Icing, Sprinkles and Vanilla: The World of Cupcakes

Cupcakes from Friday! 

Oh, how I love cupcakes. They are handy. They can be eaten in two bites. They taste amazing and most importantly they are a delight to make.  I think cupcakes are the food I cook the most often. I love to decorate them and I enjoy both eating and making them.

Cupcakes are loved all around the world. Cupcakeries are everywhere and in LA and NYC they are (wait for it) even setting up cupcake ATMs. (Oh my goodness) 

My absolute favourite cupcake recipe is one from David Herbert’s Complete Perfect Recipes. It’s very simple and the end result is delicious.  We often flavour them with lemon or coconut as well 


Cupcakes can be used to send a lovely message and can help you be creative and have fun.

5 Things You Should Do This Year Involving Cupcakes

1.  Give a batch to a friend

2. Decorate them with some children (when I say this I mean decorate the cupcakes and let children help you do this, I don’t mean kill children and put them on the cupcakes)

3.  Have a cupcake decorating party (Sometimes being childish is magnificent!)

4. Invent your own cupcake flavour

5. Decorate cupcakes with friends 

Ways to decorate your cupcakes

-       Write things on the top in writing icing

-       Place a single sugar flower on the top

-       Put edible glitter on top  

-       Sprinkles!

-       Silver balls

Happy baking

Xoxoxoxoxo

Isabella 

The Picks of the Month - Music, Fashion and Food

So view this as a plug in to the amazing things I’ve seen this and last month.  We can all admit these few months have definitely have their ups and downs like most months. But let’s be optimistic and focus on the good stuff. 

Music

Lana Del Rey

Not amazing live but fabulous songs and big lips.  Ring any bells? It must because Lana Del Rey is the new big thing.  Sure, she’s liked and disliked all over the world but the amount of hate she gets doesn’t stop her from producing amazing music.  I give her massive thumbs up.  

Lonely Boy by The Black Keys  

The new song by The Black Keys has gone absolutely viral. It is loved all over the world. The tune is catchy AND they are talented. This can be very rare in the current pop music scene.  I utterly adore it. There’s only one problem…I can never get it out of my head.   

Boys Like You by 360 feat. Gossling

I love the chores and the voice of Gossling plays my heart strings but 360 annoys me (all rappers do) and the theme of the song is really horrible and not the most pleasant to listen to when you take the lyrics seriously (shown in music video, which is not displayed here as I feel it isn’t all that appropriate for this blog).  

Tongue Tied by Grouplove

I’ve run out of words for love. I think I’ve already said love and adore so many times in this article. I’ll just say I’m nuts about this song. The backing line with the instruments in the background is so fabulous and bold. This means the song is wonderful to listen to and never drags. 

Fashion  

Collard Shirts

Those collard seem to ensure sophistication and funkiness. They absolutely ooze coolness whether they are covered in a bold print or in a simple colour.  I heart these shirts!  

Photo From
http://rockinthatbling.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vanessa-collar.jpg 

Polka Dots

Oh my gosh. Who knew these tiny little spots could make me feel so happy. They absolutely scream cuteness.  I love them on 50’s styles dresses, on skirts, on headbands on EVERYTHING. 

Photo from http://www.isdress.net/img/black-embroidered-polka-dot.jpg

High Waisted Skirts

Oh, how I love wearing a skirt tucked in.  It seems elegant and cool all at the same time. Wearing one with a cute blouse and a pair on sunnies is one of my new favourite outfit combos

Photo from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoJ9ggK9U_5BY254wL1jdzInpibpfggaKEa8udPQgFayHArL6bRZg4nzjCn5-6YpeNnYG-sOKT3dCzt5qmrXwnTeNTf3x1Cr7wFTsjcNQhLmMVCYTEopW_MmBc1DliscLvPhbzfmd_IbQ3/s400/2b86082e-9d20-47a1-948f-2cbedeee309e.jpg

Vintage

Ahh, the love of the old and lost. Rekindling new trends in one of my new favourite things to do and vintage can really help with that. 

Photo from http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nlnE3r1mn-A/Tb7hbEwGqRI/AAAAAAAAAEY/LZQt-K4wcAc/s1600/pretty-pink-vintage-collage.png

Food

Tofu

I love tofu in all forms.  It is high in protein and iron and low in calories. It’s also highly delicious. A perfect healthy snack. What’s not to love? 

Photo from http://www.thefatlossauthority.com/fat_loss_tips/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Tofu-Image.jpg

Thai Food

Mmmmm. I love the bold and delicious flavour of Thai Food. Pad Thai anyone?  

Photo from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrAYkbRtk-EIvfXOzit2vhHV0WoHl3l4P2NiVPnMGiLgX5jNu4darunsL90qpmpaA0YQrtYh5T4W0MyAVFkpfMPqXrlJiH0-BJsYxc2HXxoJV4DGb8y17ExacLj49PMlpGKk-UBqwalyI/s400/padthai.jpg 

Scones

Is there anything better than a warm scone with jam and cream, a cup of tea and a really good read. No there is not?

Photo from http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/02/12/scones_narrowweb__300x449,0.jpg

Have a nice weekend

Xoxoxoxo

Isabella 

Why Fast Food is a Horrible Thing and the MUCH better Alternative

Well, I think we can all admit that most of the time fast food is pretty damn horrible. Not to mention the fact that it seems to destroy you from the inside.  

Equally, I see the appeal. It's fast and cheap.I have realized quite a lot of people that go to Macdonald's and other fast food chains are really quite lazy. Why do you think a lot of them are so obese?  


No one deserves fast food. No one deserves heart disease, no one deserves diabetes and no one deserves obesity. 


If I haven't convinced you then look at this article, go read The Omnivore's Dilemma or watch this. 


The alternative is simple. Fresh, easy food you cook at home. Check out my blog roll where you can find food blogs packed with fantastic recipes. A few cheap and VERY easy (I'm talking 5-10 minutes) recipes if you're in a lazy mood and that happens to all of us. 


- Udon Noodles with Soy Sauce, Spring Onions and a little Sweet Chili Sauce. This is one I sort of invented but I love.
-Pasta with Pesto (You can actually make the pesto on the weekend or buy a little pot) 
- Lettuce Leaves with Satay (which is easier to make than you think, just mix peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime, sesame oil, coriander and a little chili) and Egg White Noodles
-Guacamole with Cheesy Tortillas 


As I always say with both food and fashion. Experiment! If you're too busy in the week to cook than cook meals on weekends and then pop them in the freezer. 


Fast food is bad for both you and the earth around you. So do us all a favour and don't eat it! Of coarse if you love fast food no one's going to stop you from eating it occasionally but too much of it is bad for everyone. 


Stay fabulously healthy 
Xoxoxoxo 
Isabella 

What Defines A Foodie?

Foodies are a super common term in this day and age. You hear it everywhere. But, what is a foodie? At first I thought it was quite simple. A foodie is a person who loves food. But I had no idea how far someone's love for food has to go for them to be a foodie.  

Photo from http://www.cookrepublic.com/images/blog/features/
christmas2010/cr_christmas_gifts_foodies12.jpg

So to find out a bit more I googled the word foodie and there was a whole Wikipedia page dedicated to foodies (click here to see the page). I realised that foodies are people that love food so much they dedicate all or some of their life to food. Some foodies love food more then others and they all show their love in completely different ways. So I sorted them into a couple of catogries. 


The Subtle Foodie 
This is the least extravagent foodie. They love foodie but they haven't dedicated their whole life to food. They go to restaurants quite a lot, they savour every mouthful of what they eat, they watch food T.V, they follow food fads and they just love food. (they may not do ALL these things) 


The Food Bloggers 
It's really obvious people love food when they have a food blog. They usually do all the things 'The Subtle Foodies' do as well, all foodies do those things. 


The Chefs 
Some people love food so much they dedicate their whole career to it. These people are chefs. They love food the most. 


A List of Good Foodies 

Nigella Lawson 
Nigella loves food. She never stops eating. On her shows she can be hilariously pig-like. But she is very good with food.   

Leo Paten 
This guy is 9 years old and has a really great food blog where he reviews various restaurants is Sydney. He is really great at describing food. I met him when I was away at an island. He seemed really plugged in with food. This is the link to his blog  
http://leosfeast.blogspot.com/ 

Gwyneth Paltrow 
Turns out this celebrity actress can actually cook, she wrote her own cookbook. I was surprised too.  

As well as.............
Jamie Oliver  
Martha Stewert 
Bill Granger 
Kylie Kwong 
Emily Schuman 


Thanks for reading  
I hope you enjoyed 
Are you a foodie? 
Answer in the comments 
Stay fab 
Xoxoxoxoxo 
Isabella








  







     

The Joys of Baking

I love baking, it is my favourite part of cooking. I like it because I know I'm not doing it for someone or some people. I'm doing it for fun. I'm sure some of you aren't convinced so I have 5 reasons why baking is great. 


1. It's calming if you have time 


2. It fills your house with beautiful aromas 


3. You know exactly what's going into your food unlike store bought 


4. You can use up old fruit that you won't use otherwise 


5. It's FUN!!! 


So, now that you are convinced that baking is great I can start  sharing some of my favourite baking recipes, cookbooks and links. 

Baking Recipes   
These recipes are staples if you are a baker. 



Victoria Sponge 


Basic Scones
Vanilla Cookies 
These are good to use for a base for other cookies. You can add things and frost them. 
Fresh Fruit Tart  
Apple Pie 






Baking Links  
http://bakingbites.com/ 
http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/ 
http://www.sugarlaws.com/ 




Baking Cookbooks 


-How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson 
-Martha Stewart's Baking Companion 
-Baking:From My Home To YOurs by Dorrie Greenspan 


Hope you enjoyed 
Stay wonderful and keep baking (or start if you don't already do it) 
Lots of Love 
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Isabella

8 Days of Christmas, Day 3- Fabulously Delicious Christmas Recipes

When you think of Christmas you think of Turkey, Ham, Christmas Puddings and Mince Pies. I love all these things BUT I'd like to maybe put a bit of a spin on them or maybe not even have them at all (gasp), think of the poor vegetarians. So I've formulated tons of menus to suit YOUR liking of Christmas recipes. 

Traditional 
Here I've found the BEST traditional Christmas recipes of all. Yes, you don't have to use your grandmother's 100 year old recipe, it's not the law. 


Jamie Oliver's Best Turkey in the World  
Jamie Oliver's Stuffing  
Jamie Oliver's Get Ahead Gravy   
Jamie Oliver's Roast Vegetable Mega Mix
Nigella Lawson's Gorgeously Golden Fruit Cake   

Based on Tradition 
This is a bit of a modern spin on the classics.

Asian-Inspired Turkey Salad with Pancakes  
Squash and Spinish Rotolo  
Simple Red Cabbage Salad 
Chocolate Fridge Cake with Pecan and Meringue

Not So Traditional 
These recipes run away from tradition. They are fresh and modern. 
Prwan, Avocado and Watercress Salad
Crispy Duck with Orange Sauce
Thai Cucumber Salad
Steamed Coconut Puddings

I hope you enjoyed.
Stay fabulous
Xoxoxox
Isabella 

PS: I wrote this post sitting in a room smelling of pine, filled with Christmas decorations and with Christmas music playing.   

Deconstructed Apple Crumble- The first recipe I have ever created!

Ok, I'm not going to lie. I cook food,  I don't create food. But today I did! I've started to do a lot more experimenting and creating my own recipes.  This is loosely based on a recipe from my friend Kia and the recipe for rhubarb and apple crumble from David Herbet's Complete Perfect Recipes. 



So, I made a deconstructed apple crumble. A  more stylish version of apple crumble that is easier to make. 

So, for this delish Deconstructed Apple Crumble you will need............ 

Ingredients  

3 apples

1 cup of Plain (all purpose) flour 

3/4 cup of lightly packed brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

125 grams of unsalted butter 

A few pinches of extra ginger 

A few pinches of cinnamon 
10 grams of extra butter. 


So you lay out all your ingredients 

Apple, Cinnamon, Butter, Ginger
Doesn't look like much BUT you can make a delicious dessert with it

There it is again!

Method 


Start by preheating the oven to 180 ˚C.  To make the crumble topping  in a bowl,  with your finger tips, rub together (crumb) the flour, brown sugar, ginger and butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  

This stuff is actually delicious at this point.

Chop each apple in half and core it. Put the apple halfs on a tray and top with a little bit of your extra butter as well as a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of ginger. Sprinke with about a teaspoon of crumble over each apple. Sprinkle the rest over the tray.  The amount you sprinkle over the tray (not on the apples) should be most of the crumble topping. 

 Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes.  


When you take it out you will realise that the crumble you put on top of the apples will have gone mushy. That is why you put most of it on the tray. Put all the crumble on the tray in a bowl and put each apple on a seperate plate. Top with the crumble topping you put on the tray. This topping should be firm not mushy. Enjoy your dessert.    

May I say. They were DELICIOUS. Try to make them! They are yum. And any recipe ideas I can try. Put them in the comments. 


Stay stylishly FABULOUS 
Xoxoxoxoxox 
Isabella  

Afternoon Tea and Why it should be better.

Afternoon tea has really faded, it's tragic. 50 years ago women would get dressed up in beautiful dresses, sit down and sip vanilla tea and eat scones and cucumber sandwiches. Now afternoon tea is a quick crumpet in our trackies. Where's the fun in that?!? 

So, I set myself a little project. I made a big afternoon tea, got into one of my best dresses and sat down to eat with some friends and family. The only reason I did it was for the fun of it! I wish I could have afternoon tea like that everyday! 

  

Recipes 

I encourage you to do what I did. I'll tell you why. It's really fun! Here are some recipes you can use for your own high tea! 

Scones 

From complete perfect recipes by David Herbert 

Ingredients  

Tbsp=Tablespoon 

tsp=teaspoon

3 1/3 cups of self-raising flour 

1 tsp baking powder  

1 1/2 Tbsp caster sugar 

1/2 tsp salt 

60g unsalted butter, chilled and diced 

1 cup buttermilk plus extra, for brushing

1 egg, beaten  

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and salt. Add the butter and, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour into it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 

Mix together the buttermilk and the egg and pour over flour mixture. Mix gently until a dough forms-be carful not to overwork the dough. Gather into a round ball shape, turn out onto a lightly floured and knead very lightly. Be careful not to over-handle. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky. 

Flatten out the dough to a thickness of about 3cm and cut out rounds with a cookie cutter or the bottom of a glass. Place on the prepared baking tray and brush the tops with milk. Bake for 10-15m or until risen and golden. 

Remove from tray and wrap the scones in a clean tea towel to keep them warm. Serve warm with jam and cream. 

Mini Fruit Tarts:
(makes 24 mini tarts)
Tart Shell:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup lard
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs water, chilled (if needed)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Put all ingredients and tools in the freezer to chill for 5-10 minutes. Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add lard, cut in with 2 forks or a pastry cutter. Add egg and vinegar, stir with fork until dough is chunky, but pulls away from bowl. If still too dry, add cold water in small amounts as needed. Pat pastry into a rough ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out dough between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Cut into rounds. Place inside mini tart shells. Weight with dried beans. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until firm and golden brown.
Creme Patisserie (Pastry Cream):
(makes enough for 24 mini tarts)
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbs flour
2 tbs cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup whole milk
Directions:
Whisk yolks with sugar, flour and cornstarch. Meanwhile, bring milk and vanilla to a boil. Add milk slowly to egg mixture to temper. Once tempered, add egg mixture back into saucepan over low heat until thickened like vanilla pudding. Cool, then refrigerate until time to stuff pastry shells, then top with fruit garnish. To glaze, melt about 2 tbs apricot preserves with a tbs of water on the stove top and gently brush onto fruit.

And try making cucumber sandwiches. I don't think I need to tell you a recipe for that! 

PICNICS

Picnic Menu Ideas 

Asian inspired  

Vietnamese spring rolls (see other post)

Noodle salad http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/peanut-sesame-noodles/    

Green Papaya salad http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/29/Green-papaya-salad 
Coconut prawns http://www.donnahay.com.au/menus/friends-for-dinner/asian-nibbles/spiced-coconut-prawns 

Mango and lychees  

Modern Australian 
Beef, tomato and mushroom pie http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/fastfood/beef/beef-tomato-and-mushroom-pot-pies  
Celeriac Fries http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/fastfood/nibbles/celeriac-shoestrings-with-fennel-and-chilli-salt 
Mushroom and oregano pizza bread http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/snacks_and_sides/breads-extras/mushroom-and-oregano-pizza-bread 
Lemon Meringue Pie 
http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/sweets/pies-tarts/lemon-meringue-pie 

Light Picnic 
Sourdough Bread 
Pesto 
Tomato 
Bocconcini 
Basil 
Selection of your choice of dips 
Spiced Honey Biscuit 
http://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/sweets/biscuits-cookies/spiced-honey-fingers