Sport Shirt Cookies - from Kiwicakes Test Kitchen

Our eldest just turned 6 and he is excited about his ripper rugby starting up again for the winter. We let the kids choose a theme for their birthdays and his was obvious (though at one stage there was discussion around a nuddy cake, go figure 6 year olds humour!)

Knowing it was going to be a busy time leading up to his little party, I chose to make the party favours 3 days in advance. I always try to give something homemade as a leaving gift and history has proven they are continually well-received!

I remembered Sandra making sleepover pyjama cookies (visit that blog post here) in the past and that inspired these rugby shirts.

To make these cookies you will need to mix up a batch of regular chocolate cookie dough, some homemade royal icing and have a sports jersey cookie cutter, sugar glue, black fondant, a piping bag and cellophane bags on hand.

I rolled out my cookie dough, cut rugby jersey shapes and baked them as normal. When cooled I brushed on some sugar glue to make the top surface tacky. I left a 2-3mm border around the sides un-glued as the fondant doesn't quite reach the cookie edge.

For my fondant I actually used a 50:50 mix of black fondant and chocolate brown fondant. I love the chocolate taste and the brown is deep enough to carry the colour from the black fondant and still create an overall jet black appearance. Just knead them together til combined. I rolled the fondant 3mm thick on a cornflour sprinkled board and used the same cutter to cut another 10 jersey shapes, which are simply placed on top of the tacky biscuits.

Then I made a quick royal icing by whisking together 1 egg white with 200g icing sugar and 1/2t lemon juice. I transferred the mix to a piping bag with a coupler inserted in it. ALBIE was using a tip#3 and the numeral 6 was using a tip #10. Alternatively you could snip 1mm off the end of the piping bag to write the name then snip the end off another 2mm higher up to pipe a fatter numeral.

The royal icing will need time to set and harden at room temperature before the bikkies can be packaged up and sealed for freshness. 

Then enjoy the looks of pure delight when these macho chocolatey delights are distributed!

Completley Mad Cupcake Buffet - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

Crazy themed celebrations at the preschool our two youngest children attend are not a surprise to us anymore. They sure keep learning fun! To mark April Fools day a Mad Hatters tea party was held in a beautifully decorated garden. The high tea was complete with china cups & saucers and of course marvellous cupcake creations. 

The kids cupcake station was a world of colour and fantasy with buttercream to swirl then a buffet of decorations, sprinkles and edible spray paint to choose from. Able parents were on hand to assist but we found that the preschoolers were super capable anyway! Kiwicakes donated some magical topping products for us to use.

The firm icing discs (being pointed to by a cute, chubby finger no less!) are made from coloured fondant hardened with tylose powder and rolled out with impression mats. Ais especially visible on the pink heart, and mini cutters were used to shape the discs. These were made the night before to give them time to firm up. 

The variation achieved was just beautiful and so fitting of Mad Hatter style! 

And finally here is my littlest monster Mitchell being assisted by our good friend Kimmie. Yay for edible fun!!

Lemon Surprise Easter Egg Buns - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

These colourful Easter Egg buns are perfect for a celebratory Easter brunch. They provide a heartier alternative to traditional chocolate indulgences!

Firstly get your sweet bread dough mix underway. I used the recipie in my breadmaker booklet which is:

350ml water
1 egg
2T melted butter
1t salt
2T sugar
4c high grade flour
3T milk powder
2t yeast

My breadmaker dough cycle takes 1 & 1/2 hours. If you were making it by hand I would allow a similar amount of time for hand-kneading and proofing. This dough weighs 1.2 kg. I split it into 65 gram balls, yielding 18 nicely sized buns. I rolled them into oval egg-like shapes on a lightly floured silicone mat, which provided just the right resistance for rolling dough balls.

The sun wasn't out in Whangarei this morning so my proofing options were limited. Giving the buns 30 minutes in a just-warm oven worked perfectly and they doubled in size.

While the buns proof you have time to prepare your egg washes. Whisk together 1 egg yolk with 3T cold tap water. Then split into 3 bowls and add a squirt of your favourite gel colour to each. Today I used lemon yellow, sky blue and a tulip red / dusty rose Americolor combination. Remember that your colours may behave slightly different to normal when mixed with the yellow of the egg yolk (e.g. my attempt at pink/red was stubborn at keeping its orangey tinge).

Paint 6 buns with each of your egg wash colours prior to cooking. I used a pastry brush (pictured in an egg wash bowl above) for an easy and even coating. The natural bristles are soft and didn't mark or indent the buns.

Easter Egg buns take almost 10 minutes to cook on fanbake at 200`C. Keep an eye on them after 8 or 9 minutes in case you need to save the tops from browning. 

Now comes the lemon surprise - I injected my sweet rolls with a lemon curd filling. Simply fit a disposable piping bag with a long bismarck tip and push the tip through one side into the middle of each bun. Squeeze a consistent amount into each bun, aiming for about 2 teaspoons. The bun closes back up again nicely once you remove the tip and the filling stays hidden in the centre.

Look at this luscious lemon curd and how its texture compliments the soft sweet bread. Curd is a lovely and tart surprise in these buns but using your favourite seedless jam would work equally well with the bismarck tip technique.

Serve in a fun Easter basket for maximum impact!

The Rocky Road to Easter - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

Today's treat is moreish Marshmallow Rocky Road. It has been Easter-shaped and packaged in clear bags set off with these limencello yellow styling tags. 

The star of the show in this simple recipie is limited edition marshmallow flavoured white candy melts. They are actually white! You could use regular white chocolate in its place, but it always has a creamier yellowish tone.

Once your 500g of candy melts have been melted over a double-boiler, let cool slightly before incorporating 200g mini marshmallows. Press into a lined sponge roll tin so the rocky road is between 1 and 2cm high then smooth the top. 

Sprinkle liberally with Yellow edible glitter for a real Easter feel. Do this while the mixture is still warm. Then transfer to the fridge briefly to set the chocolate.

Season your shaped cutters for easy release by wiping a little decorating cream around the inside. Here I am using the duck, basket, bunny and carrot cutters from the Easter Egg Cannister set of 10 shapes. Simply press down to create the desired shapes.

Here you can see how effective the really white white candy melts are against the coloured mallows and yellow edible glitter. How simple!

Here is a rocky road ducky packaged up ready for Easter giving. We also stock the cute little chicks pictured to accompany your Easter treats.

Green Chocolate Grass Cups for Easter - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

These cute little grass cups are a neat way to present little goodies or to give height to a plate. Perfect for an Easter surprise!

I melted a handful of vibrant green candy melts over a double-boiler then added a heaped teaspoon to the bases of regular pleated cupcake papers sitting inside a cupcake pan. Then I tapped it to coat the bottom evenly. I filled a disposable piping bag with some of the warmed chocolate (this is quite hot to handle so children may need assistance) and piped uneven-height spikes up the sides to create the grass effect. 

For the turquoise grass I used a mixture of green and white candy melts. I think both colour grasses look effective, so use whatever you have on hand. (Remember to keep some white melts to make your bunnies and easter figurines to sit inside).

Once cooled and set (refrigerate for 10 mins) the cupcake papers will peel easily away and leave you with funky grass cups to fill. I used mini-speckled eggs that are available in supermarkets at this time of year, but you could use jellybeans or other small lollies, too.

I also used our easter bunny variety chocolate mould to create simple bunnies to pop into the cups. Their whiter-than-white look is achieved with these limited edition white candy melts. 

Firstly, I turned a wee bit of the melted white chocolate to fluorescent pink. I simply stirred in 2 drops of fluoro colour with 5 drops of flo-coat (this is magic stuff!) to 1/8 cup melted white chocolate. I painted the pink bows and details in first, then topped up the moulds with the white melted chocolate.

Once the moulds are filled, tap them gently on a bench to release any air bubbles, then scrape the back of the moulds to remove any excess chocolate. They will pop out of their moulds easily after a quick visit to the fridge to harden.

There you have it - HAPPY EASTER people!

Feijoa cake

Feijoas are plentiful at the moment. We've had some great feijoa recipes on the Kiwicakes blog in the past (use the search function at right to find). This recipe comes from our friends at Chelsea.

Ingredients

4 Feijoas

1 cup Chelsea white sugar

125g butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sultanas

2 Tbsp sliced crystalised ginger

Method

Heat oven to 180°C. Scoop feijoa flesh out in small chunks and mix with sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl, blend the melted butter and beaten egg together. Add this to the feijoa mixture along with the dry ingredients,a adding the ginger and sultanas last.

Bake in a well greased tin for 50 minutes.

No egg chocolate cake - Poppy Bakes

Recently Uncle David returned home from the US. Poppy wanted to make him a cake to celebrate. She obtained this recipe from her school friend Briar. She decorated the chocolate fondant paua herself using this method. The green and blue rock gems are from Wilton.

Ingredients
2 1/4 C flour
3/4 C cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C warm milk
1 1/2 C sugar
3 Tbsp Vinegar
150g melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 175C.
Sift dry ingredients together in bowl. Combine milk, melted butter and vinegar together  and pour into dry ingredients, mixing well. Bake for 40 mins in a greased and lined 8''/200mm cake tin.

Cream Cheese icing
Mix 125g cream cheese with 100g butter (at room temp). Combine with 3 cups icing sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, add a squeeze of lemon.