I know it's a month too late but welcome to 2014! Woo! Yeah! Woo! This year, an old tradition that I started with my best friends from school was reinstated- the making of New Year's Resolutions (or resolutioning as we call it). Originally we would make a resolution for each letter of the alphabet (yes, some were quite difficult ie. "Y" which ended up with silly things like "yodel on a hill" and "X" would always be something "Xtreme") but this year we decided to go with quality not quantity. So this year my resolutions are:
Vegitarian in February
Blog at least 26 times over the year
220 gym visits
Delve into the realms of molecular gastronomy
Read more (with an aim to read seven books throughout the year),
Wear clothes that make me happy
Buy a bike and ride it
Walk to work 220 times
Decrapify/organise my stuff
Drink 2L/day
What I really like about some of these resolutions is that they are quantifiable so I am able to keep track on how I am going. They are also challenging for me (I know some people would read 7 books in a week but I read really slowly and find it difficult to get enough time to read). So I am looking forward to a year of new habits and hopefully a healthier and happier life. There's more about our resolutioning over here: Little Adelaide Kate.
Anyways, even though it is already February (I have been away in Thailand- sorry) I want to do a farewell to 2013 by postings pics of all the cakes that I made throughout 2013 so have a scroll and enjoy!
Cake for Mr T's boss' farewell: 8 inch Chocolate mud cake with Swiss meringue butter cream and chocolate vines.
Cake for HPS morning tea: 16 inch Chocolate raspberry mudcake with Swiss meringue buttercream and chocolate vines
Arm cake for Daniel's birthday: Chocolate mud cake as the base with a red velvet scroll cake arm. Icing is chocolate ganache with jelly worms, Oreo dirt and white chocolate maggots. The arm has buttercream and fondant.
Cricket bat cake for Thusha's 13th birthday: Chocolate mudcake with chocolate ganache icing and fondant. The grass is dyed coconut and the ball is a giant cake pop covered in fondant (the ball is dry brushed with red powder colouring for the more authentic look)
Farewell croquembouche for Helen: Made from Adriano Zumbo's chocolate swirl croquembouche recipe. The Helen figure in her pyjamas and dressing gown i smade of gumpaste.
Rainbow cake for Mayurica's 7th birthday: white chocolate mudcake with Swiss meringue buttercream filling and fondant icing (yes the layers of cake are the same as the icing on the outside). The clouds are made of small cake pop-style balls stuck together and covered in fondant.
Fairy garden 4th birthday cake for Alek: Pink velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and fondant icing
Tiny hiding fairies
Back of the fairy cake
Chocolate bar Cake for Molly's 13th birthday: Chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache icing and fondant
Pineapple cake for Aliy's 16th birthday: chocolate mudcake with chocolate ganache and fondant- I did ask if she wanted a pineapple cake but she REALLY didn't. The leaves are gumpaste and are textured using a sweetcorn husk. they are held up with florist's wire (this is one of the few cake I have made that has parts that are inedible)
Star cake for Connor's 21st: White chocolate mudcake with white chocolate ganache and white chocolate curls
Purple ombre 6th birthday cake for Achol: White chocolate mud cake (each layer a different shade of purple) with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream
Side view of Achol's birthday cake
Croquembouche for a work mate's husband's birthday: the tower is all vanilla profiteroles with vanilla creme patisserie and the back decorations are chocolate profiteroles with chocolate creme patisserie- she wanted it very plain and simple- due to the heat and humidity of the day- angel hair toffee could not be made. There are chocolate coated almonds and candied pecans around to decorate (the photo does not show the decorations very well).
Farewell cake for Yamuma: water is dry brushed on for more texture and the sand is biscuit crumbs.
Masquerade cake for Dee's 30th birthday: vanilla sponge cake filled with milk chocolate buttercream and iced with vanilla buttercream. This was my first attempt at making sugarveil lace (the small piece of lace on the mask) I could only get a small piece as the humidity is terrible for sugarveil lace.
And now for the smaller cakes and biscuits I have done...
Pear perfection from the Adriano Zumbo cookbook for Mr T's Mum for mother's day
Biscuits decorated with royal icing for Nanna's birthday (Not sure why i can't rotate this photo)
Popcorn macarons from the Adriano Zumbo cookbook
Gingerbread mansion
Penguin pop
Fishbowl pop
White chocolate cupcake filled with strawberry curd and iced with white chocolate ganache and fondant
Oreo butterfly cupcakes. Find the recipe here:Sam's kitchen. I used Swiss meringue buttercream with crushed oreos mixed through for the icing. the butterfly is made of wafer
I'm hoping that this year I will be able to do a few step-by-step cake decorating demonstrations for you all and also show you all how to make things out of gumpaste. While I am still learning to decorate cakes as I'm sure you can tell, I can still show you some of the techniques I use. I will also take you along on my adventures with molecular gastronomy- I think it's going to be an exciting year for cooking!
Have you made any New Year's resolutions?
Have you made any New Year's resolutions?
