house to make scones, or help her eat the one’s that she had just finished baking. Smelling them as I walked through the front door and seeing them on top of the stove wrapped in a tea towel waiting to cool is one of the most vivid things I remember about my time cooking with Nan.
One of the places on my “to visit” list has been The Victoria Tea Salon in the new Westfield shopping centre after reading about it on Not Quite Nigella’s blog. I am not a tea drinker, but given my love of all things sweet and cute, I was ensuring we were able to go on our recent trip to the big smoke to savour their scones.