Author Archives: cakecrumbs

Strawberry and Nutella Mini-Calzones

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There was this one restaurant in the city my boyfriend and I used to frequent. They had gorgeous meals for cheap prices and we always had a positive experience there. Amongst our favourite meals were these delicious calzones, and enormous ones at that. They were the size of half a dinner plate and choc full of filling. The savoury calzones were delicious, but the dessert ones even more so. We'd often order the strawberry and chocolate calzone to share, because imagining we could get through one alone was madness.

Some time ago we had an event in the city so decided to go back to this place for dinner and were devastated to find it was no longer there. They have other branches around, but our experiences there were… well, we'll just say they were nothing like their city counterpart. We've missed their meals like crazy, and their strawberry calzone was definitely one on the most pined after list.

Last week, while planning the meal for the night, I had a craving for it when it finally occurred to me: It's just a calzone. How hard could it be to replicate?

The answer is not very hard at all…

Chocolate Bubble Cake

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Last Sunday was my 25th Birthday. Shh, yes, I’m getting old. As the only baker in my house, of course the cake duties fell to me. Something I love because I get to experiment with new things.

I had an idea. An idea involving chocolate bubbles. But then I decided to hang out with my friends instead and left myself only 6 hours to complete the cake. What ended up happening was one disaster quite literally flowing into the next.

Pop…

Chicken and Leek Pot Pies

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Now the weather is gradually but finally getting colder, winter type meals are starting to become more common in the household. Soups, stews, curries, casseroles, roasts and pies. The sort of meals that felt far to hot and heavy to eat weeks ago are now desired to chase the chill away.

These pot pies are one of the most simple meals of the bunch. They don't require any pastry knowledge or blind baking so they're perfect for anyone intimidated by making pie crusts.

Let’s begin…

Chocolate Mousse Cake

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It's no secret I love me any excuse to make a cake, so a gathering with Cameron's family at Easter was the perfect excuse. I always make something nest-themed at Easter so I knew it just had to have some nest component. I'd already done the fondant and the spun sugar thing, so it had to be different. I sat down and did a little brain-storming and eventually came up with this beast.

But this cake has a little hidden secret: it's completely vegan.

Not that you’d ever know…

White Chocolate Mousse Eggs

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This is a dessert I've had sitting in the recesses of my mind for some time now, but have been waiting for the proper excuse to make. Easter seemed like the perfect time, what with eggs being so central to the festivities, so I held onto it until it finally rolled around.

One of my favourite things to do is to make food look like something it's not. It's been some time since I've done that 'trick food' so I couldn't wait for the excuse to delve into this one.

But really, who needs Easter to enjoy trick food?

Home-made Easter Egg Tutorial

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It's that time of year again where you can barely take a step outside the house without seeing chocolate eggs beckoning from every corner. It's also that time of year where warnings about products that contain not-so-animal-friendly ingredients flood the news feed of every social networking site, advising you who to support and who to boycott. Or maybe that's just because half my friends are Zoologists? Either way, it can be daunting trying to remember who and what is safe to buy from. I find such an appeal in making my own Easter eggs. Knowing exactly what's going into them and knowing that they're definitely palm oil free is a big plus for me.

But the best part is they're so fun and easy to make. You get to pick your own designs, colours, flavours and fillings. The only limit is your imagination.

If you've never made chocolate eggs before, here's a basic tutorial to get you started. After this, you can let the creative juices flow and add your own twist to it!

Let the chocolate making begin!

Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

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My favourite thing about Easter is hot cross buns. As soon as it starts getting close I get ridiculously excited at having an excuse to make some. Every year I promise myself I'll make more when it's not Easter, but I never do. Another year rolls by and I'll realise I haven't had them for a year.

This recipe is the favourite in my household. Most aren't keen on hot cross buns with dried fruit in them, but the choc chip alternative disappears almost as quickly as I can make the.

One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny…

Cook Book Challenge: Week 35

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It's been such a long while, but I'm finally delving back into the challenge of getting through my ever expanding collection of books. Picking up where I left off, this is the third instalment of Philadelphia's recipe books. You know the type when they're like, "Buy our products and get a free book!" deals. Except these books are actually good. For the third book, they teamed up with Cadbury for extra noms. It's probably no surprise that this book is dessert focused. I'm pretty sure there's not one savoury recipe in the whole thing, which is moderately disappointing. But it's hard to remain disappointed when browsing page after page of mouth watering recipes.

Cream cheese involved recipes are something I make relatively often, so there was little in there that was particularly challenging. One of the new candidates, however, was whoopie pies.

Through contact with so many international bloggers, whoopie pies and something I keep hearing about but have never experienced. I only had the most vague idea what they were. So It was definitely time to try them for myself.

More chocolatey heaven under the cut…

Hearty Pumpkin Soup

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I've spent months complaining about the heat and the humidity and the fires. As we crawled through the beginning of Autumn, the weather remained unrelentingly and record-breakingly hot. Then, suddenly, Melbourne appeared to become sick of at all as well. In the last week the weather plummeted below 30°C and even granted us a whole bunch of rain and storms to go with it. I had lots of fun dancing around in summer dresses remembering what it felt like to be cold once more. It was a welcome feeling, indeed.

Something else we collectively rejoiced was the return of warm, hearty meals. Dinners have been focussed around finding refreshing-feeling meals to help us get through the heat. Now, touch wood, we can return to just eating whatever we enjoy.

This soup is one such meal…