Snowflake Cookies and Cutters

Every Christmas I pause, and think how odd it is to be decorating snowmen and snowflakes in the peak of summer. But it doesn't stop me from doing it! The pull of Northern Hemisphere tradition is too strong to be denied (and who knows, with climate change maybe one day we'll get our Christmas wish... Eeek! A classic example of be careful what you wish for!)

Brrr!

So, I do own a snowflake cutter or 3... but in case you don't, here's a very easy solution:

Use a 6-petal flower cutter (got one of those?!) and cut indents into each petal of cookie dough.
That's the tip of a little heart cutter I'm using for the task &/in these pics...

Bake and decorate - Voila - a snowflake, or 3...

Have a look at another post from a year ago on how to make wet-on-wet / colour-flow snowflakes.
http://teacakeandcreate.blogspot.com/2017/12/wet-on-wet-snowflake-cookies.html


Happy decorating!

xxM

Christmas Pudding Decorated Chocolates

We're all saying it, so it must be true - every year is going by faster. Right?!
Blink and Christmas is here again. One of these days we won't even need to take down the decorations! (What a thankless task anyway 🙈 )
So, in the interest of saving time, sometimes you have to cut a few corners:
While it would be really special to make teeny tiny mini Xmas puddings for this project, there was just no way that was going to happen this week.

Enter an easy solution, though: chocolate balls. From the store!!
They're perfect for the task.
These are mousse filled, dark-chocolate candies. (Oh, yes!)

Pop them onto a paint palette for stability. (One that you use for your edible art, not the kids' poster-paint-spattered one!) 

Use a little royal icing to decorate -

Layer on your white icing. Once that's set, pipe on the green, and pop on a red sugar pearl. So easy. And you can tell from the pictures, I didn't even use icing bags and piping tips; just sturdy bags with the corners snipped off. 

Very organic-looking 😉

They're delicious little mouthfuls on their own,  but I used them as toppers - nestled on a bed of ganache on top of dark chocolate cupcakes.  

'Cos it's the season of giving! 😋

Happy baking and creating!

xxM

Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Buttercream

Yip, it's definitely that time of year: a spoonful of chaos added to a cupful of busy-ness!
I have to be very disciplined with my days, to get everything done. But there's many a curveball along the way: emergency cases at the hospital, load shedding, burst pipes ... and that was just the past three days!
So Monday comes as a relief: the electricity is on; water's flowing from the taps, and the kids are at school, so I  can get some Christmas cookies baked.
  And post a recipe - it's been a while, I know!
Actually, it's only half a recipe, just the icing on top: cinnamon & brown sugar buttercream.
(I'm on a tight schedule here, ok!? 😅)

The cupcakes are nothing new, just some of these tried-and-tested vanilla cupcakes, filled with a little jam.
I was going for a jam /cinnamon donut kind of flavour experience, and a hot-milk sponge with a centre of smooth apricot jam was a good base to work from.
That, and I already had some baked and in the deep freeze begging to be used 🙈

Cinnamon & Brown Sugar  Buttercream 

125g butter

100g brown sugar 

150g icing sugar, sifted

2tbs creme fraiche (sour cream), alternatively use cream cheese 

1/2 - 1tsp cinnamon (depending on how cinnamony you want it) 

1tsp vanilla extract 

Beat the butter and brown sugar together until light and creamy. 

Add the sifted icing sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat well.  

Beat in the sour cream or cream cheese. This is just to cut the sweetness of the icing, so it's optional... but recommended!

Makes enough icing for 12-15 cupcakes, depending on how elaborate your swirls are. Double the recipe if necessary. 

For the cupcakes - follow the recipe link above.

 Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, either use an apple corer to core out a centre to spoon in the jam, or 

use a large round tip (french tip, pastry tip) to pipe the jam into the centre of the cupcake. Top cooled cupcakes with brown sugar buttercream. 

Add a mini lightly-spiced cookie for decoration. 

Happy baking!

xxM

Decorated Pumpkin Cookies

Pretty pumpkins all in a row...

It was obsession-to-make love at first sight when I spotted this idea of top-view pumpkins in my IG feed.
Thankfully, I was armed with an excuse to bake (cake sale at school) and had cookie dough and icing left-over from the llama classes, conveniently in pink and grey.
A touch of "Soft Pink" to peach up the one colour and ta-da....

Also conveniently left over from the llama classes, was thick-consistency green icing:  perfect for stalks and squiggles. (I know there's a word for those squiggles, but it's been a long day and it escapes me now. Feel free to comment below with the answer!)

Puffy Top-View Pumpkin Cookies: Use a flower cutter for your cookie shape. Outline the different segments of the pumpkin. Flood alternate areas. Allow to set, then fill in the adjacent segments. I used royal icing that was slightly thicker than normal flood-consistency, to get that lovely "puffy" look. To create that star shaped stalk stump, use stiff-consistency green royal icing and a star tip, such as an Ateco 33 (see picture). Hold the bag perpendicular to the cookie. Squeeze, and release, and you'll have a perfect top-view of a stalk-stump. 

For that ridged stalk on the larger pumpkins ....

... use a small, open star nozzle - such as an Ateco 14 - and stiff-consistency green icing, piping lengthways. Pipe 2 - 3 next to each other, and your stalk is done. 

Happy pumpkin-decorating!

xxM

Honey and Horlicks Macarons

I didn't set out to make honey-coloured macarons. These were supposed to be a la natural, un-coloured, white. But a little too long in the oven and they came out honey-blonde. 

Unplanned, but not un-welcome. 

As soon as I saw them, I knew what flavour filling to use. 

When I couldn't find a key ingredient in the store, though,  I went searching for other inspiration: Something that would pair well with the colour  (of course the colour and flavour must match!!)

I received so many superb suggestions on Instagram and Facebook, that I'm going to have to make many more blonde macaron shells in the future!

Happily though, that key ingredient - Horlicks - was finally found, and I was able to follow-through on my first impulse...
Honey and Horlicks. 

Horlicks (if you're not familiar with it) is a malted milk drink. It was first sold as an "infants and invalids" food, and then that was extended to include "the aged and travellers"!
If you've drunk it you'll understand why  it was marketed as such - it has a rich, creamy, comforting taste.  
Add honey into the mix and it's like liquid sunshine!

"Honey-and-Horlicks" was my favourite milkshake flavour growing up. (And "bubblegum", I shudder to admit!)

Honey and Horlicks Ganache 

180g good quality white chocolate, cut into small even sized pieces (or use callets)
60ml fresh cream, heavy / whipping cream (35% fat content)
3 tbs Horlicks powder
1 1/2 tbs honey

Place all the ingredients together in a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water / a double boiler. Stir frequently until all the chocolate has melted.
(Alternatively melt in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between.)

Allow to cool, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming on the surface of the ganache. When set  firm enough, pipe between macaron shells.

Find the macaron recipe I use, here. It is an old old post - forgive the photos 🙈
But it is still the recipe I'd recommend.

Happy baking!

xxM

Strawberry, Coconut and Chocolate Cheesecake

Where does recipe inspiration come from?
Sometimes it's the craving for a certain flavour; sometimes it's a desire - or request - to make a certain something: cupcakes, cookies, brownies, macarons...

But very often, it's simply a matter of what's in the fridge.
Yes, I open the fridge or pantry door and wait for the contents to speak to me.
(Usually what they whine  is "better use me now before I land up in the bin!")

In this case it was ganache - left over from filling macarons; and strawberries - buy two punnets and save...
and tubs and tubs of cream cheese -  on promotion at the local grocery store ...

Inspiring stuff, huh?!

But saying that, I am inspired by the combination of strawberry, chocolate and coconut at the moment.

My previous post  used that blend with white chocolate. This recipe has dark chocolate, instead.
Although I'm sure it would be equally good with white chocolate. In fact, I'll try that out next, and let you know how they compare, ok?

**As I said, I've used dark chocolate ganache here, but you could easily substitute melted chocolate for the ganache.
You could also use store bought strawberry jam , I chose to make a quick home-made jam, though,   because the strawberries in my fridge were whining to be used!

 Marbled Strawberry, Coconut and Chocolate Cheesecake
 Recipe by Tea, Cake &Create 

**Extras - nice to have, but not essential...

Chocolate and Coconut Dipped Strawberries.

Make sure the strawberries are dry before dipping in melted chocolate, otherwise the chocolate will slide right off.  Dip immediately in desiccated coconut, and place on a non-stick surface until the chocolate sets.
 

**Strawberry Jam 

120g finely chopped strawberries
60g caster sugar
1 Tbs water
Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Stir, and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer until the mixture thickens - about 10 minutes. Use a hand-held blender or press with a fork to puree the jam a little.
Allow to cool slightly. 

**Dark Chocolate Ganache

120g dark chocolate, cut into small even sized pieces.
60ml heavy cream (whipping cream or 35% fat content).
Use a double boiler, or 30 sec bursts in the microwave, to melt the two ingredients together.
Stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly. Approximately half the ganache will be used in the cheesecake case, the other half will be used to drizzle over the surface of the cheesecake. 

Cheesecake Base

240g butter biscuits, finely crushed*
80g butter, melted 
60g desiccated coconut
80g dark chocolate melted, or use 80g dark chocolate ganache.** 
 
*(use digestive biscuits / Marie biscuits - I use the butter biscuits left over from classes, which I freeze until needed).

Mix all the ingredients together and press into the base of a greased and lined 20-22cm springform pan. 
Place in the freezer for 30min.

Cheesecake Filling

Preheat the oven to 160'C

2x 250g tubs cream cheese at room temp.
160g caster sugar
250ml sour cream
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
Coconut extract - I use Vanilla girl, just a few drops. 

Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.
Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well in between additions.
Beat in the cream and vanilla extract.

Pour into the chilled base. Drizzle the surface of the cheesecake with the strawberry jam followed by the ganache that is left over from making the base. 

Bake in a water bath at 160'C for 60-70 minutes, or until just the centre of the cheesecake jiggles when gently shaken.
 Leave to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar.

Once cooled, refrigerate for 4 hours or preferably overnight before serving.

Serve with  chocolate-and-coconut-dipped strawberries . 

Happy baking!

xxM 

Strawberry, Coconut and White Chocolate Cupcakes

My least favourite icing to prepare? Plain buttercream.
The kind you make with just butter and icing sugar.
I find it too sweet to eat, and too greasy to handle.
Not that you're supposed to handle it, but when you're running buttercream classes - there's no getting around the fact that you're going to have to fill, and refill a couple of dozen bags of the stuff!

And to top it, my KitchenAid mixer  decided to pack up, after 12 years of hard work, just before the buttercream classes. Thankfully though, it was a quick and easy fix, and I didn't have to use my hand mixer to prepare for the classes!  I think I would have cancelled them- no jokes!

 

These were the cupcakes that I made for tea for those buttercream classes.
I specifically chose to pair them with swiss meringue buttercream (SMB), because its silky smooth, light and subtle flavour was an antidote to that other icing we were using.
And beating the meringue in my recently repaired mixer was a kind of celebration!

The cupcakes themselves are just a variation of the basic vanilla cupcake recipe, that I use when I want a light sponge. 

Strawberry, Coconut and White Chocolate Cupcakes 

Preheat the oven to 175'C. Line 2 x 24-hole muffin trays with cupcake cases. 

Ingredients:

320g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder 
60g fine desiccated coconut
120g white chocolate, cut into small pieces (alternatively, use callets or white chocolate chips)** 
4 eggs
360g caster sugar
250ml  milk
120ml vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
8-10 ripe strawberries, cut into small chunks 

(**chocolate chips will remain as distinct morsels; callets and small pieces of chocolate will melt - so the choice depends on the result you are looking for. I like the softness of  melted chocolate in this recipe, because the base cupcake is a light sponge. )

Method:

Mix the milk and oil together in a jug, and heat in a  microwave for 2 min on high. 
Set aside for 15 minutes. 

Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl; add in the desiccated coconut, and set aside. 

Place the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in a mixer, and beat on high for approx.6 minutes, until pale and fluffy.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the egg mix,  followed by the half the warm milk and oil mixture. Repeat the process, ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate and strawberries. 

Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill the cupcake cases. 

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden. 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

5 large egg whites

200g caster sugar
250 -300g butter, cut into cubes, at room temp.*
2tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt (omit if salted butter was used)

Put the egg whites and sugar into a mixing bowl, and place that over a  saucepan of simmering water. The bottom of the mixing bowl must not be in contact with the water, and the water should not be boiling.

Whisk constantly, until the sugar granules have dissolved and the mixture is hot to the touch. 

Move off the stove, and to the mixer.
Using the whisk attachment, whip until it forms a thick and glossy meringue.

When the mixing bowl feels neutral to touch (ie, no longer hot), change over to the paddle attachment, and add the butter one cube at a time. (* I stop adding butter when it reaches a consistency stiff enough to pipe.)
It may curdle, but just keep whipping until it reaches a satiny smooth consistency.
Then add the vanilla extract, beat briefly. 

Pipe onto the cooled cupcakes.
Top with a fresh strawberry.

Alternatively, try white chocolate SMB with these cupcakes. Or puree up some strawberries and add them to the icing for an extra strawberry kick - and a prettily speckled icing.  See here for a SMB with pureed raspberry. 

Happy cupcaking!

xxM

Ice-Cream Sundae and Sweet Treat Cookies

For me the jury is still out on the subject of sweet treats that look like savoury snacks - you know the ones I mean: french fries made out of cookies; cakes that look like pizza and hamburgers...
Maybe it's because I'm actually a savoury person (I know, I know!) and the thought of biting into a cheese burger where the cheese is fondant and the tomato sauce is icing,  just isn't appealing 🙈

But sweet treats that are decorated to look like other sweet treats... that's a different story! I loved decorating this set.

Ice cream sundaes, donuts and macarons; cupcakes, ice lollies and cones - all cookie'd. 

Even the donut is iced. Yes, yes, you can see the icing - but that's icing on top of  icing, not just a vanilla cookie. The vanilla cookie is iced to look like a vanilla donut... Are you seeing it?😅

(As I told the ladies in the class, no cutting corners - we're decorating cookies, and that means we're decorating cookies!) Even the sprinkles are iced...!

You don't need a huge variety of cutters to make these cookies. See that flat-bottomed cone and the sundae? It's the same cutter, just trimmed.  And the macarons, donut and bitten choc-chip cookie (oops - you'll have to look on IG for that last one!) are all done with round cutters.

And the best thing about these... if the kids hand you their half eaten ice-cream (usually in the car while you're driving) it's not going to drip all over your hands as you search for somewhere to dump it! 

Happy decorating!

xxM

Dinosaur Party Cookies

It's a good thing that putting together photographic tutorials isn't my day job.
I'd have been fired by now!
Because (once again), I have a couple of snaps of how to make these cookies, but short a few key steps.
The problem is that I either get carried away as I go, or I'm just winging it - and don't know what the final product is going to turn out to be. These eggs being case in point: I hadn't thought to add the dusting and painted-on cracks, but they looked a little bland, and that's when I added those final touches. I wish I had taken a picture before and after,  but I didn't so...

I'll just have to explain. Ok?

Ok...

For the Dino-emerging cookies: 

Use a wide flat brush or pallet knife to apply a patch of flood-consistency green icing* to the cookie. Allow to dry, then flood the egg around the gap. Once that is dry, pipe in an eye. Dust the cookie  to add dimension and paint on some cracks with a fine paintbrush.
*If you are doing claws emerging on a vanilla cookie, then use a background of black icing ( I didn't here because the chocolate cookie was dark enough). 

For the Dino-pawprint cookies:

Use a small sponge or flat-tipped brush to apply brown icing onto the cookie. (The best consistency is slightly thicker than flood-icing.) Allow to dry, then use a template to sketch on an outline of the dinosaur paw. Flood outside / around this area. When the icing outside of the paw-print is dry, pipe squiggles of icing on, and use a sponge to texture it.  Once dry, dust a little green colour onto the cookies for extra interest. 

These cookies were a huge hit with the 10 year old boys at my son's party. They even ate the greens without complaint. 😉

Recipe for the chocolate cookies here:
http://teacakeandcreate.blogspot.com/2013/06/chocolate-cookie-recipe.html


Happy baking & decorating!

xxM

Dinosaur Birthday Cake - with Tropical Leaves

There's a lot of things I could say about this cake - like how I made the dinosaur (head, body and tail moulded as a single unit for stability); or the teeth (done the way I made shark teeth for another of my son's birthday cakes); or even how the wooden gate was constructed (and what a big difference the shading on it makes). 

But ... seeing that I didn't take any progress shots of those steps, I'll just share a quick tropical leaf tutorial with you instead. 

Not the tropical leaves in the background of the photo (which I pulled off the road to cull from a plant on an abandoned verge. Did I hear someone say crazy woman?), but the ones on the cake:

 Because that's what you notice about this cake, right - the tropical leaves...!?!

Ok, maybe they're just part of the background decor, but I was super-pleased with myself for figuring out those wedges!

Tropical Leaves:  

Cut leaf shapes out of green paste (I use my standard modelling chocolate / fondant blend ), use the tip of a petal piping nozzle - e.g. an Ateco 104 - to cut the wedges out of the leaves. (Did I hear someone say brilliant?!) Brilliant!

Add veins with a dresden tool/ leaf veiner,

and some shading with powdered colour 

Yes, that's what he's looking back at and grinning about - those tropical leaves!

If you are more interested in those teeth though - you'll find a quick tip for making them here:

http://teacakeandcreate.blogspot.com/2016/08/shark-themed-birthday-cake.html 

If you want to see this fella without teeth, I shared an edentulous picture of him on Instagram.

Happy decorating!

xxM

Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

When my daughter asked if she could have one of these dark chocolate banana muffins, I offered her the largest, only to have it rejected. I want one with sprinkles, she said. 
That’s icing sugar, not sprinkles, I pointed out. 

She rewarded me with a look that said  "Spare me the details and just hand it over, woman!" 

So of course I did. You don't argue with looks from 8 year olds!

Regardless of "sprinkles", my children love these muffins; even my son - who isn't a big fan of bananas. 
Well...that's probably because there's enough chocolate in them to make most banana-boycotters change their minds.  But it's antioxidant-rich dark chocolate: you feel yourself growing healthier with each bite 😉

One of these days, I'm going to recipe-test them with coconut flour, as a gluten free alternative (healthier with each bite, I tell you!). But for now, here's the traditional flour recipe ...

Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Recipe adapted from chelseasmessyapron.com

Preheat the oven to 180'C 

Line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake cases. 

Ingredients:

160g cake flour

40g unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

160g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped 

100g light brown sugar
125ml double cream yoghurt - plain, vanilla or coconut flavoured work well
60ml canola oil 
1 large free range egg
3 - 4 over-ripe bananas, well mashed ( to make approx. 1 cupful )

1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift together the dry ingredients, including the sugar. Mix in the pieces of dark chocolate. 

In a measuring jug, whisk together the oil, yoghurt, egg and vanilla. Mix in the banana.   

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. (Over-mixing will result in dense muffins). 

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake cases. 

Bake at 180'C for approx. 20 minutes. 

If you give these a try with coconut flour (remember to also adjust your liquids in the recipe), let me know how they turn out.  

Happy baking!
xxM 

Honey and Ginger Biscuits

Honey and ginger - just what the doctor ordered for these chilly winter days!

Often ginger biscuits are something that will land you in the dentists rooms, instead - right?!
Don't get me wrong - I love crisp ginger biscuits. But you usually need a cup of tea to dunk them in to save you a chipped tooth  🙈

These cookies, though, are crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle, and delightfully spiced.
My daughter got me to make them 2 days in a row because the first batch was devoured so quickly.

You can substitute golden syrup or molasses for the honey; each will add it's own unique flavour to the mix.


Honey and Ginger Biscuits / Cookies
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Pre-heat the oven to 180'C
line 2-3 cookie trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats


Ingredients:

180g butter at room temp.
150g light brown sugar
1 free-range egg
60ml honey

320g cake flour
2 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Caster sugar for rolling.

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and honey. Mix well.
Sift in the dry ingredients.
Mix until combined.

Roll cookie dough into small balls (about 3-4cm diameter), and roll these balls in caster sugar
(an easy way to do this is to put half a cup of caster sugar in a small bowl, and roll each dough ball around in this.)

Place on the prepared cookie trays and gently press down with a fork.
Bake at 180'C for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies turn a light golden brown.

I gulped down a huge dose of patience, and had my kids do the rolling-into-balls part of the process. We had a lovely variety of cookie sizes and shapes. And caster sugar everywhere! 

Don't you just love the winter holidays? 😉

Happy baking!

xxM

Orange and Almond Dark Chocolate Biscotti

When I looked up the original recipe for these biscotti, I skim read through the method and completely missed the instruction to halve the chocolate  (50g of chocolate was intended for melting and drizzling over the baked biscotti).
It had been a busy week, and making biscotti was a last minute thought before we left for our Mozambique holiday.

 But when is too much chocolate ever an issue?! (Unless it's being consumed by your three year old before bed-time... Of course I don't have toddlers anymore, so S.E.P ... someone else's problem 🙊)

So, I have kept the chocolate volume un-halved in my version. And added some almond flour too.

My son did make pretty short change of these biscotti while we were away, but seeing as his days were filled with swimming, snorkelling and digging huge trenches in the beach, I wasn't too worried that he'd battle to fall asleep.

Plus they're loaded with dark chocolate (have I mentioned that?), and almonds - so they're essentially a health food...! 

Orange and Almond Dark Chocolate Biscotti 
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver 

Pre-heat the oven to 180'C
Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Ingredients:

200g cake flour
40g almond flour
60g unsweetened cocoa powder
175g caster sugar
100g dark chocolate
60 g raw almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 1 medium orange
3 large free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract


Sift the dry ingredients together.
Roughly chop the chocolate and the almonds.
Place all the above ingredients into a food processor and pulse several times; the chocolate and almonds should be in smaller pieces now.
Add the 3 eggs and vanilla, and pulse again until the mixture just starts to come together.
Remove from the food processor and mix by hand into a ball.
Divide the dough in two. Sprinkle a little caster sugar on your work surface and roll each half into a log approx. 28cm long.

Bake at 180'C for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and allow to cool.
Use a serrated knife to cut the logs diagonally, into 1.5cm slices.

Place cut-side down on baking trays, and return to a warm oven (120'C) until dried out and crispy. 
Cool completely before storing in a sealed container.

Try different variations - Jamie Oliver's recipe called for cranberries and pistachios; and I made a batch with a tablespoon of ground ginger instead of the orange zest. 
Let me know what flavour combinations you use, and how they turn out. 


Happy baking!

xxM