Bubble and Sweet

What the Fudge Brownies made with cocoa because chocolate prices are insane

2025-11-02T16:51:00.002+10:00

What the actual fudge has happened to chocolate prices in the past few years.

I'm going to admit in the past I have never really kept track of prices so much, I was buying in bulk, frequently and often at wholesalers so the prices were not super clear. But over the past few years I had a bit of a blogging hiatus so there was a break between my chocolate buying and let me tell you chocolate has more than doubled in the past couple of years.

I know you all already know but seriously, baking with chocolate costs a lot!

So because I've been doing some testing of different toppings and frostings and I needed to make lots of brownie cups (like brownie cupcakes) in an economical way I wanted to come up with a brownie version that was delicious but a little more economical.

Look at these gorgeous cups of chocolatey deliciousness.

They have lovely shiny tops (thank you icing sugar melted in the cocoa/butter mixture), I made them with grocery name brand cocoa and you can't even tell.

They are yummy just on their own but pair perfectly with so many different frostings. I did a version with edible cookie dough (Click here for cookie dough recipe) and caramel sauce (Click here for caramel sauce recipe) which I had to actually ban myself from making again for a while because I ate too many.

Anyhoo however you enjoy them, you will be able to enjoy them just a little bit more knowing you're saving money every time you bake.

Happy Baking

Linda M

Top brownies with your favourite topping here I've added edible cookie dough scoops with homemade caramel sauce and fresh raspberries

What the Fudge Brownies (Cocoa Brownies ) makes 12 slices or brownie cups. These brownies can be baked in a square baking tin (8Inch or 20cm) or muffin tins as shown in the picture.

65g (2 1/4 oz) cocoa
90g (3 1/4 oz) icing sugar
185g (6 1/2 oz) unsalted. butter
3 eggs
110g (3 7/8 oz)flour
110g (3 7/8 oz)brown sugar
135g (4 3/4 oz)white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 160C (325F) grease a 12 hole muffin tin. Alternatively line a 8x8 inch or 20cm square tin with baking paper.

Melt butter, add cocoa and icing sugar and whisk, the aim is to try dissolve the icing sugar to help achieve the shiny brownie top after baking, so you may need to rest for a minute and mix again to help dissolve the sugar.

Get shiny crackly brownie tops every time with this important step

Mix the white sugar and eggs then add the brown sugar and mix until pale and creamy. This will take about 3 minutes. The photo below shows what the mixture should look like.

Mix the eggs and sugar for about 3 minutes

Mix in chocolate mixture along with vanilla.

Mix in flour and salt and mix until fudgey and combined.

Bake for 25 minutes, the tops should be shiny and a skewer inserted should come out with a little bit or crumb, not completely dry but not wet.

Allow to cool in tin for a few minutes and flip out on wire rack. To flip out place a wire rack over the top of the baking tray hold onto the sides and flip over. Shake the tray a little or slightly twist. If you have not greased the tray prior to baking you might need to run a knife around the edge of each brownie.

Eat brownies as they are or top with your favourite frosting.

💕

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes or contact me. Affiliate links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Linda Mccubbin is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US in 2011 (under my previous name Linda Vandermeer).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer cake with chocolate sour cream frosting and cookie dough filling

2025-10-12T12:21:00.002+10:00

Chocolate peanut butter layer cake with Oreo edible cookie dough layers.

The Destroyer had his 17th birthday a few weeks back and he let me choose the birthday cake flavour.

I asked Bubble what type of cake I should make and she said "I think he likes peanut butter and chocolate", and tbh I'm not sure if that is true or if I have just been making peanut, chocolate, Oreo flavoured cakes for him for so many years that we all think that it's true.

This beautiful cake is 4 cake layers with alternating dark black cocoa and peanut butter cake, layers of edible cookie dough with crushed Oreo, an Italian Meringue buttercream layer and crumb coast with homemade caramel and finished off in delectable chocolate sour cream frosting (which is my current obsession).

The cut slices are visually super attractive with the alternating layers of cake and filling.

Alternating cake layers are as visually attractive as they are delicious

In a controversial move for a tall cake I used Chocolate sour cream frosting which I am a bit obsessed with at the moment. Although it is insanely delicious it is quite soft and not ideal for fancy smooth cake finishes so I just swirled it about and added some strawberries, raspberries and just before serving added some Oreo's on top.

All the good things in one cake

There are a lot of components to this cake so I made the chocolate cake a few weeks earlier and froze it wrapped in cling wrap stored in an airtight container and then defrosted it the night before I assembled the cake. I made the Peanut Butter cake in the morning and whipped up the edible cookie dough frosting and Italian Meringue Buttercream whilst the cake was cooling. I made the sour cream frosting after the cake was stacked and covered the whole cake straight away and popped into the fridge.

Happy Baking

Linda M

Honestly how lovely do these cake slices look waiting to be served 💕

Peanut Butter Cake makes 1x 6" cake, recipe can be doubled

125g (4 3/8oz) plain (all purpose) flour
1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

90g milk

28 g (1oz) butter
50b (1 3/4oz) smooth peanut butter
2 eggs (room temperature)

Grease and line 1 X 6" round baking tin oven to 160C (325F).

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, I did not sift but if your flour needs a sift you should probably do that so your cake batter is not lumpy at the end.

Heat the milk and butter together until the butter is melted and whisk in the peanut butter. I popped my milk and butter into a microwave safe bowl and heat in microwave on high for 1 minute.

Pop the eggs into a large bowl and whisk until pale and creamy, approximately 3 minutes with an electric hand mixer. See the picture below for progression of consistency. After 1 minute the eggs will appear light, but you want to keep on going for the full 3 minutes. It is possible to mix with a hand whisk but it will take a little longer.

Add the remaining ingredients alternately starting and ending with the flour as follows:

1/3 of the flour, then mix;

1/2 of the wet peanut/butter, then mix;

another 1/3 of the flour, then mix;

remaining half peanut/butter, then mix;

remaining flour mix until combined and then keep mixing for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Pout into the prepared baking tin and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown and a skewer comes out of the cake clean.

Remove from oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool prior to cutting and decorating.

To Assemble

6" Peanut Butter Cake (recipe above)

6" Midnight Sky Black Cocoa Cake 1/2 recipe (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE)

Edible chocolate chip cookie dough substitute Crushed Oreo for chocolate chips (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE)

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (recipe below)

Italian Meringue Butter cream (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE)

Strawberries, raspberries and Oreos for decorating (optional)

6" cake board

Slice the chocolate cake and peanut butter cake in half horizontally. You will end up with 4 cakes.

Take half the edible cookie dough and press it onto the top of one chocolate layer and do the same with the remaining half of the cookie dough and other chocolate cake. I find it easiest to press the cookie dough into a disk between the flat palms of my hand and pop it on top of the cake.

Secure one layer of the chocolate cake to the cake board with a little dollop of buttercream. I like to use the flat bottom of the cake to get a secure flat first layer.

Top with a layer of peanut butter cake, spread with a thin layer of buttercream underneath to attach to the cookie dough layer. Then top with a layer of the Italian Meringue buttercream. I used about 2/3 of a cup. I added a layer of homemade caramel (Optional CLICK HERE for caramel recipe) pop the cake into the fridge to set before proceeding.

You will need to ensure each cake layer is even as you build up.

Top with a third layer of cake using the second cookie dough topped chocolate cake and pop into fridge again to set.

Top with final layer of peanut butter cake once again using a thin spread of buttercream on the bottom to attach it to the cookie dough filling. I normally like to make sure this cake is the other 'bottom' cake and turn it upside down so the bottom is the top of the cake for a perfect flat finish (but I did not do that here-not sure why).

Give the cake a thin layer of Italian meringue all over as a crumb coat.

Pop into fridge and chill. Once the cake is firm remove from fridge and cover with chocolate sour cream frosting.

Cover the edges and top with all of the frosting. I simply used a palette knife to cover the cake but use whatever process you are used to. I swirled the frosting around to give an old fashioned retro look.

Chocolate sour cream frosted cake.
Also how amazing are the Australian Native flowers from my garden in the white jug !

Top with strawberries and raspberries if desired and store in fridge. If you want to add Oreo's do so just before serving.

Sour cream Chocolate Frosting Recipe - this frosting is super delicious and is perfect for brownies. This recipe is enough to frost this tall 4 layer 6" cake on the outside, or frost a dozen cupcakes or a batch of brownies.

115g (3 7/8oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
130g (45/8oz) icing sugar
40g (1 3/8oz) cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
120g (3 7/8oz) sour cream

Mix together butter and icing sugar until combined.

Add cocoa and vanilla and combine well.

Add in half sour cream and salt and mix until just combined, add remaining sour cream and mix until just combined and creamy, do not overmix.

Perfect Birthday cake for boys 17th birthday party or really just any reason

💕

Salted Caramel Sauce with honey and vanilla

2025-10-05T16:33:00.005+10:00

Homemade caramel is so easy to make with just a few ingredients and it genuinely tastes so much better than store bought. I know it seems tricky but if you follow the simple steps I have shown in the pictures below it's not really that hard.

The key is to have all your ingredients ready, watch the syrup colour closely and take it off the stove as soon as it reaches the perfect golden colour. The photo's below show the progression from clear to gold over about 6 minutes. But once it reaches that golden stage you don't have a lot of time.

Make sure you have a safe spot to pop your hot saucepan onto to whisk in the cream, and also that the cream and butter are already measured and your whisk is already out and ready to go.

Oh and defiantly make sure you warm your cream. If your cream is prewarmed before you pour it in, it will not seize or become a big clumpy mess when you add it to the super hot syrup. A few seconds in the microwave to get the cream lukewarm will make a big difference to your caramel making experience.

This batch in the photo's has a touch of honey, salt and vanilla to add flavour, but really you can leave all those ingredients out.

Edible cookie dough recipe CLICK HERE

I drizzled this caramel onto some chocolate chip cookie cups filled with scoops of cookie dough frosting (CLICK HERE for cookie dough recipe) and it was incredibly decadent. Then I followed up with brownie cups filled with the same frosting and they were even more delicious.

Once you learn how to make caramel sauce you'll be reluctant to ever buy it again it's so easy and seriously tastes so much better.

Happy Baking

Linda M

Caramel Sauce for drizzling or dipping - yield just over 1 cup. Best storage is airtight sterile glass container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Can be stored in fridge or frozen. I have used a little honey in this sauce, if you prefer you can use liquid glucose or light corn syrup.

200g (7 1/8 oz) white granulated sugar
45 g (1 5/8oz) water
1 tsp honey
40 g (1 3/8oz) butter (heated in microwave for 20 seconds)
120 g (4 1/4oz) cream (heated in microwave for 30 seconds)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Put water, honey and sugar into a saucepan and stir very gently.

Cook on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. DO NOT STIR!

Increase heat until the mixture boils and becomes a clear syrup and then starts to turn golden.

If necessary swirl the pan very gently and only a little to cook evenly, do not stir.

Cook until the colour reaches the desired strength of caramel, around 6-8 minutes. The one in the pictures was simmered for approximately 6 minutes.

Remove from heat, add the cream whisk , then add the butter and whisk until well combined

Add the vanilla and salt and whisk again. Pour into a clean jar.

This caramel is drizzle consistency, if you want it thicker return to heat (at medium low) after adding cream and butter and cook for a little bit longer until it thickens. The consistency in these pictures is for drizzling or dipping and it will not harden.

I stored my caramel in a clean glass jar at room temperature and it lasted for 2 weeks. Ensure your glass is very clean and the utensils you put into it are also clean. You can also store in fridge or if you want freeze smaller portions in ziplock bags and defrost in fridge as needed.

I used a disposable zip lock bag to pipe the sauce onto the cookies

💕

Linda McCubbin is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US in 2011 (under my previous name Linda Vandermeer).

Sweet's 19th Birthday Cake inspired by Monet water lilies and Ducks

2025-09-28T15:50:00.007+10:00

Sweet had her 19th birthday a few weeks back and I when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted she chose blueberry and lemon. So I came up with a vanilla blueberry cake with layers of homemade lemon curd covered in a vanilla Italian meringue.

To decorate, I decided to channel my love for Sweet and I came up with a mildly chaotic, colourful, beautifully whimsical cake.

Inspired by the feelings of Monet's water lilies and with cute meringue ducks swimming across the top it was a fun quirky cake.

To be honest I'm more team chocolate but the lemon curd layers are so pretty

To make the the lemon layers in the cake I used the microwave lemon curd recipe from my YouTube video CLICK HERE FOR LEMON CURD RECIPE link.

I made 3 batches of my lemon curd and mixed in 1/2 a leaf of gelatine per batch (so 1 1/2 for all 3 batches) and set each batch into a 4" circle mould. It was a lot of lemon curd as a ratio to cake and I would probably use less if I did it again, although the layers did look super pretty. Disclaimer I am more of a chocolate fan so I do find lemon desserts a little overwhelming and I was eating it after a piece of chocolate cake.

Anyway I still had not decided how I was going to decorate the cake while I was making it. I was quite keen to use meringue ducks due to Sweet's fondness of both meringue and ducks however the cake design apart from lemon, blueberry and meringue ducks was not yet set.

The whole cake was really just background for the ducks

Whilst I was filling and stacking the cake I decided it already had a lot of sweet layers going on and thought that a semi naked cake with not a lot of frosting would be best. Which swayed my design to this muted watercolour theme.

I barely used any buttercream in the decorating layer, perhaps less that 3/4 of a cup of buttercream on the whole four layer 6" cake which is quite scant.

To decorate I popped a few spoonfuls of my Italian Meringue Buttercream into seperate bowls and added a teensy touch of food colour and used a palate knife to pat on the coloured buttercream. Once I started I hated the colours, scrapped it off and realised it needed to be a bit more muted instead.

To achieve more muted colours, mix in a little of the other colours to 'muddy' them and take the clean edge of them. For example mix a little of the green or blue and yellow into the pink, a bit of the pink into the blue and green, and some green and pink into the yellow by just adding little touches of the already mixed buttercream into the other buttercreams (probably don't add extra drops of food colour for these small amounts of frosting it will be too much).

relaxed laid back decorating is my favourite kind

Once I was happier with the colours I resumed patting on the buttercream with the offset palate knife. By pressing down and pulling up you get the rough looking finish on the top that I have achieved. I finished with a bit of food grade edible gold leaf applied randomly for a touch of luxury.

Once the cake was ready to serve I let Sweet choose the placement of the ducks and waterlily flowers.

We served this cake with macarons and a seperate chocolate cake which was a deep black cocoa tall layer cake. You can find the instructions and recipe for the chocolate cake by clicking here BLACK VELVET CAKE RECIPE LINK.

Black velvet chocolate cake (RECIPE HERE) and lemon layer cake 19th birthday cakes

Although the vanilla blueberry cake was yummy I'm not ready to share it yet as I felt it didn't hold up well enough as a decorated layer cake. It still has a small amount of tweaking. Or perhaps I might look at turning it into more of a snack cake as the flavour is delicious.

stay tuned xx

Happy Baking

Linda M

💕

I hand piped these adorable little meringue ducks. The babies were the cutest thing.

Edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (that's safe to eat)

2025-09-21T15:28:00.003+10:00

Safe to eat chocolate chip cookie dough frosting

I grew up in the 70's and 80's back when times were a bit wild and no one blinked an eye at eating cake batter or cookie dough straight from the bowl. To be honest I would still do it, because I'm crazy like that, but when serving for other people especially in a cake that might be served up a few days later ensuring food safety standards are met is essential.

This cookie dough is super delicious but has no egg and has heat treated flour which ticks the raw dough eating boxes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies topped with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting and caramel sauce

Um so yeah, OK...but what is heat treated flour I hear you ask? Well, flour is essentially a raw food. Heat treating flour is simply a process of heating the flour at a high enough temperature that it kills potential bad things. When you cook a cake in the oven you should be heating it at a high enough temperature that you're covered, however a big slab of raw cookie dough in the centre of a cake is a different story.

I've included how I heat treat my flour down below along with the super easy recipe for the edible cookie dough.

This cookie dough can be used as a filling in cakes like my midnight sky black velvet layer cake, to frost cookies and cupcakes or you can cover it in chocolate and make little truffle balls

Edible cookie dough layers in a black velvet layer cake.
I left out the 2 Tbsp milk in this edible cookie dough version CLICK HERE for cake recipe

You can easily change the consistency of it by adding more milk or less milk. For example the cake layers in these pictures I left out the milk as it was a tallish cake, but the frosted cookies have the 2 tablespoons of milk included in the recipe.

As always it's your recipe so change the chocolate chips up anyway you like. I hand piped little mini dark chocolate chips for the cookies but you can use milk chocolate, white chocolate, or any type and mixture you like. Plus you can add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, ginger or allspice if you want to mix it up a bit.

These brownie cups filled with edible cookie dough tasted waaay too good
and I'm banning myself from making them for a while.

I actually love this dough more than I should. Chocolate chip cookies topped with edible raw chocolate chip cookie dough is something I did not know I needed in my life, but they were seriously good. A few days later I made up a batch of brownies and did the same and they were some next level yumminess.

Happy Baking until next post

Linda M

Made these for the photo ops, but they were seriously good.
So good I made a brownie version a few days later

Edible Cookie Dough Recipe - makes around 2 cups. This cookie dough is firm and is sturdy enough to support a few cake layers (as per the pictures). It is also delicious as a 'truffle' covered in chocolate.

114g (4oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
85g (3oz) 1/2 cup brown sugar
45g (1 5/8oz)1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
125g (4 3/8oz) 1 cup heat treated flour #
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips (mini if available)

#Heat treat flour by spreading flour onto an oven try and baking for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 180C (350F). Try to not have the flour too thick. I usually do only a few cups per tray. Allow to cool to room temperature. I often make in advance and store mine in a glass jar until I need it.

Make Edible Cookie Dough - Cream butter and both sugars at high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. This creaming step should take a few minutes.

Add vanilla and mix on high until completely combined. Add flour and salt and mix on medium speed until all the dry ingredients are well mixed in.

Add the chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds until they are evenly distributed.

I like to use my dough straight away, but you can chill it for up to a few days. You may need to let it soften a bit depending on what you are using it for.

💕

Midnight Sky Black Velvet Chocolate Cake with Black Cocoa

2025-09-14T10:52:00.002+10:00

Midnight Sky Black Velvet layer cake with cookie dough

Sweet just had her birthday and I had to make 2 seperate cakes. Purely because I wanted chocolate and she did not. I guess technically I made one cake for her and one for me. But I did try to pull in some of her favourite things to the chocolate cake and I added in a few layers of cookie dough as well as Lindt milk chocolate and macarons.

Truely there were no losers here, and wait till you see how cute the details are on the second cake I designed and made for her.

But back to my cake.....technically this cake is not a true Black Velvet cake as I have a mix of regular and black cocoa. But trust me there is a reason.

I have been perfecting the recipe for this cake for the past year tweaking it each time I make it so it passes my rigorous taste test criteria. Here is a picture of my original recipe from a year ago. It was made with 100% black cocoa and it had olive oil. I actually really loved it and the colour was deepest dark velvet and ah-mazing.

Deepest Dark Black Cocoa version I made last year with olive oil

But I kinda feel like the olive oil made the cake a little bit adult and perhaps the frosting I was using was letting it down in that respect. This cake deserved a dark chocolate ganache with a salted caramel drizzle or maybe a raspberry compote. It was lovely but it was a little bit too much of a 'hero' cake and it wasn't right for sharing the limelight with the fluffy flavours of the layer cakes I was creating.

My next try incorporated a mix of regular cocoa and black cocoa, coffee to bring out the chocolate flavour and still had the olive oil. But I still felt the chocolate was not shining through enough.

So I kept going, and going and this final version has a beautiful deep cocoa flavour, supported by real chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and coffee.

It's all your deep dark chocolate cake dreams come true.

Probs doesn't need the extra chocolate sauce but why stop now

This final version for Sweet's birthday was covered with Lindt milk chocolate ganache, swirls of Lindt Milk chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream, decorated with home made chocolate macarons and filled with edible cookie dough layers.

My biggest tip is to use chocolate you would be happy to eat, it's where you get your flavour from so the better the chocolate the better the cake flavour. I use Callebaut for both cocoa's and my couverture dark chocolate (although the kids love Lindt milk chocolate so that's what is in the ganache). If you don't have black cocoa you can just use regular cocoa for a still super delicious cake, it just will not be as dark.

PS next weeks post is the cookie dough layer recipe made with heat treated flour and no eggs. It's super yummy 100% recommend. EDIT UPDATE - recipe posted CLICK HERE FOR COOKIE DOUGH RECIPE

Happy Baking

Linda M

Midnight Sky Black Velvet Chocolate Cake makes 2 x 6" cakes that are 4" (12cm) high, however the tops are a little rounded and I usually trim to about 3.5" (9cm) and then cut each cake in half to make 4 layers. The finished filled cake is around 8 inches tall plus the swirls/topping.

notes: you can use regular cocoa if you don't have black cocoa,

*if you don't have a coffee machine you can use a Tbsp instant coffee and hot water. Overall the expresso and hot water should make up 200g or approximately 8oz in weight.

165g dark chocolate (5 3/4 oz) I used callebaut
114g unsalted butter (4oz)
6 eggs
360g white sugar (12 3/4oz)
200g greek yogurt (7oz)
215g thickened cream (7 1/2oz) (US heavy cream)
110g espresso (3 7/8oz) *
90g hot water (3 1/4oz)*
32g (1 1/8 oz) black cocoa
50g (1 3/4 oz) cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

300g plain flour (all purpose flour) (10 5/8oz)

1tsp baking powder

3/4tsp bi-carb soda

1/2tsp salt

Grease and line 2 x 6 inch round baking tins. Preheat oven to 160C (325F).

greasing and lining the baking tin stops your cake from sticking

Hey Girl, don't cry over stuck broken cake. Take time to line and grease your tins.

In a microwave safe dish melt the butter and dark chocolate at high for 1 minute, rest for 2 minutes to allow the butter to fully heat the chocolate, and then mix until smooth (microwave for further bursts of 30 seconds if not fully melted). Allow to cool a little while you prepare the next ingredients.

Bloom the cocoa. Mix together the espresso, hot water and both cocoas and whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and salt and set aside.

Put the chocolate/butter mixture into a large bowl and at medium low speed mix in the eggs one at a time until just combined. Add the yogurt and cream and mix at low speed until combined then add the sugar and mix until combined.

Add the remaining wet and dry ingredients alternatively. Start by adding 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix at low until combined then add in 1/2 of the wet cocoa mixture mixing until combined. Continue adding another third of the flour, mixing then the final half of the cocoa mixture and then finally finishing by mixing in the last of the flour mixture.

Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 tins and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. My pans had about 975 grams (2 lbs 2 1/4oz) in each.

Cook in pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool before filling and frosting.

To Assemble

Midnight Sky Black Velvet Cake (recipe above)

Edible chocolate chip cookie dough (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE)

Lindt Milt Chocolate ganache (recipe below)

Italian Meringue Butter cream (recipe below)mix a few spoons of Lindt milk chocolate ganache into the buttercream to taste, alternatively you can leave it flavoured vanilla.

6 macarons - If macarons not available use Oreos, or chocolate chip cookies

6" cake board

Trim the top dome off each cake and then slice each of the cakes horizontally in half. You will end up with 4 cakes.

Secure the first layer to the cake board with a little dollop of ganache. I like to use the bottom of the cake to get a secure flat first layer.

If using cookie dough half the amount of dough and shape it into a disk and place the disk on top of the cake layer. Alternatively if using ganache or buttercream spread a layer onto the cake.

Top with a second layer of cake and spread with a layer of ganache or buttercream (I used ganache). You will need to ensure each cake layer is even as you build up.

Top with a third layer of cake. If you are using buttercream you may need to pop the cake into the fridge to set before proceeding.

Add another disk of cookie dough onto the third layer of chocolate cake. Alternatively if using ganache or buttercream spread a layer onto cake.

Top with final layer of cake. I like to make sure this cake is the other 'bottom' cake and turn it upside down so the bottom is the top of the cake for a perfect flat finish.

Pop into fridge and chill. Once the cake is firm remove from fridge and cover with ganache. I put my cake onto a cake decorating turntable.

Cover the edges and top with a reasonably thick coating of the ganache. I simply used a palette knife to cover the cake but use whatever process you are used to.

To make the sides smooth I used a metal scraper held at a 45degree angle and turned the cake turntable while holding the scraper still. Fill any holes in the ganache with reserved ganache (or ganache that you have scraped off) and repeat the process until you are happy. You may need to pop the cake in and out of the fridge as required depending on the temperature.

Once finished pipe 6 large swirls of buttercream onto the top of the cake and insert the macarons in between each swirl as per the picture.

Lindt milk chocolate ganache for frosting the outside

500g Lindt milk chocolate (1lbs + 1 5/8oz)

250g cream (heavy cream) (8oz + 7/8oz)

Put chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl, mix so the chocolate is covered with cream and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Mix until smooth and if necessary return to microwave for bursts of 30seconds to 1 minute until all lumps are gone. I find a stick blender results in a smooth silky ganache.

Allow to cool until the ganache is a thick pudding like consistency and cover the cake.

Mini Batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream makes 2 cups (435grams)
Your bowl and whisk need to be squeaky clean to whip egg whites. I use a stand mixer with a pouring shield to make this butter cream, the sugar syrup is very hot, make sure you take appropriate safety precautions when pouring the hot sugar syrup mixture. Not suitable for young children to make.

38g (1 3/8oz) water

150g (6oz) white sugar

75g (2 3/4oz) egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
225g (8 oz - 2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into smallish cubes

Place sugar and water into saucepan over high heat and bring to boil. Conintue to heat until the sugar syrup mixture reaches 115 C (240F). Brush down the the sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush as required to stop sugar crystals from forming.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer (make sure the bowl is quite large). When the sugar syrup reaches 110C (210F) start to whip the egg whites at high speed.
Once the sugar syrup reaches 115C (240 F) carefully pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites whilst the mixer is still beating on high.

Continue to beat until the egg and sugar mixture cooled to room temperature (or the bowl feels cool to touch) and then start to add a few cubes of butter at a time. Add the vanilla and salt.

The mixture will probably become quite liquid, but continue to beat until it thickens and all the butter is evenly distributed. May take around 10 minutes.

💕

Violet Layer Cake with Violet Ganache, Violet Italian Meringue and sugared edible violets

2025-08-24T15:24:00.002+10:00

Bubble turned 21 and we celebrated with a little party at home with friends and family.

Over the years I have made some wonderful and fancy cakes for Bubble. Often she chose my strawberry flavoured cake recipe which has been a favourite for years.

But this being a milestone birthday I decided to come up with a new flavour based on Bubble's favourite macaron flavour which is violet.

The actual cake design was pretty, elegant and understated. which is a bit of a reflection of the amazingly lovely person Bubble has become (and really has always been).

Last year while traveling in Vienna we picked up sugared violets and I crushed these and added them to the Italian Meringue Buttercream which was flavoured with Violet essence. Then I covered the cake with a whipped violet ganache, lightened with a dollop of the buttercream and decorated it with gold splashes and more sugared violets.

It was exquisite.

We also had a 4 layer chocolate cake cover with Lindt milk chocolate and topped with chocolate macarons plus raspberry and violet macarons (CLICK HERE FOR MY FREE RASPBERRY MACARON RECIPE).

#Note that violet extract/essence and sugared violets are speciality items and can be difficult to source. Here is a link to violet extract (CLICK HERE) and a link to sugared/crystalised violets (CLICK HERE).

If you do not care for violet flavour or its a bit tricky to source, try using raspberry with freeze dried raspberries which would be delicious and just as pretty.

Happy Baking

Linda M

Violet Layer Cake Recipe and Assembly Instructions

Ingredients (recipes below)

3 X 6" vanilla cake

Violet Italain Meringue Buttercream

Whipped Violet Ganache

extra crystallised violets to decorate (CLICK HERE FOR A LINK)

edible gold paint (link here)

1. Assemble the Cake

Trim cake as necessary to removed brown edges (optional you can leave it as is if you prefer)

Pop one 6" vanilla cake onto a 6"cake board. Secure the bottom with a little buttercream to hold it in place. Top with a generous 1/2 cup of Violet Italian Meringue Buttercream and then another layer of cake. Repeat the process adding another generous 1/2 cup Violet Italian Meringue Buttercream and then the final third layer of cake.

Give the cake a quick thin crumb coat of reserved vanilla buttercream*

Place cake into fridge to firm up to make decorating easier.

*The sugared violets in the Violet Buttercream make it difficult to get a smooth finish, but it's all ok you will be covering in a layer of ganache soon.

Note - If it is warm you may need to do each layer and pop the cake into the fridge to firm up so it doesn't slide off.

2. Decorate the Cake

Remove the stacked cake from the fridge. I put my cake onto a cake decorating turntable.

Using the violet ganache cover the edges and top with a reasonably thick coating of the ganache. I simply used a palette knife to cover the cake but use whatever process you are used to.

I use a metal scraper for tall cakes (CLICK HERE) which works best for me

Note - perfection is overrated if you are making this for your friends and family. Smooth until you are happy and ignore any dents and spots. No one will notice them.

Add gold splashes and crushed sugared violets randomly but sparsely. No need to go overboard. I mixed my edible gold dust with rose spirits and splashed on with a paint brush by lightly tapping the brush handle against my hand.

Fluffy Vanilla Cake makes 3 x 6" cakes

Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature, otherwise the butter will not mix in well.

80g (3oz) egg yolks (approximately 5 eggs)

225g (7+7/8oz)sugar (I used caster sugar or superfine if you only have regular white you can use that)

75g (2 + 5/8oz) butter melted and cooled

165g (5 + 3/4 oz) egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla essence

225g (7+ 7/8oz)plain flour (all purpose flour)

3 tsp baking powder

125g (4 + 3/8oz) milk

Preheat oven to 175C (350F) grease and line 3 X 6" round baking tins with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks with 1Tbsp of the sugar at medium high speed light and fluffy. This will take a while and the mixture will become a lighter colour and very fluffy. It is important that the mixture is lightened/whipped enough at this stage.

Add the butter and mix until the mixture is thick and pale. If the butter solidifies (due to different temperatures of yolk and melted butter) keep on mixing until smooth.

In a seperate bowl mix the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peak stage. Gradually add the remaining sugar and mix until the egg white mixture is thick and glossy and reaches stiff peak stage. Mix in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and gradually fold into to the egg yolk mixture in batches. Add the milk and fold until just combined.

Take a generous heaped spoon of the egg white mixture and fold into the egg yolk batter to lighten it and then add the remaining egg white mixture folding gently to retain as much volume and air as possible.

Pour the batter evenly into the 3 baking tins. My tins had 295g in each of the 3 tins.

Bake for 20-25 mis until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. The sides will be coming away from the edge of the tin and it should lightly spring back when touched and be golden brown in colour.

Allow to cool completely before decorating (I made my cakes a few days before, double cling wrapped them, froze them and then removed from the freezer and defrosted in fridge the morning I decorated the cake.)

Violet Italian Meringue Buttercream

1 1/2 cup Italian Meringue Buttercream (recipe below)
1 1/2 Tbsp Crushed sugared violets (or to taste)
1/2 tsp violet extract (or to taste) CLICK HERE FOR LINK/SOURCE FOR VIOLET EXTRACT

Mix the violet extract into buttercream, taste and add more extract if required. Gently fold in the crushed sugared violets.

Whipped Violet Ganache Frosting(makes enough ganache to just cover a 3 layer by 15cm/6 inch cake)

330g (11 + 5/8oz) good quality white chocolate (I used Callebaut)
110g (3 + 7/8oz) cream
1/2 tsp violet essence (violet flavour/essence varies add to taste)
few drops gel violet colour and pink
1/4 cup Italian meringue buttercream (recipe below)

Chop chocolate into little pieces if necessary then place with cream into a microwave safe bowl. I usually use glass/pyrex for heating chocolate. Mix the chocolate and cream around so the chocolate is covered with cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute, let sit for a minute, microwave for another 30 seconds, let sit for another minute and then stir with a whisk. I find that using a stick blender makes the smoothest most perfect ganache but I usually just use the whisk.

If you have any little lumps try to mix them in. Your chocolate and microwave may be slightly different than mine so you might need to heat for another few lots of 30 seconds.

Add the violet flavour to taste and food colour to achieve your desired look. I added a few drops of violet which for me gave the ganache a greenish/blue tinge and then a drop of pink to achieve the colour in the pictures.

Allow to sit at room temperature or in the fridge until it has thickened. It should be like a thick custard that you can spoon.

In a stand mixer bowl whip the ganache until light and fluffy scraping down the sides as needed then add the buttercream and whip. Check the flavour and colour and add more if required.

Mini Batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream
Your bowl and whisk need to be squeaky clean to whip egg whites. I use a stand mixer with a pouring shield to make this butter cream, the sugar syrup is very hot, make sure you take appropriate safety precautions when pouring the hot sugar syrup mixture. Not suitable for young children to make.

38g (1 3/8oz) water

150g (6oz) white sugar

75g (2 3/4oz) egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
225g (8 oz - 2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into smallish cubes

Continue to beat until the egg and sugar mixture cooled to room temperature (or the bowl feels cool to touch) and then start to add a few cubes of butter at a time. Add the vanilla and salt.

The mixture will probably become quite liquid, but continue to beat until it thickens and all the butter is evenly distributed. May take around 10 minutes.

Soft Fluffy Gooey Cinnamon Roll Recipe

2025-08-17T16:27:00.000+10:00

How is it possible to be gooey, soft and fluffy all at the same time?

These super fluffy, soft, pillowy cinnamon rolls have been perfected over 15 years of real home cooking and years of commercial cooking (when I owned the cafe). This is the actual small batch recipe I have used and tweaked over the years.

They are filled with the perfect amount of cinnamon filling and then topped with lashings of dreamy vanilla cream cheese frosting.

They can be frozen and defrosted in a microwave in 40 seconds. Plus you can partially make the dough the night before and finish a second rise and bake in the morning.

This is the ultimate cinnamon roll recipe!

If you have never baked with yeast before don't be afraid, it's actually pretty easy as long as you follow the recipe and steps. I have found the following tips super helpful to ensure a consistent rise every time.

1. Make sure the yeast is within use by date.

2. Proof your yeast - This is a process where you add the dry yeast to liquid and activate it (with sugar in this recipe) to see if it blooms. Imagine going through the whole process of mixing and kneading bread for 10 or more minutes, putting it in a warm place to rise and having a ball of dough that is hard and heavy instead of elastic and springy. Proofing your yeast is a surefire way to test that it is still active.

3. Don't overheat the yeast during the rise process. When I was young I remember my first try baking with yeast I used hot water and killed the yeast. I thought if gently warming yeast worked then hot could only work better and faster. Nope, uh-uh, No! Luke warm is the way to go here.

4. Use bread flour. This one is not essential but I find that my rolls hold up better with bread flour. When I use all purpose or plain flour the rolls collapse down on themselves a little during the cooling process. They still taste amazing and to be honest the slightly sunken tops are a good way to hold more frosting. But for perfect rolls which are softer and fluffier, bread flour will get a better result.

5. Knead your dough until elastic and it springs back. If you don't knead your bread enough it will be dense and not rise as well. If you have a stand mixer this is easy to achieve with a dough hook. If you are doing it by hand don't be tempted to skimp on this step.

6. Double rise but....don't over rise. Rolls that have been left to rise too long will result in a tougher texture roll. The taste may be overly yeasty and sour and the dough may collapse during cooking. It's another example of more is not always better.

*Bonus Controversial Tip - It is possible to use yeast that is past its best before date. If you follow Tip 2 and proof your yeast and it blooms it is ok to use.

I follow these couple of tips and consistently get great soft fluffy inside and golden baked outside results.

I think everyone should try cooking with yeast at least once. The feeling of pride when you take your first bite of home baked bread made from scratch with your own hands is pricelessly rewarding in so many ways.

Happy Baking

Linda M

Best Fluffy Soft Cinnamon Roll Recipe - makes 12 cinnamon rolls

170grams warm water (heat in microwave from 10-20 seconds until barely warm)

1 packet dry yeast (7g)

85g caster sugar

460g bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 egg

40g melted butter

Mix together water, yeast and 1Tbsp sugar and set aside to bloom. This usually takes around 4 minutes for me.

In a large bowl mix together flour, remaining sugar, salt, butter, egg and proofed yeast mixture and mix until just combined and then knead until smooth and elastic and the dough bounces back when pressed lightly. If you have a stand mixer this Will take around 10 minutes on low speed.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. It was winter for the ones I made in the picture so I covered my bowl with plastic wrap and set it in the oven on 50C (around 120F).

Dust the bench down with flour and roll the dough out into a rectangle of around 45 X 30 cm (18 by 12 inches).

Shape the dough into a rectangle as you roll it. I like to pick my dough up and at the start turn it so it does not stick to the bench and rolls out an even thickness.

Spread on filling (recipe below). Roll up into a long log then cut 12 rolls 1 1/2 inches each.

(this picture only has 6 rolls the recipe is for 12 rolls as per below picture)

Put into greased tray and rise a second time for around 30 minutes.

Don't over rise - you want perfectly puffy rolls, they should not have large bubbles.

Bake at 180-190C for 12-18 minutes until the rolls are golden brown. If you tap them with your nails they will be hard on the top and sound a little hollow.

Frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below). When I had the cafe I would turn the rolls out onto a tray lined with parchment paper and then flip back over onto a wire rack lined with parchment paper and allow the rolls to cool before frosting them for a neater looking finished roll. However you can frost them and eat them still warm fresh out of the oven and the result is a gooey delicious roll like the picture at the top of this blog post.

Cinnamon swirl filling

70g (2+ 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together, I use my stand mixer and beat until it mixes up fluffy like a frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

70g (2+ 1/2 oz) unsalted butter

70g (2+1/2oz) cream cheese

2 cups icing (powdered) sugar (In Australian can use Icing Sugar Mixture)

2 tsp Vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together for a few minutes until light and fluffy. I use a stand mixer.

Pistachio Cream and Salted Chocolate Brown Butter Cookies

2025-07-24T21:02:00.003+10:00

This might be a bit controversial but I don't particularly love thick cookies. Don't get me wrong, they look spectacular. For photography purposes who can beat a picture of a fat cookie, big as your hand stuffed with chocolate and topped with candy bars. And for video purposes the break and pull shot with oozy filling spilling out is hard to beat.

But I need more than pretty looks, I need substance, and soul, and layers of flavour and texture instead of dense sugary propped up dough.

Enter these pistachio and salted chocolate brown butter cookies. Caramel undertones of browned butter, fragrant vanilla, crunchy chopped pistachios, smooth creamy pistachio butter, melt in your mouth dark chocolate, crisp cookie and flakes of salt weaving together to produce a harmoniously satisfying experience with every bite.

I made quite a few versions of this cookie while creating my favourite, adding a few grams extra flour here, taking out some butter to come up with the most pleasing mix between buttery candy like texture that was firm enough to keep it's shape and hold up to cookie like treatment.

In the final version I have melted the butter with a tablespoon of milk powder which results in a crazy amount of browning in the butter. If you are not keen to brown the butter, you can just melt the butter and you will still end up with a lovely cookie, if you are not browning the butter and just melting it, reduce the amount of butter to 130 grams(4 5/8oz) to account for evaporation during the browning process.

As these cookies are soft and buttery, they need to rest on the trays to cool.

\I shaped my cookies after baking using a round cookie cutter, by placing the cutter over the cookies and swirling them around in little circles. If are not quick enough or bake the cookies too much this technique will not work.

I bought my pistachio cream from Costco - I have seen the exact same brand on Amazon (CLICK HERE). If you don't want to buy pistachio cream you can save yourself some money and time, leave it out and the cookies will still be delicious. While I was making the cookies I thought they would make be amazing with Nutella and hazelnuts in place of the pistachio.

Happy Baking XX

Linda M

Pistachio Salted Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Cookies

makes 10 cookies x 10cm (apex 4") in size (60gram or 2oz uncooked dough). Store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Uncooked dough can be portioned into cookie serves, frozen wrapped in plastic wrap and defrosted for baking.

I shaped my cookies after baking with a circle cookie cutter around 10cm (4 inches) across .

140g (4 7/8oz)salted butter

1 Tbsp dried milk powder

170g (6oz) plain (all purpose) flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 baking powder (baking powder)

120g (4 1/4oz) brown sugar

50g (1 3/4oz) granulated white sugar

1 egg room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

120g (4 1/4oz) dark chocolate cut into chunks - reserve some for adding to top half way through baking as mine was chunks I reserved around 55g (1 7/8oz) if you have chips reserve a few chips per cookie

45g (1 5/8 oz) or 1/3 cup shelled raw pistachios chopped (reserve 1 Tbsp of finely chopped nuts)

70g (2 1/2oz) pistachio cream

1 tsp flaky salt

Prior to starting to brown the butter have a heat safe container which can hold 2 cups of more ready to pour the hot butter into.

In a saucepan heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Stir with a rubber spatula or whisk so the butter cooks evenly. When the butter is melted add the 1 tbsp of milk powder. Continue to cook until the milk solids start to brown and immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and pour into the heat safe bowl. Make sure you scrap all the browned milk solids from the saucepan into the melted butter.

Allow the butter to cool a little while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, brown sugar and white sugar into a large bowl.

Add the melted brown butter, egg and vanilla to the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix until combined using a large spoon or spatula. Make sure all the ingredients are wet and mixed in.

Add the chopped chocolate (making sure to save some to add later to the top during baking) and the chopped pistachio and mix until distributed evenly. Pop bowl into fridge to chill around 30 minutes.

Cover 2 cookie trays with parchment paper or silopat mat* Divide the cookie dough into 10 equal portions of about 60g (2 1/4 oz) each. Shape into a tall cylinder and poke an indent into the top of each cookie. Add pistachio cream into the middle indent of each cookie. Chill the dough for at least another 30 minutes. You can chill for longer up to overnight if you like but keep the cookies in an airtight container if chilling for longer than an hour.

Preheat oven to 175C (350F) fan forced. Once oven is heated put cookies in oven and bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven, add extra reserved chocolate on top of cookies, rotate tray positions and return to oven to bake further 6-7 minutes until the cookies start to brown around the edges.

Remove from oven, if you are shaping the cookies using the round cookie cutter, quickly do so by putting the cutter over the cookie and swirling it around if a small circle lightly to result in an even shape, Sprinkle the reserved finely chopped pistachio and flaked salt onto the top of the cooked cookies.

Allow cookies to cool on tray until set.

* I trialed baking the cookies on both a silo pat mat and parchment paper. The silopat mat ended up a more pleasing shape as they spread more evenly, the parchment paper lined trays ended up a crispier cookie, both were very good, I will probably use the silopat mat for aesthetic purposes in future.

Woodland Toadstool macarons its giving fairy queen vibes

2025-05-22T15:28:00.009+10:00

I was so excited by the technique I used to make the cottage rose macarons in my last post I decided to keep on going and make something even more whimsical and magical and that's how these woodland toadstool macarons came to be.

How adorably cute are they, and look at the perfect shiny shells! I am smitten with this technique. It's the opposite of textured macarons and I love it to bits.

I made a YouTube video <click here> that's only a few minutes long so you can watch the piping technique. Honestly I am mesmerised by the way the piped mixture falls back into the shells and can watch it endlessly. Once they are piped they look like beautiful necklace pendants sitting on a tray.

The secret to shiny macron shells that withstand the wet on wet piping technique is a recipe with the right consistency, not all recipes will work. My recipe is an Italian Meringue base that I have personally tried, tested and tweaked for 15 years. It was used commercially in my cafe and was no fail time after time for thousands of macarons. You can get it for free <HERE>

and if you know me you know I haven't stopped here. I have a few more designs floating around in my head that I have to try before I move on. If you make your own batch up make sure to tag me on instagram so I can see how they work out 👀

I filled these macarons with a whipped pistachio ganache that is so yummy you can eat it with a spoon, I've included quick instructions at the end of the post below.

Happy Baking

xx Linda

Shopping links

(may have affiliate links which may earn me commissions and contribute to the running of this blog):

Red Food Powder like <AMERICOLOR RED CLICK HERE FOR LINK> I prefer a powder for red as you need to use so much gel food colour it impacts the batter consistency.

Green food colour - any gel type can be used as only a drop is needed I used moss green. You only need a drop or 2 for the soft hue I achieved.

Pistachio Cream - I picked mine up at Costco her is an online link <PISTACHIO CREAM AMAZON> You can make your own or buy any brand you like. Or you can use just white chocolate ganache without adding the pistachio cream to save money.

I piped my ganache with a Wilton piping tip - 4B <link to set of 4 piping tips>

RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS/LINKS

You can get the recipe from my last post where I made wet on wet cottage core rose macarons <CLICK HERE FOR MACARON RECIPE>.

PISTACHIO GANACHE - I filled the woodland toadstool macarons with a decadently delicious whipped pistachio white chocolate ganache. Mix 3 parts white chocolate to 1 part cream (ie 300g (10+5/8oz) white chocolate to 100g (3+5/8oz cream)) heat in microwave for 2 minutes on high, cool/set, whip in a mixer and then and mix in 1 part pistachio cream (ie 100g (3 5/8 oz))

How to make the prettiest cottage core rose macarons using wet on wet piping

2025-05-07T18:04:00.006+10:00

Honestly these Cottagecore rose macarons might be the prettiest macarons I've ever made. Are they cottage core? I'm not sure we used to call it shabby chic. Anyhoo those sweet roses are piped into the still wet macaron batter with different coloured macaron batter. I was so happy when it worked and I ended up with super shiny deliciously gorgeous patterned shells.

They are definitely the macarons of my dreams. It is so satisfying when the piped mixture falls back down into the shells.

I was so excited I even made a 5 minute Youtube video showing how I made them which includes mixing up the macaron batter so you can easily follow along and make your own here. Like I said it's a pretty short video and you can see the consistency required for the batter so I recommend watching it if you're going to try make your own macarons (patterned or not).

I filled these ones with a white chocolate rose ganache to match in with the rose decorated shells. I also did a version with a whipped white chocolate buttercream and raspberry puree centre for Mother's Day which was reminiscent of Devonshire tea and totally delicious..

They do require a little bit of work and I'm not sure every macaron recipe will work. Some of the recipes out there are different batter consistency to mine and as a result the piped roses will not fall back into the shells as well, so I've included the exact recipe I used which is the same recipe I've used for 15 years, modified slightly over the years. While I had a cafe I made thousands of these gorgeously delicious treats and fine tuned the recipe until it was no-fail for me.

I've already made up a few more batches of these wet on wet designs to share with you so check back to see all the macaron gorgeousness over the coming weeks.

Linda

Cottagecore Macarons (wet on wet instructions - see also my YouTube video)

Mix up macaron batter. I've included my recipe for Italian meringue macarons below. Just before the batter is ready spoon out a small amount into 2 small bowls around 1/3 cup in one and 1/2 cup in the other.

Colour the large portion sky blue, and then colour the 1/3 bowl green (I used one drop mint green), then colour the 1/2 cup pink (I used one drop) then split a small amount of the pink into another bowl and put another drop of pink to make it a darker hue of pink. Put all the batter into seperate piping bags.

Batter waiting to be piped. I made my own parchment bags for the small amounts

Pipe the main batter onto trays lined with parchment paper. I did one tray at a time so the macarons did not start to form skins.

Once you have the blue macaron shells piped, tap the tray on the counter to remove any air bubbles and then pipe 3 light pink dots (see picture 1 in the collage below).

Using the darker pink pipe a curve or c on top of each light pink dot. (see picture 2 in collage below)

Using a toothpick, skewer or scribing tool swirl in little circles back and forth to look like little rose swirls (see picture 3 in collage).

Pipe little leaves on the sides of each rose by piping a dot then letting go of the pressure on the piping bag and pulling the bag out sideways (see picture 4 in collage below) My leaves fell into the batter, however you might need to pipe a dot and use the scribing tool to pull the 'leaves' outward.

Repeat for remaining batter and then allow to rest on the trays until set (see picture 5 in collage below).

Linda's Macaron Shells makes around 40-50 shells or 20-25 filled macarons. See below macaron recipe for simple instructions for ganache filling.

150 gram (5 +1/4 oz)almond meal (almond flour)
150 gram pure icing sugar (5 +1/4 oz powdered sugar)
150 gram granulated sugar (5 +1/4 oz)
37 grams water (1 +1/4 oz)
110 gram (3 + 7/8oz) egg whites aged split into 2 lots of 55grams each (2 lots of 1 + 7/8 oz each)
food color of choice (I used sky blue, pink and mint green gel type food colour)

*ageing egg whites refers to separating the yolks from whites and then leaving the whites to age for a few days. This can be done on the counter if your countries climate permits or in the fridge, wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and then pop a few holes in the top. Alternately you can pop fresh egg whites in the microwave on high for 10 seconds or so - I used the aging on counter method in this batch pictured.

1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add colour and 55g (1 + 7/8 ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

2. Place remaining 55g (1 + 7/8 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan, stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118 C (245F). Brush down the sides of the saucepan with a pastry brush dipped in water as required to avoid sugar crystallising. Make sure you have a pouring shield on your mixer, once the syrup has reached 118C pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on medium low.

4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C (120 F).

5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms. If you run the spatula through the mixture it should form a ribbon that disappears back into the mixture after about 20 seconds.

6. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (or just cut the end of a disposable piping bag, that's what I do) and pipe in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one.

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin so that the macaron mixture does not stick to your finger when gently touched. If the weather is humid this step may take longer up to 2 hours. I pop on the aircon if it's humid at my house.

8. Meanwhile preheat oven to 130-135C (275 F) fan forced. Once ready bake the macaroons for around 19-23 minutes depending on size, it may take less of longer, all ovens are different. If they are baked and you gently push on the side the tops will not move, if the tops do move bake for another minute or 2. Also they should not be browned if they are reduce the heat for the next batch or bake for less time.

9. Once baked remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

10. Once cooled match disks into like sizes and sandwich together using the ganache.

Ganache Recipe

To make ganache melt white chocolate with cream in the microwave for 2 minutes on high and mix gently until combined, use a ration of 3:1, so for example 240 grams (8+1/2 oz) white chocolate to 80 grams (2 + 7/8 oz) cream. Add some gel color and rose oil/flavor to taste.

Sweet bunny cookies with floral headbands and a new You Tube tutorial

2025-04-07T15:01:00.001+10:00

I'm making bunny cookies for Easter and just couldn't find a cutter I truly loved in any of the stores around here. What is going on in the world? All I could find is little mini cutters with matching embossers like they sell on temu or shein for a couple of dollars.....and I just felt they had no character and definitely did not match the cookies I had in mind.

So I decided to go back to basics and hand cut the cookies. I hand drew a design I wanted, copied it onto some clean card stock and used it as a template for a couple of test cookies. Then I remembered my brother has a 3D printer and I sent him a photo asking if there was any way we could make a cookie cutter.

True story, a few hours later he was at my door with a cookie cutter that he had made downloading the picture I sent. Have I mentioned in the past he is a top tier brother that can be relied on to enable my cookie or cake craziness at the drop of a hat? Some of you might remember when he helped me mount a unicorn head cake to a mirror on a wall (HERE).

Anyway it is dangerous information to know that he can whip me up any cookie shape I need in next to no time. There are actually no cookie limits now!

So with my newly created cookie cutter I have been working on a theme for this years Easter cookies and have come up with a few designs that I like.The kids favourite is this sweet bunny with floral headband for which I've also made a matching floral egg.

I've popped up a YouTube video of me making the cookie so you can follow along and make your own. Basic written instructions plus my sugar cookie roll out dough are below.

I hope you find them as cute and delicious as we do.

Happy Baking

Linda

Bunny with floral headband instructions

Ingredients

12 Bunny Cookies (see below for recipe)

white fondant

How much fondant will I need. This is a tricky one as everyone rolls out their fondant different thicknesses and lots of cookie cutters look the same but are different sizes. I find this best way is to roll out one fondant cookie shape then weigh the fondant and multiply it by the number of cookies you are making, then add a little bit excess. Remember fondant dries out quickly so always keep it wrapped in plastic wrap and in an airtight container.

Royal icing mix (around 1 cup powder)

food colour (pink and leaf green)

black edible marker

pink edible paint (can use food colour diluted with a little rose spirits)

pink edible dusting powder

Equipment

Bunny cookie cutter (similar one available on Amazon here)

small daisy plunger flower cutter approx 13mm (1/2 inch)

small 5 petal plunger flower cutter approx 8mm (1/3 inch)

mini 5 petal plunger flower cutter approx 6mm (1/4 inch)

small plastic rolling pin

foam pad

assorted brushes

piping tips (round 1 or 2) x 2 small leaf tip 349 (or similar)

Piping bags and couplers X 3

Here is a link to amazon with some cutters and fondant tools like the ones used in the video

https://amzn.to/3E79Fly

Step1 - Bake your bunny cookies for these instructions we make 12 bunny cookies

See below for recipe

Step 2 - Make floral decorations

I like to make my floral decorations before hand. For this design you will need 1 small daisy, 1 small 5 petal flower and 1 mini 5 petal flower. If you don't have these exact sizes you can make a similar design with other plunger cutters.

For 12 bunny cookies you will need 12 pink small daisy's, 12 pink small 5 petal flowers, 12 pink mini 5 petal flowers and 24 white mini 5 petal flowers.

Colour a small amount of fondant pink. I used over the top pink gel food colour. Dust your bench with cornflower/cornstarch and roll the fondant out with a plastic mini rolling pin until a couple of mm thick (1/8 inch). Press out the flower shapes and place onto a foam pad.

Using fondant tools (Dresden/veiner and ball tools), shape the flowers. Press small indents into each of the daisy's petals, and using the ball tool gently press each of the 5 petals on each flower. Using the below picture as a guide for each bunny make 3 flowers. Set aside in a pain palette to dry overnight.

Step 3 - cover the cookies with white fondant (or what ever colour you like)

Once the cookies are cool, cover them with white fondant. To do this dust you work bench with cornflour/ cornstarch and roll the fondant out until a few mm (1/4 inch) thick. Using your bunny cookie cutter press out the bunny shape. Lightly brush the cookie with water using a clean brush and adhere there fondant to the cookie by lightly pressing down with the rolling pin. Gently roll the fondant out to the edges of the cookie if needed. You are aiming for a smooth even finish.

Allow the fondant to dry out a little then store in an airtight container in a single layer overnight.

Next day

Step 4 - Mix up royal icing

Following instructions mix up royal icing. You are just making accents and 1/3 of a cup of each colour is enough. The pink and white should be a consistency they pipe a Nice rounded dot. The green will need to be a stiff peak consistency if you want the leaves to hold a nice shape. I put the icing into plastic wrap and then slide them into my disposable piping bags, that I have already cut off the tip and popped a coupler into. When I am ready to use I snip off the tip of the plastic wrap and screw on the tip I am using with the coupler.

Step 5 - Add the floral decorations and royal icing accents

Using the white royal icing, adhere the flowers around the base of the bunnies ears. Pipe a white dot into the small pink mini flower. I add a few dots around the flowers for a little visual interest.

Using the pink royal icing, pipe a bunny nose and pipe pink dot in the centre into the 2 flowers with white centres.

Using the green royal icing pipe on leave accents as per the picture.

Step 6 - Paint on the ears

Using edible paint, paint on the bunny ears. If you like you can use pink royal icing to pipe ear centres.

Step 7 - Draw on eyes

Using the edible marker draw a small semi circle with lashes for the eyes. If the fondant has not set a little be very carful as the marker will press down and leave an indent.

Step 8 - Add a rosy cheek

Using edible dust on a dry brush, dust a small circle on the cheek. Using a seperate clean brush dust off any excess.

Step 9 - Share and enjoy your cookie greatness

Linda's Best Ever Roll Out Sugar Cookie Recipe

460 grams plain flour (16 1/4 oz all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
230 grams unsalted butter (8 1/8oz)room temperature
220 grams caster sugar (7 3/4 oz superfine sugar)#
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
#use regular white sugar if you do not have caster/ superfine sugar

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to medium low, add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in the sifted flour mixture until combined. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Line a few baking trays with parchment/ baking paper.

Dust workbench with plain flour and using a large rolling pin roll out the dough until around 1/2 cm (1/4") in thickness. If the dough is to hard you may need to work/knead it a bit until you can roll it out.

Cut out cookies shapes and place the cookies on the prepared trays. (Knead and reroll dough as necessary, if it becomes to soft you can pop it back in the fridge.)

Pop the cut cookie dough trays into the fridge to chill again for around 30 minutes until firm (or in the freezer for 10 minutes).

Preheat oven to 160 C (320 F) and cook the cookies until they just start to turn golden, around 15 minutes (less or more depending on cookie size).

Cool on trays for 5 minutes and then carefully lift onto a wire rack to cool completely prior to decorating.

- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 1 week.

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Gateway Muffins - Super easy mix banana muffins

2025-03-22T12:11:00.002+10:00

You will not believe how easy these muffins are. No special equipment or fancy ingredients for the basic mixture and you can pop in any type of add in you like. I first published them on the blog here back in 2014 as raspberry and there is no way to keep track of how often I've made them. The recipe is still almost too good to believe.

If your household is anything like mine, the kids will be eating bananas by the truckload and then all of a sudden stop. It used to drive me crazy but now I don't mind at all, I just make muffins. Also no big deal if you don't have time to cook right now, just peel the banana, wrap them in cling film and pop them into the freezer. When you're ready to cook pull them out defrost and use them, the mushier the better in this case.

Plus they are a gateway muffin to healthy eating and home cooking. They are not actually a health food, but if you have someone who eats too much processed packet foods, chances are you can win them over with these muffins and actually get a bit of hidden fruit into their diet. I sometimes made them with wholemeal (wholewheat) flour and they still taste great.

I made a YouTube video here which is only just over 4 minutes long from start to finish which shows just how fast and easily you can whip up a batch of home made deliciousness.

This is consistently one of the go to recipes I have used over the years. You can have them plain banana or add in chocolate, blueberries, raspberries, pretty much anything at all.

If there is one recipe on the blog I recommend everyone have up their sleeve, it's this one, trust me you won't regret it.

Happy Baking

Linda

Super Easy Mix Banana Muffins

makes 9 muffins. I often make a mix of different muffins by mixing all the ingredients up to the add in stage, scooping the batter into the muffin tins and then adding different add ins so I end up with a mixed variety of muffins. ie 3 blueberry, 3 chocolate and 3 white chocolate and raspberry.

3 very ripe bananas
1 egg
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup oil (I used olive oil)

Optional add ins:

3/4 cup raspberry (fresh or frozen) and 1/4 cup white chocolate;

or 1/2 cup chocolate chips;

or 3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 160C (325F) and line a regular muffin tin with baking papers (you will only need to line 9 of the 12 holes)

In a large bowl using a fork, mash the bananas well.

Add the wet ingredients and mix well.

Add all remaining ingredients except the optional add in's and mix until just combined.

Divide mixture evenly between the 9 paper cases filling up to the top of each cupcake paper.

**Add in extra 'add-ins' at this stage. You can make all one flavour or make a mixture. Some ideas are chocolate chip; raspberry/white choc chip; blueberry. Just push the ingredients into the mixture.

Bake until the top is golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean (around 30 minutes).

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Easy Pistachio Basque Cheesecake Recipe

2025-02-17T20:10:00.005+10:00

I just celebrated my birthday, and with the kids pretty much grown up, finding a night we can all be together to have dinner in between their casual jobs, school, uni and other commitments is a bit tricky.

I was sitting down Friday night working out what day we should organise my dinner and realised that if we didn't do it that Sunday it would be a month again before we would all be together so that's how this cheesecake came to be.

My Chocolate basque cheesecake recipe (click here for link) is one of my go to easy favourites. If you make it in the morning it can actually be served that night. I decided I didn't want the lead up to my birthday to be spent rushing to put together a layer cake and I had already been thinking of changing up my cheesecake recipe to use some of the pistachio cream I had in my fridge and luckily for us it worked out perfectly.

Basque cheesecake is crazy easy to make, my recipe has 5 ingredients plus a pinch of salt and it's just about making sure everything is room temperature and mixed well at a low speed. Even lining the tin is easy just scrunch up baking paper and press it into the tin. It's the ultimate lazy dessert.

I did add an extra step by decorating around the edge with more pistachio cream and chopped pistachios. Just to make it a bit more birthday-ee. But you can totally miss that out and it will be gorgeously burnt and delicious.

I still want to make myself an actual proper layered birthday cake, it will have to wait at least a month but that will give me enough time to come up with some fun ideas.

Happy Baking

Linda

Edit update 2/8/2025 I've popped up a quick YouTube video showing me making the cheesecake. You can pop over to my YouTube channel by clicking HERE :)

Pistachio Basque Cheesecake - there is no extra sugar in this recipe, there is enough in the pistachio cream. Recipe makes a 6" cheesecake which will make 6-8 snack serves. Store in fridge for up to 3 days. Can be frozen wrapped individually in plastic wrap and thawed in the fridge.

450g (16oz) cream cheese at room temperature

300g (10 1/2 oz) pistachio cream

3 eggs room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

225g (8oz) thickened cream (dollop cream) (heavy cream)

good pinch salt

Optional decoration extra pistachio cream around 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts

Line a 6 inch wide by 3 inch high, round baking tin with baking paper. To do this crumple up the paper in your hands and then place over the baking tin and press down I used a spoon to press a line around the bottom rim and then turn the edges over the top rim.

Place cooking rack into middle of oven and preheat to 220 C Fan forced (430F).

Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so the mixture will be silky smooth. Place into mixer bowl and mix at low speed until smooth and creamy. You do not want any lumps at this stage and also we are not trying to incorporate extra air or volume. The room temperature ingredients and slow mixing are key steps.

Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla and mix until well. Continue to scrap down the sides of the bowl until the mixture is completely combined and smooth.

Warm the pistachio cream in the microwave for about 30 seconds until it is fluid but not hot and fold in with a spatula, there should be no lumps and no streaks when you are finished.

Add the thickened cream and salt and mix well.

Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins, increase temperature to 230C (450F) and cook for a further 5 mins.

Turn oven off and allow to cool in oven with door ajar for 15mins.

Put cheesecake into fridge for at lease 4 hours or overnight.

Prior to serving remove from tin and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 mins. If your cheesecake is stuck and you can't get it to release, it's just some of the fats set hard. Run a plastic spatula around the edge between the paper and tin and if it still won't come out pop the base into hot water for a second being careful not to splash the cake and it should easily slide out.

**Optional extra decorating step -after cheesecake is cooled in fridge, immediately on removal from fridge while still chilled.

Remove cheesecake from baking paper and spread a thin layer of pistachio cream around the sides of the cheesecake with an offset spatula or knife.

Place the chopped pistachios on a plate.

Holding the cake by the flat sides roll the pistachio cream covered edges in the chopped pistachios. They will stick to the the pistachio cream.

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own,

Textured Ombre Christmas Tree Macaron and Whipped White Chocolate Pistachio Ganache recipe

2024-12-13T17:33:00.005+10:00

I'm a bit excited because I've recorded a new Youtube video. Oh my goodness, WOW! How much has technology changed in the last 10 years and by the way how fast does time go. Today was a learning curve, and some of the sound is a bit stilted, but new things are always fun and I'm looking forward to making more.

I thought I would jump back into it with some textured ombre Christmas Tree macarons, which is pretty much making up macaron mixture and not properly following through with the macaronage.

Which actually makes the whole process easier because no stopping and starting and counting out to see if the mixture is sinking back so it will make perfect shiny shells that won't collapse.

If you haven't made macarons before it might be a good place to start. I've used my regular macaron batter and piped the Christmas trees using Wilton petal tips 103 and 104 and then decorating with some royal icing.

I made the macarons in pink and green ombre which just means that they graduated from light to dark in the same shade. It would take a few steps out if you made them all the same colour and didn't decorate them and they look just as impressive.

The green macarons were filled with a delicious whipped pistachio ganache which I recommend, even if you decide not to make textured macarons (recipe below).

Happy Baking XX

Linda M

Macaron Recipe- Macarons should be filled a day prior to consuming and can be stored in fridge for a week. Filled and undecorated macarons can be wrapped in lots of 3-5 in plastic wrap, placed in an airtight container and frozen for a month.

190 gram (6 5/8 oz)almond meal (almond flour) blanched 190 gram pure icing sugar (6 5/8 oz powdered sugar) 190 gram granulated sugar (6 5/8 oz) 1 tsp powdered egg white (optional) 48 grams water (1 5/8 oz) 140 gram egg whites aged split into 2 lots of 70grams each (5 oz split into 2 lots of 2 1/2oz each) food color of choice 1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Put 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of the egg whites in a bowl but don’t mix in yet. 2. Place remaining 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk. 3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118C (245 F). Brush down the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water as required to avoid the sugar crystallizing. Once the mixture reaches 115C (240 F) start mixing the egg whites on high. Make sure you have a pouring shield on your mixer, when the sugar syrup reaches 118C (245 F)remove from heat and immediately pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on high. 4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C (120 F). 5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and add in extra egg whites and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it is just combined. 6. Split into 3 bowls with about 1/2 cup batter in one bowl, 1 cup in another and leave the remainder in the mixing bowl, then add colour to each bowl as desired making sure to not overmix. 7. Put each seperate colour into a piping bag fitted with a 103 or 104 petal tip. Line a tray with non stick baking paper or a silicone mat and using the darkest colour pipe a row with about 5 ruffles then another row with 4 ruffles, switch to the next lightest colour and pipe 3 ruffles and finally pipe a top swirl with the lightest colour.

Link to pink silicone mat AUSTRALIA AMAZON or US AMAZON

8. Allow to rest for 20 mins until the surface of macaron is just dry to touch and then bake at 135C (275 F) for 20 mins or until the tops of the macron is firm and does not jiggle when lightly pushed from the side. 9. Allow to cool and fill, I filled the green trees with Whipped White Chocolate Pistachio Ganache with a wilton open star tip, try tips 18 or 21.

Pistachio Ganache - I used Pisti pistachio cream I picked up at Costco here in Australia you can get it here on CLICK HERE FOR PISTACHIO PASTE AMAZON AUSTRALIA

or in US CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO AMAZON PISTACHIO PASTE

300g white chocolate

100g cream

80g pistachio paste

optional drop green food colour (I used eucalypt)

- heat the pistachio paste for 20-30 seconds to warm it, set aside until needed.

- mix together the white chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat at hight for 1 minute, allow to sit for 1 minute and mix until smooth, if there are still lumps that have melted, heat for another minute and mix until smooth.

- add the pistachio paste to the white chocolate ganache mixture and mix until smooth, add food colour if required,

- allow to cool then whip to make a lighter airier consistency once it has set.

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog by Linda Mccubbin. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own,

Soft Gingerbread Christmas Honey Jumbles

2024-12-02T14:01:00.004+10:00

Every year I am surprised when December comes around and I'm caught out by not organising my Christmas baking better. In fact I feel every year I might become even more disorganised.

I did move a number of years back from a house where I had a dedicated cake and crafting room to a smaller house where I need to pack away everything into separate rooms and cupboards each time I finish and clean up. Getting ready for a day of baking sometimes takes me an hour as I source all my equipment. I am trying at the moment to scale down and get rid of some superfluous items but it is much easier said than done. Instead of achieving a sleek streamlined kitchen, I have just accumulated a number of blogs and instagram accounts I follow that tell me how to do it.

Plus if I achieve my minimalist dream how would I have stuff like this adorable Christmas Greengate Deer to pop in my photo's.

Anyhoo, back to Christmas baking, and today I'm sharing a spiced up version of Honey Jumbles which is an Australian Biscuit (cookie) which was sold in supermarkets but discontinued a few years back. This basically turns an iconic Australian treat into a soft delicious fragrant gingerbread cookie.

One of the key swap outs is golden syrup for honey which gives a richer flavour. If you are in the US you can buy Golden Syrup on amazon (Tate & Lyle GoldenSyrup) or substitute dark corn syrup or a mix of half honey/ half molasses. Or in a pinch just use honey and you will still have a delicious cookie.

I've added some sweet fondant holly decorations made with a press out cutter/embosser for a simple pretty pastel Christmas theme. Click here for a link to holly cutter (AMAZON USA). You could easily leave off the decoration or use Christmas coloured sprinkles or decorations picked up at the local supermarket.

Happy Baking XX

Linda M

Honey Jumbles makes 10 - (Honey Jumbles were a cookie/biscuit sold by Arnott's Australia and discontinued. This is a soft gingerbread version.) Recipe can be doubled and will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or on the counter for 3 days.

40 g (1 3/8 oz) Unsalted Butter (if you use salted butter omit the salt added below)

1/4 cup (125g or 4 3/8 oz) Golden Syrup (can substitute dark corn syrup or a mix of honey and molasses)

3/4 cup (115g or 4oz) - Plain / All Purpose Flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground all spice

1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda (baking soda)

1/8 tsp salt

Icing (recipe for glaze icing below)

Melt butter and syrup until butter is just melted and mix to combine either in a saucepan over low heat or in microwave using short 20 second bursts.

Sift in all the dry ingredients and mix until combined and no lumps are visable.

Pop into fridge to chill for 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 170 C (340 F) fan forced. Dust counter lightly with flour, remove dough from fridge and give it a quick kneed to make it pliable.

Shape into 10 logs to place on baking tray, you can either do this by cutting the dough into two equal amounts, rolling each into a log about 35cm length and then cutting into 5 equal pieces around 7cm long.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, allow to cool for 5 mins on tray and transfer to cooling rack.

Once cool you can mix up some icing to decorate by simply dipping the cookies into the icing. Add decorations if you like.

Simple Egg Free Glaze icing I sometimes use royal icing for these cookies but here I have used a simple glaze icing. The icing was best after a day when it had set hard, but was still soft to bite through. Recipe will actually make enough for a double of the cookies.

1 cup sifted Icing sugar (powdered sugar)

3 tsp boiling hot water

2 tsp corn syrup (or honey)

1/2 tsp colourless vanilla essence

food colour as desired.

Mix together ingredients

I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. All posts contain original ideas, photography and recipes by Linda McCubbin unless otherwise credited. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes.

Chocolate Basque Baked Cheesecake Recipe

2024-11-27T16:22:00.005+10:00

Growing up I lived about 50 metres down the road from a cheesecake shop (although not THAT cheesecake shop) and they would sell half cheesecakes which my mum would sometimes get us as a treat. My favourite was the baked cheesecake topped with a layer of jelly/jello set with blueberries. Oh how I loved those cheesecakes.

Actually now that I am telling you about it, I am thinking I should try and recreate it. But this story is not about my childhood cheesecake it is about chocolate Basque baked cheesecake.

About a year ago we found a dessert restaurant a few suburbs over that makes on site delicious gelato and Basque cheesecakes. They use good quality ingredients, which I am sure of as I am a little bit of a food stalker and I peer into their stock room and check out what they use.

But alas for me (although happily for them) they seem to be very busy and every time we go now they are devastatingly out of my favourite chocolate Basque cheesecake.

Luckily baking is what I do so I decided to make my own and now I have cheesecake when ever I want and my only problem is that I eat way too much cheesecake. As a solution I have been making smaller cakes and the recipe below is for a 6" cake which is a lovely size if you have just a few people to serve.

(note the cheesecake in these pictures is only 4"

because I am trying to eat less cheesecake)

Basque cheesecake differs from regular baked cheesecake as it is has no biscuit base and is cooked at a high temperature which results in a dark top and creamy centre. It is important to cool the cheesecake for enough time for the middle to set, at least 4 hours for this recipe but preferably overnight.

Happy Baking

Linda

Chocolate Basque Cheesecake - makes a 6" cheesecake which will make 6-8 snack serves. I like to serve mine with cherries which is a lovely contrast to the velvety chocolate cheesecake. I use a good quality chocolate like Callebaut. Cheesecake slices can frozen wrapped individually in plastic wrap and thawed in the fridge.

450g (16oz) cream cheese at room temperature

200g (7 oz) dark chocolate melted

100g (3 1/2 oz) caster/ superfine sugar (use regular granulated sugar if that's all you have)

10g (4 tablespoons) cocoa sifted

3 eggs room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

225g (8oz) thickened cream (dollop cream) (heavy cream)

good pinch salt

Place cooking rack into middle of oven and preheat to 220 C Fan forced (430F).

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe dish. I melted mine for 2 mins at 60%, stirred and then another 2 mins. Alternatively if you only have high setting heat for 20sec intervals stirring between each burst and being careful not to overheat. Set aside until needed.

Sift together the caster sugar and cocoa to ensure there are no lumps.

Scrap down the sides of the bowl add the caster sugar and cocoa and mix at slow speed. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla and mix until well. Continue to scrap down the sides of the bowl until the mixture is completely combined and smooth.

Add the melted dark chocolate and fold in with a spatula, there should be no lumps and no streaks when you are finished.

Add the thickened cream and salt and mix well.

Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins, increase temperature to 230C (450F) and cook for a further 5 mins.

Turn oven off and allow to cool in oven with door ajar for 15mins.

Put cheesecake into fridge for at lease 4 hours or overnight.

Ring of Roses Strawberry Layer Cake

2024-11-16T09:09:00.011+10:00

It's just been our birthday time of the year when we are lucky enough to celebrate a birthday every month, and no matter what ever else happens in life or how old we are, Birthday Cake is always a must.

Bubble's birthday is the first off the rank and she chose strawberry cake which has been a family favourite since as long as I can remember. It is a pretty pink cake flavoured and coloured using jelly crystals (jell-o box) which makes for a consistent cake all year round. My family recipe has had a few tweaks over the years so I've included the current recipe below.

The birthday girl decreed only a small amount of frosting. I decorated simply by covering with Italian Meringue buttercream (recipe below), adding some texture with varying shades of contrasting buttercream and edible gold and added a ring of big sweeping rose swirls on top using a 1M tip alternating between pink and white and then with random piped leaves. The pink colour is sugar flair dusky pink/wine and the green is sugar flair eucalyptus. Italian Meringue buttercream uses whipped egg whites and a sugar syrup and takes a bit more work than simple American buttercream. I like to use it as it is lighter and less sweet to my taste.

To give the cake a bit of a lift I added pistachio cream between each layer, which to be honest, although nice was not really worth the effort (**keep your eyes out for a pistachio ganache recipe I have coming up which will be worth the wait). The pistachio cream was from Costco but seriously you can just leave it out and the cake will be just as lovely.

If you want to see another version of this strawberry cake decorated in a different way check out this sweet strawberry candy girl cake here on my blog.

Linda

Pretty rose swirl strawberry cake - makes a 6 inch 3 layer cake

- 3 x 6" strawberry cakes (see recipe below)

- 1 x batch Italian Meringue buttercream (see recipe below)

- 1 cup Pistachio cream (optional) warmed in microwave just for a short time until it easily is spreadable but not hot.

Assembly Instructions

You can make this cake 2 or 3 days before you serve. Bake the cake, cool and wrap in plastic wrap. I trim the brown edges off this cake but you don't need to, I do it because I like the look of the sliced cake. You will however need to trim off any domed top to make 3 cakes approximately the same height.

-Place the bottom layer onto a 6"cake board (or straight onto a plate or stand if you are not using the cake board).

-Pop a small dollop of buttercream under the cake to secure it in place and then using an offset spatula spread a layer of buttercream over the top.

-Put some buttercream into a piping bag wth a large round tip and pipe a dam around the edge of the cake (see picture below). Spoon in half the pistachio cream and pop into fridge to chill until buttercream is firm.

- Remove from fridge and top with a thin layer of buttercream to seal the pistachio cream. Add the next layer and repeat the above steps of spreading a layer of buttercream, piping a dam, adding the pistachio cream and placing in fridge to chill again.

- Remove from fridge, top with a thin layer of buttercream to seal the pistachio cream, add the final cake layer and cover with a thin crumb coat, smoothing the sides and top. Place into fridge to chill until buttercream is firm to touch.

- Reserve around 1 1/2 cups plain white buttercream and colour the remainder in pink.

- smooth the pink buttercream over the cake in a thin layer, if you can't get it perfect do not stress, this cake has an imperfect textured look to it. If you have a cake turntable and a cake scraper it is easier to achieve a smooth finish, but if not use a knife or offset spatula to the best of your ability. I have been known to use a clean plastic ruler in a pinch.

- Put the remaining pink and the white buttercream into seperate piping bags with a 1M tip and pipe the roses. If you look at my cake closely you will notice that there are only 3 pink swirls and 5 white swirls, with some pink stars piped in-between. The key here is to do what you want, it's your cake be creative. I also piped a border around the bottom with a small star tip. Then I coloured a small amount of the remaining white buttercream green (eucalypt) and piped the leaves. Pop into fridge to chill until firm.

I wanted a rustic casual look and added some of the left over buttercream to the sides randomly and smoothed it in with an offset spatula. Finally after another quick chill I added some edible gold leaf.

Sweet Strawberry Layer Cake (divide the batter into 3 x 6" pans to make a 4" high filled cake)
The jelly (jello) used in this recipe is the dry sugar crystals in the packet. If cake flour is not available use 310g (11 oz) plain (all purpose) flour and add 40g (1 3/8 oz)of cornflour (corn starch) instead.
*Note I like to use weight instead of cup measurements as standard cup sizes are not the same in USA and Australia.

350g (12 3/8oz) cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
200g (7oz) sugar
1 packet strawberry jelly crystals (jell-o) 85g (3oz approx)
225g (8 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
240ml (8 1/2oz) full fat milk
135g (4 3/4oz) no fat greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 170 C (340 F) fan forced. Line the base and sides of 3 x 15cm (6") tins or 2 x 20cm 8" tins.

Sift the flour and baking powder and set aside until needed.

In the bowl of a large mixer at high speed cream together the butter, sugar and jelly (jello) crystals until light and fluffy.

Reduce speed to low and add the vanilla and then eggs one at a time mixing until combined and scraping down the sides as required.

Add 1/3rd of the flour mixture, mix at low speed until just combined scraping down sides as required. Add 1/2 the milk and mix until combined and then another 1/3rd of the flour mixture once again mixing and scraping down the sides.

Add the remaining milk and all of the yogurt and mix until combined and then the final third of flour making sure the sides and bottom of bowl have been scraped down and no lumps of flour are remaining.

Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins.

Bake until the cake is cooked all the way through and a skewer inserted comes out dry approximately 45 minutes.

Italian Meringue Butter cream This batch will make enough to fill and cover the cake and extra to decorate with buttercream flowers as in the example.

Make sure your bowl and mixer are clean to whip egg whites. I use a stand mixer with a pouring shield to make this butter cream, the sugar syrup is very hot, make sure you take appropriate safety precautions when pouring the hot sugar syrup mixture. Not suitable for young children to make.

300g white sugar (12oz)
75g (2 3/4oz) water
5 egg whites
450g (1 pound - 4 sticks) unsalted butter cut into smallish cubes
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place sugar and water into saucepan over high heat and bring to boil. Conintue to heat until the sugar syrup mixture reaches 115 C (240F). Brush down the the sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush as required to stop sugar crystals from forming.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer (make sure the bowl is quite large). When the sugar syrup reaches 110C (210F) start to whip the egg whites at high speed.

Once the sugar syrup reaches 115C (240 F) carefully pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites whilst the mixer is still beating on high.

Continue to beat until the egg and sugar mixture cooled to room temperature (or the bowl feels cool to touch) and then start to add a few cubes of butter at a time. Add the vanilla.

The mixture may become quite liquid, but continue to beat until it thickens and all the butter is evenly distributed. If necessary pop the mixing bowl into the fridge to cool down a little then continue to mix.

Raspberry Heart Linzer cookies

2022-10-24T15:30:00.008+10:00

One of the things about owning a cafe was I rarely found enough time to blog or develop new recipes. Once customers found something they liked, I would be churning out the same cookies day after day. I can't call it a problem though as these Linzer cookies were always super popular and often sold out.

The cookies are lovely, buttery but still manage to be light with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon and once filled are not overly sweet and the perfect treat to have with afternoon coffee or tea.

At the cafe they were filled with raspberry jam or lemon curd (raspberry was the biggest seller) and at Christmas we would change the heart cut out to a mini Christmas tree.

The cookie recipe calls for Almond Meal which is simply ground almonds. I actually often buy my almond meal from Costco and find it to be of good quality, I prefer the one with the skins removed but if you can only find ground almond still with their skin on the recipe would still work.

If you like you can freeze the dough in smaller batches before baking if you like, although I did scale my recipe back for you to make a smaller batch than I normally would.

The cookies can be stored for a few days, but I find them best if stored without the jam filling and then filled not long before you plan on eating them.

*I usually pop the unused egg whites into a ziplock bag in the freezer to use later to make meringue or macarons.

The dough is quite buttery so make sure you use the kitchen bench and rolling pin well with flour. I use an offset metal spatula to lift the cookies onto my baking tray.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family and friends do.

Linda

Linzer Cookie Recipe makes 16-18 double cookies filled with jam (7cm or 2 3/4")

170g unsalted butter (6oz) 1 1/2 sticks

100g caster sugar (3 1/2 oz)

1tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 egg yolk

160g plain flour (5 5/8 oz)

75g ground almond meal (2 5/8 oz)

pinch salt

To finish

around 1/2 cup raspberry jam

icing sugar (powdered sugar) for dusting

Mix butter, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon on low until combined with an electric mixer (I use a stand mixer) then increase speed to high and cream until light and fluffy.

reduce speed of mixer to medium low and mix in egg yolk until combined. Scrap down the sides with a spatula as needed.

At low speed mix in the flour, almond meal and salt and mix until combined.

Put some plastic wrap on the counter, tip the cookie dough onto the plastic, wrap securely and pop in the refrigerator until it's firm enough to work with.

Dust counter and rolling pin with flour, cut away 1/4 of the dough and roll out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut out circles and place on baking tray.

Try cutters like this from Amazon (link to product)

On half of the circles cut out/remove a smaller heart shape in the centre as per the picture.

Bake at 160 C for 12-15 mins or until just turning golden. Allow to cool on trays.

Split the cooked and cooled cookies into 2 lots, the whole round cookies and the cookies with hearts cut out. Using a sieve, dust icing sugar (powdered sugar) onto the heart cut out cookies.

Place the whole circle cookies so the bottoms are facing up (the side that was on the bottom during cooking). Heat the jam in the microwave and then spoon 1/2 to 1 tsp jam on each round cookie and spread almost to the edge with a knife or spatula. Press the sugar dusted heart cookie on top of the jam.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Walnut caramel coffee slice, new beginnings and learning to breathe

2022-10-17T12:01:00.005+10:00

Wow what happened there, I took a little break to run a cafe, blinked and there went 6 years. For real that just flew by.

Note to self, live every moment. I know you all learnt this a few years ago when COVID happened and everything shut down. But that's not what happened to me. Because I owned a cafe in Australia so I got up every single day put on a mask and went to work to keep that cafe running, do the admin, pay the staff so that hopefully there was still a cafe at the end of it all.

And then after 2 years came the end of restrictions, which was soul destroying because there was no way for the me to keep the cafe going.

Anyhoo I learnt a long time ago that endings are really just beginnings and I'm grateful for all the lessons I learnt, skills I gained and all the wonderful friends I made.

So I'm taking a little bit of time at the moment to focus on my health and my family. I'm working in a low stress job, focusing on some yoga training and learning to breath again.

And I'm blogging, because it's something I've always loved. But whoa everything's changed (but me) and it's taking me a little while to learn how to do everything.

So......like I said I owned a cafe in the suburb where I grew up. It was pretty old school and the people that came there were the sweetest bunch of people. It used to feel like inviting my friends over to my breakfast table, it wasn't fancy and everyone knew everyone else.

This is one of the cafe OG recipes, a simple old fashioned condensed milk 'caramel' slice. The staff used to bake this on site in the oven. We served it topped it with some walnuts but it's just as lovely plain if you prefer or drizzled with a little chocolate.

It's almost the opposite to the current crazes of fancy big cookie recipes out at the moment, it's so simple, you can eat a piece and still fit in your lunch. Plus it's perfect to freeze and you can slice it up after baking, freeze individual slices and pull out a piece to have for your afternoon tea or pop in your lunch bag.

xx Linda

Walnut Caramel Slice (makes 12 pieces)

Base

1 cup self raising flour

1 cup desiccate coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

125g melted unsalted butter (4 oz)

Caramel Layer

1 tin condensed milk

2 Tbsp golden syrup (US 2 TBSP plus 2 Tsp)

25g unsalted butter (7/8 oz)

Topping

1 cup chopped walnuts *I used 12 halves, you can substitute with pecans or drizzled chocolate

- grease (I lightly spray oil) and line a shallow rectangle baking tin (mine was27.5cm X 17.5cm X 3.5cm or 11" X 7" X 1.5 ") with baking paper and preheat oven to 180 C (355 F).

This is a link to the pan I used on Amazon

- pop the flour, coconut, brown sugar and melted butter into a bowl and mix together well to combine.

- press the mixture down evenly into the prepared baking tin.

- place in middle of preheated oven and bake for 10 - 12 mins until it's golden brown.

- remove from oven and while it's cooling make the caramel (don't turn the oven off you still need it). *note if you don't let the base layer cool a little bit at this stage the condensed milk caramel layer will sink into it and not spread as well.

Make the caramel layer

- place condensed milk, golden syrup and butter into a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 1 minute, mix well.

-Continue to microwave for 30 second bursts until a light golden colour and the mixture has thickened a little like the picture below. Don't go too far it's still got to cook for a little bit in the oven. Usually a total of 2 mins (thats 4 X 30 second bursts).

Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the cooked and slightly cooled base and bake for a further 10 -12 minutes the edges will bubble and start to turn brown. See picture of the finished slices to see what it should look like.

Remove from oven, if you are topping with walnuts gently sprinkle onto the top ensuring you do not touch the hot caramel

Allow to cool for a few hours until the caramel is set (you can place in the fridge for a few hours to speed the process up)

Cut into 12 pieces (4 along the long side and 3 on the short). Keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.

This slice can be frozen whole wrapped in plastic and placed in an airtight container for 1 month. Or sliced and wrapped into individual pieces in an airtight container. Just take out what you need from the freezer and allow to defrost in the fridge.

Ruby Rosewater Macarons

2018-09-24T19:51:00.001+10:00

So it's here......the 4th chocolate Ruby Chocolate or RB1 Callebaut has been released in Australia and it's pink.

PINK I tell you.

Yup all it took to bring me back from blogging hiatus is pink chocolate.

Now I know there has been a little bit of instahype surrounding RB1 in Australia and who can really blame anyone. Pink chocolate is always instaworthy.

But does it live up to the hype?

Hiya ruby chocolate.
Teacup, cutlery and tea strainer all Cristina Rae

To try it out I had a little bit of a taste test with my friend and her daughter a few nights ago. I did up a plate with some Callebaut white, dark, RB1 and some Lindt milk.

Truth is no one picked the Ruby as their favourite on the night but to be fair I had just had Indian food delivered before hand and I don't think we started off with the clearest palate.

So I've just tried it again and it's not bad and I think maybe it's even pretty good. Kinda not what I expected at first but it is growing on me. As described it is fruity and it has the lovely Callebaut texture that makes that brand my go to for white and dark chocolate.

To celebrate this new chocolate I've been in my kitchen creating and decided to start of with macarons 'cause they are kinda my thing.

Picture from my instagram feed

The shells are are a plain french almond macaron and the filling is a whipped ruby chocolate ganache buttercream with a touch of rose. Due to whipping the ganache and the addition of butter and sugar the RB1 chocolate flavour which is not overly robust does not really shine through as much as it could. If you want the full ruby chocolate flavour experience I recommend making a regular ganache (ratio 3 parts chocolate 1 part cream).

I've decorated mine with a little bit of piped ganache, a strawberry crisp (which is like a strawberry whopper) and a gold soft pearl.

If you don't have any ruby chocolate handy you can substitute white chocolate and they would still be just as lovely.

Linda Vandermeer-McCubbin is a blogger, baker and author of the Children's cookbook Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! Published in 2011 the book is still available online.

Ruby Rosewater Macarons (makes approx 30 filled macarons)

Fill the shells with the filling (included after recipe for shells) at least 1 day before you serve to get the correct consistency. Store in an airtight container in fridge and then bring to room temperature about 30 minutes prior to serving.

190 gram (6 5/8 oz)almond meal (almond flour)
190 gram pure icing sugar (6 5/8 oz powdered sugar)
190 gram granulated sugar (6 5/8 oz)
48 grams water (1 5/8 oz)
140 gram egg whites aged split into 2 lots of 70grams each (5 oz split into 2 lots of 2 1/2oz each)*
pink food colour ice (I use gel type food color like Wilton)

*ageing egg whites refers to separating the yolks from whites and then leaving the whites to age for a few days. This can be done on the counter if your countries climate permits or in the fridge, wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and then pop a few holes in the top. Alternately you can pop fresh egg whites in the microwave on high for 10 seconds or so - I used the microwave method in this batch pictured.

1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add colour and 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

2. Place remaining 70g (2 1/2 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118C (245 F). Brush down the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water as required to avoid the sugar crystallizing. Once the mixture reaches 115C (240 F) start mixing the egg whites on high. Make sure you have a pouring shield on your mixer, when the sugar syrup reaches 118C (245 F)remove from heat and immediately pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on high.

4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C (120 F).

5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms a ribbon that disappears back into the mixture after about 20 seconds.

6. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (or just cut the end of a disposable piping bag, that's what I do) and pipe in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one.

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin so that the macaron mixture does not stick to your finger when gently touched. If the weather is humid this step may take longer up to 2 hours. I pop on the aircon if it's humid at my house.

8. Meanwhile preheat oven to 140C (285 F)#. Once ready bake the macaroons for around 13 to 15 minutes depending on size, it may take longer, all ovens are different. If they are baked and you gently push on the side the tops will not move, if the tops do move do bake for another minute or 2. Also they should not be browned if they are reduce the heat for the next batch or bake for less time.

9. Once baked remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

10. Once cooled match disks into like sizes and sandwich together using the ganache.

# The recipe stipulates 140 C however my new house and kitchen I used the fan forced option at 130C (265 F) and it worked out lovely.

Ruby rose whipped ganache buttercream
I used a Wilton closed star tip 31 to pipe and decorate

240g (8 1/2 oz) RB1 chocolate (Callebaut Ruby Chocolate)
80g (2 3/4 oz)cream
50g (1 3/4 oz which is just under 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 Tbsp rose water (or to taste)
generous pinch salt flakes

Heat cream and add to chocolate, allow to sit a few minutes and then gently whisk until smooth. Cool until nearly set.

Add ganache and remaining ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until light and fluffy.

I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. All posts contain original ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer-McCubbin unless otherwise credited. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

This is how we do - Book Week

2016-08-07T18:33:00.000+10:00

We love book week here, pretty much because we love books. Our school has wonderful library staff whom we adore and a morning reading club which we have always attended.

Plus my kids love dressing up so book week is a no brainer.

We try to follow a rule of not buying shop bought costumes or spending a heap of money which is kinda hard because I can not sew and also because I am pretty much craftless. I have mentioned before how I can not use a hot glue gun without sticking my fingers together (true story every single time).

So I need to be extra creative, and my kids have to have a bit of a sense of adventure.

One year I sent Bubble as the paper bag princess in a huge brown paper sugar bag. On the morning of the parade I was emptying sugar into big containers and cutting holes out for the arms and neck. Some messy hair a bit of eye shadow 'soot' and a tiara and we had a perfect costume.

Sweet was the little mermaid using a costume my sister had made for a birthday party and some red hairspray.

Paper bag Princess and The Little Mermaid.

Bubble was reluctant to get out of the car but in the end she loved it.

Another year The Destroyer went as the saucepan man from The Faraway Tree. Luckily all my saucepans came home intact.

Have saucepans in the kitchen ........hello no cost costume.

Bubble's grade 1 costume was Fancy Nancy, changed the morning of the parade from another costume I had all ready to go. However at the time she pretty much was Fancy Nancy so we had no difficulty at all in rustling up a costume in 15 minutes. She even wore an old pair of my high heels just like the cover of the book. The other kids were completely in awe of her red heels.

Fancy Nancy, the other kids were not even at school,

but seriously who misses a change to get dressed up. Not us that's for sure :)

Last year Bubble decided not to participate and I made an Alice in Wonderland stuck in the white rabbit's house costume for Sweet. A few days before the parade Bubble changed her mind and I had to come up with another costume. Luckily Sweet's favourtie book at the time was Thelma the Unicorn and I had the cutest Puddle Duckling unicorn flower horn that I already had ordered just because they are amazingly gorgeous.

I popped down to the discount stores and bought 2 wigs and used one for her mane and one for her tail. I cut up some pink sparkly cardboard and stapled them around her hands and legs for quick diy 'hooves' added a bit of face paint and she was the cutest unicorn around.

Thelma the Unicorn costume - Flower unicorn crown from Puddle Duckling

The Destroyer had decided to go as the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. During the week I hand painted a cardboard clock. He popped on his suit and we found some ears and a bow tie in our dress up box. A little bit of white face paint, pink nose, white hair spray and some whiskers and he was ready to go.

White Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland, that is a kinda embarrassed smile as there were quite a few kids gathering around by this stage.

The Alice in Wonderland costume was of course the one I spent the most time on. But it was completely free using stuff I already had on hand. The box was something I had received in the mail, I used the kids paints and the dress was an old princess dress from our dress up box. I was a bit super proud of it considering I'm not really that good at craft.

I've put my thinking cap on for this year and I am trying to come up with some fun ideas for the kids. Let me know if your have any good inexpensive ideas.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, mother, owner of The Biscuit Cafe and author of the children's cookbook Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! Published in the US in 2011 the book is still available online at Amazon and other online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog

I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. All posts contain original ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer-McCubbin unless otherwise credited. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes.

Chocolate macarons and last chance to win nestle giveaway

2016-07-31T14:29:00.001+10:00

I've started to bake macarons again and it's taking a little bit of getting used to. In my old kitchen I could whip out a batch of perfect macs with next to no thought or effort, but at the moment sharing a kitchen and with a different oven than I am used to I find that the little distractions impact my final result.

This batch I forgot to add in my egg whites with the almond and icing sugar, I was mixing away and after a few seconds I realised it was quite thick and I was not going to achieve the correct consistency. Just a touch too late I remembered my extra egg whites, and although I added them in I found the mixture was a little bit too bubbly.

Although they were ok, I just wasn't completely happy with them. The crisp outside was a little bit too thin for my tastes and the feet collapsed a little.

But to tell the truth I did find them more like a well known french patisserie so perhaps I am onto something ;)

You can use Nestle Bakers Choice chocolate chunks to add into your ganache to fill the macarons and you can dust the macarons with a little bit of cocoa like mine to get the same rustic look. Click HERE for my macaron recipe if you would like to make your own.

Also remember there is still one more day let for the #BakeItYours #NestleBakersChoice giveaway. You can enter for free in my rafflecopter giveaway below. Entry for Australian residents only over 18 years of age.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

White Chocolate and Caramel Brownie Recipe

2016-07-24T18:59:00.002+10:00

White Chocolate and Caramel Brownies - recipe below

I'm back home living with my parents whilst my new house undergoes some renovations.

So when I received a box of goodies from Nestle to join in the #Bakeityours challenge instead of reaching for the chocolate like I normally would I decided to make something with white chocolate and add in one of my dad's favourite lollies Jersey Caramels to come up with a treat he would appreciate.

The resulting brownies were dense and a little chewy which I liked and quite sweet. I think they improved after a day losing some of the initial sweetness and impving in texture.

Anyway onto the reason Nestle sent out the box of goodies is to let y'all know they have a new Nestle Bakers' Choice range. I like the suggestions on the front of the packets that say things like 'for coating and decorating' or 'for adding and pouring' and found the white chocolate to be quite a nice creamy texture which melted quite easily.

White Chocolate and Caramel Brownies
(makes 12 store in air tight container in fridge for up to 3 days) Wilton 195 piping tip used for decorating.

150 g ( 5 1/4 oz) butter
200 g ( 7 oz) white chocolate
3 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 2/3 cup plain flour
220 g (7 3/4 oz) Jersey Caramels chopped
Whipped jersey caramel topping (see below)
6 Jersey Caramels cut into half extra for decorating

Line a rectangle slice tray approx 18cm x 28cm ( 7" x 11") with baking paper

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F)

Melt butter and white chocolate in a microwave safe dish for 2 minutes on medium low heat. Mix (the mixture will not be soft yet) and then heat for another 2 minutes at medium low heat. Whisk until no lumps remain.

Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until just combined.

Fold through the flour and then the jersey caramels and spread the mixture into the prepared tray.

Bake for 30 minutes until the brownie is golden and cooked through in the middle.

Cut into triangles and pipe a dollop of whipped ganache into the middle of each brownie and top with half a jersey caramel.

Jersey Caramel whipped ganache topping

5 jersey caramels
1/2 tsp water
100 g (3 1/2 oz) white choc
25 g (7/8oz) cream

Melt the jersey caramels and water for 60 seconds at low rest and stir and then heat for another 60 seconds in the microwave and mix until smooth.

Melt the white chocolate and cream together at medium low heat 2 minutes and mix until smooth. Add in the melted caramel mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

Whip with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, mother, owner of The Biscuit Cafe and author of the children's cookbook Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! Published in the US in 2011 the book is still available online at Amazon and other online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog

I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. All posts contain original ideas, photography* and recipes by Linda Vandermeer-McCubbin unless otherwise credited. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes.

I was sent a box of nestle product to assist in the development of recipes for this blog post. No sponsorship or financial incentive was received.

Islands in my dreams that is what they are

2016-07-17T18:36:00.001+10:00

I'm dreaming of kitchen islands in the new house.

I've been pinning my self silly with pictures of white light New Hampton style kitchens and sending them to the kitchen designer.

*not my kitchen this is from my pintrest board CLICK HERE for my Kitchen Island pintrest board

We can do it if I want...... if I have the money and time but that is where I'm falling a teensy bit short at the moment.

Also I am short a lifestyle when my whole life can be on display as I have a real family with active kids and while I like the idea of walking into the house and seeing my amazing kitchen and beautiful living area, the reality will be piles of school shoes, bags and sporting equipment if I don't plan storage accordingly.

Anyhoo that is the subtle but totally worthwhile advice I got from the kitchen designer when we met on site to measure up the space. She came up with some great ideas for a beautiful kitchen with an island which included removing walls and opening up the whole space.

It sounded ah-mazing! Exactly what I wanted for my pin-perfect new house.

But I own a cafe now and I don't have time to run around and make sure the house is camera ready and truthfully I never did, only 2 rooms in the old house ever looked that way most of the time.

So some compromise is going to have to occur.

A few different versions have been drawn up for the new kitchen but in the meantime I'll keep on island dreaming.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, mother, owner of The Biscuit Cafe and author of the children's cookbook Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! Published in the US in 2011 the book is still available online at Amazon and other online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog

I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. All posts contain original ideas, photography* and recipes by Linda Vandermeer-McCubbin unless otherwise credited. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes.

*this post does not contain my original photography, I have provided a link to the source.