Cookie Monster Cupcakes

This is a pretty hot cupcake item at the moment. They look so cute and you know any little person's eyes would light up with excitement at the thought of eating this...

Now I have no shame in saying that I used a packet mix :-O I was scared they weren't going to turn out, and a packet mix was such an easier alternative.

This is what I used to make my little monsters...

Firstly I baked my Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Muffins into some blue cupcake cases.

Whist they were cooling I made the googly eyes. I laid out my Nestle White Melts and with a little melted chocolate on the side I proceeded to stick on currants with the melted chocolate acting as my "glue".

I cut my cookies into halves and then I coloured half a bag of shredded coconut with some Blue Queen Food Colouring.

I then cut a triangular incision which removes some of the cake into the bottom part of the cupcake, this is where the cookie sits, I also cut a slit towards the top of the cake for the eyes to sit in.

Once cakes have been frosted with a plain blue frosting, dip the entire cupcake into the coconut until generously coated.

Hold the bottom of the cake firmly so the cookie can securely be inserted. Using the slit made at the top of the cupcake, insert two of your already prepared eyes.

They are so much easier than what they look, and it is priceless to see these served up a a kids birthday party. They are definitely a hit! 

 

Rainbow Velvet Cake

The rainbow cake seems to be the "it" cake of the moment, it's all over the internet and you can't go on Pinterest without being bombarded by pictures of this delectable and colourful creation. I brushed it aside thinking it would be more stress than what it is worth until my cousin from Back in G-Town  made one for her Little Miss' 4th birthday! She inspired me to attempt one for my baby cousin's second birthday, and I'm glad I did. It is certainly not as hard as it looks, and this my friends, is a cake that vanishes, because everyone wants to try a piece because it looks so fun!

So I used an old faithful recipe of mine found here, for classic Red Velvet and I quadrupled it to ensure I had enough cake batter.

I made a lush chocolate frosting to go with it as I decorated with Kit Kats, and I wanted a blended look, but the standard tends to be a white frosting.

Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Frosting

Ingredients

750 grams unsalted butter 

6 cups sifted icing sugar

4 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

375 grams dark chocolate

Method

1. In an electric mixer using the paddle attachment whip butter for 7 minutes on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

2. Turn mixer down to low speed and add icing sugar, vanilla and milk until combined.

3. Mix on medium setting for a further 6 minutes and add melted chocolate slowly.

4. Butter-cream should be very fluffy and pale.

Now back to the cake, I did five coloured layers so I divided the batter equally into five bowls before adding any food colouring. Once in the five bowls I coloured them all nice and brightly.

A word of advice... bake this cake to a size in which you have two tins, trust me it's a much quicker process.

Bake each colour one by one and allow to cool, they will look like coloured pancakes at this point.

Start by placing your first cake layer down and spreading with the frosting and repeat the process until you have something that looks like this.

With any cake I do, I always do a crumb layer of frosting i.e. a very thin layer of frosting over the whole cake which catches all of the cake crumbs before I put I nice clean layer of frosting on top. After I have done the crumb layer I put the cake in the fridge to slightly harden before I do the "good" layer.

After I had done the good layer of frosting I broke up four family Kit Kat blocks to stick around the border. Then I covered the top with loads of M and M's and tied it all up with a decorative ribbon.

It is definitely one to try out, even if you're not comfortable, start small, do three layers, use a packet mix, it's all about experimentation!

Happy Baking All xxx

Chocolate-Chip Cookies (Subway Style)

Chocolate chip cookies are one of the first things I remember cooking at home and at school back in the day. Having a bit of a passion for baking, it's quite often the simple things that I have been striving to perfect like boiling an egg (I struggled with this for years haha shame) or in this case, baking the perfect chocolate chip cookies. 

In this past week I think I have tried four different recipe variations, it's been like an Arnott's factory over here, luckily there is always somewhere to bring these sweets and tasty treats. I wanted to create a nice crunch on the outside with a chewy center, much like your Subway cookie variety. 

I am pleased to say that I think I have finally nailed the chocolate chip cookie! I felt like Monica in the Friends episode where she baked for days trying to find the perfect cookie recipe, until she found it on the back of a Nestle packet, alas, you won't find this recipe on your chocolate chip packet, so please see below. Once again, happy baking and please tell me how you go! xxx

Chefette's Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups Plain Flour

¾ cup of Self-Raising Lighthouse Cake and Biscuit Flour

170g butter

1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

½ cup white sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups milk chocolate chips (I use Cadbury) 

Method

1.   Preheat the oven to 170°C and line two trays with baking paper.

2.   In an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla.

3.   Once combined, add both the egg and egg yolk. Mixture will be nice and creamy and should resemble a coffee coloured buttercream.

4.   Add the flours and mix either by hand or on low in electric mixer with the paddle attachment.

5.   Add chocolate chips either by hand or with a wooden spoon. (Cookie dough will be much less dense than a regular cookie dough.)

6.   Use a tablespoon to measure and roll dough into balls, then slightly flatten with your palm to resemble a patty.

7.   Place dough patties on to tray and be careful to leave enough room to spread out, because they will!

8.   Bake for 10-17 minutes or until cookies become lightly toasted on the edges. If you prefer your cookies with a little more crunch, bake until they are completely golden brown, similarly if you prefer them chewier, bake them for a little less. (Make sure you experiment with a couple of cookies first to see how you like them cooked.)

9.   Allow to cool in trays for a few minutes before transferring them to wire cooling racks (as the shape will be distorted if they are handled whilst piping hot.) Serve and enjoy!

Masterchefette's Confetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting

There's nothing that makes you feel more like a kid than colourful frosting with lashings of sprinkles and candied confetti. Well taking some "pintrespiration" (pinterest inspiration) I came up with these little babies yesterday and I think they are perfect for birthday parties or for some good old baking fun. I have used the base from my chocolate chip muffins post found here.
  
Confetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Ingredients

1¾ cups Cake & Biscuit Flour (Self-Raising) (I use Lighthouse brand)

¾ cup sugar 

½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs 

125gm butter or margarine
1 cup vanilla yoghurt (I use Danone Vanilla)
Nemar Heart Sprinkles

1 tsp of vanilla bean paste (I use Queen Organic Vanilla Bean Paste)

Method

1.   Preheat oven to 170°C (fan forced)

2.   Cream butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, I use the paddle attachment.

3.   Add eggs to the mixture.

4.   Gradually add salt and flour in 3 batches.

5.   Once combined gradually add the yoghurt.

6.   Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups ⅔ full.

7. Sprinkle some hearts into each case and give it a light stir with the end of a teaspoon.

8.   Bake at 180°C (fan forced) for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Vanilla Bean Frosting

Ingredients

375 grams unsalted butter 

3 cups sifted icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

Method

1. In an electric mixer using the paddle attachment whip butter for 7 minutes on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

2. Turn mixer down to low speed and add icing sugar, vanilla and milk until combined.

3. Mix on medium setting for a further 6 minutes.

4. Butter-cream should be very fluffy and pale.

5. Add your favourite colouring or leave natural colour.

6. Pipe on top and serve with additional heart sprinkles.

 

 

Chefette's Chocolate Chip Muffins with Vanilla Yoghurt

As I am currently busy cleaning out the house and packing for the epic move, I stumbled across some of my old Home Economics books from High School yesterday and I was reminded why I held on to them for so long. 

I first used this recipe at school in year seven and after making some slight adaptations, this is now one of my favourites to use. 

I decided to part with the old exercise books and decided to write up a more formal recipe to share with all of you. I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as I do. They're also a great addition to the school lunch box as they contain much less butter and oil than regular muffins and they have a generous amount of yoghurt in them. Enjoy! xxx

Chocolate-Chip Muffins with Vanilla Yoghurt

Ingredients

1¾ cups Cake & Biscuit Flour (Self-Raising) (I use Lighthouse brand)

¾ cup sugar 

½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs 

125gm butter or margarine
1 cup vanilla yoghurt (I use Danone Vanilla)
¾ cup chocolate chips (I use Cadbury Milk)

1 tsp of vanilla bean paste (I use Queen Vanilla Bean Paste)

Method

1.   Preheat oven to 170°C (fan forced)

2.   Cream butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, I use the paddle attachment.

3.   Add eggs to the mixture.

4.   Gradually add salt and flour in 3 batches.

5.   Once combined gradually add the yoghurt.

6.   Mix in chocolate chips either on low speed or by hand.

7.   Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups ⅔ full.

8.   Bake at 180°C (fan forced) for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Aria Restaurant Review (Chef - Matt Moran)

For S' birthday in November we wanted to do something fun and indulge in going to a beautiful restaurant being the foodies we are. We decided to take a trip to Sydney and I immediately knew we had to visit Peter Gilmore's Quay, as I had been dying to try their infamous snow egg ever since I saw it on MasterChef... look how pretty!!! Alas you have to book months and months and months in advance to get into Quay so it was on to Plan B. Plan B was quite the good alternative though, being Matt Moran's Aria.

I didn't know a whole lot about Aria, apart from Matt Moran being the head chef, but that was enough for me! For starters, the restaurant has the obvious bonus of being in one of the best locations in Sydney (if you don't mind the Opera House and Harbour Bridge of course) have a look at the view from our table, magic!

The feel and atmosphere of the restaurant is terrific and I highly recommend paying a lunch time visit to Aria as it's a treat for both the eyes and the mouth. Forgive me if I don't remember all of the precise names of the dishes it's been a few months. 

The appetiser that was brought out first was a shot of Thai Sweet Potato Soup with a Coconut topping. First things first I had to get my head around the fact that I was going to "shot" some soup rather than some alcohol, and that the top looked strangely like cappuccino froth, but can I tell you with each little sip I was wanting more and more of it. It was like nothing I had ever tasted before, so delicious!

For entrees we had the scallops and pork belly. The scallops were cooked to perfection (and I'm not a scallop lover) they were so moist and delicate. The pork belly however was not the best I have had, but nonetheless still enjoyable, it just lacked that punch of flavour that I would normally expect from pork belly, however the meat was deliciously tender.

For main course we all settled on the steak (boring I know) but I was curious to try it, having dined at Gordon Ramsey's Maze Grill and wanted to see how they compared. Well my foodie friends, this steak was the best steak I have ever had in my life (big call I know!) From memory I think it was a grain fed Angus and it was delectable! This was the kind of melt in your mouth steak, hardly any chewing required. The jus it was served with also complimented it beautifully as did the brocollini with lemon juice and toasted macadamias.

After lunch and a glass of lovely Italian Riesling we were too full to have dessert (shattering I know) and we were about to leave when the lovely waitresses knew we were celebrating a birthday and brought us over this gorgeous little plate of chocolatey goodness. Oh my, I don't even know what they were or what was in them but they were bite-sized pieces of chocolatey heaven.

Check out the beautiful birthday girl with the plate of chocolatey fun!

Overall, Aria is a winner in my book in terms, of service, ambiance, atmosphere and of course the food. Make sure you book well in advance and ask for a table with a view, you won't regret it, it's a fabulous dining experience!

ARIA Restaurant Sydney • 1 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay, Sydney NSW 2000 • Ph: +61 2 9252 2555

Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

150g butter

400g eating chocolate (dark, milk, mixture, doesn't matter, I used milk)

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3/4 cup plain flour

140 grams of dark chocolate (either chips or chopped up)

1/2 cup of sour cream

3/4 cup of hazelnuts (not essential or you could always substitute by using some of your favourite chocolate with nuts in it)

Ganache

125ml cream

200gm dark chocolate 

1. Bring cream to the boil in a saucepan.

2. Pour hot cream over chocolate pieces and combine with a fork until smooth.

3. Set aside until cool and of a spreadable consistency. 

Brownie Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (fan-forced) and line a shallow baking tray with baking paper and chop up or break chocolate!

2. Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan on low heat until combined and smooth. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. (Cooling is important as you don't want the eggs to scramble in the chocolate, ew)

3. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla and proceed to slowly fold in flour. Add dark chocolate bits, sour cream and nuts.  

4. Pour mixture into prepared tray and bake for 40 minutes. The brownies should be covered with with foil for the last 20 minutes of baking.

5. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack and then wrap tightly in glad wrap for an hour.

6. Once cool spread ganache over.

7. Serve and enjoy!