Nutella Cheesecake

Somehow, in the past couple of years Nutella has become a pantry staple in this house.
Not (just) for spreading lavishly on bread or sneaking decadent spoonfuls, but as a quick fix for almost any sweet situation.
 Needing inspiration? Grab a jar of Nutella and oh, golly - you'll be inspired!
... I speak from experience: I literally threw these ingredients together the afternoon of the event that it was intended for - forgetting that it would need cooling and chilling time - but thankfully managed to get it in the fridge for long enough for it to work.

Nutella Cheesecake.
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Prepare a 15cm square cake pan with baking parchment:
 Spray the tin with non-stick baking spray, then cross two pieces of parchment over in the pan - let the parchment extend well above the sides of the pan to facilitate removing the cheesecake from the pan once baked. Spray the parchment with baking spray.

Ingredients:
Base
250g chocolate cookies
125g melted butter

Break the cookies into small pieces, then use a food processor to blitz until finely crumbed.
Mix with the melted butter, and press the mixture firmly into the base of the pan.
Chill in the freezer for 30minutes.

Filling
250g cream cheese
250ml fresh cream
4 eggs
80ml caster sugar
300g Nutella
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the sugar and cream cheese together until soft, then add the eggs one at a time. Followed by the rest of the ingredients, and beat until smooth.
Poor over the chilled base and bake in a water bath for 1 hour at 160'C.

Leave in the oven to cool (with the oven door closed), then refrigerate for at least 4hours or preferably overnight.
Remove from the baking tin by first running a knife between the tin and baking parchment, then gently pull up on the sides of parchment and ease the cheesecake upwards.

Dust with icing sugar or sprinkle with chopped roasted nuts before serving.
Serve chilled.

Here's a quirky idea - print this recipe and attach it to a jar of Nutella as a sweet Christmas gift : )

 Happy holidays!

xxM

Marbled Christmas Bauble Cookies

It was love at first sight. That's how my relationship with royal icing began.
The December 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine featured a platter of beautifully decorated  Christmas ornament cookies that had me spellbound. I had to figure out how to replicate them.
I didn't even know what I was searching for at first, but I finally found marbled royal icing tutorials through Google. And that, as they say, was that!

The background in the photograph above is the page from Good Housekeeping Magazine from November 2011 that inspired me. (The cookies in the magazine were by the incredibly talented Roxanne Floquet)

 

So, I thought I'd share a tutorial with you that replicates that first Christmas cookie that captured me:

Using an icing bag fitted with a size 1 or 2 Ateco tip, outline and flood a bauble shaped cookie with white flooding consistency royal icing :

Still using flooding consistency royal icing (and a bag fitted with an Ateco 1 or 2 tip), immediately pipe parallel lines of red royal icing across the cookie surface:

Start above the first line of red, and drag the tip of a toothpick through the icing from the top to the bottom of the cookie. Follow the curve of the bauble.

Then, clean the tip of the toothpick and drag it through the icing in the opposite direction: from the bottom of the cookie to the top.

Continue until the whole surface is marbled - remember to follow the curves of the bauble.

Set aside and allow to dry completely - it may take 24 hours - before packaging.

It can get quite addictive!

And if you want to see marbling in action from one of my very favourite cookie decorators - have a look at this video.

Happy marbling!

xxM

Apple Crumble and Custard Cupcakes

Here's a cupcake that may not look like much on the outside, but has a heart of gold:

Moist apple cake, custard centre and a crispy crumble topping. 

Apple Crumble and Custard Cupcakes
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Pre-heat oven to 180'C. Prepare muffin pans with 16 cupcake cases.

Ingredients:
220g cake flour
150g light brown sugar
150g butter
50ml oil
4 eggs
4 med sized apples; peeled, cored and diced
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place diced apples in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water. Simmer until cooked. Mash coarsely.

Sift the flour, raising agents, cinnamon and salt together.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add a tablespoon of the flour mix with each egg to prevent the mixture separating.
Pour in the oil and mashed apples. Mix briefly.
Add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Spoon into the prepared cupcake cases.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out just-clean.

Egg custard

(Can be made up to 5 days in advance).

5 egg yolks*
2 cups (500ml) milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1tbs white flour

Lightly whisk together the yolks and sugar. Add the flour, mix well. Set aside.

In a medium sized saucepan, being the milk and vanilla extract to the boil.
Remove from the heat and slowly pour this into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly.
Return this all to the saucepan and simmer on low heat for approx 5-10 minutes - stirring constantly - until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from the stove.
(If you're not using the custard immediately, stir occasionally while the custard is cooling to prevent a skin forming on top. Store in the refrigerator once cooled.)

Place in a piping bag with a long narrow-opening nozzle attached (you'll find a picture of the one I use here). Insert the tip of the nozzle into the centre of the cupcake and squeeze.
I stop squeezing when the surface of the cupcake cracks open slightly from the pressure of its new contents.

Crumble topping

50g brown sugar
50g butter, melted
80g porridge oats (uncooked)
1tbs flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together.
Spread on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 180'C until golden brown.

Sprinkle over the top of the cupcakes once their custard centre has been put in.
Finish off with a dusting of icing sugar.


Happy baking!

xxM

Berkshire Christmas Lolita Meet/ International Lolita Day

On Saturday there was a meetup held in Reading to celebrate International Lolita Day, winter edition!

We checked out a craft fair and it turned out to be pretty naff, and anything even vaguely cute was seriously overpriced, unfortunately. We had our pictures taken by people, before carrying on with the meet.

We did a big secret Santa and exchanged gifts with one another. I was delighted by the enthusiasm everyone showed, even though many of us had never met each other before! I was pretty nervous as everyone congregated at the train station, but I needn't have worried. I ended up getting a big bag of gifts, such as a candle, bath bomb, cute hair accessory, and chocolates! My excitement in the above photo is genuine!

I was also delighted to see that my gift recipient really enjoyed her present! I handmade her a felt badge with her name embroidered on it, a hair bow, and a pair of felt earrings.

Everyone looked amazing that day! This is everyone looking really civilised-- not long after this we took silly photos and Luna and I got very carried away as we're used to being ridiculous at Oxford meets!

After taking group photos in Forbury Gardens, we headed to a restaurant called Tampopo, which serves various Asian style cuisine. I decided to go for a Singapore noodle dish. It was super yummy! I was also given freshly squeezed orange juice-- so fresh that I think it was the best glass of orange juice I've ever had!

Things began to wind down as people had to get back home. I stayed in town with a few lolis for just a little while longer, to buy gifts for the Oxfordshire lolita meet secret Santa coming up on Sunday, and just to have a look around Primark. I ended up getting myself a couple new pairs of tights, in white and a soft beige-y pink, and also some cute black glitter ankle socks with a lace trim.

As you can see, my coordinate for the day was pretty boring, actually. I had no idea what to wear and was feeling particularly uninspired so I threw on my new black skirt from Rabbit Heart, and coordinated it with various other black and pink items. Perhaps I should have gone for pink shoes instead. Oh well!

I had a really amazing day and it was so great to meet some new people, and catch up with old ones. Plus it made a nice change being somewhere close to home, and not having to faff around thinking about catching trains.

I hope the meetup on Sunday will be just as lovely and festive!

Christmas Reds

So, last week was pretty busy. Four cookie classes in 6 days; I worked out that I baked close to 700 biscuits and made over 6kg's of royal icing. This week is easier - just 30 or so mini Christmas cakes. It'll be a breeze!

Last year I was completely over the combination of red, white and green by the time Christmas day arrived, and I was determined not to use those same colours again for this year's Christmas cookies…do you think I succeeded?

Clearly not. But the addition of pale green made it seem fresher to me. And I also enjoyed working with the combination of red, white and brown.  

But next year - definitely something different!

While we're on the subject, though: let me just share with you a bit about reds. 

I usually use a combination of Red Red or Tulip Red and Super Red to get a fresh, true red like the one in the cookies above (Cake Flora or Americolor gels). 

You have to use a lot of colorant to achieve a decent red, so it's preferable to use Tulip Red which is not bitter (and to my eyes, indiscernible from Red Red). 

In the picture above, from left to right: Xmas Red, Tulip Red, Red Red and Super Red. 

Xmas Red? Not really - more like Xmas pink. But a cheery pink, at least! 

Ok, I'm off to bake some more fruitcakes. 

Happy decorating!

xxM 

Coat Review: Btssb's Teddy Ribbon

My search for a new lolita coat proved to be a lot more dramatic than I was anticipating. I stalked the comm_sales for weeks and looked on every lolita website I could think of, and I still couldn't find anything that I both liked, and thought would actually keep me warm.

I finally got a break mid October, when a gorgeous pink coat came up on the comm_sales-- the Teddy Ribbon Coat by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright! Yes!!!

I really wanted something that was sweet but not over the top, and didn't have white faux fur all over it like a lot of sweet lolita coats I've seen. To me, this coat looked adorable and yet fairly simple and understated.

When it arrived it was just as gorgeous as I hoped it would be!

It actually has two pockets, behind the ribbons on the sides! It is heavy and has kept me warm in 3 degrees Celsius weather! I'm sure it could handle freezing temperatures though without too much layering.

The coat is really soft and lovely to the touch, and is heavy. It's really well constructed.

I love the asymmetrical collar! It buttons in place with a little plastic popper. The lace is thick and sturdy.

The ribbons themselves are so gorgeous! They have a checkered texture and are thick and high quality. The ones by the pockets are not detachable but the one of the back is (and I have detached it because it didn't really serve any purpose and I was worried it would get lost hahaha!)

Another thing I'm really fond of is the secret plastic poppers! Despite the fact the coat's buttons stop halfway, you can still seal the coat from flapping open with these hidden buttons. Pretty nifty stuff.

And here's a photo of me decidedly not making use of the nifty buttons! Unfortunately my legs aren't in the picture but the length of the coat is amazing. I'm 5'6" but it hits nearly below my knees and covers the entirety of my dress/skirt. Brilliant!

What has your experience been like with finding the perfect lolita winter coat? ❤

Rose Water and Pistachio Cupcakes

Most of the time when I bake something new it's because I'm interested in the combination of flavors, but these cupcakes were made simply for a love of the colours: rose pink and pistachio green - has to be one of the prettiest combinations out there, right?
And ok, the cupcakes taste pretty good, too…

So, before we get swamped with this season's jolly-holly trio of red, white and green, here's some pastel pleasure:

Rose Water and Pistachio Cupcakes.
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Vanilla Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 180'C
Line 2 muffin pans with cupcake cases - makes 16-20 depending on the size of your muffin pans

200g caster sugar
200g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
75g butter
3 med eggs
250 ml cream.
1tsp Vanilla extract

Sift the dry ingredients together (incl the caster sugar).
With an electric mixer on low speed, mix the butter and dry ingredients together until finely crumbed.

Lightly beat the cream, eggs and vanilla together.
Pour this into the flour mixture, beat on low speed until just combined.

Bake at 180'C for approx 18 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out just-clean. (Don't over bake!)

Rose Water Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

5 egg whites
250ml (1 cup) caster sugar
300-350g butter
A few drops of rose water essence.

Put the egg whites and sugar into a mixing bowl, and place that over a saucepan of simmering water. The bottom of the mixing bowl must not be in contact with the water, and the water should just be simmering.

Whisk constantly, until the sugar granules have dissolved and the mixture is hot to touch.

Move off the stove and to the mixer.
Using the whisk attachment, whip until it forms a thick and glossy meringue.

When the mixing bowl feels neutral to touch, change over to the paddle attachment and add the butter one cube at a time, beating on low-medium speed.
It may curdle, but just keep whipping until it reaches a satiny smooth consistency and holds its shape. Add the vanilla extract. I stop adding butter at about 300g (sometimes even 250g) - as soon as the icing is firm enough to hold it's shape when piped. Add a few drops of rose water essence - be careful too much is over-powering. 

(If you are having SMB issues, see this post by Sweetapolita)

Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Sprinkle with chopped pistachio nuts. 

Now, focus... back to the Christmas baking….

: )
xxM