Posted in Baking on August 28, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Last month I made a 1st Birthday cake for the cutest little baby EVER, also known as giggles as he never crys and is always laughing! It started out with a few teddy bears and the cake grew & grew into a teddy bears picnic & one of them even brought their own teddy along for the day!
I will post how to make this little bear in the next few days, in the meantime, enjoy your very own teddy bears picnic.
Posted in Baking on August 21, 2009 | 4 Comments »
While I was home last weekend I was heading out for a walk when walking through our gate, stopped to pick some yummy ripe blackberries & stuffed my face, however continued on with my walk. Later that day got a desire to pick some really juicy blackberries before they were spoiled within a few days. So I went back with my little bucket to pick some, most of them were lucious black blobs while you do tend to find one of two that look lovely but then a little maggot jumps out at you & nearly scream!
I was happy heading back to Dublin sunday night with my little bowl of berries & bundle of rhubarb from mums garden. On Monday I decided I wanted to make sure to use up the berries before they spoiled so decided I’d make some blackberry scones & smoother them with butter when hot, nothing nicer with a cuppa tea. So Tuesday morning the rest of my batch of scones were devoured in work.
With the rest of the berries I made a Blackberry coulis which I got receipe for on Murphys Ice Cream Ireland blog, this would be lovely with merginue & cream. So hopefully next weekend I will manage to pick enough berries to make a pot of blackberry jam!!
http://icecreamireland.com/2006/09/02/blackberry-coulis/
I think this Seamus Heaney poem Blackberry Picking tells the story of our beautiful summer so well and blackberries rotting & growing furr if not used nearly instantly.
“Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.”
Blackberry Scones
Makes 18-20 scones
Ingredients:
900g (2lb) plain white flour
170g (6oz) butter
110g (4oz) blackberries
3 free range eggs
pinch of salt
55g (2oz) caster sugar
3 tsps baking powder
450ml (15floz) approx. milk to mix
Method:
First preheat the oven to 250C
Sieve all the dry ingredients together in a large wide bowl.
Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and rub in the butter.
Add the blackberries. Make a well in the centre.
Whisk the eggs with the milk, add to the dry ingredients and mix to a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured board. Knead lightly, just enough to shape into a round. Roll out to about 22cm (1inch) thick and cut or stamp into scones.
Put onto a baking sheet
Brush the tops with egg wash or milk.
Bake in a hot oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on top.
Cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
Posted in Baking on August 12, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Ok so its not quiet Harry Potter, but i made this cake for a 5th Birthday last year, he’s a big Tomas the Tank Engine fan, but I wasn’t that adventurous so I made loads of cookies, tractors, trains etc & iced them & placed them on top of the a chocolate Madeira cake with melted chocolate to top it off.
Posted in Toolbox on August 5, 2009 | 2 Comments »
If you are new to Sugarcraft or would like to build up your toolbox, i’ll start off with a little advise that I have gained since starting my icing.
I would advise that you only buy the basics for your toolbox until you make sure you like sugarcraft or enjoy making particular flowers as sometimes one can get carried away & buy all around them with hope that you will use all of the bits & pieces! as with everything there is always a few tools or cutters that are left at the back of the cupboard!!
Toolbox Essentials
Non Stick Rolling Pin
Foam Pad
Non Stick Board,with grooves for veining & mexican hat holes
Pallet Knife
Bone Tools for softening edges of leaves & petals
Cake Smoother
Brushes & Colour Paste
Posted in Sugarcraft Flowers on August 1, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Honeysuckle, thistle & ivy
Roses, carnations, freesia & ivy
Posted in Baking, tagged welcome on August 1, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Welcome to my very own blog.
I’ve been a fan of baking, cooking and sugarcraft blogs for a long time however have only just had the nerve to set up my own blog today. I’m hoping to put up pictures of my cakes, sugarcraft tutorials and my baking escapades.
I also luv anything crafty from sewing,knitting to painting so do expect a few random posts from time to time.
Slan, Vick
