Choc Chip Meringues

So I’ve developed quite an addiction to meringues. It’s amazing how your everyday ingredients can come together and create a wonderful sensation in your mouth. Recently, I’ve gone a bit crazy with choc chip meringues, making them for every and any occasion.

Ingredients

110g Castor Sugar

2 Large Eggs (separate to get the whites)

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup Choc Chips (chocoholics may be tempted to add more)

1Tsp Vanilla Essence

Method

Preheat the oven to 120degrees.

Whisk the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.

Gradually pour in Castor Sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form. 

Add the vanilla essence and gently fold in the choc chips with a spatula.

Drop tablespoons of the mixture onto a baking sheet, place in the oven and adjust the temperature to 100degrees.

After baking for 45mins, switch off the oven and leave the meringues inside for about an hour and a half (leave the oven door closed).

Your meringues should be sweet and crispy!

Surprise Cupcake

Surprise Cupcakes!

May the year ahead be filled 

with sweet surprises...

Why bake plain chocolate cupcakes, when you can fill them with yummy sweets, add a swirl of fluffy buttercream, decorate with silver sprinkles and top it off with a french macaron...

Ingredients
Freshly Baked Cupcakes
Mini astro's (I got mine from Bake-a-Ton)
Buttercream Icing
French Macron (optional)
Sprinkles to decorate (optional)

Method
The cake plunger shown below is optional. You can buy it at any baking store or simply use a butter knife.

Gently place the cake plunger on the centre of the cupcake and slowly push down. Once the plunger is 3/4 way into the cupcake, twist the plunger whilst pulling it out of the cupcake. If you are using a butter knife, cut out a circular chunk of the cupcake.

Push the lever of the plunger, and the cake (which will now be the lid to the cupcake), will pop right out.

You will be left with a hole in the cupcake which can be filled with any type of sweet goodies such as chocolate peanuts, mini astros or m&m's. Take note not to fill the cupcake with heavier sweets like whispers or the original astros as the cupcake may not be able to support the weight.

Once the cupcake is filled to the top, gently place the lid (the piece of cake plunged out) back on top of the cupcake and pat it down firmly.

The cupcakes are ready to decorate to suit your style. I added a swirl of vanilla buttercream and topped it off with a homemade french macaron (recipe for macaron to follow soon).

 These cupcakes look amazing even without knowing about the hidden surprise!

Sheep Cupcakes

Eid Mubarak !

Two weekends ago, Muslims around the world celebrated the Festival of Sacrifice (Eid ul Adha). The feast fell within the time of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage Muslims are expected to go on at least once in their lifetime. Eid commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim, or Abraham, to sacrifice his son in the Biblical story. Some Muslims observe the day by slaughtering a sheep, cow or other livestock animal.

The day's building up to Eid were not as hectic as before because for the past three Eid's, my Mum and I prepare the breakfast buffet. A table filled with fresh summer melons, golden brown waffles, sweet French toast and energising fruit smoothies, are just a few of the yummy treats to start the day. With all the excitement, I was too busy enjoying the moment and unfortunately did not take any pictures of the beautiful day, the decor and deliciousness, apart from the sheep cuppies which I made the day before.

Sheep Cupcakes

Ingredients

Freshly baked Chocolate Cupcakes, mini cupcakes are optional
2 Packets Mini Marshmallows (separate the white from the pink)
White and Green(optional) icing/frosting
Modelling Fondant in White and Brown

Method

The first step is to apply a generous amount of icing on to the cupcake. If the icing is coated too thinly, the marshmallows will not hold.

Once coated, stick the mini marshmallows around, leaving an area for the sheep face.

For the face, I used a chocolate brown modelling fondant from Party Themes. The fondant does dry and harden rather quickly so ensure that the unused fondant is in a sealed container.

Roll abit of fondant between the palm of your hands until it is the size of a fireball/jawbreaker, then mould it into a slightly oval shape.
For the ears, gently pinch and pull on two sides of the oval ball.

Using white fondant, roll out two tiny balls for the eyes and glue them onto the face with a dab of water. I initially used black poppy seeds for the pupils but noticed that after a few hours they did fall out so then decided to just draw on a dot with a black marker.

For the nostrils, use a toothpick and make two deep holes toward the bottom of the face.

I deliberately baked 9 standard cupcakes so the leftover mixture could be used for mini grass cuppies. This gave an extra edge which created a fun, cute 'sheep story'.

Easy Chocolate Cuppies

Easy, no-mess Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients

125g Margarine
1 and 1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
4 tsp Baking Powder
8 tsp Cocoa
1/2 cup Milk

Method

Combine all ingredients in a food mixer and beat for approximately 3minutes.

Spoon into greased muffin tins until 3/4 full

Bake at 180degrees for about 15-20minutes

Baking can't get simpler than this!

Mini Snowballs

Mini Snowballs

I love this easy, simple recipe. These mini bite size snowballs are perfect for any occasion. Be warned however, this recipe yields around 2 and a half mini cupcake trays so unless you are a snowball lover, try and half the recipe or find a way to distribute the rest to family or friends. I always end up giving the extras to the security guards at University (my way of bribing them for parking space).

Ingredients

1 cup Castor Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
125g Butter
1/2 cup Milk

Method

Beat Castor Sugar and eggs until creamy and then add Vanilla Essence
In a separate bowl,Sift Flour and Baking Powder
Bring Butter and Milk to a boil
Alternate flour and boiled mixture into beaten bowl.
Spoon into  greased mini cupcake trays and bake at 180degrees until lightly golden. 
Be careful not to overfill the pan as a peak will form when baked. 

Syrup

1 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
60g Butter
3/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp red food colouring
Bring all ingredients to a boil

After cooling snowballs, dip in syrup and coat in coconut

Enjoy!

Xxx
Tasneem

Candyfloss Cuppies

This week at University, the Muslim Student's Association (MSA) held a cake sale in order to raise funds to support a Fun Day with 38 orphan kids (from Baitul Aman Children's Home). Charity begins at home and this opportunity gave me an excuse to finally bake a batch of Candyfloss cupcakes which have recently been catching my attention on Pinterest.

Ingredients

150g Butter
1 Cup Castor Sugar
1 and 1/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup Cocoa
3 Eggs
3 tsp Baking Powder
100ml Milk
50ml Water
1 tsp Candyfloss or Bubblegum flavoured Essence

Icing

100g  WoodenSpoon
120g Icing Sugar
Pink Gel Colouring
Candyfloss

Method

Beat Butter and Sugar until creamy, then add the rest of the ingredients and beat for approximately 3minutes

Line cupcake tray with cupcake cases and fill each case 3/4 way

For the icing, beat WoodenSpoon and Icing Sugar until creamy, then add 2-3 drops of desired gel colour and mix until colour is evenly distributed

Once baked and cooled, ice cupcake and top with fresh Candyfloss

Unfortunately because of the Durban heat, after about 3hours the Candyfloss dissolved and left a sugary blue smear like below, so I do suggest topping the cupcakes with the Candyfloss just before serving

22nd! with an unexpected surprise

Family, Friends, Food and the Farm

Over the years I have noticed the attention and detail that goes into the appearance of the cake, leaving the taste as an 'extra''.I long for the days when cakes could be eaten in a forkful without spending minutes trying to peel away the sugary fondant (which I think tastes horrible). This is why when the Mother bear asked if I had any particular cake in mind, I immediately thought of the farm cake she had often baked for us growing up.

The moist double layer chocolate cake, coated in smooth buttercream icing and sprinkled with green coconut 'grass' made my heart skip a beat. Obviously we can't forget the kitkat fence around the farm and the cute plastic animals which I always feel is a bonus gift (unlike the edible cake toppers).

Thanks Mum, Love you Lots

As the famous Cake Boss says;

"Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It's all about the memories."

- Buddy Valastro

But what's a birthday without a surprise?

I now share the 12th of September with a sweet little princess

Congratulations to my cousin and her husband on becoming new proud parents