Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake

The Very Hungry Caterpillar was one of my favorite books when I was little, so I was so very excited when I was asked to make this cake for a little boy's first birthday.

I wish I could show pictures of the rainbow layered cake inside, Hungry Caterpillars love all things rainbow. The cake was vanilla, frosted with buttercream and covered in fondant.

Pancake Cupcakes

Happy Pancake Day!! Any day day that includes pancakes is an awesome day by me and a day that is all about pancakes well I dont think I need to say anything more.

While eating cupcakes for breakfast is not new to me I get that some people might get bit funny about it. With these cupcakes there's no need to feel bad about having them for breakfast or if you look at it the other way around, having pancakes for dessert. These cupcakes are so super quick and easy to make and turned out beautifully, light and airy just like perfect pancakes should be. I couldn't have pancakes without syrup and cupcakes without frosting, so each little cake was finished with some buttery maple syrup frosting and a mini stack of pancakes.

For the Cupcakes

2 cups pancake mix

1 cup milk

Mini pancakes (3 per cupcake, made following the instructions on the pancake mixture)

Maple syrup

To make the cupcakes- preheat oven to 160 degrees c. (325 f) and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with cupcake papers.

Add the pancake mix and milk in a medium bowl, Stir together until smooth. Divide the mix evenly between the cupcake pans.

Bake for 12 minutes, until the cupakes are puffy and bounce back when poked. Allow the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.

Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each of the cupcakes using a large star tip.

Stack 3 mini pancakes together with a little frosting in between to keep them in place.

Top each cupcake with a mini stack of pancakes and finish with a little drizzle of maple syrup.

For the Maple Syrup Frosting

100 grams unsalted butter (softened)

400 grams icing sugar

6 tablespoons maple syrup

To make the frosting- add the butter, sugar and syrup together in a mixing bowl. Beat all the ingredients until light and fluffy.

Enjoy these at any time of day!

Heart Locket Cookies

Happy Valentines Day!!

Wishing you all and your sweeties (of the non cake and cookie variety) a lovely day.

Itty Bitty Bites

I'd love to spend more time exploring some of the great little cafes that seem to be popping up all over Brisbane. For each one of those that has probably been around forever (I've just never noticed) there are two new cute little spots overloaded with delicious treats ready for the tasting . My problem is I always seem to notice fun looking places to try while in the middle of something else, I always say to myself I'll go there one day but mostly I forget. Lucky for me I can live vicariously through others.

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up about a great new blog a friend has started, Itty Bitty Bites Brisbane. If you are visiting Brisbane or live here and are a 'one day' person like me check it out for great revues and beautiful photographs of local cafes. With the mini critics aged from almost one to five and a half there are some great places for children too, maybe if my dining companions were as cute I'd go out for cake and coffee more often.

Photos from Itty Bitty Bites

Valentines Ideas Revisited

Whoa it's February already, Valentines day is only 10 days away. I like valentines day well enough, but what I really like is all the cute baked goodies that show up at this time of year. I'm a huge fan of pink and red together, which seems to be no-no any other time. With Valentines day so close I though I'd re-share some older ideas.

Heart Inside Valentines Cake

Valentines Cupcakes

Valentines Heart Cookies

Sanding Sugar Heart Cookies

Hot Air Balloon Cake and Cookies

Happy First Birthday Loulou!!

For the balloon and basket I used my favorite chocolate cake and frosting recipe and covered it with fondant. It had been raining all week, so had a bit of trouble with the fondant and royal icing not drying properly and also getting photos but I'm happy with how it all turned out. Most importantly the birthday girl loved her chocolate cake!