How ADOREable is this high tea shoot

So this story starts with a message from Sharnel Dollar asking me if I would like to help her out on a shoot she was doing for Adore magazine.

Come on you guys know what my answer was even without seeing all the gorgeous pictures on this page. Sharnel Dollar Designs Styling + Naomi V Photography + a host of other amazing providers is always going to = a gorgeous result.

Yup I jumped at the chance.

Now I can only take credit here for making the macarons, scones and melting moments, and the recipes for the scones and melting moments are courtesy of Sharnel Dollar. But I am very proud and excited to have helped out at all.

Oh and any of you readers from the US who might want to try out the scone (biscuit) recipe - lemonade is what we call clear soda...7 up would be a suitable replacement, and it is a super easy recipe. Really, really easy fast scones.

Check out the whole high tea fit for a Queen (starting page 96)  including the recipes by clicking on this link.

In fact check out the whole magazine - it's online and free and has some gorgeous stuff in it.

High Tea fit for a Queen credits

Sharnel Dollar - Styling and making of all treats except the couple made by me
Naomi V - Photography
Green and Bloom Wedding Flowers - flowers
Pen & Paperflowers - Silhouette design
Macaron Recipe 

Coconut and Strawberry Macaroon Hearts for Valentine

A macaroon instead of a macaron for a change.

I have always loved macaroons, even before I knew about those pretty little temperamental french almond things I was a fan of the dense coconut confection that is a macaroon.

I used to love the chocolate dipped ones from The Shingle Inn, a bakery in Brisbane nearby where I used to work.

I have tried a few recipes over the years with less than fabulous results. Anyway I spied a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens basics magazine that I though had promise. So I made the recipe a bit smaller and added some finely chopped strawberries and the result was pretty delicious.

and of course then I shaped them into a heart for Valentines day.


Which is really only an excuse because if you have followed this blog for any length of time you would have noticed that I frequently shape or decorate things into hearts, just because they are so darn cute.

Then I made half of them into the traditional little pyramid shape which is pretty cute as well. They are the perfect bite sized treat and not overly sweet so you can have a quite a few if you are so inclined.

I was - inclined to have a few that is, in fact a few too many so sadly my plan of dipping some of the heart shaped macaroons into pink chocolate did not eventuate.

Oh well next time ;) 

Recipe after jump.

Triple Chocolate Heart Valentine cookies

Triple Chocolate Heart cookies made using my favourite super chocolate cookie recipe filled with dark and white chocolate chips. Perfect valentines for those who are looking for something that's not overly cute but still super delicious.

and I didn't even use a special heart shaped pan........that's right no special equipment here just cookies made with love. 

This trick should work for most chocolate chip cookie recipes that do not spread too much during baking. You just get 2 tear shaped bits of dough, place them together in a V and as they bake, rise and expand voila instant love hearts.


Probably works best if you chill the dough in the fridge quite a bit before shaping them into the tear drops and baking, not like the melty sticky ones in the picture above.

I also picked all the red and pink M &M's out of a mini M&M packet and stuck them on the top before baking for a bit of extra valentine cuteness.

Recipe after jump