As promised, here's a delicious recipe to make Orange Blossom Cakes featuring orange, almond and craisin cake. Dress your cupcakes with cake wrappers available as a download from my Go Make Me shop. Recipe to follow. Yum!
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Here's a super easy and delicious recipe to make with maximum flavour. Lemon curd or butter is an all time favourite, reminiscent of school fairs, recipes my Gran used to make, and a good old-fashioned essential ingredient. Great to have in the refrigerator especially on toast, in a sponge or just when you're hanging out for something to tantalise the taste-buds. I love the curd in these tiny wafer thin tartlet shells with a wee pile of meringue atop
I'm in the process of making 150 little bite-sized desserts for a function next week. I have cheated though, with purchasing a commercial quantity of pastry shells from Skycrest in Sydney. A mere 4 cm wide, they are ever so cute. I've included in the recipe the directions for baking from scratch. There goes the diet!
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Want a fun and easy recipe for Halloween! Taffy Crabapples...it can't be too bad for you? It's fruit, right!
I've been looking for a dainty treat for the little girls coming to our Halloween craft party this Friday. These would be a healthier alternative to a pile of candy...my conscience would be clear. You can find the recipe on the beautiful Tartelette blog as part of the Trick or Eat project
I'm on the hunt for dessert recipes, recipes that can be downsized to a bite or two. I'm in the process of organising a function for up to 100 guests and have gingerly elected to bake the desserts (I know, silly me!). The petits fours will hopefully be a great accompaniment to the savoury finger food and finish an enjoyable Sydney Spring evening. Here's some dessert recipes for inspiration using fresh fruits and berries of the season. I'll be posting my attempts (good and bad) over the next few weeks
Red Berry Pavlova
Summer Berries on a Trio of Chocolate
Banana Foster Tartelettes
Pear and Chocolate Fudge Tartlettes
Apple and Blueberry vol-au-vent
Honey Macaron with Vanilla
A trip to a professional kitchen that make Belgian chocolates, I'm all for that! On the weekend we visited my brother, Peter Edmunds, to witness some trade secrets of making handmade chocolates. His kitchen is safely tucked away in the outskirts of Canberra and you are not prepared for the onslaught of chocolatey aromas that consume your nostrils as you enter. Of course there was wall-to-wall chocolates and we gleefully devoured samples, we're only human. Lindsay & Edmunds Handmade Organic Chocolates are going from strength to strength. The company recently purchased an enrobing machine to assist production due to increasing demand for their organic and Fair Trade morsels of yumminess. Peter showed us how he makes his Cranberry and white chocolate ganache with a milk chocolate outer chocolates. The top photo is the end product and the other photos show the process. I really need a chocolate fix right now!
It's Spring here in Australia. And what better way to celebrate the season than the symbol of new life, the good egg? I came across Beatrice Peltre's stunning photography when researching photographers for an upcoming packaging design (has since been placed on hold until early next year). When viewing her portfolio, I wasn't prepared for the visual feast and the feeling of inadequacy that my own photos don't really cut the mustard
French inspired Macarons seem to be the the new trend in sophisticated cafes and restaurants. Delicate, decadent and near impossible to make, I certainly have a healthy respect for this seemingly simple treat. Not a Macaroon with coconut, but with a foundation of almonds and egg whites sandwiched with flavoured cream or ganache. I've tried to make these several times without success following a Gordon *#@%* Ramsay recipe. They turned dirty brown and flat. I usually am quite competent at baking sweets and deserts, but these little delicacies have me beat, well for the time being anyway
My Mum, Helen Jones of Gallery Gourmet, has been baking Macarons commercially for the last year or so and next week I'll be photographing her products for an online shop. I'm hoping that she'll give me some insider tips because I really don't want to be beaten by a Macaron. I'll keep you posted....
In the meantime, I've gathered a collection of recipes and examples to inspire and whet the mouth.
1 } My photograph featuring Lindt Cafe Macarons or 'Delice' with Strawberry, Pistachio, Hazelnut, Lindt Chocolate and Blueberry. They were quickly devoured after the photograph
2 } Front cover of July 2009 Australian Gourmet Traveller. Here's their recipe for Macarons with white chocolate and raspberry ganache
3 and 4 } Passionfruit Macarons with Bittersweet Chocolate Cream Ganache. The Serious Eats blog has a fabulous article on their trials and tribulations of macaron making
Who doesn't really, like chocolate that is? We had fun yesterday shooting some new pictures of my brother's handmade organic chocolates for Mother's Day. It's funny, he says 'just take some happy snaps'. A statement like that always makes me nervous because I am not a professional photographer, but I think these turned out OK. Actually some are going to be published in the Canberra Times this weekend promoting Mother's Day. Very cool!
Top to bottom; Dark chocolate date-almond Truffle, Milk and Dark nut cluster - a mix of lightly roasted almond, macadamia, and hazelnut covered in milk chocolate, Dark and Milk chocolate, Vanilla bean - organic Belgian white chocolate flecked with organic vanilla bean and Truffle, Various slabs of Chocolate and packs ready for Mother's Day. Oh dear, the thighs are definitely getting bigger because I can't resist! Yum!
So you thought Fairy floss was just for kids, consumed at amusement parks leaving hands and lips in a sticky mess. Well, times have changed. Pariya Foods makes fairy floss all grown up! Used by chefs wanting to make a statement atop gourmet desserts with delicate flavours of vanilla, chocolate, saffron and pistachio. I used gently fragrant Rose fairy floss sitting above a fluffy cloud of whipped frosting. These birthday butter cupcakes, with a dash of jam, were made instead of a whole birthday cake for little hands to easily hold. Delicious!
