My precious

This simply has to be one of my most favourite cakes I've made. I wanted to create a Lord of the Rings book but I wanted it to look worn, well read, and have a bit of antiquity to the look of it. The problem is with making a cake like that, is getting the balance between that and a cake that looks messy.

The cake itself was a red velvet with cream cheese buttercream icing. Because of this I had to leave the making of the cake until quite late as cream cheese doesn't last long without being refrigerated!

Four days before the cake was due, I began making my cover for the book. I decided not to go with fondant, many reasons but the main one is, I wanted the cover to look thick and leathery and I felt like being a bit different. So I decided to use chocolate modelling clay instead. Not only does it taste GREAT (like toffee!) But it's really easy to make,  all it is is melted chocolate with golden syrup. It is great for moulding figurines as well and as I'm not a huge fondant fan, I'd far prefer this. So I made my clay, rolled out out into the size of a book cover and began detailing. I used scrunched up tinfoil pressed onto the clay to create a leathery look. I then got started with the lettering. I used a very thin paintbrush and a mixture of edible gold dust mixed with pure vodka for the paint. This was a painstaking process but I copied the original name from a book cover and then got a copy of the elvish writing and copied it on (no tracing,  this took hours!)

Once the cake was cooled and iced I mixed some cocoa powder into a strip of fondant to look like the worn pages of the book. That was placed along the edges of the cake. Next I placed the choc clay cover over and did some final detailing on the spine and edges. And voila!

The cake was HUGE but I was very proud of it, appealed completely to my nerdy side and despite the long hours of painstakingly painting elvish letters, it looked great. Another cake completed! 

Doggone It

In my next few posts I'm going to share some of my cake projects with you. Some of these are quite old so forgive me for no step by step guide but I'm really proud of them so I'm going to share them anyway!

The Dachshund cake

My inlaws absolutely love dachshunds,  in fact they own 4 of them and each one is treated like absolute royalty (as only a daxie should be treated!). Their birthdays are days apart (the inlaws that is) so I decided to make them a dream daxie cake!

Firstly came the cake. I made my speciality moist chocolate sponge and carved it into the body, feet, head and nose of the daxie.

From the beginning I knew I wasn't going to use fondant. Neither of them are particularly fond of plastic icing so I knew I had to find an alternative. I read in one of my books about chocolate modelling clay (a very simple combination of melted chocolate and golden syrup). I know that it shouldn't be used to cover cakes but I figured a small area couldn't be that bad. With that I figured I might as well make this a fully chocolate cake and used chocolate ganache (combination of melted chocolate and cream) to sandwich the cake together and cover it.  For the head, feet and tail I further covered it with the chocolate clay to clarify detail. 

I did end up using a bit of fondant for the eyes,  collar and lettering but at least it was minimal.

The result?  A truly chocolate daxie that had the pathetic expression that they are known for!

Best part of the story? After having some for tea, the cake was left on the table while everyone went out for dinner. We arrived home to find that one of the live daxies had somehow managed to climb ON TO the table and ate half the remainder of the cake, leaving behind chocolatey pawprints! Despite chocolate being bad for dogs, he survived with only minor stomach cramps but sadly half the cake had to be thrown away.

Hilarity aside, my cakes are now kept FAR beyond a daxie's reach!!!!

Egg-citing Easter

I know it's September but it's technically Spring in South Africa and since Easter falls in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere I thought it would be quite apt to share with you some of my favourite Easter baking...

I don't think many things could compare to the smell of baking wafting through your house on a bright and sunny day... and when that smell happens to be a sweet, almost cinnamon-ly scent, you just know that it's hot cross bun time!

Home made Hot Cross Buns

So this year I made about 4 batches of these hot cross buns and they were an absolute hit. The sticky dough made with currants and raisins, piped with a white cross and then glazed,  makes the best treat during the Easter season. My favourite way to enjoy these is by toasting them and then slathering on butter when still hot.  Sinful but still heavenly. I often find the ones in the shops to be a bit heavy, these were light and airy, the trick is to leave the dough for about am hour in a warm area, the dough needs to rise properly before baking!

Mhmmmmmmm....














The Rabbit Cake

So I made this cake last year as a bit of a twist on the normal Easter cake. Essentially it is a rabbit digging into the ground  so all you can see are the feet, tail and ears. I used carrot cake (I thought that makes the most sense) with carrot cupcakes for the tail and feet. I wanted to use minimal fondant so I covered the cake in a cream cheese icing and then coated with coconut. The ears and details were made with fondant.

I made sugar flowers to decorate the bottom of the cake and piped royal icing grass as well. To top it off and keeping with the Easter theme I added some giant speckled eggs and voila! Carrot Easter Bunny Cake!

Continuing with cupcakes...

So my last blog post was talking about the humble cupcake, focusing on my personal favourite: the red velvet. Today I'm going to reveal five of my other favourites!

1) The Cappuccino

 So who doesn't like the taste of coffee? Well, I suppose you get a few... But I love the subtle taste of coffee in a good buttercream icing. Try using cream in your buttercream,  really adds to the richness of the icing. I always find that a simple chocolate cupcake goes best, you don't want to overdo it on the coffee! A subtle taste coming through as you bite in is all you really need!I tend to also decorate with grated dark chocolate,  yummmm....







2) The 'non' Ferrero Roche cupcake...

I'm beginning  to feel as if this cupcake is becoming a tad overdone... So instead of doing the traditional one (using the actual Ferrero Roche balls) I decided to create my own version. I start off with a rich chocolate cupcake and use some hazelnut essence. Hidden in the center is a glob of Nutella with a hazelnut inside.  Then I created a Nutella buttercream icing (you could just eat it by the bowl!)

And topped the cupcake with crushed hazelnuts and wafer and then used a whole wafer for flair. Not quite a traditional method but I can assure you that they taste like the real thing when you take a large bite, yum!




3) The Oreo cupcake

 I had always wanted to try this one out so when a friend requested them for his birthday,  I just could not resist! Made with a dark chocolate cupcake the trick to this is to put an oreo cookie on the bottom of the paper and pour the mixture in on top and then bake. The icing is made out of crushed oreo cookies (filling and all!) And a simple

Buttercream recipe. Stick in half a cookie for decor and you have yourself a delicious cupcake to be enjoyed anytime!






4) The Topdeck Cupcake

Like it's namesake,  this cupcake is dual flavour. The cupcake itself is a vanilla and chocolate but the icing is what makes this special. I use a white and milk chocolate buttercream swirl on the top (you HAVE to use good quality chocolate if you're going to do this, cooking chocolate is awful!) And then drizzle with a dark chocolate ganache. Result? Delicious moist cupcakes that makes you want to lick the icing off first!

And finally...

5) My speciality cupcake

I call this my speciality cupcake for no other reason than that it's ordered a lot and is usually simple but effective! Generally when people ask me for vanilla and chocolate cupcakes I ask them if they would like me to swap the icing around (white on choc, choc in vanilla). Usually the answer is yes and thus my specialty cupcake. Using a

Vanilla cupcake with a hint of lemon, and a fluffy chocolate cupcake, I top these with white choc and choc fudge buttercreams. Toppings may differ but I always find a way of sticking in my signature dark chocolate (drizzled with white) tempered crisps!



Well that's all for today, be back soon with more cakes!

The humble cupcake

So what GENIUS came up with the idea of bite size cakes that you can pop into your mouth, icing and all, and not even need a fork?

Personally, I love cupcakes. Yes, they're simple to make and don't require a heck load of skill, but there's so much you can do with them and they don't take all day to do!!

I have a lot of favourites. Definitely red velvet is my favourite. Don't fall for the pretenders, a real red velvet has a mild chocolatey taste and is soft and aerated. The buttermilk gives it a lovely texture and then there's that combination of vinegar and bicarbonate that adds something different. I have a foolproof recipe that has never let me down yet and makes a deep delish red colour that looks so impressive.

And then there's that divine cream cheese icing. I don't fool around on this,  I love using an icing made with cream cheese,  mascapone and fresh cream. Melt in your mouth and sinful, what's not to love?

So that's my favourite cupcake, but I do some others too... Keep tuned for more

Muffin' much about it

So a few years ago I decided to really get into my baking. I had always enjoyed it and been complimented on my goods so I figured refining my talents wouldn't be a bad thing. I'm 100% self taught and am currently working in a closet sized kitchen with a 25 year old stove, which equals a heck load of trial and error but slowly I am getting there!

Baking is my stress reliever and I absolutely love to learn new techniques and try them. I'm always learning and making mistakes but slowly I'm getting better and better.

Recently I have decided to start selling my goods more commercially and opened my business on the side called Muffin Top Cakes and Desserts. I'm going to document some of my successes and mishaps, so sit back and enjoy!