Cake Class - Me versus Frosting

It's Wednesday night and I'm sitting on the carpet in my PJs after having finished week three of a four week Cake Decorating class that I'm taking at Wellington High School. Here are some photos from last week when I made my first attempt at 'properly' icing a cake with buttercream frosting. We had to split the cake into three even layers and frost each layer with a nice uniform amount of frosting. I was so happy when I cut my cake to see that the layers were even! Cutting a cake in three is actually a little harder than I expected and icing it evenly and smoothly was a tricky process too. Who would have thought that buttercream could be so sensitive? It's just buttercream! But that's why I'm doing this course, to learn the little secrets of the cake trade that will make whipping up a beautiful cake that much easier.

Yes, that's my Almond Cream KitchenAid in the background. Thanks family! You are the best!

The cake I made was a plain chocolate cake (using cocoa and not actual chocolate) from a recipe given to us by our lovely tutor Maria. It's a cake recipe she relies on a lot and is part of her repertoire of 'go to' cakes for the work she does - including managing the baking side of treats at the sweet and charming Martha's Pantry (who are well known in Wellington for their cute, classic high tea). I haven't asked Maria if I can share the recipe here yet but I will do. Watch this space. It's easy and turns out a cake that's perfect for layering as it's quite dense but not overly moist (hate that word but couldn't think of an appropriate alternative!). The flavour is also simple enough to work well with the rich buttercream.

I frosted my cake with lavender buttercream. I had never worked with lavender in baking before but after some online research I decided to just pick the flower buds from the garden, pull off the petals, cover them with a little bit of milk, boil it in the microwave to get rid of any little plant bugs that may have been hanging out in the tiny blossoms, and add the lavender to my frosting mix. Voila - lavender buttercream. The flavour was subtle but really nice, just a little perfumey. It didn't taste at all like you were eating potpourri (some people thought it was an odd choice of flavouring). I would make it again but only for the right girly type of crowd.

Tonight's class was all about prep for our epic grand finale cake that we'll be making for our last class next week. We spent two hours playing with Flower Paste, making the decorations. I have great plans...whether or not they work out is another thing! Just know that there's going to be pineapple, coconut and possibly some white rum involved. Until next time...

Hot Cross Buns

I made buns. Hot cross buns! Check ‘em out. I’m quite proud of myself. They are 'unglazed' in the photo above...the glazed buns can be seen at the end of this post.

When I was little I wasn’t a fan of hot cross buns, or anything with raisins, currants or dried fruit in general really. Dried fruit was for old people. Now that I’m older I get it. I like dried fruit and I never thought I’d say it but I’m quite partial to a slice of fruit cake with a cup of tea. I can’t help it. One thing I still don’t like is chewy, hard dried fruit in cereal, especially muesli. My sister and I both think there should be more non-fruit muesli available - but that’s another story. Back to my buns.

We were having a really quiet Easter so I planned to fill one of my days by baking hot cross buns. I haven’t baked bread in years, and I’ve never made hot cross buns so I was expecting it to be a bit of a challenge, but to be honest it wasn’t. It was all quite straightforward until I got to the jam. I did manage to get flour and bits of dough all over the kitchen but that’s just how I bake. When you’re working with flour it’s good to throw it around a bit so you look all baker-like.

The recipe I worked with was from I Eat Therefore I Am. I felt this was a good, safe place to start. I added a few very small tweaks of my own (like soaking the sultanas because I like them juicy and plump and upping the spice). What I was hoping for was a nice soft bun with a definite ‘hot cross bun’ vibe – warm spices, sweet fruit and a light, bready texture. And that's what I got.

Hot Cross Buns
310ml warmed milk
60g caster sugar
16g instant dried yeast (I used 2 sachets of Edmonds Sure to Rise Dry Yeast)
600g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 ¼ tsp allspice
½ tsp ground nutmeg
60g butter, (just soft)
1 ½ cups raisins or sultanas – soaked in a cup of boiling water or tea
2 eggs, lightly beaten

For the Cross
60g plain flour
60ml water

If you haven’t already done so, soak the sultanas (or currants etc) in the boiling water or tea. I think the tea gives a nice flavour however this is entirely unproven and possibly pointless. I used a regular breakfast tea, but you could try any tea such as earl grey or a fruity, floral herbal tea.

Whisk the sugar, milk and yeast together until the sugar has dissolved. Cover this mixture and set it aside until it becomes frothy (which means the yeast has activated), around 10 mins.

In a separate bowl whisk the flour, salt and spices together. Rub the butter in the flour mix until it goes crumbly. It takes a little bit of work but I find these flour/butter processes quite soothing.

Drain the soaking fruit well and stir the fruit, along with the egg and frothy yeast mixture until just combined.

Throw some flour on your work surface (i.e. kitchen bench) and swish around so you make a nice floury surface for your dough. Turn your dough out onto the bench and knead using the heels of your hands for around 5 minutes until it becomes smooth and stretchy. Lightly grease a large bowl (melted butter or light oil are fine), place dough in the bowl and turn once so the dough is lightly coated with grease. Cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm, draught-free place for 45mins or until the dough has doubled in size. Tip: if it’s cold where you live like it is in Wellington, before you start this recipe heat the oven to 50°C and then turn it off – you can then put your dough in the slightly warmed oven to rise. Just be careful that it’s not too warm, it should be cosy, not hot!

Once the dough has doubled in size, remove the cling wrap and punch the dough down (just whack your fist right into it) until it has dropped in size a little bit. Give the dough a quick knead again and divide it into 12 bun like portions. I divided mine into about 16 as I was using a smaller tray (18 x 28cm) and could only fit 12 smallish buns into it. I used the remaining dough to make a twist which I then burnt and promptly binned. Whoopsies.

Place your little buns into a greased 20 x 30cm baking tray, cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for 15 minutes. Don’t try and squish all your buns super tight into the tray, otherwise they’ll smoosh all together and be fighting for room. Gently touching buns are good. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Whisk the flour and water for the paste together (if it’s too gluggy add a little more water) and pipe using a fine piping tip into cross patterns across the buns.

Bake at 200°C for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 180°C and bake for 15 mins more. The buns are ready when they look golden and sound hollow when you tap the top.

The original recipe suggests glazing the buns with hot apricot jam. I attempted this but was too lazy to properly heat the jam so it ended up sticky and thick. Next time I’d brush the uncooked buns with an egg wash (beaten egg with a little milk or water) before cooking, which should hopefully give them a nice shine.

Here are my sticky, jammy, glazed buns.


I gotta say, these buns were really good. I surprised myself! If I had to pick between these buns and Pandoro buns – mine would win. Definitely an unexpected result. In saying that I didn’t ask anyone else to make the same call but my vote counts. Next time I might get a little adventurous and add some dried apricot, lemon rind or…chocolate.

If you’re in the mood for spicy, sweet buns try these! And remember, it doesn’t have to be Easter to enjoy a toasted hot cross bun with a smear of butter and a nice cup of tea.

I found it!

I've been gone for a long time. Sorry about that. I truly didn't mean to start writing then stop, and I don't plan on letting that happen again. I moved country and then I moved city - so some big changes have been happening! I'm now living in Wellington, New Zealand and am busy setting up home here. So far, so good. Thankfully Wellington has a great food culture built up by some truly dedicated foodies so there's a lot of inspiration around. Plus it means I can find ingredients that are usually hard to source in this part of the world. Bonus!

My first post back is a bit of a cheats post - it's a recipe that I mentioned in my Lemon Cake post. This however is not a Lemon Cake recipe - it's the lost Nigella Lawson recipe for Raspberry Cupcakes! Hurrah! I am so happy I found this because it was really good. And where did I find it you ask? Well, clever me had printed the recipe the first time I found it (I thought I had made the recipe straight from my laptop but turns out I didn't) and had stashed it safely inside an old copy of Donna Hay's magazine that I had lying around (but not the one with the Lemon Cake recipe in it). Anyway, that was confusing, and superfluous to your requirements - all you need is this recipe. I love it and totally recommend it. Raspberries in a beautifully soft, light, brown sugary cake. Make some. Eat them. Rejoice in sweet cakey goodness. Seriously.

Raspberry Cupcakes

Thank you to Nigella Lawson for this recipe - which was once featured on her website (where I found it) but has now for some inexplicable reason been removed.

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ cups plain flour
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease a muffin/cupcake pan - if you want to use paper cases they work fine as well and there's no need to grease the pan. Gently melt the butter and when just melted whisk in the brown sugar. Let this mix cool to room temperature (just a few mins) then whisk in the eggs. Add the milk, vanilla, salt and baking powder; whisk all to combine. Add the flour and whisk again until just combined. Fold in the raspberries. (A tip I have heard, and that I follow but haven't actually tested, is to toss the berries lightly in flour before adding them - this stops them sinking to the bottom of the batter). Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans and bake until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean - which is about 20mins for smaller cakes or 25 for larger ones. At this point they will look all bouncy, light brown and beautiful.

Leave the muffins in the pans for 5mins after removing them from the oven then transfer to a cooling rack. Ice or frost when completely cold - otherwise the icing will melt and drool off the sides.

Nigella's recipe suggests icing with White Chocolate Ganache but I think they were even better with Passionfruit Cream Cheese Icing - basically just whip together a pot of cream cheese and icing sugar to taste and then add passionfruit pulp (or the syrup you can buy in a little can from the supermarket).

I made these on a Thursday night and then iced them and took them to work the next day and they tasted great. They won't stay around long enough to see if they keep for more than a day. They'll be munched down and demolished. As they should be.

P.S. I'm writing this while waiting for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies to bake. The recipe is from the lovely and hugely inspirational Molly Wizenberg's blog Orangette and oh my gosh do they smell good. Really really good. If you don't wish you were here right now - you should. I have a glass of milk ready and waiting.

A Good Biscuit

When I was little there were a few go-to recipes that always seemed to pop up where my family was concerned. Things like Neenish Tarts, Louise Cake (which I didn’t like as a kid but love now), Banana Cake with Lemon Icing and… Afghans. Afghans are a truly good biscuit. Why? Because they have cornflakes in them and that is just plain cool. The flakes turn into little crunchy, chewy specks amongst the sweet cocoa-ey biscuit crumb. I love cocoa so these are right up my alley. And they are really easy to make. When it comes to this recipe, out of all the ingredients cornflakes will probably be the item you’re least likely to have in the cupboard. But it’s worth a trip to the corner store. I’ve never tried to substitute the cornflakes with other cereals, you could try but I don’t think any would work as well as the trusty little cornflake.

This recipe comes from the Edmonds ‘Sure to Rise’ Cookery Book, which is a staple in any good New Zealand home. If you grow up in New Zealand you know about this book – I think it’s probably the most famous cookbook New Zealand has. A few months ago I was talking to my sister who lives in Sydney and we got to laughing about how we were basically raised on Edmonds recipes. Every page we turned (we both have our own copies) featured one recipe or another that had been made sometime in our youth. And even in the 2008 edition that I have, the photos still have that classic 70’s or 80’s vibe - but you can’t fault the flavours. This biscuit is light, sweet, crumbly, crunchy and full of cocoa flavour. It’s a great one for kids to make too – just mix it all up in a bowl and squish in some cornflakes!

Thank you Edmonds for making sure generations of kiwis grow up with full pukus (tummies).


Afghans (from the Edmonds Cookery Book)

200g butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 ¼ cup ‘Edmonds’ Standard Plain Flour (or any plain flour you have in your cupboard)
¼ cup cocoa
2 cups cornflakes

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). This seems to be the go to temperature for all Edmonds recipes…if in doubt, go 180! Cream the butter and sugar until it turns pale yellow and goes all fluffy. Sift the flour and cocoa together then stir into the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Fold, squish, smash or smoosh the cornflakes into the batter. Grab chunks of the dough, roughly about a tablespoon each, press together gently and place on a greased oven tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until they look ready (slightly raised, set, yummy). Cool on a rack – be gentle taking them from the tray while they’re hot as they can be quite crumbly. When completely cool ice with chocolate icing (which you can make by mixing a bowl of icing sugar with a big spoon of cocoa powder and a few teaspoons of boiling water – it’s seriously easy) and dot with a walnut or sprinkle with shredded coconut. Or sprinkles! Whatever takes your fancy.

It's Cake Day - Lemon Cake

I’m not the type of girl who finds it difficult to justify cake, or desserts of any kind for that matter. Any day can be a cake day. Sometimes I feel like people think I’m a little odd when I celebrate normal day-to-day events with food. That might have something to do with the weird almost fearful looks they give me, like there is a chance I could be slightly on the crazy side. But these people don’t cake (ha! I meant to write care but cake came out which is kind of funny so I left it…), they don’t share my joy of baking so they don’t count. Once they have cake in their hand they’re happy.

This week I successfully managed to disguise my cake baking needs with a more obvious cake-requiring occasion - a farewell to a girl at work who is leaving to have her first baby. This gave me the perfect excuse to bake. So bake I did. Cupcakes (being the obvious choice when it comes to baby themed events. Babies are little therefore require little cakes).

I am on a mission to find the perfect cupcake recipe. One that’s light and airy, has a nice rise and shape to it when baked and keeps well for at least a day (as I usually bake the night before and then ice in the morning).

This time I tried two recipes – one based on a Lemon Cake by Donna Hay and the other, a Raspberry Cupcake with White Chocolate Ganache from Nigella Lawson (who I think is great. Why not make food even better with sultry sauciness?).

The Nigella recipe was not only easy but it turned out beautiful, light and fluffy wee cakes. It has officially been added to my keep list. You can find the recipe here (oh no! stop press! Nigella has taken the recipe from her site and I can't find it elsewhere online! Foolish me for not writing it down - you learn a new lesson everyday. I'll see if I can find it elsewhere for you). If you need an impressive fail-safe cupcake recipe this is (was?) it. It’s foolproof! Although I do have a long running battle with ganache and somehow managed to completely ruin this one as well. Possibly because I tried to colour it pink…I need to research colouring ganache. I semi-salvaged the ganache by adding a tonne of icing sugar to thicken it up but for most of the cakes I used a cream cheese and passionfruit icing to decorate (just a basic cream cheese icing with passionfruit added which takes it to a whole new level of delicious goodness).


The Donna Hay recipe was actually meant for a cake, which after trying it as cupcakes, it’s probably more suited for (I should trust Donna more). The cupcakes were a little heavy and doughie but still really tasty. It would make a delish afternoon tea or dessert cake – something you eat with a fork and a dollop of cream or greek yoghurt. Go forth and eat cake!

Lemon Cake with Passionfruit Syrup (from Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 50)
125g butter
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (240g) sour cream
¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
2 ½ cups (375g) self-raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice and rind, flour and baking powder (I sifted the flour and baking powder together first). Spoon the mixture into a 23cm round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer (poke a skewer into the centre of the cake – if it comes out clean the cake is done). If using the passionfruit syrup, turn the warm cake out onto a rack and pour over half the syrup (reserving the rest for serving) – allow to stand for a few minutes so the syrup can sink in then serve.

Passionfruit Syrup
I didn’t use this for my cupcakes but wanted to include it here for those who’d like to follow the original Donna Hay recipe.

⅔ cup (150g) sugar
1 cup (250ml) water
⅔ cup (160ml) passionfruit pulp (if you don’t have fresh, use canned and reduce the sugar slightly)

Place the sugar, water and passionfruit in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 4-5 minutes or until thickened slightly. See above for ‘pour over’ instructions.

If you try these recipes let me know what you think! And if you have a go-to cupcake recipe I would love to try it.

Doing what I should've done a long time ago...

Hi, my name is Danielle. I‘ve decided to start my own blog. I know, I’m a little behind the times – there are so many blogs now but the way I see it, it’s kind of like an online diary (kind of…or exactly like?). Anyway, this is my first entry. And boy am I nervous.

I’ve been pondering and dreaming of starting my own blog for years…yes, years. That’s how much of a procrastinator I am. I just put it in the too hard basket but to be honest, I was just scared. Putting yourself out there, on the line, is scary. But I need to do this. Why? Because I have been missing writing, I have been missing creativity, I have been missing some kind of connection (with myself and with others). And I’m hoping to get some of that back here.

I want to write and I am pretty sure I want that writing to be about food, or at least about things I make with my hands to bring people joy – and one of my favourite ways to do that is through food. Sometimes I worry that my cooking brings me more joy than it does the people that taste it, but I try to make sure there’s an even balance! I am a lover of baking…ah, the love of baking is strong! The process, the smell, the texture, the look, the taste – everything. Each slice, mouthful, biscuit or sliver is like a little gift all of it’s own.

I was recently walking down Lygon Street in Carlton and was lured by the sight of colourful macarons into Browne’s…I am so glad I saw them calling to me. I was standing there debating with myself over whether to try the pistachio or strawberry when the assistant behind the counter recommended the blood orange. I was hesitant, not being a fan of orange as a flavour (oranges yes, orange flavour not so much) but when I walked outside, opened the little brown bag and took my first bite I could not, literally could NOT, stop my mouth from smiling. It was like a tiny explosion of pure goodness, sunshine in my mouth. Since then I have sampled pistachio, strawberry and pineapple but none have quite had me as much as that little blood orange macaron did.

This is me, writing about what makes me happy. Sometimes I might flip between things I make or things I find (like the little macaron). Either way, I hope sometimes my happiness can make you happy too.