Fresh Strawberry Icecream

You know how to tell when you have a really rad boyfriend? A good sign is when he gets you an icecream maker for your birthday. The gift of ever lasting icecream is a pretty awesome one.

For my first attempt making icecream I decided to keep things pretty simple and went with a classic favourite, strawberry. With ripe strawberries in abundance, it was an easy choice. They added a lovely fresh flavour and a natural pretty pink colour. The recipe turned out yummy and creamy, perfect for a hot spring day.

Fresh Strawberry Icecream (makes about 1.5 litres)

450g strawberries
200ml full cream milk
400ml cream
1/2 vanilla bean (split and seeds scraped)
8 egg yolks
160g caster sugar

To make the icecream- Purée the strawberries in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Press the strawberry purée through a fine sieve using a spoon or spatula. (My sieve wasn't fine enough and the seeds got through.) Place in the fridge to chill.

Add the cream, milk and vanilla bean with seeds to a large saucepan, bring the mixture to a simmer over mid heat.

While the cream and milk mixture is heating, add the egg yolk and caster sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer, fit with the whisk attachment and whisk for about 2 minutes until pale and creamy.

Add the hot milk mixture slowly to the egg mixture, whisking continuously.

Pour the whole mix back into a clean saucepan. Stirring continuously, cook over a low heat until mixture gets to 79 degrees c. It should coat the back of a spoon. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl. Either place the bowl of mixture into an ice bath or into the fridge until it is cold, stir regularly.

Once the strawberry purée and the custard are both cool, mix them together.

Pour the strawberry custard into your icecream maker and churn according to your machines instructions. Mine took about 20 minutes for soft serve consistency.

I transferred the icecream to an airtight container and chilled in the freezer to get the icecream a bit firmer.

Enjoy!!

Fall Flower Pot Cupcakes

I'm so very excited to be part of this fun little challenge that Kathia and Melissa have organised. The project was to create a fall inspired sweet, being either a cake, cupcake or sugar topper.

Not only did I get to make some fun and yummy cupcakes myself, now I get to enjoy browsing everyone else's amazing creations! Head down to the bottom of the post to see all the great looking desserts along with the links to each contributors blog.

These cupcakes were inspired by the pots of pretty chrysanthemums in wonderful warm colours, that decorate many people front stairs (or would if it was fall in Australia and not Spring.)

Pumpkin Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart)
2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
125 grams (1/2 cup) butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

To make the cupcakes-
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c. (350 f.) Line 18 cupcake pans with paper liners.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves into a medium bowl.

Add brown sugar and butter into the bowl of an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time mixing after each addition.

Add a third of the dry ingredients at a time, alternating with the two halves of the buttermilk. Beat until combined.

Using a low setting mix in the pumpkin puree.

Divide batter evenly among cupcake papers, fill each about 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
250 g (1 block) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbs real maple syrup
2 cups icing sugar

To make the frosting- beat the cream cheese and maple syrup in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Gradually add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

Fondant Flowers
orange and yellow fondant
orange and yellow sprinkles
1 packet Oreos (filling removed and cookies crushed)

Thinly roll out the fondant and cut out flowers with a blossom cutter.

Shape the flowers a little by pressing in the middles. Allow the flowers to dry out. Once the flowers are dry brush the centers with a tiny amount of water and fill with sprinkles.

Spread a layer of frosting over the top of each cupcake using a butter knife. Before the icing sets dip each cupcake top into the bowl of crushed oreos, roll them around a little to make sure all the icing is covered.

Press the fondant flowers onto the top of each cupcake.

To complete the look serve cupcakes in little terracotta pots. (Please make sure they are clean)

Take a peek at everyones fantastic and delicious looking fall creations!

Here is the list of links to all the talented bloggers who where part of this challenge,

head over to  their blogs and check them out!.

1-Cup of hot cocoa cake-Munchkin Munchies

2-Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting-D & P Celebrations

3-Caramel Apple Cake-The Baked Equation

4-Maple Leaf Chocolate Cake-Butter Yum

5-Boo Shoe SugarTopper-Trilogy Edibles

6-Goodbye Fall-Pink Little Cake

7-Turning Leaves-Simply Sweet by Honeybee

8-Fall Teddy Bears-Karma's Cakes

9-Thanksgiving Head Dress-Sweetology

10-Fall Flower Pot Cupcakes-Butter Hearts Sugar

11-End of Fall Cupcakes-Not your momma's Cookie

12-Thanksgiving in a Cupcake-Savor the Baking

13-Turkey Cake-The Baking Sheet

14-Picking Leaves-Sweet Things

Happy Halloween 2012!

Happy Halloween!! I hope everyone has a fantastic frightening day. On my to do list today - pick up  more candy just in case we get trick or treaters, the other stuff has already been eaten!

There's not really anything new in this post except for my jack o'lantern, which I am rather pleased with! Isn't he creepy!!

If you still haven't had enough of all things Halloween I've included a round up of this years posts as well as a few favourites from last year.

Candy Corn Cake

Spider Web Tarts

Haunted House Treat Boxes

Zombie Graveyard Cake

Skeleton Sugar Cookies

I didn't get to share these guys but I think you get the idea. They are very simple to make, just knead a little black food colour into your favourite sugar cookie recipe and bake a normal. Draw on a skeleton in some plain white royal icing and they you have them, skeleton cookies. I was able to cheat following the skeleton imprint made by the cute Gingerdead man cookie cutter given to me by boyfriends sister.

 Light Up Jack'o'lantern Cookies

 Poison (Candy) Apples

Zombie Graveyard Cake

October has gone way too fast!! There were so many more ideas I wanted to try before Halloween, but I am thankful I at least got to share this one because it is my favourite!

Zombie movies have always topped my fav scary film list and funny zombie movies are even better. Now I'm not talking the terrifying run really fast rage zombies, I like my undead slow, stumbling and searching for brains. Think Return of the Living Dead, which I watched again last weekend and laughed my butt off the whole way through! In fact it was the inspiration behind this cake.

Ever since I made the hearts inside valentines cake last year I've been wanting to use this technique again and what could be more fitting for Halloween then a graveyard cake bursting with zombies! Make it past the undead crawling out the top, slice into the cake and you'll find a surprise! Its full of bones (cake bones that is).

Making the cake isn't very difficult and if you often have cake off cuts like I do its a great way to us them up. If you don't have any spare off cuts it's as simple as baking a quick square of vanilla cake cutting out your bone shapes and baking them again inside your chocolate cake. Go as simple or as fancy as you like with the decorations as the real surprise is on the inside. I used chocolate fingers for the fence around the outside and crushed Oreos make a fantastically realistic graveyard dirt on top.

For the zombie graveyard cake you'll need-
Pre-baked white cake- I used half of my favourite vanilla cake recipe.
Chocolate Cake mixture (recipe at end of post)
Chocolate buttercream (recipe at end of post)
1 packet chocolate biscuit fingers
1 packet Oreos (cream filling removed and cookies crushed)
Small amount of green, orange and grey fondant

Making the fondant toppers
To make the zombie arm roll out a small length of light green fondant and slightly flatten one end. Cut off the other end and gently insert a toothpick about halfway up the arm.

Cut four slices into the flattened fondant to form a hand, add on small details like finger nails and cuts and scrapes with a toothpick . Curve the fingers over something round and leave to dry out.

Brush the fondant hands with some cocoa and red luster dust for that real zombie skin look.

To make the Pumpkin, roll a small amount of orange fondant into a ball and press down in the center to flatten slightly.

With a toothpick or lining tool draw on the ridges on the side of the pumpkin. Add a little stem to the top.

 Cut some little gravestone shapes out of grey fondant and insert a toothpick into the base of each.

Making the Graveyard Cake

Cut bones out of white cake with a cookie cutter.

Arrange bones inside your prepared cake tin.

 Scoop chocolate cake mixture over the top of the cake bones and spread evenly.

Bake cake according to recipe. 

Once the cake has cooled transfer to plate or cake board.

Spread a the top and sides of the cake with the chocolate buttercream, it doesn't need to be super neat as its covered up anyway.

Trim some of the chocolate fingers to different lengths to make the fence. Press the chocolate fingers around the outside of the cake.

Spread a layer of Oreo dirt over the top of the cake. If you like you can add some more Oreo dirt around the base of the cake, use some leftover chocolate frosting to stick it down.

Arrange the zombie hands and tombstones on the top of the cake.

Enjoy!!

Easy Chocolate Cake
125 grams butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
2 tablespoons cornflour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup milk

• Grease 6 inch round cake pan and line the base with baking paper.
• Add butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla to bowl of electric mixer, beat until combined.
• Add the flours, cocoa and the milk and beat on medium speed until smooth and lighter in colour.
• Spread into prepared pan and bake for around 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer into the middle comes out clean.
• Remove cake from oven, allow to cool 5 minutes before tuning out onto a wire rack. Cool top side up.

Chocolate Buttercream
90 grams butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons dark cocoa
2-3 tablespoons milk

• Beat the butter with mixer until light and fluffy.
• Add the icing sugar, cocoa and milk, beat until the icing is smooth and spreadable.

Haunted House Gift Boxes

I was browsing through the Halloween bits and pieces at a craft shop last week and picked up these really cute felt stickers in the shapes of ghosts and pumpkins  After a bit of thinking about how to use them I came up with this fun idea. I'm sure a lot of people will be giving away treats this halloween, or maybe tricks if they're a bit nasty, so why not package them up in a cute haunted house gift box.

The idea is taken from these Gingerbread House Treat Boxes I made for christmas last year. With a change of colour and some different decorations they make a perfect place to hide your spooky sweets this Halloween.

I've included the templates and a quick set of instructions, for the full step by step guide check out my Gingerbread House Treat Box instructions.

You'll need-

Grey card

Dark purple card

Light purple card

Scissors

Wavy scissors

Double sided tape

Felt stickers, Ghost and Pumpkins

Black felt tip pen 

To make the treat boxes- Print out both templates (they should be A4 size) and cut out the shapes.

Box Template

Roof Template

Lay the box template on the grey card and trace around the edges.

Cut out around the outline. Fold along the dotted lines.

Lay the roof template on the dark purple card and trace on the guidelines. Using the line as a guide cut around the outside edge with your wavy scissors. Use regular straight scissors to cut out the little bits in the middle. Fold along the fold lines. 

 To assemble the box attach some double sided tape to the inside edges of the front and back of the box. Stick the side tabs to the insides of the front and back of the box using the double sided tape.

For the roof use some double sided tape to secure the roof together in the middle.

Cut a 2cm by 6cm(approx) zigzag shape out of light purple card for the chimney. Make a 2cm long cut in the middle of one side of the roof, push the chimney rectangle through the cut so about 2cm of it sits inside the roof. Cut up the middle of the chimney that sits inside the roof and fold tabs in either direction. Fix inside the roof with double sided tape. Cut a door shape out of the light purple card and fix the front of the house with double sided tape.

Stick on a pumpkin and a ghost and tie with a ribbon.