Recent Bakings

A sample of some recent sweets...

Vanilla Cupakes


Salted Butter Caramel Macarons


Strawberry & Vanilla Macarons - Pink macaron shells with strawberry pate de fruits and a vanilla bean cream


Happy Birthday cupcakes


Banoffee Cupcakes - Banana cupcakes filled with dulce de leche topped with creme chantilly, a banana chip and dulce de leche sauce

Blood Orange & Poppy Seed Cupcakes

My love affair with Blood Oranges is still going quite strong.
I had a bag of 6 which had made it's way to the bottom of my fridge after I bought them many weeks ago and I thought it was about time I made something gorgeous with them.

And what gorgeous cupcakes these are! don't you think?



Now, down to the details. These little morsels consist of an orange and poppy seed cupcake, filled with blood orange curd and topped with mounds of luscious white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and finished off with a candied slice of blood orange - AH-MAY-ZING!



I must say I am pretty proud of this little concoction as they look gorgeous and taste even better (if I do say so myself).



Orange & Poppy Seed Cupcakes
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130g) caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 blood orange (use regular orange if you prefer)
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 cups (195g) plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl whisk together the orange zest, flour, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or just until set and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Candied Blood Orange
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 blood oranges, thinly sliced

Bring water and sugar to boil in a heavy large skillet, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the orange slices to the pan, arranging in a single layer.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and barely simmer until the white pith of the orange becomes translucent, turning the slices occasionally, about 40 minutes. Allow the orange slices to cool in the syrup, turning occasionally.

Blood Orange Curd
1 blood orange (juice and zest)
½ lemon (juice only)
55g butter
110g caster sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
Red food colouring (optional)

Zest and juice the blood orange and the ½ lemon juice into a small bowl. In another small bowl, beat the two eggs and the egg yolk together well.

Melt the cubed butter in a large heat-proof bowl over a simmering pan of water, making sure the bowl isn't touching the water.

Add the sugar and the zest and juice from the blood orange and lemon, followed by the eggs. If you’re using food colouring, add a few drops in. Stir the mixture carefully and constantly with a spatula, making sure the mixture doesn’t boil. Once the mixture coats the back of the spatula (turn the spatula flat and run your finger through the mixture coating it – if you can draw a line through the mixture and it doesn’t re-fill, then it’s cooked), remove from the heat and allow to cool.

White Chocolate Buttercream
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup (112g) caster sugar
170g salt reduced or unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
50g white chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

Beat butter with a hand held electric mixer until fluffy and pale.

In double boiler over simmering water, whisk sugar and egg whites until warm and sugar is dissolved, 3 - 5 minutes (if you have a digital thermometer, warm until temperature reaches 70 degrees c). Transfer to clean bowl of electric mixer; beat on high with whisk attachment until fluffy and cooled, about 10 minutes.

Reduce mixer to medium-low; add butter a dessert spoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.

Switch to paddle attachment; add the melted and cooled white chocolate and beat on lowest speed 3 to 5 minutes.

Assembly
1. Using a small pairing knife or small (2.5cm) round cutter, cut out a hole in the top of your cupcake.
2. Fill the cavity with blood orange curd.
3. Replace the top of the hole.
4. Ice the cupcake with the buttercream
5. Top with a candied orange
6. EAT!

Gorgeous Geisha Cupcakes

If you're a fan of T2 tea, then you'll know where the inspiration came from for these cupcakes.

Gorgeous Geisha tea is a delicious blend of green tea flavoured with strawberries & cream and is one of T2's most popular teas (and for a good reason).


The occasion for these cupcakes was a friends 31st birthday. I adore spoiling friends with a home made sweets, and even more so when they are for a special occasion.

The components of this cupcake included a matcha (green tea) cupcake, filled with a sweet fresh strawberry filling and topped with a velvety swiss meringue buttercream.

I was so happy with the results of these cupcakes and I hope they were enjoyed by the birthday girl too.


Matcha (Green Tea) Cupcakes
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon matcha (green tea) powder
113g unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large eggs
1/2 cup full cream milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175 degrees c. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and matcha powder; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until the cubes of butter are peanut-sized or a little smaller.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Filling
450g Frozen strawberries, thawed and diced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, combine diced strawberries, sugar, cornflour and lemon juice and mix well. Heat and stir until mixture boils and thickens. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Strawberry Buttercream
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup (112g) caster sugar
170g salt reduced or unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Approx 1/4 cup strawberry puree (using left over strawberry filling)

Puree the remaining strawberry filling in a food processor and set aside.

Beat butter with a hand held electric mixer until fluffy and pale.

In double boiler over simmering water, whisk sugar and egg whites until warm and sugar is dissolved, 3 - 5 minutes (if you have a digital thermometer, warm until temperature reaches 70 degrees c). Transfer to clean bowl of electric mixer; beat on high with whisk attachment until fluffy and cooled, about 10 minutes.

Reduce mixer to medium-low; add butter a dessert spoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.

Switch to paddle attachment; beat on lowest speed 3 to 5 minutes adding the strawberry puree to taste (don't put too much in as the buttercream can go goopy).


Assembly
1. Using a small pairing knife or small (2.5cm) round cutter, cut out a hole in the top of your cupcake.
2. Fill the cavity with strawberry filling.
3. Replace the top of the hole.
4. Ice the cupcake with the buttercream (I used a piping bag with a 1M Wilton tip)
5. EAT!

Mint Choc Chip Cake

It has been one whole month since I have baked anything. From being away for work to being sick and having no time, the long weekend finally gave me a chance to catch up on some recipe’s in my to bake pile.

Now, I am SO SO SO excited to show you this cake because it is so friggin' delicious.

I stumbled across this recipe on a fellow bloggers site - Raspberri Cupcakes and thought it was such a sweet idea that I would try it out for myself.



I used a different chocolate cake recipe as I had been wanting to try this one bowl chocolate cake recipe from Sweet Polita's blog. This chocolate cake recipe was so simple to make and yields a rich, moist chocolate cake. It also only uses a 1/4 cup of oil and no butter which is a bonus as it keeps it's tender crumb even straight out of the fridge. This is definitely my new go to choccie cake recipe.



If you love choc chip mint ice cream you will love this cake.

Chocolate Fudge Cake adapted from Sweet Polita
Yeilds two 8-inch round layers - if you would like a four layer cake you will need to make two of this recipe.

1 1/2 cups (180g) plain flour
1 1/2 cups (200g) caster sugar
3/4 cup (90g) dutch cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
3/4 cup (190ml) buttermilk
3/4 cup (190ml) hot brewed coffee (I'm not a huge fan of coffe, so I used half strength)
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla

**You will need to make two of this recipe to make the 4 layer cake**

Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans with butter and line with baking paper rounds and dust some cocoa powder around the sides to prevent any sticking. Tap out excess.

In bowl of electric mixer, sift all dry ingredients and add all remaining ingredients to bowl with the dry ingredients and with paddle attachment on mixer, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed and pour into prepared pans.

Bake for cakes for approx 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the 20 minute mark. Cakes are done when toothpick or skewer comes clean.

Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes, then loosen edges with a small knife, and gently invert onto racks until completely cool.


Choc Chip Mint Icing adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes
300g unsalted butter (I use salt reduced as I like a slightly salty flavour)
5 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 - 2 tblsp milk
2-3 tsp peppermint essence, or to taste
150g dark chocolate, very finely chopped or pulsed through a food processor
green food colouring (be careful when using paste colours as a little goes a long way)

In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer) cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk little by little to get to right consistency then add peppermint essence and food colouring and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).

Dark Chocolate Glaze
115g Dark Chocolate
70g unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes

Place the chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture until melted and smooth.


Assembly of the Four-Layer Cake
1. Place the first chocolate cake layer up on your cake pedestal or plate.

2. Using a small offset palette knife, spread approximately 3/4 cup of buttercream evenly on top of the bottom layer.
3. Repeat this 1-2 until you come to the final layer, which you will place face down on the top of the cake to get a nice, flat top.

4. If you have one, place cake on a turntable (this makes it easier to get a nice finish on your buttercream), and using a small offset palette knife for the top of the cake, and medium straight palette knife for the sides, cover the cake in a thin layer of buttercream to seal in crumbs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Repeat step 4 to finish of the outer layer of buttercream. Clean up edges with your small offset palette knife.

6. Chill cake until icing is set.

7. Make the glaze and set aside for a few moments to cool a bit. Pour glaze over chilled cake, smoothing the top with a clean small offset palette knife.

8. Chill again to set. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Blood Orange & Olive Oil Cake w/ Oranges in Syrup

The idea of starting my own business has been playing on my mind recently. I love to cook for my friends, family and work mates and I'm hoping that love can transcend to a slightly larger scale.

I guess the only i'm scared of is putting myself out there and the whole thing being a big fail. I mean, I don't really have any professional training and what if I can't pull it off. But what I do know is if I don't try, I won't know.

Anywhoo, back to the baking. I adore blood oranges and now that they are back in season I couldn’t wait to make something sweet with them.

I only discovered blood oranges last season and instantly became memorised by their jewel-like flesh. So last weekend I picked up a bag of them at my local markets and then hit up google and came across this deeeelish recipe.

This recipe uses olive oil instead of butter, which makes for a wonderful tender crumb. I'm actually starting to favor cake recipes made with oil as they do not go hard when refrigerated. Also, do take the time to make the accompanying syrup as it really compliments the cake and lifts the blood orange flavor.


Blood Orange & Olive Oil Cake
Rind and juice of 1 blood orange
1 cup (200 grams) caster sugar
Scant 1/2 cup (118 ml) buttermilk or plain yogurt
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (156 ml) olive oil - the original recipe uses extra virgin, but I used a light olive oil
1 3/4 cups (219 grams) plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Grate zest from the orange and place in a small bowl with sugar. Using your fingers, rub ingredients together until orange zest is evenly distributed in sugar.

Combine the ¼ cup orange juice and buttermilk or yogurt in a small jug. Pour mixture into bowl with sugar and whisk well. Whisk in eggs and olive oil.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently stir dry ingredients into wet ones. Fold in pieces of orange segments. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until it is golden and a knife inserted into centre comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool to room temperature right-side up. Serve with honeyed and blood orange syrup, if desired.

Blood Oranges in Syrup
1 blood orange, cut into 2mm slices
1 cup (250ml) blood orange juice
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Combine ingredients in a saucepan or skillet; bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, about 20 - 30 minutes or until syrup thickens. Cool to room temperature.

Key Lime Pie w/ Ginger & Coconut Crust

Key Lime Pie has been on my list of many things to make for a long time now. I dont believe I have actually ever tried a Key Lime Pie, but for some reaons this creamy, sweet yet tart dessert has always caught my eye in recipe books.

As usual, a recipe which is a little different from the norm always appeals to me, so when I spotted a recipe for a Key Lime Pie with Ginger & Coconut Crust I knew it was the one for me.

I hope you enjoy this super easy recipe as much as I did.


Key Lime Pie adapted from The Capitol Baker and Joy of Baking

Key Lime Pie
For the Crust:
1 cup digestive biscuit crumbs
1/2 cup ginger snap biscuit crumbs
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons caster sugar
90g butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and spray a 9-inch (23cm) tart pan with non-stick spray.

Mix together the digestive biscuit crumbs, ginger snap crumbs, coconut, and butter until well combined. Press the mixture evenly into the tart pan and make sure to cover the bottom and sides. Bake for 10 minutes and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Filling:
4 egg yolks
1 can (395g) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (approx 5 limes)
zest of 2 lime

In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks until pale on high speed until fluffy (this took me about 3-4 minutes). Gradually add the condensed milk and beat until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat in the lime juice and zest on low speed.

Pour the filling over the cooled crust and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes, or until the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once it has completely cooled, cover and refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp powdered sugar

Whip the cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar until nearly stiff. Spread the cream over the pie and serve.

Chocolate Peppermint Slice

Hi All,

I love trying to re-create something delicious that I have bought, in particular, a certain peppermint slice.

My love for a good peppermint slice came from the drive from Canberra to Sydney. Every time I made this journey I would stop at the Sutton Forrest McDonalds and have a chicken burger and a piece (or 2..or 3) of their deeee-licious peppermint slice (seriously, this stuff is good!).

I don't make the journey to Sydney all that often anymore (I know, I can get it at any old McCafe, but there was something special about only getting from a McDonalds in the middle of nowhere), so I decided it was about time that I try to make it.

Now, this special peppermint slice was different to others. Most of them I have seen have a boring biscuit base. Macca's base was a rich chocolate coconutty base (reminiscent of mum's chocolate coconut slice), the peppermint middle had the perfect amount of peppermint and the chocolate topping was a smooth, creamy ganache. YUM.

So once again, I played Frankenstein and came up with this little number. I hope you enjoy!


Chocolate Peppermint Slice
Chocolate Base
1 ½ cups self raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup coconut
½ cup brown sugar
125g unsalted butter, melted
1 egg

Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter a 16cm x 26cm x 3cm slice tray (or close to those dimensions).

Combine flour, cocoa, coconut and brown sugar in a bowl, stir in melted butter and egg and mix until well combined. Press mixture into slice tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until starting to brown. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

Peppermint Crème Filling
3 cups icing sugar (sifted)
1/3 cup cream (you may need more or less to get a desired spreadable consistancy)
40g melted butter (or you could use Copha)
1 1/2 tsp peppermint essence (or to your taste)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and spread a layer over the cooled chocolate base. Refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes to 1 hour).


Chocolate Glaze
150g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
100ml pouring cream
20g unsalted butter, softened

Combine chocolate, butter and cream in a small bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until the mixture is smooth. Spread over cooled peppermint filling and refrigerate immediately until set.

Once slice is fully set, cut into bit-size squares.