Strawberry Eton Mess

Ok so I know we are here to talk Eton Mess and more specifically Strawberry Eton Mess.....did I mention it also involves Cherry Brandy???

But firstly I want to deviate from that for just a quick second to talk rice.

Yes rice which has absolutely nothing to do with Eton Mess except that my Mum cooked both the Eton Mess and the rice so that's my link and I'm sticking to it.

Did you know you could get black rice??

When Mum dished this black rice dish up to us a few weeks ago, I must admit the first thought that went through my head was that she was a little heavy handed with the soy sauce....

Imagine my surprise when I discovered there was no soy sauce in there whatsoever, it was just the colour of the rice. To me, it tasted a little like brown rice and with the red onion, capsicum, spinach, mushroom, paneer and some herbs it was absolutely delicious and apparently very nutritious as well!

Anyway, now that I have got that out of my system, lets get back to what we are all here for.....DESSERT!!!

Mum and Dad whipped this up the other night and it was amazing. I must say I have never had cherry brandy before and was a little concerned about it being in amongst the delicate flavours of the berries and meringue and cream but it worked beautifully and was a great twist on an old classic!

Strawberry Eton Mess - Serves 4

150ml thickened cream
150ml vanilla greek yoghurt
2 tbspns of vanilla sugar + 2 tbspns extra
4 tbspns of cherry brandy
2 punnets (500g in total) of strawberries
1 punner (250g in total) of raspberries
4 x meringue nests, crushed

Cut the strawberries in half. Combine the strawberries and raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle with 2 tbspns of the vanilla sugar and the cherry brandy. Leave to macerate for 15-20 mins if you want a thick mixture or around an hour if you prefer a more sauce like consistency. (Note - we tried it with the second option and it was delicious!)

Remove 4 tbspns of the berry mixture for garnish. Lightly crush up the remainder of the berries and set aside.

Whip the cream until thick and add fold through the yoghurt and remaining vanilla sugar.

To serve combine the crushed berries with the cream mixture and then gently fold through the meringues. Divide the mixture between 4 glasses and top with the reserved berries. This dish is best eaten immediately as the meringues will soften and lose their crunch.

Enjoy!!

Mrs B xx

Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream and Strawberry Champagne Sauce

Yesterday was my Mum's birthday and we celebrated in style by indulging in some banana bread for breakfast, going to see The Great Gatsby (in 3D) and enjoying lunch on the waterfront at one of Mum's favourite restaurants.

It was the first time Mum and Dad had been to a 3D movie and unfortunately Dad was given a dodgy pair of glasses with one lense blacked out....and even more unfortunately, he didn't know that they were not supposed to be like that so sat through the whole movie thinking that this whole 3D caper is not all it's cracked up to be.....

Those of us that could see the entire movie thought it was brilliant. Those of us that missed out on all of the 3D effects, also thought it was pretty good.....

We stopped at a restaurant called Blue Skies for lunch. When I was younger, Mum, Dad and I used to go there all the time and share a bowl of chips on a Sunday afternoon so it was really nice to go back and share a few different plates of food while we soaked up the sun.

The day got even better later in the afternoon when Mr B started talking about his 'PMS'......he had meant to say 'ESP' and needless to say the rest of us were laughing so hard we were in tears

And last but not least, it was home for presents and cake. This year when Dad suggested maybe we do cupcakes instead of a cake, I knew just the thing. Well Ok I didn't know exactly, but I was thinking champagne, champagne and more champagne. After loads of research I decided on a Champagne Cupcake with Champagne Buttercream and, after initially leaning towards a Champagne Pastry Creme filling, at the last minute decided to go with a Strawberry Champagne Sauce instead.

I was only after a couple of cupcakes seeing as they were just for the 4 of us to share so I halved the original recipe and still got 8 out of this! That's totally fine though because they were amazing and a lovely decadent birthday treat for my Mum. 

Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream and Strawberry Champagne Sauce

For the Champagne Cupcakes
55g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla
.85 cup of plain flour
1/4 tspn baking soda
1/8 tspn baking powder
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup champagne

Pre-heat oven to 180C and grease and line a cupcake pan.

Cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat until just combined and smooth.

Spoon mixture into prepared cupcake liners and bake for 15-20 mins or until they bounce back when touched.

For the Champagne Buttercream
1/2 cup champagne + 1 tbspn extra
220g butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
1/2 tspn vanilla essence

Heat 1/2 cup of champagne in a saucepan over medium high heat until it has reduced to roughly 1 tbspn. Set aside to cool.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until pale and creamy.

Add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.

Add the reduced champagne and 1 tbspn extra champagne and beat until light and fluffy. Pipe onto your cupcakes....or eat straight out of the bowl.

For the Strawberry Champagne Sauce
200ml champagne
500g strawberries (hulled and halved)
2 heaped tbspns caster sugar
1 tbspn corn flour

In a medium pot over high heat combine champagne, sugar and strawberries.

Bring to the boil.

Allow the strawberries to simmer, stirring occasionally for about 7-10 mins. You want them to be really broken down.

Place two tbspns of the sauce into a jug and add the cornflour. Mix well to remove any lumps and so that it is all combined.

Pour the cornflour mixture back into the pot and continue to simmer and stir for a further 3-5 mins or until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before placing in the fridge.

Spoon over cupcakes to serve.

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Strawberries and Cream French Toast Roll Ups

This week whilst I am taking it easy, Mr B is stuck with doing most of the cooking and he is doing a really good job of taking care of me. I think sometimes he is not entirely sure what to do with me because the entire time we have been together I have been active, I hate sitting still and am always cooking or cleaning (ok so like 90% cooking, 3% cleaning, 7% avoiding cleaning) or doing something, but this week I am completely the opposite, and he is completely freaked out by the whole thing.

To be honest though I didn't think it would be like this.

When the Doctor said I would need a week off to recover, I literally laughed at him and begged him to let me go back to work early and when he said No, I planned a huge long list of things I wanted to do like spring clean the house, clean out the wardrobe, go on a mega shopping spree, walk 2 or 3 times a day and cook up an absolute storm.....but now I'm thinking he had a point because I have just enough energy to get out of bed sometime before lunch, make breakfast, stare at the computer for an hour or two and then I need a sleep.
 
Sigh.

Anyway, yesterday I decided I would do something nice for Mr B and I for dessert. Something easy obviously, but also something semi-french inspired to remind us that this time last year we were leaving Paris and on our way home from our honeymoon.

It does not get much easier then these let me tell you. For a fairly simple dessert, these looked fantastic when they were all dished up and we felt like we were indulging ourselves in something decadent, plus they tasted incredible! I was actually really surprised because Mr B does not do french toast, but he loved these and asked for them again tomorrow night....it would have been tonight but then he discovered there is still Cider Jelly in the fridge....

For these Strawberries and Cream French Toast Roll Ups you will need:

6 slices of white bread, crusts removed and flattened with a rolling pin
strawberry jam
100g cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup thickened cream
2 tbspns caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbspn milk
dash of vanilla
20g butter

Combine the cream cheese, cream and caster sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy.

Place a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture on one half of each piece of bread. Top with a heaped teaspoon of strawberry jam. Roll the bread up to enclose the filling and place on a plate, seam side down.

In a fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. While this is happening, combine the egg, milk and vanilla and beat well with a fork.

Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture, ensuring it is completely coated, and place seam side down into the fry pan. Repeat with remaining bread.

Increase the fry pan heat to medium-high and cook the bread for 30-40 seconds on each side or until golden.

Serve hot with whipped cream for dipping. Or I imagine they would be equally nice drizzled with chocolate (or nutella!) and a big dollop of cream on the side too.                                   

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Peanut Butter and Jelly Slice

Every year I try and bake my Dad something as part of his birthday present, wether it be a batch of ANZACS or some Peanut Butter and Cornflake Slice, just something home made as a little treat. I think this is partly because I just love making things for other people, but also partly because as I get older I see more value in creating memories and gifts that really show you have put some time and effort and your heart into them rather than giving material things just for the sake of it you know?

Anyway, as soon as I saw this Peanut Butter and Jelly Slice on Pinterest a few weeks ago I knew that with a few tweaks here and there, it was going to be the perfect birthday treat for my Dad this year! It smells absolutely delicious fresh out of the oven and it tastes amazing.

For this Peanut Butter and Jelly Slice you will need

1.5 cups plain flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn salt
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
3/4 brown sugar
115 g butter
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla
3/4 cup strawberry jam

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Line an 8x8x2inch baking pan with baking paper or a non stick liner and spray with cooking oil.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the peanut butter, sugar and butter and beat until smooth.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until just combined.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat on low until all ingredients are incorporated.

Press 1/2 of the mixture into the prepared pan. Spread with the strawberry jam.

Crumble the remaining mixture over the top. Bake for 30 mins.

Allow the slice to cool completely before attempting to remove from the pan.

Slice and enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Valentines Day 2013 and Strawberry Cheesecake Poptarts

Valentines Day is extra special in our house because it also marks the anniversary (this year it was 4 years) since Mr B and I went away for a romantic weekend and during an early morning stroll along the beach, Mr B dropped down on one knee and asked me to marry him. We obviously don't need to go into the fact that my first response was 'Are you serious?' before I composed myself and followed up with a resounding 'Yes!'

 

Having to work on Valentines Day is never fun, but Mr B and I always make sure we do something special to mark the occasion. Yesterday morning, I popped out of work quickly to deliver a rose and balloon (I couldn't resist the lady bug balloon that said 'Lil Love Bug!') to Mr B's work and had previously arranged for some of the guys he works with to pick it up and take it out to him at the job site. On my way back to work I was pretty pleased with myself thinking I had the upper hand in the surprise stakes....but when I got back to work all of the ladies in the office were dancing around a big white box that had just been delivered with my name on it! I opened the box and felt just a little bit special when I saw that inside were 6 red roses, a teddy bear and a box of chocolates. I really am a very lucky lady. I rang Mr B to thank him for my beautiful gift and as it turns out, he had just received his too! Great minds really do think alike!

 

 

After work we went home and sat up in the pergola watching the lambs play in the yard while we enjoyed a drink and some peace and quiet. Our time after work in the evenings always seems to disappear in a whirlwind of making lunches and washing up and getting dinner ready and it was really nice to just take some time out and sit and relax

 

Like I hadn't been spoilt enough already, Mr B decided he was making dinner and oh my goodness what a dinner it was! Homemade lime and black pepper chicken schnitzel, potato chips and an amazing potato and lime salad - the chicken was moist and melt in your mouth tender, the chips were crispy and golden and the salad was refreshing and super tasty! From what I can gather the salad was made up of 1 cup of diced cooked potato, 1 lime with the skin removed, 2 button mushrooms, 1/3 cup of diced cucumber, 1 small tomato finely diced and a sprinkle of grated cheese.

 

Seeing as Mr B pulled out all the stops with dinner, I thought I better whip up something a little bit fancy for dessert.

Strawberry Cheesecake Poptarts - Makes 4

2 sheets of shortcrust pastry cut into quarters
1 punnet of strawberries finely diced
70g cream cheese softened
1 tbspn caster sugar
1/2 tbspn thickened cream
icing sugar and extra cream to serve

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, cream and caster sugar until smooth. Set aside.

Take 4 of the pieces of shortcrust pastry and using a skewer, trace the outline of a small heart in the centre of each one. When you are happy with your heart, use the skewer to cut your design out. You can keep the heart shaped pastry to cook up later on - maybe use them as decoration on top of pies?

Spread the remaining four pieces of pastry (the ones without the heart cut out of them) with the cream cheese mixture leaving a 1cm border around the edge. As you can see from my photos, it doesn't have to be spot on though.

Place 1.5 tbspns of your diced strawberries on top of the cream cheese mixture.

 

Place one of the pastry pieces with the heart cut out over the top of your strawberry mixture. Use a fork to seal the edges.

 

 

Place 1 tbspn butter in a microwave safe jug with 1 tspn caster sugar. Heat on high for 10 seconds and stir to combine. 

 

Brush the tops of your pastry with the butter mixture. It doesn't matter if you brush the strawberries as well.

 

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 15-20 mins or until pastry is golden. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and dusted with icing sugar.

 

During the cooking the cheesecake mixture will bubble up through the strawberries making these an absolutely delicious dessert, perfect for Valentines Day! It wasn't until this morning that we both went 'oh hey, they tasted like pop tarts!' Duh.... Anyway, I would also like to try them using nutella instead of the cheesecake mix because well who doesn't like nutella and strawberries!



 

Happy Valentines Day!

 

Mr and Mrs B xx

 

Waffles with Strawberries, Banana and Cream

On a Monday you need dessert. End of story. But dessert doesn't always have to consist of ice cream straight from the tub or indulgent chocolate puddings or decadent cheesecakes, dessert can consist of fruit and still be satisfying and delicious....don't believe me....check these waffles out and tell me I'm wrong. 

This recipe makes 2 of the waffles shown in the picture. 

.6 cup of plain flour
.6 tspn baking powder
1 tbspn caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
30g butter, melted
1/2 cup strawberries sliced
2 small bananas sliced
whipped cream

Pre-heat your waffle maker.

Combine the flour, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Stir through the egg, milk and melted butter.

Pour half of the mixture into your waffle maker, close the lid and cook for 4-5 mins or until golden.

Repeat with remaining mixture.

Serve topped with strawberries, banana and whipped cream.

I just adore banana and whipped cream and with the addition of strawberries and a freshly cooked golden waffle, it is the perfect dessert. I also love that it's a lovely light way to end a meal, plus it looks really specky so it makes you feel like you are indulging in a decadent dessert without leaving you with that heavy 'oh i've over eaten' feeling!

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Strawberry Cheesecake Slice

This weekend Mr B and I discovered 'Click and Collect' groceries which basically is where we can do our groceries online and collect them the next day at no extra cost! Every weekend I get increasingly frustrated at the amount of time it takes to do the shopping list, go to the supermarket, pick everything up, come home and unpack, but I did have some concerns regarding the freshness and quality of the goods we could receive, so on Thursday night, Mr B and I sat down and did our order online and when we rocked up at the supermarket after work on Friday, there were our groceries all ready to go! We were really impressed, the fruit and vegies were all good quality and everything was well packed, plus it has made such a HUGE difference to our weekend! We have had so much extra time which equals lots less stress and lots more quality time. It has been fantastic!

And to celebrate, I made Mr B one of his favourite snacks for his lunches this week.....Strawberry Cheesecake Slice!

You will need

1 packet of Lattice Biscuits
125g of cream cheese
125g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 tbspns strawberry jam
2 tspns gelatine
1 tspn vanilla essence

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, sugar and butter. Beat until smooth, creamy and pale.

Dissolve the gelatine in 1/4 cup of hot water and add to the cream cheese mixture with the strawberry jam and vanilla. Beat until thick and creamy.

Line a baking dish with baking paper and then layer half of your lattice biscuits, shiny side down, in the dish.

Spoon the cheesecake mixture over the top of the biscuits and smooth with the back of a spoon or a spatula.

Top with the remaining biscuits and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Cut into squares and serve!

Anyway, I best be off, I have Apple Pikelets cooking away and I need to get ready because tonight Mr B and I are kicking off a month of celebrations for Mr B's birthday (against Mr B's will, but I love any excuse to celebrate!). We are heading out to dinner and then to a Johnny Cash Tribute Show so it should be a really good night....not to sure how we will go at work tomorrow, but we will worry about that later!

Mrs B xx

Lemon Muffins with Strawberry Cheesecake Filling

When I'm not in the kitchen or curled up on the couch / in bed or out exploring the world / buying shoes, I'm at work. 

I know. 

Believe me I'm not a fan of it either. 

If I had my way I spend my days baking up a storm in some exotic location whilst wearing a gorgeous pair of shoes from my never ending collection, but alas in the real world, I work a 9-5...or in my case a 7:30 - 4....so today I wanted to share something with you.....

My desk. 

Which, for 8 hours a day, is my home.

I believe three of the most important things that make work less like work are 

1) working with great people (which I do)

2) enjoying what you do (which most days I do)

and 3) adding some personal touches to your workspace 

Note the essential elements below....

- Skull coffee mug

- Shoe clock

- Paper weight (gift from Mum and Dad when I started work)

- Mood calendar to advise / warn people when it is safe to enter or better to stay away 

- Red Nose Day teddy bear holding a Daffodil Day flower pot

- Wedding photos (and on the wall next to my desk, family photos) to remind me that life is about more then       

   just work

- Shoe calendar  (to remind me life is about shoes!) 

- Collection of nail files, combs and pen....plus phone, sticky notes and essential scribble paper 

- And I always have the radio on for some background noise....plus an impromptu dance / sing in the middle    

   of the day never goes astray!

 

Do you know what else never goes astray? Muffins! Tangy lemon muffins topped with a dollop of sweet creamy strawberry cheesecake!

All you will need is:

2.5 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Juice and rind from one large (or 2 small) lemons
100g cream cheese softened
2 tbspns strawberry jam
1 tbspn icing sugar

Combine the cream cheese, strawberry jam and icing sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 160C (fan forced) and grease a 12 hole muffin tray.

Combine the flour, sugar, milk, egg, oil, lemon rind and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth.

3/4 fill each muffin cup and top with a tbspn of the cheesecake mixture.

Bake for 20-25 mins until they bounce back when touched or a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Take them to work, share them out, people will love you, that's just how it goes.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Mrs B x

Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies

This weekend just gone was one of the best weekends I've had for a long time. OH is working away at the moment and not only was he home for 3 whole days but the weather was simply gorgeous as well. On Friday we picked up some new furniture for our bedroom, posted off all of our wedding invites and went out for a lovely seafood dinner with friends. Then on Saturday we went for a ride up to Meadowbank Dam and sat out on the jetty with our lunch.....


And that night we chilled out on the couch with the world's biggest plate of nachos (which OH washed down with an equally huge glass of buorbon!)


Yesterday we had a bit of a sleep in and spent the day pottering around in the garden before taking my bike out for a quick spin, OH even taught me how to ride the ride on mower and dump the oil out of my bike so it's ready for a service :)

So what better way to top off a beautiful summer's weekend then with these decadent Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies?


You will need:
125g butter
180g dark chocolate melts
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 180C / 160°C fan-forced.
Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Place butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave and heat in 45 second bursts (stirring in between) until smooth.
Pour into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat in the sugar.
Add eggs and beat until well combined.
Add the flour and cocoa and beat well. Mixture will be fairly thick.
Spread mixture into prepared pan and pour cheesecake mix over. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until top is firm to touch. Set aside to cool.

For the cheesecake mix you will need:

180g cream cheese
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup strawberry topping

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and made the most of the weather!

Em x

Strawberries and Cream Mud Cake

So I suppose there is no point avoiding it....tomorrow is my birthday. I mean seriously didn't we just do this like not that long ago? I can't believe how fast it has come around....but nonetheless, yes it is tomorrow. And as I firmly believe it is wrong wrong wrong to work on your birthday, I thought I better take a cake into work with me today.

I thought about it for a long time and went through many recipe books trying to figure out what to make. Something new? Something bold? A tried and true favourite? But no matter how many books and web sites I looked at, nothing really grabbed me as something that I would like to make for MY birthday cake. So then I sat down to think about what sort of cake would I really like, what sort of flavours do I love? I knew I wanted something that involved fruit, something that was not too rich, something that I hadn't made before....well I've never made a mud cake before....but not a chocolate mud cake, that would be far too rich....how about a white chocolate one? But then how to incorporate the fruit....I know! A Strawberries and Cream Mud Cake! I couldn't find any recipes that matched the vision I had going in my head so instead I found a really great white chocolate mud cake recipe and decided to just kind of wing it from there!

Strawberries and Cream Mud Cake (adapted from Exclusively Food)

For the Cake:
450g of white chocolate (I used 2 x 220g blocks of Dream)
300g butter
1 cup of caster sugar
1.5 cups milk
3 tspns vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
1.5 cups plain flour
2 tbspns strawberry essence
Pink food dye

Pre-heat oven to 160C (145C fan forced). Grease and line a 28cm round springform tin. (Just for the record I hate lining springform tins, but for this recipe I just placed a sheet of baking paper over the bottom tray, sealed the tin around it and let the overhang bits just kinda hang out the bottom of the tin.)

In a large bowl, combine the chocolate, butter, milk, sugar and vanilla. Microwave in 40 second bursts, stirring in between, until the chocolate has melted and all ingredients are combined. Let it sit and cool for a minute or two.

Add the eggs to the mixture and stir well.

Add the sifted flours and mix until all the lumps are gone.

Now remove just under half of the mixture to a seperate bowl. To this bowl add the strawberry essence and 2-3 drops of the food dye. Give it a good stir.

Pour half of the plain mixture into the tin. Top with half of the pink mixture. Use a skewer to swirl the two mixtures together - being careful not to rip the baking paper underneath. Top with the remaining plain mixture and then the pink mixture, again swirling the two layers together with a skewer.

Bake in the oven for anywhere between 75 and 100 mins....mine took about an hour and a half. It really depends on your oven so once it hits the 75 mark just keep an eye on it and as soon as a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean it's done.

Let the cake sit and cool for 10-15 mins before you try and remove it from the pan :)

Now while the cake is cooking you can make the frosting!

For the Frosting:
375g white chocolate melted
300ml thickened cream
2 cups icing sugar
2 tbpsns strawberry jam

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat well for 3-4 mins. You may need to add more cream / icing sugar depending on the consistency your after. Once the cake has cooled, cover with frosting.

(Now here I have to recommend putting the cake in the fridge overnight. Purely because it allows the flavours to develop even more.)

This frosting was great, it had a subtle strawberry flavour, but maintained the creaminess of the white chocolate and, of course, the cream. Also with all that chocolate in there, it sets nice and firm once you put it in the fridge, not solid, but firm and then as you bring the cake to room temp (like you should before serving a mud cake) it just softens beautifully. And just before you serve the cake, top it with gorgeous fresh strawberries....

Everyone at work brought something in for morning tea and the sneaky buggers presented me with a bouquet of baby pink carnations, aswell as a card signed by everyone. I felt very very spoilt.

I have to say the cake was delicious, I was really proud of how it came out. It has that dense moist mud cakey texture and the flavours were not over whelming but they were simple and subtle and it was exactly what I wanted it to be :)

Em x

All the colours of the rainbow.....

...well nearly anyway!

We certainly had a very colour filled weekend!

First off, I received a voucher via www.livingsocial.com.au to get 7 assorted and beautifully gift wrapped macarons from Sweet Envy in Hobart for just $7! Helloooooo bargain! We finally got to pick them up late last week and they looked a lil something like this

Now in there somewhere we have Blueberry and Lemon, Chocolate Praline, Lemon Creme, English Toffee, Mocha, Rose and Apple and Blackberry. They were delicious, each one had a delicate buttercream filling and right in the centre, a suprise pocket of lemon curd or blackberry jam or soft caramel! Yum Yum Yum!!

Then on Friday my cousin Janine asked me if I could possibly put on my cupcake fairy wings and make two dozen cupcakes for her son's birthday party on Saturday. Could I ever!! I found out that Kai's favourite colour was orange and from that moment onward I was just itching to get home and get started on them! As always I planned to simply make the cupcakes and the frosting Friday night, bung it all in the fridge and do all the decorating on Saturday....and as always that didn't happen. I made everything and as soon as the cakes were cooled I started decorating my little heart out (I really do get too excited by all this baking caper...)


The look on Kai's face when we delivered them was priceless...almost as good as when he slyly pinched a car off one of them before the guests arrived! But you do get certain privelages as the birthday boy I suppose!

And last but not least, my new favourite obsession....I have been having this for afternoon tea at work every day and you know I have tried tins of spaghetti, soup, rice cakes and philly, cereal, porridge you name it...but nothing satisfies and keeps me from snacking when I get home like this does. One apple, 3 strawberries and 2 dates all sliced up. It takes me about an hour to eat because I just pick whilst I'm working and it is so good!! Would be yummy with a dollop of yoghurt on top too....on a cold winter's morning...whilst snuggled in my warm cosy bed with a book and a cup of tea....can't wait for my next day off so I can try that out actually...granted I do have yoghurt at work and could easily try it tomorrow, but I think it's important to try it as the whole package complete with electric blanket and rain falling on the roof :)


Happy Monday!!

Em x

Happy Birthday to Us!!

For those of you who don't know, today is Love, Shoes and Cupcakes first birthday, yep one whole year. It doesn't feel like that long hey! Things have certainly changed in that time though...
- My shoe collection has increased ten-fold (and evolved into a love of tights too)
- Both OH and I have started new jobs and made significant changes in our lives
- We were getting married, then two weeks before the big day we decided to postpone which was one of the hardest things we have ever done, but now we are six months out from our wedding date and you know what, this time it just feels right, it's really going to happen and I couldn't be more excited, we even booked our mini-moon last night and we are about to book our honeymoon to Europe!
- As for the cooking, it's grown from a love of cupcakes and basic baking to a love of all things cooking, I've made things I never thought I could and I still love nothing more then an afternoon in the kitchen :)

So in honour of this milestone last night, Mum and Dad came up for dinner and this is how we celebrated...

Roast Tomato and Lentil Soup with Homemade Foccacia....


This foccacia recipe has been haunting me for ages! I have desperately wanted to try it, but just wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but well last night was the night and it was better then I expected. The herbs and sea salt on the top gave it so much flavour and it was crispy on the outside, but light and fluffy in the middle, just perfect :) Wanna try it for yourself? Here's how...

Foccacia

2 cups plain flour
7g dried yeast
2tbspns of olive oil
2 tspns rock salt
2 tbspns parmesan
2 tspns pizza herbs

Grease a 20cm x 30cm slice tin.

Combine the flour, yeast, parmesan and half of the salt in a bowl.

Make a well in the centre and add 1 cup of warm water and oil. Stir until a soft sticky dough forms.

Knead the dough (in the bowl should be fine) for around 5-7 mins or until the dough springs back when pressed.

Press the dough into the prepared pan and cover with cling wrap. Set aside in a warm place for 1 hour.

Waiting waiting waiting.....pre-heat your oven to 180C....wait some more...

Remove the plastic wrap from dough. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar or olive oil. Sprinkle with remaining sea salt and herbs.

Bake for 15 mins then reduce temperature to 160C. Bake for a further 10 -15 mins or until top is golden and sounds hollow when tapped.

And for dessert, we had the grand finale (I even had a candle!!) The Double Decker Icecream Pudding!!


Now what to make for this occasion has been a point of contention for me for some time, it had to be something special, something celebratory, something different, something I hadn't made before, something easy yet impressive....this long list of criteria led to me sitting on the floor last Friday, surrounded by every recipe book I own....and after much page turning, huffing, puffing, foot stamping and general tantrum throwing, I settled on a combination of several recipes with my own twists thrown in. (I have to give OH a big shout out here for putting up with me during the decision making process!!)


And you know what? It was so easy!!

Double Decker Icecream Pudding

1.25L of light vanilla icecream
1 cup of store brought or homemade vanilla custard (I made some at home)
10-15 mini vanilla meringues (crushed)
16 choc ripple biscuits (leave 8 whole and roughly crush the remaining 8)
Peppermint essence
Green and pink food colouring
250g of fresh strawberries (hulled and diced)
2 tbspns strawberry jam
Ice Magic

Line a large mixing bowl (with steep sides) or a large pudding steamer with cling wrap.

In a large bowl, combine the vanilla icecream with the custard, meringues and crushed biscuits.

Place half of the mixture in a seperate bowl.

Add 2 drops peppermint essence and 2-3 drops green food colouring to one bowl. Combine. Spoon the mixture into your prepared bowl and place in the freezer.

Cook the strawberries and the jam in the microwave or on the stove top for 4-5 mins or until they have cooked down. You want them to be mushy, but you still want some strawberry chunks too!

Stir the strawberries and 2 drops of pink food colouring through the remaining icecream. Place the bowl in the freezer.

After 2-3 hours the mint layer should be set enough to pour your strawberry mixture over the top. Place back in the freezer for an hour.

Layer your remaining chocolate biscuits over the strawberry icecream to form a 'base' for your pudding. Place back in the freezer overnight.

When you are ready to serve the pudding, place a large plate over the bowl and flip upside down. The pudding should come out of the bowl easy enough. Remove the bowl and peel the cling wrap from the pudding.

Pour ice magic over the top and leave for a minute or two to set.

Serve and enjoy!!


I was really happy with the way this came out, it looked fantastic, it tasted great and I couldn't think of a better way to end our first twelve months!

So thank you to OH, Mum and Dad for putting up with my cooking madness and thank you to all of you for sharing the ride - I can't wait to see what the next year has in store!!

Em x

Some Weekend Treats :)

So what does one do on a cold long weekend? One bakes of course!!


These lil babies were for OH's lunches, but they would be awesome desserts....some chocolate self saucing pudding topped with some creamy strawberry rice...the combination is decadent but so very good!!

Then we got invited round to OH's step mother's for dinner and because I believe it is rude to show up empty handed we made these lil strawberry swirl cheesecakes :)


You will need:
500g cream cheese
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tspn vanilla essence
strawberry topping
2/3 cup sour cream
100g white chocolate melted
1 pkt butternut snap biscuits

Pre-heat your oven to 135C and line 2 x 12 cup muffin trays with muffin / cupcake cases. Place a butternut snap biscuit in the bottom of each case.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine cream cheese and caster sugar. Gradually add eggs and vanilla.

Then add around 1/4 cup of strawberry topping and the sour cream. Beat until well combined. Pour in the melted white chocolate and continue beating.

Pour mixture into cases, you will only need to fill them about 3/4 as they will rise. Once this is done, squirt a small amount of strawberry topping onto each cheesecake. With a skewer gently swirl it through the mixture.

Bake for 20-25 mins and then refrigerate for 4 hours.

These are so delicious, OH refused to let me take them all to the dinner because he wanted to keep some for himself!!

And last but not least, some savoury goodness! We were in Melbourne last week and when we got home we needed a quick and easy dinner...like these Sauteed Mushrooms on Toast


For enough to serve two people you will need:
250g mushrooms sliced
1 tspn smoked paprika
1 tspn smoked bbq seasoning
250g cherry tomatoes halved
200g cottage cheese
*We had this with 1/2 a loaf of Tigger bread but you could use any thick crusty bread

Combine the cottage cheese with the smoked bbq seasoning and place in the fridge.

In a frying pan over medium heat, cook the mushrooms and paprika with a tspn of butter for 6-8 mins or until golden. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for a further 6-8 mins until the tomatoes have broken down. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with cottage cheese mix and crusty bread :)

This was such a yummy dinner, a great combination and so easy!!

Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend :)

Em x

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

At work yesterday we hosted an Australia's Biggest Morning Tea event to raise money for the cancer council. The ladies at work did an amazing job, so good in fact we had enough food left over to do it all again today! We had a fantastic vartiety too, from fresh fruit and vegies, bruschetta, biscuits, cheese and dip, lemon cakes, ice cream cakes, coffee streudels and my contribution - Mini Sponge Cakes with Lemon Cream Filling and Strawberry Jam Blondies




For the Mini Sponge Cakes with Lemon Cream Filling, I used the Lemon Cream Filled Sponge from the Women's Weekly Card File. I thought the indivual cakes would be easier to serve up then the large cake and I loved the look of it on the card.


This was the finished product :)


And these were the Strawberry Jam Blondies - so soft and chewy and the jam sort of caramelizes on the top making them to die for!!


For these delicious creations you will need:

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
250g butter
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry jam (or jam of your choice)
50g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180C and line a slice pan.
Melt butter and sugar together, either in the microwave or on the stove top. Quickly whisk eggs and vanilla into butter/sugar mixture.
Stir in flour, baking powder and chocolate chips.
Spread batter into prepared pan. Spoon jam over batter and then swirl into batter with a butter knife or skewer to create a marbled effect.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center of pan. Cool before cutting into squares and serving.

So easy yet so very very good!!

Ohhh and at the hairdressers on Tuesday they straightened my hair....my thick, painful, frizzy mop is dead flat straight....I nearly proposed to my hairdresser on the spot...every day it amazes me even more, I even walked in the wind today and it remained straight and flawless....and it's so versatile, no longer am I confined to up and back or well up and back, I can wear it up or out or however the hell I want! So that confirms it, I'm investing in a good quality hair straightener! Here let me show you a picture :)



Happy Friday!!

Em x

Happy Mothers Day!

So we all have Mothers yes?

We all love them to pieces and want to spoil them yes?

Stuck for ideas on the best way to spoil your Mum tomorrow?

How about these Monte Carlo Biscuits?


Look impressive don't they?

Here's how it's done :)

You need:

125g butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tspn vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup of self raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup coconut
1/2 cup strawberry jam
And for the buttercream you will need:
60g butter
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 tspn vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 160C fan forced and line 3 trays with baking paper.

Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined.

Sift flours over the butter mixture and beat well. Stir in coconut.

Roll heaped teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on trays 3cms apart. Using a fork lightly flatten each ball to 1cm thick.

Bake for 12-15 mins or until lightly golden. Stand on trays to cool for 10-15 mins.

While the biscuits are cooling you can make the buttercream - Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Spread half of the biscuits with the butter cream and spread the other half with the jam. Sandwich together and serve :)

I made a big batch of these last night and will be giving them to all the Mum's at the family lunch today.

So I hope all you Mum's out there are thoroughly spoilt today, brekkie in bed, a nice sleep in, champagne in the bath and at the very least, a plate of home made Monte Carlo biscuits :)

And to my Mum.... we may have our differences, but you are always there for me when I need you, you listen to my ramblings, you go along with my phases, you look after me, you made me who I am today and I love you dearly xx

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

Em xx

Super Scrolls!

I never know what to call these, are they scrolls? Scone logs? Any who they are delicious and easy! You may have seen my previous strawberry scroll? That is pretty damn good, but here are two more variations on the scone log that will have you jumping for joy (or laying on the couch loosening your belt!)

Firstly we have the Nutella and Strawberry Scrolls


These are gooey and chocolatey and would make a spectacular dessert fresh out of the oven with cream :)

All you need is

1 pkt of pastry mix prepared as directed(cheating cheating cheating)
About half a cup of nutella
About half a cup of strawberry jam
Half a cup of sliced strawberries
40g of butter
2 tbspns caster sugar

Preheat oven to 160C fan forced and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
Melt the butter and sugar together in the microwave and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
Roll your pastry mix out into a nice rectangle.
Spread the nutella evenly over the pastry, leaving a 2 cm gap around the long edges.
Spread the strawberry jam over the nutella and scatter with strawberries.
Start from the long edge closest to you and roll the pastry into a tight log. You may experience some leakage and some over flow but thats all good.
Try and bring the ends of your log together and seal to form a ring.
Carefully move to your baking tray and brush with the melted butter and sugar mix. Bake for around 20-25 mins or until golden.
I always get too excited and try and cut it up before it cools - bad idea - you end up with nutella and jam everywhere so be patient, let it cool and then cut it up!

Next we have the Apple and Cinnamon Scroll


Very similar - but not as likely to make your teeth fall out as the first one!

1 box of pastry mix prepared as directed
3/4 cup of stewed apple (I used pie apple so it was chunky but I think the stewed apple would have worked better)
80g butter
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tbspn brown sugar
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 160C fan forced and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
Melt the butter and sugar together in the microwave and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
Roll your pastry mix out into a nice rectangle.
Spread the apple over the pastry, leaving a 2cm gap on your long edges.
Pour about 3/4 of your butter mixture over the apple and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
Start from the long edge closest to you and roll the pastry into a tight log. You may experience some leakage and some over flow but thats all good, just try and avoid any massive splits in your pastry. (Is there an echo in here?)
Try and bring the ends of your log together and seal to form a ring.
Carefully move to your baking tray. Sprinkle some cinnamon into the remaining butter mix and stir to combine.
Brush the ring with the cinnamon butter mix and bake for around 20-25 mins or until golden.
Remember not to cut up until cool! Unless you want to have it hot out of the oven for dessert - in which case go for it, just cover it with cream and ice cream if it falls apart!!

And this week these recipes are also featured over at Sweet As Sugar Cookies!
It's been a long weekend here and I had an RDO on Friday so after 4 days off I am not keen on going back to work tomorrow at all. But apparently I need to work so I can keep baking lol and buying shoes....and clothes...I'm never ever going to be able to retire am I!?

Em x