New job cupcakes

A few months ago I started a new job. After over 5 amazing years working for a performing arts venue, as well as about 3 years before that working with other performing arts companies, it was time for a change.

I was ready to step into a new role. I was ready for more responsibility. I was ready to take on the challenges of a new industry. Well, kind of a new industry, I was only stepping over into visual arts, where I guess you could say the performance occurs on the canvas instead of a stage. Either way, it was new.

In the interview it came up that I could bake… not really sure how, I guess I weaved it in there to “sweeten” the deal. But after starting and focusing all my energy on figuring out what I was doing, I was too drain too try and impress with my bake prowess. Every time we had a morning tea, and there seemed to be one almost every week, I either had a function or something on the night before and couldn’t make anything. A few months went by until I finally showed I could produce the goods. And that came in the form of my fresh strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing and (to make things extra special) lime zest AND edible glitter. I think the whole office was taken by the edible glitter, it was all anyone could talk about. And to make things even better, I could tell who had eaten my cupcakes as a few specks of glitter could be seen on their faces. Success!

Happy Easter...

... and happy 4 days off work. Four days isn't much of a break, you couldn't really call it a holiday, but it's enough time to spend with your family - the one you're born into and the one you choose. I'm very lucky that both my "families" are great, so was wonderful to spend quality time with them this seasonal break. On Friday my bestie was in town for a day (they live in Tassie now), so myself and the other bestie got to catch up with her, have lunch and drink a bit too much alcohol. As I was always taught by my "original" family, when invited to someone's house, bring something to share. So that's what I did, and of course, with Easter flare.

Oozing with caramel

It's baking time with my little boy again. I asked him on the weekend what we should bake. His first response - CHOCOLATE CAKE! He then got the cookbook we used last time and pointed out the chocolate mudcake we made. Wanting to mix things up slightly, I told him we'd make some chocolate cupcakes instead. Not wanting to be boring, I decided to take them a step further and make a caramel for the centre and frosting. The result was an oozing caramel from the centre and icing of the cupcakes.

I love these afternoons with my little boy. It's a great way for us to do something together and get our hands dirty. He loves to help mix and add things to the bowl, and his favourite part has to be licking the beaters and spoon (and if he can, the bowl) when we're finished!

I did leave a few cupcakes without caramel centres for my sons lunchbox. I didn't want him jumping off the walls at daycare and coming home in a horrid mode (moreso than usual). A success all round!

Moving sucks, cupcakes don't!

My brother and his girlfriend are in the process of moving house. Everyone knows moving sucks. Packing everything and making sure it gets from one place to the other safely is not fun, especially when you have been living in said place for many years and have accumulated many unneeded items. I wouldn't call my brother a hoarder... because he's not, but he does have a lot of books, DVDs and "stuff". To make it worse, my parents recently cleaned out our old bedrooms and made him take a lot of his old things (better known as crap) home with him. Now they are packing and tossing and getting ready for their new home. So when I get a text requesting cupcakes, I immediately get into the kitchen and prepare an impromptu afternoon tea.

Mixing the need to provide a good dose of energy (in the form of sugar of course) and a civilised afternoon tea, I decided to make a jam drop inspired cupcake. A chocolate cake base with a surprise raspberry jam centre, vanilla swiss buttercream icing and a freshly baked jam drop perched on the top. It had height, it had flavour and it had the right amount of deliciousness to keep them going for (hopefully) the rest of the week as the pack, sort and toss. Good luck guys!

Crumbling over cupcakes

I ask you, what do you like doing on the weekend? Do you like hanging out with friends? Having a beer? Chilling out? I'm going to assume you answered yes to all those questions, because if you didn't, I'm sorry but we can't be friends. The best we'll be is somewhat acquaintances who nod politely at each other when we meet in public.

So, why do I bring this up? No, I'm not culling my Facebook friends (not before Christmas anyway, are you mad!!). I'm just testing the waters to find out if these cupcakes are for you. They are pretty special, so you'd want to share them with some pretty cool friends. They are great with a beer on a hot afternoon. And they are also great to use as a hearty farewell! These cupcakes were made especially for my friend who was moving jobs - bigger and better things. They are everything a good cupcake should be - moist with layers of flavour, topped smooth frosting and a delightful crunch. ENJOY!

Stanthorpe's sweetest for a Friday

If I was to imagine my favourite holiday, it would be somewhere cool so I could rug up and possible have a fire going in the evening. Somewhere with delicious food and plenty of wine. And somewhere I feel like I can learn something and experience the diversity and excitement of the area. Last weekend I got to do just that!

For those not familiar with the Granite Belt, do yourself a favour and get acquainted! It is a sumptuous region in south east Queensland where the temperature is just right to grow and produce grapes for wine (especially red wine, my favourite) and an amazing variety of fresh produce. Last week I was spoilt to a few days away in Stanthorpe. Living so close to the Granite Belt and all the fresh, amazing food it offers, I wonder why I don't go more often (it's only 2.5hrs from Brisbane). I was really taken by all the fresh food, but even more so the almost unlimited number of wineries and cellar doors. It really is my heaven! Funnily, I bought more port than I did wine, however I did sample a lot of wine.

This post is dedicated to my weekend away and features some of the lovely things I bought.

Step into Spring cupcakes

I really like making cupcakes. You can create so many variations and they are super easy to eat, especially in a work environment. We had organised a little morning tea for the team at work today and so I decided to make some carrot cupcakes (same recipe as previous post, but in cupcake form) and well as another flavour to give a bit of flavour options. At the supermarket yesterday I was really excited to see blueberries on special for $3.50 a punnet. As they are usually up around $6 each, I jumped at the discounted price and bought some. 

I don't often buy blueberries. I find that if they are not in season, even just by a few weeks, it is more common to get sour or tart berries. The perfect blueberry should be a little sweet, smooth and have a lovely burst of juice as you bit it between your teeth. This is also what I wanted from my cupcakes. Using my normal vanilla cupcake recipes and only adding blueberries and some lemon rind, these were delicious! As we're coming into Spring, definitely give these a go!

Welcome Spring!

Winter is over and Spring has sprung. The weather has been perfect, making it feel like the colder months are over and we have blue skies and sunshine ahead of us. To celebrate the start of Spring, I bought 4 big punnets of strawberries (they had a special of 2 for $3!!!) from the markets. With so many strawberries, I decided to share the Spring love and give one punnet away, then I planned on using the others for some baking and weekday lunches.

When I think of strawberries, I immediately match them with cream. Strawberries and cream is such a classic dessert, everyone has something they associate with strawberries and cream. For me, it would have to be going to a school art fair with my Mum. I remember nothing about the art fair, or what else was actually there, but I do remember Mum buying us a cup of strawberries and cream each for morning tea and sitting in the sun to eat it. I think I was only 12 at the time and this was the first time I had enjoyed strawberries and cream just like this. It felt like Mum and I were doing something special together, just the two of us, without Dad or my siblings. The memory is sweet and innocent, just like the dessert.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to use my strawberries to make something that represented that memory. While the toddler was resting on Sunday (supposed to be resting anyway, he skipped his nap and decided to "play", aka trash his room), I researched strawberry recipes. I stumbled across this great looking strawberry cake via Pinterest. It had a deliciously pink colour and a new way to make a french meringue buttercream - I had to try it.

So, with strawberries ready and beater out, Reuben and I started baking post "rest". The cake itself was super easy to make and the buttercream turned out perfectly - I am definitely changing methods to this one from now one! There was heaps of batter so I made a bundt style cake as well as 6 cupcakes. Next time I think I'll split the batter to make a layer cake and add some strawberry jam in the centre. Enjoy.

Dedicated to Ms Banoffee

Tomorrow is my friend Lisa's last day at work. I've mentioned her before, she's the one we through a baby shower for a week or so ago. Kinda obvious why she's leaving us... This post is dedicated to her.

I started at my current job at QPAC almost 4 years ago. I had wanted to work at QPAC for a long time and was so excited to finally get my foot in the door. Behind my excitement was that awkward feeling you always get when starting a new job and the over-hanging question "was changing jobs the right decision?". On my first day I met everyone in the team and they were all nice. Then I met Lisa and her warmth and instant friendship made me feel right at home. I was suppose to sit with her for about half an hour so she could explain what she does and show me a few things I'd be doing. Suddenly about 2 hours had flown by and we had barely touched on either of our roles. This kind of behaviour continued over the years. She sat separately from our team so I was to act as the bridge between her role and our team. We took this as permission to get a hot chocolate a few times a week and just chat - don't worry, we always took some spreadsheets in case we needed to talk about work. We'd get lost in conversation and completely loose track of time - this pretty much sums up our friendship. She is someone who is instantly accepting and backs me up 100%. I am really sad to see her leaving our team, but over the past 4 years I've developed a really strong friendship with Lisa and am excited that we've manage to be friends at and outside of work (and will continue to be). She's supported me through some really tough periods in my life and is always there when I need that little bit of extra help. I am now looking forward to supporting her and her hubby around the birth of their first baby (if they want me there or not haha). 

So, to send Lisa off properly I have created my own style of her favourite dessert - Banoffee Pie. My version is in a portable and easy to eat form of a cupcake. Enjoy!

The team eating some cake: Kate, Leisa, Dave and Lisa

Happy RSPCA cupcake day

Today is RSPCA Cupcake Day. I never had a dog growing up, and even now I don't have any pets (a toddler is enough work), but I was still excited about baking today. Yes, it's raising money for a charity, so yay to yes, but I'm more excited about being able to show off my cupcakes to the team at work and seeing what everyone else has made. 

I saw a post on raspberri cupcakes blog a while ago and really wanted to give it a go. I thought a work bake-off was the perfect occasion! I was a little concerned though that one batch of cupcakes wouldn't be enough, so I got up at 5am this morning and made a batch of double chocolate cupcakes with a sour cream ganach. The smell of chocolate that early in the morning was a bit overwhelming, also proabably aided in the tantrum my toddler through as I tried to get us out of the door in time. Oh well, it was all worth it as we rasied over $250. Happy cupcake day everyone!