I've gone Cameo Crazy - April decorated cake

I've gone Cameo crazy.

All of a sudden it seems everywhere I look there are cute cameo things just begging me to take them or make them and I can't resist.

For Christmas I got myself the gorgeous Peggy Porschen's Cake Chic "stylish cookies and cakes for all occasions" with instructions on these amazing cakes (well hers are a little bit more polished than mine). I got myself the cameo moulds required and yesterday made the cakes and covered them with fondant.

......then today I was having a quick shop at Appletree Grove in Springwood and I came across Robert Gordon's cameo spoon set. Serendipitous shopping or what.

It was a no brainer, those spoons were mine. Although I do feel a bit sorry for the set of bluebird spoons I left behind, those poor little birdies looked like they needed a nice warm home.

Anyway back to the cakes, I am trying to make at least one decorated cake a month whether I need to or not to improve my skills.

This is Whimsical Bakehouse chocolate cake recipe baked in a 30cm X 22cm rectangle tin then cut with oval cutters to make the necessary shapes.

The cutter in this pic is round. just pretend its an oval one for this tutorial

Cover the ovals in buttercream, then rolled fondant (can you believe it I made my own from scratch it actually tastes really good) and then decorate with a black oval and the cameo which is made with a mould and gumpaste.


Now I had trouble finding the moulds in Australia so I had them sent from England from the following site http://www.design-a-cake.co.uk/


Finally a bit of royal icing, some Donna Hay cake bling and a black ribbon.

Viola cameo cakes, just the thing for your next afternoon tea.

Now I just need an excuse to get those darn cute bluebird spoons.

Truffle bites - or what to do with all that leftover cake

When you decorate cakes you usually need to trim off the tops and sometimes carve out shapes which means you end up with a bit of extra cake on your hand.

So what do you do with all that extra cake. Just eat it I hear you say, Mmmmm sounds like a good idea.

But hold on a second......

Here is something a little different to try I found thanks to Bakerella. Take the offcuts and leftover frosting, mix it together until it forms a moist ball.


Ok in the pic above I have about 700g of moist chocolate cake and 1 cup of vanilla Italian Buttercream to mix together. However, you do not need this specific amount, different cakes, icings and the fact that you will have varying amounts left over from your decorating will change this recipe each time. But that just adds to its deliciousness. I usually taste test until its a texture that I find pleasing.




Shape into smaller balls or shapes the ones in the pic are around 4cm (1 1/4 inches) across. Pop them on a tray lined with grease proof/ baking paper and chill in the fridge until firm (an hour or so).

When they are firm dip them in melted chocolate and decorate. I used Cadbury dark and white melts which I melted in the microwave.

These ones are leftover vanilla cake and raspberry Italian buttercream. See you can use anything.....if you cake and frosting flavor tastes good together chances are you truffles will too.



In fact they are so delicious you might not even want to wait for leftover cake. You could bake a packed mix cake and use a tub of Betty Crocker frosting.

Wow how easy is that.

Blueberry Pancakes taste so good

Blueberries are out of season. I went to the supermarket and there were none to be found.

But my stomach does not know about seasonal foods, it will not listen or be diverted by rows of fresh plump and reasonably priced produce.

It wants blueberry pancakes. So thank goodness for frozen berries, which are a really good alternative to fresh when baking or cooking.


I love to cook blueberry pancakes. they are so easy and taste soooo good.

Blueberry Pancakes
makes about 10 pancakes depending on the size

Ingredients
2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
80 g (2 and 2/3 oz) butter, melted
300ml milk (1 and 1/4 US cups) milk
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen.

1 Start to heat the frying pan to a medium heat. Melt butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda (baking soda), salt and sugar into a bowl.

3. Using a whisk mix together the milk and eggs and then quickly whisk into the flour mixture. Whisk in the melted butter.

4. Gently fold in blueberries.

5. Melt a little butter in the pan and pour half a cup of batter into the pan and spread out to make a pancake. Cook until bubbles start to appear on surface and the edges start to set.

6. When ready to flip, carefully use a egg flip. Pop any blueberries that escape during the flip quickly back under the pancake before it sets.

7. Pop the finished pancakes on a plate in an oven set on low heat until the remaining batter has been used.

We serve our pancakes with maple syrup and cinnamon sugar.

If you have any little ones around, make sure to remember to cook a few mini pancakes for their special friends as well. Dolly pancakes are so delicious.


Mmmmm, blueberry pancakes they taste so good.