A Brother's Chocolate Cake

A brother's birthday is a very important event. I have 3 brothers, and they are all special to me in different ways. My youngest brother recently turned 13 and to celebrate we held a family dinner ending with a slice (or two) of birthday cake after blowing out the candles.

I made devil's food cake filled and frosted with a chocolate Italian meringue buttercream. The light and not too sweet buttercream pairs well with the rich chocolate cake and I was very happy with the look on the birthday boys face when he saw his cake.

The cake itself was easy to make and although the frosting is a little more involved than a regular buttercream, the taste is worth it. The decorations on the cake were easy but very effective, and I would love to make more cakes just like this one again and again.

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

  

Cancer has affected all of our lives in some way, and one way in which we can help is to raise money for the Australian Cancer Council. And what better way to do that than to host a Biggest Morning Tea. I'll bring cupcakes of course!

White Chocolate & Raspberry Cupcakes

These are really good...and I'm very serious about cake. The combination of sweet white chocolate and tart raspberries balances well to produce an extremely yummy cupcake. These little cakes were made for no particular reason aside from a need to bake and a need to eat cupcakes!

23rd Madhatter Creation

Cocktails, Canapés and Cake. Sounds good...doesn't it? I celebrated my birthday recently and while the nibblies might not have been quite sophisticated enough to be called canapés, they certainly hit the spot.

While some might think it strange to make your own birthday cake, I on the other hand, find it a fantastic opportunity to do something that I wouldn't attempt if it were for someone else. This cake goes by many names - madhatter, topsy-turvy, wonky and whimsical. And it is by no means something you can whip up in an afternoon.

The bottom tier is chocolate mud cake with homemade raspberry filling and the middle and top tier are caramel mud cake with caramel ganache.

Caramel Mud Cake (and cupcakes)

Oh my...Yummmmm

I have been wanting to try baking a caramel mud cake for so long and this is the end result. I baked a cake for an upcoming project and some extra cupcakes, however I'm a klutz and the cake was almost cooked when I decided it would be fun to drop the oven tray and watch the cake flip over and splat on the floor. Oh yes I'm talented at this I now believe as it's the second time this has happened. And No I didn't take a photo of the mess - but don't worry there's always next time. It was however a blessing in disguise as the first time round I forgot to substitute brown for castor sugar and I think this would really make for a stronger caramel flavour.

Crème Brûlée Cupcakes

These cupcakes are inspired by the caramel and custard flavour of crème brûlée. They are delicious cakes, however a little too mild in flavour for my liking. I would like more of a custard flavour, and I might do a little bit of experimenting with the recipe next time - such as adding some custard powder to the cake batter, and some nestlé caramel top and fill to the frosting.

Blue Ice Cake

Cake decorating is a hobby in which I am constantly learning new things. I enjoy trying new techniques for the first time, and even if it doesn't work out perfect, I know I'll get better at it with practice. I made this cake for my Mum's birthday late last year and it involved lots of firsts as it was my first tiered cake and my first time making wired and beaded decorations. The cake design is from the book Cakes to Inspire and Desire by Lindy Smith which I am able to borrow from my local library (very handy!). It gives great detail on how to make the decorations and even a beginner like me was able to pull it off.

Dragonfly Cupcakes

Yummy! Dragonfly cupcakes - they are such a pretty design and I had to put my own stamp on them by using a blue and purple colour scheme. You can get purple dragonfly's can't you?
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These delicious morsels were made up of devils food cupcakes, topped with chocolate ganache, then covered with fondant discs and decorations. The cute little antennae are made out of bean vermicelli noodles so they're edible. They're just sooo cute. And I suppose the bows are cute too.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

I have never been much of a biscuit lover. I mean, they're OK, but just a little bit too dry for my liking. But I started to realise today that this may be changing. In the last couple of months I have found myself scoffing down delicious shortbread, a friend's choc chunk cookies and only last night I got into some Oreos. They're delicious, and what better to use when baking some cookies and cream cupcakes than Oreos.

Baby cupcakes dressed in animal suits

So for my first post I'm showing some cupcakes that I made to take to work for a baby shower morning tea, hence the theme I chose. Now I received as a present late last year the fantastic new Planet Cake Cupcakes book by Paris Cutler which this design comes from. I so wanted to make the santa's crew cupcakes in December, but did not have the time to spare...I'm hoping that with lots of time to plan I will achieve it this year :-)