Jikana Damaru

Raspberry cupcakes

Raspberry and almond cupcakes (makes 12 muffin size cakes)
125g butter, softened
2 eggs
150g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
90g dried raspberries
100g ground almonds
150g self raising flour
60ml milk

Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C.
Line muffin tray with paper cases.
Beat flour, butter, milk and eggs in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
Stir in ground almonds and dried raspberries
Divide mixture between cases.
Bake for between 25-30 minutes.
Place cakes on wire rack to cool.

Decorating the cakes

Using pre-bought vanilla butter frosting, add a few drops of both blue and yellow food colouring to the butter cream and mix until you achieve the required colour.
Fill piping bag with butter cream and pipe in swirls on top of the cakes.
Place fondant flowers on top.

Toffee apple cupcakes

I had recently seen cupcakes with shards of toffee on, which got me wondering if I could make nests out of toffee. It took me three attempts, but I got there in the end. I wanted the cupcakes' flavour to match the toffee nests so, being a big fan of toffee apples, I decided to make apple and maple syrup cupcakes with a chocolate butter cream top. Here's how I did it.

Maple apple cupcakes (makes 12 muffin size cakes)
150g (1 cup) self raising flour
60g unsalted butter
2 eggs
110g brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60ml maple syrup
200g grated apple
453g chocolate butter cream

Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C.
Line muffin tray with paper cases.
Beat flour, butter, sugar, eggs, cinnamon and maple syrup in a bowl with an electric mixer until mixture is a pale colour.
Stir in apple and divide the mixture between the paper cases.
Place in preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and place cakes on wire rack to cool.
When cakes are cool, pipe butter cream icing in a swirl on top. I used chocolate butter cream, but after tasting, my friends and I thought they would taste better with vanilla.

Toffee nests
I made three batches of toffee because on my first attempt I left the toffee too long in the saucepan and it went black. The second batch worked well but I was not quick enough with it so it started to set in the pan. I tried re-heating it, which was a disaster as it turned white and powdery! So, on the third attempt I worked really quickly with the toffee before it started to set in the pan. I guess the saying is true - the third time really is a charm!

220g caster sugar
125ml water
1/4 teaspoon white vinegar

Coat the back of the muffin tray in olive oil (it has to be olive oil).
Combine sugar, water and vinegar in a heavy based saucepan.
Sir over heat till sugar dissolves and bring the mixture to the boil.
Boil uncovered without stirring until the liquid goes a golden colour. I used a sugar thermometer and took the mixture off the heat when the thermometer read 'crack'.
Wait for bubbles to subside.
Using a wooden spoon, drizzle the toffee onto the back of the muffin tray to create nests.
Allow toffee to set at room temperature, and then carefully lift the nests from the muffin tray and place on top of cakes.
Fill with mini chocolate eggs.

Fondant flowers

To make fondant flowers you'll need:

White ready to roll regal ice icing (also called roll-out icing, rolled fondant or pastillage),
Sifted icing sugar (also called powdered sugar or confectioners' sugar),
Natural food colouring in the colours you want (I chose red, yellow, and blue)
eight petal daisy cutter
circle cutters
rolling pin
baking parchment

Recipe:

Divide the white ready to roll icing into four smaller pieces.
Knead the icing to soften, then gradually add food colouring until you get the desired colour. I used yellow and blue to make green, red and blue to make purple, a little red to make pink, and blue with yellow to make pale mint blue.
Lay out some baking parchment on your work surface.
Sieve icing sugar onto your work area and rolling pin.
Roll the icing out to about 4mm thick and, using a cutter, cut out the petal shapes. For the centre of the flowers cut a circle and then press into a small measuring spoon, like the one pictured, to get a button-like shape.
Wet back of flower centre, place on top of petals, and allow to set.

These will last for at least six months if stored in an airtight container, but for best results use immediately.

Glass bunny

I saw this glass bunny butter dish and had to have it! I filled it with the tiniest Cadbury Mini Eggs.

On the left is a normal sized Mini Egg, and on the right a tiny one.

Bucket of chocolate nests

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I love everything in my kitchen to colour co-ordinate, so I have several storage buckets in pale blue. I thought the 'EGGS' one would make a great container to put my chocolate Easter nests in to take around to my family.

Chocolate nests

It's a tradition in my family for my Mum to make chocolate nests every year and hide them in the garden for us to find. I decided to make some of my own this year. Now that my siblings and I are adults I decided to make "grown-up" Easter nests with dark chocolate instead of the usual milk. Here's the recipe I used:

Chocolate Easter nests (makes 24 muffin size nests)
200g 85% cocoa dark chocolate (I used Green & Blacks)
125g cornflakes
250g mini eggs

Line muffin tray with paper cases
Break up chocolate into small pieces and place in microwave bowl.
Melt chocolate in microwave on full power for about 1-2 minutes (the exact amount of time needed will depend on the type of chocolate being used so remove and stir the chocolate every so often to ensure it heats evenly).
Once the chocolate is melted, remove from microwave and gradually stir in cornflakes so they are completely covered in chocolate.
Spoon mixture into paper cases and make a hole in the center.
Fill hole with mini eggs and leave to set.

Eat and enjoy. Yummy!

Kitchen wish list

Today, I looked for pale blue and pink kitchen utensils to match my existing sets. Here are some of the items I found that I'd love to add to my collection one day. It's nice to dream!

Rolling pin from Sil-Pin.

Set of 12 Miniamo 'Pastels' Silicone cup cake cases.

Triple-tiered cake/fruit stand in pale blue. I already have this in pale pink but would like to combine the two in a display.

Traditional jelly moulds in pastel colours.