Nutbrown Icing Set

I was gifted this antique icing set from my sister, who found it at a recycling centre (thanks again Melissa!).


Isn't it cool?!


What amazes me is that all the pieces are still in the box and are all in great condition. I guarantee I am going to lose at least one...


I like to think I could create something delicate and sweet like the pictures below:


I am hoping hard this will work better than my last one.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

I was asked to bring a salad for bbq dinner last night, but I couldn't help but bake a little something for the occassion too. I used this recipe from Nigella Lawson.

I added a few frozen berries to mine, which added a tarty bite to the cake. But you could pop these wee tins in the oven at this stage here if you're not a berry fan.

The sour cream allows for a soft and light but smooth texture which melts in your mouth, mmm...

Fun with faces

Thought I'd test out my newly recieved cupcake decorator:

All was going well until it decided to stop working...so I reverted to my usual piping bag.

Although it was disappointing that the cupcake decorator didn't work, the wee cupcakes themselves tasted pretty good. See, there's always a silver linning :)

Maybe I'll have better luck next time?

Popping Delicious

For a while now I've had my eyes on these and finally decided to give them ago today. I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out just as they should. I think they would make the best wee treats for a little one's birthday party or any party for that matter. Once you get the imagination cranking I'm sure you could turn them into a range of different things. Check out Bakerella for ideas.

It was a bit fiddley and a little time consuming (thankfully I'm on holiday) but definitely worth it. To start off, you need a cake. I just made a simple chocolate cake and once cooked and cooled, I processed it in a food processor.

I then got my hands in there and mixed in some typically American "Aunt Betty's Fosting" -this stuff is seriously delicious by the way.

Once all mixed together, you roll the mixture into balls then place in the freezor for 10-15 minutes.

When firm, you take them out of freezor and using a wee flower shape cookie cutter, you press the cutter into the ball to form a 'cup cake' shape.

You then place the cupcake shapped mixture back into the freezor for another 10-15 minutes, get them out again and then dip their little bottoms into melted dark chocolate.


They will look a bit messy like above, but will look prettier as the chocolate dries. I also tried some plain round ones too. You could decorate these more if desired.

Dip their tops in a different colour (I used melted white chocolate with a bit of red food colouring), sprinkle hundreds of thousands on top and place an m & m on top to finish.

Cute huh? I will definitely be making these again at some stage. Maybe for my niece's 5th birthday which is coming up...

A few of my favourite things

I am liking my stay here at mum and dad's perhaps a little too much, there's really no place like home. Just two weeks left here then I'm back to Wellington, which I am very much looking foward to by the way, but I will miss a few of my favourite things here...

One is my mum's home made bread:


She has taken to making a fresh loaf every day. I can truthfully say that it is the best bread I have ever tasted. Toasted, or fresh with a good dollop of butter and nutella, or peanut butter, or jam, or marmite or avocado and blue vein cheese...it tastes pretty amazing with anything.

Mum's giant cups will also be greatly missed:


Those of you who know me, know that I am a bit of a tea-aholic and that I like to drink from a BIG cup. I have bought various cups and searched for the perfect sized cup but have never quite found one like this one. Maybe I should start sweet talking my mum..?

I will also miss the endless supply of Cluster Crisp

I LOVE this cereal. Particularly the Vanilla Almond flavour as this one usually has bigger clusters. Fortunately for me, my Dad also loves Cluster Crisp, and therefore one can always find a box of it in the cupboard. Unfortunately for him, I eat it constantly and he is forever buying more. Sorry dad.

For those of you who have not tried it, it is a breakfast cereal, filled with oat clusters and has either dried raspberries, strawberries and cranberries or a hint of vanilla and sliced almonds. It is super crunchy, but not too crunchy as to hurt your teeth, it's just right. Probably why I am so drawn to it.

While it is yummy for breakfast, it also makes for a good snack, even when you are in town and just happen to be in the supermarket and feel like something deliciously crunchy to eat whilst waiting for a friend in the car...do I sound a little obsessed to you?

Birthdays...

It was my brother-in-laws birthday yesterday, and I was in charge of the birthday cake.
The last person to do the grocery shopping doubled up on bananas and my parents couldn't help but pick MORE berries, so our fridge was getting rather full of berries that were about to turn bad.

I hate seeing things go to waste so decided to make a banana and raspberry cake, with white chocolate ganache and berry couli...

I just used a banana cake recipe from Aliyson Holst and added berries to the mixture.

Ingredients:

150 g butter 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c sugar 1/2 c milk
2 eggs, beaten 3 medium sized bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla essence 1/2 c raspberries
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder

White chocolate ganache (see christmas gifts below)

Berry Couli:
2 cup berries
2 Tbsp icing sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice or water

Preparation:
Put all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth.



Preparation for Banana and Raspberry Cake:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line a 20 cm square cake tin with baking powder.
One thing I love about being at home is that mum has cooking spray! We never had this in our student flat...ahh the comforts of home.

In a jug or small bowl, stir together the butter, sugar, beaten eggs and vanilla essence.


Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.

Pour in the melted butter mixture and stir carefully with a wooden spoon, incorporating the milk and banana at the same time. Gently stir in the raspberries.





Turn the mixture in prepared cake tin


Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to stand in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack to cool.

Ice with white chocolate ganache



Drizzle over berry couli

and serve with cream and berries...

I'm off to the Marlborough Sounds, hopefully to enjoy more sweet things...Happy New Year to you all!x

And the Winner is...

Thank you for your answers. You all had the right idea- it is for icing and decorating cupcakes. I think it will come in very handy :)

As promised, your names went in to a bowl...



and Congratulaions to...



Your name was picked!

Anne said...

I'm thinking it's to fill cupcakes or something like that? Sounds like a fun Christmas!

As soon as I get your details Anne, I will send you a copy of The Jamie Oliver Magazine your way! Happy reading :)