Picnic in the park Strawberry and cream cheese frosting cake

This cake is as simple as a picnic in the park.

Strawberries are finally coming down in price here which means the start of a few glorious months of plentiful and flavorsome berries so cheap you can easily top as many cakes as you like with a mound of berries and have enough left to puree up a sauce to drip invitingly over the edge.

This cake was made last year when strawberries were at their peak.

I used recipes from my own cookbook baking up a few batches of strawberry cake and cream cheese frosting (tinted blue). But you could easily use your own favorite recipe or a packet mix.

As you can see the strawberries are the stars of this cake. If you have kids let them help arrange the strawberries on top of the cake, if there happen to be too many and they slide off, don't worry it will just add to the charm of the cake.

The frosting was added with a normal kitchen knife. I  spread frosting onto the cake as evenly as possible and then I held the knife at the bottom of the cake and dragged it upwards to create a vertical line in the frosting, repeating all around the cake.

Thank you to Caketopia for lending me the pretty pink cake stand.

If you love strawberries click over HERE to get the recipe for my simple Strawberries and Cream cheesecakes in a jar. They're easy and berry delicious ;)

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:

Link to Amazon:

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

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

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

Shabby Chic Raspberry Chocolates

 

I've had an idea for a while that I would like a pretty garden tea party with the kids, we used to do it all the time but lately we seem to be too busy.

So this week we are slowing down.

Taking the time to take deep breaths.

Enjoying each other and simple fun things.

and not spending too long writing long blog posts.

Enjoy these pictures and know that although they look fantastic these little sweets take next to no time to make.

I found the little papers at a discount store they were $2 for 150 even plain papers would work, once you fill them and pop a pretty flower on top. Oh or polka dot papers would be cute too.

Oh did you know I'm on Instagram, as though you can't tell from the picture above ;)

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Raspberry Cream Chocolates makes around 18 mini cups

 200 g (7oz) white chocolate
30g (approx 1oz) cream
1/2 tsp raspberry flavour
pink (or colour of choice the pink I used is Sugarflair dusky pink)
Optional - sugar flowers for decorating

  I use this raspberry essence oil

Place mini cupcake liners onto a flat baking tray.

Place white chocolate and cream in an microwave safe bowl, swirl around so the cream coats the chocolate. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Use a fork or whisk to gently mix until combined and free of lumps. Add the raspberry flavour and any food colour. Spoon evenly into mini cupcake papers. Once all the mixture is in the papers lift and give the tray a few raps on the workbench to help even the tops and reduce any air bubbles.

If you are decorating with sugar flowers place them on now before the mixture has time to set.

EDIT - I now have a tutorial on how to make your own sugar blossoms - CLICK HERE for link

Allow to set before serving. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Remove from fridge 20 minutes 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:

Link to Amazon:

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

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

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

Chocolate Raspberry Macaron 'eclairs'

I've been seeing a bit of a trend for long eclair type macarons going around so I thought I might give them a try.

I whipped up a batch of macaron batter piped them into a long oval shape, baked and filled them with ganache.

When I was almost finished and had only a few long macarons to fill I realised I had some raspberries in the fridge. Of course I had to add them.

The raspberry filled version ended up being the most delicious macarons I have had for quite a while, oh my goodness they were so yummy. So seriously yummy that I'm going to call it and say there were superdooperscrummy.

Yup that yummy indeed.

In truth I was not the biggest fan of the long thin macarons that were not filled with the raspberries. To my tastes they had more shell and less of the soft macaron filling as a result of the shape. I am not saying they were not good, we ate every single last crumb, but I guess the traditional round shape is popular for a reason. Others may think differently :)

I was not confident enough to leave the raspberry macarons in the fridge for too long, usually with a regular macaron I would make them and leave for a day or so before eating, Raspberries seem to be highly perishable in these parts so I erred on the side of caution and ate them 6 hours after making them.

Or maybe that was as long as I could wait, my memory is a bit fuzzy about the reasoning behind the timing.

To make the shells I used my regular macaron mixture coloured brown CLICK HERE for recipe.

For an actual chocolate macaron recipe CLICK HERE - however I was using dark chocolate ganache so I did not feel the need for chocolate shells as well. Truthfully I find my recipe for chocolate shells a tad temperamental if I do not source the exact same chocolate each time. I have been experimenting on a new recipe - maybe I will put together a blooper/failure post sometime so you can all have a giggle.

Anyhoo, after you have made up your macaron batter, pipe into long oval shapes around 2cm (3/4") by 7cm (2 3/4") which after baking seemed to fit 3 raspberries nicely. If you like you can draw up templates to pipe to try and ensure your shapes are even, or I just did it by hand. Also I do not use a piping tip, I just cut the end of a disposable piping bag.

Follow the directions on the macaron recipe post for leaving to set for 30 minutes and baking, then allow to cool.

Mix up a batch of ganache using around 400g (14oz) dark chocolate (bittersweet chocolate) with 200g (7oz) cream and heat in microwave for 2 minutes on high. Whisk until silky smooth and then allow to sit at room temperature until set enough to pipe.

To assemble pipe on ganache, press raspberries in place and then pipe a very thin line of ganache onto another macaron and press it onto the raspberry filled macaron using a tiny amount of pressure to push into place, but not so much you will crush the delicate shell.

Refrigerate in an airtight container, allow to come to room temperature before 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:

Link to Amazon:

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

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

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

Raspberry Marshmallow Fudge with sprinkles AKA I heart mum fudge

This fudge is made from the heart...... and made with heart (sprinkles).

Delicious marshmallowy chocolate based fudge flavored with raspberry, dotted with swirly marshmallows and sprinkled with cute sugar hearts, it's as pretty to look at it is yummy to eat.

I came up with this fudge recipe for The Destroyer's kindi groups mother's day gift stall.

Originally I was going to make macarons 'cause y'know everyone loves them, but then I realised 4 year olds would be carrying the gifts home in school bags. There was no way those delicate treats would make it.

Yup it just wasn't going to work out.

So I went with fudge. It's sturdy, it tastes great, it looks good, it lasts well, it packs up nice, most everyone loves it. It ticked all the boxes.

So fudge. It was decided.

But I wanted to make up a special recipe for mothers days because....well duh! Mums are special.

Plus it had to be pretty to entice all those kindi kids.

In fact I did my job a little too well. I sent The Destroyer off with his money and he came home with.......fudge that I made. The teachers had tried to reason with him but he could not be swayed. That pink fudge with heart sprinkles and a pink bow was irresistible :)

 
The raspberry flavour for this fudge comes from a bottle. I know, I know, oh my goodness your thinking 'does this woman ever use anything fresh'. Well in fact I do and most of the meals we eat in this household are based on fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meat and dairy. However by using the oil flavouring the fudge is less perishable and lasts longer, which means you can take your time eating it if you want.

 

Oh and if you like fudge you should also check out my Peppermint Cookie Fudge recipe (CLICK HERE).

Rapberry Marshmallow fudge
makes 20 large pieces or 60ish small pieces - the ones in the picture are large.

200g (7oz) white marshmallows
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk (not low fat)
1/4 tsp salt
250 g (9 oz ) white chocolate chopped into very small pieces
170 g dark chocolate (6 oz semi sweet) chopped into very small pieces
85 g milk chocolate (3 oz) chopped into very small pieces
1/2 tsp raspberry essence*
 few drops pink food colour (I use gel food color)
1 cup marshmallows extra cut into quarters (or mini marshmallows) for top
couple tablespoons heart sprinkles (optional)

*do a taste test as there is a big variance between different brand and types of essences

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

Place the white chocolate into a largish bowl with 1/4 tsp raspberry essence and pink food colour.

Combine the dark (semi sweet) and milk chocolates together in another bowl and add the remaining 1/4tsp raspberry essence.

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 half the marshmallow mixture into the bowl with white chocolate and the other half into the bowl with the combined dark (semi sweet) and milk chocolates. Allow to sit for a minute or 2.

Using electric mixer beat the chocolate fudge mixture for a couple of minutes at low speed. All the chocolate should be melted.

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

Using a spoon or whisk mix the white chocolate mixture until all the chocolate pieces have melted. Spoon carefully onto the darker chocolate mixture and using the back of a spoon level the mixture until smooth.

Press in the extra marshmallows, I sprinkled mine over and then pushed them in to cover with the fudge. Add as much or as little as you like.

Then shake the heart sprinkles over gently so you don't get too many clumping together. I lightly pressed them onto the fudge to ensure they would stick.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight to set.

Cut into squares with a sharp knife to serve. I measure where I want to cut with a ruler first for kinda even pieces. To get a clean edge run the knife under hot water and wipe clean between each slice.

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:

Link to Amazon:

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

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

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