I was lucky enough to be asked to make the cake to celebrate the 90th birthday of my friend’s grandmother. When the G-Star was asked what cake she would like for her birthday, the answer was for the same as the wedding cake. The decoration had to be different so instead of piping roses on the outside as I did for the wedding cake, I used two techniques I had been wanting to use on this scale for a while – ombre and the petal technique. The result is this Peach Ombre Petal Cake… red velvet of course.
White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Rose Water Syrup
To mark the first year since I started my current job, I made white chocolate panna cotta with rose water syrup and took it in to share with my colleagues. Since then, I have been encouraged to make it again and so after another two and a bit years I finally did (no need to rush these things).
For a morning tea we were having to mark the upcoming wedding of one of the women in the office, a request was made for me to bring something sweet and after suggesting this dessert to the bride to be, I didn’t need to go through any of the other options I had in mind.
The timing also worked out well as the ingredient for the next Get Your Chef On hosted by White Lights on Wednesday and Four Marrs One Venus was announced and it was chocolate. It was all too perfect so I signed up to participate.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
I use Swiss Meringue Buttercream (or SMB for short) a lot. You have heard me go on and on about it as my weapon icing of choice, so I thought it was about time it got a post of its own to share the variations and tricks I have learned along the way. You have seen me use it as the filling in my Purple Corset Cake and Bûche de Noël, and for piping beautiful decoration on a wedding cake, cupcakes and my very first ombre petal cake. There have certainly been a few disasters along the road, with a batch or two thrown away, but regardless it is wonderful to work with, and when it is done right it looks, and tastes, exquisite.
Mini Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins – High Tea Series (Part 3)
Mum made two different chocolate chip treats when we were kids. My brother and I both loved the chocolate chip cookies but he was not a fan of the chocolate chip muffins, which was great for me. From memory I think it was because of the orange flavour which is kind of funny now as he loves orange chocolate, so much so that the hubby and I gave him about five kilograms of Jaffas for Christmas a few years ago. Needless to say, he went off orange chocolate for a while again.
For the final tier for my High Tea, I needed something small so I decided to make Mini Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins which would fit quite nicely.
Chocolate Rose Biscuits – High Tea Series (Part 2)
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.
Mars Bar Slice – High Tea Series (Part 1)
Mars Bar Slice is probably not something that you usually see on a high tea menu, but when I recently purchased a new three tiered server I was in an extreme chocolate mood and given had a few Mars Bars on hand, I thought it was a good enough reason to make a childhood favourite.
My dad played golf a lot and when we would head out to the club to pick him up my brother and I would sometime be allowed to have a Mars Bar while we waited. I did get a bit over them for a while but when started making Mars Bar Slice I certainly started to appreciate them again.
Red Velvet Cupcakes and My First Blogiversary
Can you believe that on Wednesday it will be one year since I published the first post about My Best Friend’s Wedding Cake? It is just absolutely crazy.
So for my celebratory post on my first blogiversary (as those in the biz call it) I thought I would share the cupcakes that inspired the cake that inspired the blog. These red velvet cupcakes are always popular whenever I make them, so much so that I made over 300 of them one weekend for a bunch of my brother’s friends. I absolutely adore everything about them.
Chocolate Coconut Slice
I remember my mum making this Chocolate Coconut Slice often when I was a kid. The recipe my mum used was originally from a friend of hers and it was made using a butter cake packet mix as the base.
When I got the urge to make it a few years ago I didn’t have mum’s recipe at hand but I found something very similar in one of my Super Food Ideas magazines which made it from scratch and it tasted just like mum used to make.
Basil Pesto
One of my favourite things in this world is pasta. And it is a good thing too because apparently a lot of restaurants think that if your vegetarian you must love pasta as that is usually the default vegetarian dish on the menu. I am not whining too much about it, I would just like another choice or two sometimes.
But I digress.
Generally when we have pasta for dinner it is a tomato based sauce, and although I love pesto, I have never made it. Shocking, I know. But that has changed my friends as a few weeks ago we made this pesto, with a little adjustment, and have made it three times since. And it ALWAYS tastes better the next day.
Potato Bake
Reader warning: This recipe is in no way healthy for you (well, most of the recipes on this site aren’t healthy, but this one especially). It is full of potato, cream, breadcrumbs and cheese but my goodness is it tasty.
I do not make this very often, and only when we have people over to share it around, but it is one of my little brother’s favourites.