4 Years!

Last week Tom and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! I still can't believe we've been together for 4 years and we're getting married next year. Most people that know us also know that my favourite colour is purple and Tom's favourite colour is green (luckily those two colours work really well together). So in keeping with that colour scheme I made green and purple cupcakes! Well ok I made vanilla cupcakes with green and purple patty cases and purple icing. The design for the icing I got from Amanda at I Am Baker (here is the tutorial http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2011/07/lilac-cake-tutorial.html). I'd love to work on more designs similar to this, Amanda has such a great eye for creating amazing and even simple cake decorations. 

One more thing to mention, probably the most amazing present ever! For our anniversary my amazing husband-to-be bought me a KitchenAid Stand Mixer!! AND it's PURPLE!! I think he was pretty amused at my shocked face when I opened it, I still can't believe he bought it for me! And yes these cupcakes were made using the new mixer! 

and this is the KitchenAid Mixer Tom bought me!

Lavender Cupcakes

Last weekend Tom and I decided to go for a drive through the Barossa Valley, including areas like Lyndoch, Tanunda, etc. While we were there we stopped in at the Lavender Farm just outside of Lyndoch. It was very pretty with abotu 80 different kinds of lavender, but I think we have to go back in a few months when more of the flowers are blossoming.

Anyway, while we were there we went into their little gift shop that had pretty much lavender everything. There was dried lavender, lavender massage oil, lavender candles, lavender moisturiser, lavender jelly (which of course Tom bought) and then I saw it... lavender tea! I had been searching for it a few months ago to try and make lavender cupcakes and had no luck. I was so excited that I made the cupcakes the next day!

The taste is a bit confusing, you would think that they would taste like a perfume being lavender but they didnt. They were like eating a vanilla cupcake with a slight aroma of lavender. Quite fluffy and moist too! Of course I had to add the lavender icing and a few lavender flowers, I think I mainly like them because they're so purple!

Here they are...

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

Doesn't the title including chocolate cheesecake just suck you in!? A close friend of ours has gone and left us for a few months to gallivant around through Europe and the US, so we of course had a going away party for him! When I was first talking to him about said party I told him I would make any dessert he wanted for it! Being a cheese lover he chose chocolate cheesecake. It was a big hit everyone loved it, it was so creamy and basically like chocolate mousse on top of a bed of crushed chocolate biscuits so yummy! Anyway it was such a hit that I ended up making it again the next weekend for a friend's birthday party, and this time remembered to take photos of it! I even added some whipped cream and blueberries for garnish!

Enjoy...

Pavlova topped with Fresh Berries

I decided that along with the bee sting cake (mentioned in my previous post) that I needed to also make something with a bit of colour! So what better than a simple pavlova topped with cream and berries! I'm actually surprised the berries lasted long enough to get on the pavlova, since Tom LOVES them and always eats them by the bowl full. Normally when I make pavlova, I make mini individual pavlovas so it avoids the whole issue of cutting slices. However, I decided this time to just make the big one and I'm glad I did. I love decorating the top!

Here's a few photos!

Bee Sting Cake

This past weekend we had lunch at Tom's house for his mum's birthday, so of course I jumped at the chance to bake! A bee sting cake was requested (according to Tom, but he loves it so it might have just been his own request) and since I needed to test out my recipe again for an upcoming event I decided to make it. The recipe I have though doesn't rise too much and if anyone has seen a bee sting cake then you know it needs to be cut in half with a custard cream in the middle. This was not achievable with how small it turned out. So I decided to make a second one, just without the almond glaze on top, and used it as the base! It's a pretty easy recipe so it wasn't too much trouble.

I'm really happy with how it all turned out, I even made pavlova too which I will discuss in the next post tonight. Here's a few photos of the bee sting!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I absolutely LOVE making (and of course eating) Snickerdoodles! Whenever I make them I get the usual strange look from people followed by the question "What's a Snickerdoodle?". My general response and pretty much the only way I can describe them is alway "they're like a cinnamon donut but a cookie!" Now you can't tell me that, that alone doesn't tempt you to try them!

But of course this post isn't about the Snickerdoodle cookies, this time I decided to try Snickerdoodle Cupcakes!! The only recipes I could find though were American recipes, which all called for cake flour and you can't get that here (not that I could find anyway, please someone try prove me wrong!). I did find out that you can make a substitute using plain flour and custard powder but I wasn't too sure about that idea. So I just made my usual Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes recipe and tweaked it to make them Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. And by golly I think I got it!

I can tell you now that if they taste nothing like the American version I don't really care! Because they seriously taste AMAZING! Plus the batch somehow made around 40 cupcakes (all of which besides 4 are now gone, not bad for 1 day!).

Anyway here's a look at how they turned out *insert drooling here*

Sticky Date Cupcakes with Caramel Sauce

I recently stumbled upon a recipe for Sticky Date Cupcakes and decided to give them a go, even though I don't like sticky date! My mum and my fiancee both love sticky date so I thought I would try it out for them :)

The recipe I found didn't sound quite right to me so I tweaked it a little bit and made a different topping (the caramel sauce). I don't know how they tasted but the reactions from everyone when they tasted them was fantastic, so I'm guessing they tasted alright haha.

Here's how they turned out!