Soooooooo ……….I have a new pad. 

 I am feeling pretty fancy on account of it being incredibly too large for my needs, I like to saunter around it’s naked, unfurnished rooms while waving like the queen. I like to stand on the balcony that adjoins my bedroom, look out far to the city skyline & think everything the light touches is my kingdom.

It has been 3 weeks but my garage is still full of boxes. Sadly 3 of those boxes contain shoes, it is ridiculous….I am ridiculous.

I couldn’t have predicted that moving out of a little one bedroom flat with our meager amount of furniture & possessions would be so much work. It took Mr Bake & Bloom’s mother & I 5 hours to clean out our flat. Heck…Mr Bake & Bloom got stuck doing the oven & it must have taken him 8 hours work in total getting that thing clean.

But it’s done now & I am busy making my new house a home.

My cute deck overlooking the back yard. It is the most beautiful place to eat breakfast. I can't wait to begin gardening too.

my (messy) kitchen. Note the power cord for the laptop hanging across the room to get to my new fancy ikea kitchen island that we got for half price.

I have been cleaning & testing recipes…they’re not ready yet but I thought I would show you guys some pictures. I am still working like a madwoman on this macaron tutorial. Macarons are a maddening confection, they have made me grey & wrinkled before my time but annoyingly, they are worth it.

Macaron shells. These guys are looking better every time I make them, I have finally figured out how to make them without air pockets.

I filled them with chocolate coconut ganache & a coconut agar agar surprise in the center

Believe it or not these are a health kick recipe. Choc buckwheat pancakes with cocoa nibs & red berry syrup. I loved the syrup...wasn't too keen on the pancakes.

So forgive me everyone for not talking to you in so long, as you can see I have been very very busy. I promise I still love you though & I will be back with more yummyness than ever. Next week I am having a little giveaway & making blondies so don’t be a stranger.

So right now I bet you’re thinking, what a little angel, what a little sweetie….. how cute!    Right?

WRONG

See this is the laziest child known to man. I know this because that child was me, & I am still pretty darn lazy.  That shocked & disgusted face was probably in response to my mum asking me to put my own bowl in the sink or worse…make my bed.  The horror! Those big blue eyes were the perfect tool for emotional blackmail. heh-heh-he.

What’s the point of making my bed? I am just going to sleep in it again in a few hours.

My idea of heaven was (and still is) lying belly down all day on the couch with no one around to hog the remote control. mmmm soooo laaazy

I should add at this point I have become a lot better since I was a child. I do occasionally make the bed & wash the dishes nowadays, although I haven’t quite mastered motivating myself into doing laundry on a regular basis.

One department I usually don’t take the lazy shortcut in is the kitchen. I am normally quite happy to slave for a few hours over a hot oven however moving house does not permit spending 2 hours waiting for a baked strawberry cheesecake to set.

Enter strawberry cheesecake for the clinically lazy.

I know the advocat is a somewhat bizarre edition however it adds a good colour & the necessary egginess without  using a raw egg yolk. It is however, optional if you don’t feel like getting the kids all liquored up.

The best part is you just drop it all in a bowl & mix it, it takes about 4 minutes. Instant cheesecake gratification & not too bad on the hips either! It is genius if I do say so myself.

Strawberries with Cheesecake Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp advocat
• 1/2 a vanilla pod
• 500g fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers/digestive biscuits

Method:

1. With a whisk or a stand mixer combine the cream cheese, sour cream, icing sugar, seeds from the vanilla pod, lemon zest & advocat.
2. Mix on high speed until smooth & lump free.
3. Serve with the strawberries & dip first in the cheesecake mixture then the cookie crumbs.

Serves 1 very hungry, greedy, lazy woman while choosing which shoes to keep & which to throw away.

I have news, big news. Good, awesome big news.

I am no longer a floral design student.

I am a fully qualified (albeit unemployed) florist. There are still some loose ends like a stack of homework to complete before our little graduation party on the 15Th of July but yep, I am done.

Also

I am moving house!

Mr  Bake & Bloom and I have totally outgrown our urban 1 bedroom unit to the point where there is more clothing than linen in the linen cupboard & the dining room is mostly occupied by camping equipment & guitars.

We are moving into a 4 bedroom house in the suburbs so there will be a lot of “growing space”, a big back yard for a kitchen garden, spare rooms for certain little sisters & nephews to stay in & a big kitchen for me to mess up.

The move will be happening from the 28Th & will take about a week (We are moving ourselves with a trailer & my 1999 Toyota Starlet..because we are idiots) so I should be back with more yumminess around the 3rd week of July when I am all settled in & have assembled the massive amount of ikea products required to furnish such a large house.

We also have to paint before we move in. How is it possible there are so many shades of white? I guess it is like chocolate cake recipes.

More importantly I made some cakes, cute little citrusy, gingery cakes. They made me calm amongst the moving boxes…I will call them zen cakes.

Little Citrus & Ginger Pound Cakes

Ingredients:

• 250g softened cream cheese
• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• zest of 1/2 a lime
• zest of 1/4 an orange
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1tsp vanilla essence

Ginger royal icing:

• 3tsp freshly minced ginger
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 egg white
• 2 1/2 c icing sugar

Method (in my madness):

1. Preheat your oven to 170c & spray 2 – 12 piece baby bundt pans with oil
2. In a stand mixer beat the cream cheese, sugar & vanilla essence & mix until fluffy
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl & gradually  mix in the eggs, oil, flour, zest & juice
4. Spoon into the bundt pans allowing at least 1cm for the cakes to rise & bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden on top
5. Allow to cool completely before turning out of the pans & dipping in ginger glaze

Ginger royal icing:

1. Over a low heat combine the sugar, ginger & water in a small saucepan. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the ginger doesn’t taste raw.
2. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl & add the egg white & ginger syrup. Mix until well combined.

Family.

You don’t necessarily need to be related to them. They don’t always look the same but they’re a pretty cool thing to be included in. Especially when they like cake & ask me to make it.

Mr Bake & Bloom’s father turned 65 on the weekend (HAPPY BIRTHDAY again Mr Jennings) and I was more than happy to me asked to take care of the big fella’s cake. My brief: Chocolate cake to feed the usual suspects.

On another note: my Bake & Bloom business cards arrived on Friday. I was feeling professional, I was feeling fancy & on that note I needed a fancy cake to match my fancy blog & business cards. And by match…I mean..I just stuck my card on top (of the box, not the cake..I know it kind of looks like I stuck it on the cake but I promise I wouldn’t do that).

Fancy cakes have layers & shards of toffee & lots of funny ingredients…like dates, hazelnut, praline & cocoa nibs. And the cake I made had all of them, so it is super fancy. Something about the golden shards of cocoa nib praline garnishes massive oohs & ahhs from the crowd. I don’t quite understand it…it’s just sugar.

I have to day the patisserie ganache is the best looking & tasting ganache I have ever made. I doubt I would ever use another recipe again in my life, it’s just that good.

It is best to begin this cake the day ahead & decorate it on the day you need it. it’s not particularly complicated but the ganache is best after it has cooled for 24 hours &  there a number of elements to bring together to make the magic happen.

Flourless Crunchy Caramel, Date and Hazelnut Cake

(adapted from the Lindt chocolate website )

Ingredients:

(For the cake)

• 200g Lindt Excellence Crunchy Caramel
• 50g Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa
• 220g pitted dates, fresh recommended
• 150ml water
• 45ml Frangelico
• ½ vanilla pod or 1 tsp good vanilla extract
• 180g unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• Pinch salt
• 120g brown sugar
• 200g hazelnut meal
• 8 hazelnuts to garnish

(For the patisserie ganache)

• 250g Lindt Excellence 70%Cocoa
• 250ml cream, 35% fat
• 1tsp vanilla paste
• 40g sugar
• 40g glucose syrup (If you can’t get glucose syrup I think light corn syrup would work just as well)
• 40g unsalted butter

(For the caramel filling)

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

(For the cocoa nib praline)

• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 c cocoa nibs

Method:

(Cake)

1. Preheat oven to 170ºC (150ºC for fan forced oven) and grease a 26cm spring-form tin.
2. Place dates in a saucepan along with water, Frangelico and split vanilla bean. Simmer over a low heat until dates are soft. Remove from heat and push dates through a coarse sieve, creating a smooth purée. Discard remnants of skins & such left in the sieve & set puree aside to cool.
3.  Using an electric mixer, whisk eggs, egg yolks, salt and brown sugar until mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Place butter in a saucepan and melt over a medium heat. Break up chocolate and place in saucepan with the butter. Remove from heat and stir until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Mix the chocolate and butter into the whipped egg. Fold in date purée and hazelnut meal, ensuring there are no lumps. Mix until well incorporated. Pour cake batter into greased tin and smooth top with the back of a spoon.
6. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until cooked. Allow cake to cool in the tin.

(Ganache)

1. Place the cream, vanilla, sugar and glucose in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Once boiling, pour over the chocolate.
3. Mix with a small whisk until the chocolate is molten and the mixture is smooth and glossy.
4. Add the butter and mix until molten.
5. Cover the top of the ganache with cling film or a disk of baking paper to prevent from forming a skin & allow to sit at room temperature overnight.

(Caramel)

1. Remove the label from the can & place in a slow cooker on it’s lowest setting. Cover with water & leave for 7.5-8 hours. (I like to do this right before I go to bed)
2. Remove from the water & allow to cool completely (at least  a couple of hours) before opening

(Cocoa nib praline)

1. Prepare a baking sheet or  the back of a cookie tray by lining it with baking paper.
2. In a small saucepan over a high heat melt 1 tbsp of the sugar, add another spoonful of sugar &  allow to melt into the praline.
3. Continue adding sugar until all the sugar is dissolved &  the mixture is dark golden.
4. Remove from the heat & quickly stir in the cocoa nibs.
5. Pour over the baking paper & spread as thin as possible using the back of a spoon.
6. Allow to set (you can pop it in the freezer for a while to speed it up) & break into attractive shards to decorate the cake

(Assembly)

1. Cut the cake in half using a serrated knife.
2. Spread about half the caramel thinly to cover the centre of the cake & replace the top half.
3. Cover the cake with about half of the patisserie ganache.
4. Pop the cake & the remaining ganache into the fridge for about half an hour to firm up a little.
5. Remove both from the fridge & put the remaining ganache into a piping bag with a medium sized star tip. Pipe 8 rosettes evenly spaced around the border of the cake.
6. Top each rosette with a hazelnut & a shard of the cocoa nib praline.

I wish I were named Hazel & I lived in an original 100 year old home somewhere in the Barossa. I wish my hair were short, pin curled & blue rinsed. I wish I knew how to play bridge & canasta, because basically I can’t wait to be old.

Apart from the arthritis it looks like a pretty fun time. You get to smack your lips with satisfaction after every sip of tea, ride in those kick ass mobility scooters & leave your teeth lying around the house for your frightened/disgusted grandchildren to find.

 Best of all, you are allowed to eat stewed rhubarb to your hearts content.

I get picked on for a lot of the old people things I do…mostly my old lady shopping cart thing I just purchased (give me a break, it was on sale for $9.99!) but also my deep affection of rhubarb. Apparently it is illegal to love rhubarb if born after 1935.

If like me you’re wize before your time & happen to love rhubarb you will enjoy this cake…pudding…thing, which is kind of just some vanilla cake batter on top of stewed rhubarb & berries. It’s not particularly clever or pretty but it is tasty.

***Please note this recipe is for a 25cm cake tin (the cake pictured is 12cm but I also made a ring cake with the same batter)

Berry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 c chopped rhubarb
• 1 c berries (I used fresh chopped strawberries & raspberries)
• 2.5c plain flour
• 2.5tsp baking powder
• 2 c caster sugar
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 1 c buttermilk
• 4 eggs at room temp
• 2tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Grease a 25cm spring form pan & line with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl combine the rhubarb & half the sugar & allow to macerate (I’m pretty sure this is french for “get delicious”) while you get on with the rest of the cake
3. Whip the eggs & the remaining sugar until light & fluffy (approx 3 minutes on high)
4. Sift the flour & baking soda & add to the egg mixture along with the oil, milk & vanilla.
5. Pour the rhubarb into the prepared pan & smooth the cake batter over the top. Bang it on the bench a few times to remove air pockets & bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool for at least10 minutes before serving (can be served warm or cold) top with extra poached rhubarb & serve with custard or cream.