PhD distractions

What better way to distract yourself from writing a 300 page PhD thesis then by doing some baking!!!

Peanut Brittle

Cheesecake Brownies

Never fail Donna Hay Brownies

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Another birthday.... Happy Birthday Fred!!

Another birthday at uni, means more baking that I get to do!!!
Again I turned to my Crabapple Cupcake cookbook (though technically it belongs to my sister) and decided upon orange flourless cupcakes. The decision about which cupcakes I would be making was actually done by Fred, since it was his birthday I thought that it was only fair that he got to choose something that he would like to have. But he was also kind enough to choose one that I would be able to enjoy as well, it being a flourless one.
With enough large cupcakes made, again I used the leftover batter to make the mini ones, nice little bit size cupcakes, that most of the time I like to enjoy in one mouthful.

Cakes

I do like making cakes, especially birthday ones, whenever it's someone's birthday in the office I get to make a cake. But here's a few of the cakes that I, or one of my sisters, has made for someone's birthday

Christmas Baking

I do like theme baking, and Christmas is always a good excuse. I am not the biggest fan of ginger bread but I have found a gingerbread recipe that I really like because the ginger is not overpowering, you can taste all of the other added spices and what I like about it the most is that there is the sweetness of honey in there as well. So now whenever it's getting close to Christmas I've started making ginger bread, and the added bonus with Christmas is that there are some really neat cookie cutters.

Last year for our next door neighbours I made these Christmas cookies of gingerbread men, Christmas trees, stars and candy canes. Also for my 'work' (not that it's really work cause I'm a postgrad student) Christmas party I made a Christmas tree out of ginger bread. So as much as I like the gingerbread recipe that I found I am kinda glad that Christmas only comes once a year.

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!

About 2 weeks ago it was my gym buddy Michelle's birthday, so I decided that I would make her some birthday...

I've had a few packets of fondant icing in the cupboard for a little while wondering when I would be able to get the chance to use it, as most of the other treats that I make don't really go with icing. So I decided that I was going to have a go at decorating her birthday cupcakes with the 'fancy' icing. I should also mention what the cupcakes were that I made. For anyone within the world of cupcakes I'm sure that they would know about Crabapple Cupcakes, well I decided upon, from their cookbook, half of the cupcakes were white mud and and the other half chocolate mud. And with the left over batter I made some mini cupcakes, of which I have now become VERY big fan of making over the normal size ones, the mini ones are just the right size to pop straight into your mouth!!

So I tested out the fondant icing, which was a lot easier to work with then I had expected. Colouring it was a little bit messy and I ended up with not so nicely coloured fingers for a while, but I think that the end result was well worth it!

For my birthday my lovely sisters gave me a container that they will with all sorts of cake decorating bits and pieces, so for the mini cupcakes I decided to test out some new piping nozzles.

Where it all began.......

The enjoyment that I get out of baking started when I was a kid, spending weekends at my Nan's house where she would teach me and my siblings how to cook. Cakes and biscuits, bread and butter puddings, all the good stuff, with one of my favourites being profiteroles. I always liked that ones that Nan use to make cause not only would she put custard that she had made from scratch in the middle but then there was always some whipped cream well!!! Finally covered with chocolate.