Thursday Tutorial - Chocolate Leaves

This is how I made the chocolate rose leaves that were on my Mum's Birthday Party Cupcakes.

Take your leaves, and place them on a tray lined with baking paper.

Make sure you have washed them thoroughly before hand.

Melt your chocolate, depending how many leaves you need, will depend on the amount of chocolate, but you won't need very much. 5 rows (about 20-25 grams) gave me enough leaves, with spares, for 36 cupcakes. There was plenty of chocolate left over.
Mix a dash of vegetable oil into the chocolate to make it thinner and easier to paint on.

Then using a food only paintbrush, paint the chocolate onto the leaves, and place them back onto the baking tray.
Put in the freezer until they are set.

Once they are set, gently peel the leaf away from the chocolate. It is easier to do a few at a time, because they start to melt quickly when you are handling them. If this happens, just place them back in the freezer.
I found that using the back side of the leaf that had the raised bits gave a better mold then the front side.

Quick and easy!

Movember

Movember (The month formally known as November) is a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for men's health. If you're a man who wants to grow a mo, or even a lady who wants to support the efforts of the mo bro in your life, head on over to the Movember website, and see how you can help.

Anybody can help!!!

Recipe of the Week - Chocolate and Orange Cookies

I came across this blog recently, and thought I would give it a try.. Maria and Rosie from Sweet & Simple Bakes, give you a simple recipe that you can make at home. Then you just send in what you have made, and on the 1st of every month they post the creations.

This is the one for November.

Chocolate and Orange Cookies(you can find their recipe here and a printable recipe here)
I substituted the white chocolate chips for a mixture of white and dark because I ran out of white..

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees celsius

Beat the butter and the sugar together until light and creamy.

Add orange zest and 1 egg
Once egg and orange zest is thorougly mixed in, add sifted flour, bi-carb, baking powder, salt & chocolate chips.
Mix well until all ingredients are combined.

Place tablespoon scoops of dough onto baking paper lined trays, and flatten slightly with your fingertips.

Let cook for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Leave on tray to cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

When cool, store in airtight container for up to 5 days.

They probably won't last for 5 days, as these will get eaten straight away!!

Halloween Slasher Cupcakes

Fitting with my horror film week for halloween, are these kitchen knife cupcakes.
Vanilla Cupcakes, filled with strawberry jam, with fondant decorations. Worthy of any slasher film.

Thursday Tutorial - Pumpkins

This is how you can make the pumpkin toppers just like the ones I made for the Pumpkin Cupcakes..

You can also use a tooth pick/skewer if you don't have these tools. I found my set of wilton tools here.

I small ball of orange fondant, and one even smaller ball of brown. It's best to use paste colours to colour your fondant, as anything else will just be too hard! You can find a whole range of colours from many different brands here.Use a little bit of water to stick the brown into the hole atop the pumpkin. Quick and easy!

I Want To Play A Game...

The Saw movies have got to be my all time favourite horror films. This is the puppet face from the movie...

Friday The 13th

One of my favourite horror movies is Friday the 13th..

This is the hockey mask from the movie.