Danielle's Kitchen Tea

Hi everyone, today was my friend's kitchen tea which i had been organising for the last 3 days. It's been a really nice break from study (or an excellent form of procrastination since i was very busy and didn't even think of my exams). Preparation started on the thursday and continued till today, i ended up making trifle, cake, cupcakes, scones, chocolate tarts, ice cream cake and iced tea! But i think the highlight was definitely the teapot cake. The cake was supplied by mondo and i turned 2 9"round cakes into a teapot cake with chocolate ganache. The night was a success, team Tors and Christine (me) worked so well since Tors made all the savory (sausage rolls, finger sandwiches, quiche and little tartlets) while i made all the sweet!

I must admit i had a lot of help from my trusty friends jenny, gen and emily! i really couldn't have done it without you guys.

There's so much to say since these 3 days have been so busy, so sorry if this post makes no sense since i jump from one thing to another.

Scones

These scones were made based on the recipe from joyofbaking.com, it's a really good recipe for moist scones which i served with whipped cream and Hanks triple berry jam.

Actually i forgot i had clotted cream also which is still in Danielle's fridge.

Here's the recipe

ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour

50 grams caster sugar

pinch of salt

80 grams cold butter (chopped)

1 egg

dash of vanilla extract

120 ml fresh cream

Method:

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and using your hands combine the butter through the flour so that it's a crumb consistency (like making pastry). In a separate bowl mix the egg with the cream and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix until just combined. On a floured surface kneed the dough until the dough is even (do not over kneed). Cut into circles with a cookie cutter (about 2-3cm thick). Bake in a 180 degree over for about 15 mins until they are browned and a skewer comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream and jam

These scones can be reheated in a microwave before serving to make them super moist and warm, a must for high tea!

Chocolate tarts

These tarts are amazing, i think i ate about 10 (they are small). The finishing touch is definitely the raspberry, it cuts through the sweetness with some sourness and it's perfect. The cases were bought from southern cross suppliers in camperdown, however pampas shortcrust pastry makes a perfect tart also. The chocolate filling is so simple:

Heat 150ml cream and 150ml water is a saucepan till boiling. Add to 300g couverture chocolate (use nice chocolate, it does make a big difference) and whisk to combine, the hot cream/water will melt the chocolate and form a glossy ganache.

These tarts were definitely my favourite, if i was on ready steady cook i would make this as my quickie bag! (actually i was on ready steady cook but not as a cook so i didn't get a quickie bag but that's a whole nother story).

The teapot cake

This cake is to date my favourite cake! I love dark blue with brown. I couldn't have done it without emily and jenny, you guys are the best. Everytime i start a cake i always stress, so on thursday i was stressing, however jenny and emily were nearby to remind me it's just a cake. The best thing for me about this cake was the fact that i put a center pole down the middle. I have never done a center pole on my own and was very proud of myself for drilling and glueing! The brown snail trail is piped royal icing, the ribbon is from amazing paper in enmore. The inspiration for this cake came from the invite. I tried to make navy (which is quite difficult to make) since i ended up with teal (really stupidly, because i added all the navy blue colour to jade icing, even a 5 year old could tell you navy and green make teal!) Let me know what you guys think,

So that's enough about cakes, time to move onto clothes. This week's favourite item is my new ebay dress! I got mat to take a picture of me posing like liebemarlene, what do you think? did i get the pose right? I love the hearts on this dress!

My friend bek and i really love this girl's blog, check it out if you haven't read it, even the picture are amazing! Speaking of picture, i am a really bad photographer i can only shoot on auto (you can tell the pictures i took compared to the ones mat took)- he can shoot on manual. Anyways i look to liebemarlene and hope one day my pics will look that good, in the mean time all i can do is copy her poses.

Anyway better go to bed now, tomorrow is back to study day. The fun is over i am dead to the world until after the 1st of december, but then after that all i will be doing is baking, blogging and shopping!

xoxo

Cath's Tiffany box cake

Hello again, sorry it's been so long since i've posted anything but the jacaranda's are out and that can only mean one thing- exams!

However amongst all the stress of the big barrier, jack, em and i were able to find some time to make a cake for jack's sister Cath. We decided on a tiffany box, which has always been my favourite cake to make and eat! We used a carrot and walnut cake with white chocolate ganache and covered with fondant.

Studying is the perfect time to fill your brain with lots of useless knowledge since google is a great tool for procrastination. I learnt all about new TV shows i'd like to watch, what's new at modcloth, urban outfitters and of course i check liebemarlene's blog religiously. My friend bek and i decided after studying so hard, we should reward ourselves with a modcloth shipping, we love mail (especially from modcloth), i will post pictures when we receive it. So some of my recent purchases have been a lovely dress with velvet hearts against a shear navy, but my most exciting purchase which will soon be complete is my 500 days of summer dress which i'm getting made!

Ophelia Belle in enmore is amazing and she is going to replicate the 500 days of summer dress that Summer wears to Millie's wedding. I was so excited, since i fell in love with this dress at first sight! I have a calico fitting next saturday so i'll be sure to let you know how it goes. I have spent alot of time googling this dress (37 pages of google images on numerous occasions)! I love it!

So another way to procrastinate is to make invites for a kitchen tea! My friend danielle is getting married in december and together with Tors we are going to hold the perfect kitchen tea. Here are the invites i made, with a cute little key ring whisk! The idea actually started when i googled kitchen tea invites and found some really cute ones which were wrapped around a miniature rolling pin, however the crap shop i went to didn't have mini rolling pins so i opted for the whisk option. The paper is from amazing paper in newtown which is another one of my favourite shops which i can spend hours in. This place is truely amazing and a nightmare for indecisive people such as myself! woolworths is also an indecisive person's nightmare (maltersers of peanut m&m's????)

Anyways better run, damn you neuro, i wish i could bake, blog and shop all day, that would really be the perfect life, oh well it just means i get to enjoy it even more in december after the barrier!

xoxo (i also love gossip girl)

breakfast in the Hunter

Lovely scenic pictures of the hunter valley, just outside the best winery- scarborough's (well according to my friends anyways, considering i didn't try any!)

The BEST study group ever (and the best friends ever, lauren should also be in this picture)
The boys and the girls on john's farm.

I was very lucky last weekend when i was invited by a few friends to a farm in the hunter valley. The hunter is an area full of wineries and cheese but more than that, it's picturesque. I took so many pictures, got to feed cows and ride on a quad bike (this was the highlight of my trip).

My friend jacki driving a quad bike in a blazer, such city people, feels like flying.

This is me feeding C5 (named by Tim), these are angus beef cows.

I must admit i was a little hesitant to go since i don't drink nor do i eat cheese, but i am very glad i went since we made a breakfast fit for a king! With the help of my trusty friends bek and jack, we whipped up some corn fritters and pancakes. The corn fritters were inspired by bills in sydney. Ours weren't quite as good but i think they came pretty close (i find that with a lot of my recipes). So here is the recipe for the corn fritters which we served with smoked salmon or bacon, baby spinach and an avocado, tomato salsa.

Ingredients for corn fritters:

4 cobs of corn

2 rashes of bacon (chopped finely)

1 onion (chopped finely)

1 cup self raising flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

salt to flavour

Method:

Boil the corn to cook it.

Remove the kernels from the cob using a knife.

Pan fry the bacon and onion until golden and crisp.

In a bowl, add the flour, baking powder, eggs and milk, whisk together. Add the cooked corn, bacon and onion and mix until combined.

Heat a frying pan, ensure it is non stick or use oil. Pan fry the fritters, similarly to a pancake. Keep them all in the oven till they are ready to be served.

Salsa: chop up avocado and tomato's finely, mix with some lemon juice and sea salt.

Serve the fritters with smoked salmon or crispy bacon, salsa and baby spinach.

Yi's (vietnamese for aunty's) chicken ragout

Hello again, sorry it's been a while between posts, uni has started up again. This recipe is a traditional vietnamese recipe with a big french influence. I am vietnamese and i decided it was time to learn some of the recipe's i grew up eating such as this ragout. It's quite a watery stew with chicken, carrot and potato mainly in a tomato based soup. I hope you try it out, it is very easy and delicious for dinner, make a bit extra and have it for lunch also cause it heats up perfectly. I think as with most stews, it will taste better the next day when the ingredients have really had a chance to mesh and marinate. Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

10 chicken drumsticks (cut into half, remove skin)

garlic (crushed)

2 onions (diced)

4 large potatoes (peeled and chopped)

2 carrots (peeled and chopped)

400ml coconut juice

4 tablespoons tomato paste

300mL chicken stock

salt and pepper

chicken stock powder (optional)

Method:

Marinate the chicken with garlic, chicken stock, salt, onion and pepper. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes-1 hour.

In a pan, fry half the garlic and 1 chopped onion until it smells nice. The add the marinated chicken to seal the chicken (it doesn’t have to be cooked yet, just sealed). Add the tomato paste and the coconut juice to the chicken and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

In another deep pot, fry the rest of the garlic and onion, then add the potatoes and carrots. Pan fry for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are sealed then add the chicken stock.

Add the juices from the chicken to the potato pot and let the potatoes cook for 20 minutes until they are soft.

Add the semi cooked chicken to the pot and simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes (check to see the chicken and potatoes are both cooked). Add salt and pepper to taste (shouldn’t really need much as the chicken stock is already salty and the coconut juice is already sweet). If there is not enough juices add more chicken stock. Simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid of, redo a flavour check may need more salt, pepper).

Serve with crispy toast or rice.

It's a very versatile recipe since you can add whatever vegetable you fancy, it's even nice with beans! I hope you try it and let me know what you think. xoxo

bakeathon on labour day- oatmeal sandwich cookie and craisin, white choc and coconut slice

Today was a public holiday in sydney so i decided to take a day off from study and bake! With the help of my trusty cousins- Amy and Linh we baked oatmeal sandwich biscuits with a cream cheese frosting and craisin, coconut, white chocolate slice (it is similar to a brownie). The recipes we used were modified from annies-eats.com (a US blogger who i hope to be like one day, she is already a doctor and has a successful food blog). The oatmeal sandwich cookie was inspired by buppa's bakehouse's credit crunch cookie which is hands down my favourite cookie, please go to this bakehouse in newtown (king st) it is amazing. They specialise in homestyle american treats. Their credit crunch cookie is still better but mine are still delicious! here is the recipe

Oatmeal sandwich cookie with cream cheese frosting

ingredients

250g butter (cut up into cubes)

1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

dash of vanilla essence

1 and 3/4 cups of plain flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

1/2 cup white choc bits

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Beat together butter, sugar till creamy. Then add eggs and vanilla essence and beat till smooth. In another bowl sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix till combined. Fold in rolled oats, walnuts and white choc bits. Use your hands to mix until well combined, roll into balls and press onto baking paper lined baking tray. Balls should be about the size of a golf ball (like a meatball), make sure there is plenty of room on the baking tray since they will melt down and spread out, if they are too close together they will become one big biscuit. Bake for 8-10 minutes, allow to cool before you move them as they will crack. If you want they chewier bake them for less time, if you want harder biscuits bake them for longer, for the sandwich cookies i think they should be baked for 10 minutes, this makes it easier to sandwich them.

Cream cheese frosting: this is to go between the cookies to make the sandwich

In a food processor, blend 250g cream cheese (like Philadelphia cheese) until smooth, add 1 bag of icing sugar (500g), and blend well, add a dash of lemon juice (to your liking) and process it all in the food processor till smooth. Most recipes will tell you to sift the icing sugar and you probably should but i'm lazy and hate sifting so i just added it straight from the bag, it was still smooth (maybe beginners luck!).

Once the cookies have cooled spread the cream cheese frosting and sandwich the cookies.

I hope you try these and let me know how i can improve on them but i really love them, they are the closest thing to the real buppa's bakehouse credit crunch cookie!

Craisin, white choc and coconut slice

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour

pinch of salt

8 tablespoons of melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

dash vanilla essence

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup white choc bits

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius. Line a baking tin with baking paper.

In a large bowl combine combine the flour and salt. In another bowl beat sugar with melted butter till mixed then add egg and beat till lighter in colour and smooth. Add the vanilla essence and mix. Add the flour mix to the butter mix and stir to combine. Add the coconut, craisins and white chocolate bits and mix till combined. Transfer to the baking pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, do not over bake, the mix will still feel soft to touch but maybe golden in colour.

Once it's cooled drizzle with melted white choc and cut into slices.

This recipe is modified from annies eats under the chewy coconut chocolate chunk blondies, but we made it with white choc and added craisins. Thanks annie!

All in all today was a successful day of baking which ended with a movie. We rented 'the quiet' possibly the worse movie ever, we should have known when we rented it, even the rental shop owner said he'd never heard of this movie before! There is a reason, it was crap! But the cookies and slice made the movie durable. Enjoy, xoxo

ps the dress i'm wearing is my new marc by marc jacobs emi dress in smoky amethyst from saks fifth ave (they post internationally!), it was inspired by 500 days of summer. My favourite colour is now blue and the eyelet lace is beautiful in this dress. It is so simple but perfect for baking and hospital days. I loved the frill neckline and the little puffy sleeves. The other picture is zooey deschanel from 500 days of summer, the inspiration for this dress.

planet cake pretty cupcakes

Thursday was the best day ever at planet cake. I did a pretty cupcakes course and it was amazing, so relaxing with an amazing end product. The class was $400 for the day which includes lunch and was held at the planet cake showroom in balmain sydney. This was my 6th planet cake class and i think it was my favourite- perfect for beginners (as my friend emily was) or the more experienced decorator. Here are some pictures of my cupcakes! I really hope someone's birthday is coming up so i can make more cupcakes!

It really would be a dream of mine to own a shop selling cakes and clothes but i have chosen another path, maybe when i'm older and have done the whole med thing and wanting to retire with cakes and clothes! (even though by then i think i'll own an old ladies shop). It's so difficult to know what to do for a career since you have so many choices and they all seem amazing, let alone all so different. I think thats why life is so long, then you can do everything!

I hope these cupcakes inspire you to go bake and maybe do a planet cake course, i went from no hobby to addicted to cake decorating! It's a really good distraction from study, speaking of which better go study now, speak soon xoxo