My cute little baby grew into a naughty gorgeous 18 year-old before I knew what had happened! Myf had her birthday party on Saturday and I wanted to do some special cupcakes.

She decided she didn’t want a traditional style of birthday cake ( I was so hoping she would still want me to make her a ladybug or a ballerina, like the good-old-days  *wistful sigh*) Now she’s all grown up she decided that cupcakes were the way to go.

The cakes are all  vanilla sponge with chocolate buttercream.

The rose decorations are gorgeous wafer roses from a special friend in Singapore - I love her for sending them to me - so, so pretty

I had some chocolate transfer sheets that I used to make the chocolate shape decorations for the other cakes. I bought quite a selection of transfers in different patterns and colours from a lady in the US. The result is so spectacular, and they are very easy to use.

The cakes at the front are decorated using crumbled sugared violets and roses + candy pebbles.

 Miffy looked radiant and beautiful on her special night. It was a lovely party, something very special to remember.

I was wishing I had a cupcake stand to display them on at the party. I might invest in one if I see a decent priced version around. I have seen the stands used for wedding cupcakes and the effect is quite lovely.

Well, I hope I don’t leave it too long until I post again. I’ve got plenty of things to show and tell you when we catch-up again

Hello friends!

It feels like it’s been soooo long since I had the chance to sit down and just enjoy myself at the computer. Uni has been consuming all of my spare time lately. I’d love to share my beautiful Mother’s Day gifts with you though, and some cakes I made for my daughter’s birthday, so tonight I’m determined to just sit - and write for the fun of it

The tulips are so very beautiful. I put them on the table next to my bed. Such an elegant flower.

The very fancy water, in the very fancy bottle comes from Norway. I’m not going to drink it… just stare at it. It’s too glam to open

The chocolate is Fairtrade Organic from Bolivia. I’ll probably have less trouble opening that…

I feel very blessed. Mother’s day was just lovely and I hope yours was too.

Happy Mother’s Day to our dear Mums. Wishing you a wonderful day.

Also, a big Happy Mother’s Day to ALL the Mums out there - have a wonderful day.

 

Yes she does… my lovely Mum has pointed out a mistake I made in this post

In it I stated that VANILLA ESSENCE was a cheap, synthetic pretender to the real thing. It’s not. 

Vanilla essence is a dilute form of vanilla extract. It is still 100% natural vanilla and a quick read of the label will confirm this. If the product contains synthetic vanilla, that will be stated on the label. It will usually be called “vanillan”. Vanillan can be derived from the sap of certain conifers, or made in the lab from a coal derivitaive.

I hope you find THIS INFORMATION useful.

Purists will  insist on using either the whole bean, but a good quality extract or paste is an excellent substitute. General opinion seems to be that if you want to use vanilla essence instead  of the more concentrated extract; use twice as much as the recipe states.

Thank you Mum, the research was fun and it’s always great to get feedback

photo courtesy of PDPhoto.org

T-Bone steak has to be our favourite. I think it’s the combination of meat cooked on the bone (always so much tastier) and the fact you get the piece of fillet and the porterhouse - all in the one steak!

We don’t have it very often; mainly because we just don’t eat such large amounts of meat anymore, but when we do, I absolutely enjoy every mouthful

Nothing fancy about the meal. A nice big t-bone gets char-grilled and served with a blob of blended together horseradish and butter, salt and freshly-ground pepper. A simple green salad dressed with home-made dressing accompanies.

I don’t have a photo of the actual meal - but here is my dressing recipe and a lovely photo just to whet your appetite

HONEY AND DIJON MUSTARD DRESSING

• 1 cup of sunflower or light olive oil ( I know - I’m the only person in the known universe who doesn’t much like extra-virgin olive oil in their salad…)
• 1/2 a cup of vinegar. I used Champagne vinegar because I had some. Champagne vinegar is quite delicious, try it if you get the chance.
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 rounded teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Put everything into a clean screw-top jar or bottle and give it a very good shake. The mustard will help emulsify the oil and vinegar. Use what you need and then store in the fridge.

Some of you will be familiar with my recipe for allergen-free/vegan chocolate cupcakes. You can find the recipe HERE. Well, my client requested vanilla allergen-free cupcakes topped with blue ‘buttercream” this week, so I set to work perfecting the recipe.

This is the result:

Some things that I did that I believe helped achieve this great result:

• using a little baking powder AS WELL as self-raising powder. Just to give the SR flour a little extra boost
• using vinegar instead of lemon juice
• using rice milk. Just me, but I think  soy milk can be a little assertive in cakes. Flavoured rice/soy milk can be used if you like. I believe you can get vanilla and chocolate flavour
• I used a top-quality vanilla paste for flavouring. Vanilla extract would be a good alternative. Vanilla essence is very cheap, but it is a synthetic product and the flavour cannot compare with  real vanilla pod products. I did a search and  got this stock photo HERE, so I could show you the beautiful insides of a vanilla pod. You just split the pod with a sharp knife. Scrape out the seeds and away you go. The pod itself is full of flavour and can be used, even when the seeds are gone. People put them in their chai tea, when they are heating milk for desserts ( just throw in the pod along with the milk) and they are also just delightful when used to scent and flavour sugar for baking. All you do is pop your new or used vanilla pod in the sugar canister and voila!the most beautiful vanilla sugar for all your desserts, cookies, cakes and shortbreads.

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE vanilla!

The flavour of the little cakies is very acceptable, especially if you are used to consuming allergen-free, modified cakes etc. I could taste the rice milk, which was quite pleasant. .

Here is the vanilla cupcakes recipe I used. I welcome your comments and suggestions

DAIRY FREE/ NUT FREE/ EGG FREE VANILLA CUPCAKES

• 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar. I used rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups rice or soy milk. I used rice milk
• 2 1/4 cups of self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda ( bicarb soda)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 a cup of neutral seed or vegetable oil. I used sunflower
• either 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or the scraped seeds from 1 vanilla pod

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

Line your cupcake pans with paper liners.

Add the vinegar & oil to the rice milk.

Put everything else into the mixer bowl.

Pour over the oil/milk/vinegar liquid.

Set the mixer to low and beat just long enough to combine everything.

Set the mixer to medium speed and whisk for 1 minutes, stopping halfway through to scrape down the bowl.

Fill the liners 2/3rd’s full of cake mixture and put into the oven for 15-20 minutes.

It’s a tough call - everyone’s oven is different The cakes are ready when you gently put your finger onto the top of one and it springs back instead of leaving a dent or sinking…

Leave them in the pans for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool.

Ice as you desire. My dairy-free frosting recipe for the cupcakes can be found HERE 

Porky meats, pate, coriander, carrot shreds, cucumber, fresh chilli and nuoc cham  fill  delicious crusty, crackly crust, French-style rolls from the Vietnamese sandwich shop.

They cost $3-$4 each and are worth every cent - just delicious.

Depending on where you go, you might have the choice of chicken instead of pork, or different combinations of meats. The added veggies, herbs and nuoc cham sauce are standard.

Myf went and fetched these ones. I was busy working on my essay on the weekend and it was just the ticket for lunch. They had been “generous” with the chilli, so I’m glad she brought me a bottle of soy milk to have with it

They are called Banh Mi in Vietnamese, and the wonderful bread rolls they use are a legacy of French influence in Vietnam. I expect that influence extends to the pate too. You can read more about Banh Mi HERE

Oh, we just love them! Try one if you get the chance

My lovely mum came over on the weekend to help me organise my linen closet.

 She know’s how it’s been a bit hard for me to keep up with all the things I want to do at home lately. Work and uni take up a lot of time

I love linen. My bed is a very special place. I always love a lie-in, although nowadays my bad back means I’m usually a bit achy by 9am at the latest and have to get up.

Anyway, mum brought 4 packs of concentrated fabric softener with her. The packs went onto the shelves, next to the linen when we were done. Not on the linen - just on the shelf. We used about 4 of the “tuff-packs” of fabric softener concentrate.

The scent is beautiful. Just like clean washing!

BTW friends - this was a long overdue cleanout: we took 5 garbage bags full of linen to the Salvation Army shop. All perfectly good, but things that I was forced to admit I just don’t use anymore… not my colour, liked it once;don’t anymore, linen for single beds we don’t have, jacquard quilt covers I discovered I hated the feel of  That sort of thing.

Not a huge Jamie Oliver fan but this meal caught my attention and I knew I wanted to make it - soon.

Well, I saw it on TV last night, and made it for dinner tonight Happy days!

You’ve got a bed of baby spinach and other salad, whatever you fancy really.

On the top goes an oil and vinegar dressed pile of baby potatoes, boiled in their skins. I added half a bunch of fresh dill, some finely chopped red onion and salt & pepper ( Jamie added capers) It is important to dress the spuds while they are still warm. They will take-up more of the dressing if you do.

Jamie used smoked salmon. I used fresh salmon cutlets, poached and then de-boned and flaked. The fish went on top of the potatoes.

I used horseradish from a jar mixed with sour cream, salt and pepper for my final dressing. The James-meister used fresh horseradish and creme fraiche .

Next time I think I might use smoked salmon. Those cutlets have so many bones. I was petrified of leaving one in and having someone choke on it. Specifically me…

The salad was lovely to eat. A  beautiful marriage of flavours. Dill, potato, salmon, all perfect together, and I loved the perky horseradish cream with it.

 Absolutely loverly jubberly

Thispost is for Michelle. She left a lovely comment about my cupcakes and requested the recipe for the chocolate ones. Well, this is one recipe I use. i think it’s special. the buttermilk makes the cakes light and lovely, and oil instead of butter improves the keeping qualities and lightens the mix. Don’t worry if you don’t have buttermilk. Sour some fresh milk with a couple of teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice.

• 100g cocoa - don’t use sweetened drinking chocolate, use Bourneville at the least, or a luxe one like Valhrona if you can afford it
• 300g self-raising flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4’s of a cup warm, not hot water
• 3/4’s of a cup buttermilk or sour milk
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste or the scraped seeds from 1 vanilla pod

Now, I am dreadful with weights and measure *blush* so, if the batter is too thin add some more flour, bit by bit. if it’s thick, add some more milk or water. The batter should be soft like very melty ice-cream.

Line your cupcake pan with paper liners.

Heat the oven to 170C

Put all the ingredients into the bowl of your mixer.

Mix on low speed until the ingredients are combined.

Increase the speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure it’s all mixed in.

Spoon the mix into the paper cases. You want them to be about 2/3′rd full.

Bake for about 20 minutes. When you lightly press the top with your finger-tip it will spring back (the cake will spring back - not your finger…). If it sinks in a little and feels soft - give the cakes another couple of minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

When they are cold you can ice/frost them with your favourite topping.

This is the basic buttercream I use.

Beat about 100g of unsalted butter until it is very soft and almost white in colour. Turn off the mixer and add 4 cups of icing sugar and 1/4 cup milk. Start the mixer on low, increasing the speed as the sugar gets incorporated into the butter.

Here again you are going to have to make any necessary adjustments. Too thin - you need more icing sugar. Too thick (it should be the consistency of soft-serve ice-cream) add a few more drops of milk - slowly, slowly, slowly, it will quickly thin down with the addition of liquid.

The icing should hold it’s shape, especially if you want to pipe it onto the cakes.

When you are happy with the consistency, and it can take a while, trust me, add your flavours and/or colour. Be VERY careful adding colour. Use a drop of colour on the end of a toothpick or satay stick and add it like that until the icing is the colour you want. Too bright a colour isn’t really my thang but, the client has requested bright colours and her wish is my command

Pipe or spread on your icing. The American way is to pile it high. Swirls and mountains of frosting. The English and Australians are more restrained in their icing quantity. It’s all about choice - life’s wonderful like that - your cupcakes, your choice!

Have fun! I hope they turn out beautiful for your  birthday surprise Michelle