Almost married cake!!

Last week, my old boss requested a cake for a very good friend that I used to work with. You might remember I made some cupcakes for my friends engagement. Well, that friend is getting married next weekend!! So my old work put on a lunch for her today, and asked me to make her an "almost married" cake. Check it out!!

It was a white chocolate mud cake with white chocolate ganache - and by all accounts everyone loved it!! I was so glad that my old boss asked me, because it made making this cake all that more special for my lovely friend!!

Congrats again Georgie - love you lots xx

30th b'day cake

Hi lovelies, just a quick one today!!

30th birthday cake I did this week:

Vanilla 3 and a chocolate 0. Pretty tasty!!

Fresh, homemade pasta!!

I <3 Pasta. I really do. I think I should have been Italian. Give me pasta and bread and I'm happy!!

Today, I decided I wanted pasta for dinner. But not just store bought pasta. Fresh, homemade pasta. I have had a pasta maker for god knows how long, and I've never used it. Tonight was the night to pick it up off it's shelf, dust it off and use that bad boy!!

The dough, after much kneading - my arms are so tired!! 

When I first started rolling it, it was all crumbly.....I think I didn't let it sit long enough. I'm pretty impatient. 

Fettucine!! 

Extra sharp parmesan cheese.....omnomnom

Served with garlic bread. My life is complete. 

So making this pasta was actually easier than I thought it would be. 

ingredients:

2 1/2 cups plain flour

pinch of salt

4 eggs

Sift your flour and salt on to a clean, dry surface. Make a well in the middle and crack in your eggs. This bit proved to be the most difficult for me, because apparently, my well wasn't big enough. And the eggs kinda leaked a bit. My hands came in handy (who would have though!!) for that bit. 

Slowly mix the flour in to the eggs with your fingertips (fingertips were used not so much, but rather my whole hands). Knead the dough for about 10 minutes......seriously tiring work people. Your end result should be smooth and elastic. 

Divide the dough in to 4 even parts and cover with a damp cloth (to stop it from drying out) and let it sit for about 20 minutes (this helps to make the pasta more pliable because it gives the gluten a chance to work its magic baby). 

Once it's sat for 20 minutes, take a portion and flatten it in to a rectangle and roll it through your pasta machine and cut in to fettucine. 

It's seriously that easy. Enjoy it with your favourite pasta sauce - a bit fave in my household is creamy, but healthy!! I know right, bit of a contradiction there - secret is carnation light milk. It's SO good, tastes like cream and has a trillion (not really, 95% or something like that) less fat than cream. 

A little lie.

Remember that time I told you that there was only one recipe you'd ever need for scones??

I lied.

Sorry. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes I proclaim something to be the best thing I've ever had/made/seen/eaten......and then something else comes along and blows it right out of the water. And to be honest, I've made these little delights before and just kind of forgot about the recipe.

Anyway, tonight I felt like scones. And I was actually just going to go buy some from woolworths (GASP!! I know right......I feel guilty, but I actually REALLY like the scones from woolworths.....and I feel really ashamed to admit that too). Well, woolworths didn't have scones. I actually really hate woolworths, they never have anything I need, and I kid you not the last FOUR times I have been to woolies to get cucumber, they haven't had any. And cucumber is not something unusual, so WHY DON'T THEY HAVE IT?! Sorry, getting a bit off track here.....but no cucumber makes me a bit angry!!

So I collected ingredients for the most simple scone recipe I could remember. It's so so so simple and it turns out the most fabulously light and fluffy scones. Read on, dear friend, for what I can promise IS the best scone recipe, EVAH!!

Ingredients:

3 cups self raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 cup sugar free lemonade (I like sugar free lemonade better than normal. Feel free to use normal)
1 cup thickened cream

Preheat oven to 200c.

Sift flour & salt in to bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in lemonade and cream and fold in to flour until it just comes together. Don't over mix it, you want a few bits of flour still showing. Turn it out on to a generously floured surface and lightly pat together in to a circle.

Cut out as many scones as you can from your first batch, because they won't turn out as nicely from the second one. Place them on to a tray lined with baking paper and brush the tops lightly with milk (so that they brown nicely!!). Pop them in the oven and turn it down to 170 - 180c. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Look at how fluffy they are!! 

Seriously, they're delicious. Especially with peppermint tea and chantilly cream.