Jikana Damaru: 01/31/12

snap it { happy }

{welcome to the first snap it link up. it's easy to play along. please add your happy photo blog post to the list below. link back to here & enjoy visiting some of the other blogs too}

i have loved the summer school holidays & being able to spend time with my girls without the usual time commitment ruled weekly routine. i couldn't pick just one photo to sum up the last six weeks so here is a collage of some of the happy things about our holidays.

next weeks topic is: home

Gluten free Black Forest cupcakes

I hadn't made cupcakes in ages and wanted to try something new for Christmas so I decided to use Black Forest Gateaux as my inspiration. Instead of the traditional layers of chocolate cake, cherry liqueur sauce and whipped cream I made chocolate cakes with a cherry liqueur sauce filling topped with whipped cream.

Gluten free Black Forest cupcakes (makes 24 cupcake size cakes)

Ingredients

125g butter, softened
100g Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate buttons
160 ml (2/3 cup) semi-skimmed milk
2 eggs
175g caster sugar
200g gluten free self-raising flour, sieved
2 tablespoons Hotel Chocolat organic cocoa powder, sieved
125g/4½oz butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence

Cooking instructions

Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F)
Line muffin tray with paper cases
Place chocolate and milk in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth
Beat butter, eggs, and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour
Stir in flour, cocoa, and warm chocolate mix until mixed thoroughly
Divide mixture among cases
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Place cakes on a wire rack to cool

To Fill & Decorate (24 cupcake size cakes)

What you will need

200g black cherries, pitted and pureed
60 caster sugar
½ tsp cornflour mixed with a little water to make a smooth paste
2 tbsp cherry liqueur
300ml/10fl oz double cream
Pink food colouring
Fondant snowflakes

Instructions

Place cherries, sugar, cherry liqueur and cornflour mixture in a small saucepan and, over a medium heat, stir until just boiling
Remove from heat and stir until mixture thickens, leave to cool
Using a cupcake corer, remove centre of cooled cakes
Spoon cooled cherry mixture into the hollow of the cakes
Whisk cream and pink food colouring until you have soft peaks in an even colour
Fill piping bag fitted with a star nozzle full of pink whipped cream
On top of the cakes, starting at outside edge, pipe a swirl of pink whipped cream
I decorated the top of mine with sprinkled sugar snowflakes and some with a fondant snowflake

Here they are on my Winter Wonderland dessert table:

Have a sweet day!

January

Goodbye January 2012 ~ Thanks for the Memories

x S.K.K x

I Gave Up

I gave up today! For the first time I pushed and pushed myself and could not go any more! I stepped out of my comfort zone and went harder and faster and at a different time and it hit me in the butt. I'm working late tonight so I thought I would go for my run before work. I was a bit nervous as I've never run before work before so I was worried I would get too tired at work but as you know I am trying the 'no excuses' thing so I just put my shoes on and went. It was sunny (for the first time in a while) and it was hot! I was looking forward to trying something new! Ohhhhh boy! It was tough! As soon as I started I got a stitch. I haven't had a stitch before in my whole training. I got to 30 minutes and I was hot and my feet were burning and could not push myself! I tried and tried and I went a further 4 minutes but I had to stop! For the first time I stopped. I can't even describe to you the pain I felt in my stomach! The cramping was unbelievable! My head was a blur and I could not think straight! I knew I just had to just drag myself around the corner and I would be home! I finally got to my front door and I didn't know whether I needed to go to the toilet, vomit or pass out! I just went straight to the pool and slid in! The pain was still there and was about 10 times worse than period pain! I just sat there not knowing what was going on! I still don't know what happened! I just started swimming, slowly. I was stretching out and after about 5 minutes I finally felt to feel ok! Yuk! What a terrible experience! First time I've felt that I never want to run again! I know it was just a one off and i should not give up, so I am hoping tomorrow is a bit better! I'm going to stick to running at night and see if it was the sun!

I'm at work tonight so I am having a break and watching a movie! But tomorrow night I am going to put those shoes back on and try again!

That's the thing about running...about life...you just have to keep on trying!

x S.K.K x