Malteser Chocolate Cake

One of the first cakes I decorated nicely enough to be 'Instagram worthy' was a Malteser Cake for one of my mums (many) birthdays.

 

Malteser Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Heart Sticks

 

It was with *cough* Aldi Chocolate Mudcake packet mix and *cough* Betty Crocker ready made chocolate icing. (Disclaimer: this was pre-Kitchenaid, pre-Thermomix days!)

This cake has two layers with chocolate icing in between, and then covered with chocolate icing on the outside of the cake to form a holding base for the maltesers. When placing the maltesers, start from the bottom of the cake and work your way up.

 

I put melted chocolate in silicon heart shaped ice moulds from Ikea and placed a wooden sewer in it at an angle. Sooo easy and looks amazing!

 

Great for the chocolate lovers!

 

On a reflective note, I remember this being the last cake that I made that my late grandfather ate. He had issues with eating lumpy type food in his final days so I chose Maltesers and plain chocolate moulds (i.e no fancy nuts or cachous) so that they could melt in his mouth before digested.

 

Baby Purees as Sandwich Spreads

My twin boys, Ethan and Harley are now 11 months old.

 

They first started purees at 4 months old. One of the main reasons I got a Thermomix was to make our babies delicious and nutritious food. Luckily I received my Thermomix in time for the boys eating solids so I have been able to make all of their food from scratch with fresh ingredients.

 

Like any organised twin mum, I always made and stockpiled a huge amount of purees, always doubling the recipes and freezing them in the Heinz Baby pots.

 

Just when I made my latest lot a few weeks ago, my boys refused to open their mouths to be spoon fed their purees and decided they only wanted finger foods that they could self feed. So I have a huuuuuge amount of purees in the freezer: Beef and 3 veg, lamb prune couscous, chicken and sweetcorn risotto, red lentils and veg, beef eggplant and mushroom ragu, coconut fish and veg to name a few. The boys refuse to eat them with pasta, so I now use them as a sandwich spreads! Makes it even better with homemade Thermomix bread and dinosaur sandwich cutters I bought from Ebay!

 

The baby puree recipes are from the Thermomix Cooking for your Baby and Toddler by Louise Fulton Keats, and Jumbo White Bread Loaf recipe by Thermomumma in the following link:

 

http://thermomumma.com/category/recipes/bread/

 

 

Sandwiches, Dinosaur Cutters and Frozen Purees

 

 

Homemade Thermomix Bread

 

 

Ethan and Harley Digging into their Dinosaur Sandwiches

 

 

 

High Heel Cupcakes

The most repinned photos on my pinterest page are these high heel cupcakes that I made for my good friend Denise for her 30th.

  

High Heel Cupcakes

As Denise loves all things American and fashion, I made red velvet cupcakes decorated with cream cheese frosting in the form of high heels. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes:
http://thermotwinning.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/red-velvet-cupcakes-recipe-for-with-or.html

I made the cookies by cutting one end rounded, and one end pointed (prior to baking), with the pointed end to shove into the side of the cupcake,  and decorated with royal icing, silver and coloured cachous and edible glitter prior to the royal icing drying.

Honey Graham Crackers Recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/38500/honey-graham-crackers/

You could really use any cupcake and cookie recipe for this but it is the icing and assembly which makes it amazing! I used cylindrical chocolate wafer sticks for the high heel affixed with melted choc at the underside of the biscuit.

Warning: This is not for the impatient type, it is quite fiddly but worth the effort!! (this was done pre-pregnancy, pre-children when I had all the time in the world!)

  

High Heel Cupcakes

High Heel Cupcakes

How do I get the time with twins?

One of the common questions I get when I make a cake (or knit...or even wash my hair...) is, how do you get the time with twins???

 

I owe it to:

 

1. My very hands on husband who is a super daddy and spends all his non working/non sleeping time doting on our sons, and

 

2. My mother who encouraged me to start blogging my creations, is super Por Por and never fails to be the 2nd set of hands when my husband is working, and

 

3. To my Thermomix which my husband bought me for my 30th present, making it so much faster and easier to make nutritious home made baby food, home cooked meals and sweet treats!

 

NOTE:

 

I looooooove making cakes, however, my 2 biggest supporters, my husband and mother, HATE EATING CAKE!!! Hahaha

Pink Ombre Cake

The cake that I have made the most is the Pink Ombre Cake, which became really 'in' a few years ago. I made it 4 times within a few months of each other with my Kitchenaid (pre-Thermomix days).

  

Pink Ombre Cake - Ashleigh's Birthday Cake

The first one I made was for my friend Ash. I also made one for my brother and now sister in laws engagement party, sister in law Julia's 21st bday party and good friend Marjorie's 30th birthday party. The cake goes a loooong way and feeds a huge crowd!

I used a simple butter cake recipe from taste.com and a buttercream recipe as follows:

Butter Cake Recipe:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19421/butter+cake

Buttercream Recipe:

http://thermotwinning.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/perfect-buttercream-icing.html

The 4 layers was 2 batches of the butter cake and 2 batches of the buttercream. I piped it using the plastic star shaped heads in the reusable piping sets from Coles/Woolies (I have since invested in 'better' metal ones) though it did the job!

Pink Ombre Cake - Pete and Kar Wei's Engagement Cake

Pink Ombre Cake - Julia's 21st Birthday Cake

Pink Ombre Cake - Julia's 21st Birthday Cake

Pink Ombre Cake - Marjorie's 30th Birthday Cake