Sea Themed Cupcakes

These cupcakes were a father’s day gift for my dad, this post is a little late as father’s day was almost a week ago, sorry.

I thought sea themed cupcakes would be cute idea, Dad just got back from a cruise the day before I seen him.

For the cupcakes I used the same snickers cupcake recipe I made a few weeks ago only minus the chocolate frosting. For the blue frosting I replaced the peanut butter for vanilla buttercream.

For the sand I used crushed digestive biscuits, they are the Australian equivalent to graham crackers. I guess they are called digestives because of the wholemeal, but a little statement on the side of the pack made me giggle, it informed that the biscuits do nothing to aid in the digestion process.


For the cupcake toppers I made shark fins and life rings out of fondant. Sadly because of the weather the shark fins were still too soft when i took the pictures.




Boyfriend enjoyed the beach and life ring cupcakes, he said they were sand-sational. Shakes head.

Pistachio Macarons

Spring is here and it’s not fooling around, over night it changed from cool to really warm. I've realised I love changing seasons, well probably not spring to summer, but I'm a big fan of the others.

Things I have loved about the first week of spring- Flowery dresses, no need to wear tights for the first time in months, my garden is going crazy, baby ducks (Mums duck hatched 17 ducklings) and picnics.

Ok so macarons and pink soda is not quite a picnic, but it worked for me. This is the first time I've made non vanilla macarons and was so very happy with the result. The pistachio macarons worked perfectly with the mildly honey flavoured white chocolate ganache.

Pistachio Macarons with Honey White Chocolate Ganache
adapted from I love macarons by Hisako Ogita

For the macarons

2/3 cup (85grams) ground almonds
1 ½ cups pure icing sugar (150 grams)
1/3 cup ground pistachios (45 grams)
3 large eggs whites (room temp)
65 grams caster sugar
Green food colouring
Extra ground pistachio (for sprinkling)

To make the macarons- Line a baking tray with baking paper. On baking paper draw 1 ½ inch circles spaced at least ½ an inch apart.

Sift together the powdered sugar, ground pistachios and almond meal, then sift again.

Beat egg whites in a stainless steel mixing bowl until foamy. Gradually add the caster sugar and beat to form stiff glossy peaks.


Beat in a drop of food colouring. (The pistachios alone make the mix a nice colour already, I just wanted them a touch more green)

Add half of the sifted almond, pistachio and powdered sugar, fold in with a spatula. Stir in second half of dry ingredients till combined.

Spread and scoop the mixture against the side of the bowl, repeat this at least 15 times. (This step is what gives the macarons their shine, doing it too much may leave oily marks on the macaron shell.)


When the mix is firm and runs slowly from the spatula it is done.


Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with a 0.4 inch tip. Pipe batter into the centre of the drawn circles, keeping the piping tip close to the surface to avoid forming peaks.


Give the base of the baking tray a good tap on a flat surface.

Top each of the macarons with a sprinkle of ground pistachio.


Rest the piped macarons for about half an hour, until the mix no longer sticks to your finger when touched and surface is smooth.

Preheat oven to 160 degrees c. Position racks toward the middle to bottom of the oven.

Bake the macarons for 16-20 minutes until crisp on the outside and soft but cooked inside.


When macarons and completely cool sandwich with ganache.

For the ganache

3/5 cup (100 ml) whipping cream
100 grams white chocolate (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon honey

To make the ganache- place chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan bring honey and cream to the boil. Pour boiling cream over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is melted and mix is smooth and glossy. Cool the ganache to room temperature and chill slightly in the fridge. When cool continue whisking until thick and lighter in colour. Spread or pipe between macarons.

Sprinkles

For a long time I have been searching for spice jars, finally I found exactly what I was looking for. I seen a great idea using spice jars filled with sprinkles as a wall feature, I only wish I could remember where I saw it. Before now my sprinkles where sadly hidden away in a container in the pantry. I managed to find the perfect little jars now I just need to find or build some shelves. For now my pretty jars of colour are living above my cook books.

Ice-cream Cone Cupcakes

I was wandering through the supermarket when a box of ice-cream cones caught my eye. It was a pretty coloured box with rainbow ice-creams and sprinkles, I instantly knew I had to make ice-cream cone cupcakes.

So I whipped out my Martha Stewarts Cupcakes and tried out some little cakes that I had been eyeing off for a while. That was when things went a little funny. I have been happy with all the recipes I had tried so far, but this one left me a tad unimpressed.

The cupcakes took twice as long to cook as the recipe said and ended up very dense, like mud cake dense. The taste was still good, very sweet but yummy, just not light and fluffy like I was expecting. Maybe I did something wrong, or maybe it’s just how they were meant to be. Has anyone else tried it out?

Questionable cake aside, I was very happy with how cute the ice-cream cones ended up looking. Everyone I shared them with enjoyed them a lot.


Just a quick share of some of my non baking activities. My Mum has a Nursery and gardens that she is constantly working on, this week I got to paint a big sign on her new shop.


Cupcakes ( from Martha Stewart Cupcakes)

12 sugar cones
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

Buttercream

80 grams unsalted softened butter
2 ½ cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small amount of milk (if necessary)

Decorations

Pink food colouring
Melted chocolate
Chopped nuts
Maraschino cherries
Assorted candy sprinkles
Funsize flakes

To make the cupcakes- Preheat oven to 180 degrees c. Gently place a cone in each cup of a mini cupcake tray. (A mini tray is the perfect size for flat bottom ice cream cones)


Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each. (watch out for batter stealing boyfriends)


Fill each cone with 2 to 3 tablespoons batter.



Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. (My cupcakes took close to 40 minutes, I wish I knew why)


Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream- beat the butter in a medium bowl until it is pale.
Gradually beat in the icing sugar, followed by the vanilla extract and milk if needed. Continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy.

To decorate the cupcakes- Tint half of the buttercream pink with gel-paste food color, if desired. Use an ice cream scoop to place buttercream (untinted or pink) on top of cupcake, then top with sprinkles. For "soft-serve" cones, use a pastry bag fitted with only a coupler (or a large plain tip) to pipe buttercream in a swirl over cone, then top with multicolored sprinkles; or, for "sundae" cones, drizzle melted chocolate over buttercream, then sprinkle with peanuts and top with a cherry or flake. For soft-serve "twist" cones, fill a pastry bag fitted with an open-star tip with buttercream, pipe swirls. Serve immediately

Deep Fried Ice-cream

I have had deep fried ice-cream at a restaurant on only 2 occasions. The first time was at a sushi restaurant, the ice-cream was rolled in cake then fried in tempura batter. The fried ice-cream was then hidden under a mountain of multi-coloured whipped cream, it was fun but didn’t really live up to expectations.

The second occasion was at the end of the most amazing Thai banquet, sadly the ice-cream wasn’t fried at all, just rolled in toasted coconut.

I was having Dad over for dinner and these were the perfect dessert to go with a green Thai curry. The mix of breadcrumbs and coconut made for a tasty, crispy outside that cracked nicely open to reveal the soft ice-cream surprise inside. They were everything I hoped for.

These are yum Yum YUM! Deep frying plus ice-cream plus caramel sauce, what’s not to like.

Ice-cream balls (makes 5)

1 litre vanilla ice-cream
Plain flour
1 egg
¼ cup milk
½ cup dry breadcrumbs
½ cup coconut
Oil for deep-frying

To make the ice-cream balls- firstly make sure everything is super cold. Place a tray in the freezer to chill before starting and make sure ice-cream is hard frozen.

Scoop the ice-cream into balls using an ice-cream scoop, place the balls onto the chilled tray and return to the freezer until hard.

Working fast to ensure the ice-cream doesn’t soften too much, lightly coat the balls in flour, dip in the combined egg and milk, then coat firmly with the mixed coconut and breadcrumbs. Place the coated ice-cream back in the freezer to harden.


When the ice-cream is hard repeat the coating process, to give a firm shell. Freeze the ice-cream balls until ready to serve.

To fry the ice-cream, place the balls one at a time, into deep hot oil. Fry the balls for about 30 seconds, until golden brown, remove from oil with a slotted spoon. Absorb any excess oil with paper towel.


Serve the ice-cream immediately with warm caramel sauce.

Caramel sauce

30 grams butter
¼ cup brown sugar
100 mls cream

To make the caramel sauce- melt the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Gradually add the cream and stir until well combined, remove from the heat. Serve warm over ice-cream.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

I was very lucky to have a 5 day weekend last week, too bad it was cold, rainy and windy for most of it. Other than the bad weather it was still a very nice break, we got a lot of stuff organised for the upcoming America trip and I went to the Ekka twice.

For those outside of Queensland Australia, the Ekka is our version of a state fair. The highlights for me were the baby animals and the St. Bernard puppies and the squishy faced kitties, oh and the decorated cakes and a bertie bettle showbag.


I got a few quick pictures of the cakes, they’re not the best, most are taken over the shoulders of the crowds of people.


After all the food and chocolate at the show I didn’t feel much like baking anything super sweet this week, but the cold weather made me crave hot tea and cookies.

I have never eaten or made snickerdoodle cookies before. Call me childish but their name makes me giggle. Snickerdoodles! These cookies were perfect, crispy with a little bit of spice and perfect dipped in tea.


Snickerdoodles (from Cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies)

250 grams softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon caster sugar (extra)
2 teaspoons cinnamon sugar
(makes 42 cookies)

To make the cookies- beat butter, brown sugar, caster sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined

Mix in the sifted flour, soda and nutmeg, one half at a time.

Cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 180 degrees c. Cover baking trays with baking paper.

In a small shallow bowl, combine the extra caster sugar and cinnamon.

Roll out level tablespoons of the cookie dough into balls.


Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar.


Place the cookie balls on a tray, space them about 7cm apart.


Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, remove from oven and allow them to cool on the trays.

Snickers Cupcakes

These cupcakes come with some warnings! They are sweet! They are gooey! And I think most people would have a hard time eating more than one in a sitting.

Its not often boyfriend makes a baking request, so when he jokingly asked if I could make cupcakes that taste like a snickers bar I was all over it! He was very surprised to come home from work and find a plate of snickers cupcakes waiting for him.

They may not be the prettiest cupcakes, but they sure are pretty delicious! Boyfriend said they are even better than the chocolate bars that inspired them.

For the cupcakes I tried the Devils food cupcake recipe from Martha Stewarts Cupcakes, it worked out beautifully. The recipe said it makes 32, I halved the recipe and ended up with 16 perfect cupcakes.

To make these little chocolate cupcakes into snickers flavoured treats, I filled them with caramel and topped them with peanut butter frosting. To finish them off I added a small swirl of chocolate buttercream and a drizzle of caramel.


Devils Food Cupcakes (from Martha Stewart Cupcakes)

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

To make the cupcakes- Preheat oven to 180 degrees c. Line your cupcake pans with paper liners.
Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl.
With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 20 minutes.


Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes, turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.


Caramel Filling

200ml can sweetened condensed milk

To make the caramel- remove the label from the condensed milk can, with a can opener, make two small holes in the top. Place the can in a saucepan, open side up. Fill the saucepan up with cool water to come to about 1cm from the top of the can.


Bring the water to the boil, then reduce it to a simmer for around 3 hours. Keep an eye on the water level, making sure to keep it at the same level until caramel forms. Remove the tin carefully from the pan and let it cool before using.


Peanutbutter Buttercream

½ cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
60 grams softened butter
2 cups icing sugar
Small amount of milk (if needed)

To make the frosting- in a medium bowl beat together butter and peanut butter until smooth and lighter in colour. Gradually add the icing sugar, continue beating to make a light and fluffy buttercream. If the frosting is too stiff add a little milk at a time until you reach desired consistency.



Chocolate frosting

30 grams softened butter
1 cup icing sugar
4 tbsp cocoa
2 tbsp milk (approx)

To make the chocolate frosting- cream the butter in a medium bowl. Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa, gradually beat into the butter. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time until smooth.