Cars Cake

I have never ever had a busier baking week, not even at Christmas time. After making 3 big cakes this week I have to admit I'm more than a little relieved its all done. I'll work backwards and share the last cake I made first, a birthday cake for my boss's son Jake.

Happy Fourth birthday Jake!

I've have not seen Cars so had a bit of trouble knowing exactly what to do with this cake, I did a little research and found lots of inspirational pictures.

I love how the little cartoony car characters turned out. Especially the little truck 'Mater' I think he's my favorite, he's so cute.

I have been a bad blogger lately, this is my first post in over a week and haven't had a chance to catch up on eveyone else's posting, but I'm working on it. I promise i'll have some more cake pictures and some new recipes to share soon.

Harry Potter and Holidays

I'm so very excited about the final Harry Potter movie, I'm off to see it in the morning. I really wanted to make some Harry cupcakes after seeing fantastic little themed cakes all over the blog world this week but have been a little preoccupied. I didn't get a chance to make anything for the occasion but did have fun with this Harry Potter cake mix I picked up a little while ago. It was quick and easy and reminded me of every single birthday party I went to as a child, there were always cupcakes with edible images on top, mostly Mickey Mouse I think.

I have a pretty good excuse for not baking, I really do...

We've enjoyed the last week in a lake-house on Lake Weyba on the Sunshine Coast. It was such a pretty spot, right between the Noosa beaches and the hinterland.

I've been busy relaxing...

By the beach... even though it is the middle of winter it was a beautiful warm sunny day.

This wasn't us swimming but I was super jealous. I did get to play in the water but because it was cold there was a lot of squealing and no swimming.

By the lake... each lake-house had its own private little lakeside area.

In the mountains... The views from Montville were amazing and the town itself is the cutest place ever.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

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• I haven't had a lot of luck making whoopie pies, my first two attempts making chocolate whoopies didn't go very well. The second batch were an absolute disaster, they weren't so much cakey cookies as they were miss-shaped chocolate puddles. Lucky for me and my whoopie pie making confidence these pumpkin ones turned out great.
• 
• I really love pumpkin baked goods and their yummy spiciness, they're so prefect for winter. The cake cookies are quite dense and packed with spices that pair perfectly with the slight earthy flavour of the pumpkin. The cream cheese filling is absolutely dreamy, the kind of frosting I'd happily sit down with a bowl and spoon. I'm sure I'll be making these again.
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• For the Whoopies (from Martha Stewart)
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 cups brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups pumpkin puree ( I used home made, allow to cool before using)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
  
• To make the whoopies- preheat the oven to 180 degrees c. cover two baking trays with baking paper.
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• Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves into a bowl and set aside.
• 
  
• In another bowl beat the sugar and oil until combined, add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time and continue beating until they are thoroughly incorporated.
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• Sprinkle the sifted dry ingredients over the top of the pumpkin and mix until combined.
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• Spoon generous tablespoons of the mixture onto the baking trays about 3 cm apart (try to keep them similar size and shape so they match up when sandwiched).
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• Bake the whoopies for about 15 minutes or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking trays.
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• Once the whoopies are cool, pipe the filling onto the bottoms of half of the cookies, sandwich with the remaining halves.
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• Now I skipped this next step and just tried one straight away, but I'd recommended leaving them to set in the refrigerator for a short while to stop the filling squooshing out the sides.
• 
  
• For the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling
• 60 grams unsalted butter (softened)
• 250 grams cream cheese (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 
  
• Beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy and smooth, mix in the vanilla.
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• Add the cinnamon and the icing sugar a cup at a time until smooth and spreadable. If the filling isn't thick enough add a little more icing sugar at a time to get the desired consistency.
• 
• Whoooopie!

Teapot Cookies

I am a bit obsessed with tea cups and tea pots, I started collecting them but cant fit anymore into my little home. I have a tea themed cookie cutter set for some time now just waiting for an excuse to use them, I was very excited to get the chance.
I was asked to make these as take home thank you gifts for a baby shower. The shower was held at the Wishing Well Cafe, I haven't been there yet but it looks really cute, there are teapots everywhere and it has a pretty vintage vibe. I was told the mum-to-be loves all things pink and girly, so created a cookie set with that and the venue in mind.
I think I like the teapot cookies best.

They looked so cute all bagged up.

Skydive Cake

I'm so behind in my posts, I made this cake in the middle of July for my Dads birthday. For his birthday this year my brother and I decided to get Dad a tandem skydive complete with a care package including a nappy (just in case) and an after jump drink. As a bit of a clue I made the cake to match, with a free falling fondant figure of my Dad on top.

It was my first time making a person from fondant, I think it turned out really well. I used florist wire to shape the fondant and hold it in place on the cake.

I love how the little face turned out, its so my Dad. Its cracks me up each time I look at it.

Happy Birthday Dad!!