Saturday, August 18, 2012

Baking: Popcorn Cupcakes (Something fun!)

Today I was testing my vanilla cupcakes as I am joining in on the SPCA Cupcake Day fundraiser next weekend!
I decided to try a fun decorating idea that I saw in one of my cupcake books! It looked easy and cute and with the batch turning out perfectly I thought - why not?!

So here you have it: POPCORN CUPCAKES!

This uses vanilla cupcakes, vanilla icing and mini yellow & white marshmellows!

Once your cupcakes have cooled, ice them with the frosting (I still iced mine using a icing syringe in a cone shape) then simply stick the marshmellows all over the top!

Fill up the popcorn container with a teatowel or paper towels and sit the cupcakes inside the top with the tops poking out!

Looks soooo cute I thought :)


Baking: Homemade Alfajores

So I had my first try at making Alfajores - a delicious peruvian treat! They're not too bad but there a few things I'd change for next time though!!

Alfajores are a 2 light peruvian cookies sandwiched together with Dulce de Leche (like caramel - but better!) www.dulceas.co.nz is where I got my jar from! Sooo good on any desert!!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Wedding: Up & Coming!! - Christina & Jason

The 29th of September is my next wedding - I have been planning this wedding with Christina & jason for about a year a a half now so we are all so excited!

Here is a sneak peak shot of their venue..... it is going to be in the Otago Museum's Butterfly Rainforest and will be absolutly stunning!

Cannot wait to share the photos with everyone!

Thanks to Foco Photography for the great shot!


Baking: Caramel Slice - An absolute FAVE!

Possibly the best caramel slice you could ever taste! This recipe is sooo popular with a lot of my friends and is so super easy to make!
And the best thing about it..... it's not sickly sweet like a lot of caramel slice's can be!

This recipe is from Jo Seagars book - All Things Nice,  lots of fantastic recipes in here!!



Chocolate Caramel Slice



Base:
125g butter, softened
¼ cup Chelsea white sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cocoa

Filling:

400g (1 can) sweetened condensed milk (I use highlander)
2 tablespoons Chelsea Golden Syrup
25g butter
½ teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate icing:
2 cups Chelsea Icing Sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
25g butter, melted
Boiling water


Preheat the oven to 180°C.

First make the base. Cream the butter sugar, add the egg and then the dry ingredients. Mix process well.
Press the mixture into the base of a well greased and baking-paper-lined 20 x 30 cm sponger roll tin. Bake for 15 mins. 

While the base is cooking, prepare the caramel filling. Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes until the mixture has thickened and become caramel-like.

Pour this over the cooked base and return it to the oven to bake a further five minutes. Remove from oven a cool completely.

When cold, ice with chocolate icing and cut into squares.

Lastly make and add the icing. Mix the first three ingredients from the icing ingredients list, adding enough boiling water to make a smooth paste. Add to slice.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

A Little Fave of Mine!

My sister made me this bracelet for Christmas - she is 100%amazing! It looks fantastic on and ads a great POP of colour to any outfit!

Check out her facebook page
Iron Butterfly Jewellery
http://www.facebook.com/Iron.Butterfly.Jewellery

Baking: NEW MIXER.... EXCITING!!

Sooo not to long ago I got this AMAZING new mixer!! It is a Sheffeild Professional Mixer and is PERFECT for all my yummy creations!

The first night I couldn't resist not making something so just had to make a yummy traditional chocolate cake!

Baking: Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

This recipe is one of the BEST I have made ( My husband will happily agree!!) I found it on Pinterest and just HAD to try it! Here is a link to the actual recipe but I will post it below aswell  - Enjoy xx

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/09/caramel-apple-cheesecake-bars.html



















Ingredients:
Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Apples:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup caramel topping

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or 2 forks) until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9x13 baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.
In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture.

For the streusel topping: 
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. I like to really combine it by using my clean hands to thoroughly combine the butter into the mixture.

Sprinkle Streusel topping over apples. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping and let cool. Serve cold and enjoy!

Baking.... Mums 50th Cake!

I just wanted to share this cake I made - was especially for my mum on her 50th! And yes - I hand made the Elephant myself out of fondant!

It is just 2 simple, moist chocolate cakes - one I added some coffee into! With a delish Chocolate butter cream icing!

Baking: Rocky Road Cupcakes!

These are soooo delicious!!! A little hard to bite into once the topping hardens but so worth the effort!

I just used a simple base receipe and made half vanilla and the other half chocolate, then filled the cupcake cups with half of each and swirled together!

The the topping, I melted some cadbury dairy milk chocolate with some cream and then stirred in some mini marshmellows & peanuts - scooped them on top and VOILA!

A fusion of cultures-----Wedding 7.04.2012

This wedding was for a beautiful couple who wanted to include both of their cultures throughout their day. The cultures were New Zealand & Persian - what a magical day it was!!! To see two different cultures fused together so seemlessly was just amazing!
A fantastic wedding to be apart of :)



Wedding from Afar......4.02.2012

Candice is frm dunedin but met her husband in India where she lived for a while, they had an amazing Indian wedding over there but Candice really wanted to show Karan the kiwi way! There wedding was planned in just a few months but was 100% amazing! Cute garden ceremony followed by the reception at one of Dunedin's greatest icons - Carisbrook!

Photos for you viewing pleasure:




Family Love..... Wedding 5.11.2011

This gorgeous family got married in Alexandra, Central Otago on a warm November day in a beautiful garden followed by a reception full of love, laughs & great music!
Venetia & Jared were an amazing couple to work for, so much love between them and of course for their 2 little boys, Kayden & Jessie.

Here are a couple of shots from their day: