Di-licious

Since joining the Country Women's Association, I've noticed a change in my baking style. I've turned retro. I'm not interested in elaborate fondant covered cakes anymore. Give me a slice of old fashioned chocolate cake or a classic iced cupcake anyday. It's all about flavour and appreciating the cook's efforts. This weekend I challenged myself to make the perfect jelly slice. A packet of biscuits, melted butter, condensed milk, some gelatine and a packet of raspberry jelly crystals - the result was amazing. Mission accomplished. RECIPE: Perfect Jelly Slice 1 packet Arnotts Niece biscuits 170g butter, melted 1 packet raspberry jelly crystals 1 1/2 cups boiling water 1 tin condensed milk 1 tblsp + 1 tsp powdered gelatine 1/2 cup hot water Start this recipe the day before you want to serve it. This will guarantee that the jelly has set properly. Grease and line a slice tin (minimum depth 3cm) or a 20cm square casserole dish with...

Arrrrghhhhh! Captain Olive and her scurvy crew of pirates celebrated on the high seas this weekend with a Pirate Birthday Party to remember. Mr Di-licious and I had a lot of fun putting it all together - from making the bunting and treasure bags to constructing the 'Pirate's Den' and last but not least the food. Captain Olive The Pirate Barbie Cake Olive's birthday cake this year brought together four of her favourite things: Barbie, pirates, cake and chocolate. The vanilla buttercake was filled with blackberry jam and vanilla buttercream before being swathed in chocolate ganache and the chocolate fondant skirt. I found the Barbie pirate costume on eBay and had it shipped over from the US. So what do you feed a horde of hungry pirates? ----x---- Pirate Party Menu Fish finger boats Octopus frankfurts Pirate hat Oreo pops Buried treasure chocolate crackles Chocolate dipped [pretzel] swords Pirate Barbie cake Tropical ...

When decorating birthday cakes, I love finding a way to make them a little less ordinary.  My almost mother in law (Mr Di-licious and I haven’t made it down the aisle, yet) loves quilling . I’ve never done quilling myself but I thought it would make an excellent design feature for her 70 th birthday cake. Quilling is essentially rolled up strips of paper, arranged into beautiful patterns. I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to emulate the effect with thin strips of fondant.  A couple of attempts later, I realised I really needed to use gumpaste. The strips need to be rolled out really thin, allowed to dry slightly and then rolled up– quilled. I made a variety of different shapes in different colours as well as a stylised 7-0. The final design didn’t follow an existing pattern – it just sort of happened.  If you look closely you can see flower shapes in there. The tablecloth idea was actually a work around.  Originally I’d planned to ...

Hoot Hoot!! How cute are these adorable owl cupcake toppers? I whipped these up last week for a special surprise birthday delivery for my niece. I've been making cupcakes for Hannah's birthdays for the last three years.  Its always interesting to look back at photos of earlier decorating efforts - I've come a long way.  Last year was sort of the p ièce de résistance   - the famed Golden Snitch cupcakes for her Harry Potter themed party. This year we were getting ready for our epic drive to Byron Bay for my sister's wedding , so we didn't make it to Bendigo.  So no Di-licious cupcakes for Hannah.  At least, that's what she thought! Last week I arranged to come and stay the night with Olive and I brought along half a dozen cute owl cupcakes - SURPRISE! We both agree that the embossed ones make the greatest impact but the plain pink ones are cute too. I re-purposed a scrapbooking card embosser to create the embossing effect (cheaper th...

I've been missing in action.  The winter school holidays started and all of a sudden I found myself out of the house for two weeks. Away with girlfriends, staying with family, away from my laptop and reliable internet and out of mobile phone range. Excuses, excuses! In my rush to go gallivanting around the countryside, I forgot to show off the third birthday cake I made for Mr Di-licious - the Country Music cake! It's true Mr Di-licious loves both kinds of music as well as Earl Grey Tea and chocolate - so this cake for his party at home with a few friends was the perfect opportunity for me to have a little fun at his expense. This chocolate cake (using my favourite chocolate party cake recipe) is filled with salted dulce de leche and covered in dark chocolate ganache. The blue base tile, numbers and 'wooden paling' letters are made out of fondant.  The letters are hand cut and textured with a leaf veiner. I used biscuit cutters to cut out the numbers...

We’re celebrating one year of Di-licious Cupcakes and now it’s time for me to give you your present – my Triple Chocolate Party Cake recipe. This sweet, moist chocolate cake is the perfect base for a large celebration cake , cupcakes or as this simply elegant cake with cream and ganache.  It’s truly a cake for every celebration. A hint of coffee helps to temper the sweetness of the cake and lets the chocolate flavour shine.  The semi-sweet chocolate cream and chocolate ganache makes it a show stopper (just don’t tell anyone how easy it was to make!) The cake is also perfectly happy to be baked ahead of time and frozen.  In fact it’s better if you do; it’s easier to trim and tort the cake when it’s still semi-frozen.  Likewise you can make the ganache ahead of time to make decorating a breeze. Could this be the world’s best chocolate cake?  Recipe: Triple Chocolate Party Cake Serves 4-6  Recipe adapted from Donna Hay   Recip...

Yesterday was Mr Di-licious' birthday.  But not any ordinary birthday, the big 4-0. Sadly for him he is in the middle of exams and unable to celebrate in the way he would like.  So last night it was a simple acknowledgement - Beef Bourguinon, a special bottle of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon (2004 Ladbroke Grove Killian) and cake. Mr Di-licious has some eclectic tastes: country music, two earl grey tea bags per cup and last but not least, chocolate cake and lemon icing. So inspired by Sweetapolita , I produced a chocolate layer cake, filled and covered in lemon buttercream and drizzled over with a puddle of chocolate ganache. Since it was only the three of us I made a tiny six inch cake.  And you know what?  Six inches was plenty!  The cake is very sweet so a small slice is all you really need. I used my favourite chocolate cake recipe (I promise to share it with you one day!) and made a simple buttercream flavoured with ...

As a mere amateur cake decorator, I am still navigating the highs and lows of rolled fondant. A few weeks ago I completed my second-ever fondant covered cake. It was an order and I wanted it to be perfect with a capital P. The occasion was little Alice Rose’s first birthday party. I made her christening cupcakes and knew the crowd would be expecting something di-licious. The cake itself was simple enough – vanilla butter cake filled with raspberry buttercream. I’d made the fondant roses, leaves, letters and heart ahead of time. I just had to cover the cake (cue imminent danger music). Fondant is finicky and it can sense your fear. But sometimes you have to face near catastrophe in order to get the job done. Here’s what I learnt the hard way: Less really is more. Colour more fondant than you think you’ll really need but once rolled out, estimate the size of your cake and sides and trim away the excess before lifting up to cover your cake – fondant, even when ro...

I guess it happens in every social circle but we’ve re-entered the zone of milestone birthdays – this time it’s the big 4-0. In February three close friends were turning forty within a week of one another. I remember them negotiating dates for parties months before. Invitations were issued, RSVPs sent and before I knew it I had three cake orders, three weeks in a row – all for big celebration cakes. I have this memory of my Dad’s fortieth birthday cake back in 1981. Mum ordered it from a bakery – it was a huge square cake, possibly chocolate, filled with mock cream and coated in chocolate sprinkles. Happy 40th Birthday Dennis was piped on top by a practiced hand. Whilst the fashion of cake decoration has evolved mostly for the better, a big square layer cake remains a classic for big celebrations. My interpretation of the ultimate milestone birthday cake is a triple chocolate layer cake. Three 11inch square layers of di-licious chocolate cake, sandwiched with chocolate butter...

I had a lot of fun planning my daughter's 3rd birthday cake.  However even the best laid plans can go awry. Initially I'd planned to make a two-tiered white chocolate mud cake, covered in fondant and decorated with fondant strawberries, leaves and flowers in a homage to Cath Kidston .  I wanted my first fondant covered cake to be stunning. Sometimes though, you have to let the cakes (or lack of cake) decide what your design will be. The 9inch cake worked out perfectly - it was tall and even and cooked through. At the time I thought I was on fire!  Then I cooked the 6inch cake. The worst thing a baker can do is start to feel cocky before the cake is finished.  I must have invoked a curse because my 6inch cake had a big crack on the surface.  I tested it with the skewer (in multiple spots) and came out clean.  Fantastic!  I let it rest on the bench and got busy with cleaning up. Fifteen min...

What's a birthday without gifts and cake? So why not kill two birds with one stone and present your lucky friend with a gift-cake? Inspired by Sugarbloom's Tall Cupcake Tutorial , I thought I'd try my hand at covering a cupcake with fondant to make a birthday gift for a special friend. Never mind the fact that I had never covered an entire cake with fondant before.... Well, 9 cupcakes later I think I nailed it: The mini cake is actually one of my lemon delicious cupcakes, coated in white chocolate ganache and pale pink fondant. I didn't make the pink and white flowers myself, but I did pipe the monogram (another first with Royal Icing mix). The cake was packaged in a matching gift box with gorgeous Cristina Re vellum paper and brown grosgrain ribbon. I sacrificed a lot of cupcakes along the way, but I did learn some things in the procees: ganache is better than buttercream under fondant you really do need to let the ganache set before you try to smooth fo...

I have been making cupcakes for my niece Hannah's birthday for the last couple of years. This year she wanted a Harry Potter theme. I have a small confession to make here - I have never read or watched Harry Potter anything. There is a back story to this but lets just say I can't. Harry Potter cupcakes, OK cool, I thought. Then she announced that she wanted Golden Snitches - what??? Anyway, brief lesson in Harry Potter folklore (there are university courses in the UK for this stuff now!) - Golden Snitches are a golden, walnut-sized ball with wings used in a semi-contact sport called Quidditch , apparently very popular with witches. Ok - so she wants round balls with wings, coloured gold on top of cupcakes. I can do this. One of the things I love best about cake decorating are the toys, I mean tools. This project allowed me to add a few more things to my arsenal. I tracked down a wing cutter and veiner to pattern the wings online at Iced Affair (arrived within 2 days...