Two Tone MacCakes - Or what to do with yummy leftovers

MacCakes - no this isn't something you get at the golden arches. It's what I'm calling my cupcakes topped with macarons that were a result of some yummy leftovers this week.

Oh and check out the two tone topping.

Totally swirlalicious.

I've had it in my head to make some macCakes for a while and then I spied something very similar to these on one of Butter Hearts Sugar post. The pink two tone twirl on that site was so sweet.

So I was a bit inspired when I ended up with the following leftovers last week:
Chocolate butter cake cupcakes,
Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream,
Chocolate Buttercream
Strawberry and white chocolate macarons and
Vanilla Bean white chocolate macarons

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My two tone macCakes were just meant to be.

and you know when your serving leftovers you have to jazz it up a bit so I added some gorgeous cupcake wrappers from The Cupcake Wrapper Co to pull the look together.

and just because I had some green cupcake wrappers as well I did these ones with the flowers as well.

Oh these made me so happy, I loved the chocolate buttercream with the macarons. I had even more macarons left and ended up piping a little star of the two tone buttercream on the top of all of them. No pictures of these as I ate them way too fast.


There are a couple of ways to do a two tone frosting, you can just pop the 2 different frostings into the one piping bag and hope for the best, or you can do what I did and pop each frosting into a separate bag, then pop those 2 bags into another bag with a tip. Usually ends up more even and with less smudging.

Ooops filled those bags a little too much, remember to under fill them a little as they will be getting squished in with another bag.

I piped onto the counter until I had the swirl coming through evenly and then it was easy peasy.

Yummmm!!!!!

Once upon a time....... Strawberry white chocolate pot recipe and Forest tea party

Once upon a time there were 4 gorgeous little girls, they were the prettiest and best dressed girls in the land and one day they happened upon a magical tea party in the forest.

There were cupcakes, strawberry mousse cups, rose and violet macarons, pink cake pops, sweets, lollipop cookies and finger sandwiches and a magical far away tree....

This isn't a fairy tale it's real life (well ok maybe the bit about the magical far away tree's not real) but it wasn't an accident these girls happened upon this tea party.

Strawberry Chocolate Pot recipe at bottom after jump

Elizabeth from LaToriana had a wonderful idea for a photo shoot set in the forest and was kind enough to invite my daughters and I along.

Daneve from Ah Tissue helped set the scene with hanging pom poms and Naomi V Photography took the amazing photo's.

and of course I made the food and styled the little tea table.

It was such fun, and so lovely to meet Elizabeth Murphy of LaToriana in person as I have been a fan and customer of her store for a number of years.

You can see from the photo's just how divine the clothes are I fell in love with the new Little Miss J range, LaToriana sources some of the best brands from Australian and New Zealand. See more pics at her Forest Tea Party La Toriana style blog post.

Breakfast at Tiffany's - Mac Tweets August Challenge

Macarons are just the perfect snack for a breakfast at Tiffany's..... light, easy to eat and you can stuff a bunch of them in one of those little blue bags.

Another bonus no flaking crumbs, or dusty icing sugar to spoil your little black Givenchy dress.

My macarons are supposed to look like a peal necklace falling out of the bags, and I'm not sure I quite captured that effect.

Oh well you get the picture.

They are plain white almond french macarons dusted with pearl luster dust filled with a vanilla bean and white chocolate ganache. Recipe is based on the Pierre Herme one I usually use, click here for the rose version.

Once again this is for the August Mac Tweets challenge which was movie themed.

http://mactweets.blogspot.com/

Check out Mac Tweets later in the month for many more talented and creative macaron's.

Musk Stick Macarons - The Three Musketeers post for Mac Tweets

All for one and one for all 

Musk Stick Macarons X 3 = Barbie and the Three Musketeers

I've decided to join a new online baking group. Mac Tweets is an online group of macaron loving peers who set a challenge for each month. It's not a strict make this exact recipe kind of challenge but a theme and this month the challenge was movies.

Wow I had lots of ideas, but I went with this one for a couple of reasons, namely that Barbie and the three muskateers must have been played in this house 50 times in the last month and also I really loved the idea of this edible stick.


Not sure about elsewhere but here in Australia those Wilton cookie sticks cost me $11 for a bag of 20, and then I feel really bad about the wastage when I throw them away after one use.

See my new macaron pop invention is not just yummy but it's also environmentally friendly and economical. Totally a win win situation.

Forest Tea Party with La Toriana, Naomi V Photography and Ah Tissue

A couple of days ago Bubble and Sweet was lucky enough to be involved in a gorgeous photo shoot involving La Toriana, Naomi V Photography and Ah-Tissue pom poms.

Here is a sneak peak of the tea party table we set up. For more photo's head on over to La Toriana's blog post

or Naomi V Photography.

Will have more pics and details of the food soon........

Now I know this is a baking blog, but I have to mention the children's clothing, I have been a customer of La Toriana for years and they always manage to source the most amazing emerging designers. The dresses above from Little Miss J are so pretty and well made with lovely fabric and they are Australian Made.

Of course all these superb pictures are by Naomi V Photography Brisbane Photographer.

Chocolate Macarons and making a little macaron tower

 
These chocolate macarons were part of the dessert table for my daughters birthday party and have to say I am a bit hooked. I thought these ones were the best I had tried yet, and I have made quite a few.

Although I did have a bit of a macaron disaster and dropped a whole tray on the floor getting them out of the oven. There's no saving a dropped macaron so I did the only thing possible when faced with this kind of situation.

Please don't judge me. Yup I ate them still warm. Macarons are such a funny thing, the ones that fell rounded side up were kinda ok, but the ones that fell 'feet' first stuck to the floor. I was home by myself and that ended up being my dinner - come on I said not to judge me.

Anyway that disaster had nothing to do with the recipe which is wonderful. Once again it's based on a Pierre Herme recipe.

Also have included a couple of pics of how I made the macaron tower. I didn't invent this they've been doing it in Paris for years and Adriano Zumbo recently showcased this dessert on Australian Masterchef.

Brisbane Hilton Materclass 2010 - Adriano Zumbo and a whole lot more

Just a break from my normal postings. I haven't really been baking for a week due to a sinus infection but I did attend the Brisbane Hilton Masterclass, here are a couple of pics.

Brisbane Hilton Masterclass, pre kids I used to attend these every year, so it's been a few years since I attended one but it lived up to my fond memories and didn't disappoint. I had a great time despite being on a blend of antibiotics and other prescription medication for a super sinus infection. Yup that meant no wine tastings for me, so I'll only be sharing the food portion of the day's experiences with you.

Session 1 - Queensland Catch - Nick Holloway, Russell Armstrong and Nick Ryan

Australian seafood and award winning chefs,  9 o'clock in the morning seemed too early to be enjoying these delicious dishes, but no one at our table was complaining, or leaving behind a morsel.

My favorite was the Crayfish and Avocado dish

Chilled Salad of Freshwater Crayfish, Avocado Shiso Cress and Fresh Wasabi, Toasted Sesame and Soy

Seared Hervey Bay Scallops on Skordalia and Gazpacho Gel

Butter Poached Prawn and Spiced Lentil Toasty with yogurt, Cucumber and Curry Leaf

Diamond Scaled Mullet, Creamed Lemon Polenta and Pancetta on a Niciose Styled Salad of Green Beans, Tomato and Olives

Session 2 - Passionate Patissier Adriano Zumbo

Adriano Zumbo - ok you know I was going to be at this session. However we were all a bit surprised when the recipe stated Adriano was making schnitzel and wagyu. But don't fret it was soon revealed that there was no meat in sight and these were indeed sweet dishes.

Adriano was refreshingly down to earth. His satirical take on desserts was visually amazing, inspired  by afternoons watching his father play lawn bowls. The textures and tastes worked together perfectly which was of course not surprising from the current Australian patisserie king.

Moderator Alastair McLeod pried out a number of stories regarding Adriano's rise to fame.

It was interesting to note that Adriano believes that the consumer no longer want's 'just sweet' which was reflected in his demonstration. How can you argue with someone who in 3 years has built a reputation which results in his store closing at lunchtime due to the inability to keep up with demand. But I'm not completely convinced, although these dishes were quite amazing given a choice for a morning snack I would definitely choose a more simple and traditional sweet dish. I assume that Adriano and other pastry chef's palates may become jaded with the daily assault of macarons and other 'sweet' pieces that the rest of us crave.

Despite his appearances on Masterchef Adriano is not a performer he is a pastry chef. This was the session I was most looking forward to and I still feel lucky that I was able to attend.

Dessert 'Schnitzel'

'Wagyu Steak'

and of course what Zumbo experience would be complete without some macarons.