If you have seen the promo ad , the 3 minute long sneak peek or the first episode of Masterchef Australia 2011, then you may have noticed a familiar face. Yes, It is Shannon Smyth from Bake & Bloom!!!

On behalf of Shannon, I would like to inform you all that she will be absent from this blog temporarily and will not be able to discuss or mention her involvement in Masterchef Australia until the final episode airs on TV. In the mean time, on behalf of Shannon, I’d like to thank you all for visiting and add that you’re more than welcome to leave comments below to show her your support. 

Sincerely,

Shane, AKA- Mr Bake & Bloom.

I am writing today to tell you, for now at least I will no longer be blogging on Bake & Bloom.

I am sure any Bride to be will tell you it is a big task to plan a wedding, and l have a lot of commitments to meet in my personal life  at the moment including my veggie garden which is now huge! Changing jobs & finally getting really into floristry & trying to be more active in my family life which I have neglected for for quite a while now. Finding the time to commit to make this blog all it should be has become fairly difficult.

I would like to thank each & every person that has ever stopped by to say Hi or read a recipe, and especially my regular loyal readers & friends.

In particular I would like to thank my friends Mel (From Bread n’ Sniff It) & Christie (From Fig & Cherry) for making me really feel like a part of of the blogging family. You’re both a total inspiration to me!

Rest assured I will be back some time next year.

So for now my friends, goodbye. Keep cooking & know that I love you all. Thanks for making my life for the last year & a half a little sweeter & I am sure we will speak again soon!

xoxo Shannon Smyth

Anyone who has been reading this blog for more than 10 minutes will know that I like me a good snack at around 3 in the afternoon. Unfortunately that snack is often coated in milk chocolate or crispy & deep fried.

It is not doing my wedding planning any favors.

The clever folks down at harvestbox.com.au have discovered that I am not the only wreckless snacker & are committed to giving us better, healthier, tastier snackage right to your office or home!

When I saw it I jumped & I received my first box a few weeks ago which included:

Summerdaze: Banana chips, pecans & dried coconut cubes

Everest & Beyond: Dates, fire raisins, juicy soft goji berries

HB Power Mix: Pistachios, crasins, macadamias & fire raisins (My FAVORITE!!!)

Fruit & Nut: Dark choc chips, hazelnuts & raisins

So how does it work?

You get 4 portions of snacking pleasure in each box. You them what you liked and don’t like by completing little surveys on their website & based on your choices, they select from a growing range of over 50 mixes of nuts, dried fruit, seeds and fill the box just for you.

Here’s the best bit

As a special offer to my readers www.harvestbox.com.au are offering a first box free (valued at $6.95) & second box half price! To redeem this offer sign up & use the code 169BTG9RF in the checkout. You can cancel this service at any time.

Don’t forget when you get your first box go back to the harvest box website, rate your mixes & next time your mix will be even better, even yummier & very you.

Happy snacking!

xox Shannon

In my home there is only one shape a scone should be, circular & cut with a water glass dipped in flour.

None of this namby pamby cookie cutter business & certainly not American style scone triangles. Where did the scone triangle come from anyway? I suspect this is something to do with Starbucks. When they start serving real coffee made by real people, then they can come talk to me about how a scone should be shaped.

My mum always cut her scones using a water glass dipped in flour (to stop any sticking) and consequently anything else seems like a bastardised version of the original. Of course a cookie cutter will do much the same thing, but a water glass makes a fun sound when you press it into the dough too. (You will know what I am talking about when you do it)

Of course it probably doesn’t matter at all what shape a scone is but we tend to make these things the way our mothers did, the way thiers did before that. What does matter is handling the dough gently, getting the right consistency, using fresh (not canned) pumpkin puree & using a nice heavy baking tray to get some good crust happening.

Something I have changed is the sugar, I really like a bit of brown sugar pumpkin action so I have used half brown sugar & half homemade vanilla sugar. Feel free to use caster sugar as a substitute. 

Scones should be eaten on the same day they are made as they dry out rather quickly hence the rather small yeild of this recipe. If they are not to be served immediately keep them warm for a while wrapped in a clean tea towel. They are the perfect Sunday afternoon picnic treat.

Pumpkin Scones

Ingredients:

• 260g fresh pumpkin puree
• 2.5 cups self raising flour (approx)
• 1 egg yolk
• 40g softened butter
• 2.5tbsp brown sugar
• 2.5tbsp vanilla sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup milk to brush
• Extra flour to dust

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c & line a heavy baking tray with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl cream butter & sugar, add the egg yolk & beat until fluffy.
3. Add pumpkin puree & stir with a wooden spoon, add half flour & mix into batter.
4. Keep adding flour gradually & mixing until mixture forms a dough.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface & gently knead a few times to bring together. The dough should be still slightly sticky.
6. Roll out to about 2cm thick & cut into circles using a water glass dipped in flour or a cookie cutter.
7. Re knead & roll leftover dough & continue cutting scones until all the dough is used (usually there is a little bit leftover to munch on)
8. Place scones on baking tray & brush with milk.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
10. Serve warm from the oven with butter, cream & lemon curd

Makes approx 12-15 depending on the size of your cutter.

**Note: for savory pumpkin scones omit the sugar, add a pinch of salt & whatever other flavorings you choose. Crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, chopped jalepinos, pesto, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, shopped herbs, goats cheese. You name it.

Ok. so technically it actually took 3 days, not 2 but this weekend I made my step sister’s wedding cake & 3 wedding bouquets, 5 buttonholes & a table centerpiece. (and a lot of mess) 

You may bow down in my awesomeness now. 

It was my first real wedding & Rachael & Adrian put a lot of trust in me to leave some important elements of their big day in my trembling hands.  Thanks for letting me be a part of it guys! 

Want to know how I did it? Well to be honest, I am not even sure myself but I had a whole lot of help from Joy The Baker & Wilton. 

The cake consisted of 2x 12″ butter cakes & 2x 8″ butter cakes sandwiched with a good store bought lemon curd & frosted with more french vanilla buttercream than I have seen in my life. I have a whole new respect for pastry chefs & anyone who says they charge too much for wedding cakes seriously does not understand how much work they are. 

Iced & ready to go to the reception

Let me break it down for you: 

• Prepare cake batter. To give you an idea of proportions, this cake will feed approx 56 people for dessert. It took 20 eggs, a small sack of flour & over 2 hours to bake in total. (each 12″ cake took 65 minutes & I only have 1 12″ cake tin) I just have a regular sized kitchen mixer & I needed to divide the batter into thirds to be able to mix it.
• Allow cakes to cool completely.
• Prepare approx 15 cups of french vanilla buttercream & set aside. Tip** I added a little cornstarch to add some stability to the buttercream. It does effect the texture a little bit but the weather is so warm here I was not going to risk the icing melting right off the cake.
• Prepare the crumb coat. I just used 5 cups of icing sugar + enough pouring cream to make a thin spreadable paste.
• Individually trim all 4 cakes with a large serrated knife to achieve a flat top.
• Individually crumb coat all 4 cakes using a large palette knife regularly dipped in boiling water. Allow crumb coat to dry for approx 2 hours.
• Spread one of each sized tier with lemon curd & sandwich top layer on each. Thickly apply frosting with large palette knife dipped in boiling water to achive a smooth, tidy finish.
• Using a hot glue gun, apply ribbon to the outer edge of cake boards.
• Precariously transfer cakes to their corresponding boards.
• Somehow transport the cakes to the wedding reception along with all the decorations & equipment. I didn’t have a box big enough for the bottom tier so I carried on my lap all the while praying we didn’t crash or I would have gone face first into half an inch of frosting.
• Explain to the passive aggressive restaurant manager that you are attending the ceremony & therefore cannot set up the cake in the afternoon, it needs to be done now or not at all. Snigger quietly at putting someone so snotty out of their way. (OK so I probably should have called her a few days in advance rather than an hour beforehand, but I have no idea why she made such a big deal about it)
•  Measure & cut approx 5 wooden dowels to support the top tier &  push pointy end first into the bottom tier.
• Stack the top tier on top of the dowels & painstakingly make minor adjustments until centered.
• Decorate lavishly with fresh flowers & apply buttercream beading to hide the cake board.

It is also noteworthy to tell you that this cake required 4.5 kg of icing sugar &  2.5kg of butter in the cake + frosting, even I was a little frightened of seeing so much butter in one place. 

I think the result more than justifies the calories though. 

Ready to be cut

The wedding went off without a hitch, the weather finally cleared to reveal a perfect blue sky. The bride looked amazing, the groom showed up & most of the topless sunbathers vacated the beach for the duration of the ceremony. 

 Here’s a couple of photos of the happy couple + the flowers. They really are just the most perfect couple & I have no doubt they will grow wrinkly together. They’re off to Vanuatu for their honeymoon today.  

Adrian went for the dip. Kudos! I think Shane would drop me if we tried that.

I also had the privilege to (finally) meet my 10 week old niece Brooke. 

This is the look I got when I asked if I could hold her.

The end

Any day that includes cake & me hugging beautiful little babies is a good one. I can’t wait for my wedding, I keep dropping little hints to Shane that we should drop everything & have a little destination wedding but I don’t think I could live with it. The best part about weddings is seeing all the people that travel to see the people they love.

xoxo Shannon