March 31, 2014

We have had an amazing cake filled week after Sofia turned 8 last week!  Celebrations started the day before her actual birthday which was Monday 24th with the arrival of guinea pigs and continued right through until her party this past Sunday!

Sofia decided on a gymnastics themed party for her birthday so we booked our local gymnastics centre and invited her school friends to join us.  I asked Nicole from Pretty and Print to design a custom invite going with the colours of red and pink!  Nicole always comes up with the perfect design and we are then able to continue this theme through the other small details of the party.

In keeping with my 2014 philosophy of keeping things very simple I decided that the main elements for the party would be a gorgeous cake, a cute little lunch box with a small snack and a party bag for our guests.  It is never easy to create the gorgeous and elaborate spreads when the party is not in your home and to be honest they are certainly not called for every year!  A few small details that show you have taken time to really think about your little party guests makes the party special and unique to you!

We served our guests a mini finger bun and some fresh fruit in a cute box with yum on the top!   By packing everything up in individual little boxes made transporting and setting up for the girls simple and easy.  There was only a quick 15 minute break for the girls to sit and have a snack so not too much food was required.The stunning extended tier cake was made by Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes – Jacki made the cake to match the invitation.  She did look particularly stunning on top of one of my red glass cake stands (which you can purchase here).

Of course these great paper eskimo lolly bags were a perfect match – I just added a custom thank you tag to the front of the bag and our theme was complete.As you can see, a few simple and special details turned our birthday celebration into a unique gymnastics party without too much fuss.

Photography:  Leanne Ambrogio | Sweet Style

March 27, 2014

Who doesn’t love fresh fruit all combined together to make a delicious fruit crusher!  I am not one for drinks that are too sour and this combo is just perfect!

All you need is some raspberries, cranberries, apples, some mashed up banana and a dash of orange juice from the fridge and you have this great refreshing drink.

You will need

2 apples
5 or 6 raspberries
a handful of crushed cranberries
half a cup of fresh orange juice
half a mashed banana

Remove the core and dice up the apples and then combine all the ingredients together in a blender.

Chill for 30 minutes and then serve!  Delish!

Photography & Styling: Leanne Ambrogio | Sweet Style

March 20, 2014

I am really excited to be working with lots of fabulous people again this year to bring you a series of recipe posts. I am a little obsessed with food and photography – in particular sweet food – so today I am teaming up with my lovely friend Gillian from Crumbs of Comfort Cake Design to to bring you this delicious recipe.

Gillian loves to bake, create and come up with fun recipes whereas I don’t like to bake or cook so much – preferring to get hold of the food and make it look lovely and take pretty pictures! So with that in mind we have teamed up so that we can both do what we love the most.

For our first recipe we have Lemon Meringue Fudge – baked in Brisbane, photographed in Sydney and sent out via the world wide web for everyone to see, make and eat!

We hope you enjoy it and would love to hear what you think after you have had a go at making it!

LEMON MERINGUE FUDGE

Ingredients

500g white chocolate
1 x tin condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract oil
Yellow gel or powder colouring
1 cup broken meringue pieces

Directions

Add lemon extract oil and colouring to condensed milk. Lemon extract oil is available in supermarkets.

Place chocolate and condensed milk in microwave safe container.  Heat on low in 30 second intervals until nearly all the chocolate has melted.  Stir until smooth.  DO NOT overheat.

Stir through meringue pieces and pour in to a lined lamington tin or square 8 inch cake tin.

Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Once set, remove from tin and slice.

This is a rich creamy fudge with a citrus twist.  A very special thank you to Sam of Caketopia for sharing her knowledge of fudge success with me.  Don’t be tempted to heat in bursts of over 20-30 seconds at a time or you’ll end up with a mixture that splits and fit for the bin – don’t ask how I know!!

Recipe :: Gillan Brown | Crumbs of Comfort Cake Design
Photography & Styling :: Leanne Ambrogio | Sweet Style

March 19, 2014

With the shift in focus over the past few months to my photography business, I am always thrilled when the wonderful girls from the industry who I have worked with, ask me to photograph important events for them.

Earlier this year my dear friend Dew from Sweet Bloom Cakes took the big step of opening up her own studio.  She celebrated with clients and friends and I captured the evening for her.

Dewi’s new space is located in a small set of shops in Ermington.  It is spacious, light and bright and when filled with her stunning cake creations and her amazing collection of cake stands it really is sweet heaven!  I know Dewi has some great plans for the studio so make sure you follow along on Facebook so you can see what she is up to.

Sweet Bloom Cakes :: By Appointment – 7/ 39 Bartlett St, Ermington
Photography :: Leanne Ambrogio | Sweet Style
Floral Arrangements :: One Lovely Day