baking
Mmm, cake
I’ve been up to my eyes in cake this last week!
First was an entry into the Threadcakes competition. I’ve been wanting to make this baby Godzilla cake, based on a Threadless shirt design, for a while and finally found the motivation (and time) to do it.
Cute and delicious
I baked a couple of test cakes and found a delicious madeira recipe (which I tweaked to make it an orange madeira cake) that was perfect – delicious, moist and something I could carve into. It was a lot of work, but I think I did well for my first sculpted cake. More details and photos can be found on my Threadcakes entry.
The other cake was for a friend’s grandaughter’s third birthday party. The wee girl wanted a yellow castle cake and I decided to add Rapunzel into the mix.
Yellow castle cake
Waiting for her prince
The main cake was a dense banana cake (I think I’ll use another recipe next time), and the skinny tower was a chocolate roll. Both are filled with a delicious butter cream. The skinny tower gave me troubles as it started leaning and sagging a bit – oh dear. The top tower was also a challenge to cover.
Just a bit of practice to better my cake decorating skills. I have lots to learn still!
Lemon Lime Tart
I was looking for a recipe for key lime pie, and unsurprisingly they all seemed to be in funny American measures like sticks of butter, ounces, ‘large’ eggs, all that nonsense. And we don’t get Graham crackers so telling me I need 12 doesn’t help. I did find a recipe on a New Zealand site but it was a no-cook one which I didn’t want to use because of the raw eggs and of being pregnant.
I finally found one that required baking and had some useful weight measurements albeit imperial, and made a few guesses because it still asked for ‘large or extra large’ eggs. I only had size 6 eggs which is common in New Zealand recipes.
So because I really like how it turned out and don’t want to go through the hassle of working out what’s what next time, I’ve rewritten the recipe in normal metric measures and using size 6 eggs. I don’t think we get key limes here so I used whatever type they sell at the supermarket, plus a lemon because the hubby didn’t buy enough limes… and I wanted to use my tart tin, hence the Lemon Lime Tart :)
Lemon lime tart
Lemon Lime Tart
Makes one 22cm pie or tart
Ingredients
- 125 grams plain biscuits (I used a coconutty one that turned out rather yummy)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 75 grams butter, melted
- 5 size 6 egg yolks
- 395g can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup lime juice (used 4 limes and a lemon)
- zest of the limes and lemon
Method
- Preheat oven to 170°C.
- Put broken up biscuits in a food process and process until crumbed.
- Add melted butter and process until mixed. You may need to do the final mix with a spoon or spatula.
- Pour into tart tin and press firmly to create the base. (Don’t worry about going up the sides as the filling holds it shape.)
- Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.
- Whisk eggs for 3 minutes in an electric mixer, until pale and thick.
- Slowly add condensed milk, whisking for another 4 minutes. Stop mixer.
- Pour in half of juice and zest and whisk a few seconds to combine.
- Add other half of juice and whisk again to combine.
- Pour into tart shell.
- Bake for 15 minutes till set.
- Cool on a rack in the tin. You can keep the tart refrigerated for a couple days but I recommend moving it onto a plate first once cooled completely.
- Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. We had some fresh strawberries with it and that was a great combination.
A Week Wiser
What have I learnt this week?
- Not having a functioning oven is an inconvenience. You can’t bake anything, including cupcakes!
- ArtPop popcorn is the most disgusting microwave popcorn I’ve ever had. It smells like cheese and literally made me feel a little sick just from the smell. Ick.
- I’ve really missed sushi. Even homemade involves a little more effort in heating up the prawns and surimi etc before I can be sure they’re safe.
- It’s still not a good idea to use umbrellas in Wellington. You think you’d be alright when there’s just a light breeze about, but then out of nowhere there’s a big gust and you risk breaking your umbrella or looking like a dorky out-of-towner who should’ve just stuck to a rain jacket.
- A baby’s descent into your pelvis is measured in fifths, as the average adult hand is roughly the width of a baby’s head. My current descent is 2/5, meaning the proportion of the baby’s head above my pelvis is equal to the width of two fingers, and 3/5 of its head is already buried inside. She’s preparing for delivery!
- I love cinnamon donuts.
- If you want monster pastries, the bakery in Hataitai Village can help with that. Look at the giant donut and apple croissant we got!
Big cinnamon donut - what value!
Big apple croissant which was much fun eating with all the icing sugar and flakiness going everywhere
Stuff I Luff
- Lazy weekends
- Pink grapefruit juice. I could never have grapefruit juice while on the pill so this is one thing I’m taking advantage of while pregnant.
- Watching Fez sleep. He’s the cutest when he’s fast asleep, snoring and having puppy dreams
- Good yum char
- Nanna naps
- Sunny summery weather in Spring
- Knowing this is my last week of work!
- Making cakes. I made Ms Constantine’s birthday cake and it was so satisfying to see the finished product all pretty and ready for surprising (though I’m terrible at surprises).
- I also love eating said cake
White chocolate mud cake with Malteser-Baileys cream and white chocolate ganache... mmm!
Cachous and pale pink sugar crystals complete the cake
Baby Update at 29 Weeks
Resources tell me that my blood volume is now double the normal. That explains the blood noses I’m having at least twice a day.
My belly button now looks like a moon crater with raised edges. I wonder what it will do by the end of this trimester…
On Sunday I had my baby shower. Thanks to my cousin and Ms Constantine for organising things, and everyone who made it there.
Of course I had to make cupcakes and opted for the favourite black forest. I also made a lemon coconut flavour so I could make use of the dessicated coconut that I finally got around to getting (although I only used it on the icing).
Baby shower cupcakes
I opted to ice the lemon cupcakes by using a layer of butter cream and then plonking a giant marshmallow on top. A sprinkling of coconut made them look extra fluffy. Some royal icing helped to cement the teeny fondant flowers on top to complete the baby girl look. Lazy but quite effective I thought. I also learnt that I need to use more butter cream because the marshmallow may look like frosting but doesn’t give the same moistness and finger licking quality as frosting :)
The hubby made some cookies that I put away in Chinese takeout boxes for the guests. Mmm, chocolate cherry, and almond and white chocolate…. He thinks he may have missed an ingredient from the chocolate cherry ones because they turned out rather flat and floppy, so apologies. I think they still tasted good.
The baby shower was great fun. We also got a lot of useful stuff that will help us get started when the baby arrives. Baby clothes, especially girls’ things can be unbelievably cute! Can’t wait to use everything.
We also had our first antenatal class last Wednesday. It’s quite scary learning what is going to happen. My cervix is apparently going to expand to nearly the size of a compact disc and that’s before I can start pushing the baby out!
Cupcakes and cookies
I get excited when there’s a reason to bake, apart from just wanting to eat!
Last Sunday we were invited to Kiwi Wolf’s hubby’s surprise birthday get together. Myhubby volunteered me to make the cupcakes – lucky for him I like making cupcakes and he knew it anyway.
I decided to make two flavours – lemon lime (based on the Coconut Lime Cupcake recipe but minus the coconut essence) with a zesty lemon butter cream, and a Black Forest cupcake with fresh cream flavoured with cherry liquer. They were both delicious and I was sad that I could only fit in one of each :[
Lemon lime cupcakes with lemon butter cream frosting
Black forest cupcakes with cherry liquer flavoured cream
The hubby decided to make chocolate chip cookies. He managed to find the other recipe that we love. This one has coffee in it, and is a light cookie with a salty sweet scrumptiousness. I prefer it over the last chocolate chip recipe I posted. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to taking any photos before they were all eaten.
Chocolate Chip Cookies II
Makes 24
I’m not sure exactly where we got this recipe from or what we had altered, but it’s gooood.
Ingredients
- 1/2 C (125g) butter
- 1 C brown sugar
- 3 Tbs castor sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbs vanilla essence
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 C flour
- 1 1/2 tsp coffee powder
- 225 g chopped chocolate (we use dark chocolate, and you could also use chips if you really have to)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190 C.
- Cream together butter and sugars (use a wooden spoong or your electric mixer).
- Beat in the egg.
- Add in all other ingredients, sifting in the baking soda, powder and flour to get rid of lumps, and combine. You may need to use your hands to mix things together.
- Divide into 20-24 cookies (depending on how large you want them) and bake on two trays for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.
The cookies will still feel soft and spongy when done, but they will crisp up soon after.
Mmmm addictive!
Put the lime in the coconut
I decided to be a bit adventurous this time and make coconut lime cupcakes with marshmallow icing.
The intention was to use the dessicated coconut that had been hanging around in the pantry since ages ago, but when it came to it I couldn’t find it anywhere. Maybe I’d already thrown it out because it was getting manky…
So I ended up using coconut essence, which isn’t the same, but it gave a nice subtle flavour.
We also bought a jar of Marshmallow Fluff when we were in the States a few years back. The hubby thought it was a great souvenir because it’s ’so American’, but we didn’t really know what to do with it. Then on an episode of Good Eats, Alton Brown made some marshmallow fluff-type frosting, so that gave me another reason for baking these cupcakes.
My recipe is as follows, and as always it’s based on the basic Scout’s cupcake recipe.
Coconut Lime cupcakes with Marshmallow Fluff frosting
Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Marshmallow Fluff Frosting
Makes 24
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- fresh whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspon of vanilla essence
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- zest and juice of one lime
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut essence
- 1 cup of standard flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
Frosting
- 50 grams softened butter
- dash of vanilla essence
- Half jar of Marshmallow Fluff
- Icing sugar
Method
- Break eggs into a cup measure and fill to the top with cream.
- Pour into a large mixing bowl and beat on high with electric beaters for 1 minute.
- Add vanilla essence and caster sugar.
- Beat for another 3 minutes.
- Add the zest, lime juice and coconut essence, and beat for about 10 seconds to combine.
- Sift in standard flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
- Fold to combine taking care not to over mix.
- Spoon into 12 cupcake cases (you can make a few extra if the cases are over 3/4 full).
- Bake for about 15-18 minutes at 180 degrees Celcius until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove from tins (they can be quite fragile for a few minutes after baking) and cool on wire racks.
To make frosting, whip the butter until light and fluffy using an electric beater. Add vanilla essence and Marshmallow Fluff and whisk well. Add about 1/4 cup icing sugar, and whisk again until well combined. Keep whisking in small amounts of icing sugar until you get a good fluffy frosting. You could also add in some lemon juice for a lemony icing.
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