Oh Sweet Mum - A rustic pie buffet party table

I love my mum.

Without a doubt she has been the hugest female influence in my life. She taught me to cook, to love and to be the best I can be, she made me who I am and if my own children end up loving and respecting me as much as I do my own mother...then I'll be pretty happy and call my time here a success.

So when Jacki from Blissfully Sweet asked if I would like to be involved in an E-vent being organised in memory of her own mother I was honored to participate.

When I signed on I had no idea how gorgeous the Oh-Sweet Mum E-vent would be. Jacki co-ordinated a group of super talented stylists, artists, florists, florists, cake decorators and more from within Australia and around the world to come up with a day of amazing events.

I would highly recommend that you CLICK HERE to read the E-Magazine that was created to showcase the E-vent. It includes so many beautiful images, information about the contributors, recipes and diy ideas including my recipe for Caramel Slice.

Want caramel slice to rival these babies

....click over to the E-zine it includes my recipe

Anyway......my mission (if I chose to accept it) was to create a Pie, Tart and Slice E-vent and I decided the best way would be a dessert buffet.

That little Mission Impossible pun is due to the fact that Pies are not really my thing.

But I think I met the challenge and came up with a rustic inspired pie and slice table with my own Bubble and Sweet spin. Although there are a couple of traditional pies on display I have included 'Pie' Macarons, Whoopie Pies, Pie Pops and pretty little Chiffon Pumpkin verrines with mini macarons and pecan pie crust bites.

I'm pretty happy with the end result which I'm going to admit is only this good due to the contributions of Naomi V Photography and Ah-Tissue.

With the original concept of the Oh Sweet Mum E-vent in mind and in the interests of women's health, I am going to donate a dollar for every comment on this pie table post up to $100 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  (I know that there are many other important aspects of women's health and other great organisations I have just chosen this one this time).

Also as a mother to 3 young children myself I know that sometimes my own health takes a back seat to everything else going on. But regardless of what is happening I do make sure I always keep any of my regular doctor's check up appointments and I try to remember to keep up my own self-examination routine. Please if you take anything from this post today I hope that it how important you are to your friends and family and that you should look after your health.... and the same applies to all you men out there as well :)

OK now that I've got off my soap-box, back to the yummy treats:



Rustic Pie and Party Table menu included:

Sky High Apple Pie
Rustic Cherry Pie

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with mini chocolate macarons and pecan piecrust bites

Pie Pops (recipes from Sweets on a Stick)
Peanut Butter Boston Cream Pie

Rustic Chocolate Pecan Pie

 Chocolate Cream Mousse Pie with mini chocolate macarons and Hazelnut Tart Shell

Whoopie Pies

Assorted Slices (Rocky Road (recipe from Sweets on a Stick), Mum's Sweet Caramel Slice and Cheesecake Slice)

 Chocolate chunk fudge brownie Slab; and

 Apple Pie macarons

The table theme was inspired by the chocolates and caramels in the treats with some gold and teal highlights.

Ah-Tissue created an amazing display of paper and hessian wall pom poms which I can only describe as wall art.

The gorgeous photography is by Naomi V Photography. and the photo's are taken at her studio

(This was my favorite photo of the day - apart from the girls of course - 

I think because they were my favorite treat - super yum)

Printables are by Style Me Gorgeous.

The dresses and hair pieces that Bubble and Sweet are wearing are Tea Princess purchased from Tea Princess and Vintage Ladybird.

Recipes for the Pie Pops, Boston Cream Pies and the Rocky Road are from Sweets on a Stick

Sweets on a Stick 0ver 150 Kid Friendly Recipes available from Amazon and Fishpond 

(and lots of other places too)

Kinda Famous S'more Whoopie Pies

 I love whoopie pies. They are the perfect combination of cookie and cake with a big ole' dollop of sweet filling in between.

Every now and then I still see a post professing that they are the new cupcake, or macarons, which you know considering how long they have been around is kinda funny. In fact I know I did one myself a while back.

Just had to pop in a pic with these cute tags I picked up from Luminoso blu

It doesn't really matter to me if they're popular or not, just that they're yummy. I find them comforting. Pretty much they are one of the few things that I can not stop eating until I can't possibly fit in another one in. It is not unusual for me to eat 3 or 4 a day when I have baked a batch.

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting around thinking I didn't have much on so I grabbed out my copy of my trustee Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell  and thought I'd whip up a batch of their S'more whoopies.......



No such luck, I didn't have any graham flour, not a bit to be found or the ingredients to make it up myself so I decided to modify their recipe to see how it worked out.

It worked out pretty well, they were pretty yummy, I would recommend eating them within a couple of days for the best results as they became a little denser with age, unlike the chocolate chip whoopies I usually make.

Oh and I feel like these whoopies are famous now. They were included in a cookie bar at a super amazing Western Party by Sharnel Dollar designs and featured on Amy Atlas.

S'moreWhoopie Pies adapted from Whoopie pies by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups wheat germ
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
115g (1/2 stick or 4oz) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar lightly packed
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp bicarb (baking soda)
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 190C (375F ) and line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and whisk in the wheat germ.

At high speed beat the sugar and brown sugar until light and creamy. Reduce speed to med low and add the eggs one at a time beating until combined and then the buttermilk and vanilla, mix well.

Combine the milk, baking soda and vinegar in a bowl.

Add half the flour mixture to the butter/egg mix and mix on low until combined. Mix in the milk mixture and then the remaining flour mix and continue to mix until well combined.

Using a spoon drop Tablespoons of batter onto the lined baking trays leaving lots of room for the mixture to spread (around 7cm or 2 inches) and bake for 10 minutes or until the cakes begin to brown.

Cool on trays for 5 minutes and gently remove to wire rack to cool.

Sandwich these cakes together with marshmallow creme filling and chocolate ganache. I made a dam of chocolate ganache around the edge of the bottom pie and then filled it with marshmallow creme. When joined together the marshmallow oozed nicely over the top of the ganache. I would probably add another dollop of ganache into the middle of the pie in future for added chocolate yumminess.

Click here for the marshmallow creme recipe

Chocolate ganache, in a microwave on med low setting melt together 225 grams chocolate with 1/2 cup cream for 90 second bursts, stirring between each interval until melted. Leave on a bench to cool and set until firm enough to pipe or spread.

Peanut Butter choc chip Whoopie pies

You can probably tell by the pictures that these Whoopie Pies were a valentine treat made with lots of sweet love.

Yup in the lead up to Feb 14th I really think I can put a heart onto anything. But don't worry hearts or not these whoopie pies are actually a perfect anytime treat.

Originally I made the heart toppers and popped them into some mini cupcakes, but alas my valentine does not care for overly sweet cupcakes.

Then someone asked me to make up a batch of whoopie pies for their special valentine and I realised I had my solution (thank you Anna).

I find that the classic marshmallow filling below makes enough to join 2 batches of whoopies cakes, so I made up one plain chocolate chip for my friend and then modified the peanut butter whoopie recipe from "Whoopie Pies" by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell to incorporate chocolate chips.

You can pick it up for a good price with free delivery at The Book Depository

Recipe after jump

I'm making Whoopie - Pies that is

Whoopie Pies - are these the next big thing? They have been around for a while, but they seem to be gaining some popularity at the moment.

Pink vanilla raspberry, omit choc chips add colour and pop raspberry extract in the frosting.

They look a bit like a big macaron and have a lot of frosting like a cupcake - intrigued yet?

Pretty much a whoopie pie is in between a cake batter and cookie dough baked on a cookie tray, and then sandwiched together with a good dollop of frosting/filling.

Have I sold you yet? Well they are easy to make, delicious and you can make them in so many different combinations your sure to find one you love.

Whoopie pies cookbook by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell 

I have a whole cookbook just dedicated to these delightful treats.

To start off showing you the delights of Whoopie Pie I have made a chocolate chip version, with a traditional frosting center using crisco and marshmallow fluff. Now if you live in Australia you may have trouble finding these ingredients so check out the notes at the bottom.

Now this here is an example of not following the recipe exactly again. I made my whoopies a little too big, probably about double the size and I think mine are just a tad too browned. But still super delicious.

Also the recipe said it would make 48, and I only ended up with 19 doubles (38 singles) and that's even before I ate a few warm unfilled ones
.

Whoopie Pie and milk - Mmmmm

Oh well will just have to make the sacrifice and try again in a couple of days.

Ok on to the recipe, these are adapted from Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell

Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

2 1/4 cups plain (all purpose) flour                                   
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
56g (2 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
56g (2 oz) vegetable shortening (if not available use butter * see below on where to find crisco in Australia)
1/2 cup granulate sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbsp milk (US - 2 Tbsp)
1 tsp bicarb soda (baking soda)
1 tsp white vinegar
1 cup choc chips, mini if available

Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a mixer bowl beat butter, shortening and both sugars until light and creamy. Approx 3 mins.

Beat together sugars, shortening and butter until fluffy

Add eggs and buttermilk and beat until combined. (I think my milk was not warm enough and mine did not completely combine so I moved onto the next step after a bit of mixing without detriment to the finished product)

Combine milk, baking soda and vinegar and mix. Add to the batter along with the flour mixture and beat on low until combined. Add the vanilla and beat on medium for approx 2 mins until completely combined.

Stir in choc chips with a spatula or wooden spoon until just incorporated.

Fold in the chop chips

Using a spoon drop about  3 tsp (US 1 tbsp) of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets, continue leaving about 2 inch of space.

Bake 1 sheet at a time for appox 10 mins until the cakes just begin to brown. Let cool for at least 5 mins before transferring to wire rack to cool.

'Classic" marshmallow filling
(I only made half of the recipe listed below and had just enough to fill my whoopies)

1 1/2 cups Marshmallow Fluff (see pic below)
1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening (like crisco see pic below)
1 cup icing (confectioner's) sugar
3 tsp (US - 1 tbsp) vanilla extract

In a stand mixer beat together marshmallow fluff and shortening at medium speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.

Reduce to low speed and mix in sugar and vanilla, beat until well mixed, scrape down as required. Increase speed to medium high and mix until fluffy approx 3 mins.

To assemble pip or spread filling onto one whoopie cake and top with another cake.

Store in a single layer in a air tight container for up to 3 days. If you pile them on top of each other they will stick together.

* Where to find Crisco, Marshmallow Fluff and other US ingredients in Australia

Sometimes I have been lucky enough to find marshmallow fluff at coles in the same section as peanut butter, nutella and vegemite. But if your not so lucky here is a link to USA Foods where I get stuff from, they call it marshmallow creme there. If you live in Australia and crave US foods this is your link to an oasis of baking goods, cereals, sodas and chocolate bars.

In Brisbane Australia, Chocolate Boulevard in the Myer Center also has a wide range of US foods.

If your still having trouble finding crisco/shortening my local kitchenware store sells shortening in their cake decorating section, so you might try someplace like that. It is not crisco but it's a similar product.

As an alternative to the traditional filling, the lovely  Lorraine at Not Quite Nigella did a post on Whoopie's a couple of months ago and had a link to this easy version of filling at Taste.com.au

Or stay tuned to the blog I will be trying out a few different versions of whoopie pies and fillings over the next few weeks