Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

I have never been a huge fan of beer, that is until I was pregnant.  Suddenly I was craving beer in the middle of the night.  I think that the ultimate rebel was coming out in me wanting something I knew I couldn't have when pregnant.  My close girlfriend is nearing the end of her pregnancy of twins so I knew I had to make special cupcakes for her this week, so I thought what better than the pairing of beer and chocolate!  

I got the inspiration to make these cupcakes one morning this week after dropping my daughter off at kindy.  So off I went to the supermarket with my baby under my arms, looking half put together (as you usually do after the morning kindy run) and picked up a four pack of Guinness and a pack of nappies.  I think I must have looked like an alcoholic this early in the morning buying alcohol.  What's worse is that I had to complain about the price being wrong and bring it to the attention of several shoppers and checkout ladies that I was buying beer at 9am(Guinness is expensive and it was saving me $3!).  I suddenly felt the need to explain that I was baking.  I had to laugh too as it was the first time in a long time I wasn't ID'd.  Hmmm, I must have looked bad.

The cupcakes were pretty easy to put together and the icing was pretty good too although I tend to prefer a good old fashioned buttercream icing so I also made a batch of chocolate buttercream with a bit of coffee added to it to go on some.  You barely taste the Guinness, especially once the icing is on top and if anything the beer only enhances the taste of the chocolate.  I think next time I would try a recipe with baileys in the icing and maybe a whiskey ganache centre.  A bit too much maybe?  I abstained this time though due to the fact that these went to my pregnant friend.  This recipe made a ton of cupcakes so I also shared them around with my husbands workmates and to some special mums that attend the Friday session at my daughters playcentre.  Everyone seemed to really like them so I definitely recommend trying them!  If you are out buying Guinness I also recommending making the Beer Bread I posted in May with a bottle of guinness.  You will not regret it and I guarantee it will be the best bread you have ever tasted!!!

You can find this recipe on food.com: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/chocolate-stout-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

Camera Cake

This has been my favorite cake to make to date!  I love recreating real objects and was super excited when my friend asked me to make this camera cake for her husbands 40th.  What I loved even more is that my husband enjoyed getting involved in this one.  Its a real mans cake I think.  The bottom base of the cake and the camera are made of chocolate mud cake covered in chocolate fondant.  The lens and the film roll were made from rice crispy treats covered in chocolate fondant. The negative and the strap of the camera are made from modeling chocolate.  A lot of planning went into this cake and it came together so well because of it.

The party was in Auckland so we took the opportunity to have a night away with only one of the kids and visited some close friends. It was a fantastic time and it was special catching up with some great people.  Even better, there was no issue in the transport of the cake.  Phew!  I am going to start looking into properly getting cakes couriered so if you live outside of Tauranga I may still be able to make you a cake!

Key Lime Pie

My girlfriend gave me limes from her tree about a week ago and I was so excited!  Limes are so dear in the supermarket that I very rarely cook or bake with them but I LOVE key lime pie and knew I would have to make one.  Citrus is always my dessert of choice after dinner, especially lime.   The tarter the better and the creamier the better.  There are tons of versions of key lime pie.  The one I chose is super quick and easy to make as there are no eggs involved, just 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk, which makes an incredibly creamy pie.   The crust calls for a graham cracker crust (why I started my graham cracker kick this week) but you can use any biscuit you would use to make a cheesecake crust.  If you have an over-abundance of limes this pie will surely impress your guests with very little work involved.  I will warn you that it is very rich which may leave some disappointed as it is so yummy and they will want more but just won't be able to do it (which arguably is a great thing as you will get leftovers!).

You can find the recipe at: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/key-lime-pie-vii/detail.aspx

S'mores cupcakes

I want to be able to share these cupcakes with EVERYONE this week.  I would have too, but before I knew it I had eaten half of the batch! I kept telling myself I was doing taste tests to make sure they tasted ok but really, I couldn't get enough of these babies.

S'mores are a classic treat eaten around a campfire.  Graham crackers, roasted marshmallow and a small bit of chocolate are sandwiched together to create something wonderful and leaving you wanting some more (hence the name).  Because I am loving graham crackers this week and because I love cupcakes I searched the web for S'mores cupcakes.   I was wanting a cupcake that tasted like a graham cracker but the only ones I could find called for actual graham crackers as replacement for the flour.  I was disapointed with this option as I knew it would leave the cupcake too dry and probably a bit heavy so I decided to invent my own.   This is the first cupcake recipe I have actually invented and I will have to say I am super pleased with the results!  I used a vanilla cupcake recipe as the base and then modified it with ingredients found in the homemade graham crackers I made the other day.  On top of the cupcake I put a dark chocolate ganache and then placed a large marshmallow on the top.  I then placed the cupcakes under the broiler and the marshmallows turned gooey and soft and the chocolate melted into the cupcake creating a yummy chocolatey mess, which is what essentially a s'more is! Not to mention so so good.  These are best served right after being placed under the broiler otherwise you may want to heat them before serving.  

This weeks cupcakes go to a single mum of four kids who has been struggling with a bad illness recently.  Being a single mum must be hard enough but having to raise your kids when you can hardly care for yourself must be incredibly difficult.  I find it hard enough when I have a bad cold and I have my husband at home to help me!  

Ingredients

1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup wholemeal flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup milk

Dark chocolate ganache

12 large marshmallows

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F).  Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.

2.  In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter for 8-10 minutes.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition.  Combine flours and baking powder and set aside.  Whisk together honey, milk and vanilla.  Add the flour and baking powder mixture to the creamed mixture alternating with the honey and milk mixture until all just combined.  Be careful not to overmix. Spoon batter with an icecream scoop into each liner.  

3.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes.  Cake is done when it springs back to touch. 

4.  Spoon the chocolate ganache over the cupcakes (for this recipe go to: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ganache.html)

5. Place marshmallow on the cupcakes and place under the broiler.  Watch carefully.  When the marshmallows are golden, the cupcakes are done!

Homemade Graham Crackers

I'm on a graham cracker kick this week.  One of the American classics that I occasionally come to miss.  Especially when I get a hankering for s'mores or a cheesecake.  For those who don't know what a graham cracker is, its a honey flavoured biscuit with a cracker crunch, similar to a digestive or a wheaten biscuit.  Its often used as the base for cheesecakes and is one of the main ingredients for S'mores.  Its also a great snack for kids.  I remember eating it when I got home from school with butter or peanut butter smeared on top of it.

It occured to me last week that surely there must be a recipe for graham crackers so I searched the web and sure enough, I found a winner!  These graham crackers taste so similar to the real thing and surprisingly easy to make.  The link makes them sound somewhat complicated but they are easier to make than they sound. You can make them into rectangles to look similar to the real graham crackers (pictured below) or you could do what I did and cut them into shapes.  My daughter was able to help me with this.  While I cut the shapes out she stuck them on the tray and sprinkled the cinnamon and sugar on them.  She loved doing this and surprised me by placing the shapes into individual groups.  These crackers did not last long and even my six month old loved eating them.

You can find this recipe on this link: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/05/graham-crackers/

Toy Story Cake

This cake ended up being a huge project!  When my friend came to me wanting a toy story cake I dreamt too big!  I envisioned having buzz and woody in the rocket flying above the cake and RC the car.  This of course ended up being way too complicated and time consuming so I ended up having to make the rocket taking off behind the car.  I also made everything too big for the cake so I had to extend the cake out the back which did work well with the smoke from the rocket.  In the end I am extremely pleased to have pulled this cake off but I can appreciate why cake decorators will often purchase character figurines and not make them.  Talk about a major!  You will never get them just like the character and always be slightly disappointed. But, I am pleased to have pushed myself and taken a risk.  Its the only way I am going to get better!

Vintage Flower Cake

I have had pretty busy week this week with managing a couple of cakes and a sick baby so apologies for my lack of posts!  One of my good friends had birthday drinks this week with just the girls.  What a great night!  Sharing stories of motherhood and just relaxing for the evening.  This particular friend has been a huge encouragement to me and my cakes.  She has given me tons of great ideas and has given me the push I needed to start getting myself out there.  Her and her husband even came up with the name of Mrs Woolleys Cakes so it was very fitting that for her birthday she got a special Mrs Woolleys cakes.  This was my first cake covered in black fondant which can be tricky but I was quite pleased with the results.  The flowers and the tiles are all made from modeling chocolate and the cake is a chocolate mudcake.