Hey! I never posted my finished Christmas cakes!!!

Wow, I'm scatty. I can't believe I never got around to posting my finished Christmas cakes... Sorry about that. Ok, well here they are!



This is my Christmas Penguins cake!
I used a mixture of white and blue Wilton Sparkle Gels to create the water effect in the swimming pool :)

Have a look at the rest of them after the jump!

Sprinkle Bakes by Heather Baird

My office very generously gave me this book as a going away pressie. It's beautiful! Sprinkle Bakes, by Heather Baird.

Getting there...

I'm slowly making some decent progress with the Christmas cake decorations. Last night I tackled "Santa's workshop" and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer-Dog. Ever had one idea in your head, but when you put it into practice it looked like something else? Well, that's kind of what happened with my Rudolph. Ag well, I guess he's Santa's best friend, so it's not sooooo bad if he looks like a reindeer-dog :P

I also (took the easy way out) made Santa, plonked in the snow. This cake I am naming "the after-party"

When the cakes are done I will post proper photos, but here's the progress for now :)

Santa's bag (still needs a bow and other bits, and a toy for the production line... little bit of a scary toy, but I figure it could be a new kind of anime nunu :P)

Presents and ribbon in Santa's workshop

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer-dog!

Santa with his feet in the air - I'll make him some shoes later. I love how fat his little legs came out

Christmas at the Korsman's...

... is coming along nicely!

I'm still in the process of making little icing decorations for the cakes that my mom is baking. Two nights ago I tackled little Christmas trees and snowmen, to go around a cake. I didn't have the energy to tackle any today, but from tomorrow I best get cracking or they're not going to dry in time!

More after the jump :)

My first attempt at a Christmas elf...

... I'd say was pretty successful :)

I shall call him Mr. Bobbles... Mr. Bobbles the Elf.

Mr Bobbles - Freshly made

 

Mr Bobbles has shrunk overnight, but still think he looks awesome :)

 

Mr Bobbles - the morning after :)

 

Cappuccino Muffin Cake Pops

Happy little balls of muffin mix sitting in their baking tray home

You have to love cake pops. They're a bizarre baking fad that has moms and bake-a-holics the world over going googly-eyed over little balls of cake.

Gone are the days of mixing cake with frosting to get a dough sticky enough to mould into balls... nope, these days we have cake pop makers. They come in all forms from stand-alone machines to cake pop baking trays. I was lucky enough to get a cake pop baking tray, as a birthday present, from my mom.

This weekend I gave the baking a whirl... The cake pops baked spectacularly well, the decorating needs MUCH work. That said, they were delicious, even if they didn't look beautiful. Wayne, mom and I had many happy mouthfuls of my cappuccino muffin mix cake pops.

The recipe couldn't be easier...

Crusty Onion and Cheese Muffins

Australian Women's Weekly - Muffins, Scones and Breads

I'm not the biggest fan of savoury muffins, however, my husband and mom are so this is what I made for lunch yesterday. These savoury muffins are delicious and dense and will easily feed six people for lunch. I suggest serving them with Simonsberg Spring Onion and Chives flavoured cream cheese.

Oh, yes... I couldn't get chives, which the recipe calls for at Pick n Pay yesterday, so I ended up using fresh coriander (dania to us South African's). I also used about three tablespoons of fresh dania instead of the one tablespoon of fresh chives.

Anyways, here's the recipe >>

Who knew???

There is a Disney Cake Blog! How awesome!
Check it out here :)

Granny's Perfect Popovers

My Gran used to make popovers for me after school as a treat. She'd fill them with apricot or strawberry jam, which to this day, is still my favourite way of eating them. You can also turn them into additions to High Tea by filling them with smoked salmon and cream cheese, with an assortment of micro-greens.

They're a take on the Yorkshire pudding, but without the oil. I don't know about you, but I've had a Yorkshire pudding disaster and as a result have shied away from them. This is the perfect alternative :)

Granny's Perfect Popovers

Recipe after the jump >>

Clover’s Flourless Chocolate Cake

I originally found this recipe on the http://www.clover.co.za/ website.
This beautiful, rich, mousse-like chocolate cake is one of my all time favourites to make. With only a handful of ingredients it’s an easy and relatively quick cake to make.

The thing about this cake is that during the cooking process it rises beautifully, then sinks to almost a quarter of the size, so if you’re looking to impress with a large cake for afternoon tea, best give this one a miss. However, it can’t be beaten when it comes to lightness and taste.

Recipe after the jump :)