{Happy Valentine's Day} Red Velvet Tower

Happy Valentine's day to all of you out there! My third and last post of this year's Valentine's series is a red velvet tower. This red velvet cake is extra chocolatey with a whole half cup of cocoa powder. That's exactly what you need on Valentine's Day: something red and chocolatey and delicious!

{Valentine's Day} Macarons with Marshmallow Buttercream Filling

Welcome to the second post of my Valentine's series; last week I shared a recipe for delicious dark chocolate cupcakes with a berry buttercream. This week I decided to take on the dreaded macaron! I have made macarons successfully before, and had a bit less luck this time around. Macarons are known for being particularly finicky little treats. Too much moisture, not enough moisture, oven too hot, oven too cold, overmix batter or undermix batter and these biscuit flop completely. I made a relatively large number of these before I turned out with some that I was willing to photograph.

The key to remember here, is that even the flop ones taste good sandwiched together. Most importantly of all: remember to have fun as you go along!

I used the macaron recipe from Brave Tart; Stella also gives tons of tips about macarons. The marshmallow buttercream is from i am baker. I used both recipes as is.

{I Love You Berry Much} Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Berry Buttercream

With less than two weeks to go until Valentine's Day, I am sure many of you are looking for ideas on celebrating the day. Last week I talked about our romantic getaway at Hillsnek Safaris. This week I'm going to give you  the first of three ideas to win your way into your partners stomach with food. The best way to go as far as I'm concerned!

{Romantic Getaway} Hillsnek Safaris

We were lucky enough to spend two nights at the amazing Hillsnek Safaris in the middle of December. From the moment we arrived there we two things that we knew without a doubt: 1) we were in for a really special few days and 2) we were not going to be hungry, no matter how hard we tried! I did my best to narrow down the number of photos I used, but it was tough!

They advise that you arrive around lunch time, however we got a bit lost on the way and arrived around three. Make sure you check the directions before you leave and don't rely on their mobile site! We were just in time to make the afternoon game drive, but as we had been in the car for around seven hours that day, we decided to skip the drive and spend some time relaxing around the pool. We were treated to a delicious high tea with home made iced tea and lemonade.

{Remembering Mandela} Rainbow Cake

On 5 December 2013 South Africa lost one of the greatest leaders of our time. Nelson Mandela was a man who forever changed the course of South African history and was a true South African hero. He, like many of his time, lived through such terrible times and endured so much, but came out of it a better man. Madiba did not have any hatred for the people who had put him through so much; after leaving Robben Island he said: "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison". 

(Photo from Liberty Voice)

Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies

In South Africa, we don't celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. However I really like the concept of taking one day off to appreciate all the amazing things we have in our lives. Although things may not always be perfect, that doesn't mean we should lose sight of the great people around us and special things happening in our lives.

I found this quote online, that I believe is from Gerard Way:

What are you thankful for in your life? I would love to hear!

Ok, so enough with all the deep stuff. For the last month or so the bloggosphere has been FLOODED with pumpkin recipes in every shape and form. I got to the stage that if I saw another pumpkin recipe I thought I would have a break-down. But then I saw pumpkin in the shops and got really excited; we seldom see pumpkin around these parts. Suddenly I felt the need to join in this orange vegetable craze!

Shana Tova! Decorated Cookies

This week was the celebration of the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana. While I myself am not Jewish, my boyfriend and his family are. This year I wanted to venture away from the typical platter of dried fruit nuts and chocolate when it came to gifts.

Ahoy There Matey's! Treasure Chest Cake

Last weekend, the cutest kid I know turned four. This special occasion was celebrated with a pirate themed birthday party. Now, every party needs cake and this pirate themed party needed a treasure chest cake. When I was first asked to do this, I thought "you must be out of your mind! I can't do that!". As it turns out I was wrong.

After a brief period of panic and some Googling, I had a bit of an idea where I wanted to go.

St Paddy's Day Celebrations - Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

I'd been eyeing the Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes of Brown-Eyed Baker for a little while and decided that St Paddy's day 2013 was the day I would finally make them. So I combined these with the Chocolate Guinness Cake to make for one great St Paddy's day for me!

St Paddy's Day - Chocolate Guinness Cake

St Paddy's day isn't widely celebrated in South Africa; well, other than university students who will welcome any excuse for a party. Nonetheless, being of Irish descent, I felt like I couldn't let this opportunity to do some baking pass up.

A while ago I made this cake and it was just so delicious and moist. The cream cheese frosting perfectly complements the richness of the Guinness and the chocolate.

New Year's Celebrations 2012-2013: Red Velvet Cake

For New Year's Eve I had the perfect excuse to do some baking and make use of the new recipe books I got for Christmas. I decided on a red velvet cake, but had a few recipes to choose from. I finally settled on the recipe from the Cake Boss recipe book. I also decided to try pipe a message on the top with royal icing. I've tried this a few times before with awful results and this time things turned out much better! It seems the real trick is all about the consistency of the icing: too runny and you end up with a puddle, to thick and it's a nightmare to pipe. The best consistency comes through trial and error.

I use the royal icing recipe from Cake Journal, you can find it here.

The recipe for the red velvet cake and the cream cheese icing came from Buddy Valastro's Baking with the Cake Boss. I was hesitant to use the recipe as it didn't mix the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda before adding to the recipe, as most red velvet recipes do. It was delicious though and an easy cake to make. I adapted slightly because of conversions to grams and certain ingredients not being readily available in South Africa.

New Years Celebrations 2012-2013: New York Cheesecake

This post (and the upcoming one) is a bit overdue, but I loved my New Year's Eve bakes, so I am including them anyway.

For Christmas of 2012, I got given the Cake Boss recipe book and New Year's Eve presented the perfect opportunity for me to try it out! We live in Johannesburg, which is pretty quiet around Christmas and New Years: all Jo'burgers migrate to the coast for fun, sun and sea. So New Year's celebrations being in short supply, we invited some friends over for a braai (or barbeque) to bring in the new year.

This not only gave me an opportunity to make something for dessert, but also to bake a cake! So this entry will be about the dessert I made and I'll write another about my celebration cake.

In the weeks leading up to New Year's Eve I had had a crazy craving for some cheesecake. Conveniently, I also had a few recipes lines up! I decided on a New York baked cheesecake by Michel Roux: the father of beautiful desserts. It's very rich, but delicious.

Naughty Nautical Cupcakes

My sister's best friend recently got married. For her bachelorette, my sister and some of her very talented friends put together a Naughty Nautical Bachelorette.

Place Settings at the Tables