July 31, 2012

Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes is back today to share with us her recipe for the amazing Sandwich Layer Cake that was used on the pretty lunch table for the Oh Sweet Mum Shoot.
This really is another fabulous savoury “cake” idea that works when you need something other than sweet!
Enjoy!
1 x cob round loaf (or 2 for extra height, I used 2)
1 x roasted chicken meat
1 x avocado
Semi-dried tomatoes
Sprouts and baby rocket leaves
Cucumbers
For the Coating
Mayonnaise
Cream cheese
You will need to excuse the lack of measurements of ingredients for this recipe, however this recipe is one of those ones that once you have the technique, you can fill it with whatever fillings you desire.
The important part is getting your cob ready for filling.   Cob leaves are tall round dense loaves that are good for slicing and filling.   I purchased mine from Bakers Delight.   I bought 2 as I wanted the extra height to my sandwich cake.
Slice off the top part of the loaf and then equally measure out your slices and cut your loaf into thirds going across horizontally so that  you have 3 “circle-ish” bread rounds.   Then continue with the 2nd loaf if you are doing 2.   I have found that it is then easier to cling wrap and freeze for 30 minutes to allow for your bread to harden  little and make it easier to shape.   Take your slices out of the freezer and then immediately stack up into position and then as precisely or not as you like, slice down the sides of the bread until you are left with a round cylinder of bread (like cake layers).   You are then ready to fill as you like with your fillings.
For the Sandwich Cake that I had for Oh Sweet Mum, I filled up the different layers with a mix of roasted chicken that I had combined with a beautiful homemade mayonnaise, with layers of semi dried tomatoes, sprouts and rocket leaves and cucumbers.
You can think of whatever flavour combination works best for you.
Once the “cake” has been all filled up.   You can then cover and freeze for 30 minutes while you make your “frosting”.
My coating for the cake was a mix of cream cheese and mayonnaise to give it a bit of zing – you can then add more flavourings if you like with some seeded mustard or horse radish.   I used 500gms of cream cheese and then blitzed it until it was smooth, I then added in about 1/3 cup of mayonnaise and then combined to make a paste for covering.    If your mixture is still a little thick, you can add a little fresh lemon juice to soften and make easier to apply.
Take the cake out of the freezer and start “frosting” your cake with the cream cheese mix, being as precise or not as you like.   I then topped off the Sandwich Cake with some fresh bean sprouts!
Ta da!   A beautiful idea for a spring lunch outside at the beach or park with a glass of white wine!

About Jacki …
Jacki Fanto is the owner of Blissfully Sweet Cakes based in Sydney, Australia. Jacki is married and has three gorgeous boys who love that their mum is such a fabulous cook!  You can find Jacki’s website here and her Facebook page here

Leanne

July 27, 2012

Happy Friday Everyone!
I am happy to announce the winner of the Paper Eskimo Giveaway 
Congratulations to 
SARAH KONSTANTINOU
Sarah has won a Paper Eskimo Party Pack which includes a set of plates, cups, napkins and party bags in the colours of her choice – if you email me Sarah I will organise your prize straight away.
Thanks for all the feedback on your favourite colours – great to see that all colours were mentioned as favourites!
In other happenings I took the family along to Instagram meet-up last weekend – (my sister-in-law could not quite believe I was going to meet up with a bunch of people who follow a phone app).  The meet-up was organised by the lovely Jayde from Little Paper Lane and it was great to meet some of the people I follow on instagram.  Jayde and Jacqueline from Little Paper Trees had decorated the tables with some great props and we had a lovely lunch catching up in real life!  Can’t wait for the next one.
This weekend I am off to spend time exploring more about the world of Styling with Megan Morton – I look forward to reporting back next week!
Wishing you all a fantastic weekend.

Leanne

July 24, 2012

We have just had the most wonderful family holiday to Fiji and in usual form I snapped way too many shots of the kids – but I had fun doing it!  As always seems to be the case I have loads of photos of Miss Sofia who loves smiling for the camera.  Sienna indulged me on this trip and I was able to get some new favourites of her but Indi was a little trickier to catch.  I did manage to make it into one photo in the entire trip – must learn to relinquish the camera a little more! 

We had magical weather for the 10 days – there nothing better than sunshine and warmth when it is the middle of winter back home!  
From the moment we arrived both the big girls were desperate to have their hair braided and in never seen before circumstances they sat still for 2 and a half hours while having it done!  It most definitely made life easy for me while on holidays but the process of removing them on our return was less than fun!  
I hope you enjoy some of my favourite snaps from our holiday in the sun.

Leanne

July 19, 2012

Paper Eskimo Partyware has arrived in the Sweet Style store so we thought a giveaway and a special discount is the perfect way to celebrate and a great way to end the week!
The range includes Party plates, cups, napkins and party favour bags in 8 great colours.
The prize includes an entire set from the range in your choice of colour.  Just enter your details in the rafflecopter entry box below and leave a comment to tell us which colour is your favourite.  The prize will be drawn next Friday 27th July.
Also as a special introductory offer you can get 10% off all Paper Eskimo products between now and Sunday 22nd July.  Click here to shop now!

The competition is only open to Australian Residents!

Leanne

I am back from a lovely and relaxing break with the family – it all went far too fast and I am certainly longing for those lovely warm Fiji rays of sunshine – ‘sigh’.  Today I am continuing with my series about the lovely girls who took party in the Oh Sweet Mum e-vent with me.

We are catching up with the talented Jhoanee from It’s a Cake Thing (by Jhoanee).  Jho produced the amazing macaroons for the shoot – there must have been at least 200-300 of these precious little babies on the day and of course that meant after the shot was done I got to sample them – lots of them!!!! 
Jho is sharing with us today a little more about herself and how to create the perfect macaroon.
Can you tell us a little more about your business
Its A Cake Thing stemmed from the encouragement and support of family and friends after I did my daughter’s first birthday cake.  It’s been an ongoing learning experience.  I know I have come a long way from when I started and I only have to look back through pictures of my earlier cakes to see the difference.  I’ve also met more than a few people in the cake industry who have been so helpful and encouraging.  They have been a constant source of inspiration and they make me to strive to do better.  
Tell us about your family
Without my husband, Sherwin, of course this little business wouldn’t keep going.  He’s been my pillar of strength all throughout this journey.   My three young children, Joshua (7), Samantha (5) and Zachary (2) and another one to come, just completes everything.  They are my biggest inspiration and my biggest critics as well.  They have an unconditional, untainted vision and their honesty when critiquing just makes me see and look at my creations with a different perspective.  More often than not, their comments just make my husband and I laugh a little.  But they do make me improve on what I’ve created especially when it comes to figurines that they seem to be experts on.
Top Tips for Making the Perfect Macaroon
Macarons.  They seem to be the trend nowadays.  I’m certainly no expert in the field but I’m happy that I am able to offer them to customers.  I do get asked often and get very lovely comments as how my macarons look.   Part of it, I think, is just how I photograph it.  They’re not all perfect. 
It’s taken (and still is) a lot of reading on how-to’s to achieve the “perfect” macaron.  I don’t think I have reached that yet.  All I know is that what I’ve been doing is what works for me.  It’s all a combination of taking a recipe and adding or subtracting a technique here and there.  The most important thing that I’ve found that will make or break in achieving a good macaron is getting the macronage right.  You can read endlessly on what macronage is and what it’s meant to look like but it comes down to knowing for yourself what  the right consistency is.  Other factors also come in to play, from recipes to oven temps and to what I fondly refer to as the “macaron gods”.  This is when more times than you can count, even though you follow the same exact protocol, which obviously has worked for you in many occasions, the macaron end results just fail.  And you don’t know why.  So overall really, it all just comes down to experience.

If you would like to contact Jho you can find her via her website www.itsacakething.com.au or on her Facebook page here.


Images, styling and cake stands: Sweet Style

Leanne