Marie Antoinette was on to something...

I love parties! I think I even like planning more than I do attending. I love the anticipation and organising every last detail - which is ironic when you consider how incredibly disorganised I am.

But parties are different - they involve lists, hand-made invitations and lolly bags - all things I'm rather fond of. Oh and cupcakes, I'm very fond of those.

So you can imagine my delight when I recently stumbled upon these cupcake kits by Meri Meri. Holy crap they're cute huh? I think these would need to be reserved for really special parties with really special people who appreciate really special things. But which ones to pick?!

Me and my cousins and you and your cousins...

I'm not sure what's cuter - the gorgeous red polka dot cupcake stand my amazing aunty bought me or the very sweet looking cupcakes adorning it?

Okay, wait - I think this chief cupcake decorator out-cutes them all.

It was so much fun helping my little cousins decorate the cupcakes I quickly baked on Mother's Day morning. I took the cheat's option and bought a tub of Betty Crocker ready-made frosting and simply split it in half colouring one lot pink and the other blue. They then used some little marshmallows, musk sticks and fruit tingles to finish them off. Strangely enough they were more interested in decorating than eating - clearly not my children (I don't have any, for the record).

Put the slice down and your hands above your head...

The only bad thing about a four day week is that you still have to squeeze the full five days in! Which is why it's taken me so long to get to this incredible masterpiece made by my brother's gorgeous and incredibly talented girlfriend, Rachel.

Words fail me at this point. When Rachel normally makes a caramel slice, it pretty much needs a police guard to keep me away. But adding chocolate easter eggs on top? I'm sorry, but you all need to step back from the slice and leave us for some alone time. A week later, it's no surprise it's all gone really. I miss it terribly, all those happy little egg heads looking up at me, begging to be eaten. But I look forward to next year when we can be happily reunited... right Rachel? x

Three thirtyitis

The best thing about working in advertising is having magazine sales reps bring in afternoon snacks. This is also the worst thing because it means an expanding waistline and a dependency on a three-thirty sugar hit. Today Donna Hay Magazine brought in their 50th Issue with a picture of an amazing four layered chocolate cake on the cover...and they also brought in the cake itself. It's taking all my self control not to run back into the kitchen and stuff the rest of the cake into my mouth. The chocolate cream cheese icing is to die for.

Money won't keep you warm... unless you buy a coat with it

Let it never be said that I'm an impulse purchaser. Last night for example, I was of sound mind and body when I handed over my credit card to a pairs of boots... and a coat. Okay, I concede, the winter coat might have been driven... by impulse.

I can't help it! I get caught up in the moment and I have this distinct ability to find SOMETHING to buy ANYWHERE I am. Yesterday I tried to rationalise buying bulk citronella candles in Homeart (search me as to why I was in there in the first place) because Owen's house is quite welcoming to the occasion family of mozzies. This same rationalisation saw me buy 150 yards of ribbon (yes yards...and yes 150 of them) before Christmas - because surely it would come in handy over time? Or the giant cupcake tin that I swore I'd use for everyone's birthday... yes well, a fair few birthdays have come and gone without the tin's involvement.

This brings me to my second skill - the ability to justify anything and everything. Except today... considering I've just spent quite a bit on the above, even I can't justify buying these... but oh I want them!

Leave it to Fred to make me weak at the knees and have my bank balance hiding in the corner, a quivering mess. These silicone TeaCupCakes are so ridiculously cute! They'd make such a great centrepiece for a birthday party, or the perfect end to a garden tea party. But you know what? I don't have a birthday anytime soon... and I've never thrown a garden OR tea party, let alone a garden tea party... so for now I'm going to try and resist. But you? You should totally buy them (and invite me over for tea!)

PS. I know I sound incredibly vapid, materialistic and self-indulgent. I'm all those things and more, but I promise I'm not THAT bad. I only shop a few times a year (hence the buying of multiple things at once) and I do save - really I do! Justify... justify...

Hot cross buns

As Easter approaches why not try to make your own hot cross buns? Mozi have been kind enough to make this limited edition tea towel that is both recipe and practical kitchen companion, not to mention cute.

I choo-choo-choose you

I made two of these goodie bags for my original Valentines - my mama and papa, of course. If you haven't discovered these white chocolate bullets with raspberry licorice, don't do it - they will ruin your life (as well as your teeth and wallet because you get so addicted). Oh and I are headed to the Moonlight Cinema to see New York, I Love You... weather permitting of course. Until then I'm off to make a Pecan and Butterscotch Cheesecake with my dadda - my thighs aren't impressed with this development. Hope someone is spoiling you rotten because I think you deserve it! xx

Sushi Cake- sounds gross, looks great!

Just spotted this at Coco Cake Cupcakes. Will keep this in mind for my boyfriend Mike's birthday as he loves sushi as much as he loves cake and salmon nigiri is his favourite. Don't worry, it's chocolate flavoured inside, not salmon. Genius! It could be pretty cute if you could make these cupcake sized and made all different varieties of sushi.

They advise against it, but I do it anyway!

I have a confession to make, I have a tendancy to choose a book by its cover. I know it's terrible but I love pretty books, I like the way they look on my shelves and I especially love poring over the lovely photos inside baking books...yes, I love food porn.

Here are some pretty books about baking that I haven't read yet, but based purely on aesthetics I think they are cute. I cannot vouch for the quality of recipes inside.

From the top:

Ladies, A Plate- from Penguin Books

Afternoon Tea- from frankie.com

i heart macarons- from Fred Flare

The sweets and treats of the Big Apple.

As a Sex and the City fan who happened to be on Bleecker St on a snowy New York New Years Eve, it would be remiss of me not to visit Magnolia Bakery, the very store where Carrie ate a cupcake sparking an enormous cupcake trend. We were lucky that the line wasn't too long and since I'd read reviews that said their cupcakes weren't that great I bought a Banana Pudding instead. Ooooh, good choice! The puddingy, wafery, banana creamy deliciousness was everything I hoped for and more. Here is a really bad photo of it:

Ok, so I'm guessing I'm not the first person to discover how fantastic Crumbs Bake Shop is since they have about 16 stores across the USA, but having been living under a rock in Sydney imagine my surprise and delight when I stumbled across their Madison Avenue store. This is where I satisfied my cupcake craving (3 times). The Baba Booey and the Smores cakes were out of this world. I hope they bring out a recipe book so I can attempt to recreate their amazing peanut butter cream cheese encased in chocolate cupcake at home.

I visited Dylan's Candy Bar on the Upper East Side full of fantastic random candies that I will include later in this blog, the Hershey's store in Times Square where I bought Reese's peanut butter chocolate sauce and the M&M's store with its wall of lovely coloured M&Ms where I ended up purchasing approximately 3 kilos of chocolate...oops!

All in all, I was sad to leave NYC but the extra 3 kilos I put on over only 6 days will be a reminder of the amazing tasty desserts I enjoyed during my stay. I heart New York, but I especially heart sweets!

Simple equation...

+

=

Pretty and delicious

This cookie wreath is one of the projects from the girl called e baking and craft day. Unfortunately it didn't last long because one night later I got home a little bit tipsy and ate the whole thing in one sitting. I can confirm though that the decision to use vanilla bean paste (instead of vanilla essence) in the cookies, made them very very tasty!

A cookie a day...

Baking days are fun!

The Lazy Girl's Banoffee Pie

So when the two girls called e get together for a baking day it's safe to say that one of us (infalliably me) will be running late. It's also safe to say that we'll be a little disorganised, forget to read the recipe and need to take a shortcut or improvise in some way or another.
We were faced with two issues for our Banoffee Pie adventure...
1. We didn't have a food processor, nor the patience required to make shortcrust pastry.
2. We didn't have the required three hours to boil up our condensed milk into the luscious dulce de leche.
So what's a girl to do? Create the Lazy Girl's Banoffee Pie of course!

Smells like teen spirit... or cinnamon toast?

Oh boy, I'd love to wake up on December 25 and find one of these in my stocking. These Demeter frangrances are pick-me-up perfumes that smell exactly like the names suggest they should. Can you imagine smelling like waffles? Some of the product names sound delicious... some not so much...Funeral Parlour?! No thanks... Cinnamon toast? Much better!

Pretty In Pink

Ask anyone, I'm probably the furthest possible thing from a domestic goddess. You literally have to wade through clothes to get to my bed - I only wish I was joking.
But that doesn't stop me from wanting to channel a mixture of Nigella Lawson meets Betty Draper (on a good day) every now and then.
Enter Pretty In Pink. Nope, not the quintessential John Hughes movie (which, by the way, if you haven't seen... shame, shame shame)- the tooth-achingly sweet, and slightly retro shop, up the St Peters end of Kings St, Newtown.
Full of gorgeous bits and bobs, from fun bags and bloomers to quirky measuring cups and lip-glosses, this shop is seriously a must. Although what has currently caught my eye is this sweet as sugar Sweetheart Goddess Apron - made to order in the fabric of your choice. And let me tell you, PiP has sourced the best fabrics around so you really are spoiled for choice. It would really be perfect for whipping up a bunch of Christmas shortbread...

Better than Iron Chef France any day... sorry Sakai!

Do yourself a HUGE favour - hurry over to Iron Chef Shellie's blog and drool over these absolutely beautiful cupcakes she made! I'm having palpatations just looking at them... (it's my inner fat-kid as my other half lovingly tells me...on a daily basis)

White chocolate + macadamia + buttons = lots of e love

TGIF

I'm home on a Friday night (I know it's lame but I couldn't be happier) and these are my favourite things as of 10:49PM.
Photographic evidence that two girls called e can make an awful pretty baked treat!

Do you have a happy show? This is mine. Erica, in her mid 30s and totally fed up with her life not going to plan, has a car accident and wakes up to a therapist insisting she writes down all her life's regrets. Gee, sounds like a riot Em. It is! Each week the therapist sends her back in time to a different part of her life so that she can do-over. It's fun and fabulous and worth your bandwith (or in my case, a Friday night on ABC2!)


Mr Joshua Radin (pronounced Rayyyydin apparently, I'm not convinced) and his whisper rock and babbling stories. Each song was prefaced with a story about the song, the story spanning longer than the song itself of course. That said, no one can keep a room of hundreds that captivated and silent unless you can play one heck of a song and so he did! Thanks Mr Braff for sharing him with the rest of the world, we appreciate it.

And on another note magnation has opened in Newtown! At the present time they aren't too well stocked, but I'm excited that I'll be able to get my grubby paws on an issue of BUST regularly. And my home-girl Martha should be in attendance too!

Who doesn't love a Babushka measuring cup?

If you ask me, no visit to Melbourne is complete without a stop at the Douglas and Hope store in Fitzroy. They have such an amazing collection of items in there. It takes all your energy to resist buying the entire store! I just spotted their latest offering in Real Living magazine and coincidentally, its from Fred Flare (you know how much we love Fred Flare), but Douglas and Hope have already imported it for you!!

Seriously!! Who doesn't love a Babushka measuring cup?

Oh fudge...

I have a rocky relationship with fudge. Sometimes it works splendidly, other times it won't set which leaves a soft, gooey mess that tastes amazing but ultimately has no practical use!
Last week I bought myself some matcha powder after having recently drained my green tea kitkat stock. So I set out to make something equally sweet, with a touch of the bitter matcha flavour to counter it. Hence - white chocolate and matcha fudge!
And PS I'm a terrible cheat and always stick with a good ol' tasty can of condensed milk.

It was all pretty simple -
1 x can condensed milk (395g)
2 x blocks of white cooking chocolate
1 x teaspoon of matcha powder
1 x nob of butter (yes a nob is a precise measurement.. if I was to guess, I'd say 20g?)
1 x baking tray
1 x wooden skewer

1. Grease and line a tray with baking paper
2. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons of condensed milk and combine with the matcha powder in a small bowl. Stir with a fork until it's smooth and even.
3. Get your double boiler set up so that the water in the bottom pan is bubbling away. Throw your condensed milk and chocolate into the top bowl/pan and keep stirring until combined, melty and glossy.
4. Once all smooth, throw in your nob of butter and continue stirring (or whisking if you're really particular) for a further minute or two (my baking is never an exact science... er...)
5. Pour your white chocolae/condensed milk concoction into your lined baking tray.
6. Moving pretty quickly, pour your matcha/milk mix in a swirly pattern on top of your white fudge.
7. Grab your wooden skewer and swirl quickly! Try and keep the green matcha evenly spread through your fudge. Keep in mind the fudge is wanting to set so I mean quick!
8. Chuck in the fridge and lick the heck out of that bowl! (but make sure it's cool, taste buds take a week to grow back). I generally like to give it a night's worth of chilling, but it's all dependent on your fridge.

Next time I'll definitely be going for more matcha powder because the flavour was a little too mild for me. I'm not completely sure about an entirely matcha fudge... but who knows, I could be swayed.