Archie the Elephant Themed Children's Party

My son had a second bash at celebrating his first birthday last Saturday! Gorgeous Archie the Elephant stationery from Polkadot Prints provided our theme for his party. We had a small party at home with some of his posse.





I made one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever made!! It was DELICIOUS! I will have to share the recipe in another post, it is my one bowl chocolate cake never-fail recipe. My husband wrote Josiah's name on the cardboard bunting with his mad typography skills :-) No computer neccessary!



There was no big fancy sugar-loaded dessert buffet, just some themed sweet and savoury morning tea that didn't break the budget, wasn't over the top crazy and very achievable for this mum with two young children! I just want to encourage the other mum's, Auntie's, grandmothers etc... that you don't have to go completely overboard to do something memorable and creative for the little (or not so little) people in your life.





Shock horror, un-iced party favours! I ran out of time the night before and know my limitations and the funny thing is our entire plate of un-iced elephant biscuits ran out first before the cupcakes did! They were Vanilla biscuits from my biscuiteers book and they are very tasty - just as they are.



I think the birthday boy enjoyed himself and loved the open door access from the house to the back courtyard thanks to a gorgeous sunny day! I think that was his favourite part of the morning! In and out....



This face makes my heart melt! Oh, I made some cute fringey streamers but didn't get a good photo - they were supposed to look like a circus canopy over the food table! kind of did ;p

Fake Macarons!

While I am thinking of sweet things, aren't these clever! Project Wedding has so many lovely ideas and I thought this was a great idea for the Macaron challenged, lets be honest, that is most of us! I have only made them once and they turned out ok but not as shiny and lovely looking as most photos you see. Tasted pretty good though! I'd love to give these a try.

Fondant 101 by Glorious Treats

I haven't used fondant yet and yes I am scared of it and don't really love the taste, but boy does it make a biscuit/cookie look good! Glory from Glorious treats has done a great post on using fondant.



These photos are courtesy of Sweetapolita who also has some gorgeous recipes and advice on baking yummy treats! I would like to try some for my sister in law's baby shower in a couple of months. Have you tackled fondant? Let me know your tips if you have.

Tips for Icing Biscuits

If you are a total beginner with the whole biscuit icing thing like me then you might enjoy the Biscuiteers book, it is brilliant. This is what I have learnt from so far. The above icing is royal icing made from pure icing sugar and egg whites. There are plenty of recipes floating around the net. This is what the consistency looks like that you use for the line icing.



How pretty - can you imagine having all those colours ready to go!



Line icing is basically the thicker icing you use for the border above and to then decorate later on. The book has great images (below) to demonstrate how it is done.





We used this for the line icing and flood icing - about $6 from kitchen shops - I couldn't find any clear ones in the $2 shop! It was great to 'flood' with and for a 3 yr old good for using to do the line icing. I might try a disposable icing bag next time with a finer point?! Wait for the lines to dry then move onto 'flooding'.



You add very little water to the line icing to make flood icing (again check an online recipe). Then fill in the biscuit - the fun part! We used the back of a skewer to smooth it over and fill in the gaps rather than pouring on more icing!



This was what it looked like decorated before we popped them in a very low oven to dry (as suggested by the book - as the biscuits sometimes get soggy) see the end result here! I let some air dry over night and they were fine though!



We aren't quite here yet but something to work towards :-) Some other tutorials on flood icing.

Japanese Coffee

I really appreciate good packaging and branding and loved these coffee sachets my lovely friend brought back from Japan for me.



How clever is that - a built in drip filter! I particularly like the suggestions of what to have with your coffee... with cake, with chocolate :-)



This cup was enjoyed with biscuit! Too hot to bake this week - so Anzac biscuits courtesy of Woolies! (local supermarket for the overseas readers :)

My Creative space - Macarons

I have packed up my sewing desk in the studio which housed all my hair accessory gear... so baking was the creativity of this week! I finally made Macarons! Not to be confused with Macaroons.



I was a little light handed on the colouring - they could have been pinker! Filled with white chocolate ganache - mmmm. I'm no Tartelette but man they were good and not bad for a first attempt I think! From this book. Oh and I piped them with a zip lock bag - snip the corner off and away you go!


More creative spaces over at Kirsty's.

Macarons

I have become a Masterchef junkie!! I didn't watch it last year but it seems to co-incide with feeding Josiah and I am hooked. I saw the macaron tower on MS last week and I see them constantly in the blogosphere and drool every time!



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I can do Pavlova's... I can do meringues... but can I conquer the Macaron? A little while back I featured Tartelette as a Friday Favourite! Helen has a great article on demystifying the Macaron on her home page. I always thought they were spelt Macaroon but discovered they are two different things!?! So what I want to know is have you made them and what are your tips for a successful Macaron?

My Creative Space - Honey Jumbles...and...

Remember these from when you were a kid?



We made some during the week and oh my goodness they were delicious!!! Better than bought ones. Even though they call them Honey Jumbles they have no honey in them???? Golden Syrup and Ginger is the flavour.



The icing was supposed to be much paler but it reminded me of Breast Cancer Fundraising colours!! So since the targeted Breast Cancer fund-raising happens in October, I may as well plug the Cancer Council's - Australia's Biggest Morning Tea - 27th May 2010. Although you can host a morning tea any time in the month of May.






The recipe was from a small Womens Weekly cook book I got at the supermarket last week... title escapes me...

oh yeah if you caught yesterday's post....I also did this!!.....



See what else is going on at Kirsty's today?

Hydrangea cookies - Miette

I seem to start the week off with a post /photos that guides the rest of my blog posts for that week! There are so many stunning images across the net that I just adore browsing blog and photography sites when I have a few minutes each evening. I had to include these hydrangea cookies from Miette.


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Their rose cookies look very similar to my felt rose headbands too :-) Aren't they lovely!!! I am pretty sure I came across Miette via Design Sponge :-)

Friday favourites - Tartelette

I found this devine blog called Tartelette which features a gazillion amazing recipes and most of them SWEET - which I love.... how divine is this photo - well since Helen is a food photographer/stylist and French Pastry chef - it is no surprise really!!! The images make your mouth water. I quite like whipping out my macro lense to photograph food - especially when it is something I have made etc... Although some of my favourite macro photos I have taken are of fruit! This blog will be going straight to google reader!

{image used with permission}

Dessert Bar - Baking and Cake Decorating Suppliers

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After waking from yesterday's sugar coma, I still had sugary goodness on the brain and felt inclined to share a couple of great Australian suppliers I have found on-line. One is Little Betsy Baker who I have blogged about previously and recently I discovered another called Baking Pleasures. They cross-over a little in supplies but do have different things.

Some supplies you can pick up from Baking Pleasures to make your dessert bar shine for any special occasion:



Cupcake wrappers


Stencils




Cookie texture sets


Cupcake toppers - If you want to just ice your cupcake and pop something ready made on top these perfect!

Get inspired for your next birthday party, kitchen tea or baby shower! The boys don't miss out there are all sorts of goodies for them too!

Monday Musings - bake-a-thon

I was in a baking mood over the weekend and made Greek Almond biscuits for the first time (pic below)! They were easy and DELICIOUS! I also made Meringues / Mini Pavlova's! Mmmm

I was feeling quite tired after two big nights of a completely manic shopping frenzy with 30 or so women! Not in person... but on my Grace Designs Facebook page! I had quite a bit of market stock and samples to 'move' - so I held a Facebook - End of Summer Sale! It was not my original idea but was very successful and I am thrilled with the outcome. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the friendly banter and the whole community feel that went on in those few hours - I think everyone else did too. It was meant to be for just two hours on Thurs night but that night we went for 3 and the following night for another 2hrs. PHEW! Lots of paperwork and posting to do now!

I will write a post on the whole experience another time... In the meantime enjoy the Greek Almond Biscuit recipe!



Greek Almond Biscuits

• 3 cups almond meal (375g)
• 1 cup caster sugar (220g)
• 3 drops of almond essence
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup flaked almonds (80g)

1. Pre-heat oven - moderate 180 degrees
2. Combine almond meal, sugar and essence in large bowl. Add add whites and stir until mixtures forms a firm paste.
3. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into the flaked almonds, then roll into 8cm longs (approx size of your pointer finger)
4. Press on the remaining almonds. Shape logs to form crescents.
5. Place on baking-paper-lined oven trays, bake in mod oven for 15 mins or until lightly browned.
6. Cool on trays, makes 25.

Recipe - Women's Weekly: Cafe Cakes

Sneak Peak - project sweet tooth

A sneak peak at something I am working on.... I get to put my events hat on again for a special upcoming event.... It is a little while away but I got a bit excited sourcing images and inspiration over the weekend. If you think or do know what it is - shhhhh, please don't spoil the surprise!

Images - Clockwise from top left
1. Cake Pops - Bakarella
2. Confectionery Warehouse
3. Perfect Meringues - Amy Atlas
4. Confectionery Warehouse

Birthday goodness

My delicious birthday cake - nothing good in it, oh maybe the 5 eggs :-) Muddy Chocolate Cake by Donna Hay, cooked by moi. I had a lovely day, thanks for the well wishes. My daughter enjoyed blowing out the candles so much we did it twice. I finally started on my honeycomb smocked cushion cover too! It is very time consuming but hope it will be worth all the effort! I am just using a cream linen/cotton blend from my stash. I also received the most gorgeous Japanese sewing pattern from my cousin Gret. I can't wait to try it out - it's for a children's top two ways and converts to a dress. Fortunately there are a lot of blogs that help out with the translation/instructions but I think it will be a lot of guess work and possibly trying it out in a muslin first!

Christmas Brownies

{brownie photo - flickr}

I don't have a photo of my actual brownies, but these come pretty close! This is the best brownie recipe which came from my friend in Brisbane via Israel where they spent some time!!! They are full of sugar and butter of course but soooooo good. I also tried cutting some into Christmas shapes with my cookie cutters but found it wasted too much brownie and they didn't hold their shape as well as hoped :-) Squares it is - enjoy!

• Melt 200g butter or marg (I use butter)
• Add 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup choc chips (optional)
• 1 tspn flavouring (peppermint etc..) also optional
• Mix well and bake in lamington tin at 160 degrees for approx 30-40 mins

I have also added pecans or walnuts before which are nice too. I don't usually add flavouring.

Little Besty Baker

I found this cute little shop while looking for some more cookie cutter shapes. It's called Little Betsy Baker and had the nicest shapes over the multitudes I looked at. They sell decorating supplies for Cakes, Cupcakes and Cookies! Nice stuff. These are textured cutters for biscuits etc.. Gorgeous for a baby shower or bridal shower :-)