It's official, I am probably the laziest blogger... EVER.

But I thought I would just share a quick blog about a special 21st cake I made :)

My boyfriend loves his burgers, so I thought it would be appropriate to make him a Cheeseburger cake :)

This cake was easy and simple to make! I literally just baked 3 cakes, two sponge and one chocolate (for the meat pattie) and iced them.

I made up my own icing for the buns which consisted of milk, peanut butter, sugar and butter... so yum!!

Hopefully I will be able to get around to posting some more treats soon!!

Emma x

A Rosette Kinda Day

I bought the most beautiful cake stand today from Wheel & Barrow and decided it called for a pretty cake in it.
I decided to give the Rosette Cake ago. Now I have never piped rosettes before so this was a first!! Here's how it turned out :)

Recipe:

Vanilla Sponge Cake:

I just used a basic sponge recipe, no layering, nothing fancy as the base as the icing is rich in itself.

Ingredients:

200g butter

200g caster sugar

200g self raising flour

4 eggs (beaten)

1tsp vanilla essence (or just to your preference)

Method:

1. Preheat to 180 degrees cel.
2. Mix butter sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy.
3. Gradually add beaten eggs, if the mixture starts to curdle slowly add flour.
4. Add remaining flour.
5. Spread batter into dish and make for approx 30mins or until cake is coming away at the edges and bounces back when touched.

Buttercream Icing:

The buttercream is used for both crumb coating the cake and to create to rosettes.

Ingredients:

400g butter

400g caster sugar

Milk to soften mixture.

Chosen food colouring.

Method:

1. Mix Butter and caster sugar and gradually add in food colouring.
2. Add milk till desired texture is created. (I tend to keep it stiff for crumb coating and add more milk for the icing).
3. Crumb coat cake with palette knife.
4. Refrigerate cake for 2-3hours or until firm.

Creating Rosettes:

Creating rosettes is easier than expected. I found this tutorial on youtube to be easier to understand than someone typing it out. Seeing it be done helps you work out hand movements and angle :)

When making the rosettes on the cake try to work from the sides of the cake up. As you can see mine aren't perfect. It was my first attempt :) But hope you guys enjoy and give it a go!

Emma x

Baking Inspiration

I haven't had a lot of time to bake at the moment so thought I would make a montage of my favourite cakes and cupcakes I hope to make one day :)

Enjoy!

All images were sourced from google images.

Emma x

A Quick Fix!

So tonight was my turn to cook dinner and I needed to make use of the chicken thigh fillets in the fridge... SO I hopped onto foodgawker and found some amazing chicken recipes!!

I adapted the following recipe to suit me and made:

Chicken and Fetta Manakish:

This recipe was adapted from: Cooking It Simple

Now I cheated a little bit with this recipe.. I didn't have time to make my own dough so picked up an Italian flat base for $2 from the super market. However, next time I would love to make my own dough !!

Ingredients:

500g grams of chicken thigh fillet

1 large onion chopped

2 cloves Garlic minced

1/2 to 1/4 tsp Kashmiri Chili powder

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

2 tbsp Tomato Sauce

2 tbsp Olive oil

Handful of Coriander leaves chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

Feta Cheese crumbled(low fat and less salt version) about half a block

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 Degrees (celsius )

Dice chicken to desired size, I did mine to around the size of Australian 20 cent pieces

Also dice onion.

Then add: onion, oil, cumin, chilli powder and coriander over medium heat in a sauce pan. Stir until onions are partially cooked.

Then add the chicken pieces 50% at a time and mix through until relatively cooked, then mix through tomato sauce.

Taste and add ingredients till desired taste.

Next pile it all onto your base and chuck it in the oven for around 10-15mins.

Serves: 4.

I liked this recipe because it was full of flavour and really easy to make. The whole cooking process was around 20minutes all up.

Emma x

All The Colours of the Rainbow

Hi all :)

So I finally did it !!! I made a RAINBOW CAKE :) :) :) 

It took me about FOUR hours to put this all together.. Granted I am an amateur baker with very little experience, but it was totally worth it!

I got the recipe and adapted it from Whisk Kid who has some of the most amazing recipes

RECIPE:

 (226 g) butter, room temp
(463 g) sugar
5 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla

 (426 g) flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
(355 ml) milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave to bring to room temp

And food colouring. LOTS of food colouring

METHOD:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter in a mixer and then slowly add egg whites to the mix and then the vanilla.

 Continue to beat batter and incorporate milk and flour mix alternating between the two.

Then put the batter into 6 seperate bowls. I did this by just using a household ladle and making an accurate judgement on how even they were.

Then mix in food colouring to your desired level of brightness. The way it looks uncooked is how the cake will come out of the oven.

Poor into even baking trays and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked (the cake should bounce back when you push with your finger).

When you remove them from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes. Then flip, cover, and stash them in the fridge to cool quickly. When you put them in the fridge its a good idea to put baking paper between the different cakes to save them sticking together.

Lemony Swiss Meringue Buttercream

To fill and crumb coat:
9 egg whites

 (350 g) sugar
 (532 g) of butter, room temp
2 tsp lemon extract

To frost:
5 egg whites
(200 g) sugar
 (226 g) butter, room temp
1 tsp lemon extract

Cook the egg whites and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved (test by rubbing some between your fingers. If it's completely smooth, it's done). Pour into another bowl (a stand mixer is preferable) and whip on high speed until room temp. 

If your butter is not room temperature or you just pulled it out of the fridge, I popped mine in the microwave for 20seconds to slightly soften.

Then, on a medium-slow speed, add the butter. 

Turn the mixer back to high speed and whip until it has come together, about five minutes. Add the extract.

If the buttercream seems a bit soft or gooey after all of the butter is added and does not come together after whipping, refrigerate for 5 to 7 minutes and continue whipping until it becomes fluffy and workable.

Assembly

Stack the layers in your preferred order and fill and frost 

TAAADAAAA your very own Rainbow Cake :) :)

Emma x

Just a Taste of What's To Come

I have finally found something that I can write about. So this blog will be all the ups and downs of my cooking adventures, with a few bits and bobs thrown in!

I have always loved to cook and bake but just never had the time, so over the next few weeks I am hoping to make the time!!

So whisks crossed I can conquer this kitchen.

Let the eating begin.

Emma x