Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A sweet surprise party for Caketopia styled by Sweet Art


 I have made some lovely friends over the years through my blog.

Many of them are overseas or interstate, like old fashioned pen pals but with new fangled high speed internet chat.



But sometimes they are closer than I know,  one day on my way to drop the kids at their classroom one of the other mums asked me if my name was Linda, and to my surprise I found out that she was a super talented cake decorator the owner of Caketopia that I 'knew' from a cake forum.

Yup right there at the school drop off carpark. Since then we have become great friends as we chat about cakey - and not so cakey related stuff on the long walk up the hill to pick up our young children.

So when Sweet Art Cakes contacted me to ask if I would like to come along to a surprise party celebrating the opening of Caketopia's new kitchen and studio of course I had to come.



Quite a number of people contributed to the dessert table for the party, which was honestly one of the prettiest I have seen. Kellie from Sweet Art Cakes styled the table and I just adored so many of the touches, including the hand painted 'cake shop window' and the gorgeous light boxes she created which each had an internal light and held a single cupcake (which by the way were little works of art deserving of the treatment).

Kellie's table and the other contributors treats were so lovely that the party was a guest feature on Amy Atlas

I made raspberry gelee macarons in pink and aqua - Click here for the recipe



A wonderful time was had by all.

Sweet Surprise Party for the opening of Caketopia
 
Table Design: Sweet Art Cakes
Cake, cookies, mousse and tarts: Sweet Art Cakes
Cupcakes: Crumbs of Comfort Cake Design
Macarons: Bubble & Sweet
Cakepops & Chocolate Pretzel Rods: Megan’s Cakes by Design
Mini Chocolates and Tags: Cupcakes by Haley 
 
 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

If this is wrong I don't want to be right chocolate peanut butter baked cheesecakes


Peanut Butter. Chocolate. Cheesecake. Oreo.

It sounds so wrong, but it tastes sooooo right.




I'm continuing on with my mini Cheesecake love with a super rich version which is based on one of my favorite flavor combinations....peanut butter and chocolate.

At first I thought I might just pop a whole Peanut Butter Cup into the cheesecake on top of the Oreo, y'know make it super easy, and if you look carefully at the picture below you can see that is exactly what I did to the one on the left side - see the little layer of chocolate in between the peanut and cheesecake. But for my tastes I found that section of the cheesecake a little crumbly and dry, don't get me wrong it was good, but not quite what I was hoping for. So I did a google search around and found this cheat recipe and decided to modify it a bit for use in the cheesecake.


Not only is the filling creamier - it's more cost effective plus I could make it a bit smaller than the shop bought one so I got a little bit more cheesecake in.

Soooooo Right.

(.......also just in case you missed my previous post I would like to clarify mostly for Mr Sweet's sake that the statement in the photo is not true - I pretty much always want to be right.)


Peanut Butter Baked Cheesecake
makes 14 large Texas muffin sized cheesecakes. For the pictures I poured over some melted chocolate peanut ganache and added chopped mini Reece's Peanut Butter Cups.

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar) sifted
2tbsp + 1 tsp unsalted butter or 45g (3 US Tbsp or 1 1/2 oz)
pinch salt

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. If it's a very hot day you may like to place the 7oz that will be used in the cheesecakes in the fridge to make it easier to handle.

Cheesecake

14 Oreo Cookies
7oz of the Peanut Butter Filling (see recipe above)
625g (21oz) cream cheese at room temperature
1 tin condensed milk
3 large eggs at room temperature
14 large muffin papers (I bought these ones from woolies)


Preheat oven to 140C (280 F)

Line the muffin tins with the muffin/cupcake papers. Place one single oreo in the bottom of each paper.

Top each Oreo with 3 tsp (1 US Tbsp) of peanut butter mixture and press down onto the top of the Oreo cookie.



In a large bowl beat the cream cheese using a mixer at medium speed until just smooth, add the condensed milk and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the large muffin papers dividing mixture evenly between the papers using a scant 1/3 cup to each to make 14.

Place the tray into the oven and bake until the mixture is just setting in the center, around 16- 20 mins

Allow to cool in the trays for 10-15min and then pop in an airtight container in the fridge until chilled.

Top each cheesecake with a swirl of Peanut Chocolate Ganache (recipe follows).

Peanut Chocolate Ganache

4oz Dark or Semi Sweet Chocolate 
1 oz cream
4 oz Peanut Butter Filling
20g (3/4 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature

Chop the chocolate into fine pieces. Place in a microwave safe bowl with the cream and heat in the microwave at medium low heat for 1 minute bursts until melted. Make sure you do not overheat the chocolate. 

Cover and allow to set at room temperature until firm.

Beat the chocolate mixture on high for a couple of minutes until it lightens in color. Add the Peanut Butter Filling and mix well at medium speed, add the butter and continue to beat at medium speed until the mixture comes together, do not over mix.


 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Blue Ruffle Ombre Macaron


This is just a quick post, maybe to counter balance the time it takes to make these blue ruffle ombre macarons.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

To make your own, mix up a batch of macaron mixture (CLICK HERE for Recipe) and after mixing in the almond meal/sugar/egg white divide into half. Color one half light blue and the other half dark blue and then mix until the correct consistency has been achieved, then continue to follow the recipe.


Make up a batch of filling and mix in food colour until a shade which is inbetween your 2 different blues is achieved, I used buttercream however you could use white chocolate ganache which is always a favorite for taste.

Match up a light and dark blue macaron half.and pipe filling into the center. If you are using buttercream you can pipe using a star tip for the ruffle look center.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Are you thinking what I'm thinking Love Bird Valentine Cookies


Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

If your thinking these cookies are kinda cute then you totally are.

And if your thinking they will be easy to make - it's like you're some kind of mind reader.


However if your thinking more birds!!! What is with the birds, will she ever stop.......Where is that recipe for the peanut butter chocolate cheesecake that she posted the picture on facebook off - I need it now! Why is she toying with us. Then no we are not thinking the same thing at all, although if I was you I might be :) I am pretty sure I will have the cheesecake recipe fine tuned and typed up for next weekend.

 Disclaimer - the statement in the picture is not true - I pretty much always want to be right :)

Anyhoo back to the cookies, they didn't go quite to plan, I had originally wanted the hearts to come out of the birdies into one big heart in the middle but I just don't think it worked, it made the cookie look a bit weird and unbalanced so I kinda tipped the top idea over.


Yup I'm thinking it looks much better now.

So then I made some extra filler cookies with plain red hearts that look super sweet, and 'cause y'know waaaay less fiddly making plain hearts so you can double up your cookies for about a 10th of the time.



and then I wrapped them up with plain parchment (baking) paper, pink twine and press out hearts I made myself with a Martha Stewart heart cutter/punch.


I'm thinking it worked out pretty sweet in the end.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking Cookies

Square Sugar Cookies (around 6cm or 2 1/2 ") I used the recipe from my book details and link below or you can use this recipe here
Ready Roll Fondant *(or marshmallow fondant)
Blue, pink and red food color - gel type like Wilton or Americolor
Black edible pen - I like the Americolor Gourmet Writers
Square cookie cutter (around 6cm or 2 1/2 ")
tear shaped fondant cutter (around 3.2cm or 1 3/8")
3 different shaped fondant heart cutters/ ejectors (1.5 cm, 1cm & 0.7cm) or (9/16" 3/8" and 1/4")
brush and water
small rolling pin
Corn flour (corn starch for dusting)
* Fondant dries out fast, work quickly and when not in use pop it into a ziplock bag or air tight container. Knead before use to make more pliable before each use.



Color small amounts of the fondant light blue, light pink and red by kneading the fondant until pliable and then working in the gel color until evenly distributed. It is preferable to color the red fondant a day before use to allow time for the color to develop. Pop each color into a separate bag until needed.

Dust the workbench with a little cornflour, roll out the white fondant until around a couple of mm thin (1/16") and even and using the square cookie cutter cut out shapes. Brush the cookie lightly with a little water and using the small rolling pin adhere the fondant to the cookie pressing down lightly with the roller. If necessary I carfully roll the fondant to the edges of each cookie. Cover each cookie with white fondant.



Roll out the pink fondant on a lightly dusted workbench. Using the teardrop shaped cutter press out a shape for each cookie. Using your fingers pinch the pointed end of the teardrop and pull it up slightly upwards to make the 'tail' curve upwards (like in the pictures).

 
Place the tear shape onto the bottom of the square fondant covered cookie with the large rounded end pointing inwards to the center of the cookie and the pointed curved tails pointing outwards (don't stick it on yet). Make sure this shape is less than halfway across the cookie as you will need to pop another one on the other side. Lift the shape up and using an edible black pen draw 2 small lines in a V shape to make a beak (see picture for example) and some lines for the legs and then adhere the pink fondant shape to the cookie with a small amount of water. Repeat for all the cookies.



Roll out the blue fondant and follow the same steps as for the pink fondant but make sure when you are pinching the tail upwards that the tear drop shapes are reversed to the opposite direction so that the blue bird will be facing inwards.

Roll out the pink and blue colors again and cut out a small heart in each color for each cookie. Adhere the hearts to each tear shaped bird with the pointed edge facing inwards to represent wings.



(I actually just roll out both colors and working quickly cut out about 10 or so of each tear drop and heart shape I need, pinch them into shape and adhere them to the cookies. Once you have the hang of what you are doing and if you work quickly you should be able to do this without the fondant drying out.)



Dust the workbench with a little cornflour, roll out the red fondant until around a couple of mm thin (1/16") and even. Get the 3 different heart shaped cutters ready and cut 1 small heart, 2 medium hearts and 2 larger hearts. Starting in the top outside corners adhere one large heart into each corner. Make sure you only use a small amount of water to do this otherwise the color may bleed. Then adhere the one small heart directly above the middle of the pink and blue birds. Finally add the medium hearts spacing it evenly between the small and larger hearts so that they make a V shape (see picture for example.)


Finally finish by adding a dot to each of the birdies for an eye.



I used the vanilla sugar cookie recipe from my book Sweets on a Stick to make the square cookies.

I know I have said it before but the book is a US Release however there is a conversion chart in the back to the book for metric.


Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Win a double pass to Enrich Brisbane

Are you ready to be Enriched?


On the 30th, 31st of March and 1st of April Enrich Brisbane is being held at the Brisbane Convention center.

Not just your ordinary foodie weekend - Enrich in encompassing all lifestyle aspects and will be offering a host of sessions including lifestyle, travel, coffee and outdoor living.

If you pop over to the site there are already a number of the sessions up which are still being added to and a host of celebrity chefs and personalities listed including: Alastair McLeod, Lyndey Milan, Ben O'donoghue, Frank Camorra, Ian Parmenter, Marie-Louise Theile, Ed Halmaygi (Fast Ed), Paul Mercurio and Anna Gare!

There will be so much to see and do...... You can buy a ticket to attend just one day, but I think I would need all 3 days to do and see (and hear) everything on my list.


And the good news if you have a budding masterchef children under 12 years of age are free.

and I have not 1 but 2 Double 1 day passes to giveaway.


All you have to do is pop over HERE to the site and tell me which of the sessions you think would most ENRICH your life and post a comment here on the blog telling me about it.


And for a second entry you can share the competition on your facebook page or twitter and then leave a separate comment letting me know you have done so.

This giveaway if for 2 separate prizes consisting of a set of double tickets for 1 days entry to Enrich Brisbane (Brisbane, Queensland Australia) to be held on the 30th and 31st of March and the 1st of April. The winner will be able to choose the day of attendance. No accommodation, travel or transfer costs are included. Giveaway will close 12pm Sunday 19th of February EST. The 2 winners will be chosen on the 20th of February using Random Org and announced here on the blog - if you would like me to email you make sure I have some way of contacting you.

For more information please visit: www.enrichbrisbane.com.au

The winners are comment 4 - Finlaw and comment 9 Kerry Rollinson Emery for details on how to collect your prize please email me at Bubbleandsweet(at)hotmail(dot)com......just replace the (at) with an actual @ sign and (dot) with a .

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Love me Love me not heart sprinkle valentine macarons with raspberry gelee


Love me, love me not........

I'm way past the stage where I pull the petals off flowers to work out if someone loves me or not.After this many years, I'm pretty sure I know where Mr Sweet's affections lie, although he does have his unique way of showing it.


A couple of nights ago Sweet herself walked into the kitchen and saw me wearing a pink floral dress.

"Woah! Mum you look perfect!" she exclaimed (despite the fact I had uncombed hair and no makeup) and she gave me a great big hug. I know she is completely awesome, what can I say.

A few minutes later Mr Sweet walked in and I relayed the story.

"Why did she say that?" he asked.

Yeah he just does not get it - SOOO not the right response.Lucky I'm pretty secure and I can see his affection in the everyday little things he does that make up our lives together.

Hopefully my family does not need to measure my affection by the sweet heart themed sugary sweets I make to share with them, but if it was they would be bursting with love about now.

This week I made macarons with raspberry gelee (jello) and little sugar sprinkle hearts around the side. Just to squeeze a little bit extra love in.


I popped the sprinkles on individually so that I could have the cool pattern, but you could just dip them in the heart sprinkles which wouldn't be so neat but would still be cute. Or just leave the sprinkles off and make pink macarons with the raspberry jelly center.

Oh and EEEEK - I just had to retype this post as my computer froze and lost it - I so hate when that happens. I want a new Apple Mac - if only Mr Sweet showed his love with new technology I would be set for Valentines day  :)

Heart Sprinkle Macarons makes 40 filled macarons

Make macaron shells (click here and make this recipe using pink food color)


Raspberry Gelee
170g (6oz) raspberries (approx 1/2 cup)
15g (1/2 oz) sugar (1 US Tablespoon - 3 Australian tsp)
2 sheets gelatine

Line a 15cm (around 6") square tray with plastic wrap and spray with non stick oil (I used canola)

Push raspberry through a sieve and discard seeds - the raspberry puree should yield around 120g (1 1/4 oz)
Soak gelatine in water for a couple of minutes.
Mix the sugar into the raspberry puree and miscrowave on high for around 20 seconds.
Remove gelatine sheets from water and scrunch out all the excess water - discard water and pop the gelatine into the raspberry puree. Mix until disolved.
Pour into the prepared tray and place into fridge until set.

Pink Ganache

Microwave at medium for about 2 minutes 400grams of white chocolate and 100grams of cream.

Mix carefully until the chocolate is melted and add pink food color until the desired color is reached.
Pop into fridge until a piping consistency.

To assemble


Pipe ganache onto one side of the macaron shell. Add a square or heart shaped piece of raspberry gelee in the center. Place another shell onto the top and press down together.


Dip sides in sugar heart sprinkles.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for at least one day before serving. Can be stored for a further couple of days in an airtight container if required.


............................................................................

and here is the link to my book Sweets on a Stick it is a US Release however remember there is a conversion chart in the back to the book for metric.It's available from bookstores in the US and here online at:


Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Love is in the Air cake pops with cute birds and hearts for valentines day


I actually came up with the name for these cake pops first and then had to work out a design to match. ' Love is in the Air' cake pops sounded ever so sweet, and the original idea I had was to make the clouds with just some hearts. Sweet but simple.




So I made them up but then they weren't quite as sweet as I thought they would be. Maybe I should have made the hearts red - I'm not sure, but I wasn't feeling the love in the air, so I pulled out the 'ole backup plan.

Yup birds, you know they always make everything seem kinda cuter, it's like the bird squared cuteness rule or something ;)

Yeah I'm just making stuff up now, but you all get the idea. Bird is the word - if the word you want is cute.

and talking about cute :)  I had a lovely invitation from the Dollhouse Bake Shoppe to join in their Virtual Valentine Party and it seemed like such a fun idea that I am totally in and this is my contribution.

On the 5th of February the Dollhouse Bake Shop will be showcasing a round up of other blog contributions. Here is a link to the original post opening the Dollhouse doors.

 

By the way I have to apologise for the photo's of these pops (and also the Thought Bubble pops in a previous post). It was the 6th week of school holidays and I had 3 kids behind, in front and underneath me begging to eat the pops. I was desperate, I would have done anything for the few minutes silence that shoveling cake pops in their mouth would bring, so after a couple of photo's I let them take them all. Wasn't until later that I realised how bad the light was and as a result how blurry most of the shots were.

Pretty much the 3 photo's above are the only ones you can actually see anything in.

Oh well - that couple of minutes silence was worth it's weight in gold so I'm sure you all will forgive me.

Love is in the Air cake pops
It is best to start the decorations for these pops the day before to make it easier to handle the fondant decorations. The fondant decorations can be replaced with royal icing or premade - shop purchased decorations if you like.

Ingredients

cake pop mixture (any type)
lollipop sticks
white candy melts
fondant colored blue and pink - you will only need a small amount  about 1/2 the size of your fist.
Flower shaped fondant or cookie cutter (4cm (1 3/4inch) 
Heart shaped fondant cutter - approx 1.5cm (5/8 inch) in height
Tear drop shaped fondant cutter - approx 2cm (3/4 inch) in length
heart shaped sprinkles
edible pen

These are the fondant cutter sets I got my cutters from

1st Day make the heart and bird fondant decorations


Knead the pink fondant and roll out on a corn flour (corn starch) dusted workbench with a small plastic rolling pin. Use a heart shape fondant cutter to cut out hearts and then lay them on a tray lined with parchment paper. You don't have to but I like to pinch the bottoms of mine to go to the side, or you can leave then like normal hearts. Allow them to set overnight.

Knead the blue fondant and roll out on a corn flour (corn starch) dusted workbench with a small plastic rolling pin. Use the tear drop shaped fondant cutter to cut out shapes and then lay them on a tray lined with parchment paper.


Pinch the tail and pull it up to look like a bird and then quickly press a heart sprinkle into each tear shape (see picture for directions).


If you have worked quickly the sprinkle should stick to the fondant, however if you have taken too long the fondant may have dried out already. In that case you can use a little royal icing, edible glue or melted chocolate to attach the heart.



Use an edible pen to draw on a little black dot for an eye.

Leave to set overnight.

2nd Day make the cake pops

Holding the flower/blossom cutter between your thumb and pointer squish together to shape into a mini cloud.



Line a tray with parchment paper and place the cloud cutter on top of the paper lined tray. Take a few teaspoons of the cake pop mixture and press it into the cloud cutter pressing down firmly until it is evenly packed in, turn it over to check that there are no gaps underneath. Use your fingers to gently press the mixture out of the cutter so it remains on the lined tray.  Place tray in fridge to chill until firm




Melt up a bag of white melts/ candy coating. Mix in quite a bit of copha or paramount crystals during the melting process until the mixture is very fluid (but not so much that it is watery). The mixture should be like thick cream.

I melt my chocolate in the microwave on medium low, medium is too hot and high is way too hot. If you heat your chocolate at too high a temperature it will burn and not be salvageable for dipping .Remember medium/low for short bursts of 60 to 90 seconds.

Grab a bunch of lollipop sticks. Holding one end of the stick dip the other end into the melted chocolate/candy coating and insert it into a cloud cake pop shape so the stick is sitting in the bottom side of the cloud and the stick is parallel to the tray. Repeat for remaining clouds.

Place the tray back into the fridge to chill for 10 minutes or until the sticks are secure.

Make sure the chocolate/candy coating is still melted, if needed remelt in the microwave. Holding the end of the stick dip the whole cloud cake pop into the melted chocolate/candy coating. Lift it up and allow as much of the candy/chocolate mixture to fall off as possible. tap gently on the side of the bowl if necessary. Place upright in a stryofoam block to set.

Once set you can lay the cloud pops back down on a tray to work on. Using a toothpick take some of the melted candy coating and stick a bird and heart onto the front of each pop. Allow to set and then using an edible pen draw 2 small lines to look like a beak coming out of the blue bird shape (see pic below)

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


 and if your a bit of a fan of bird pops, check out my book Sweets on a Stick, there are instructions for cute bird cake pops and even cuter birdhouse pops.



here is the link to my book Sweets on a Stick it is a US Release however there is a conversion chart in the back to the book for metric.It's available from bookstores in the US and here online at:


Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!