The End

Oooh, it's been a long silence.

We welcomed a new family member, Toffee in February 2013.

Toffee was 1 when he came to us, he is the most placid and human loving rabbit.  Since he lives indoors with us (mostly chilling out with me while I am in the kitchen), as a result, the council would have great difficulty granting me a "pass" for cleanliness for the commercial kitchen!

It was unfortunate one on hand, but the time spent with Toffee has been most rewarding, joyous and priceless.

4 years on... ...

Christmas 2016, we found Toffee a new companion, Havannah from a Rabbit Refuge.  She was given up by a breeder after realising that she was not a "pure breed",  todate, we still have no idea what breed she is or is meant to be.  All we know is she's beautiful, very bitey and definitely very skittish.

He was good for her has great calming effect on her, they were happy for a (very very) little while.

On 2 January 2017, all the EC symptoms manifested and he deteriorated extremely quickly.

Rest In Peace Our Beloved Toffee

1 March 2017

Skylander Cake

How do you make a Skylander(TM) cake?

I educated myself on the Skylander(TM) website, poked around the Internet, there are so many clever bakers who have created realistic and beautiful Skylander (TM) cakes.  Most, have used rolled icing.

However, rolled icing is not quite my cup of tea!  Don't get me wrong, I love it, you can create the most long lasting and realistic decorations for your cake, if you make a mistake, you can start again, you can make it way ahead of time.  There's simply too many advantages than disadvantages except 1. Sweet!  It's always too sweet, after all it's sugar.

A basic round cake with 'stone walls" all around.  How to create the "stone walls"?   The option of rolled icing keeps coming back as a foolproof solution.  No! too sweet, that would ruin the taste balance of the cake.   I remembered the good results I had with the crackle cookies I made for Christmas, it was a big hit, taste and appearance.   

Ta Da! Showcasing our Skylander(TM) Portal Cake! 

Just add your favourite Skylander (TM) character

 

Heston's Lemon Tart

SBS recently screened the series "How To Cook Like Heston?" Each episode features a key ingredient - chicken, eggs, cheese etc.  His steps are relatively simple,  besides all the ingredients and a couple of gadgets/tools.  You can cook like Heston!  Don't forget to print off the recipe from Channel 4.

Dee decided to try his Lemon Tart which is featured in the Eggpisode!  You can't make this in a couple of hours as you do need to chill the tart down completely, so make it the day before. 

Artisan Baker Association

My sourdough journey continues, after 15 not-too-good loaves (maybe 10 really flat bad loaves), I am now a member of the Artisan Baker Association (ABA).  I comply to a standard set of guidelines set by ABA.

1) My leavening agent is 100% sourdough

2) I use only unbleached flour

3) I use only sea salt as flavouring.

I am still perfecting the loaves!

Olives Added

Almost-Allergen-Free Cake

We have a very brave niece, her name is Evie.   Before the age of 1, she has endured more medical procedures than most of us have in our lifetime.  We were very excited to be part of her 1st birthday celebrations!  We are making her birthday cake, she needs an almost-allergen-free cake:  Eggs, Diary & Nuts Free.

We tested the cakes, made a couple of tweaks, Take 2!  And yes.. it was a GO!  The frosting did take a few more attempts, we used a combination of Copha and Nuttlex.

What's inside?

A layer of chocolate cake, a layer of vanilla cake held together with a berry "fauxtercream"

The top is rolled icing and the sides are covered with more "fauxtercream"

Here's her cake.  It was really tasty! (yes we were all surprised!)

Here's our recipe for all out there with a similar allergy situation.  It's very simple and delicious!


Evie's Almost Allergen Free Cakes


Sweet Vanilla Cake
245g flour (try gluten free flour if need be, for coeliacs)
1/2 tsp salt
175g sugar
1 tsp bicarb
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable rice bran, canola or sunflower oil
1 cup soy milk (rice milk is also an alternative)
3 tbsp homemade apple sauce (less preservative)

Mix all ingredients together and beat for 1-2 mins till well mixed
Transfer batter to pre-lined 20cm tin.
Bake in 180C oven, 15 mins, turn down the oven to 170C and continue baking till done (approx 30-40 mins more)

Awesome Chocolate Cake
210g flour
60g cocoa power
3/4 tsp salt
200g sugar

1 tsp bicarb

1 tsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup vegetable rice bran, canola or sunflower oil

1-1/4 cup soy milk (rice milk is also an alternative) or cold water

3 tbsp homemade apple sauce (less preservative)

Mix all ingredients together and beat for 1-2 mins till well mixed

Transfer batter to pre-lined 20cm tin. 

Bake in 180C oven, 15 mins, turn down the oven to 170C and continue baking till done (approx 30-40 mins more)

Enjoy!

Tis The Season To Be Jolly!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2011 Christmas Orders

On Tuesday, Epicure reviewed a selection of Fruit Minced Pies, surprise surprise the supermarket brands came in tops at an extremely affordable price.

Unfortunately, we are unable to compete with the supermarket chains on their price.  However, we can assure you our fruit minced pies are preservative and artificial colouring free, very short (ie rich) on the pastry with quality minced fruit.

Personally, I am no friend of minced pies, I find them a little boring to eat, it's like eating mixed up fruit peel and pastry shell plus they are quite large, one minced pie and there goes your quota for other desserts.

So why minced pies if you ask?   About a month ago, I had my fruit soaking for my fruit cakes ready to be used, coincidentally I had my hands on a master pastry book and decided to give a sweet pastry a try, but what filling will be good?  TaDa!  Fruit Minced - all ready to go!  There our master pastry with indulgent fruit mince soaked in brandy and sherry (cranberries, razz cherries, sultanas ..)
I've made 2 batches so far, but they never made it to be sampled and sold :-)

Our Christmas 2011 Fruit Minced Pies and Fruit Minced Pie-lets  (Miniature Pies) (Samples are available upon request)

Fruit Mince Pies and Pie-lets

$1 per pie or $10 for 12 pies

$0.30 per pie-let or box of 30 for $8

Last Day for Order: 

20 December 2011 to be collected on 23 December 2011

Made to Order

Craving for something DIFFERENT? or Dessert made a DREAM appearance? or Special REQUEST from someone awesome?

Note:  Made to Order requires no less than 5 days lead time, remember our cakes are made from scratch, nothing nothing is made out of a package!

A Carrot Cake with Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting & Rolled Sugar Carrots!

A Tiramisu Cake

We do not use commercial sponge fingers, we make our own sponge cake, then dry them into biscuits.  We use Nespresso (R) brand coffee, good italian mascarpone cheese. 

Too Many Calories Very Chocolate Mudcake

Dandenong Show Winning Mudcake;

Filled with Oh-So Chocolatey Mousse;

Frosted with Whipped Chocolate Ganache;

And definitely not Calories Friendly;

Ready to take on the Challenge?

Vanilla Cake with White Chocolate and Berry Frosting!