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 

Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot - The Cupcake Version

In my original post of this recipe, I wrote that the orange zest was (optional). 

It isn't really. 

Now, I have a friend who would walk away from this cake - yes, walk away from a dark chocolate carrot cake with a cheesecake swirl! - if she heard that there was orange zest in it. 

But, as long as citrus is not your nemesis, I strongly encourage you to include it in this recipe. 

There's just something about the combination of dark chocolate and orange that titivates the tongue; not to mention how sublimely it combines with the cheese cake component in this mix. 

Convinced? Yes!

So, obviously now you want to make this Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake, but perhaps the Bundt cake version is a little intimidating.
No problem: It converts perfectly into cupcakes!

Here's how:

Follow the recipe for the Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake, but forget the Bundt pan. 

Instead, prepare 2 x 12-hole muffin tins with cupcake cases (preferably the slightly larger "American" muffin cases).

Use a 30ml measuring cup (1/8th cup measure)*, to place chocolate carrot cake batter into the bottom of the cupcake case. 

Top with a scoop* of the cheesecake mix; followed by another scoop of the chocolate carrot cake batter.

*Ideally, use two separate 30ml measuring cups for this.
*Not all muffin trays are created equal - there's a range of "standard" sizes. I used my larger ones for these cupcakes, ( they're large but not giant muffin tins.)
*You only want to fill the muffin case approx 2/3 full in total with all three layers, so do one and then judge the rest of your scoops accordingly. 

Bake at 175'C for approx. 30 minutes, or until a cocktail stick inserted into the cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. 

Allow to cool slightly before removing from the muffin tin and placing on a rack to cool completely. 

If you want to simplify and omit the cheesecake part of this recipe, the dark chocolate carrot cake is great just on its own. But don't leave out the orange zest 😉
Dust with icing sugar before serving, or - if you have omitted the cheesecake layer, try them with a swirl of cream cheese icing.

Enjoy!

xxM

Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake

Ever have one of those days where you can't decide between carrot cake, cheese cake or chocolate cake?
Well, why choose one when you can have them all?!

I made this "Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake" for the Lancewood Cake-off competition, and I want to thank everyone who went across and voted for it.
 It was one of those competitions, though, where you had to go campaigning for votes, which is so not me. (Clearly no political careers in my future!)
I do think, however, that if it had been up to taste, this cake would certainly have been up there with the winners 😉

Unlike most of my current recipe posts, this one uses cup measures, because I took the "use Lancewood products " message to heart, and not only used the contents of the cream cheese tub, but the tub itself! 

Bonus points! ... or not 🙈

SO, anyhoo - the tub is a substitute cup measure. 

Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Pre-heat the oven to 175'C
Grease a large Bundt cake pan

Ingredients:

Cheesecake swirl -
1 ½ tubs  medium fat plain cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup caster sugar
1 large free range egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake -
2 cups cake flour
2 cups caster sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt

1 cup canola oil
½ cup buttermilk
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated carrot
zest from 1 orange  (optional)
½ cup boiling water

Method:
Cheesecake Swirl -

Place the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer, and beat until soft. Add the remaining swirl ingredients and beat until smooth. Set aside.


Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake -

Using the tub as a cup measure, measure out and sift together the dry ingredients.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

Crack both eggs into the empty tub, put on the lid and shake - lightly beaten eggs!
Top up the tub containing the eggs with buttermilk.
Pour the eggs and buttermilk mix into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
Measure out a tubful of canola oil, and pour that into the well, followed by the vanilla extract and the tubful of grated carrots, and orange zest, if using.
Briefly mix the ingredients together before stirring in the boiling water. Mix well.

Spread half the chocolate carrot cake batter into the bottom of a large, greased Bundt pan.
Pour and spread the cheesecake swirl mixture over the cake batter; followed by the remaining cake batter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175'C fot 70-80 min. (This cake will take a while to bake because it is large and moist. Cover the top of the cake loosely with aluminium foil if it is browning too quickly). It is done when a wooden cocktail stick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Once done, remove from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before turning the cake out from the tin.

Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Yes, it's a lot of ingredients and a bit of effort, but it isn't a difficult cake to make. 

And it certainly is worth it!

I'll be posting tips on a cupcake version soon. 

Happy baking!

xxM