MiNaScope

The MiNaScope microscope stage with various "biological" samples.

Yes, I know it's been a very, very long time since we've posted anything. I've had this one saved in the drafts folder since August and just haven't had the time (or motivation) to finish it off. Better late than never I guess!

A few months ago, Na sent me an email about the "Great Microscopy Bake-off 2013" held at The University of Sydney. The brief was to make a science or microscopy-themed cake, cupcake or biscuit. This was right down our alley and we really wanted to make a joint submission. We brainstormed and came up with various ideas, being so like-minded we actually came up with very similar ideas so it made the final decision easy. As we are both microscopists, we felt very strongly about making something microscope-related but a microscope seemed too obvious. In the end we decided on a microscope stage and various "biological" samples, this way we could easily make the components separately and then arrange them together on the day.

The MiNaScope microscope stage was chocolate brownie on the inside covered in basic vanilla buttercream and fondant. I bought the white icing at the supermarket and black fondant at The Essential Ingredient. Na's gingerbread cookies were covered in royal icing and decorated using a feathering effect described here. The writing on the "glass slides" was achieved by using a pen with edible ink.

Anthea Leonard from Sweet Art was there to judge the cakes and we came second! How amazing is that? Mi xo

Gingerbread cookies with "fluorescent cells" made by Na.

"Bacterial plate"gingerbread cookies made by Na.

Gingerbread "glass slides" made by Na.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Maple Cinnamon Buttercream

Every Christmas I make gingerbread men, but this year I thought I would try something slightly different - gingerbread cupcakes! This recipe is from my favourite cupcake recipe book 500 Cupcakes. I topped the cupcakes off with a maple cinnamon buttercream using Na's basic buttercream with the addition of one tablespoon of maple syrup instead of milk and one teaspoon of cinnamon. The cupcakes turned out really moist and lovely with the addition of crystallised ginger for that extra bite. Merry Christmas! Mi xo

Mad Hatter's Tea Party!

This Christmas will be MiNa's second Christmas, can't believe it's been almost a whole year since we had our first baking collaboration together Christmas cupcakes which eventually resulted in MiNa's Food Adventures! The theme to our work Christmas party this year was Mad Hatter, so Na and I decided to make Mad Hatter/Alice in Wonderland themed sugar cookies. We used the sugar cookies recipe from Na's teapot and teacup post and the royal icing recipe from Bec Loves Baking blog which uses pavlova magic instead of egg whites, this can be found at your local supermarket. I found the quantity to be to much for 45 - 50 sugar cookies so I think I will halve the recipe next time. Na made the gorgeous teapot, teacups and teabags and I made the hearts, clocks and hats (which I was told looked a bit like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!). I used an edible food pen to write the numbers and hands on the clock cookies. No Christmas party would be complete without a gingerbread house, so along with a couple of colleagues from work we decided to make a castle for the Queen of Hearts as well! Needless to say, I think we have reached our baking quota for the year! Mi & Na xoxo

Christmas in July

I usually only make gingerbread once a year at Christmas time. Our friends recently invited us to a Christmas in July dinner, complete with ham, Christmas presents and carols! I decided to re-create my favourite recipe for gingerbread. It never disappoints, soft and chewy with a hint of spice and the lovely full flavour of molasses. Yummy! Mi xo

Ginger Nut Biscuits

This recipe comes from a book published in 1987 called "Cakes and Baking" by Australia's culinary superstar, Margaret Fulton. My sister found this piece of written treasure hiding in the corner at an old book fair. It's full of recipes for traditional sweet treats such as vanilla slice, queen cakes and coconut macaroons, but the recipe that I knew I had to try first was for ginger nuts. I love ginger because it gives you such a warm and comforting feeling, which is perfect for colder days. In the book, Margaret says "Once you have made these you will never want to buy them again". Well said Margaret and so true! The recipe is as follows:

Instagram Camera Cake

My sister loves cameras and all camera related items. I wanted to bake a cake for her birthday and a camera cake was an obvious choice! She loves digital cameras, vintage cameras and uses Instagram. I thought that a plain black digital camera cake might look a little boring so I made a cake that looks like the Instagram app! This cake was a bit of a challenge to make and I would call the end result "rustic". Let's just say that I have a new found respect for the folks on Ace Of Cakes.

The actual cake base is a vanilla sponge made using my favourite basic sponge recipe that I adapted from you guessed it, Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess, but you can use any basic sponge recipe that you like for the base. Once the cake is baked and completely cooled it's time to decorate! Clear everyone out of the kitchen because things are about to get serious!

Gingerbread Men

I was on a quest to find the perfect recipe for thick and soft gingerbread, did a quick search in google and found this great recipe Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies. I had some trouble finding molasses at first, but it was well worth the wait. This recipe is everything it promises to be, thick, chewy with the wonderful dark colour and flavour of molasses. Thanks Mark Manguerra! Mi xo

Minim Gingerbread

My two favourite things in life combined music and gingerbread! I couldn't find any molasses so used golden syrup instead, they still tasted delicious. I bought these super cute cookie cutters from The Raspberry Butterfly. Mi xo