Flawless Tiramisu...

Every year for as long as I can remember I've cringed at the thought of having to make this desert on request. Not anymore, this recipe takes the cake!

• 1 cup of castor sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 250g tub of Mascarpone cheese
• 2 cups thickened cream, plus an extra half cup set aside
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 block of milk cooking chocolate
• 2 tablespoons of Nutella
• 1 packet of Italian lady fingers (Savoiardi)
• 1 cup espresso, cold
• 1/2 cup Tia maria

First thing you need to do is take out the mascarpone so that it comes to room temperature while you prepare.

Whip the cream to soft peaks and set aside.

Place the sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and rest it above a saucepan of lightly boiling water. Use a whisk to stir it continuously for at least 10 minutes, it will end up looking thick and pale. Give it a final fast whisk for a minute when you take it off the heat to thicken and cool it a little.

Whisk in the mascarpone until the mixture is smooth. Gently fold in the whipped cream so the mixture is thick yet aerated. Set aside.

Melt the block of chocolate, Nutella, 1/2 cup of cream and milk together to make a smooth ganache. Set aside.

Mix the espresso and Tia maria together in a bowl ready for assembly.

Choose a decorative serving dish, start with the Nutella ganache, pouring in 1/3 of the mixture. Follow with a layer of biscuits, dipping each biscuit in the coffee mixture for only 3 seconds (this is important! Any longer and they will turn to mush). Spoon over half of the cream mixture and repeat this process once more, forming 2 layers. Finish with a decorative swirl drizzle of the remaining Nutella ganache and refrigerate overnight.

It tastes like perfection!!

Tahitian lime cake...

Ok, this is a special recipe created in collaboration with my beautiful bride friend Dee... She wanted a coconut and lime cake for her special day and boy did I deliver! It's pretty delicious, so I'm more then happy to share it...

Start with a 22cm round cake tin, lined with baking paper on the sides and bottom. I double the recipe for tiered cakes and just make sure I fill them all to the same level, cooking times vary.

Cake Ingredients:

• 300g white chocolate (Cadbury Dream white chocolate is best)
• 200g salted butter
• 250ml (1 cup) full cream milk
• 165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 100g (2/3 cup) self-raising flour
• 150g (1 cup) plain flour
• zest of 2 limes
• 1 cup shredded coconut soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water overnight.

Set oven to 150oC (fan forced). Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a saucepan and melt together on a low heat. Frequently stir to ensure the sugar doesn't burn on the bottom. Set aside the mixture to cool to about room temperature.

Lightly beat the eggs together before adding to the cooled chocolate mixture along with vanilla extract.

Sift the flours together in a large bowl and add half of the chocolate mixture. stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are combined. Follow with the rest of the chocolate mixture, be careful not to mix it vigorously, hand folding with a wooden spoon is the best method. Drain any liquid left in the soaked coconut, then fold in the lime zest and shredded coconut.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour. Test the centre of the cake with a wooden skewer, if it comes out clean then it's ready, otherwise leave it in for another 10 minutes.

Once the cake has cooled, freeze it over night ready for decorating. This will ensure no crumbs penetrate the frosting barrier while you're decorating.

Decorating.....

Frosting ingredients:

• 250g salted butter
• juice of 1 medium lime
• 750g icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons of coconut essence

Let the butter come to room temperature before adding half the icing sugar and beating with an electric mixer until pale. Mix in the coconut essence. Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar simultaneously with the lime juice, beating as you go. If it's too stiff to spread, add more lime juice. If it's too runny to hold shape, add more icing sugar.

Take the frozen cake and using a bread knife, cut off the top layer to make it flat. Slice the cake in half horizontally before filling the centre with 3 tablespoons of frosting and returning the top half of the cake. Cover the top with frosting before slowly spreading it over the edges and around the entire cake. I use horizontal strokes and move the cake around my straight edge spatula to receive perfect results!

Blueberry Lemonade Cake...

What better way to celebrate a new beginning of any kind then with cake!

My dear friends are expecting a baby boy and from the moment they asked me for cake, I just knew this was going to happen...

A simple lemon zest cake dotted with blueberries just before baking makes for a sweet surprise on the inside.

  

Marble frosting was created using 2 coloured buttercream's, the grey batch wasn't entirely mixed through showing flecks of black vein, much like a piece of stone.

Paired with a white chocolate drizzle, marble chocolate shards, dinosaur sprinkles, piped buttercream barnacles and fruit, this little edible artwork was something to be proud of...

Congratulations Emmy, Bron and Harry!

Baby bubble doesn't know how lucky he is...

xxx

Succulent Root Systems.....

Exploring all the possibilities of indoor plants now that the outdoor plants are well established and flourishing!

What better way to start then with easy going succulents...

Chalksticks (Senecio serpens) are a soft blue-green ground cover that easily spread into a sea of greenery without much maintenance at all. I took some cuttings from my parents plant and decided on doing 2 things with them.....

After finding cuttings with a visible root, I laid them out under cover in a well ventilated area for 5 days, until the open cut calloused and dried. This stops plant rot.

I planted a few of the sticks together in a pot and continue to water them once a week, they took straight away and look very effective in a pot stand.

I kept one stalk aside with big, long roots to place in a glass bottle for some interesting indoor greenery.

I filled half the glass bottle with water and carefully threaded the root and stem system through.

It took a little playing around with to get the water level right, you want the roots to be touching the water but not the stem.






Mine is a little over filled in these pictures, but it magnifies the root system so well I just wanted to share.


I've had it for about 2 weeks now  and it's looking healthier then ever, standing up really straight and plump.

Birthday Cakes for Brothers...

H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y   L U K E !

Burger Cake

• Vanilla cake bun
• Buttercream mayo
• Brownie pattie
• Fondant cheese
• Buttercream tomato
• Coconut lettuce

Poop Emoji Cupcakes

Disney Dreaming Cake

Birthday's are such fun, especially when your prerequisite is

D I S N E Y !

This one entailed layers of chocolate cake with cadbury ganache, covered in pastel buttercream swirls.

Decorations included marshmallow ice-cream melt, fairy floss clouds, glitter and mint kit-kat sticks with cheeky little disney icing silhouettes.

Cocktail Hour Chairs...

Sometimes you find treasure and sometimes you don't, it's what you set your mind to doing with it that decides wether or not it really is something special...

I bought these chairs for $20 from a lady who had great plans that never came to fruition, lucky me :)

They're simply cane, or bamboo lacquered chairs. So I took to the main wear and tear areas with a piece of sandpaper and used a 2 in 1 primer and paint spray can (Rust-oleum, I am so lazy and use it for everything!).

They already looked so great at this point, I just needed some cushions to finish them off. I found some to die for botanical upholstery fabric for a fabulous price in spotlight, then bought some pricey foam for the seat... Now as I sit here with an oh-it's-so-easy-DIY-show resounding in the background I feel compelled to inform you that the costs begin to add up when you really want to do the job properly. So you just need to remember these two things:

1. Do the costs of all your materials still make it worth it?

2. Is it a lot easier buying it already made?

Lucky for me I am a sewer (I didn't say a good one now) and could easily whip up some cushions.

Paired with some more treasures bought and borrowed (from the garden) it makes for a decadent little cocktail corner!