Saturday, December 19, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Truffles
My creative space..
I made variations to a Family Circle cookbook recipe:
Macadamia and cranberry Truffles
--------------------------------
60g macadamia nuts, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped cranberries (craisins)
2 teaspoons orange juice
2 tablespoons cream
90g white chocolate
30g white chocolate, grated (for rolling)
1. Heat cream in microwave bowl until boiling. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Add macadamias, cranberries and orange juice. Refrigerate until firm enough to handle (roughly an hour).
2. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Roll in grated chocolate. Refrigerate until set.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Dolly cake
My niece is obsessed with Barbie (& my daughter coming a close second with that obsession) and so it was almost natural that she would ask for a Barbie doll cake.
We had a very full-on weekend with a wedding, Christmas party and then my niece's 4th birthday party.. so I was feeling a bit stressed about this cake (when aren't I??). I was about to pull out of doing the cake when I opted to "phone a friend" and she encouraged me to try doing the cake with ready-made icing. She made it sound really easy so off I went to the cake decorating shop, hired the Dolly Varden tin, bought some ready-made icing and colouring paste. My friend had warned me to use thick kitchen gloves to knead the colour in with - good advice!! The basic premise was to roll the icing out into a large circle, then drop it over the cake.. it made its own skirt ruffles.. I then used extra icing to make a bodice to cover up where the doll went into the cake. I warn you now that Barbie does NOT fit into the cake skirt, so I needed to break off Barbie's legs.. yes, queue crying.. They do not look like they go back on.. so we have had to convince the kids that she is a special "cake Barbie" and will be used on all future cakes and funnily enough, I have an order already from her older sister for next year! Hee!
This is actually the easiest cake I have ever made! The ready roll icing is so no-fuss. I love the idea of being able to mold this stuff into various shapes, just like play-doh, and having a LOT of fun with a bit of sculpture on future cakes - yippee!
We had a very full-on weekend with a wedding, Christmas party and then my niece's 4th birthday party.. so I was feeling a bit stressed about this cake (when aren't I??). I was about to pull out of doing the cake when I opted to "phone a friend" and she encouraged me to try doing the cake with ready-made icing. She made it sound really easy so off I went to the cake decorating shop, hired the Dolly Varden tin, bought some ready-made icing and colouring paste. My friend had warned me to use thick kitchen gloves to knead the colour in with - good advice!! The basic premise was to roll the icing out into a large circle, then drop it over the cake.. it made its own skirt ruffles.. I then used extra icing to make a bodice to cover up where the doll went into the cake. I warn you now that Barbie does NOT fit into the cake skirt, so I needed to break off Barbie's legs.. yes, queue crying.. They do not look like they go back on.. so we have had to convince the kids that she is a special "cake Barbie" and will be used on all future cakes and funnily enough, I have an order already from her older sister for next year! Hee!
This is actually the easiest cake I have ever made! The ready roll icing is so no-fuss. I love the idea of being able to mold this stuff into various shapes, just like play-doh, and having a LOT of fun with a bit of sculpture on future cakes - yippee!
Monday, December 7, 2009
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