Orange and Cinnamon Macarons

I'm addicted to making macarons lately. And I have no intention of stopping until I iron out the little creases that are the imperfections in my biscuits. As if I'm going to stop when I do finally get them perfect. Ha!

They're so addictive and so appealing to make. It's becoming and\ obsession. There are so many colours and flavours and possibilities just begging to be explored.

My major challenge at the moment is getting the biscuits all the same size. No matter how carefully I drew the circles and how carefully I piped, they'd always be different. I'd spend ages trying to match up same-sized biscuits, getting grumpy about the misshapen ones. So I thought it was time to try something new.

Breaking habits…

12 Days of Christmas :: 10 Chocolate Ganache Tartlets

Mince tarts are so pretty. So festive. But so unappealing to all of us. I don’t know what it is, but we just don’t like them. I always stare at them in the supermarket wishing that were different.

So I decided to pinch the aesthetics and substitute the taste. These sweet tartlets make for a delicious and festive dessert for the chocolate-lover.

Moar…

12 Days of Christmas :: 2 Macarons

Macarons are one of those things I've always wanted to try but have been too intimidated to. I haven't even tasted one, let alone baked them. From the horror stories to the legends about how hard they are to bake correctly, I put it in the "one day" basket. I decided I was going to finally tackle this fickle beast for this Christmas. I spent many hours researching recipes and advice and all the what-to-dos and what-not-to-dos. The more I read, the more confused I became. There is so much conflicting information, sworn by recipes, refuted techniques. It's enough to make you want to throw in the towel.

After one such evening I finally closed my internet browser and decided that was enough. It's only a meringue. I can do meringue. I needed to just get in the kitchen and have a go.

Turns out, there's a whole lot of fuss about not much.    These are completely achievable…

Salted Peanut Caramel and White Chocolate Cheesecake

Last week I went out to dinner with mine and my boyfriend's immediate family to celebrate the completion of my Masters degree. We went to one of my favourite local restaurants, Azurea's and had a lovely time together. While Azurea's have a gorgeous selection of cakes and desserts themselves, I wasn't about to let go of an excuse to bake! Between mine and his family, everyone's preference for cake is many and varied, so choosing one is always a difficult task — someone is always not going to be happy! I eventually settled on this cake I had been wanting to try for quite a while now.

Hello excuse!

Triple Chocolate Ripple Joconde

Last Thursday was my sister's 21st birthday. It was a given that I was going to make the cake. I told her with a week to go to have a think about what sort of cake she wanted. She had no idea. It's harder to think of ideas when you're not a baker – you're much less aware of the possibilities. 

A few days out I became resigned to having to work it out myself. Almost as soon as I came to this resolution, she piped up with, "I know what I want! A chocolate ripple cake!"

". . . really?" I replied. 

My heart sunk a little. I'd been looking forward to the opportunity to create something whimsical, test some new skills, have some license to create. Of all the things I could make, she chose the easiest cake in the entire world.

Well, the birthday girl has to get what she wants. But, me being me, I couldn't stop at making just any old ripple cake…

Death By Chocolate…

Jye’s Christening Cake

My cousin Jessica is one of my most supportive family members when it comes to my baking adventures, as well as my most regular commissioner. A few of them have been for her son. You may remember the Baby Shower Cupcakes I made as a gift for her, or the Pirate Dreams cake for his first birthday. So when his Christening rolled around, she again asked me to make a cake for the occasion. I was more than happy to oblige. 

But before we launch into the final product, there is a story of drama and tears. This cake almost didn't happen.

My tale of multiple fails of epicness…

Majora’s Mask Cake

This is something I'd been wanting to do for ages, but with final assignments and exams and field work to be done, baking was just not something I had time for – let alone cake decorating.

Last week I finished my final assignments and finally got time to do this. If you are a fan of the Zelda franchise, or even just a Nintendo64 kid, you'll know what this is.

This is Majora's Mask from the Legend of Zelda game of the same name. It is a powerful, ancient mask that harnesses a great, evil power. It was used by an ancient tribe in their hexing rituals until they sealed it away because of this power. It was recovered by a mask salesman, then subsequently stolen from him by a mischievous imp, called the Skull Kid, intending only to have a bit of fun with it. He is quickly consumed by the mask's power and, through the Skull Kid, Majora seeks to destroy Termina by bringing the moon down upon it.

For a lot of Zelda fans, this is their favourite game. It's not mine – I was too disappointed at the time that they re-used so much from Ocarina of Time to be completely blown away by it the same way I was with OoT. But that's not to say I didn't, and still don't, love every minute of playing it. I was sold at getting to ride Epona as a foal. But really, what's not to love?

Eventually, I plan on making my way through all the masks of the game in cupcake form. The final products will be irregular thanks to my research and the impending thesis I need to write, but I'm determined to finish this project in its entirety.

For now, here is the most important mask from the game.

Lots more Majora, with progress pictures…

My 24th Birthday Cake

As I mentioned in my last cakey post, Easter weekend was my birthday. I ended up making three cakes that weekend, which is probably some record for me. This was the one I made for my birthday.

I seem to have such a lack of inspiration for cakes lately. The month leading up to my birthday, I just could not figure out what I wanted to do. Even as I began making it, I had little direction. It's those unplanned cakes that usually come out the worst for me, so I wasn't expecting great things.

Strawberries will make everything better…

Easter Nest Cake

I hope you all had yourselves the most fantastic Easter imaginable, filled with love, great company, and of course – chocolate.

One of my favourite excuses around Easter is the ability to bake the most indulgent desserts. And when it comes to indulging, you can't go much further than this mudcake.

I've baked this flourless chocolate cake a few times. You've seen it for Father's Days and for Birthdays. This cake is so delicious and so loved I'm constantly looking for excuses to revisit and reinvent it.

I've done the Basket thing for Easter quite a lot, so I decided to step away from that and go for a nest instead.

Would you care for an egg?

Pirate Dreams

Were you ever one of those kids who used to sneak-read?

Your parents would tell you lights out and you'd pretend to sleep until you could hear they were out of range. Then you'd sneak a torch, or any handy light source, under the covers and get stuck into a novel, heart beating from the adrenaline at the thought of getting caught.

And just sometimes, you'd be so into the book that you'd fall asleep. Still engrossed in the story, your dreams would follow suit — you lived the story with eyes wide shut as you dreamed the hours away. That's exactly what happened to this little boy…

Turn the page…