Sunday, January 15, 2012

*drools* chocolateeeeeee....

So this weekend's baking adventure was Cake! It took me a while to find a recipe that sounded good, but eventually i found one. I based it off of this recipe I found on Taste.com.au for Chocolate Celebration Cake.

I started off by making their linked Homemade Chocolate Cake, and let me tell you, it is an easy one to make and tastes soooo delicious and it very light and fluffy. As per the recipe, i divided the batter between two pans and baked them. My brother was amazed when they were out on the racks after cooking, as they seemed very flat, so I didn't need to level them off. I'm not sure whether that is what happened with this mix, or just this occasion - whatever the cause, 1 less job for me to do!

Next step was to make the ganache....mmmmm ganache....(my brother is so deprived - he had to ask what ganache was! I told him, like choc fondue except cold...). I ended up using a mixture of milk chocolate Lindt blocks, dark chocolate from Fremantle Chocolate Company and a few white/milk choc bits just to get the amount I needed. Add some cream, heat up slowly in the microwave and mix! Ta Da - Ganache. Now the hard part of letting it cool...About halfway through cooling, i added a bit of Frangelico and icing sugar (Frangelico coz its yum, icing sugar to speed it all up a little).

So eventually we got there and it was time to assemble! Place first cake on plate, and brush with a little Frangelico. pile on some ganache and spread to cover. I then added a secret ingredient - Crushed Malteasers! (You're salivating right now, aren't you?) I added a little more ganache to the bottom of the other cake layer and placed on top of the first. I put it in the fridge for a bit to let the filling set (so it doesn't just ooooozze out).

We're almost there!!!

Second-to-last stage was to cover the whole thing in more ganache.....easy job, and tasty too! After i covered it well, it was back to the fridge to set again. (Ok, seriously, stop drooling, you're making a mess). Once set, it was back out of the fridge again to decorte simply with Malteasers. This cake turned out soooo good! very tasty, not too heavy and looked great!




Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sugary, Cookie goodness!

Well, another weekend has come and gone. They just never seem to last long enough! I decided to just bake something nice and easy this weekend, so I made Sugar Cookies! I cheated though - I used a packet (powdered) royal icing! But they turned out good. I did some ducks and mostly flowers.

For the cookies themselves, I used The Decorated Cookie's not-so-secret recipe, and it does make a nice sugar cookie! So without further ado - My Sugar Cookies!!!!!

Two little duckies sitting in a row....

Tray 1 of 4...and there's still leftover dough in the fridge

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Just a quick one...

Hi readers,
Just a short blog today. I took my Salted Butter Popcorn Macarons in to work today for my colleague, and they were a hit. Everyone liked them! YAY! Its always good to head people like your cooking, isn't it?

On another note, see over there on the right hand side? --------->
There's a list of links, the first two of which I am asking you to click, one to follow me on twitter, and the other to like my facebook page. I would realllllllly love it if you could do these quick couple of clicks for me! It would be nice to see who my readers are (especially those from Russia, I am extremely curious!)

Cheers!

Monday, January 2, 2012

My Little Cake Shop

Hi Everybody!

So I didn't end up making any more macarons this weekend, I'm going to wait until i can get a candy thermometer and do it all exactly. However i did want to share something with you all.

Now, I haven't mentioned this before, but a few years ago (2007/08 to be exact), i studied Visual Arts & Contemporary Craft at TAFE (aka Technical College for my non-Australian readers), Certificates 3 and 4. I took ceramics as one of my units, and in the first year we had to do a whole range of experiments on texture, colour, moulds, other materials we could include, and how it all changed after going in the kiln. And would you believe it, I kept all mine in the same theme: CAKE SHOP!

I only just remembered I had done them today when a photo popped up on my screen-saver of them. So I have decided to share them with you...

Board one full of experiments, including lots of cupcakes.














Board two featuring lots of cookies

Cupcakes before going in the kiln

Cookies before the kiln

and all my cakes after the kiln!
There were so many!!!

The 'chocolate' stayed choc, 'strawberry' faded a little, but the yellow? it turned orange!
Loved how my cookies turned out though!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Bad Day to end the year :( Great, just great...

Good Morning folks, and happy new year!

So, yesterday I attempted Macarons. Hmm. Figured out that wasn't the best thing to do. Here's a tip for y'all - don't attempt to make Macarons when your having a bad day!
 I was already frustrated before I started baking from a bad morning....and it just got worse...and worse...and worse. Nothing wanted to work for me. But I persevered and baked macaroons. They're all different sizes, and I had to throw out the filling I made from the Zumbo recipe I was following and make a simple buttercream instead, but I got there and now have a box of Macarons on the counter.

It takes a lot of ingredients to measure out 3 batches worth!
 

Making the actual mix / batter was ok, not too much trouble there except for not being able to find my thermometer to test the sugar syrup, but it still turned out ok. Piping the macaroons was my first problem - I couldn't find the nozzle I wanted so had to settle for a smaller one which didn't help at all. So after an already bad day, I got frustrated. 

Finally got them into the oven, and apart from being different sizes and a couple collapsing, most were ok.
 
 However there was a stubborn bunch that just refused to cook the whole way. After putting them back in the oven and out again and in and out for about 15 minutes, I turned them over so their bottoms faced up - and Ta-da, they finally cooked!
The next disaster to happen was the filling. It calls for egg yolks (and one whole egg) to be whisked whilst pouring in a sugar syrup, and as you keep whisking it is supposed to thicken as it cools, then you slowly add butter and you have a buttercream filling. But did that want to work? No, of course not. I think it was partly to do with not having my thermometer again. I got very annoyed and threw the whole thing down the sink.

In the end (after having left it all for a while so I could try and calm down) I ended up just doing a simple buttercream with the right flavours added. I did that, and finally assembled the macarons, after about 5 hours making them start to finish. They still looked good even if they were different sizes, but more importantly, they tasted as they should!
 So here i now present you with...
 Salted Butter Popcorn Macarons!

Will attempt the next flavour tomorrow


...after I go and purchase a new thermometer.