All that Glitters

Wow this rock knocked my socks off! Can be bought from the Theo Theo site.

Chocolate Whoopies with Fluffy Marshmallow

This recipe is from Claire Ptaks beautiful Whoopie Pie Book. The chocolate whoopie with marshmallow is the original and is definitely one of the most delicious things I have tasted.
Chocolate Whoopie
175g plain flour
100g unsweetened cocoa powder
11/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 p salt
125g unsalted butter
1 large egg
225ml buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180oC & line 2 trays with baking paper.
In a bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda & baking powder. Stir in the salt and leave to one side.
In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Add the buttermilk & vanilla and beat until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients in two batches mixing until just incorporated. Then chill for 30 minutes. ( I forgot to do this with this batch and they turned out ok but not as smooth as the whoopies illustrated in the book).
Drop 48 small scoops of batter about 5cm apart onto the baking trays and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire tray.

While they are cooling make the yummy marshmallow filling.

For this you will need 3 egg whites
150g caster sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Weigh all the ingredients in a heat proof bowl and place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Whisk continuously by hand until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is frothy and slightly opaque ( 10 - 15 mins ).
Remove from the heat and whip on high speed until it is white, thick and holds it's shape.
Use straight away

And watch those Whoopies disappear.

This weeks projects

Make bake and transform is the plan for this week!
Starting with blueberry muffins and Whoopie pies (chocolate pies with marshmallow filling), then make some kids aprons for my fabby nieces and transform the long crappy table which everything gets dumped on in the bedroom. Busy week ahead then so resting up tonight :)

Cupcake Heaven

I received a dinky little book this Christmas with recipes for Cupcakes and Muffins from The Hummingbird Cafe (thanks Ronan!). My first attempt at making these yummy Vanilla Cupcakes was a disaster, they just flopped but were nevertheless eaten by my husband and son who proclaimed them delicious despite their poor looks. This attempt was far more successful as you can see from above. The recipe below is for 24 - making 12 is not on in my house as there are always 3 or 4 scoffed straight away for "testing" purposes. Husband and son are always on hand for this, 1 each just out of the oven and another each when iced and completed.

Below is the recipe for cupcakes and frosting.

Vanilla Cupcakes (makes 24)

240g Plain Flour
280g Caster Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
2 pinches of salt
80g Unsalted Butter at room temp
240ml Whole Milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp pure Vanilla extract

for the Vanilla Frosting
250g Icing Sugar sifted
80g Unsalted Butter at room temp
2 tablespoons of whole milk
a couple of drops of Vanilla Extract


Preheat the oven to 170oC (325oF/Gas 3)
Put the flour, sugar butter and baking powder into an electric mixer or use a hand held electric whisk and beat at a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.

Whisk the eggs vanilla and remaining milk together and pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until incorporated. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth.

This is quite a liquid mix which I didn't expect.

Spoon the mixture into paper cases until 2/3rds full and bake for 20 minutes. The skewer should come out clean when inserted. Leave the cakes cool in the pan and then put on a wire tray to cool completely.

To make the Vanilla Frosting - sift the icing sugar and add the butter mix until they come together. turn the speed down to slow and add the milk & vanilla. Once the milk is incorporated turn the mixer to high speed and beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. I added a drop of red food colouring to make mine pink for these.

Spoon the frosting on the cooled cakes and add hundreds & thousands for decoration.

Then enjoy!

FABric Memo Board - Tutorial

So I started out this week wanting to make something for my god-daughters birthday and thought this would be a good idea.

It was easier than I expected it to be with just a few fiddley bits and I am really pleased with the result - hope she will like it too!

You will need

A Cork Board
A piece of fabric about 1" bigger all around
A piece of batting about 1/2" bigger all around
Ribbon ( I used about 4 metres for this one )
Buttons
A good scissors ( to cut the fabric )
A Staple Gun
Needle & Thread






Lay your fabric (wrong side up) and batting down with the cork board on top.
Centre the corkboard and insure there is enough fabric and batting to fold over the frame.

Starting at the top center roll the fabric and batting and using the staple gun attach to the frame. Then pull the fabric and batting tight and do the same in the centre of the bottom and at the sides. Make sure that you are pulling the fabric and batting tight for each staple. Staple the midlle of each side as well before continuing.

You should end up with the back looking like this




and the front like this



Then lay your ribbons criss-crossing corner to corner first pinning the top and bottom. You can staple these but with the excess material at the corners the staples may not hold. I had to stitch these on. Then add more ribbon criss- crossing from the top centre to the side centres and from the side centres to the bottom centre.

At the points were the ribbons cross sew buttons tightly to give the quilted effect. Gluing them does not do this and although it was a slower process to sew through cork board it was worth it.

and Ta Da!

While I'm Busy

While I am busy putting together my first make and do post I wanted to post up this desk which I has been in my folder for a while. Every time I open the folder I gaze longingly at it for a moment... and close it again. I have a feeling a lottery win would be required to purchase but I know I could do very good work at a desk like this?
Unfortuantely I have no idea where I saw this so cannot provide a source. But if I find it I will update!

Nothing Bog Standard about these!

Last year, I received one of these amazing candles as a gift - oooh the scents are just to die for - well the Rose is anyway!

It can fill not just a room but a house in an hour.

You can also purchase Linen, Soap and other smelly lovelies all made in Ireland here