Today I have for you a few ideas for how to transform an ordinary cupcake/muffin into an Easter one - with decorative eggs, ducks, chicks, bunnies and even sheeps ;-) Use them for inspiration! I've found them at www.foodnetwork.com.
I don't remember when was the last time I was as busy as I've been these last few weeks, but I'm trying very hard not to neglect my blog! Still, please be patient with me :-) Today I have for you a few ideas for how to transform an ordinary cupcake/muffin into an Easter one - with decorative eggs, ducks, chicks, bunnies and even sheeps ;-) Use them for inspiration! I've found them at www.foodnetwork.com.
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Since I've already started the topic of Easter cakes, here are 3 more ideas for a major Easter cake creation, guaranteed to stun your guests ;-) These are 3 entirely different styles, and maybe you'll find one here which you really like. The first one I've found here: And the one below - a good solution if you need a smaller cake - comes from this webste: Can't imagine an Easter cake without a huge egg on top? Then this one is for you ;-) I've found it here.
Slowly but surely, Easter is getting nearer. Today, for inspiration, I have for you 3 ideas on how to decorate a bunny-shaped cake, which can be quite an attraction on your Easter table. I’ve found these here. Enjoy!
Yes, it can! If it's served like this:
(well, obviously, some of these are not really possible to re-create at home, unless you have a whole cupboard full elegant dinnerware in all shapes and sizes and an unlimited budget, but even just looking at them gives a kick! I've found them at: www.southernliving.com ) If you’re reading this it means you must have already seen the Cookie Monster Cupcake above;-) I’ve found it on kellyloves.wordpress.com, and I think it deserves the title of the coolest cake of the month! After all, I’ve always said that baking can be fun, and that it’s a great outlet for creativity. Here are a few other cupcake ideas from the same website – an inspiration for you to spend long Autumn evenings doing something creative in the kitchen :-)
PS. I'm pretty sure my husband would just go crazy over the Pac-Man cupcakes ;-) The idea of combining dark chocolate with chilli may not be a new one – apparently it goes back to the times of ancient Mayans – but it definitely is an original one. Used by Lindt in two of its chocolates, it contributed to the creation of the biggest chocolate temptation ever! The first one is a plain dark chocolate bar with some chilli added – not too spicy, but you can definitely feel the hot aftertaste on your tongue. But my absolute favourite is the other one – dark chocolate from the Lindt Creations series. The outer layer of delicate dark chocolate covers two hidden layers of pure delight – dark chocolate mousse and cherry, both with just enough chilli to stimulate your taste buds… The way in which the hotness of chilli is set against the delicate sweetness of the cherry layer is compelling… I am honestly not a huge chocolate fun, but to this bar of chocolate delight, I can never say no… The Mayans surely knew what they were doing! A perfect gift with a hint of spice ;-) When it comes to party cakes, Poland is rather traditional. It’s still the taste which matters most, nothing beats chocolate flavour and colours which we normally don’t associate with cakes – such as blue or green – are regarded as extravagant oddities (meaning: not edible). Other countries –and especially US and UK – tend to be more creative in this regard; the best proof are the amazing wedding cakes I blogged about last week. But there is one alternative to a party cake which is quite popular in the States and not so much this side of the Ocean – cupcakes. At a first glance they resemble muffins, but their texture is much more feathery and light, and they always have a thick layer of special icing on top. And there are special cupcakes stands out there which can be used to build creative cupcake pyramids – the final result can compete even with elaborate multi-tired cakes! I wasn’t exactly planning on baking these anytime soon, but two things happened – I came across a special cupcake stand on sale and couldn’t say no to it, and my husband mentioned he’d like to try some. To my surprise my 5 overloaded shelves of cookbooks did not include anything on cupcakes, so I browsed the net and found this recipe for White chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting. I chose it because basically you cannot go wrong by marrying white chocolate with raspberries. But I have to admit I was not very happy with the result – the cakes were nothing ordinary, and the icing tasted too much of butter… The cupcake stand, on the other hand, played it’s role really well – see the pictures. So next time I’m just going to use it for muffins – it can be a really creative centrepiece for a party table ;-) Apparently Mother Nature has decided that his Spring is definitely NOT the time to spoil us with good weather… Since I came to Warsaw almost two weeks ago now, it’s been pouring buckets…Well, not all the time – sometimes it’s just raining… So one evening I decided to add some colour to our lives and disregard the awful weather outside by organizing a quick Mexican evening. It’s not really the difficult – I put together a cheerfully decorated table and made some Quesadillas – the easiest Mexican dish ever (just take two tortillas, sprinkle the first one generously with some grated cheese, cover with the other one and put for a few minutes into the warmed oven until the cheese melts). But the real star of the evening was one of my favourite drinks ever – frozen strawberry margarita!!! I’ve never really had time nor the ingredients to mix cocktails at home, but we’ve got some professional cocktail equipment and beautiful Martini glasses as a wedding gift from my best friend. So I decided to give them a try and searched the web for a professional recipe; I wanted a margarita which really is a frozen one, not just a normal ones with ice cubes thrown in. I decided to use the recipe from The Blender Bible by Andrew Chase and Nicole Young. It goes like this: Ingredients: 1 ice cube 10 frozen strawberries 2 tbsp (25 mL) strawberry syrup 1 tbsp (15 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice 2 tsp (10 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 oz (50 mL) Silver Tequila (I used a bit less, I’m not a huge tequila fan actually...) 1/2 oz (15 mL) orange liqueur (I used Cointreau – apparently it’s the best choice in this case) coarse salt, for rimming (I used sugar) I basically dumped all the ingredients into my blender (starting with the ice cube and strawberries) and mixed everything up. The effect was amazing! Look at the photos – I promise you they taste even better that the look! The ingredients above are for one portion only, so you definitely need to multiply them by…well, that’s up to you. Enjoy! It's been over a year now since my wedding day and I keep remembering that last Spring I spent entirely immersed in wedding preparations... Probably it's a good thing I wasn’t blogging then yet, or this blog would have been about creative weddings, not creative life ;-) I remember that back then I discovered how creative the world of cakes is. In Poland cakes tend to be rather traditional and conservative in design, while e.g. in UK and the States only the creator’s imagination seems to be the limit. It’s amazing what shapes and designs you can create with the use of fondant, marzipan and similar “tools.” There is also absolutely no limit when it comes to colours – the cakes can be anything from gold and silver, through red and pink to blue, purple or even black! Here are a few of most creative designs I’ve found in my “wedding files” from last year – I especially love the topsy-turvy ones! I didn’t publish any St Valentine’s post earlier this month as I’m not exactly crazy about this day. Sure, it’s a great excuse to get flowers and chocolates and go to a romantic restaurant, I’ve nothing against that, but I find all this marketing storm which results in pink glittery feathers and cheap reddish hearts everywhere… irritating. Nevertheless, last week I came across an interesting article on the page with Dutch agricultural news (no, I do not visit it for pleasure, it’s for work!!), one which is definitely Valentine’s-related, and here it comes. The clever growers came up with a new fruit of seduction (apparently it’s not an apple anymore – sorry, Eve!) which they call a Seduberry. Basically it’s a strawberry, but in the shape of a heart. And it’s really in the exact shape of a heart, a fact made possible by the special plastic box put around young strawberry fruits, which controls how they grow and shape-up. I’ve never seen them in a shop but I’d expect they’d be much more expensive than ordinary strawberries – same as their growing method. I got intrigued by the clever use of these heart-shaped boxes to control the fruit’s development – simple yet clever, take a look at the pictures below! The idea belongs to the two gentlemen Josh Engwerda and Paul Xynos, and you can read more about it at www.seduberry.com . Personally, I’d have nothing against a box of seduberries for Valentines – after all any kind of lavishly red strawberry I come across in the middle of February would be more than welcome ;-) |
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August 2012
AuthorA fiery red head, a writer and a photographer in love with beautiful design and all things creative |