Jikana Damaru

Halloween maple apple cupcakes

Maple apple cupcakes (makes 12 muffin size cakes)

Ingredients
150g (5.2 ounces) self raising flour
60g (2.11 ounces) unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60ml (2 fluid ounces)maple syrup
200g (7 ounces) grated apple
Vanilla butter cream
Pink food colouring
Black edible glitter

Cooking instructions

Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C.
Line muffin tray with paper cases.
Beat flour, butter, 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.
Add pink food colouring to butter icing, mixing thoroughly.
Put coloured butter icing into a piping bag with small nozzle.
When cakes are cool, pipe butter cream icing in peaks on top.
Sprinkle glitter on top using a small paintbrush.
Stick cupcake topper in top.

To make the cupcake topper,

Download and print the "Poison" label below x2.
Place double sided tape on the unprinted side of the label from edge to edge.
Press a cocktail stick into tape
Place the second label over the top of the stick and press firmly together.

See Halloween cake stands and cases for where to buy cupcake wrappers.

As I have to have a gluten free diet, I substitute the self raising flour for Gluten and wheat free self raising flour.

Have a sweet day!

~ Dining Table and chairs ~

We really need a new dining table and chairs.

Requirements are that it needs to be able to seat 12 adults as when Mr A's family comes to visit there is currently 11 adults and 10 kids.

We found this nice extension table at Freedom - when extended it is 3.2m long so this will work. When closed it is still 2.2m.

The chairs that match it weren't bad as well and currently on sale (which never happens when you need things but this time we are in luck)

Can anyone suggest some other good extension tables they may have seen?

It's a wrap

The lovely Jodie @ Poss Bloss asked me to photograph her adorable creations.

Here are a few of my favourite shots - the rest I am about to mail off to Poss Bloss headquarters!

'ipanic' - when realisation and destiny collide

Months ago, I was persuaded to enter a 60km mountain bike race in the Southern Highlands, competing against a thousand or so fellow cycling enthusiasts.

I agreed because:

a. I thought it might encourage me to get back on my bike post-pregnancy

b. The race was MONTHS away, leaving me plenty of time to procrastinate about point 'a'

c. A number of friends were doing it, and I don't like to be left out

... but mostly I agreed because

d. My husband sneakily entered me at 5.30am before I got up one morning and then 'surprised' me with it over breakfast.

It's not as though riding a bike is new to me; before Fern I used to ride quite a lot! It's just my body is not quite the same as it was here just before I fell pregnant:

I'll admit that when I'm tired or stressed I eat... and this year, I've been both. A lot! Plus, my body just doesn't look the same as it did before, and I wonder if it ever will again.

I've had this race in the back of my mind over the last few months, but it seemed so far away I figured there would be plenty of time to get fit and psyche myself up before the day. But now all of a sudden it's three weeks away. Is three weeks enough time to get myself into enough shape to finish the race... the same day as I start it?

Today I did 20 sit ups and half an hour on the trainer and started my diet which included a row of dark chocolate, a spoonful of Nutella, and 4 Fererro Rochers.

Heaven help me. :)

ps. Thanks to James for the tommy-toning-tips, I'm gonna give it my best!

Strawberry cupcakes

Strawberry cupcakes (makes 30 mini size cakes)

Ingredients
125g (4.5 ounces) butter, softened
1 teaspoon (1/3 ounces) strawberry flavouring
150g (5.2 ounces) caster sugar
2 eggs
150g (5.2 ounces) self-raising flour
40g (1.4 ounces) mini white chocolate chips
60ml (2 fluid ounces) semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp strawberry jam

Cooking instructions

Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F).
Line baking tray with silicone cases.
Beat flour, butter, milk, eggs and strawberry flavoring in a bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
Stir in the choc chips and strawberry jam and mix thoroughly.
Spoon mixture into cases.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Place cakes on a wire rack to cool.

Decorating the cakes

You will need:
Vanilla butter frosting
Roll-on icing (sugar paste)
Black concentrated food colouring paste
Edable art cake glitter in Disco Mulberry
Bird cutter
Rolling pin
Small paintbrush
Piping bag and nozzle
Sieved icing sugar (confectioners sugar)

Fill piping bag with vanilla butter frosting and pipe in peaks on top of the cakes.
Sprinkle glitter on top using a small paintbrush.
Lightly dust work surface with icing sugar.
Place roll-on icing onto surface and gradually add food colouring to roll-on icing with a cocktail stick (as it is very concentrated), and knead colour in. Keep adding food colouring until you get desired colour.
Roll out icing so it is about 5mm thick, and cut out bird shape using cutter.
Place on top of cake, and with a damp brush lightly paint the top to bring back the blackness and shine.

See Halloween cake stands and cases for where to buy the cupcake wrappers and stand.

As I have to have a gluten free diet, I substitute the self raising flour for gluten and wheat free self raising flour.

Have a sweet day!

~ Keep Smiling ~

A little bit of a trying day today so have to remind myself to keep smiling as at the end of the week we will be in our new house.

I have a nasty cold - making me tired and frustrated with so much to do.

The big girls have been a little trying after four days at home.

Little bubba is testing me on the sleeping front - has decided that she really does not want to be put to bed in HER BED!!

Husband has been spending many hours at the new house watering the new grass leaving me to deal with dinner, bath and bed time.

I haven't been able to visit the house to see my newly polished floor boards!!

Tomorrow is a new day and big girls are off to pre-school so back to the house I will go - carpet being laid tomorrow ...

Keep Smiling!!

Halloween cake stands and cases

Black glass cake stands. Pink glass cake stands

Black skull and crossbones fairy cake cases

Black & white dotty cupcake cases

Spider web cupcake wrapper

SK black baroque cupcake cases

10 silicone mini cupcake cases

Zebra cupcake cases

Pink foil cupcake cases

I love making cupcakes and if you are a regular reader of this blog you will know how much I adore cake stands. So, Halloween was a perfect excuse to buy a few more! I hunted around for cupcake wrappers to fit my Halloween theme and found those above.

I decorated my cupcakes with white butter cream and little black birds in the pink mini cases. I'm still deciding on the others, but black and pink butter cream with pink, black and silver sparkles will be a must! For example, pink edible glitter flakes and silver edible glitter flakes.

I tried out some of my cupcake ideas for the Halloween blog party this past weekend, and will show you more later this week!

Have a sweet day!