Little Lime Lemon Lamingtons

                            little lime lemon lamingtons 

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Lemon Lamingtons??? Lamingtons are traditionally cubes of sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut, but according to the Wikipedia entry on Lamingtons 'The raspberry variety is more common in New Zealand, while a lemon variety has been encountered in Australia.' 

Just as I was thinking "this Australian has never encountered a lemon lamington", I opened a new Australian Women's Weekly cookbook "Cakebaking" and there on page 32 is 'lemon lamingtons'. Have I missed a trend? 

My broken ribs are still healing and in a "now we have one I baked previously" moment I whipped out a lemon buttercake from the freezer. Plus with more limes in the garden at the moment than lemons it seemed natural to make a batch of lime/lemon butter too. Put the two together and we have my version of a lemon lamington...

bumper crop of limes in the garden this year

Little Lime Lemon Lamingtons

Ingredients

1x plain lemon butter cake or sponge cake cut into cubes (I used a ruler as a cutting guide)

1x batch of lime/lemon butter (recipe below)

2 1/2 cups shredded or desiccated unsweentened coconut 

desiccated and shredded coconut

Method

Pour your lime/lemon butter into a pie dish. Place the shredded coconut on a dinner plate. Dip cubes of cake firstly into the lime/lemon butter, then gently roll in coconut.

You can serve them straight away, but I think they are nicer when you allow them to sit for a short while to allow the lime/lemon butter to sink into the cake a little.

Lime Lemon Butter (Curd)

 Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients
3 large egg yolks
Zest of one small lime and 1/2 of one lemon
1/4 cup of lime juice
6 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter, cold and diced

Method
Combine yolks,  zest,  juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to stir sides and bottom of pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat back of wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add the butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until consistency is smooth. Strain.
Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin from forming; wrap tightly. Let cool; refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour. Store, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's lemon curd

Robot Tea Infuser

My best friend and I both love our tea infuser robots, they're not super practical for everyday use as you can only use large leaf tea inside your robots stomach. But, but, but they make you smile and do look cute just hanging around.

Happy Baking :)

Raspberry and Tangelo fruit butter recipes Fruit butter/curd tips and storage.

Three French Hens Cupcake

                               

On the third day of Christmas, 

my true love sent to me...

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Goodness, birds were just "the gift" in the 1700's if the English carol 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' is anything to go by. As a lady in the 1700's your true love brought you geese, hens, doves, turtle doves, calling birds, swans and a partridge of course... but wait you thought at least there was jewellery?? The "golden rings" most likely referred to golden ring necked birds. But at least you also got some "leaping lords"! All the birds were eaten in era so could have been destined for the pot. 

Whilst where here, verse four is actually "colly birds" not "calling birds" as often sung; colly birds are a smallish blackbird. French hens in the era were either the Crevecoeur, Houdans or the La Fleche breeds.

Alternative lyrics: There is Australian versions of the song using Australian animals such as "dingo's dancing", a religious rewrite of the lyrics, though there is no documented religious link to song. I even had the pleasure of hearing a heavy metal version of the song on the weekend... unless you are a Twisted Sister fan I'd give it miss. 

Want to make your own hens? 

Black fondant is rolled into egg shapes then shaped into nesting chickens.

With fondant or modelling paste use red to make wattles and combs and orange for the beaks. Black rolled out thinly is used to cut feathers from. White is rolled into small egg shapes to make the eyes and thinly rolled mauve is used to make the eyelids. Attach all pieces to hens bodies with water using a small paint brush, starting with feathers, then comb/wattle, then beak and eyes. Use a black food marker to finish the eyes. Allow to dry.

Happy Baking and Singing :) 

Debbie's Beaded Butterfly Cupcakes

                                   Debbie's  beaded butterfly cupcakes 

Typing one handed today as I'm sporting a "butterfly injury" after dipping my hand in hot isomalt... not something I'd recommend!!! Luckily I do listen to Martha Stewart and had a bowl of cold water nearby to dip my hand in, phew judging by all the blistering it's lucky I did! 

But bravery is my middle name (not really I cried like a baby) and I piped with one hand to finish off my cakes for today. 

Purple butterfly cupcakes for Debbie, who is my step son Daniel's Mum :)

Beaded Butterfly toppers

You will need...

rice paper butterfly printed sheet (available from cake decorating stores)

silicone bead or drop pearl moulds (mine 'pearl drops' by First Impressions)

isomalt sticks or pearls

clear cake piping gel

cake glue

edible glitter

food colour of choice 

chef's gas torch

small sharp scissors or craft knife

paint brush used for food purposes only

I made two batches of cakes yesterday, both used isomalt in the toppers. I was burnt with the cooked stove top isomalt (that cake later in the week) and I also used for the first time isomalt sticks. 

Isomalt sticks are pre cooked isomalt, if it's first time you're using isomalt or you rarely do sugar work they are good option. However if you are frequent user I recommend cooking your isomalt from either powder or crystals.

Quick and easy to prepare the stick isomalt;

Break desired amount of sticks into pieces and place them in a microwave safe cup with a handle (I used pyrex) Melt in 15 second increments until clear and bubbles have formed. That's it, done!!

Remove from the microwave and add colour if desired, stir the colour in with a back and forwards waving motion to prevent bubbles forming. Once all bubbles have subsided, pour carefully (it's hot!!) into moulds. 

Allow to set and then unmould.

If you used a silicone mould you will have small bubbles on the surface of your pieces.

A quick pass over with a gas chef's torch will remove the bubbles and leave you with shiny pieces. If your moulded pieces are too long for the butterflies body, snap a piece off to shorten and neaten the end with the gas torch.

Butterfly Wings;

Lightly paint over selected butterflies with cake gel, sprinkle with edible glitter if desired. Leave overnight to dry.

Next morning with small sharp scissors or a craft knife on a craft mat, cut out the butterflies. I cut the body ends away too.

Gently fold butterfly and attach isomalt body with a little cake glue. Leave to dry for a few hours, support the wings by putting folded paper etc under them to create a "flying position". 

Use finished butterflies to top you cupcakes. 

Happy Baking or Butterfly making :) 

Pearl Glaze Edible Paint

pearl glaze by bakery crafts

Pearl Glaze is a pre-mixed pearl lustre dust paint by Bakery Crafts. A fabulous product for cake decorators to carry with them for those emergency touch ups and for the home baker that occasionally wants to add a little shimmer to their cakes & cookies.

Use alone to add a pearly shimmer or Pearl Glaze can also be easily coloured with any of your existing gel paste food colours allowing you to create colour palettes of choice.  

here americolor electric pink gel paste is added to pearl glaze to create different shades of pink

Pearl Glaze is best applied in several lights coats to your dry fondant/modelling paste/royal icing, allowing 30 minutes to dry between each coat to get the full effect. 

Happy Baking :)

Pearl Glaze is available from cake decorating stores and online from Cakestuff (New Zealand), Cakes Around Town (Australia) Riches and Realms Ebay store (Australia), Bakers Nook (US) Sorry UK I haven't as yet found a supplier online for you.