How to make Pretty Shabby Chic Cookies

Mothers day is just about here and I thought I would share how to make these lovely sweet shabby chic inspired cookies.

I designed these cookies a while back for my lovely friend Jo's birthday high tea celebrations.

I truly love them and they are so pretty that you can use them for so many occasions. Plus of course you can change the colours (like I have in the photo's from pink to light blue) to suit any party scheme.

If you don't like fondant (or marshmallow fondant) of course you can always do a royal icing base instead of the embossed fondant and then just pop the frilled oval and flower decoration on top.

Pretty GreenGate tins from Mollegaarden Denmark

Not Too Shabby Cookies
Don't worry too much if you don't have the exact flower cutters, for example you could use a small blossom cutter in place of the small daphne cutter in a pinch.

Free video tutorial link:

Fancy square plaque cookie cutter (see link at end of post for example)
Fancy square plaque cookies (CLICK HERE FOR COOKIE RECIPE)
Patchwork quilting embosser (see link at end of post for example)
Cornflower/ cornstarch
Brush and water
small rolling pin
fondant (pink, blue, white)
Dark pink sugar flowers (Click here for tutorial)
Frilled oval cutter
Daphne plunger cutter (see link at end of post for example)
Flower/leaf shaping tool
Royal icing - White in piping bag with plain round tip (#2)
Royal icing - Bright green (I used Americolor Electric Green) in piping bag with leaf tip (#65)
** Remember that fondant dries out quickly so cover in plastic wrap while not in use and knead before rolling out.

Dust the workbench with cornflower/cornstarch and roll out the pink fondant. Press the fancy square plaque cutter into the fondant to cut out the shape.

Brush the cookie lightly with water and place the fondant on top of the cookie, press gently into place using the rolling pin.

Take the embosser and place it on top of the cookie, ensuring that it is evenly aligned with the top.Press down firmly with even pressure all around the cookie surface, lift the embosser off. If the fondant lifts, press it lightly back down in place.

Roll out the white fondant and use the frilled oval to press out a shape.

Lightly brush water in the middle of the cookie and place the oval in the middle of the cookie.

Use the sharp edge of the leaf shaping tool to pop a hole in each curve around the edge of the oval shape (see picture).

Roll out the blue fondant, cut out three small daphne flower shapes using the plunger. Use the leaf tool on each of the petals to press a 'vein' indent in the middle.

Secure the dark pink flower and the three blue daphne flowers in place with a dot of royal icing.

Pipe a center dot of royal icing in each of the blue daphne flowers. Then pipe a white dot of royal icing at each intersection of the quilting embossed design on the pink fondant (that is the corners where the lines meet).

Pipe a few leaves around the flowers using the green royal icing with the #65 leaf tip by placing the tip on the cookie where you would like the leaf to start at a 45degree angle, apply light pressure to the piping bag and pull the tip away from the surface moving slightly up and down parallel to the cookie. Release the pressure on the bag while continuing to pull the tip away to form a pointed edge.

Allow the decorations to set.

Decorated cookies can be made up to a week ahead stored in an airtight container.



Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Cheesy Bacon Baked Egg recipe

Growing up baked eggs was one of my favorite breakfasts. It seemed so deliciously fancy so you can image my surprise when my mother showed me how to make it and I realised how very simple it is to make.

Fast forward many years and this became my signature dish for family brunch get togethers and once again this little dish tricked everyone into believing it was way complex than it really is.

It is the perfect bring along breakfast dish as you can easily prepare the cheese and bacon ahead of time, pop a carton of eggs, cream, ramkins and the prepared bacon/cheese mixture into a bag then quickly assemble and bake on site.

This dish is also fabulous to find any hotspots in your oven with the eggs clearly showing any areas that are cooking faster than the others. If this happens you may need to turn the tray around half way through cooking.

Maxwell Williams White Ramkin

I normally serve my baked eggs in plain white ramkins which hold around 150ml (4oz) approx 2/3cup like the ones pictures above.

Baked Eggs serves 4
Recipe can be halved, doubled or quadrupled. The cooking time may change depending on type of ramkin used. Ramkins should hold approx 2/3 cup.

4 eggs
8 rashers short cut bacon (or 6 regular bacon rashers)
3/4 cup grated cheese
4 teaspoons cream
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 180C (350 F ).


Spray a light coat of olive oil into 4 ramkins.

Chop the bacon into 1cm (1/3") squares. If using regular bacon make sure you remove the skin.

Combine shopped bacon with grated cheese in a large bowl and mix together.

Divide bacon cheese mixture evenly between the 4 ramkins.  Make a little well in the center for the egg yolk to sit in.

Break an egg into each ramkin and then drizzle 1 tsp of cream around the edge of yolk, repeating for each ramkin.

Place on a baking tray and place in oven between 15 - 25 (approx) minutes depending on how you like your eggs done. You will be able to see the egg whites and yolks change colour and become more opaque as they cook.

Remove from oven and serve. The ramkins will be very hot. If serving to children I recommend that you scoop the baked egg out of the ramkin and pop onto a plate prior to serving.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

How to make pretty chocolate Easter eggs

(How to decorate pretty Easter eggs tutorial down below)

Easter is almost here so I thought it would be fun to decorate some homemade Easter eggs.

These eggs are for non-chocolatier people like me. No fancy tempering the chocolate and the edges are a bit messy.

But what they lack in perfection they make up in charm and the kids sure didn't notice any problems with them.

I made a few in dusty pink and soft mint green, decorated them with some sugar flowers and then bribed the kids with the eggs so I could get a couple of nice pictures.

Oh how sweet is that old basket they are holding, I've had it for years and years. I may have even got it from the Easter Bunny when I was a little girl :)

The Destroyer even joined in, see that is I can believe I have to hold these eggs when I really want to be eating them face.

Easter egg moulds can be found for a very reasonable price in discount and dollar stores around Easter.

How to make pretty Easter eggs
These eggs are quite delicate and not really suitable for very warm weather, if you do a double layer of chocolate they will be a bit more stable. Can be made 1 week ahead of time and stored in a cool place.

Here is a quick free video tutorial showing how I made them, for written step by step instructions, plus links to the fondant flower see below:


Ingredients and Equipment

White chocolate melts  (US - these are actually white chocolate not candy melts)
Oil based food color (or gel food color and Flo-Coat)*
#optional - Oil based raspberry essence
Egg Mould
Sugar Flowers (see below for links to tutorials)
Royal Icing

How to make Blue fondant Flowers Tutorial CLICK HERE for link
How to make Easy Sugar Blossoms CLICK HERE for link

Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt at medium low heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. Make sure the heat is low otherwise the chocolate may seize and become unusable. Remove from microwave and stir for 30 seconds. If required return to microwave and heat at medium low heat for another 1 minute, then remove and stir until smooth. Continue until all the chocolate is melted.

To color the chocolate add a drop or 2 of oil based food color. You can not use regular water based food color* or the chocolate will sieze and become unusable.

*To make gel food color suitable to use with chocolate, add 1 drop food color to 11 drops flo-coat, mix until well combined and then add to the melted chocolate.

Optional - If you would like to flavor the chocolate add a few drops of the raspberry oil essence.

Spoon melted chocolate into the egg mould, using the back of your spoon to ensure the chocolate comes up to the edge and then tap sharply on the workbench quite a few time to bring any air bubbles out. Most of the chocolate will have pooled in the center of the mould, so use the back of your spoon to push it back up to the edges making the chocolate coverage as even as possible. Run a knife around the top to ensure that the edge of the egg is even.

Pop the mold into the freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate is completely set.

Remove the mould from the fridge, gently pull the mould away from the chocolate at the edges and then turn the mould over. The chocolate should release easily. If it happens to crack don't worry just remelt the chocolate and start again.

Using royal icing attach flowers or decorations as desired. I added 3 large blue fondant flowers and 3 smaller sugar blossoms to these pink eggs.

Gently join the eggs together using extra melted chocolate, the edges may look a little uneven, you can carefully press extra chocolate into the gaps rubbing over the top to smooth the chocolate, or add ribbon to hide the seam.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Easy to make Blue Fondant Flowers

{Related link: Make your own pretty Easter eggs as pictured}

It's no secret I like to decorating with sweet blossoms and flowers and especially these easy to make embossed blossoms.

I love to make them in this teal blue color, they add such a lovely pop of color, and the best thing is you can make them weeks ahead of time and have them ready to put in place making decorating a cinch.

The step by step photo instructions are below plus I've even made a super fast YouTube tutorial up so you can watch me.

 

DIY Fondant Flowers

Equipment and Ingredients

 
White Fondant
Teal Fondant
cornflour (cornstarch)
Small plastic rolling pin
5 petal blossom cutter
Flower veiner or embosser (see link below)
Clean bush and water or edible glue
flower formers (I use a small artists palette)


Dust a workbench with a little cornflour (cornstarch) and knead the fondant until pliable.

Redust the workbench if necessary and roll out the teal fondant until around 1mm (16") or so in thickness. You may like to lift the fondant and turn a little to ensure it is not sticking.

Using the blossom cutter, press into the thinly rolled fondant to cut out the blossom shapes.

Place the cut out shapes onto the top of one side of the flower embosser/veiner. Place the other side of the embosser on the top and gently press down around the edges. Note if you press too hard you will press through the fondant.

Carefully remove the embossed blossom from the press.

Dust the flower formers (paint palette) with a tiny amount of cornflour (cornstarch) and place the shaped fondant blossoms into them to set/dry.

Roll 3 small balls from the white fondant for each flower and adhere 3 small balls of fondant in the center of each flower with a very small amount of water.

Once dry the flowers can be used immediately or stored for a number of weeks until required. I store mine in airtight containers. Some people like to pop little packets of food safe silica gel in the containers.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

10 fun DIY homemade Easter treats

I've rounded up 10 of my favourite Easter inspired treats from the Bubble and Sweet blog. From a show stopping ruffle cake and delectable macaron treats, to easy make fudge and muffins there is sure to be something fun and delicious to tempt everyone.

To find the recipes in the original blog posts click onto the links under the photo's.

(Clockwise from top left)
Spring Inspired Easter Cake with recipe for Lemon and Poppy Seed cake included (CLICK HERE)
Blue speckled Robin egg cake truffles (CLICK HERE)
Creme Egg macaron recipe (CLICK HERE)
Easter egg macaron inspiration includes link to macaron recipe (CLICK HERE)
Pastel Rainbow Ruffle Cake (Ruffle decorating Instructions CLICK HERE)
Bunny food fudge (RECIPE CLICK HERE)

(Clockwise from top left)
Hot cross bun cake pops (Instructions CLICK HERE)
Easter inspired nest cupcake toppers (Instructions CLICK HERE)
Coconut Easter Eggs (Recipe CLICK HERE)
Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Bun Muffin (RECIPE CLICK HERE)

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Bubble and Sweet in my home - Pink scales

Pretty pink scales from Mollegaarden

I've decided to start posting about some of the items I love in my home and kitchen on a regular basis, but don't worry I am keeping up my regular recipe posts.

I get quite a few emails and messages asking me where I get stuff, almost as many as the comments and questions about decorating cakes and cookies.

So I'm starting off with this swoonworthy pink set of scales I picked up earlier in the year from one of my current favourite shops Mollegaarden.

They are made by a company called Bloomingville and also come in aqua, white, silver plus stacks of other colors. Yup I totally wish I could have an aqua and white one as well.

The basket pops off for easy cleaning and pouring your stuff into wherever it needs to go. When it arrives in it's box you need to screw the holder on the top before you start using it. It has an adjuster to set the weight under the weighing basket an it goes up to 5kg.

So a little problem if your from the US yup it's in metric, well that's not a problem if your making recipes from this blog 'cause I use metric and imperial. But to try and help you out I did find these ones on Amazon in the US just no pink ones:



Anyhoo I think you could totally get over the whole metric thing just for the looks, seriously set it up next to your KitchenAid and everyone will think your a baking pro.

Sigh, I kinda wish I had a pink KitchenAid to go with it but my KitchenAid is actually so old (and still working) that they only came in 3 colours when I bought it.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies - RECIPE CLICK HERE

Yup you can see what I'm talking about in the photo's above, just sitting in the background looking all pretty and functional.

Happy baking, make sure to let me know if you've seen anything in my posts you would like to know about.

* Note the little scoop did not come with the scales.

This post was not sponsored.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Bunny food fudge

Oh my goodness I love bunnies. LOVE THEM, they are sooo cute! But sadly they are banned as a pet in my state, I guess 'cause word has it they breed like rabbits.

So no bunnies for me :(

But I'm not one to dwell on stuff I can't have so I've moved on and I created a recipe for bunny food fudge instead.

The fudge is a white chocolate and marshmallow base which I have flavored with a little raspberry.

And then colored yellow - I know, bit weird......I guess you can color the fudge a light pink instead of yellow or leave the raspberry out ( it will still taste good without the raspberry flavor). But it worked for me like this, I like raspberry and the yellow looked so pretty with my bunny ♥.

I've used the crispy M&M Easter eggs from Australia for my fudge as that is what I had sitting around. In the US you can use the Speck-Tacular egg range for a similar result, or actually pretty much any Easter eggs you have on hand.

Of course as an extra bonus this fudge will be perfect after Easter to use up any left over eggs you may have laying around.

Bunny Food Fudge
Makes 20 large pieces or 60ish small pieces - the ones in the picture are large. Once cut M&M eggs can start to lose their 'crispness'. I store mine in an airtight container and cut pieces off as required.
 
200g (7oz) white marshmallows 
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk (not low fat)
1/4 tsp salt
500 g (18 oz ) white chocolate chopped into very small pieces
1/2 tsp raspberry essence*
 few drops yellow food colour (I use gel food colour) 
packet Easter eggs (I used M & M speckled eggs with crispy centre)
1 cup marshmallows extra cut into quarters (or mini marshmallows) for top

*do a taste test as there is a big variance between different brand and types of essences I used raspberry oil concentrate and only added 1/4tsp.

Line a 20cm X 20cm (8" X 8") square tin with foil.

Place the white chocolate into a largish bowl and melt in microwave at 50% heat for 3 minutes. Allow to rest a couple of minutes and then stir until smooth.

Pop 200 grams (7oz) marshmallows, sugar, evaporated milk and salt into a saucepan on medium low heat, stir until the marshmallows melt. Stir the mixture over the heat for another 5 to 7 minutes, do not allow it to boil.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the bowl with white chocolate, add raspberry essence and yellow food colour and mix well until combined and the mixture starts to thicken.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin using the back of the spoon to level the mixture until it looks pretty smooth.

Press in the extra marshmallows and the Easter eggs. Add as much or as little as you like and then lightly press them onto the fudge to ensure they stick.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight to set.

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Spring inspired Easter cake and Lemon and Poppyseed cake recipe

OK I know I normally go overboard with ruffles, and ribbons and well pretty much everything. But this time I decided to go simple.

Y'know and let the delicious lemon and poppy seed cake speak for itself.

I've popped the recipe for this cake below so you can try it out yourself. To decorate, just layer the cakes up pop on a crumb coat, make sure the top is even/flat and using a stiff butter cream apply the yellow butter cream around the edge with an offset spatula (or butter knife) using long even upwards strokes.

OK it's a little bit trickier than I made it sound but you get the picture.

I have a skewer in the center, and I chilled the cake in between adding each layer. Oh plus I cut off the brown edges of the cake so it looks nice in the picture (y'all don't have to do that).

Then 'cause it's Easter soon I added some little speckled chocolate eggs.

I'm hoping to pop up a youtube video soon making up a layer cake, I've just been an insy bit sick lately.

Oh and if simple is just not your thing then below is my Easter cake from a couple of years back

CLICK HERE for DIY instructions on how to make a Rainbow ruffle layer cake

Lemon and poppyseed cake 
Cake in pictures baked in 6" tins. To make a cake as tall as the picture you will need 1 plus another 1/2 batch of this recipe which will make a total of 6 layers.  The cake can also be baked in one 8" tin for 1hr.

Cake in picture is filled with alternate layers of butter cream and  homemade lemon curd/ butter.
 
300g flour (10 5/8oz)
1 Tbsp (1 US Tbsp + 1 tsp) Baking powder
100 g (3 1/2 oz) almond meal (ground almond)
40 g (1 3/8oz) poppy seeds
170g (6oz) unsalted butter room temp
230g (8oz) caster sugar (or regular granulated white sugar)
Grated rind from 2 lemons
4 large eggs
170g (6oz) low fat yogurt (I used Chobani plain)
1/2 cup low fat milk

Line pans and preheat oven to 180 C (170 C fan forced) (350 F).

In large bowl sift together flour, baking powder and almond then mix in poppy seeds pop aside.

In a separate bowl combine milk and yogurt and set aside.


Using electric mixer cream  butter and sugar together at high speed until light and fluffy (a couple of minutes).

Reduce speed to medium low and mix in eggs one at a time, scraping down sides as required.  Add the lemon rind.


Reduce speed to low and add 1/3 of the flour mixture mixing until just combined. Scrap down sides and add half of the milk mixture once again mixing at low speed until just combined. Repeat process adding flour, milk and then finishing with the flour mixture.

Divide mixture evenly between 2 tins, place in the middle rack of preheated oven and bake for approx 50 mins or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into cake comes out dry.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.