Adorable Cakes for All Occasions by Sharon Wee review and Win a signed copy

When I heard that Sharon Wee of Sharon Wee Creations was releasing a book on cake decorating I had a feeling I would like it and of course once it arrived I was not disappointed.

In case your not in the cake world, I'll just give you a heads up, Sharon is well known for her beautiful and often whimsically adorable cake designs, cake decorating demonstrations and courses.

Adorable Cakes for All Occasions delivers all that you would expect with a lovely variety of cakes ranging from simple to a little bit more complex, with detailed instructions which make creating your own cake totally achievable.

In particular, I loved the sweet Zebra cake with cute floral wreath and monogram, but there are a number of cakes that are pure Sharon Wee with a delightful Super Miss Sunshine cake with a city skyline, sun a balancing superhero and the Fly Away Bunny Cake with a sweet stripe cake and bunny holding a balloon.

You'll love learning the little tricks of the trade that Sharon shares as she shows how to make these cakes.

Adorable Cakes for All Occasions contains a fantastic basics section on covering cakes, cake structure, a number of recipes and of course the actual cake designs with easy to follow picture instructions (see example below).

Plus there are a number of smaller cake and treat recipe and instructions included as well

One of the things I really liked about the book, well apart from that super cute Zebra cake, was how many of the creations did not require the purchase of special equipment. Sharon shows how to decorate many of the cakes using basic cake decorating tools which will probably have many of us (and our credit cards) sighing in relief.

The book can be purchased on line from Sharon Wee Creations in hard copy or PDF form CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 20 June 2014  - Giveaway closed winner JESS has been emailed

Plus one lucky Bubble and Sweet reader has the chance to win a signed copy or Adorable Cakes for All Occasions - Yay.

Entry via rafflecopter, no purchase necessary.Giveaway open internationally for 1 signed copy of Adorable Cakes for All Occasions by Sharon Wee creations. Terms and conditions are detailed in the rafflecopter.

UPDATE 20 June 2014  - Giveaway closed winner JESS has been emailed

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

I received a copy of the book Adorable Cakes for All Occasions for the purpose of this review, however the post is not sponored. Pictures property of Sharon Wee Creations please do not reuse without permission. 

One bowl easy mix Raspberry Cinnmon Banana muffins

I do a lot of baking for the kids school treats. No big reveal there I guess. It's generally healthier, I know what it contains and our school is a nut free zone so I am always sure that those muffins or cookies I make myself are ok.

These muffins are one bowl easy mix which I love 'cause less washing and cleaning is always a big tick for me. Plus I know the kids will eat them and the won't come home crushed and all smushed which is an extra big tick in my books.

I can whip up these muffins in a few minutes pop them in the oven and have them ready for a school snack, after school treat or ready to go picnic pack in no time.

Which is pretty much what we did with this batch in the photo's. A tray of muffins, a bottle of pink lemonade a throw and some cushions and we had a picture perfect picnic in under 30 minutes including baking time at our local park.

Quilt and cushions all Greengate purchased at Mollegaarden

This muffin recipe is based on the Bitty Banana Cakes on page 60 of Sweets on a Stick.

Raspberry Cinnamon Banana Muffins makes 12 regular muffins
Replace the raspberries with blueberries or chocolate chips for a delicious variation.

3 very ripe bananas
1 egg
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
1 cup raspberry (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 160C (325F) and line a 12 hole muffin tin with baking papers.

In a large bowl mash the bananas well.

Add all remaining ingredients except the raspberries and mix until just combined.

Gently fold in the raspberries and spoon mixture evenly between the 12 paper cases.

Bake until the top is golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean (around 20 minutes).

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. 

Pretty pink raspberry macarons

This weekend we had raspberry white chocolate macarons. I know it's a bit of a rehash, I make them all the time, although I haven't included any pictures in the blog for the longest while.

But they are so good and creamy and melt in the melt with a crisp little shell. Well you get the picture.

I guess there is a reason why I make them all the time........

I made up chocolate ones as well, but the pink ones always seem to have my heart. I've popped the recipe below, which is as I said already a revisit of my previous recipe. The filling is right at the bottom, and remember to fill them the day before you need to serve.

Macaron Shells makes around 30 filled macarons
Fill the shells with the filling (included after recipe for shells) at least 1 day before you serve to get the correct consistency. Store in an airtight container in fridge and then bring to room temperature about 30 minutes prior to serving.

190 gram (6 5/8 oz)almond meal (almond flour)
190 gram pure icing sugar (6 5/8 oz powdered sugar)
190 gram granulated sugar (6 5/8 oz)
48 grams water (1 5/8 oz)
140 gram egg whites aged split into 2 lots of 70grams each (5 oz split into 2 lots of 2 1/2oz each)*
food color of choice (I use gel type food color like Wilton)

*ageing egg whites refers to separating the yolks from whites and then leaving the whites to age for a few days. This can be done on the counter if your countries climate permits or in the fridge, wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and then pop a few holes in the top. Alternately you can pop fresh egg whites in the microwave on high for 10 seconds or so - I used the microwave method in this batch pictured.

1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add colour and 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

2. Place remaining 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

Yup - I really use this super old fashioned thermometer I have had for about 20 years to make my macarons

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118C (245 F). Brush down the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water as required to avoid the sugar crystallizing. Once the mixture reaches 115C (240 F) start mixing the egg whites on high. Make sure you have a pouring shield on your mixer, when the sugar syrup reaches 118C (245 F)remove from heat and immediately pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on high.

4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C (120 F).


5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms a ribbon that disappears back into the mixture after about 20 seconds.

6. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (or just cut the end of a disposable piping bag, that's what I do) and pipe in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one.

Waiting to form skins after piping

If your mixture has peaks after you have piped a couple of rows that do now sink back down you macaron mixture needs more mixing. Pop it back in the bowl and mix it a bit more

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin so that the macaron mixture does not stick to your finger when gently touched. If the weather is humid this step may take longer up to 2 hours. I pop on the aircon if it's humid at my house.

Baking in the oven. The macarons will rise after a few minutes in the oven and develop a frilly foot

Eeek- can you see some of those less than perfect under mixed mac's in the back  that I pointed out 

in the previous picture - they do not have a flat shiny top. That's so not mac-cool

8. Meanwhile preheat oven to 140C (285 F). Once ready bake the macaroons for around 13 to 15 minutes depending on size, it may take longer, all ovens are different. If they are baked and you gently push on the side the tops will not move, if the tops do move do bake for another minute or 2. Also they should not be browned if they are reduce the heat for the next batch or bake for less time.

9. Once baked remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

10. Once cooled match disks into like sizes and sandwich together using the ganache.

Raspberry White Chocolate Filling


To make ganache melt white chocolate with cream in the microwave and mix gently until combined, use a ration of 3:1, so for example 360 grams white chocolate to 120 grams cream, sorry guys I measure as I already have the scales out and I can't be bothered messing up a liquid measuring jug :) Add some pink gel color and raspberry flavor to taste.

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.