Baby shower cake

At it again today, making a baby shower cake for one of Madeline's wonderful Young Womens leaders. She is not long off having her first baby - a little boy and the girls decided to surprise her with a little Baby Shower for tonight's activity.

It was a hell of an undertaking, as it's been so hot! Nothing would stick, or set and honestly I was about to give up. But in the end, this simple semi naked vanilla cake, with tinted buttercream, rosettes and sprinkles did the trick.

And there was not a single piece left, so it was obviously good. My favourite no fail vanilla cake can be found here.

ross's vanilla cake

i am a december baby, so i am super sympathetic to anyone else that is. so often your birthday gets forgotten or lost in the hustle and bustle of christmas and the month flying by. so i like to make a big fuss over our friends that have december birthdays and there is quite a few of them! for instance our mate ross, whose birthday was today. i sent him a message to wish him a happy birthday and he replied with "still waiting for my birthday cake - no chocolate." i knew he was obviously kidding (other than the no chocolate part - because he is actually allergic to chocolate, poor dude!) but decided to do him a solid and actually make him a cake. easy peasy, except my best cake recipe is chocolate. sigh. off to the internet we go.

enter "my very best vanilla cake" care of recipe tin eats which was indeed that. so flipping good! i will absolutely be making it again and again.

CAKE

2 cups plain flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ tsp salt

4 large eggs

1 ½ cups caster sugar

115g salted butter

1 cup milk

3 tsp vanilla essence

3 teaspoons vegetable oil

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

225g softened butter

500g icing sugar

3 tsp vanilla essence

2-4 tsp milk (to adjust thickness)

 

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) for 20 minutes before starting the batter.

Grease and line 8” cake pans

COMBINE DRY INGREDIENTS

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

BEAT EGGS UNTIL AERATED:

Beat eggs for 30 seconds on medium/high speed

With the beater still going, pour the sugar in over 45 seconds.

Then beat for 7 minutes on high speed, or until tripled in volume and white.

FINISH CAKE BATTER:

Heat Milk-Butter: While egg is beating, place butter and milk in a heatproof jug and microwave 2 minutes on high to melt butter. Do not let milk bubble and boil (foam ok). Don’t do this ahead and let the milk cool (this affects rise).

Gently add flour: When the egg is whipped, scatter 1/3 flour across surface, then beat on low for 5 seconds. Add half remaining flour, then mix on low  for 5 sec. Add remaining flour, then mix on low  for 5 – 10 sec until the flour is just mixed in. Once you can’t see flour, stop straight away.

Lighten hot milk with some Egg Batter: Pour hot milk, vanilla and oil into the now empty flour bowl. Add about 1 1/2 cups (2 ladles or so) of the Egg Batter into the Milk-Butter. Use a whisk to mix until smooth – you can be vigorous here. Will look foamy.

Slowly add milk: Turn beater back on low speed, then pour the Milk mixture into the Egg Batter over 15 seconds, then turn beater off.

Scrape and final mix: Scrape down sides and base of bowl. Beat on low  for 10 seconds – batter should now be smooth and pourable.

BAKE:

Pour batter into pans.

Knock out bubbles: Bang each cake pan on the counter 3 times to knock out big bubbles

Bake 30 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.

COOL & FROST:

Remove from oven. Cool in cake pans for 15 minutes, then gently turn out onto cooling racks.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM:

Beat butter with whisk attachment in stand mixer for 1 minute until creamy. Add icing sugar / powdered sugar in 3 lots, beating slowly (to avoid a powder storm) then once mostly incorporated, beat on high for a full 3 minutes until fluffy.

Add vanilla and milk, then beat for a further 30 seconds. Use milk to make it lovely and soft but still holds it's form (eg for piping). Use immediately.

he seemed pretty stoked with his non chocolate cake and stopped giving me crap for about 1/2 an hour so that made it well worth it haha.

came out beautifully and so so yum. really handy when said mate is actually a chef! i'm always nervous when he eats anything i cook, so i feel like this was a win!

gender reveal cake

this weekend i was trusted with the most wonderful (and fun!) secret. my dear friend alexandra sent me a message on friday afternoon asking if i could make her a gender reveal cake. they had been to their ultrasound appointment not long before and had asked the technician to write down what they are having and seal it in an envelope so they had absolutely no idea! she and her husband are currently cooking their third child and wanted to surprise their families (and themselves!) at family dinner this afternoon. 

oh my word. i can honestly say that i have never been this excited in my life to make a cake!!! alex rushed over with the envelope containing the news, which i carefully waited to open until after they had left. oh the pressure! i didn't want my facial expression to give anything away.

i made a four layer cake with coloured cakes, hollowed in the middle two layers to add coloured m&ms... then covered the entire thing with buttercream and multicoloured sprinkles. so fun! the worst bit was delivering the cake last night to alex's husband michael and being interrogated, then getting the same from her brother at church this afternoon. haha. but i did not crack and was thrilled to pieces when i received these pictures not long after...

cause it's a boy! what a wonderful surprise, adding to the two girls they already have. i am so thrilled for them and still can't believe i got to be the secret keeper, what an awesome job!

the girls thrilled to pieces to know that they are getting themselves a baby brother... or are they just excited to be getting cake? i can't tell!

the inside before i added the top. so fun! i seriously wish i could have watched them cut it open!

congrats mike and alex, that's one lucky little boy headed your way!

rocky road cake

what do you do when you ask your friends almost 11 year old the day before his birthday what his favourite cake is (so you can make him one obviously) and he replies "rocky road". what the actual heck do you do? where do you go from there? i'll tell you what you do... you make something up pronto!

one white wings chocolate cake mix (yes, i admit, i completely cheated. you know why? because i had one in the cupboard and it was getting close to the expiry date!) split between two tins and baked. when cool, a layer of strawberry jam and whipped cream between the layers...

chocolate icing (included in the box) made and spread on the top, with cream rosettes piped onto the top around the edge. then... the rocky road! i melted chocolate chips in a glass bowl over boiling water and then mixed with marshmallows, chopped peanuts and desiccated coconut before tipping into a lined pan to cool in the fridge. when cold, i hacked it into pieces and then made a very messy, uneven stack in the middle of the cake. i loved it,..

and so did the birthday boy! his face was priceless, he looked like he had won the lottery. turns out spending time in the kitchen is sometimes worth every minute! 

happy birthday zion, we love you! ♥

serenata de amor cake

i spent 2001 on student exchange in brazil. i lived in a city called natal, 6 degrees off the equator - where is was always hot and very hot. i didn't always love it, in fact - most of the year was spent wishing that i could go home... i didn't see eye to eye with my host family and ended up having to change, just a few months before i was due to return to australia. i can honestly day that i really struggled. with homesickness, with the language, with my host family, making friends and with most of the food. there are some things that i really and truly loved... my second host family, the laid back lifestyle, the constant music and chatter, and the friendliness of those i came to know well (but to be honest, there wasn't really a lot of those either...)

but i learnt so much. i learnt that life is what you make it. you can be in what seems to be the worst situation in the world and still find peace. you can be miserable and find hope and you can be far away from your family, and become closer to them. i learnt that people aren't always who they claim to be, that the people you trust can betray you... but those who defend you and lift you up will remain a friend no matter how much time goes by between conversations.

but enough on that... one of the foods i adored in brazil was a chocolate bon bon (wrapped chocolate) called a serenata de amor. it's a cashew cream centre, with a wafer coating, dipped in chocolate. i had always liked them and would buy them on the odd occasion, but never imagined that i would ever have one again, until i found them this week in the local international food store kakulas sister, that's about 500m from our house! i snapped up a box and enjoyed a few... before wondering if i could possibly find the recipe for the cake i've had made with them. 

there was a cafe a km or so from my home in brazil, that sold a cake made with the serenata de amor chocolates making part of the filling. it was incredible!!! but i had never had it anywhere other than this cafe, so i didn't know who to ask about it... so i asked my friend mr. google. who actually came up with a recipe, in english, on an australian website. so i gave it a whirl.

(recipe can be found here)

serenata de amor cake


ingredients:




base
1/2 pack arrowroot biscuits 
200g roasted peanuts
50g butter
1/2 can condensed milk
200mls milk


filling
3 cups milk
2/3 cup of icing sugar
4 tablespoons cornflour
3 egg yolks
20 bonbons (i used 15 and the remainder for topping)


icing
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon cocoa
3 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter


directions:
pastry: mix the peanuts and biscuits in a food processor then place in a bowl and add the butter, condensed milk and milk. Spread the mixture in a cake tray (i used a springform tin) and bake for 5 minutes (more like 7-8).
filling: in a pan, mix milk, icing sugar, cornflour and egg yolks. cook on low heat stirring constantly until it thickens. place the chocolate bonbons on the base and pour the filling mixture over it. cover the cake with cling wrap and leave it in the fridge till cold.
icing: In a pan, mix milk, chocolate powder, sugar and butter. allow to boil until it thickens. (this is where I ran into a problem. it did not thicken. at all. i eventually had to add a teaspoon and a bit of cornflour to thicken the topping.) leave it to cool down. 
before serving , spread the chocolate icing and decorate with bonbon pieces.

 so my verdict? it's not the cake. which is a giant pity. but it wasn't bad. the base was amazing! so yummy. i am considering that may actually be a good go-to option from now on when i am making a biscuit base for a cake/cheesecake and the likes. the middle was good and the amount of bonbons i used more than sufficient. but the icing was yuck. wasn't sweet enough and would not thicken - and the cornflour made it not as smooth. i followed the directions perfectly, so i would say there's an ingredients missing. i think next time i'll go for a chocolate ganache instead of what the recipe says. but there will definitely be a next time. it was well received by it's audience... and dominique (who got to enjoy it as her birthday cake at family dinner in baldivis) loved it the most. phew!

i would say on the whole that makes it a success. 7/10 ♥

amazing cake

check out this amazing cake!! coolest idea ever... i totally wish i could take credit for it, but my friend michelle actually made it, for her daughters birthday/ baptism yesterday, but i am totally making one sometime soon.

so... i asked for her secret - and the idea is very similar to a marblecake (only you don't swirl the colours together)... you make up your cake mixture (all vanilla flavour) - and then split it into different bowls and add extremely bright food colouring to each one, then pour them into your cake tin one by one - each one spreads out to make the coloured layers, and then you pop it in the oven, put filling between the two layers and icing around the whole thing
and as you can see here - you can't even tell it's a rainbow cake until you cut into it. such a cool idea!! nice work michelle. can't wait to make one.

mum also made these for the baptism "afterparty"... adorable little girlie cupcakes with pink icing, rainbow sprinkles and little ctr and 8 signs that we made the night before. too cute. :)

i... don't

(cake by clare - sandra's lovely sis)

today at work we had a lovely suprise delivered...
a divorce cake!

after 18 years of marriage to "the psycho" sandra is calling it quits, and as far as we are concerned, any reason to celebrate...
so divorce cake it was
sandra's reason for leaving? patience wore out
results of marriage? 3 beautiful children and a
permanent headache

and as the cake was cut - we asked sandra if
she had any final words...
she did indeed... and replied "i don't!"

and it just so happens that our manager mark has also
signed his divorce papers this week...
2 for the price of 1!
marks achievement was 13 years of marriage to the "no comment"
reason for leaving? i didn't
results: 3 beautiful children and a bottle of whiskey

congrats guys! all the best for your single future...
may you never make that kind of mistake again,
unless of course you end up finding the right one

- and sandra my love...
just remember the age old saying:
"why get married and make one man miserable, when you can stay single and make thousands miserable?"

choc cake in 5 minutes??!!

yes it's true...

what you do when your husband who's been sick for 2 days
winges at 11pm that he wants something sweet
and there's nothing in the house?

choc "mug" cake

and it actually works!

yummmmmmm