Manchester cake

This is my last cake order. It's for a Manchester fan. This cake is filled with chocolate bliss :)

Black berry muffins

While browsing on the net I cam across this wonderful blog. I was drooling so much that I had to try these delicious muffins. However I made some substitutions. I uses blackberries instead of blueberries. Since I couldn't find any here and I made a coconut crumb topping instead of the walnut crumb topping. I really enjoyed these muffins. Here's the original recipe

Barney's cake and cupcakes

I didn't have much time to work on these. The cake and cupcakes are both vanilla with white chocolate ganache. and decorated with fondant. I really loves the balloons. I think they're so cute :)

Little girl cake

Here's one of my twins featured in my previous post. This is one of my favourite cakes. I think she's so cute! I was really happy with this cake. This is a vanilla cake with a layer of white chocolate ganache and covered with sugarpaste/fondant.

My fondant twins

I'm trying my hand at fondant figures. These are my latest creations. They're my twins. Since I'm a twin I decided to make twins too :) Aren't they cute! I'm really happy with how they turned out. They're not perfect but I like them. Pity they'll be seerated shortly since I ll be using one of them on a cake :( in my next post.

Plum and peach turnovers

Summer is here! Summer brings a lot of delicious fruit, like peaches and cherry plums. I used these to make these turnovers. The recipe comes from here There is also different fruit varaitions. I modified slightly the recipe, Here is my version.

Fresh peach turnovers
Sour Cream Dough:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• /4 cup (1/2 stick/2 oz./56g) unsalted margarine
• 1/3 cup fresh whipping cream
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Fruit Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups peaches, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (or plums)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Glaze: (optional)

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/218 degrees C.Lightly grease and flour a large baking sheet.

Sour Cream Dough: Mix the cream with the lemon juice. Place the flour, salt, and butter in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add the cream, and mix with a fork. Stir in the milk. Gather the dough together in your hand, it will be very smooth, and if it holds together without crumbling, it is ready to roll out. If the dough brakes up and does not hold together when pressed, add a few drops of milk, stirring with a fork to distribute them. The dough should be quite soft, but not sticky. Place the dough, on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a thickness of about one-eighth inch, as thick, as you would roll pie dough. With a round cutter about four and one-half inches in diameter, cut out as many rounds of dough as you can (you'll probably get 7 from this first cutting). Gather up the scraps of dough, press them together, and reroll them to cut the remaining 3 rounds.

Fruit Filling: Place 2 tablespoons of the peaches on each round of dough, and sprinkle each mound of fruit with 2 teaspoons of sugar. With your finger tips, moisten the edges of the dough with water. Fold each round of dough over, to form a half moon shape. Press the edges gently with your fingers, then press them together with the tines of a fork. Brush the turnovers with cream and sprinkle each one, with 1/2 teaspoon of the remaining sugar. Place the turnovers on the baking sheet, leaving at least 1-inch between each. Bake turnovers for about 20 minutes, until they are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. If desired, drizzle while warm with glaze. Serve turnovers warm or at room temperature.

Glaze: (optional) In a small bowl combine confectioners' sugar and milk. Drizzle over warm turnovers. Makes 10 (4 1/2-inch x 2-inch) turnovers.

One fluffy chocolate cake

This is my usual chocolate cake but with a different look :) It consists of a moist chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache and covered with cake crumbs. I liked the look though a bit unusual.

Princess cake

The order for this cake was a princess cake . Hope the 5 year old was happy with this cake. Again it's a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and decorations are made by homemade sugarpaste.

Bedroom cake

This is a birthday cake for a young person which really likes to sleep and loves football (soccer). Over all I really liked the finished cake. This was a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache covered with sugarpaste. Well my usual and most ask for cake.

Butter tart squares

Oh these are so rich! but they were delicious! These bars have a shortbread base topped with a gooey filling speckled with raisins. Next time I'll try them with walnuts instead of raisins. This recipe comes from http://joyofbaking.com/ButterTartSquares.html

Here's the recipe as published on http://joyofbaking.com/

Butter tart Squares

Shortbread Base:
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces
3 tablespoon (40 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Filling:
1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (215 grams) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (60 ml) light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 grams) all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup raisins or
2/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or use a non stick cooking spray) an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan.

Shortbread Base: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together. Press onto the bottom of your greased pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until pale golden in color. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling

Filling: In your food processor or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Then beat in the corn syrup and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Sprinkle the raisins or nuts evenly over the baked shortbread base. Then pour the filling over the raisins (and/or nuts) and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Garden of flowers cake

This cake is a chocolate cake. It involved alot of work since the flowers are hand made too. Over all though I was really happy with the outcome. Surely I practiced my flower making skills with this cake :)

Texas sized almond crunch cookies

I'm always eager to try new cookie recipes. I came across these cookies in Cookie madness where she modified it and used pecans instead (http://www.cookiemadness.net/?p=3885)
I tried the original Almond version, found here. I also modified the recipea. My modifications are written in brackets below.
These cookies surely were crunchy. They're not good for those in search for a chewy cookie. I liked these. I resembled their texture to Digestive biscuits.

TEXAN - SIZED ALMOND CRUNCH

1 c. sugar
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter, softened (used margarine)
1 c. oil
1 tsp. almond extract (didn’t use it)
2 eggs
3 1/2 c. Pillsbury's Best all-purpose or unbleached flour
1 c. Pillsbury's Best whole wheat flour (used only white plain flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar (didn use it)
2 c. coarsely chopped almonds
6 oz. pkg. almond brickle baking chips (I used chocolate chips)
Sugar (didn’t use it)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, blend sugar, powdered sugar, butter, and oil until well mixed. Add almond extract and eggs; mix well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Gradually blend in all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar at low speed. By hand, stir in almonds and brickle chips. Shape large tablespoonfuls of dough into balls; roll in sugar. Place 5 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With fork dipped in sugar, flatten in criss-cross pattern.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Cool cookies 1 minute before removing from cookie sheets.

Notes For easier handling, refrigerate dough about 30 min.

Surprise almond torte

This cake was a surprise cake. This was ordered from a nice person in United States to surprise her friend which was on holiday in Malta. I really was happy to make this delivery since I like to surprise people. It was enjoyed by everyone :) This consisted of an almond torte. I often make these popular cakes however this time I added a touch of femininity with all those flowers. It's made with 100% pure ground almonds.

Holy communion cake

This is my first Holy Communion cake. I didn't have much time to plan it and this is the end result. It consists of an almond torte covered with sugarpaste and decorated with royal icing. All decorations are made by hand :)

Strawberry Shortcake cookies

This month's Cookie carnival recipe comes fro Martha Stewart. It's Strawberry Shortcake cookies. The recipe suggests to use fresh strawberries however I didn't have any and used candied strawberries. I really liked these cookies, although they were a bit too sweet. I'll make them again and perhaps I'll try them with fresh strawberries next time.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE COOKIES
Makes about 3 dozen.

12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons
granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining
7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter,
or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until
dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets
lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until
golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best
served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for
up to 1 day.

Romantic almond cupcakes

I made these cupcakes some time ago. These are vanilla cupcakes filled with almond paste and covered with fondant. the decorations are made of fondant too.

Ben 10 cakes

Yeah this must be my fourth Ben 10 cake (If I'm not mistaken) What can I say , it's very popular here. This is a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and the picture is made from fondant.

Flaked Almond cake

This is an almond sponge cake with chocolate ganache filling and chopped almonds. It is covered with an almond mixture and decorated with flaked almonds. Flowers are made of handmade sugarpaste.

Apple and condensed milk ravioli

These are not pasta ravioli but more like apple filled cookies. I decided to name them like this cause they look like ravioli. The pastry for these is made with condensed milk. The recipe was for cookies but I modified it to make pastry. You can find the recipe at http://bakingblonde.wordpress.com/2009/02/15/magic-make-it-your-way-cookies/ and below is my modified version.

Apple and condensed milk ravioli

1 ¾ c plain flour, sieved

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt ¾ stick butter

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla

½ can condensed milk (200g)

2 tbls sugar

Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. In another bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the condensed milk, the egg , vanilla and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and form a soft dough. If it gets too sticky add a little more flour. Divide in two and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Filling ingredients

4 apples, peeled and chopped in small pieces

2 tsp ground cinnamon (maybe 1 tsp is enough)

2 tbl sugar

1/2 c water

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook until apples are cooked and all liquid is evaporated . Leave to cool completely. (Best if it’s refrigerated)

On a floured surface roll the dough and cut circles. Re roll any scraps. Place circle on a baking tray. Place about 1 tsp filling on each circle and cover with a second circle . press sides to seal well.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes. Or until dough is golden on the bottom.

Remove from baking sheet and leave to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm or cold.

Cupcake mania

These are my latest additions to the cupcake menu I'm working on.

Green tea and azuki bean paste cupcake with white chocolate ganache frosting

A green tea flavoured cupcake with an azuki bean paste filling covered with white chocolate and green tea ganache.

Cookie dough cupcake

Vanilla cupcake with a cookie dough centre and a cookie flavoured frosting decorated with a chocolate chipe cookie and chocolate shavings

Coconut ball cupcake

Vanilla cupcake with a coconut truffle inside topped with fresh whipped cream and flaked coconut

Rum and raisin cupcake

Vanilla cupcake speckled with rum soaked raisins, topped with whipped cream, drizzled with rum syrup and a rum raisin on top

Handbag cake

This is my first hanbag cake. Although it 's not perfect I m really glad how it turned out. It consists of a chocolate cake layered with chocolate ganache and covered with sugarpaste. All decorations are handmade.

More cupcakes on the menu

These are some of the cupcakes I'll be adding to my cupcake menu. I'm still working on it though. Here are some of the latest flavours.

Casatella cupcake

I got the inspiration from a Sicilian dessert known as Cassatella Siciliana. This dessert is very popular here maybe cause we're so close to Sicily and some of our traditional desserts originated in Sicily.

This cupcake consists of a vanilla cupcake speckled with candied peel, chocolate chips and chopped almonds, it is then covered with a layer of marzipan and the topping is made of sweetened ricotta with candied peel and chocolate chips. This is one of my favourites.

This cupcake consists of half vanilla and half chocolate cupcake. It is then topped with a mixture of dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache and finished with some white and dark chocolate chunks.

Chocolate chip cupcake

A vanilla cupcake speckled with chocolate chunks and decorated with chocolate ganache and chocolate chips.

Bostom cream cupcake

A vanilla cupcake filled with vanilla pastry cream, topped with chocoalte ganache and more vanilla pastry cream.

Honey rings recipe - Qaghaq tal-Ghasel

Oh I love these. I cannot resist them. I've always wanted to try making them and at last I managed to try this recipe for Honey rings (Qaghaq tal-Ghasel). These are pastry rings filled with treacle and spices. They are traditional for Christmas however you can find them all year round. I found this recipe from a Maltese site. Here's the link for the recipe http://taste.com.mt/recipe/189/qagħaq-tal-għasel. Here's the recipe as modified by me however I made very small changes.

Honey Rings (Qaghaq tal-Ghasel)

For the pastry

400g of plain flour,

50g of butter the yolks of three eggs,

anisette liqueur and/or water

For the filling

400g of black treacle and equal volume of water

100g of sugar

75g of marmalade

grated rind of a tangerine and lemon

4 tbl chopped walnuts

1tbl chopped candied peel

1tbl aniseeds

1tbl mixed spice

175g of semolina

Rub the butter into the flour, add the egg yolks and anisette or water to make dough. Knead lightly and let rest for an hour or overnight.

Make the filling by bringing all the ingredients except the semolina to the boil and stir continuously. Slowly add the semolina and stir all the time. Once it boils cook it for couple of minutes longer. Let cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.The next day, cut the pastry into eight pieces, then roll in a rectangle and shape about 4" wide. Scatter a working-surface with semolina and roll spoonfuls of the filling into ‘snake’ shapes to fit the pastry . If the filling is very sticky, just keep sprinkling the surface with semolina to reduce the stickiness.Place a snake shape of filling onto each rectangle of pastry and roll it up. Place it cut side down and then make a ring-shape by pinching the two ends together. Lay the ring on a baking-tray that has been well-dusted with semolina. Slash the pastry at intervals and open the gashes so that the filling shows through. Bake the rings at gas mark 4 for about 15 minutes, or until the pastry is barely touched with beige - which is the traditional colour. The qagħaq keep well in an air-tight tin.With this recipe I participate in Imma's round up. Here's the link to her blog. http://dolciagogo.blogspot.com/

Bride and groom cake

This is the second cake I made for the witness at my sister's wedding. I really glad with this one. I really liked it. It's an almond cake decorated with fondant and royal icing. The little cute mice are all made up of sugarpaste. Don't you think they're cute? :)

Baci rose cake

This cake is a baci cake. It consists of a fudgey chocolate cake with lots of chopped hazelnuts and covered with chocolate ganache. From all the cakes I make this is my favourite cake. I'm practising on making sugarpaste flowers so you'll see more cakes with flowers :) I think it turned out pretty nice this one.

Koala chocolate cupcakes

These are chocolate cupcakes decorated with chocolate ganache and with some Koala cookies. Aren't these cute! I made a normal sized one for the mummy Koala cookie and a mini cupcake for the baby :)I received the most amazing package and it came all the way from Japan. Thanks Angela. I'm so happy with it. It consisted of various treats and things. These Koala cookies were in the package too, I also had some green tea latte sachets which I really wanted to try and never found any. If you wish to visit her blog just go to http://creatingastir.blogspot.com/

My little pony cake

This is my latest addition to children birthday cakes. This is a vanilla cake filled with chocolate ganache and covered with sugarpaste. The hair and tail are made of royal icing. It's not perfect I know but I say it's a good attempt and anyways practice makes perfect :)

Taiwan red bean mooncake

At last I had time to make some experimental baking. These are puff buns filled with Azuki bean paste. Azuki beans are cery small red beans popular in asian countries. Originating in China but also very poplular in Japan these beans are made into a paste by boiling them with sugar for about an hour. This paste is widely used especially in sweet recipes as filling and topping. There is two versions of this paste the chunky and smooth. To achieve a smoother version the boiled beanes are mashed through a sieve so that the bean skin is left behind.

This is a Japanese recipe I found on Sahm's blog. These are Taiwan red bean mooncake. I'm posting the recipe with slight modifications however the recipe along with some photos of the process can be found on Sahm's blog Here's the linkhttp://sakura-lovebaking.blogspot.com/2007/08/red-bean-paste-cookies.html.

To make the red bean paste I used this recipe http://www.applepiepatispate.com/japanese/sweet-azuki-red-bean-paste/ This site is really interesting.Taiwan red bean mooncake

Ingredients (A)

180 gm Flour
50gm Butter/30g Shortening
60gm Water
10gm Sugar

Ingredients (B)
140gm Flour
90gm Butter

Ingredients for filling
500gm Red Bean Paste

Rub in all the ingredients(A) and let rest for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 20 pieces.
Mix all the ingredients (B) together by rubbing in method and divide the dough into 20 pieces.
Wrap dough(A) around dough(B) and roll it out into a thin strip.
Roll the strip into the Swiss roll shape, and roll it in a thin strip once again and in Swiss roll shape.
Press dough with palm and roll out into a circular sheet.
Place filling in the center and pleat it together to form a ball shape.
Egg wash with egg yolk 2 times. (Decorate with sesame on top)optional

Bake at 365°F for 20-25 minute.

Rose cake

I made this cake for my sister's wedding. It's not the wedding cake it was a gift for the witness. It's an almond cake and it's decorated with fondant. The roses are all hand made sugarpaste roses.

Hello Kitty cake

I don't like cats but I surely have a soft spot for this one :). This is a my favourite chocolate cake (as usual) decorated with a handmade fondant picture of Hello Kitty. Cute eh!

Diving cake

This was really an unusual order. But I enjoyed making this cake. The cake base is a chocolate cake covered with chocolate ganache and crushed biscuits and the diving tanks are also chocolate cakes with chocolate ganache but decorated with fondant. the presure gauge anf the pipes are all made from fondant.

Mother's day cupcakes

These are some of the cupcakes I made for mother's day. These are vanilla cupcakes filled with a white chocolate and hazelnut mixture and covered with dark chocolate ganache or white chocolate ganache. The decorations are all made with fondant and the truffle is a made from white chocolate and hazelnut cake.

Tres leches cake

I was searching for an nice recipe which uses condensed milk. I came across this recipe. I ve neve made Tres leches cake but surely the mixture of three milks intrigued me. So I tried this recipe. Here's the link to this fantastic blog from where I copied the recipe. http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/2008/05/post-cinco-de-mayo.html Although I don't like condensed milk I like this cake. (surely I would prefer a chocolate cake though :) However it's quite yummy :)

Tres Leches Cake

adapted from allrecipes

5 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups white sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan. Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

Cream butter and 1 cup of the sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla extract, beat well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time, mix until well blended.Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Pierce cake several times with a fork.Combine 1 cup of the cream, evaporated milk, and condensed milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake. Refrigerate cake for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Whip whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup of the sugar together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Keep cake refrigerated until serving.

Boat cake

This is my latest cake. This was really a challenge. I've never made a boat cake especially with sugar paste figures. Well poor man he's not the most handsome man on earth but anyways. I m quite happy with this cake although next time I would surely improve on the finishing touches. This cake consists of vanilla cake layered with chocolate ganache.

Power rangers cake

My last addition to children's cakes. These are the power rangers.

Baby shower cupcakes

These chocolate cupcakes were served along with the baby cake. These are decorated with some royal icing.

Cantucci or Cantuccini

These biscuits are known Cantuccini or Cantucci. They originated from Italy. These almond flavoured biscuits are usually served with a glass of wine. Cantuccini are baked twice and that's what gives them their fantastic crispiness. Make sure you have good teeth though since if they're not dunken in wine they're very hard to bite. I game along this recipe in Linda's blog. Here's the link http://linda.kovacevic.nl/archives/191-Cantucci-revisited.html I didn't make any changes to the recipe this time but I have also tried making Cantuccini with lemon zest and aniseeds. They were both yummy :)

Here's the recipe as coppied from Linda s blog.

Cantuccini

200 g (7 oz) flour

125 g (4 ½ oz) sugar

100 g (3 ½ oz) almonds

1 ts baking powder

2 ts anise seeds

2 eggs

Preheat the oven at 160ºC (325º F) Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the eggs and mix. Knead it through (if it is very sticky, add a little flour). Put the dough on a floured surface and shape into a log that is about 1 ½ -2 cm high and 12 cm broad.Put on a buttered baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely.Cut the log into ½ cm slices and place them on the baking sheet. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.
Makes about 20 Cantuccini.

Winnie pooh cake

This is my latest creation in children's cakes. I really enjoyed making this cake since it's really cute. This is a chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache and covered with sugarpaste. Everyone liked it :)

Peanut butter cookies

This time I tried my hand at peanut butter cookies. I found these cookies at Baking blonde and surely she described them perfectly. These were delicious. I only made half the quantity. I tried to be a bit creative and so I flavoured these cookies with different ingredients. I copied the recipe from http://bakingblonde.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/the-best-peanut-butter-cookies-period/they and just made my adjustments in brackets. Fllow the link for more hints and tips on baking these cookies. I bet the original recipe is even more delicious since it uses peanut butter chips that here I couldn't find any. So here's the recipe:

The Original Peanut Butter

Cookie tweaked by bakingblonde

1 cup + 2 TBS peanut butter (I used crunchy)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 TBS milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Peanut Butter chips (didn’t use these)1

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (used chopped chocolate)

3/4 cup Sugar (for rolling dough balls, may need more or less)

(some chopped peanuts for rolling)

Preheat oven to 350.

Line baking sheets with parchement paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter.

Once combined beat in the white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla.

In a large bowl wisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Gently add to creamed mixture and mix until almost combined.

Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Chill dough for at least 15 minutes.Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls.

Genlty roll the dough balls into sugar and place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Carefully press each ball with fork tines to create a criss-cross pattern.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned.

Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes until sturdy enough to be transfered to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 30 cookies

Baby Coconut bites

Complimenting the Baptism cake featured in my last post I also made these cute little coconut bites. I decided to make them miniature size since they're quite sweet.

You can find the recipe for these little cutie bites on Jeena's blog. Here's the link http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/09/coconut-mountains-with-almond-top.html

Good night, sleep tight

Shhh!!! He's sleeping :) This is my latest addition to my cake list. It's baby boy cake. If you haven't realised that :) I'm glad with the outcome. I think the baby and the teddy bear are so cute! This is my first cake for a baptism.

It's also the first time I use this icing nozzle. Glad I tried it since I really liked the ruffle look.

Banana Nutella muffins

I felt like baking something easy and delicious for breakfast. What could be better than muffins. These banana muffins are so moist and combined with a Nutella swirl they are out of the world delicious :) The recipe comes from Simply Anne's site. Here's the link to the recipe http://simplyannes.blogspot.com/2006/10/rekindling-old-love-affair.html

My cupcake menu

These are some of the cupcakes on my menu. I've been baking a lot lately. Here are some of the flavours :) (more to come)

Cherry Dream delight (on top)
Vanilla cupcake topped filled with cherry jam and topped with whipped cream, cherry drizzle and a cherry on top.

Peanutoffee cupcake
Vanilla cupcake filled with a layer toffee and peanuts and topped with chocolate ganache and more chopped peanuts
Chocotoffee delight
A moist chocolate cupcake topped with toffee and chocolate ganache and decorated with toffee drizzle

Chocococo cupcake
A soft chocolate cupcake filled with a coconut centre and topped with chocolate ganache and coconut flakes

Chocaccino cupcake
A moist chocolate cupcake soaked with coffee syrup topped with whipped cream, rich chocolate ganache and a sprinkle of ground coffee

Double chocolate cupcake
A moist chocolate cupcake topped with rich chocolate ganache

Dating nuts

Vanilla cupcake filled with a date and nut mixture topped with whipped cream and a date and nut truffle on top

Cupcakes ready to be delivered and devoured by recipient :)

Almond Cake/pie (Torta tal-lewz)

This cake is very popular in Malta especially in Easter and for special occasions. In fact I made this cake for Easter. This cake is also used for weddings cakes however it is not covered with this piped mixture its covered and decorated with fondant.
This cake is called 'Torta tal-Lewz' which translated in English means Almond pie. It is called like this cause although it looks like a cake it is a pie and then decorated like a cake. The main ingredients in this cake are almonds and eggs. This cake consists of pastry filled with an almond mixture made from ground almonds, sugar and eggs. It is then cooled and then covered with a piping mixture consisting of egg whites, sugar and ground almonds and left to dry for a couple of hours. It is then baked again for about 15 minutes until the cake is golden and the piping set. This cake is served in very thin slices since its very sweet. I love this cake :)

Toasted almond lemon bars

This is this month's Cookie carnival recipe. Holly of Phemomenon (http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/) is guest hosting the Carnival for April. Holly has chosen TOASTED ALMOND LEMON BARS. The only modification I made to the recipe is to use unblanched almonds and to quarter the recipe. I know I only made a small amount and perhaps that is why they came so thin. Here's the recipe:

Toasted Almond Lemon Bars
From The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

For the Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds, lightly toasted (used unblanched almonds)

1/2 teaspoon salt

20 Tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

For the Lemon Filling:

4 large eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 7 lemons)

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

To Toast the Almonds:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden and you can smell them. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Before You Start:
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Make a parchment "sling" by cutting two pieces of parchment paper, measuring 16 1/2 inches long by 12 inches wide (you can also use aluminum foil). Place one piece across the length, and the other across the width of the pan, with the excess hanging over the edges. You will use this sling later to lift the finished bar from the pan. Spray the sling with the cooking spray.

To Make the Crust:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, almonds, and salt to combine. Add the cold butter in pieces and pulse until the dough comes together in a ball.
2. Turn the dough out into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom and 1 1/4 inches up the sides. (This crust, once it is baked, needs to act as a liner in which to pour the liquidy lemon filling. So be sure to do a good job of pressing the dough up the sides - no cracks!). Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights ( you can use dried beans or uncooked rice as pie weights as well). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly golden. Carefully remove the pie weights and the liner and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until the whole crust is golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

To Make the Filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until smooth. Add the almond extract and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add the lemon juice, and whisk to combine.

To Complete the Bars:
1. Pour the lemon filling into the prepared crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is firm and lightly golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
2. When cool use the parchment sling to lift the entire bar from the pan and onto a cutting board. Slice into twelve 3 x 3 1/2 - inch bars. Remove from the pan and, using a small sifter, dust with the confectioners' sugar.
The bars keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze well wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for up to 3 weeks. Do not unwrap before defrosting. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Hello Kitty Figolla

I couldn't not make something creative so whilst making my figolli marathon I decided to make a cute figolla for my niece and what could be cuter than Hello Kitty? She's only three and she really liked this figolla of Hello Kitty. I think it's cute too. :)

Figolli

Figolli are traditional almond pastries baked for Easter. These consist of pastry figures filled with a ground almond mixture and covered with royal and glace icing. The traditional shapes are men, women, fish, lamb and baskets however nowadays you can also find heart shape, butterflies, bunnies and cars. The human shapes usually have paper faces stuck on to the icing. They're quite big about 8". Decoration consists of glace icing and royal icing and finished off with a chocolate egg stuck in the middle.

These are some of my Figolli made this year. I ended making 53 of them. This is surely a new record for me. I got creative and decorated them in a variety of patterns and colours. I also covered one of them with chocolate. Delicious too although I prefer glace icing. They surely get gobbled easily :)

Easter cupcakes

These are some of my Easter cupcake. I think the little chick above is so cute!. It is a vanilla cupcake with almond filling and topped with chocolate ganache. It is then topped with fondant and decorated with royal icing.

The one underneath is a vanilla cupcake with almond filling decorated with royal icing a fondant chick and some chocolate Easter eggs.

Birkirkara Football cake

This cake was an order for a football(soccer) fan. In fact Birkirkara is a Maltese locality in Malta. He really like the cake and that's what it counts most :)) This is a chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache and covered in fondant.

Thank you. I WON!

I still cannot believe it but I WON Iron Cupcake Earth this month! I'm thrilled. Thank you so much to all those who voted for me. This month's cupcake ingredient was nuts and seeds. I really enjoyed making this cupcake. Thanks to the organisers of Iron cupcake Earth and to all the sponsors too.