Potato and Thyme Bread

I was short on wholewheat flour that day so I used potato to substitute the loss of flour. It worked very well and returned a pleasing result. The bread was very moist but still fluffy and the hint of thyme added a nice touch. I paired it with a bruschetta of tomato and basil. This bread is sugarfree, free of refined products and is vegan which makes it even better and guilt free!

Pink Ombre Cake

 I wasn't sure at first why my Dad wanted a pink and white cake with forklines on it, but after he said it was because my grandma used to make cakes like that when he was little. In my opinion I struck to the brief: I see lots of pink and white and forklines. He didn't know I made the inside ombre so when it was cut open it was a big suprise, although I think he knew I would never do a plain cake for a birthday as last year he just said he wanted a vanilla cake so I did that and made it in a cricket bat. The inside is a vanilla butter cake which was also part of the brief, and he gave me the option to make whatever part I wanted pink and white, so I made both the icing and the cake just that.

The outside is a plain vanilla buttercream.

I marbled some pink into the sides of the cake, and even though I was reluctant about the forklines, I did them anyway and i guess they dont look too bad. I couldn't do them on the top though, I think the sides were a better option.

Wave Cake

This is the ultimate cake for people who love the surf. It was made for my friend's birthday as she's a beach kid. The inside is a vanilla butter cake and the icing is a lemon swiss meringue buttercream. The surfboard is made of white chocolate and the 15 was made from a crumbled cookie. The cake was basically cut and stacked into 5 layers and sanwhiched with white chocolate ganache. This is one of those birthday cakes which has a lot of icing as it was needed to create the wave effect, making it very rich but ideal for lot's of people.

Valentines Day Macaron Lollipops

 I thought I'd make something for my friends on Valentines Day as it's a nice feeling to get and give something. I'd always wanted to try heart shaped macarons so i thought this was the perfect time in my attempt to spread the love. I wrapped each one individually so they were easy to take to school and they looked cuter anyway. As Valentines Day is always associated with chocolate I sandwiched the macarons with chocolate ganache.

The shell was coloured pink and flavoured with vanilla as I wanted to add some pink to the hearts as brown ones wouldn't have looked as pretty. I also made some circle ones as in the end I got frustrated with piping hearts, and since everyone wanted the heart ones the most I made it a lucky dip to who got what.

Bouquet Cupcakes

These were made for my friend's 16th and she said to make something with pastel colours. Instead of a singular rose on each cupcake as usual, I wanted to make lots of little roses so that each cupcake looks like a bouquet of roses, all differents shapes, colours and arranged all differently so that with all the cupcakes together, it looked like a massive bunch of flowers. I was going to try making the cakes into an actual cupcake bouquet but the pot I used cracked. In the end though I think the plate was probably more convenient so it didn't bother me that it worked out that way. These cupcakes are just flavoured vanilla and so is the icing which is a Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Turkish Delight and Raspberry Marble Cake

 Someone brought over a packet of turkish delight from a turkish delight as a gift, and it wasn't getting eaten as it is insanely sweet, so I made it into something more insanely sweet! The raspberry counteracts some of the sweetness, though it is still a very rich cake, and feels a lot richer than maybe say a chocolate mud, though it's still too good to resist. The inside is mixture of Rasberry marbled with rosewater sponge cake. In between the layers is rasberry jam and around the cake is a raspberry swiss meringue icing, as for the slightly pink colour. On top is a generous amount of turkish delight topped with pistachios.

Tim Tam Cupcakes

There always seems to be a packet of Tim Tams at our house somewhere, and after seeing the Tim Tam Cake around the internet I felt compelled to do something with the iconic Aussie biscuit. The cupcake is a dark chocolate cake which is made a bitter as the icing is very sweet. Inside the cake is a pice of Tim Tam and for the icing, I tried my best to recreate the icing which is found in the Tim Tam. The leaf is made of a piece of Tim Tam as well. I made these for my friend's birthday, and I'm hoping she enjoyed it!

Chocolate Croquembouche

Mini profiteroles are one of my favourite recipes to make as they are really quick and easy and don't involve much effort, besides filling them with cream and dipping them in chocolate. The choux pastries I'm quite used to now and I can whip them up in around 10-20 minutes without creating lots of mess. The good thing about them is that they are also easy to cart around as I took them to a school function once and I didn't have to worry about icing designs smudging and so on, although they did melt in the sun unfortunately. In the past I've tried to change the recipe by dipping them in white chocolate and filling them with raspberry cream, but I wanted to make them look prettier than they have in the past. Croquembouche's have been something I've been mkeaning to try although I still haven't gotten down to it, as you need to have enough people to consume the tower on the day as they don't keep long and are hard to store. The profiterole tower was quite small in comparasion, and I had to do it freehand as I don't have a foam template and it was an in the moment decision. Instead of toffee I stuck the profiteroles together with dark chocolate and white chocolate and put a few flowers from the garden in between.

Choc Custard Melting Moments

I'm not much of a biscuit person really, and at one point I refused to make them! However now I'm more keen on the idea so I tend to make them more often than I used to, and the good thing about them is that they are a lot less effort to make than a cake and definately less cleaning up involved. This is just a normal melting moments recipe with custard flavours added to it to make it more interesting. I also managed to finally make rose shape biscuits which I was quite proud of. The biscuits are sadwiched with chocolate icing, like the traditional biscuits as well.

Coconut, Kiwi and Berry Smoothie Bowl

Just a healthy little treat with some of faves. Filled with secret little health boosters blended in the smoothie to make it even better for you!

Checkerboard Cake with Macarons

The moment I found out about checkerboard cakes I decided I had to try it out, they looked too rad not to. I don't have a checkerboard pan so I had to cut all the layers myself but it didn't matter anyway. I thought the cake looked too plain just with a chocolate ganache covering it, so I stuck to the purple and green colour scheme and produced some macs for cake toppers. The inside is just a vanilla butter cake but to hold the layers together I used a white chocolate ganache which added extra chocolate flavour. What I love about the inside of a cake being so exciting is that people may thing its just an ordinary cake.

Could just be a chocolate cake with macarons

Voila!

 

Chilli Choc Mud Cupcakes with Mocha Lava

 Okay so I didn't exactly think about piping a brown coloured buttercream in that shape until after I took the picture and all the cupcakes were gone so I can't really control the uncanny resemblence because they looked fine in real life. But anyway this was based on the azteca spanish hot chocolate I tried at San Churros, which consists of chocolate and chilli. Back in the day I also got my hands on a limited edition pack of choc chilli Tim Tams which I adored however my family didn't so much, however they did like these babies. You take the first bit and it just tastes like a chocolate mud cake until after you swallow and get the chilli kick. Burn Baby Burn. The mocha lava counteracts the burning of the cake and the buttercream, which also has a hint of chilli. Topped with dried chilli flakes for extra fire and red papercups for effect.

Vegan Apple Tea Cake

So this is probably the healthiest sweet treat I've made as it has 3 ingredients if you don't count the crumble on top. Apple, wholegrain flour and a hint of lemon. I tend to make a lot of apple things as my house tends to always be stocked with them, and they are actually really nice fruit as my younger self would've disagreed, though they do tend get boring after a while. I'm not sure as to why I put a crumble on top, I think it was more for the pictures as it all fell of when you were eating the cake anyway. 

Blue Ombre Sponge

Okay I know my photography isn't up to scatch as i don't find it as exciting as baking cakes although I believe I've definately improved since I first started off where I wouldn't care much for the background and surroundings as I never thought of posting them anywhere as I only really got into baking at the end of last year come this year, where now I bake at least once a week, and my house is almost always stocked with something I've made. This was one of those bad photography moments and if I could go back in time I would have taken a proper picture of this cake taking in the lighting and what not. But back to the cake, it's a blue because that's my favourite colour and it has roses on them because I like roses. I wasn't actually planning to make an ombre cake but the idea came to me as the cake was mixing so I just decided to go with it. It's definately not as dull as it would've been had a just made a plain Victoria Sponge!

Spiderman Cupcakes

These were made for one of my orders for a little boy who was turning five who adored spiderman. It was my second superhero cake to make, the other being for my own little brother who turned six, because no superhero cakes aren't the sort of things I choose to make in my free time, but it was fun to try and make an iconic figure like spiderman into a cupcake. Anyway I had a tight schedule to make these on as it was in between my exam week but in the end I think they went alright and I find a resemblance between spiderman and these cupcakes. Well sorta.   

Lemon Sorbet

Nothing can cleanse the palet like a good ol' sorbet and lemon is the most refreshing flavour you can get. Perfect on a hot summers day sitting by the pool, or it can even be added to a blender with some berries and mint for a cooling drink. After being my obsessed sorbet flavour for many years, I didn't realise how simple it was. If you have some leftover homemade lemonade you could zap it in the ice cream machine for a quick dessert. Simple!

Coconut Macaroon Cake

No I did not spell Macaron wrong and yes I meant to add the extra 'o'. This cake was inspired by mum's coconut macaroon biscuits which I've loved ever since I was a child and she would always stick a little piece of a glace cherry in the centre of each one, so came the cherry on top of my cake. I like to base everything I make on one or a few central ingredients and make it the star, or sometimes a drink or dessert as I believe anything can turn into a cake! This time I chose those biscuits and the inside is a a concoction I made which is similar to a Japanese Cheesecake, without the cheese and instead coconut cream. This cake is not crispy at all like the biscuits and and is very light and soft. The outside is coated with fresh cream and sprinkled around the cake is frsh shredded coconut. Try to break a coconut was a real hassle as I didn't want to use a hammer in case it rolled away or something. But I managed to get the water out after lot's of googling and experimenting, but I had to leave the coconut cracking to my dad.

Vegan Choc, Peanut and Banana Balls

Vegan, Gluten and Sugarfree, these truffle like balls are delish, combining 3 of my favourite ingredients: cacao, peanuts and banana. They are really quick and easy and you can either bake them or eat them raw as I know some foodies would rather. I baked these ones though only for a few minutes so the outside was crisp and the inside soft.

Milo Mousse Brownies

Soft and gooey milo brownies sandwiched with whipped milo mousse, dusted with more milo. This is a taste sensation for milo lovers, and I tried my hardest not to let the malted barley powder's prominent taste get lost amongst the chocolate. This took around an hour including cooking time and was a quick after school project.

Red Velvet Ring Mud Cake

Although it doesnt show very well in the picture, this is a red velvet cake which, instead of cocoa I added melted chocolate giving it the mud effect. In real life it looked red though I'm dissapointed it wouldn't show on camera. I made this out of leftover icings I had from previous cakes and you wouldn't even tell! Lastly I topped it with a dark chocolate frosting and a sprinkle of hot chocolate powder. 

Pina Colada Japanese Cheesecake

 I was inspired by the combination of pineapple and coconut, hence pina colada, and I really wanted to try and make this famous drink in a cake form. The coconut japanese cheesecake is a cross between a sponge and cheescake, although, it contains cream cheese i think it is more like a sponge. The result is different though as the cake is silkier inside and is very moist, like a cheesecake so it is a really nice recipe and prefer it over a sponge. Sandwiching the cakes is a pina colada jelly and it is topped with caramellised pineapple rings and toasted coconut.

Truffle Gift Set

The truffles are chocolate, caramel and peanut flavoured and are rolled in a variety of things, such as cocoa, ground peanuts or dipped in different chocolates. In between are fondant roses made from my homemade fondant. This was made for a friends birthday.

Chocolate Macarons

Oh how I just love macarons! Some may find them too sweet but i think they're just great. With each little treat filled with numerous calories, they are something I seldom eat, with my only exceptions being dark chocolate and ice cream (who can resist). But because of my love for dark chocolate i had to make a batch of dark choc macs to saisfy the sweet cravings and boy were they good. I added extra cocoa to the shell to make it extra chocolaty and rather than ganache, I sandwhiched them with dark choc swiss meringue buttercream.

Just because I love them so much I'm going to add another picture.

Chai Cupcakes

I went through a phase where I was obsessed with chai lattes, and whenever I love something, I always try to make it into a cupcake or something. I also think its really cool to be able to have a cupcake which is a drink or different sort of dish all together, for example a lemon meringue cupcake. It goes to show you can turn almost anything into a cake or cupcake of some sorts. These chai delights have a spice cake like taste, harnessing all the aromatic spices in chai. The icing tastes like a chai latte in icing form and I'm not sure why but I love to pipe all my icings in rose like formations.

Roasted Almond Butter

I had a lot of fun making this nut butter and it was my first of hopefully more to come. The consistency, taste and look beats shop bought almond butter for sure, and it's also a lot cheaper overall. At first I thought it wasn't working and that it was a failure, but about 20 minutes later the roasted almonds turned into butter. It was a really interest process as I never knew it was that simple. Almond Butter is also really handy as you can mix it with water for almond milk which is less calories then normal milk and tastes really nice. I'm hoping to make peanut butter in the future as it is basically my favourite thing ever!

Apple and Cinnamon Crumble Trifle

Inspired by a hearty apple crumble, this trifle is served cold and focus on two key flavours: Apple and Cinnamon. Layers of apple jelly, apple sauce, cinnamon crumble, candied and fresh apple are placed in between a cinnamon infused custard. I don't do many desserts but this one would have to be a favourite!

Sprinkles Cakepops

The inside is devils food cake mixed with cream cheese frosting, and the outside is and assortment of white, milk and dark chocolate topped with sprinkles. These were my first attempt at cakepops and I was quite happy with the result. In the future I'm hoping to make different shaped cakepops, that are more complicated.

Raspberry Heart Pav with Flake

This was made out of leftover swiss meringue, and the result was a bit different to a pavlova due to the added raspberry but it was still a great, easy desert. Unlike a normal pavlova the outershell wasn't crisp and the whole thing was jelly like but had the same taste as the inside of a pav. Topped with cream and flake and shapped in a heart it was quite cute.

 

Lime Chiffon Cupcakes with Candied Lime Buttercream and Crystallised Ginger

Chiffon cakes are even lighter than sponges and can be flavoured easier without risk of the cake not baking thoroughly. The inside is fluffy and delicate and on top was a sliky candied lime buttercream which was made in a different way to my usual buttercream but the result was just as good or maybe better, It's just that this way was very time consuming compared to normal methods. The crystallised ginger is crunchy and gives a real flavour kick. fresh ginger can be very strong but i crystallised it so the actual pieces aren't as strong and the flavour is subtle when eaten with the cake and icing. Some people (like my siblings) prefer to eat each element individually which means they would be in for a shocker. Cupcakes and cakes are meant to be eaten with a little bit of everything in each spoonful and mouthful so you can get the full sensation of how all the flavours counteract each other but I guess the icing is always the best and should be saved for last.

Mothers Day Cake Pops

These were based on my Mum's favourite chocolate cake recipe which was actually the first cake she ever helped me make when I was quite young. I had to give it a twist so I made them into cake pops by crumbling the cake and mixing with chocolate buttercream, and then forming balls. I coated them in dark chocolate and cut hearts and letters from white chocolate.

Balsamic Strawberry and Creme Cake with Macarons

With fresh strawberries in the buttercream, it really added more flavour compared to a flavouring, and the hint of balsamic vinegar, an unlikely pair with the strawberries increases the flavour. The strawberries and balsamic also contrasted against the sweetness of the macaron shells and cake. The cake is a vanilla sponge, nothing fancy and the macarons are the standard almond flavour but it needs to be plain to work with the buttercream.

Vegan Cacao and Pecan Bran Brownies

If your a fan or dark chocolate than you will love these, however milk and white chocolate lovers would find it to bitter and would want more sugar. I guess it all comes down to your taste. A dark chocolate myself, I quite enjoyed these as they were just as fudgey and and guilt free as there was no sugar, butter and refined flour. The pecans add a nice crunch to the softness of the brownie and they are definately something i will make again, maybe next time with peanut butter ?

Sugarfree Granola

Most mueslis and granolas you buy nowadays all contain sugar which I find unnecessary so I made my own toasted granola which was really nice just to snack on even, and it was free of sugar and preservatives.

Sweet Sixteen Cake

This was my first two tier cake and it was fun but stressful at the same time as it was for my friends birthday. The inside consists of milk chocolate mud, caramel mud and caramel cheescake. The outside is a chocolate cheescake buttercream and the sixteen was sculpted out of milk chocolate and the bow was made of my homemade chocolate fondant. I've never used store bought fondant before as make fondant isn't as hard as it seems and very versatile. I'm still yet to try making marshmallow fondant.

Raspberry Yogurt Granita

This dessert is quick and easy and you don't even need an ice cream machine to make it. You could also make it with any fruit of your choice for a refreshing and healthy treat. Rasberries are my favourite fruit so I had to use them. Its basically Greek or natural yoghurt mixed withe loads of your chosen fruit, and you can thin it down with some water. After just put in a container and freeze till solid, then when ready to serve just take a fork and scrape the ice. This part is fun at first but gets boring after a while, but if you have an ice crusher you can use one of them too. I tried to make my own yoghurt once but it turned into ricotta, which wasn't so bad as i made a spinach and ricotta lasagne that night for dinner. Yoghurt is one of those things you have to follow the recipe to the tee and that is something I am really bad at as I normally make mine up or change them, but hopefully in the future i will get it.