June 24, 2012

Super cute my little pony birthday cake



When I was a little girl, my top three toys of choice would have had to of been Barbie, Polly Pocket and My Little Pony. To celebrate all things cute and girly, make this gorgeous My Little Pony cake for girls big and small alike!
My Little Pony Birthday Cake
Ingredients:
  • 1 double sponge, unfilled
  • 1/2 cup jam
  • 125g butter, softened
  • 4 cups icing mixture, sifted
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 500g ready-prepared fondant icing
  • pink food colouring
  • blue food colouring
  • yellow food colouring
  • 3 My Little Pony figures

Method:

Take a large serated knife and cut across the top of each cake so that they are perfectly flat.
Spread the jam over the top of the bottom layer to 2cm from the edge. Place the second layer on top.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the icing mixture half a cup at a time. Beat in the milk and vanilla until the icing is whipped and fluffy.

Roughly coat the cake in a thin layer of buttercream icing and place in the refrigerator for half an hour. Reserve remaining buttercream for the final finish.

Remove ready-prepared icing from the pack and divide into  5 portions. (See notes below). Tint each portion pink, yellow, pale green, pale blue and purple. Use the yellow and blue colouring to make green and the pink and blue to make the purple colouring.

Dust your work surface with some icing mixture and roll out thinly using a rolling pin. Cut 6 strips of each colour that is 2 cm longer than the side of the cake. Use remaining icing to cut out the hearts and star shapes. Lay all pieces on a piece of baking paper to dry until you finish icing the cake.

Remove the cake from the fridge and coat it in the remaining buttercream icing, giving it as smooth a finish as possible. I use an offset palate knife for this job.

Place the strips all around the cake and use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the overhangs at the top. Place stars and hearts around the cake board, putting a few on the top of the cake. Place the My Little Pony figures on top of the cake and on the board.
Notes:

  • Using a ready made sponge is a great way to get a birthday cake made fast. It is one less step for a tired Mama to do when they are making a birthday cake late at night.
  • If you have never used ready prepared icing, this is a great recipe to begin with. It is just like play dough in consistency and you just have to roll it over and over to get the colours mixed in. I like to dip my hand in icing mixture when doing this.
  • This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, Australia's best recipe finder. This recipe is brought to you by the magical world of MY LITTLE PONY.

June 20, 2012

Blueberry buttermilk bundt cake

This cake uses few ingredients and takes little time to create, with maximum effect produced when the pretty-shaped creation emerges golden brown from the oven. I didn't skinny-fy this recipe, I felt a little old-fashioned indulgence was acceptable for this week's baking rotation. This one was a definite crowd pleaser. Plus I just adore anything in a bundt cake tin, so gorgeous and easy to sneak a quick little slice.

June 12, 2012

Vintage waves inspired by Veronica Lake


Learn how to do amazing, gorgeous vintage waves courtesy of Lauren Conrad's gorgeous beauty blog. All you need is clean and dry hair to start and a curling iron, preferably in the number 1 size. Follow the pictures in this post for a step-by-step guide. 



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Megan Fox does this trend perfectly
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Veronica Lake


June 07, 2012

Gluten-free Sugar-free Red Velvet Cupcakes



This recipe is to make guilt-free gluten-free red velvet cupcakes, which taste as good as the real thing! Red velvet cupcakes have become super popular in the last few years, with their rich red cake and cream cheese icing, these cakes are making appearances at girl's birthday parties everywhere.