I Want Cake

A new cake shop has opened up 2 doors down from CHALK and every morning now I gaze in the window at all the delectable treats and wish I was half as creative as they are.

 Both my kids had birthdays recently and I attempted to make the above Lego cake for Moondoggie - not bad but now that I have seen the cakes next door I'm feeling rather inadequate.

Cupcakes!

Celebrating the joy that is the cupcake.  Surely 2010 was the year that this gem really came in to it's own - what better way to explore your creativity than on a delicious tiny canvas.  Perfect.

All images found at I Heart It

Let them Eat Cake

Cooking is a long way down on my list of favourite things to do but I love seeing what others conjure up and I am more than happy to taste the fruits of their labour.
Check out the insane cakes that my friend Emma produces....

How could you bring yourself to cut in to them?  If you'd like to see more of Emma's treats visit her on facebook.

LOVE This Cake

Seriously.... who cooks stuff like this?  Brilliant.

Mr Potato Head

I am continually astonished by the time and effort some people put in to their baking.  These cake pops are insane and I am totally in awe.

Dance, Burger Boy

Can you believe these are cupcakes!!!
Pic found here

Hydrangea Cupcakes

I think these might be the most beautiful cupcakes I have ever seen. 

image and instructions from here

Pina Colada Cupcakes

recipe from here

Deliciously Simple

Made These Today....

Jam Doughnut Muffins

• 300g (2 cups) self-raising flour

• 2/3 cup caster sugar, plus 1/2 cup extra to coat

• 80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil

• 1 large egg

• 175ml buttermilk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 tsp good-quality strawberry jam

• 100g unsalted butter

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 6-hole muffin pan.

Sift the flour into a medium bowl, then add a pinch of salt and the caster sugar. In a jug, combine the vegetable oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add to the dry mixture and stir to only just combine. Place a spoonful of the mixture in each muffin hole and make an indent in the centre. Fill each indent with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry jam. Cover the jam with the remaining muffin mixture and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, melt the butter. Combine the extra sugar and the cinnamon in a large bowl. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, brush each muffin with the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Serve while still a little warm.

They were such a winner - the kids loved them.  Now they think I'm super Mum. 
Recipe from here

I Hate Cooking

I do, I hate cooking. I think if it wasn't compulsory I wouldn't hate it so much. It's a little like those novels you had to read at school. No matter how fabulous they were you always hated them just for the sin of being compulsory. Take Wuthering Heights for example. I knew deep down that it was a book worthy of my love but thanks to Year 11 Lit it took another 10 years for me to acknowledge the love.

I digress...
Cooking - Yuk. Something that I do because my family would slowly wither away if I didn't. On the odd occassion that I get enthused it is usually in someone elses immaculate, modern kitchen not my own pre 1930s disaster.
Therefore I was rather surprised yesterday when the cooking bug struck. Not only were the conditions far from optimal, it was 36 degrees celcius (97 f) outside which means it must have topped 40 in my windowless hot box, and did I also mention I hate cooking? Undaunted I somehow managed to produce a rather yummy Javanese curry ('cause curry is so good on a hot night) and a jammy, coconut slice that will grace the lunchboxes of Moondoggie and Gidget for the next month!

It wasn't until I washed up the last dish (did I mention we don't have a dishwasher?) and stowed away the tupperware that I thought - 'What the F_CK am I doing - it's stinking hot and I hate cooking.' I figured the heat must have adversely affected me causing weird domestic tasks to be undertaken - Surfer Boy is hoping it happens again real soon.
Here are the fruits of my labour because I sure as hell won't be a domestic goddess again in the foreseeable future so I thought I'd better capture it on film to show the kids when they are older, or the Department of Human Services.

And this is what they were supposed to look like..