Wood Fired Duck....

A few weeks ago, my brother and his girlfriend Eloise popped down to visit for 2 nights on their way through to Canberra.  We had promised them, that in their honour, we would slaughter one of our birds for dinner.  Being as they are somewhat partial to duck, and we had 2 drakes, we decided duck it is!  Steve and I are both members of a food forum and are quite passionate not only about what we eat, but the preparation as well, so we decided to document the process from duck pen to plate.  There are some photos of a beheaded duck, so if you don't like that sort of thing, now would be a good time to click to another page.  If you truly love good honest food, and appreciate where it comes from, then read on!

The duck of choice was Frank, the one in the foreground.  Why you say?  Well, for one, the other drake is much larger and better looking, so if we ever want to sell or swap, he would be a better choice.  Also, poor old Frank hurt his leg 2 days earlier and was hobbling around, so we may have had to put him down anyway.

Hubby is in charge of "Catch and Dispatch", so he took Steve outside as his trusty assistant.  I'm not sure how much help he was though, because he managed to take quite a few photos during the process!



Once the "deed" was done, they brought the duck inside where I had filled one sink with boiling water and a few drops of detergent.  We dunked the duck a couple of times (the hot water and detergent help dissolve the fat that holds the feathers in and keeps the duck waterproof),



then Eloise and I set about plucking the duck (and yes I must admit, the old Hey Hey It's Saturday Plucka Duck song was going through my head at the time) while Steve took some more photos.



I was beginning to notice that our city boy was taking lots of photos of EVERYONE ELSE doing all the work, and so far had managed to avoid getting his hands dirty all together!  Ha ha says I to myself, I know just the job for him!

When we had finished plucking, I handed the duck and a sharp knife to Steve and said "here you go, you're turn to do something."  I figured he could get the gizzards out (at this stage I knew how much they smell, but he didn't).



He was pretty keen to get in to the action, to be fair, until that waft came out and went straight up his nose.  "Oh, don't they smell like that when you buy them from the shop" I giggle!



Anyway to be fair, he did a good job (despite the wrinkled up nose and funny look on his face - where was the camera then eh???), we kept the liver for the sauce and gave the remainder of the giblets to Chloe our trusty dog.



Waste not want not!  Next job was to clean out the cavity and rinse the bird thoroughly.



Back inside, and the duck was plunged into a large pot of boiling water, this is to open all the pores to allow the fat to ooze out during the cooking process and provide maximum crispiness to the skin.



After a few minutes, we took it out, and dried it off thoroughly with the hair dryer (and people reckon I never use it!  Meh!  Although I must admit I did send the hair dryer photo to my hairdresser!  Hee hee hee!!!)



Next stage was to season the duck with salt and pepper, drizzle it with a bit of olive oil, and place it on a bed of chopped veggies, whole garlic cloves and various herbs from the garden.





Then in to the oven it went.  No, not your standard gas or electric oven, in to the wood fired oven!  Yum yum yum!





When the duck was cooked, we put some bread rolls in to cook while the meat rested (and yes, a few smirky comments were made about me having "buns in the oven"), and quickly made up the liver sauce to pour on top, eh voila.....



Roast Duck Nana Glen style!  Is Yumalicious a word?  If not, it should be, because that is what this dinner was!

If you liked these photos, you can see more of Steve's awesome pics on his Flickr page here.

The Daring Cooks November 2009 Challenge: Sushi!

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax
Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.
Sushi (寿司 or 鮨 or 鮓) is much appreciated for its delicate taste and exquisite appearance. Sushi
actually means vinegared rice, which is the essential ingredient in every sushi recipe. Sushi is
simple and cheap to make at home, needs no special equipment and is an excellent way to use left
overs.
Although sushi in various forms has been around for fourteen centuries, the modern version was
invented in Japan in the 1800’s where a 'hand-formed' sliced fresh fish and vinegared rice ball was
eaten as a snack food. Nowadays, sushi is made with various seafood, meats and vegetables, raw
and cooked.



Although I have made sushi numerous times before, this was my first attempt at a decorative style.  It was great fun and much easier than I expected.  The first one was the Dragon Roll:

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="800" caption="Dragon Roll"][/caption]

It is supposed to be covered in avocado, but I was unable to buy any, so I just sprinkled Nigella seeds on top instead.  the filling was cucumber and smoked salmon.

The second style we made was spiral sushi.  It has 6 different fillings.  I used inari, blanched carrot, cucumber, smoked salmon, red capsicum and fresh asparagus.  Finally, we had to have a go at the hand shaped nigiri.  These I had made before, not that you would guess by the dodgy shaping!!  You can get a printable copy of the recipe here.  Don't be intimidated by how long it is, they are just detailed instructions, the actual process is surprisingly quick and easy.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="800" caption="Nigiri on the top, and spiral sushi below."][/caption]

All in all, a delicious challenge as always.  Both daughters loved it and it made a lovely dinner for a mild spring evening, eaten out on the front verandah watching the sun set over the hills surrounding our little valley.  Aaaaaahhhh!

Daring Cooks September Challenge - Dosai

I must apologise first up for taking so long to get this entry up. It should have been written about a week ago, but things have been crazy around here to say the least! The pizza oven has been working overtime entertaining al of our friends, we have had Father's Day, and the Father's Day Stall at the Primary School, P&C Meetings at school and preschool, lots of gardening with the onset of spring, and yep, we have more babies on the way. Lots more babies. Lots and lots and lots of babies in fact, but I'll get to that later.

The Daring Cooks September Challenge comes to us from Debyi at The Healthy Vegan Kitchen. It is an absolutely delicious Indian savoury pancake served with 2 yummy curried sauces. There is a thicker chickpea based one and a lighter coconut sauce poured over the top of it all.



Here is the recipe:

Serves 4

Dosa Pancakes

1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)

½ tsp (2½ gm) salt

½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder

½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder

½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)

¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water

cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling

1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below),

Dosa Toppings

1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below),

heated ¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut

¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes

1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.

2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.

3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter.

Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling

This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.

5 cloves garlic 1 onion, peeled and finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)

2 medium hot banana chilies, minced

2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground

1 TBSP (8gm) oregano

1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)

1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric

4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)

½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.

2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic ½ (2½ gm)

tsp cumin, ground

¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)

3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder

3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)

3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth

2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk

3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.

2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.

3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally. 4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Okay, I know what you are about to say....what did I change?? Surprisingly, very little, the only difference was I used Besan flour instead of spelt (because that's what I had in the pantry), and I left the chickpeas whole because I love their taste and texture. This was an absolutely delicious dish. I have even made it a second time already this month. Seeing as the pizza oven has been getting such a work out, we made naan bread to have with it instead of the dosai pancakes the second time around, and what can I say but Yum, Yum, Yum!!! Definately one to try if you are cooking for vegetarians or vegans, or you just enjoy a really good curry. I had a bit of the left over coconut sauce on an omelette the other day too, and that was just super delish!

Spring Veggie Seeds Are Planted!

Well the calendar may say we still have another week of winter left, but Mother Nature has over-ruled.  Spring is definately here!  The thermometer hit 35C yesterday, and I reckon was probably nudging 30C today around lunch time.  I had been putting off planting my "sow in spring" veggies in case we got a late frost, but having not really had anything we could call a frost since winter last year, I figured I'd take the plunge.  I've decided to reserve the top veggie patch for berries, so I need to pull my finger out and order the rest of them this week.  The bottom veggie patch however is still full of my winter veg.  There is about 8 varieties of "pick and come again" lettuce, snow peas, sugar snap peas, shelling peas, 3 varieties of broccoli, bok choy, wombok, purple cabbage, leeks, loads of spinach, daikon and a few other things popping up around the place.  Since there is no room there at the moment, I picked up 5 broccoli boxes and some potting mix when I was in town the other day. (Fitting the 5 boxes plus shopping plus 3 super sized bags of potting mix plus 2 kids car seats in the little Pajero was a story unto itself!!)  I know styrofoam is not exactly the eco choice, but at least they are getting recycled.  Right??  I cut them down to

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="84" caption="Broccoli Boxes make great seed raising trays"][/caption]

about 15cm high and then filled them with the potting mix before planting my veggie seeds.  Here is what I put in:  Beetroot (Chioggia - I love the pink and white rings - they looks so pretty thinly sliced in salad), Cabbage (Bok Choy & Wombok), Capsicum (Lipstick & California Wonder), Carrot (Nantes & a Colour Mix), Sweet Corn (Gladiator F1), Cucumber (Mideast Prolific - a lebanese style cucumber), Daikon (Japanese Radish), Eggplant (Lebanese, Rosa Bianca & Black Beauty), Jicama, Lettuce (Great Lakes, Baby Cos & Buttercrunch), Onion (Mini Purplette & Red Stem Welsh), Pumpkin (an unknown variety from friends & Butternut), Rhubarb (Sydney Crimson), Tomatillo (Purple), Tomatoes (Cherry Yellow Pear, Roma San Marzano, Tommy Toe & Thai Pink Egg), Japanese Turnip, Watermelon (Sugarbaby) and finally Zucchini (Golden).  I covered them all with a light layer of soil and put a piece of cardboard over the carrot seeds to hopefully get a better success rate with germination.  It will be interesting to see how they all go as I haven't had much luck with carrots or onions yet.  I'm really looking forward to the cucumbers and

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="423" caption="Kaffir Lime and its yummy double leaves"][/caption]

zucchini though.  Last year we had only 6 cucumber vines and were picking 10kg of cucumber every week!  They were so sweet and succulent too.  The zucchini fared really well also.  We were picking them at about 10-15cm in length while the flower was still intact and stuffing the flower before cooking the whole thing - zucchini and flower attached.  They were delicious!  There are a few things there that I haven't grown before either - these last 12 months being my first foray into gardening, so it will be interesting to see how they all go.  The fruit trees all look happy enough since planting them in last week.  We have Grapefruit, Kumquat, Dragonfruit, a Green Grape, Pear, Peach, Starfruit, Granny Smith Apple, Kaffir Lime, Tahitian Lime, Meyer Lemon, and Mulberry.  We also have 2 tiny blueberry bushes (twigs really) that are both covered in fruit and the raspberry bush that began as a single small cane last year is huge now and has new runners popping up everywhere.  I think I read you can dig the new runners up and replant them so I might pass a few on to friends.  The passionfruit vine we put in last year is looking lovely and lush so I am hoping for fruit from it this year and we were given another one 2 weeks ago from Monica - the lovely lady who gave us the Naked Neck Chickens.  Speaking of chickens, if the eggs she gave us were fertile, they should be hatching this weekend!!  Very exciting!  I am going to try and make an egg incubator this week with the help of a neighbour who has built one previously just in case they hatch as we will need to incubate the duck eggs that the chooks are sitting on.  Fingers crossed eh?!?

My herbs are all coming along nicely.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="127" caption="Bay Tree"][/caption]

The bay tree FINALLY has more than one leaf on it after about 8 months of sitting idle, so it is nice to be able to use it at last ... even if somewhat sparingly!  I am thinking of making a feature herb garden in the middle of the front yard and putting the bay in a nice big terracotta pot smack bang in the middle of all the herbs.  If it ever grows, I think it would look good as a central focus.  All the herbs that I planted 2 weeks ago are coming along nicely.  Most of them (Oregano, Zaatar, Orach, Chamomile, Marjoram, Nasturtium, Lemon Balm, Anaheim Chilli, Garlic chives, basil, Thyme, Parsley, Coriander & Dill) have germinated now and are starting to form their true leaves.  I'll have to get on to Matthew to dig the new garden bed for them.  The Rosella and Pomegranate have also popped up

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="423" caption="Baby Herbs"][/caption]

through the soil so I will have to figure out where I am going to put them!  My Borage is looking amazing at the moment as all the flowers have started coming out.  I am going to make some cupcakes this week to celebrate and use the flowers to decorate them.  Might have to have some friends come over for morning tea to share them!

Finally before I go, here are some pretty flower pics from our garden.  Matthew grows the most beautiful Australian Natives.  I really don't understand why people don't put them in because "they want flowers" (as one lady said to us!!)  We have gorgeous flowers all year round.  What more could a girl ask for?  I'd take them over roses any day - plus they bring in all the lovely wild birds too.

Well, that's about all the news from the garden for today, so stay tuned as i will post pics as they (hopefully) grow.

Foodie Fights!!! Peaches and Tarragon

Peach and Tarragon Verrine with Tarragon Flecked Tuilles

If you've been following my blog, or even only read a post or two, you have probably realised a couple of things by now:
1.  I love food
2.  I love to cook
3.  I love a challenge; and finally
4.  I spend far too little time doing housework, and way too much time surfing the net looking at pictures of food!
Once you've taken all of these things into consideration, they kind of come together in the various challenges that I have partaken in so far.  I guess it was only a matter of time before I came across Foodie Fights.  Needless to say, my interest was immediately piqued, so I put in my application to participate in the next challenge.  I was very excited to see my name on the list of 10 participants for this fortnights challenge - Peaches and Tarragon.  Hmmm, this was indeed to be a challenge!  We are amidst the throws of winter here (although you wouldn't know it today...being 35oC!!) so fresh peaches are not exactly available.  Added to that, I'd only ever eaten them fresh - never cooked.  Then there was the Tarragon.  I knew it was a herb, often used in French cooking and usually paired with chicken?  I think????  So now I had to come up with a tasty recipe using an ingredient that I couldn't get with an ingredient I had never used, let alone tasted.  The announcement was out on Wednesday which gave me a few days to ponder my predicament.  Inspiration hit me at about 2am on Saturday morning.  Peach icecream with tarragon tuilles.  I have made icecream before - the old beater and freezer method as I don't have an icecream maker, and have wanted to make tuilles for ages after reading various peoples entrants in the a previous Daring Bakers Challenge.  However, we ended up with a really busy weekend and I didn't even get a chance to get in to town to buy ingredients until this morning, so I had run out of time for icecream.  Helene of Tartelette to the rescue!!  She is my absolute idol.  Amazing cook, fantastic food stylist, and unbelievable food photographer.  I jumped on her recipe for Mango and Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Pannacotta.  Perfect.  This looked yum and I figured I could adapt it easy enough, and still use my tuilles as a garnish.  I made a few changes to the original recipe, so here is what I did:

Peach and Tarragon Verrine

1 cup pureed tinned peaches (thank god for the canning process - I used 8 halves of peaches in natural juice!!)
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon water
1 3/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream (extra)
3/4 cup full cream milk

Puree the tinned peaches with half of the finely chopped tarragon and divide among 4 glasses, being careful not to spill any excess on the inside of the glasses.  Place the glasses in the freezer.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let it bloom.

In a medium saucepan, heat the 1 cup of cream with the sugar, remaining chopped tarragon and vanilla until the cream is just about to boil, stirring occasionally to make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin until completely dissolved.

Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes then add the extra 1/4 cup of cream and the milk. Allow to cool to room temperature. You can speed up the process by placing your saucepan over a bowl filled with ice but keep and eye on it as it will thicken faster. Once the cream is cooled, slowly pour it over the frozen fruit and let set in the fridge, at least two hours, preferably overnight.

Tarragon Flecked Tuilles

65 grams softened butter

60 grams sifted icing sugar mixture

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork - I use duck eggs for baking)

65 grams sifted plain flour

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon

Preheat oven to 180C or 160C fan forced.

On low speed, cream together butter sugar and vanilla until just combined.  Gradually add egg whites and beat only until combined to a smooth batter.  Be careful not to overmix.
Line a tray with baking paper.  If using a stencil, place it on the paper

and hold down with one hand while using an offset spatula with the other to gently smooth the batter over the stencil.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3449/3851368295_53abcba21b.jpg
You want a thin but even layer of batter.  Now, very carefully remove the stencil.  I found it easiest to start at a corner and pull the stencil up on the diagonal.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3851368409_70640c597d.jpg
Make 3 more in this way then place in the oven for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.

As soon as they are cooked, remove from the oven and shape over a folded piece of cardboard.  You have to do this really fast before they cool and set.

This is why you only want 4 biscuits at a time on the tray, otherwise they snap when you try to bend them.  Mind you, the kids think it's a good thing because they get to eat all the broken ones!!  Allow them to cool completely before removing them from the card to a SAFE PLACE away from curious little fingers!  (Like I said, the kids like to eat the broken ones - they don't care who breaks them!!!)

When ready to serve, place one or two of the tuilles on top of the cream mixture in the glass, then sit back with a spoon and enjoy!!

So, what did we think of the taste??  Yum yum yum!  The kids both loved it, and Matthew said it is a definate must next time we have people over for a meal.  I was feeling really dubious about it, having never combined fruit and herbs like this, and not being a great fan of pureed anything as it just looks like regurgitated baby food to me, but this blew me away!  The peach puree was lovely and cold and refreshing, and the tiny bits of tarragon through it added a lovely extra "note".  The cream layer set into a beautiful, silky concoction which delicately melted away with a creamy, but not fatty mouth feel.  The coolness of the fruit perfectly balanced the mousse-like texture of the cream.  The little tuilles on top were a cute finishing touch with a lovely vanilla taste and soft bite.  The tiny flecks of tarragon in them left a really pleasant aftertaste, which also tied them in with the main part of the dessert.

I am definately going to make this dish again, and can't wait for the arrival of summer so I can make it with fresh juicy peaches.  Thanks Helene for the inspiration and thank you also to Foodie Fights for pushing me out of my comfort zone to find a new favourite dish!  Definately a success!!  Now I've just got to go and plant some tarragon in the garden......

Oh yeah, and if you like the looks of this, please head on over to Foodie Fights and vote for me (Nana Glen Mum).  thanks heaps!

First Fire in the Pizza Oven!!

Woohoo!  It has finally happened, the last brick is in and the dome is complete!  Friday night DH lit the first small test fire inside the oven to see how it would go.  Went great - only a small fire, but reached 250oC easily.  We had friends come over for a feed and to watch (of course) and rang the neighbours over the road to come and check it out.  Lots of oohs and aahs and "how long til we get a pizza".  We even turned on the fairy lights around the gazebo next to it for a bit of ambience.  Gorgeous!  He has done a fantastic job, especially for someone with no brick laying experience.  Our friend's uncle even thought he was a brickie!!
Last night we lit the second fire, a bit bigger this time and it went up to 340oC.  He is a clever  boy - even installing a probe thermometer through the wall during construction so we can keep an eye on the temperature.  He is now going to put 3 layers of render over the top with vermiculite in the second layer as extra insulation, and will tint the final layer an earthy reddish brown - think Uluru at sunset.  Once that is all finished, I get to have my turn with the decorating.  Originally I was going to do a mural...but, as we live in a little hamlet called Nana Glen, named after the 2 tailed lizard (a naturally occurring mutation of a very common lizard that the local Aboriginal tribe call Nana), I am going to attempt to make a large 3d sculpture of a 2 tailed lizard draped over the dome of the oven.  Come on, since when did I ever go for an easy, subdued option - it has to be over the top or not at all!!  (Kinda like my cakes lol).  Hopefully I'll figure out how to do it as I go along as I have never attempted sculpture before except for a mammoth head out of foam rubber for a play in high school (and even then I had an art teacher helping!!)  I'll be sure to take lots of photos and post them up as I go.  I am also thinking I might do a bit of a write up on DH and how he built the oven as we took lots of photos along the way, right from the laying of the slab and the kids imprinting their handprints!!  It even has wood stowage underneath!
So, Tuesday night is our very first

pizza night!  I am going to try out a new recipe for the dough to celebrate, and now I have to start thinking about what toppings - they have to be special as occasions don't come much more special than this!  I am SOOOOOO excited!!

Daring Cooks July Challenge - Skate, traditional flavours powdered (slightly altered)

I have just joined an online group at the Daring Kitchen called the Daring Cooks where each month they post a new recipe and everyone makes it, then publishes the results on their blog all on the same day.  Today, the 14th of the month is Reveal Day!!, so here it is...Skate with traditional flavours, powdered by Grant Achatz from his Alinea Cookbook (page 230).

I think that one of their aims in the challenge is to extend your repetoire of both cooking and flavours.  This certainly did both!  I was really dubious when I first read the recipe as it sounded like alot of work, and some crazy ideas...like powdered sauces!!!  I thought it was going to be a really dry, bland dish that would be hard to eat, but boy was I wrong!!!!  It was FANTASTIC!

I had to make a few minor changes as some ingredients weren't available (I live in a rural area).  I couldn't get skate, so I had to opt for goodness only knows what it was from the supermarket fish counter, and they only had green bananas on my shopping day, so I had to substitute avocado instead.  Also, I added a few veggies from the garden to the side of the plate (I'm one of those mums that insists the children have vegetables every night).  It was a huge hit with the family.  The kids loved the novelty of brightly coloured powders on their plate that they could swirl around to make new patterns and flavours (yes I know, usually I would call it playing with food, but on this occasion, I told myself they were "exploring new horizons" lol!!)  I wasn't sure how hubby would take it either as he can be a bit "traditional" in his tastes at times, but we must have spent the next hour discussing different flavour combinations that we thought would be great.  He also said it was definately a dish to be made for visitors!

I must apologise for the lack of photos in the construction phase, but I have had sick kids and hubby all week, and my shoulder has been playing up so I pretty much just wanted to get it done and dusted.

The beans under the fish were simply divine.  They were cooked in half water, half beurre monte which was reduced right down, resulting in a beautiful buttery coating that wasn't the least bit greasy.

All in all, for my first attempt at Molecular Cuisine, I would say it was a resounding success.  I am definately going to make this again, but will travel to get decent fish that is worthy of such a magnificent recipe.  I also reckon fruit powders would be delicious served up with home made vanilla ice cream.  Might have to try that one out too!

Finally, I really must extend my thanks to Sketchy of Sketchy's Kitchen who hosted this month's Challenge.  Please check out his blog and see what other delectable delights he has been up to!

Thomas the Tank Engine Cake Tutorial - Part 1- How I did it.

Well, here I go.  Miss M turned 4 at the start of the month, and like any unconventional little girl, opted out of fairies and princesses for her birthday cake and insisted on Thomas the Tank Engine.   No great surprise since she lives, eats and breathes Thomas.  I have to buy her underwear in the boys’ section because sh

Technorati Tags: cake,birthday,kid's birthday cake,party,Thomas the Tank Engine,cake decorating,fondant,icing,train,train party

e insists on Thomas undies like her friends (boys) at preschool.  She wears Thomas pyjamas to bed and Thomas t-shirts to preschool.  Everyday she plays with her Thomas train track (talk about value for money mind you!!) and so on it goes, I’m sure you are getting the picture!  The surprise for me though came when she SAID NO TO CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!! and insisted on CARROT CAKE! I kid you not!  You could have knocked me down with a feather!  Anyway, here is how I went about it…

I had read that it is easier to carve your cake if you freeze it first.  I’m guessing it depends on the type of cake.  The carrot cake turned out hard as a rock (and I have very sharp knives) and was very difficult to cut.  My suggestion would be to cut the cake and then freeze it before icing to stop crumbs getting into the cake.  I’ll try that one myself next cake and let you know how it goes.  I have to make a Lightning McQueen this week for Miss M’s friend.

I baked the cake in a square slab pan and cut it into two equal rectangles.  I contemplated baking it in 2 loaf tins but decided against it as loaf tins tend to have sloping sides.  I then put one half to the side for later.

Step 1

With the half I was working with, I cut it in half laterally to make it lower ie cut

the top half off the bottom half so it looked like this:

After that, I just pretty much broke Thomas down into a series of squares and a circle at the front at stuck them all together with buttercream.  Here comes a photo series of what I did.  I tried to get a couple of pictures of each stage from various angles.  Hope it’s not too boring or repetitive.

Step 2

From the half I had put to the side, I cut it in half lengthways ie front to back and placed on half on top, aligned at the back.



Step 3

Using a circle cutter, I cut a round and placed it in front of the piece from Step 2.



Step 4

Using a circle cutter, I cut a second round and placed it in front of the piece from Step 3.



Step 5

From lower cake half, I cut a strip and placed it on top of the large block, again aligned at the back.



Step 6

From the higher remains, I cut another block, but lowered it slightly and placed it in front of the piece from Step 5.



Step 7

I put small squares beside the first round.



Step 8

I cut 2 1/4 circles and placed them in front of the squares from Step 7.

Guess what…all done!  Not to hard at all eh?  Now it’s your turn – be sure to send me photos!



I didn’t take photos of how I iced the cake.  As we live out in the country, I can’t buy fondant so I have had to make my own.  I found an excellent recipe at Gingerbread House Heaven.  I used their Professional fondant recipe and had great results even though our relative humidity was excessive – we were actually flooded in for 3 days while I made the cake!  Luckily the water dropped and the roads opened in time for the party!  I did the blue first and worked my way forwards.  I made the wheels a few days earlier and dried them out completely so they were nice and hard, and then just stuck them on with a bit of left over buttercream.  I sat the entire cake on a foil lined biscuit tin lid to raise it slightly off thecake board so that the wheels looked about the right level.  As for the face, I had read another great tutorial over at Thomas the Tank Engine Tutorial

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and was going to try and sculpt the face myself, but wimped out because my sculpting skills are very very ordinary!  I got some oven bake polymer clay and made an imprint with one of Miss M’s toys.  She has a puzzle that has plastic pieces that make a front on view of Thomas.  I took the face piece, pushed it into the clay and baked the clay to make it hard.  When I was ready to make the face, I coloured it grey, then pushed a big piece over the mould and rolled it slightly with a rolling pin for even pressure.  When I pulled the fondant off the clay, I had a wonderful 3 dimensional face!  I used a round cutter (the same one I used for the circle pieces of cake so they were a perfect fit) to cut the face out, and then just added in the coloured details.  It actually turned out to be quite a simple exercise once I broke it all down.

So now you know how to cut up the cake and put it back together again, you'll be ready to ice it.  Here is how I covered the cake in Part 2 of the tutorial.

Anyway, I hope you have found this helpful, and if you actually know what you are doing, I would love to hear about how I can improve my cake decorating – especially getting my fondant nice and even – it always has lots of lumps and bumps.