Big News!!!

Finally I can announce the exciting new news!  In addition to being at the Harbourside Markets (click here for a map, or here for directions) every Sunday with our range of Cupcakes, Friands & Macarons, we will be starting at the Coffs Harbour Grower's Markets (click here to see a map) next Thursday 25 August 2011 and will be exclusively GLUTEN FREE!  Can't wait to see you there!

[caption id="attachment_1286" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Under the trees at the Harbourside Markets"][/caption]

Yes, I love cake!

Okay, I admit it, I love cake.  I’m not a big cake eater, but I am still a cake lover.  They are such beautiful things to look at and I love to dream about all the different flavour combinations out there.  They are lots of fun to make and can be decorated in a gazillion ways.  I’m guessing I’m not alone in my passion, whether you love cake to eat, to look at, or to bake, use cake lovers come in all types!

Look what I found by Easy Cake Ideas!  The perfect way to declare your love to the world!  You can choose from t-shirts, bags and aprons and they have heaps of cool sayings too, like “A Life Without Cake is No Life At All”, “Save The Earth, It’s The Only Planet With Cake”, “Love, A Temporary Insanity Cured With Love”, “Is Life Worth Living?  It All Depends on The Cake” and “Nothing Great Was Ever Achieved Without Cake”.  Or, you can keep it plain and simple with

 

Which one is your favourite?

Party Presentation Ideas – Where to get Inspiration Online

I have completely stolen todays title from Pink Frosting’s site Australia Entertains.  I follow Pink Frosting on Facebook, and had to click on the link to this article as I am always on the lookout for cool ideas for my daughters’ birthday parties.  This one is awesome.  The ideas are fun and original, and can be simplified or expanded as much as you like.  Her photography is pure eye candy.

The Pink Frosting site is an online store with all the bits and pieces you need for any fabulous celebration.  Everything from Weddings and Baby Showers, to Halloween and Sweet 16.  And I love the fact that they are another Australian site.  We are slowly getting there with the online retail thing aren’t we!

Kathryn Porritt who owns both sites has done a wonderful job on her blog Australia Entertains, giving links to all manner of sites to help you with not only coming up with awesome ideas, but others to help with decorations, food, invitations and the like.

I strongly suggest you pop on over and have a look!

Where do you go for inspiration when planning a party?

How to Bake a Round, Ball Shaped Cake

If you are anything at all like me, you love buying cool and unusual kitchen gadgets, but hate having to fork out big bucks for specialty cake pans that take up heaps of room in the cupboard, cost heaps, and may not get used an awful lot – and that’s if you can even find the right shaped pan in the first place (not so easy outside of a major city).  They are also not the greatest thing to have to buy online as they are bulky and therefore costly to post.

A few times, I’ve needed a round cake.  Not round as in a flat circle, but round as in a sphere – like boobs,  a ball of wool, or Santa’s belly.  Turns out all you need is a good shaped mixing bowl in metal, ceramic or pyrex glass – NOT PLASTIC!!!!!!  (And before you start laughing at me, for once, I’m not speaking from experience, even I know not to put a plastic bowl in the oven!)



Here is how I did it.



If you’ve read the post on baking a level cake, you’ll know all about the trick of putting an icing nail (metal again) in the bottom of the pan to help it cook evenly.  I think it is really important here as the cake is quite high and has a low surface area to volume ratio (that’s my scientist past coming through lol!)











I used pyrex bowls because that is what I had in the right shape and size for the cake I was making.  Luckily I have 2 the same so I only have to bake once, otherwise you would have to bake one cake, then bake the second half later.  Grease the inside of the bowl really well.  I use a spray on oil, and cut a round of baking paper slightly smaller than the base of the bowl.  Push the icing nail through the middle of the paper, then place them in the bottom of the bowl.















Here is a close up.















Now carefully pour your cake batter in.  If it pushes the nail off to one side, just gently slide it back to the middle.  Try to keep it on the bottom of the bowl while you move it across as this helps get the cake out after baking.















And it’s as simple as that.  you may have to adjust your baking time, and you will have to guesstimate what size bowl and how much batter to use, but that’s half the fun isn’t it!  If you are after a small ball shape, you could use a pair of tea cups.



I’d love to hear what other improvisations you have used for non-standard cakes.