Sparkle Casserole

Winter + casserole = happy Lisa :)

This little Sunday night dinner treat is sure to win the hearts of your fabulous significant other, friends and kids.

It's a Lisa Sparkle creation coming straight to you....from my brain.

Cook, eat, thank me later x

Sparkle Casserole

Ingredients

Pre spiced 'chicken roasting pieces' from Aldi. Approx $7 on a tray.
1 onion
3 sticks of celery
1 red capsicum
1 sprig each of dried thyme and rosemary
3 cloves garlic
1-2 cups red wine
3 cups water
2 cans tinned tomato

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and put the oven shelves on the very bottom rung.

With oil, cook off chicken pieces 4 or 5 at a time in a big heavy based pot that is suitable for the oven. Put chicken aside once browned, not fully cooked through.

Chop up onion, capsicum and celery roughly into chunks. Take shells off garlic and put veg, garlic and herbs into pot with oil and cook until onion is translucent. Do not burn, cook on low heat.

Once veg is cooked pop chicken back in the pot and pour over the wine, water and tinned tomatoes.

Stir the shit out of it.

Pop the lid on and stick your awesome casserole in the oven for 3 hours. Stir occasionally.

Chicken should fall off the bone and juices reduced. (that's fun to say)

During the 3hrs, pass the time like I do, watch the kardashians or gossip girl :)

Once 3 hrs has passed and the chicken looks sufficiently cooked and f-ing awesome, cook some rice and serve that shit up.

Love me x

Rustic Bread

Hi all!

Tonight my sister-in-law and brother-in-law came over for dinner with my fabulous niece Miss Leah. Being childless myself, being around kids can be quite a challenge for me. I do however, LOVE Miss Leah. Her horse impressions tonight were fabulous and highly entertaining. Being an almost 2 year old seems like a lot of fun, I wish people would clap for me when I make animal noises.

It was a miserable day in Canberra, a perfect day to make soup and bread. Mmm.

Marc had the pumpkin soup under control so I had my first crack at making bread.

I've been quite afraid of bread making but in reality it's not that hard at all. You just need a great recipe. Lucky for you, and me, I was able to find an idiot proof recipe.

I'm not even going to bother to type it out, I'm simply going to guide you to a wonderful blog/website with amazing recipes. Www.thestonesoup.com

I made the adapted sourdough bread because I hadn't made the sourdough starter, a fairly gross alive weird culture that's added to bread. I have however, begun my starter this arvo, I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, this bread was very simple to make and the recipe was extremely easy to follow.

When dinner time came, the soup and bread disappeared, which means it mustn't have sucked :)

Just make the damn bread, don't be scared.

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/10/rustic-sourdough-the-secret-to-making-amazing-bread-at-home-5-ingredients-simple-baking/

Kate and Jimi's Wedding Dessert Buffet

Hello Friends!

Long time no blog you say, well yes. I am very sorry to have not blogged for a long time. Let me just say that in the past I had considerable time to blog about wonderful cakes and biscuits. Fortunately for my brain but unfortunately for my readers, I am currently in a job where my time is spent doing other things…like….work.

So, I’m sorry.

However amongst the lack of blog, excellent things have happened! The first (and most important) event that springs to mind is Miss Kate and Mr Jimi’s delightfully delicious wedding! You should remember Kate from “Kates 30^th Birthday Cupcake Extravaganza” post and other posts regarding food….wait they are all about food, anyway she stars in a few J.

I must first say (before I get all worked up about the food, decorations and that god awful dance they did at the end…..just kidding I cried like a nut job), Kate and Jimi were the most stunning bride and groom I have ever seen. The love that surrounds them and the love their friends and family have for them was felt by all. They are truly a beautiful couple and I was so bloody honored to be one of Kate’s bridesmaids.

Kate and Jimi’s wedding was perfect. It had everything Kate had envisaged and glued to her wedding inspiration board. There where flowers EVERYWHERE! They were magnificent and straight from the garden, no florist required. I’m still dreaming of the hydrangeas……..love.

It goes without saying that Kate looked absolutely stunning…..see picture below….not that I needed to put a picture to prove it but just because you simply must see how beautiful she was (and still is!). Rachel Bridesmaid and I scrubbed up pretty darn good too I think J

Harry the dog (ring bearer) stole the show with his waist coat and pocket watch ring carrier. He was the envy of all male dogs and the heart throb of all female dogs across the southern highlands, if not the entire world.

But the food you scream….tell me about the food!!!

The food was ridiculous. It was absolutely amazing. I remember quite distinctly how good the fish and potatoes were and the Thai oysters were so good I couldn’t stop eating them, and I don’t really care for oysters that much. I also remember the lovely Pimms which we sipped out on the lawn while watching guests play croquet and ring toss before the reception. In saying that I do recall spilling that Pimms (or was it another alcoholic beverage) on my lap, in a not to classy moment. From that moment forward I ceased drinking Pimms……and moved onto wine.

After dinner, came the dessert buffet.

Yes I just typed BUFFET! This buffet was one of 2 pinnacles (is two pinnacles possible? Whatever) of the evening. The first pinnacle was the buffet, which I will get to in a minute. The second pinnacle was Kate and Jimis first dance, or should I say Swing Dance, as a married couple.

The time, effort and bruises that went into the preparation of their swing dance was substantial. There were many many lessons and many impromptu rehearsals in the living room and around Lake Burley Griffin at ungodly hours of the morning. The dance bought me to tears. I could see all the effort that had been put in by those two to make the extremely hard and high energy dance look effortless. Those lifts and high kicks put all other wedding dances before them to shame. SHAME! I have never been more proud of my friend than in that moment. I’m slightly crying at my desk right now as I’m writing this. I’m still so effected by the awesomeness.

The Dessert Buffet.

Kate asked all her very talented friends and family to bake their little hearts out and bring all their wares to the wedding for everyone to consume at dessert time.

If you weren’t there then you don’t know how awesome these cakes and things were!  

Which is a shame really…..

However…….here are some of the recipes.

Macadamia and Ginger Shortbread by Kate Florez

Ingredients

• 100 g Macadamias
• 250 g Butter, chopped
• 1/2 Cup Caster sugar
• 2 Cups Plain flour
• 1/2 Cup Rice flour
• 125 g Buderim ginger glace ginger, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp Caster sugar, to sprinkle
• Icing sugar, to dust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150C. Spread the nuts on a baking tray and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool and chop.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the sifted fours and use a butter knife to mix together. Add the ginger and nuts and mix in.
3. Gather the dough together and turn out onto a sheet of baking paper. Press the dough out into a 25cm round. Lift the paper and dough onto a baking tray.
4. Pinch the edges with your fingers to create a fluted edge. Score the dough into 16 wedges and prick with a fork. You can also press it into a dish of any shape. Sprinkle with the extra sugar.
5. Bake for 35 minutes or until firm and pale golden. Allow to cool on the tray. Dust with icing sugar and cut into wedges (or fingers).

Gluten –free Persian Orange and Almond Cake by Kathie Mackay

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 2 oranges
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (315g) caster sugar
• 3 cups (300g) almond meal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• Mascarpone, to serve

Orange blossom syrup

• 1 orange
• 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar
• 1/4 cup (60ml) water
• 1 tsp orange blossom water

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 20cm round springform pan and line the base with baking paper.

2.      Place oranges in a large saucepan; cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes. Drain. Return to pan and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil. Cook for a further 15 minutes. Drain and repeat once more or until very tender. Drain. Coarsely chop and discard any pips.

3.      Place orange in a food processor; process until smooth. Use an electric mixer to whisk eggs and sugar until thick and pale. Add orange, almond meal, baking powder, cinnamon and cardamom; gently fold until just combined. Spoon into prepared pan; smooth the surface. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Set aside in pan to cool completely.

4.      To make syrup, use a zester to remove rind from orange. Juice orange. Place the juice, sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves and syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Add orange blossom water and zest. Set aside to cool.

5.      Drizzle the cake with syrup. Cut into wedges and serve with mascarpone.

Pecan Caramel Tart by Rachel Clarke (Rachel Bridesmaid)

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour
• 125g cold butter, chopped
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2-3 cups cold water

Filling

• 3 ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• ¾ cup butter, cubed
• ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ½ cup honey
• 2/3 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream

Pastry Directions

1. Sift flour and add butter. Shop through with a knife or rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar.
2. Add egg yolks, vanilla essence and 2 tablespoons water. Lightly bring together until it forms a dough, adding extra water if needed. Roll into a ball an dpop in the fridge for about 20 mins.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Roll out the dough to fit a tart tin, reserving any scraps of dough there should be some.
4. Blind back for about 15mins, then remove rice or baking beads and back another 5 mins or until lightly golden. Remove and allow to cool

Filling Directions

1. Arrange pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 mins or until lightly toasted. Cool on a wire rack for 15 mins or until completely cool.
2. Bring brown sugar, honey, 2/3 cup butter, and whipping cream to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in toasted pecans and spoon hot filling into prepared crust.
3. If you have any scraps of pastry left over, cut some decorative shapes to stick on the top of the filling.
4. Bake at 180 for 20-25 mins or until golden and bubbly. Cool on a wire rack for 30 mins or until completely cool.

Dust with icing sugar and devour!

Hilary Schofield provided an amazing cheese platter and things J

Vanilla Cupcakes for RSPCA CupCake Day!

Hello Friends!

So, I have officially tried out my new oven!

My first attempt at baking in my new oven, in my new house, was these Vanilla Cupcakes I got from joyofbaking.com.

They are wonderful! I made them for my works RSPCA Cupcake Day and they where a hit.

There isn’t much vanilla in them, so I changed the recipe and added vanilla bean paste because it SHITS all over vanilla extract.

Anyhoo, here is the recipe, altered by me J

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract – or for a better result use vanilla bean paste

Zest of 1 large lemon (outer yellow skin)

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

Buttercream Frosting:

2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk or light cream

Assorted food colors (if desired)

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 17 - 20 minutes or just until set and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Do not over bake or the cupcakes will be dry.)

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. If you want flat topped cupcakes then slice off the dome of each cupcake, with a sharp knife, before frosting. 

If you want to pipe the frosting, I like to use a large Wilton 1M star decorating tip.

Cupcakes are best eaten the same day they are made, but they can be covered and stored for a few days.

Buttercream Frosting

In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. 

Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). 

Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed. Tint the frosting with desired food color (I use the paste food coloring that is available at cake decorating stores and party stores).

Makes about 12 cupcakes

They didnt rise as much as i would have liked but they tasted awesome!
Sparkle out xx

Sparkle Cookies & Almond Biscotti

Well, first of all, I’d like to apologise for not posting since Easter....EASTER!!!

A lot has been going on and i kind of lost my baking motivation. Firstly, our beautiful cockatiel Dennis decided he wanted to escape and flew away one Friday morning. Obviously we were and still are devastated. I think this sparked my de-motivation. Then we decided to buy an apartment, that then fell through and added to our already crappy month of May. But we got another, better, apartment and finally things are starting to look up. This one has a spa and a big balcony Toulouse can take dumps on.

Anyway....

I’ve baked only twice since Easter. The first was…well...a first! I’ve always wanted to bake Biscotti but found it a bit daunting really. I guess i decided getting back on the baking band wagon should start with something new and challenging.

The second recipe is one I’ve altered and made my own. I officially dub thee Sparkle Cookies. Look, just make them and bloody eat them. Trust me, you’re gonna love ‘em.

Almond biscotti

Ingredients

1 cup (145g) blanched whole almonds

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups (260g) all purpose flour

¾ (150g) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon pure almond extract (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Toast almonds for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

Reduce oven temperature to 150 degrees C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

In a small bowl lightly beat the eggs and extracts together,.

In the bowl of your electric mixture (or hand mixer) combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until blended (about 30 secs). Gradually add the egg mixture and beat until a dough forms, adding almonds about halfway through. On a lightly floured surface roll dough into a log about 35cms long and 8-10cms wide. Transfer log to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30-40mins or until firm to the tough (log will spread during baking).  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10mins.

Transfer log to a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut log into slices (1.25cms) thick on the diagonal. Arrange evenly on baking sheet. Bake 10 mins, turn slices over and bake another 10mins or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Note: can substitute hazelnuts or walnujts for the almonds. If desired, add 1 tablespoon of orange or lemon zest to the egg mixture.

Makes 28 biscotti.

Sparkle Cookies

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

160g softened buter

¾ cup white sugar

¾ cup soft brown sugar, firmly packed

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips – ½ dark, ½ milk

1 cup chopped pecans

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Sift together flour, bicarb and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream butter, sugars and vanilla until light and creamy. Beat in eggs

Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Roll big teaspoons of dough onto baking papered baking trays, leaving plenty of room for spreading. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Makes 20 or so.

Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter everyone!

Once again, my apologies for not blogging more often. Marc, Dennis and I have acquired a new addition to our family, Toulouse the French Bulldog.

He is totally adorable but is very demanding hence the reason I haven’t baked for a while.

However, yesterday I made for the first time ever, Hot Cross Buns.

I was surprised how easy they where but as usual there was a little drama.

Firstly, I got the recipe from cuisine.com.au and upon examining the recipe I noticed that there wasn’t a recipe for the crosses. So I googled the recipe and found some so all was ok.

But, just now, when looking at the recipe I can see the damn ingredients for the crosses! It was just the damn layout of the bloody website that stuffed me up! Bloody Hell. Of course it also calls for caster sugar which I totally didn’t put in the buns that I made! I’M CURRENTLY FURIOUS! How can one be so stupid. As I was making the paste for the crosses I was thinking to myself and out loud (because Marc responded) “this recipe I got from taste.com for the crosses is basically glue for paper mache”. Well, dahhh, because it didn’t have any sugar in it. OH MY GOD! I’m angry.

Count to ten…………

Ok, I’m fine now. Here is the recipe

Hot Cross Buns – cuisine.com.au

Ingredients

1/3 cup caster sugar

2 x 7g sachets dry yeast

1 ½ cups warm milk

600g plain flour

Pinch of salt

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp mixed spice

60g butter, chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

2/3 cup currents – I used raisins

Paste for crosses

½ cup plain flour

4 tbsp water

2 tsp caster sugar

Glaze

1 tbsp very hot water

1 tsp gelatine powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

Method

Combine caster sugar, yeast and milk in a bowl, stir until smooth, cover and rest in a warm place for 10 mins or until frothy.

Sift flour, sale, cinnamon and mixed spice into a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub butter into flour mixture. Stir in yeast mixture, egg and currents until well combined. Sparkle Note* kneed the mixture a bit as well. Cover and rest in a warm place for 45mins or until mixture has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about five mins) Sparkle Note* if you kneaded before you may only need to do it for 1 minute this time, don’t over knead. Divide the dough into 16 even pieces and roll into balls. Place balls into a lightly greased square cake pan lined with baking paper. Rest covered for 10-15mins or until balls have risen to the top of the pan.

Combine paste ingredients in a small bowl and using a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle or a plastic bag with a snip off one corner, pipe crosses over buns. Sparkle Note* I used a zip lock bag.

Bake for about 20mins or until well browned and cooked. Sparkle Note* tap the top of the buns lightly and if they sound hollow they are done! Combine glaze ingredient sin a small bowl and sitr until sugar is dissolved. Brush buns with a warm glaze and cool on a cake rack.

Makes 16 – can be stored in an airtight container for two days.

Toulouse our new Frenchie

Sparkle Meringue Surprise

Greetings Strangers!

My sincere apologies for not posting frequently, and if i can steal a particularly fabulous word from the totally amazing movie “Clueless”, i seem to be blogging “sporadically”.

No good excuse really, just that Marc has been away and we are preparing for the arrival of our little bundle of joy......no I’m not pregnant....god forbid. We are adopting a French Bulldog and we have already named him Toulouse. I’ll post pictures when he arrives J. Until then I have posted a pic below of the always amazing Dennis, my cockatiel.

i seem to be lacking in the baking enthusiasm department of late. Maybe its because i have a wedding dress to fit into eventually, although that didn’t stop me from eating 6 Oreos 5mins ago. Maybe because Marc has been away for work and if i bake i may just eat it all. That reminds me of last weekend.....i made Posh Choc Shortbread Squares and pretty much ate the whole thing. Note to self: never make that dangerously delicious baked good EVER AGAIN! I will post the recipe however, because i don’t want to be the only girl out there trying to con herself into eating carrot sticks when all she really wants is the amazing shortbread squares that are hidden at the back of the fridge.

But enough of my whinging and soul searching. Here is a little Meringue i whisked up (get it, whisked...sometimes i crack myself up) a couple of weekends ago.

Sparkle Meringue Surprise

Meringue recipes by Jamie Oliver, the toppings by yours truly.

Ingredients

4 large egg whites

200g caster sugar

½ cup white chocolate buttons

1-2 bananas

½ tin passionfruit pulp

Shredded coconut for sprinkleing

Method

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius and line a 40x25cm baking tray with baking paper.

Put your egg whites into a squeaky clean bowl, making sure there are absolutely no little pieces of egg shell or egg yolk in them. Whisk on medium until the whites form firm peaks. With your mixer still running gradually add the sugar. Turn your mixer up to the highest setting and whisk for about 7-8 minutes, until the meringue mixture is white and glossy. To test whether its done you can pinch some between your fingers – if it feels completely smooth its ready. If its slightly granular it needs a little more whisking.

Dot each corner of the baking paper with a blob of meringue, then turn it over and stick it to the baking tray. Spoon the meringue out on to the paper. Using the back of a spoon, shape and swirl it into an A4 size rectangle. Place in the preheated oven and bake for an hour or until crisp on the outside and a little soft and sticky inside.

For the topping melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and then drip and pour all over the baked meringue. Add chopped banana and passionfruit pulp.

Be creative and add nuts or whatever you like!

Pinky-Brown Red Velvet Cake - Challange Completed

WOW, this has been some pretty full-on weeks I've just had! First of all i must say...

MARC AND I GOT ENGAGED!!!!!



5mins after proposal, still crying a bit



We have been together for 4 years, and after putting up with me for that long he decided he would like me to be his wife. So, i can no longer call him my Man-Friend he has now graduated to my Fi, which is short for Fiance :)

Back to cake....

It started on Sunday 13th January, day before Valentines day.

As i lay on my couch 3pm slowly creeps around and i say to Marc "I don't wanna make this stupid cake", he lovingly replies "well you don't have to you know!", "but i have to" i say, "My blog needs me". OK, so maybe i didn't say the last thing but maybe, there is someone out there who reads my blog and couldn't possibly live another day without knowing that i had made the Red Velvet Cake......just maybe.

But on this day, i gave up on that person and instead tried my hand at a spot of golf. Needless to say i was pretty shocking at it but it was more fun than making a cake.

Monday 14th January, Valentines Day.

The questions and the emails started rolling in, "have you made the cake?"

I had disappointed my blog friends and not to mention the people at my work where upset their morning tea hadn't arrived.

Anyway, on Wednesday night i decided it was bloody time to get this bloody cake all over and done with. Here is the recipe - I'm going to be super lazy and give you a link.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html

I had two issues when making this cake.

1. BUY ENOUGH RED DYE!!! I only had about 5-10mls and it calls for about 30mls, hence the reason this post is call Pinky-Brown Red Velvet Cake.
2. i didn't put enough cream cheese frosting on the layers.

That was about it. Otherwise it was quite simple.

A special shout out to Miss Carole (my work colleague), thank you for lending me your knowledge and cake tin, i couldn't have done this without you.

Well people, this cake tasted pretty good and from the pictures below, it appears i wasn't alone in the enjoyment.

Thank you everyone for voting and next time, can ya pick one i don't have to dye?





Pinky-Brown





@ work cutting cake

Wayne, Me, Carole, Karen and James



Julie and Glenys

Snickerdoodles = Yum

One of my favorite biscuits are Snickerdoodles. They are all sugary and custard-y and super super yum.

I'm sure i have gained many calories whilst consuming these delightful things.

Actually I'm eating one now and i can feel it slowly making its way to my ass.

Make them, eat them, love them.

Snickerdoodles - Baking Bible

Ingredients
60g softened butter
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self-raising flour
pinch of salt
1/4 cup wheatgerm
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons castor sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons round cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Lightly grease baking trays. * I use baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Stir in sifted flours, salt, wheatgerm and vanilla until well combined.

Roll mixture into 2cm balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar to coat.

Place balls on trays, leaving space between each for spreading. Bake for 10-12 mins.

Makes 24.

Winner of Pick a Cake - Red Velvet Cake!!!

Bonjour!

Thanks to everyone who voted on the Pick a Cake for me to Make!

The winner by far was the Red Velvet Cake and because its a very sexy lookin thang I've decided to make it for my Valentines Day Special.

So everyone, if you work with me you are going to be lucky little valentines and get to eat this amazing cake (well lets hope it will be amazing!).

If your my friends, sorry loves but you will miss out on the first installment. However you are welcome to come to my house and make it with me, or come to my house and sit around my kitchen table reading magazines and watch me make it, going on past experience this is usually the option preferred. :)

For everyone else, MAKE IT YOUR DAMN SELF! No just kidding. No I'm not hahahha.

Until then i will make and post a special recipe close to my heart and that is always a crowd favorite....Snickerdoodles!

Love Lisa Sparkle



Me and My Man Friend Marc and My Sister Bec (me in the middle)

Fun Picture for no Reason xxx



You Get to Decide! Pick a Cake for me to Make!

Hay Everyone!

I've decided to make a cake..but you guys have to pick it!

Have a look at the cake recepie links below and post a comment letting me know which one you would like me to make!

All votes must be in by Friday 28th Janurary! Get Voting People!

Many thanks to http://www.joyofbaking.com/ !

http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html

http://www.joyofbaking.com/HummingbirdCake.html

 

http://www.joyofbaking.com/PumpkinSpiceCake.html 

Miss Kate's 30th Birthday Cupcake Extravaganza!

Hi All!

I am very pleased to be back for 2011 with this first post!

My darling friend Kate had her 30th birthday last week, and being the special beautiful friend she is, she totally deserved an awesome birthday cake.

Upon asking Kate's boyfriend Jimi what i should get her for her birthday he said something along the lines of "you could make her a cake!" Of course i agreed, but a little anxiety set in. What type of cake should i cook? How will i get my cake to NOT sink? Can i fashion a meringue into a big 3 and 0? Thankfully i consulted the always wonderful Joyofbaking.com and came up with these two recipes.

Lemon Cupcakes:
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 large lemon (outer yellow skin)
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
Filling:
1/3 - 1/2 cup (80 - 120 ml) lemon curd (store bought or homemade) (recipe follows)
Lemon Curd:
3 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
1 tablespoon (4 grams) finely shredded lemon zest
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces
Whipped Cream:
1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Fill the muffin cups with batter. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, cut a deep hole in the center of each cupcake, using a melon baller or the end of a large pastry tip. Fill each hole with a heaping teaspoon of lemon curd.

Lemon Curd: In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate until cold. The lemon curd can be made several days (up to a week) in advance.

Frosting: In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and wire whisk in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. Spread frosting on each cupcake with a knife or spatula, or if you want to pipe the frosting, I like to use a large Wilton 1M star decorating tip.
If not serving the cupcakes immediately, cover and place in the refrigerator until serving time.
Makes 12 cupcakes    

I started my Lemon Cupcake journey on Tuesday night  (30^th Birthday on Saturday). I decided to make the Lemon Curd in advance just to give myself more time on the actual day of the party.

I found the curd really easy to make but there is defiantly a fine line between “runny” and “Hollandaise”. Luckily mine turned out ok with little to no disasters. I still have a lot of this left over which I have heard is lovely on toast.



Lemon Curd



I made the cupcakes and frosting on the Saturday (party day) starting with a 6:30am wake up call. I had a super busy day planned which included going to a baby shower at 2pm so I was a little worried I wouldn’t get both recipes completed in enough time. So after some breakfast I set to work.

I made the batter with absolutely no fuss, popped the cupcakes into the oven and in no time they where out and looked good, well, 3 looked good the rest took on a funny muffin top look. But anyhoo, the first part was done.

Quick break to watch the re-run of BH&G at 8:30am. Cup of tea time and Dennis head rub time.

I then washed up the first lot of bowls I put crap on and started on the Banana Chocolate Cupcakes….

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes:

2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (75 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch-processed)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium sized bananas)

1 cup (240 ml) warm water

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

1/2 cup (120 ml) canola or corn oil

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache Frosting:

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon (14 gram) unsalted butter

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line 24 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non stick vegetable spray.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. Pour or scoop the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Frost with the Ganache.

Ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel, or heatproof bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let the Ganache cool completely, and then beat until soft and fluffy. With an offset spatula or knife, spread the frosting on top of each cupcake. You can also pipe the frosting. Can garnish with colored sprinkles. Can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 24 regular-sized cupcakes.

Back-tracking a little bit……

I started this recipe by making the Ganashe on Thursday night (same as before, this is due to me trying to prevent a heart attack on Saturday) at 10pm after I had finished crocheting a massive blanket for the baby shower, which had already taken 3 months. To say I was tired is an understatement.

Just like the Lemon Curd there is a serious fine line between “Ganashe” and “Burning the ass out of 200g of Lindt 70% cocoa cooking chocolate, which is something like $6.00 per block”.

Luckily, this didn’t happen and my Ganashe turned out lovely. Thankyou chocolate lords!

Fast-forwarding to the morning of the party (Saturday) after the Lemon Cupcakes have been cooked and started to cool…

I was still in my pyjamas (I hadn’t showered or brushed my teeth at this stage) and onto the next lot of cupcakes I went..

Once the batter was ready to be cooked I looked at the batter and said to myself (and Dennis, who doesn’t give a flying crap what I do with anything as long as he gets head rubs), “this is super runny, I wonder if I should add more flour. No wait, maybe I should make just one cupcake and see if it rises”. So that’s what I did, in went one cupcakes and Voila, the cupcake rose! Now, I know I shouldn’t question the recipes on the Joyofbaking.com because so far I’ve had 100% success but I was a little weary of this one.

So, I got myself a ladle, yes a ladle, and proceeded to ladle my batter (if you could call it that, more like soup!) into the cupcake patties. Then popped them into the oven and rise, they did. “Fabulous” I said to myself.

What next……Ah yes the Lemon Curd holes! By the time the Banana/Choc cups where baking the Lemon ones where cooled and ready to be dug out! With a melon baller I scooped out the middle and then spooned the curd into the holes. Simple!

During a small amount of “down time”, in which the choc cups where cooling I had a shower……..YAY! this would have been about 11am.

Conversation between myself and well…myself.

“Ok Lisa, its 11am, you are now clean, well done. All you need to do now is ice these damn cupcakes once they are cooled. Ok, the Lemon cups will be iced with cream so that cant be done until just before serving, that’s ok we can deal with that. Now, the choc cups will need to be iced with the Ganashe which requires you to beat the stuff then stick it into a piping bag that you have never used properly before. Excellent. Alright lets do the damn Ganashe then.”

Let me just say for the record, I hate piping. I’m seriously bad at it. Mind you I think my icing turns out pretty good (it could be worse) but I seem to get the mixture everywhere, which is exactly what I did with this.

I had Ganashe ON the fridge, ON my Lorna Jane top, ON the bench and even on the OUTSIDE of the piping bag. I was a complete mess, I even recall dropping the cupcake that I was icing and actually catching it midair but with the icing side down, so my hand was covered also.  Luckily Marc wasn’t home to see this nightmare. I’m surprised Dennis didn’t get covered also.

After that (and another issue I had with the bag and me sticking it back in the fridge which of course makes the Ganashe hard again so I stuck the piping bag in the microwave, but I wont worry about that story because it was the worst part of my day), Marc came home and I got ready for the baby shower.

Fast forward 4 hours and I quickly duck back home from the baby shower (my blanket was very well received which I was so happy about because I put my soul and many many lunch hours into that thing) grabbed the cups and the cream that would need to be whipped and such at Kate’s house and off we went to the party!

The party was fantastic and Miss Kate looked beautiful! It was a really fun, relaxing afternoon which we both needed. I found out that Kate had been cooking all day also and she produced the most amazing rice paper roles and tarts and muffins and big jugs of Pimms! Bless you love, you are wonderful.

Cake Time – cream whipped, candles on, lighter located and out to the party I go.

It was very windy so only the most important candle was able to be lit, the number 30. Kate was very reluctant to blow this out so just as we had finished singing Happy Birthday a gust of wind came and blew the candle out for her, which she was very happy about J.

From what I heard the cupcakes where a hit! I personally liked the Banana Choclate cupcake texture the most as it was super moist but I think I liked the Lemon ones for flavour, but I’m a bit biased as I don’t like banana too much in cooking.

Overall, Miss Kate liked my gift to her on her special birthday and that’s all that mattered!

To Miss Kate – you are a beautiful friend and I promise to make you an actual cake for your next birthday, provided I can stop my cake sinking anxiety. xxx





Me and Kate