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!

Date and Ginger Hot X Buns...

I tried out this easter recipe from Jamie Oliver's website, adding my own flair and flavours to it to make it a family favorite!

For a more traditional hot cross bun, read more at http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/hot-cross-buns/#lEz84oLjuoMx0uUg.97

But this is how I made my fluffy and sweet little hot cross buns:

Ingredients...

200ml Milk

14g dried yeast

455 g strong bread flour , save some extra for dusting

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons mixed spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

55 g caster sugar

100g of coarsely chopped crystalised or naked ginger

100g of coarsely chopped dates

1 large free range egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons plain flour

55 g unsalted butter

Method...

1. Wake up nice and early on easter morning... 
2. Now bring the milk and 50mL of water to a gentle simmer in a saucepan, It should be warm to the touch. Add this to a large mixing bowl and stir in the yeast.
3. Melt the butter separately in the microwave.
4. Sift the strong bread flour into a large bowl adding the salt spices and sugar as you go.
5. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the butter, followed by the yeast mixture and lightly beaten egg.
6. Using a knife, mix it all together until a rough dough forms, then scoop it out onto a floured kitchen bench surface.
7. Stretch and knead the dough with your hands until it comes together nicely like play dough!
8. Place the dough ball back into a flour dusted bowl and find a nice warm place for it to rise for 1-2 hrs, try the same room as the fire place if its a particularly chilly morning! You just want it to double in size, then its ready for the next part!

1. Preheat your oven to 190oC and line a walled baking tray with baking paper.
2. Plop the dough out onto your freshly floured kitchen bench again and smack it a few times to knock some air out of it.
3. Pile on the ginger and date pieces and knead them all through the dough.
4. Halve the dough, and halve those pieces again, continuing until you have 12 even pieces to roll into tight balls. Evenly space the balls in the baking tray, it doesn't matter if they are not quite touching yet.
5. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise again in a warm place for half an hour.

1. When the balls are puffy and touching one another, mix the remaining flour and 2 Tablespoons of water together until smooth and transfer to a piping bag.
2. Pipe lines all the way across the centre of each bun vertically and then horizontally to make a cross on each one.

Cook for 15-20 minutes in the oven, until the tops have browned and the crosses have hardened. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Serve them immediately to the waking household for breakfast, it will make for a memorable morning together xxx

Indoor Stag...

This DIY had been a dream in the pipe-line for quite a few months, until we finally salvaged a little stag in the rainforest from our families property in Northern NSW.

When we brought it home I took a piece of firewood and wrapped the fern around it to resemble a tree trunk. I used fine wire to  hold it in place and wrapped it around multiple times to keep it nice and secure.

Eventually a new leaf will grow over the wire and make it look like it has naturally formed on the trunk.

I went and bought a piece of plywood (12mm thick) from the local hardware store, measured and cut it to size, then spray painted it black.

Note: Contrary to practical belief, wood should not be left to dry in the sun because it bows #findingoutthehardway 

After the paint dried I attached the stag-horn fern to the plywood with some long screws through the back and into the tree trunk.

It's has become a perfect little indoor pet, and I only have to water it with a spray bottle every second day!

Test Kitchen...

Ahh, the moment someone dear to you is banking on you making their  sweet dreams come true....

I love to bake... when I am in the mood for baking. My poor husband has begun to supersede me in the sweets department because I'm sure he is sick and tired of asking for treats that were never produced!

I am usually pushing my skill level and rarely go back to the same old recipe over again, instead finding new and exciting opportunities to entice my nearest and dearest. So when someone asks for a specialty item, I have a small anxiety attack on the inside. It's not that I don't want to, I just want it to be ah-mazing!

So I spent today in the test kitchen producing some ah-mazing flavours for next weekends engagement cake.... needless to say, I am busting to share!

Frozen summer smoothies...

Pretty Popsicles!

Watermelon, mango and apple juice, blended into a smoothie and frozen into the cutest popsicle hearts <3

Sometimes it's the simple things :)

Kalamata Focaccia...

You will need:

2 tablespoons of yeast

1 & 1/2 cups of warm water

1 teaspoon of honey

3 cups of strong bread flour

2 teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons of dried herbs

1 cup of pitted kalamata olives

olive oil to drizzle

Method:

- Gently combine the yeast, warm water and honey in a medium bowl and set aside for 10 minutes.

- Tip the salt into the flour first, then add the flour to the yeast mixture and gently fold with your hands until the flour is completely combined.

- Throw in the dried herbs and kalamata olives and evenly mix the ingredients through.

- Transfer the mixture to a large oiled bowl and cover it with clingfilm. Leave it to rise for 1 hour, and it should double in size.

- Flour a large baking tray.

- Flip the dough out onto a floured surface and break it up into 2 or 3 equal portions. dust some flour over the top of each piece before picking it up and letting it stretch between your hands, the dough should do the work for you as you pull you hands apart.

- Lay out the stretched pieces of dough evenly on the tray.

- Use your knuckle to punch mini holes all over each portion and drizzle with olive oil.

- Bake for 20-30 minutes in a forced oven at 190oC until the bread is golden and easily slides off the metal oven tray.

Wrap it with some baking paper and cute string for your friends or just dip it in some olive oil and eat it straight up!