Happy Birthday Jenny - Part two

You may remember an earlier post for Jenny's birthday with details of her cake here. Today's post has the details of the rest of her birthday party food. I'd decided on a theme of pastels, which meant all of the food HAD to be pastel. This is super easy for sweets, but not quite so easy for savouries.

The cupcakes were baked using these stiletto high heel cupcake papers. I love these papers, I can get two dozen cupcakes on a flat baking sheet and bake them all at once.

Down inside a large 18'' bag, I placed 2x 12'' piping bags, each with the end cut off - one with green and one with white buttercream. Separating the colours inside two separate bags, rather than putting two colours of icing in to one bag stops the icing mixing together and getting muddy/dirty. They were piped with a twin tone swirl using the Wilton 1m tip.

I topped the cupcakes with baby pink Kiwicakes's own brand sugar pearls, as well as a little petunia made from baby pink Satin Ice fondant using this cutter & veiner set.

Frosted caramels, pastel meringues and floral cachous lollies looked great in our candy jars.

The meringues I served with whipped cream, to which I added some crushed freeze dried raspberries. Grandma Kiwicakes declared this her "new best favourite".

I used square pink dotty cupcake papers to hold mini pink shrimp cocktails. The mayonnaise I coloured pale pink by adding a little tomato sauce.

These carrot canapes are made by mixing cream cheese, freeze dried carrot powder, seasoning and pecans together (they were not quite as orange as the photo portrays). The lettuce leaf addition to the rose was cut out of iceberg lettuce using a rose leaf metal cutter (plastic doesn't work well on lettuce).

Jenny had a wonderful birthday here at Kiwicakes, we don't have long to wait until the next staff birthday, it's Grandma Kiwicakes in January. We've already started planning for her party.

Baby onesie cookies in the latest OH Baby magazine

How cute are these baby onesie cookies that appear in the latest issue of Oh Baby magazine? - they were made using this cookie cutter set The impression mats that come with the cutter set ensure great professional looking results every time. Change the colour of your fondant to suit your colour scheme.

Cake truffles - the ultimate leftover

Cake ball truffles (or cake pops if they're on a stick) are the ultimate way to use up leftovers. Recently I had some left over red velvet cupcakes and some left over cream cheese icing, I mixed the two together, to form my cake truffle mixture. When mixing the two together, visually you are looking for a mixture that looks like "wet sand"

No matter what you choose to roll them in, they look great. They can even be chocolate dipped. On my cake truffles, I've used Kiwicakes own brand non pareils & jimmies (Kiwicakes brand are lovely to eat, they're not super crunchy when used in this way), and tiny heart sprinkles.

I've used these Wilton mini candy cane cupcake papers just in time for Christmas, but you could use any mini cupcake paper you have.

Next time you have a few left over cupcakes or some cake levellings, why not start a container in your freezer for your next batch of cake truffles, cake flavours can even be mixed together if you keep adding leftovers over a few months (use within 3-6 months of freezing). With cake truffles there are no rules, add chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit or anything else you may fancy to your mixture. You are only limited by your imagination

My Operation Sugar cake for Katie

Many of you will know Kiwicakes is a sponsor of Operation Sugar, which provides free birthday cakes for seriously ill children in NZ. I'm also personally registered as a volunteer baker - and I finally got my first assignment: a mermaid themed cake for Katie turning 10. Katie has Bronchiectasis.

Katie's mum Lisa tells me her daughter is very keen on publicising Bronchiectasis (see the support page on facebook here) to raise awareness for her condition. Specials thanks to Lisa and Katie for the lovely photos. 

Katie was also happy to be photographed for the Northern Advocate newspaper, the story appeared on Saturday 7th December. You can read the story here

Katie requested chocolate flavours for the whole cake. I made the bottom tier with milk chocolate ganache, to suit the children coming to her party, and the middle tier with dark chocolate ganache for the adults.

The cake sizes were a 13 inch diameter round base stacked with a 10 inch diameter hexagon. the supports are 9 inch wilton hidden pillars topper with an 8 inch round separator plate. On top of this rests an 8 inch diameter hemisphere cake.

Nearly all of the decorations were made with Chocit chocolate modelling paste. I love the never ending working time of this product. Two days after I made the mermaid, I was still able to adjust the angle of her tail (which I would not have been able to do with fondant or gumpaste).

The Chocit modelling paste comes in a wide variety of colours. I was able to mix colours together, to achieve other great shades. Some examples of my colour mixing are: the mermaids hair is yellow & white mixed together, the tail is blue & green in equal parts, the lime green used extensively on the cake is green and yellow mixed 3:1, the stingray is a tiny pinch of black added to white and the coral supports are surround with pink mixed with ivory.

The little stingrays tail I didn't model, I simply pulled the Chocit, stretching and breaking it to the length required.

The marbled shells were made by twisting together ropes of pale yellow and pink Chocit, then pressing it into silicone seashell moulds.

Just keep twisting until the stripes get tighter and tighter. This process was also used on the shells that are around the pink pillars in centre of cake (at hexagon level).

The shells on the cake board are all made from solid chocolate. The kina shells are made using these moulds and white candy melts, to which I added a few green candy melts (making the resulting green much paler than green candy melts straight from the bag). They are dusted with Rainbow Dust Pearl crushed pine lustre dust. The pink shells are made using white candy melts, dusted with pink lustre.

The paua shells are made with these moulds and blue candy melts (see here for a tutorial on how to make paua my way). The scallop shells are made with this mould, with a pearl gumball added to the centre. They are dusted with Rainbow Dust Starlight comet white.

The cake board was 20 inches in diameter. I covered it with baby blue Satin Ice fondant, which I embossed using this impression mat of waves and dots. Katie's name is cut out of purple gumpaste using the FMM Funky Tappit set.

This fish on this tier were made using this mould and the heart bubbles were created by taking some white hearts from this sprinkles blend and attaching them with some edible glue

I used the same fish mould (used in the earlier photo above) to attach to the coral pillars. The coral was created by taking uneven lengths of Chocit and wrapping around the pillar, starting at the top, overlapping each one down the length of the pillar.

The pearl drape was made using a bead mould and white Chocit, dusted with Rainbow Dust starlight comet white lustre. The individual little pearls are Kiwicakes own brand sugar pearls

The mermaid's tail colour was made mixing blue & green Chocit together.

The fondant covering for the two bottom tiers was marbled using the marbling technique from here. The colours used are blue & baby blue Satin Ice fondant. The top hemisphere tier was marbled with baby blue and pastel green Satin Ice.

I hope you've enjoyed the story of my Operation Sugar cake. Perhaps you'll consider signing up as a volunteer with Operation Sugar. You can check out all the wonderful cakes people have made on Operation Sugar's facebook page.

Popcorn Cluster Cups - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

This sweet popcorn is chewy and delicious! Start by popping a bag of popcorn and crushing 200g of candy canes or your favourite boiled sweets.

Cut 1-2 lengths of marshmallow rope into pieces (the more you use the yummier it is!) Microwave in short bursts until it goes gooey and inflated as below. Mix to coat popcorn and candy mix before it hardens.

Serve in cutesy pink cupcake papers and decorate with further lengths of marshmallow rope.

Another popcorn option is to go savoury and festive. Simply dry roast 3 teaspoons each of ground cinnamon, cumin and paprika in a warm pan. Add 6T butter and stir to melt together then pour over a bag of pre-popped microwave popcorn and stir to coat.

This is a moreish movie snack and goes nicely with a chilled beer!

Toffee-style popcorn looks gorgeous for Christmas when presented in sleigh cupcake papers and adorned with candy canes. Over a bag of microwave popcorn sprinkle 10-12 crushed candy canes and 150g of your favourite melted nut brittle/bark/toffee bar. Stir quickly to combine. Break the toffee'd popcorn into chunks to serve. The pepperminty candy canes and chopped nuts make this popcorn really addictive.

Message Cookies - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

Here's another use for a fondant plunger cutter: it works wonderfully with cookie dough, producing thin and crispy cookies for a special occasion.

Roll out your favourite cookie dough mixture. Cut and stamp with the message plunger. Transfer to a baking tray and cook as normal.

'Happy Birthday' comes in a set of 4 message plunger cutters, including 'Eat Me', 'With Love' and 'Home Made'. 

Perfect and robust to transport to picnics and parties!

Fruit cake - the ultimate according to my tasters

I've made a few fruit cakes in my time, but I've never found THE RECIPE until now. Thanks goes to the lovely Elaine for passing it on to me. Both my Mother in law and Grandma Kiwicakes have declared it one of the nicest they've ever eaten. And I quite like it myself, too.

I recently made some for a fundraising bake sale. I made over ten different items in one afternoon, so these had to be decorated simply &;.with the help of Christmas plunger cutters, pre-coloured Satin Ice and a little glitter - they were decorated in about ten minutes each. I decided to go with non-traditional colours to jazz up the bake sale table.

This recipe is very simple and has so far cooked beautifully every time I've used it. The only bother I find is waiting for the simmered fruit cake mix to cool. To speed this up, I find using a large frypan instead of a saucepan helps. Although, if you've planned well enough in advance this part can be done the day before.

Ingredients:
1.2kg fruit mix
250g butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp baking soda

Simmer all together for 10 minutes, then allow to cool (can leave overnight). 

Add
3 eggs well beaten
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
essence of brandy, rum, lemon or almond (or a mix of all of them)

Bake at 150C 1-2 hours (until skewer comes out clean)

This mix makes one very deep 8'' cake. Or 2.5-3'' deep 9/10'' cake. Or having tested it out for small cakes, I was also able to get from one batch 1x each 4'', 5''& 6'' - all baked at 3'' high.

As these were for a bake sale, I made one with marzipan and one without, to suit varying tastes. Whether you use marzipan or not, it is still important to fill the holes where fruit has shrunk away, so the surface of your fondant layer stays nice and flat on your finished cake.

I used the snowflake plunger cutter from this set, cut from white fondant Satin Ice to make a cut-out for the top of the cake.

The cake is covered in pastel green Satin Ice fondant and sprinkled with hologram glitter. A bead mould is a very quick way to make a fondant border to finish a cake. I prefer this to ribbon, as it's quicker to attach to a cake and doesn't need removed prior to cutting the cake.

I used the bauble plunger cutter from this set, cut from white fondant Satin Ice to make a cut-out for the top of the cake.

The cake is covered in pink Satin Ice fondant and sprinkled with hologram glitter.

Apparently the cakes, along with the other goodies I made for the bake sale, sold very quickly. I hope they enjoyed my cakes.

Share-the-Love Hearts - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

These festive hearts are super simple to put together and are a great activity to do with kids in the lead-up to Christmas. You will need:

Candy Canes (2 per heart)

White Chocolate

Glitter / Cachous to decorate

There are many variations of candy canes on the market now, so let them guide your decoration decisions. Fruit flavour candy canes are now available as well as the traditional peppermint. 

Hearts can be full length (pictured in the centre) or snapped shorter for a more balanced shape.

Unwrap the candy canes and ensure all traces of the clear wrap is off. Use a sharp knife to carve candy canes to fit snugly where they meet up.  

Arrange candy cane heart outlines on a baking paper lined tray and gently fill with melted white chocolate. (I used white candy melts to create a truer white than supermarket white chocolate. Whitener powder can also be added to further whiten melted chocolate). Smooth chocolate into place with a teaspoon. Tapping the melted chocolate on a bench is also a good idea to release any air bubbles and smooth the surface. Remember to support the candy canes while tapping so your chocolate doesn't escape!

While the chocolate is still warm, add your festive decorations... 

Chocolate peaks can be highlighted with hologram gold rainbow dust for sparkle. The pictures I took just don't do this glitter justice - it looks magical in real life! 

Crushed candy cane sprinkled over the top looks fun when served up beside cool lemonade in a bottle with a matching red retro paper party straw.

Christmas style sprinkles or red and green cachous complete this heart. You could use Christmas Confetti, Christmas Trees, Candy Canes or Jumbo Snowflake sprinkles. 

You can speed up the setting process by refrigerating the hearts briefly. I found that when kept airtight in a cellophane bag these lasted easily for a few days. When packaged and tied with ribbon they make neat year-end thank you pressies.

Black lace, skulls and pearls cupcakes

Lately, I've notice an upward trend in the use of skulls for bridal showers & weddings (till death do us part). I think they'd also be great for birthdays and Halloween too.

The Black 3D skulls were very easy to make using this Wilton 3d skull chocolate mould and black candy melts. You mould them in two halves, but with a little melted chocolate they glue together seamlessly.

The cupcakes are baked in Black lace cupcake papers. They're great to bake with, as no muffin pan is needed to support them, they sit flat on a baking sheet, which means I can get two dozen on one shelf of the oven at a time.

I've finished the tops with a 1m swirl of buttercream icing and a few Kiwicakes own brand sugar pearls. The long strands of pearls were made with fondant, that has a little tylose added, which was moulded in these bead moulds (6mm & 3mm).

Chocolate coins finished with edible lustre dust

I find these chocolate coins difficult to find throughout the year, however in the lead up to Christmas they seem to be everywhere, so I stockpile for the year ahead. Chocolate coins are great for pirate cakes and those cakes pointing the finger at bean counters. I remove the foils before placing them on a cake. I dusted the silver 50 cent piece with edible light silver dust and the $1 coin with edible golden sunny savannah dust (both by Rainbow Dust).

Glamour Strawberries - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

This summer has started with strawberries in abundance! Use white candy melts for a really white snow-like coating. These melts are so simple to use they should be a staple ingredient in every pantry!

The 'Jewel Fire Red' colour of rainbow dust glitter matches ripe strawberries perfectly. You use such a tiny dusting each time that your 'little pot of strawberry glamour' will last for years. I dipped a dry paintbrush into the glitter and shook it gently over the drying chocolate.

This platter of strawberries looks festive and jolly with the addition of Christmas coloured pebbles stuck to white marshmallows. I used  a wee dot of the leftover white chocolate as glue. 

Importantly, the fine grains of this food contact glitter mean that they can't be tasted when eaten. 

I had a bunch of keen taste testers for this creation. Strawberries for morning tea at work - it doesn't get much better than this!

Marshmallow Balls - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

These yummy truffles are perfect to take to summer dinner parties and picnics. It's a good recipe to have up your sleeve at this time of year! They can be halved for presentation or to serve smaller children, but I think it's fun to keep them whole and guess whether you'll find a pink or white center each time.

You will need a packet of marshmallows to wrap (Homebrand works well as they are firm).

To make the biscuit surround, mix together:

200g butter melted with

1 tin condensed milk and

1 cup brown sugar until dissolved and caramely, do not boil.

2 1/2 packs of finely crushed vanilla wine biscuits (I prefer Griffins Superwines)

2 teaspoons sifted cocoa

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

With wet hands take a chunk of mixture and flatten it in your palm. Sit a marshmallow in the centre and wrap the mixture around to form a ball. Roll in coconut while still wet. The water on your hands will also keep the mixture from sticking. 

Chill before serving or pop them in the freezer until ready to enjoy. Great for impromptu barbecues and days out. They will last for months in the freezer - that is if you don't snack on them in the meantime!

Makes approximately 35.