Flavours Column: Strawberry Cupcakes

Hi again. Weekly content...so far so good (two weeks in). Along with the recipe published in the newspaper I'm also going to give you a little insight into the writing process and my overall experiences as a 'columnist' (I feel that title oversells my talent but that's what it is isn't it? A column. Can I please use that title? That would be cool. Thanks).

My second column was published today. This week's learning: don't send revised content in late and expect it to be published. My past experiences buying and placing media in newspapers and pushing deadlines to the max did not come in handy here. What happened? Well, the first two columns published were actually written last year when the new lift out was in development. So, typically reactive 'in the moment' me wrote about strawberries as it was the start of summer and I had strawberries on my mind. This is me with strawberries on my mind and in my hand. This was an AMAZING strawberry.

Anyway, so come March and publication date, it's now Autumn and fresh strawberries are no longer available. Meaning, my content is slightly irrelevant. Not ideal. But, lesson learnt. The newspaper did well to edit my original content - I still wish I'd been able to sneak my revised version through though. Luckily I have a blog where I am editor in chief and can do as I please! Muaaahahaa! So, following is what I hoped was going to be published but alas, wasn't quite. It's not that far from what was published, it's just a little more relevant for non-strawberry season. 

Going forward I'll think about the content and when it's going to be published AHEAD of deadline. Whoopsies.

Sweet taste of Summer (well the end of...)

Summer might officially be coming to an end but that doesn’t mean we have to farewell all the beautiful flavours of the season – including that quintessential summer favourite, the strawberry.

Strawberries are a fairytale fruit and as such can have magical romantic powers or disappointing heartbreaking twists. By this, I mean that the perfect strawberry is hard to find. This summer the first strawberry I had was the PERFECT strawberry. Bright red, heart shaped, intensely flavoured, sweet and juicy. It was a great way to start the season.

This week’s recipe is about celebrating the flavour of strawberries in cake form. If you’re lucky you’ll be able to find fresh berries still available but for the rest of us, frozen ones (which can be found in your local supermarket) do just as well. These cupcakes are light, fluffy and delicately flavoured. Perfect for sharing with friends along with a glass of bubbles (I speak from experience) while you enjoy what’s left of this amazing summer we’ve had.

Strawberry Cupcakes

2/3 cup fresh strawberries

185g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp Heilala Vanilla Extract

115g unsalted butter, room temperature

185g sugar

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 175°C and prepare a 12-cup tray with liners.

Puree the strawberries in a food processor to make 1/3 cup of puree – add more strawberries if needed, saving any excess for the frosting.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl and the milk, vanilla and strawberry puree together in another bowl; set both aside.

Cream the butter until light and fluffy then gradually add the sugar and beat until well combined and pale in colour. Reduce the mixer speed and add eggs one at a time mixing until just blended.

Switch the mixer to low and add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Add the remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula; mix until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared liners (a piping bag is great for this). Bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Frost the cupcakes with a Strawberry Frosting made using a simple buttercream recipe (1 part butter to two parts icing sugar, whipped up until pale and fluffy) with 3 tablespoons of strawberry puree added. 

Flavours Column: Spongedrops

Hi folks! I know it's been a mighty long time since I've posted but I will now have fresh new content for you weekly. So much has happened over the summer - a multitude of wedding cakes and many many exciting cake adventures. All of which have been keeping me ridiculously busy. If you'd like to see photos of what's been greedily devouring my time please pop over to my Spongedrop page. Now onto some exciting news - and the reason why I will have weekly content for you...

Last year a friend of mine, who has been nothing but super supportive since I started Spongedrop, put my name forward to the editor of the lifestyle section of our local newspaper. The newspaper were looking for a baking columnist for a new weekly food lift out - and to cut a short story shorter - I was lucky enough to get the gig! So here it is. My first ever newspaper column. Word for word. As published in the Bay of Plenty Times on March 6th 2013. I'm quite proud of it. Which in turn makes me shy and blush a fair bit.

If you try the recipe please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Please excuse my very average food photography skills. Thankfully I have some wonderful photographer friends who have offered to help out so the photos will be improving drastically in future!   

A Sweet Treat for your Inner Child

Hello. I’m Danielle, chief cake baker (aka caker) of Spongedrop, a cakes, bakes and sweet treats business. Welcome to my new column! This is a first for me so bear with me as I learn the ropes…hopefully you’ll like what I have to share, both the recipes and the writing. If you’d like to say hi you can find me at The Little Big Markets on the first Saturday of the month.

It seems only fitting to kick-start this column with the recipe that started my baking obsession. I was eight when my love of Spongedrops began. My friend and I would get home from school, whip out the Edmonds Cookbook and bake a batch of these spongy, sweet little cakes. Usually we’d devour the lot, straight out of the oven, dipped in warm chocolate sauce (again, thank you Edmonds). Being kids, we had very little patience and relatively short attention spans. Spongedrops let us have cake within 15 minutes using four ingredients. They were the perfect minimal effort snack and we could have them baked, eaten and the evidence destroyed before our parents found out.

This recipe is adapted from a version in the 1981 Every Girls Rally Cookbook. I still love the Edmonds recipe but this one, although requiring more effort and ingredients, is a little more sophisticated (as I’d like to think I am now too).

Spongedrops
2 eggs, separated
60g plain flour
¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
75g caster sugar
30g cornflour
½ teaspoon baking soda
40g butter, melted 

Heat the oven to 190C (175C fan bake) and cover a tray with baking paper.

Beat the egg whites until stiff then add the yolks. Beat well and add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until all the sugar is dissolved. Sift the dry ingredients together and gently fold into the egg mix until only JUST combined (it’s okay if there are still tiny pockets of flour). Lastly fold in the melted butter. The trick with sponges is not to overmix so be gentle. Using a dessertspoon, drop spoonfuls of the mix onto the tray, leaving 4cm between each. Bake for 8 minutes. Lift off tray immediately and cool on a rack. 

Eat straight from the oven dipped in a pot of hot chocolate sauce or, once cooled, sandwich together with whipped cream, leave for several hours to get puffy and soft, dust with icing sugar and eat. 

I'm back. I know, it's been a very, very long time. Thanks for not giving up on me. I didn't give up on you, I've just been a little distracted. With this...

That's right, I've been busy getting my business off the ground! Businesses are really hard work...who would've thought?!

At the start of this year I wrote a post about my 2012 resolutions. Clearly I failed miserably at keeping them, particularly the one about writing a blog post every week... and the one about doing yoga every week... and, well, most of them. I did however, sort of, achieve my first goal - to write a business plan. I say sort of because I may have skipped that step and just gone straight into starting the business. Plan in my head. Not on paper.

I still plan on writing a business plan (I am making a plan to plan) so no doubt I will update you in another few months most likely saying I have created a cover and contents page. Let's be real here.

Anyway, since Spongedrop officially launched in July I have been busy. Being a small business owner is a real challenge - I have been eating, sleeping, dreaming, living cake almost constantly for the last few months. I've discovered that I have chosen a path that requires ME to do almost everything, given that I am not just the business 'owner' but also the baker, designer, planner, tester, marketer, financial controller, cleaner, shopper, social media manager, networker...I think you get the picture. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it is REALLY hard and there have been times when I have wanted to throw down my spatula and the frosting against the wall. Luckily I have people around who stop that from happening.

I put a lot of pressure on myself. I am a wee bit of a perfectionist and control freak (my mum and sister are nodding right now) but that is what happens when you put your name to something. You want it to be the best you can offer and it's hard to make compromises. Even sometimes when they make sense. Each week I am getting better at managing all this though, I'm learning new tricks, I'm getting faster, I'm finding a rhythm. And I am loving it. As hard as it is and as much of a lifestyle change it's been (going from ad agencies to kitchens, cleaning and market days in the rain) every time I finish a cake or have a great day at the markets I am happy that I do this. I've also met some very talented, inspirational people and made some great new friends.

So, here's to starting a new business! I am hoping to be back here a lot more often but won't risk making any brash promises I can't keep ;) Thank you a thousand times over to all my supporters and I hope to bring you mucho cake in the future!!!

xx

We did it

Hello. I thought you might like an update on our cake stall adventures at The Little Big Markets on Saturday.

We had an AWESOME time and almost SOLD OUT OF CAKE!

Everyone who came by our stall was so lovely and complimentary. All the hard work and semi-sleepless nights (just over three hours sleep on Friday) were 100% worth it.

We learnt so much from this market and the lead up to it and I can safely say that next market we'll be a lot more organised and be operating on a lot more sleep.

Our market menu included:

• Lemon Meringue, Rich Chocolate, Coca-Cola and Heilala Vanilla Cupcakes
• Vanilla and Double Chocolate Cake Pops
• Apple & Olive Oil Cake
• Raspberry Sponge Layer Cake with Mascarpone Icing

(Any of these cakes can now be ordered via my Facebook page spongedropbakes)

There were some definite favourites on the day but overall everything sold really well. I wish I could find everyone who bought our cakes and thank them for their support. They all helped to make this girl's dream a reality. If you're one of the lovely people who tried our cakes please message me and let me know what you thought. All feedback (good and not so good) is much appreciated!

I couldn't have achieved any of this without the support of my incredibly tolerant and helpful boyfriend, friends and family who did all sorts of things from carpentry to painting, design to transportation, photography to prop supply, sign-writing to simply feeding me. THANK YOU. You guys rock and will be paid in cake handsomely. x

Vanilla Cake Pops

Little cakes, big cakes all in a row

The classic vanilla

Seriously whippy and creamy chocolate frosting

Launching at The Little Big Markets!

Eeek! That's right, we are having our first market stall at The Little Big Markets this coming Saturday, the 7th of July. It will be an awesome experience.

Planning is underway and has been for weeks. I've been through cupcake trials, cake pop trials, trials for frosting, trials for paint colour. Being currently unemployed as I am (by choice thankfully) I have possibly spent a touch too much time turning this whole market thing into a far far bigger deal than it actually may be. But that's because I am crazy excited about it.

I mean, this is me, putting myself out there, selling my wares. I'm saying to people 'hey, look at what I made' and THEN I am asking them to handover money for it. I am basically stating, in a very sweet, innocuous way, that I can make a better cake than you...which in this country jam packed full of well-practised bakers with very specific and steadfast palates is a really cocky thing to do. And I'm not a cocky person. Maybe it doesn't show on the outside but I am a girl who very much gets herself into a tangle of fears and anxieties. I genuinely don't believe I can make a better cake than you. But I have decided that I am going to try really hard. Because I love baking and want to be really good at it.

Starting up my own business - oh hang on! News flash! I've started my own business which has been keeping me rather busy. So busy that I haven't posted about it. Shame on me. It's called Spongedrop - but let's hold those details for another post.

Starting my own business is (surprise surprise) a really personal thing to do. You're backing yourself. And you are asking to be judged. And judged you will be. I feel a lot of pressure to be perfect straight off the bat. I need to keep reminding myself that this is unrealistic.

Now, everytime I bake, I feel as though people are expecting so much more than they used to. Before they would just appreciate the gesture but now it has to be something truly great. Which, in all honesty, it's not always going to be. I have to test recipes. And I am really not a food waster - I can't bake something and then bin it if it's not right. So forgive me people if every now and then, something just a little average comes your way. I hope I don't charge you for it.

I recently baked cookies to take to a friend who had just given birth. Being disorganised I had lost the recipe I intended to use so tried a new one. Unchartered territory. I gave those cookies to my friend thinking 'God I hope she doesn't judge all my baking on those'. If I step back from the situation, she was probably just happy to have something that wasn't hospital made and, given that she had just had a baby, I'm sure she had other things on her mind.

Another fear lurking about, is that there is a group of mahjong playing ladies who have written my cupcakes off without a fair trial.

These are the things that whirl about in my head. They make me scared. They make me unsure. But they also make me feel challenged. And after some mulling, more determined. It's common for me to feed my insecurities by picking up on tiny criticisms and taking them so much to heart that I can't see the benefits that could come from them. I'm trying to change this. Self doubt is natural, and something I am naturally inclined towards. What I need to remind myself is that I am not trying to be, nor will I ever be, 'perfect' - no matter how skilled I get or how many cakes I bake there is always room for improvement, for new techniques to be learned, flavours to be tasted. There will always be people who don't like what you do, or just plain don't like you. I just have to do my best and keep learning along the way. I am not a trained professional baker but that doesn't mean I don't have the heart, the wherewithal and the tenacity to learn to be a great baker.

What I do know is that I will be my own harshest critic if I don't try. 

So... emotions aside and back to the point of this post! Spongedrop will be launching with a great deal of enthusiasm, passion and a healthy dose of nerves this weekend so PLEASE, come rain or shine, pop by, say hello and try my cakes. I do believe they are good. Not perfect, but definitely good.

xxx

Source

Ocean themed Dessert Table: Mum's Wedding

For years I've been following the work of Amy Atlas, swooning over her dessert tables and being amazed by the incredible submissions she gets from talented bakers and stylists all over the world. This lady is super high on my inspiration list (along with Molly from Orangette), she basically has my dream job. So it is Amy I have to thank for inspiring me and encouraging me to take on the challenge of creating a dessert table for my mother's wedding.

On April 28th 2012 my mum married a lovely man named Brian Palmer.

It makes me happy to see her so happy. It's nice how that works.

As my gift to them (more of a gift to me seeing as I wanted to do this so badly) I offered to create a dessert table. So after months of planning, here it is! My first ever dessert table! Disclaimer: the photos aren't quite what I hoped so apologies for the less than professional pics!

Mum and Brian first met through their work at the Tauranga Coastguard where they bonded over a love of boats and fishing, so it was no surprise they chose an ocean theme for their wedding.

The 'Anchor Me' bunting was inspired by the song of the same name from New Zealand band The Mutton Birds. It's a moving song with beautiful lyrics. You can listen to it here.

 

I recruited my sister, sister-in-law and my soon to be step-sister (sisters unite!) to help and over the space of a week we managed to pull everything off - without a hitch. I wasn't expecting that...I honestly thought something would go wrong. There was so much work involved but I loved every minute. Never underestimate the work and love that goes into creating dessert!

The Menu:

Ruffle Wedding Cake - the bottom tier was fruit cake (made by Brian while I was in London, thanks Brian!) and the top tier was a caramel chocolate layer cake with an ombre affect (graduated colour). You can see Mum holding a slice in the photo above. I love this cake. If I made it, am I allowed to say it's really pretty?

 

Lemon Pearlised Cake Pops - held to attention on a piece of driftwood Mum collected from the beach.  

 

Chocolate Seashells (made by my new step sister Karina) and Coconut Ice-bergs

 

Macarons - Not French but 'Mauao' macarons! Mauao is the Maori name for Mount Maunganui an old volcano and scenic feature of Tauranga harbour where we live. Macaron flavours included blueberry, dark chocolate, salted caramel and passionfruit. I haven't quite got macarons down to a fine art (they will not beat me!) but they just passed quality control (i.e. me).

 

White Chocolate & Blueberry Cheesecakes and Salted Caramel Cheesecakes served up in individual little jars. These were really good, so simple but so good.

Feedback on the night was fantastic and I received loads of lovely comments from friends and family, including my Mum who, although knew we were putting this together, wasn't aware of the details. I loved putting this table together even more than I expected and learnt a LOT. Hopefully I'll get to create another one very soon...any one getting married or celebrating a birthday???

Dan x

My new mascots! Noah's Ark Cake

On my last two days of work at Cakes 4 Fun in London, I had the chance to do a course with the very talented, cake decorator extraodinaire Debbie Brown - she of sugarpaste modelling fame.

Bear in mind this was my last two days of work. This meant, last chance to farewell my favourite customers, last chance to be overly diligent with the gorgeous Zoe and last chance to be one half of the control freak duo that we were, tidying corners of the shop in silence until we realised that we were taking it way too seriously, fell into fits of giggles and stopped to contemplate what we were doing with our lives over a cup of tea (and cake).

I was torn, do I spend my last two days of work officially 'working' with my pals or do I spend it playing with sugarpaste? After much umming and ahhing (which Zoe can attest to) I chose sugarpaste and even though I missed all the fun with Zoe and the gang I'm glad (sorry guys) I did because I got to make this!

Hello little Noah's Ark animals.

Debbie Brown is the equivalent of a rock star in the cake world. She is seriously talented and over the past two decades has built up a successful career publishing over 20 cake decorating books and teaching students worldwide. The Noah's Ark Cake comes from her latest 'Baby Cakes' book. 

Debbie is naturally artistic and has some crazy skills when it comes to sugarpaste modelling. She started her career at home, where her natural ingenuity led her to find ways of using common household items to help shape and create her cute characters. This skill became clear during the two day class - very few actual modelling tools were used and we relied heavily on our hands and other common items like toothpicks, knives and brushes to create affects.

It was a full on two days. At times I tormented myself with fears of half created animals and a solo bear on a boat filled with animal couples (how awful would that be!?) but in the end it all worked out.

Even though modelling isn't my passion when it comes to cake this class really helped me to appreciate the skill involved. It was tough! Fingers get in the way! The tiniest change in angle can make a cute face look angry. I have a new found respect for sugarpaste modellers. They are a patient, persistent, dexterous lot.

Here are some work in progress shots - on the left are some blind hippo's, they look so weird without pupils! He's blind but toothy. And on the right is me hard at work adding the finishing touches, wearing an odd brown top. What colour is that...? Terracotta?

 

And here are my new mascots. My giraffes. They flew all the way home with me via Hong Kong, safely tucked into a Laduree macaron box. Their ears and little antlers have broken off but I have all the parts so will fix them up good as new! These guys make me happy so when I am feeling doubt, when I am freaking out about how to finish a cake, I will look to them and know it's going to be okay.

Thanks Debbie for bringing these little guys to my life.