Baked and Delicious Magazine Review

Bitter Chocolate Pudding recipe from Baked and Delicious Issue 1

The people at Baked and Delicious sent me a copy of the 1st Issue of their magazine to have a look at the other day.

It's one of those regular magazines that makes part of a complete set when finished, this one comes out every fortnight and includes some type of silicone bakeware with each issue.

Issue 1 was only $2.99 and included a 6 pack of cupcake bakeware. I noticed at the IGA today that to just buy a similar set of bakeware on it's own was nearly $12, so I'll have to say that issue 1 is a bargin without even taking the magazine into account. Issue 2 is a special price of $7.99 and from then on the issues will be $14.99 for the magazine and the bakeware.

There is also an enticing subscriber offer valued at $75 which includes a binder, cake slicer/server, set of cake tins and Electronic Scales.These gifts are sent gradually with your first 4 subscription deliveries which will come every 2 weeks for $14.99 + $1 P&P (which is the regular price after the first couple of introductory issues). Although you can cancel your subscription at any time it's worth remembering there are about 60 issues in total at $14.99 so take that into consideration when working out if those free gifts are worth it.

Also make sure you check out the fine print, there may be extra special issues and binders as well which would be extra on top of the fortnightly amount, so you'll need to tick the applicable boxes if your not interested in those extra's.

Anyway onto the actual magazine. It's a 28 page magazine which kinda seems small in comparison to lots of other magazines out these days, but it didn't have any advertising so I guess that's a plus. Also there are lots of colour pictures which I always love. In all the index shows a total of 8 recipes plus a step by step technique to making choux pastry and information on using silicone bakeware. Most of the recipes had a variation to try and a couple had step by step photographs.

The recipes were a mix of savory and sweet with a definite leaning towards sweet in this issue and included cupcakes, macarons, chocolate puddings. You can actually check it out yourself on their website, the first issue is available to view online.

I decided to try out the bitter chocolate pudding, it took under an hour from start to finish for me to make these, and that included reading the recipe, getting out all the ingredients, baking and plating up. I cooked mine for a couple of minutes too long, so it didn't have a really melty oozy middle, but it was still very delicious and soooo easy to make. Only 5 ingredients and hand mixed in a bowl......oh and it used up a couple of egg yolks which is always a super plus for me.

I was also impressed with how easily it turned out of the ramkin as I was expecting it to stick. In all honesty I would make this recipe again due to it's ease and how great it tasted.

OK so to round up, I guess $14.99 is pretty expensive for just the magazine with a few recipes but this magazine is aiming to build your baking skills and bakeware at the same time and includes an item of silicone bakeware with each issue. Issue 2 has a silicone brush and spatula set and issue 3 a silicone loaf mould.

As I mentioned you can pop over to their site and check out the magazine yourself to determine if you think this magazine would be worth the investment.

Wedding Cake Sugar cookies and a Handmade Wedding DIY shoot with Luminoso Blu and Naomi V

Photography Naomi V Photography : Milk Glass: Hummingbird Vintage Hire

A little while ago, I made some treats for Luminoso Blu for a 'Handmade' Wedding shoot for the Queensland Brides magazine to accompany an article Renee from Luminoso Blu wrote.

Styling Luminoso Blu Events, Cake: Miss Jane's Cakes, Flowers: A Sculpted Leaf 

I provided some simple swirl cupcakes, upside down cake pops decorated with a white fondant sugar heart, rustic stacked trio of cookies and large wedding cake shaped cookies decorated with red hearts.

Styling Luminoso Blu Events

All photo's by Naomi V Photography.

Tissue paper bouquet: Ah-Tissue

The cookies are a great idea for a DIY bride as they can easily be made a week and a half before, placed in cello bags with ribbon and card or boxed and stored in large airtight containers. Just make sure everything is super clean when you are making them and that you give them a chance to set/dry before you bag them.

To make the large wedding cake cookies I simply made a batch of sugar cookie dough (click here for a link to my sugar cookie recipe). Cut out the cookies with a large cake shaped cookie cutter, baked and allowed to cool. Then I rolled out the ready roll fondant on a cornflower/ cornstarch dusted workbench (I use Bakels ready to roll fondant it's available online at specialty cake stores try Cakes Around Town or Baking Pleasures) and using the large cake shaped cookie cutter I cut out fondant and adhered it to the already baked and cooled cookie using a small amount of clean water and a brush you only use for food purposes.

Then I used a small amount of fondant coloured red with gel food colour (knead the colour into the fondant very well, try and do the night before for best results) rolled it out thinly and cut out hearts with 2 different sized heart cutters. I carefully pinched the ends and pulled them to the side to give the heart a bit of a funky look. I adhered the hearts to the white fondant covered cookies with a tiny amount of water and allowed them to set uncovered.

Flowers: A Sculpted Leaf 

Like I said perfect DIY and you can easily change the colours to match your own special event.

Invitations and table place cards: Kijaro Invitations

Here is a list of the lovely contributors

DIY crafting and styling: Luminoso Blu Events
Photography: Naomi V Photography
Invitations and table place cards: Kijaro Invitations
Cake: Miss Jane's Cakes
Cookies, cake pops and cupcakes: Bubble and Sweet
Tissue paper bouquet: Ah-Tissue
Milk Glass: Hummingbird Vintage Hire
Flowers: A Sculpted Leaf 

 

This is just a quick shot I took myself before the shoot to show the stacked cookies up close

and a quick link to my book of kid friendly cooking and decorating available for pre order for December release.

Pearly Cake Pop and Macaron Tower for the Mermaid Party tutorial

When I started to plan Lilli's mermaid party I had a vision of a macaron tower starting in white and graduating to a deep green like I ended up making the actual birthday cake. I had seen some pictures of macaron towers with the macarons placed sideways instead of flat and I loved the look. I was going to pop in some extra little embellishments to bring in the mermaid theme and had them worked out, I ordered my custom cut styrofoam from kool foam for the support structure, I was ready to go.

But then I got stuck with the cake pops, I had a couple of ideas which I was not completely loving. I could have decided to not have cake pops (eeek the horror) but then a couple of days before the party I decided to replace the white macarons with cake ball pearls.

I'm feeling pretty good about this tower, I have never actually seen one like it so it was kinda exciting for me to do.

It's a little bit trickier than the stuff I normally post mostly because it has so many steps involved, and it involves making macarons. You can always buy ready made macarons or if you like you can leave them out and have a totally popalicious cake ball tower.

Also I am not describing here how to actually cover styrofoam and cakeboards with the fondant. There are stacks of great tutorials out there and I feel my tower tutorial will be a bit huge and unwieldy if I add it.

Here is a pic of the full table, see there is the macaron tower next to the ocean wave cake. If you would like to see more of Lilli's Mermaid Party Click Here.

Pearly Cake Pop and Macaron Tower Tutorial

Ingredients
30 cake balls or cookie truffle balls covered in white chocolate dipped using toothpicks instead of lollipop sticks (see below for how to dip)
pearl luster (I used the PME spray)
20 light blue macarons (click here for macaron recipe, divide macaron batter into half and colour one section light blue and one section light green)
20 light green macarons
Ivory/Cream fondant
Light blue fondant
Light green fondant
round styrofoam 9cm (3.5') diameter by 9 cm (3.5") high
round styrofoam 12cm (4.7") diameter by 9 cm (3.5")high
rectangle styrofoam 20cm (7.9") X 25 cm (9.8") X 9cm (3.5") high
lots of toothpicks
Cake board and ribbon

#all the styrofoam was custom cut by KoolFoam, the rectangle is also the size I used to display the cookies pops on the dessert buffet.

Cover the small styrofoam with the ivory fondant and the larger round with the light blue fondant. If your not sure how to do this pop over to you tube.

Cover your cakeboard with the light green fondant and adhere the light blue fondant styrofoam round onto the cake board with some royal icing or a bit of fondant thinned with water. Click here for a tutorial from Cake journal  on how to cover a cake board.

I attached ribbon to the edge of the cake board to finish the edge. The cake stand is really just a candle stick from Ikea that I adhered securely to the bottom of the cake board.

Make the cake balls. I used white tim tam cookie truffles, and made them a little smaller than usual (14 grams or 1/2oz), when it is time to dip them in chocolate follow the normal instructions using a toothpick in place of a lollipop stick. So melt the candy coating/ white chocolate, insert the end of a toothpick into the cookie truffle/ cake  ball, repeat for all the cookie truffle/ cake balls and pop in fridge to chill. Remove from fridge, ensure the candy coating/ white chocolate is still melted and holding the end of the toothpick dip the ball into the melted candy coating/ chocolate. Place in styrofoam upright to set.

When you are ready to assemble the tower, push toothpicks into the fondant covered styrofoam rounds. To give you an idea of where to insert the toothpicks place some of the macarons against the round to resemble what they will look like when finished. It should give you an idea of where to place the toothpicks. It's ok you can move them around if needed.

Place the Green macarons on the bottom layer and then the blue macarons above them to make a second higher layer.

Carefully pull the toothpicks out of each cookie truffle/ cake ball. Using the same technique as you did for the macarons push the cookie truffle/ cake balls onto the smaller ivory covered styrofoam round. Insert the toothpick into the holes that have already been made (where you earlier removed the dipping toothpicks from).

Once all the cookie truffle/ cake balls have been placed on the styrofoam round spray all over with the PME pearl luster spray.


Allow to set for a while and then using a spatula/ egg flip carefully pick up the tower and place on top of the light blue macaron covered tower, using some royal icing or fondant thinned out with water to adhere.

Ummm...I've been trying to work out how to pop a link to my book on the side tab but I just can't work it out so sorry you are going to have to put up with my blatant self promotion in each post just a tad longer.