Freckle Biscuits

I cannot take credit for these colourful beauties. My sister made them after seeing something similar in a  cafe. The classic chocolate treat "Freckles" have always been a favourite but they're so much better in biscuit form. My sister decided to make a shortbread for the base and used Lorraine Pascale's "Dreamlike Shortbread" recipe. The full recipe can be found here. Once the biscuits have cooled completely, dip the tops into some melted chocolate and then into a bowl of hundreds and thousands. Easy as you like! Na xo

Rainbow m&m Cookies

Another rainbow creation for the lovely Miss T Bunny! I used the same cookie dough recipe as seen in my earl grey tea cookie post. I omitted the tea leaves and added an extra half teaspoon of vanilla extract. To get the rainbow effect, I divided the dough into five equal portions, coloured each portion with Wilton gel colours, rolled each colour into a thin log and then joined the five logs to form a large rainbow log. Chill the cookie dough in the fridge until hard (I left mine overnight), slice and place a mini-m&m on each coloured segment. Mr Mi was nice enough to sort the m&m's into single colours for me! Bake as usual until slightly golden on the edges and there you have it perfect crispy, buttery cookies with pretty colours that make people happy! Mi xo

Rainbow Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Happy New Year! This post is dedicated to my friend Miss T Bunny, she loves rainbows and so I wanted to make super-special cupcakes for our NYE celebration. She is the most wonderfully gifted and generous person and is soon to embark on her own little adventure. We shall all miss you dearly! Love Mi xo

P.S. Why are there so many songs about rainbows?
P.P.S This marshmallow frosting recipe is amazing!!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Cake

This post is dedicated to my friends N&B and their gorgeous little boy Josh. They are the most amazing parents and little Josh is such a happy, relaxed and easy-going bub. Mr Mi and I are soon to be parents and they are an inspiration! The very hungry little caterpillar (aka Josh) turned one recently and his mama wanted to make him a hungry caterpillar cake for his birthday party. After a few searches I saw this amazing cake, so we set on another fondant adventure to attempt this cake. I used my favourite basic vanilla cake recipe and Na's buttercream to make a four layered sponge cake. We covered the cake in ready rolled icing and Josh's mama hand cut the fruits and made the amazing caterpillar. We were pretty proud of our efforts and needless to say we were completely sugared out after a slice of the rainbow caterpillar cake. Happy first birthday Josh! Mi xoxo

Nyan Cat Birthday Cake

Mr Mi had a second birthday celebration (lucky man!) and this time I decided to move on from the Android cake and set myself a new challenge. Mr Mi loves Nyan cat, I had no idea what it was until he showed me a few months ago. Who would have thought a cat stuffed inside a poptart with rainbows coming out of its bottom would be so popular? Although I have to admit that after watching it I couldn’t get the song out of my head for days! After seeing this amazing Nyan Cat Cake from Grace Cakes, I thought I would give it a go.

For the cake, I used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe with the addition of the zest of one orange. I divided the cake batter into four portions and coloured each portion red, yellow, green and blue using Wilton gel colours. Then, I gently placed each of these portions into a cake tin one at a time to create a layering effect. For the buttercream, I used Na’s recipe with the addition of the zest of one orange and 2 tablespoons of orange juice. Now, the Nyan cat took a good few hours to make…if you attempt this I suggest making it well in advance and storing in an airtight container. I traced an image from the Internet using baking paper and used this as a template to cut out the shapes from ready rolled icing. It was a fun experience, that was until I started to cut the pixels out for the poptart sprinkles…by then I was ready to have a break! It is a simple design, but don’t be fooled...cutting all those square edges out and assembling takes time! The cake turned out pretty well and was enjoyed by all. Love Mi xo