Sugar Paste Creations

So since my last post I decided that I should delve deeper into this passion of mine. So I went out and bought some Sugar Paste and some Colour Paste's (which totally changed my life because they are such amazing colours and so super concentrated that you need less than a drop to colour something) and went to work.

This is what I have made so far

This is meant to be a baby with a dummy but it looks more like a nipple



I know they're nothing outstanding, but I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt.


Raya X

Dreams

I love baking. It is my passion. We all give to others in different ways, and mine is to cook for people but primarily bake.
There is nothing better than spending a day at home with music blaring, baking up a storm in the kitchen then having people come over and the look in their eyes when they see a beautiful pile of cookies or a giant cake that screams "EAT ME!" and that moment when they realize that its theirs for the taking. Amazing.
Although I love to bake, I've never ventured into the designing side much. I sit at the computer for hours and look at pictures of peoples amazing cakes, cupcakes and cookies and I think "Gee, I would love to be able to do that." I would love to be able to create wedding cakes and know that for someones special day, they were cutting into something that I spent hours designing, pouring my heart into and for them to then know that they had the best possible cake for their big day. That would be a feeling I could live with.
Well anyway, here are a few designs I found this morning that one day, I'd love to be able to accomplish.Raya X

Mmmmm Green Soup

I have been starting to feel a bit under the weather this week so made some "Green Soup" to boost my immune system.
Its truely not visually appetising but it is tasty and it will aid in your health.

Green Soup

1 brown onion (diced)
1 leek (sliced)
1 brocolli head
Spinach - English or baby, whatever takes your fancy (chopped)
frozen Peas
chicken or beef stock


Heat a deep frying pan to medium and saute onions and leek until transluscent. Add chopped Broccoli and allow to soften.
Add about 2 cups of the stock in and bring to boil until broccoli is cooked, then add chopped spinach. When spinach is wilted add some more stock (enough to boil the peas.) Bring to a gentle boil and add the bag of frozen peas.
Once peas are cooked through, blend mixture together - with a stick blender!!! When I made this batch, i used my boss' glass blender, then as i was rinsing the jug, it shattered on me. So be careful! Plus its hot! But if you dont blend it soon after the peas are cooked they loose their bright colour and you end up with a big bowl of dark green poo-looking soup.
Also, if you think you may have too much liquid, remove some of it and set aside. If after the soup is blended it needs more liquid, slowly add the removed stock until desired consistency.
Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with croutons or crunchy bread.

Also, you can really add any green vegetable - even lettuce to sweeten it up, just saute after the onions.

Jimmy being a champ and eating his soup with me

Raya X

Hot Cross Buns for Easter

As you all know, Easter was last weekend and as I was sitting at home thinking of what to bake I realised I had never made Hot Cross Buns. But all that has changed now...

Ingredients

• 4 cups plain flour
• 2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups currants
• 40g butter
• 300ml milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• Flour paste

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 4 to 5 tablespoons water

• Glaze

• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar

Method

1. Combine flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice, salt and currants in a large bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add milk. Heat for 1 minute, or until lukewarm. Add warm milk mixture and eggs to currant mixture. Use a flat-bladed knife to mix until dough almost comes together. Use clean hands to finish mixing to form a soft dough.

2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth. Place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until dough doubles in size.

3. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Punch dough down to its original size. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 12 even portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Place balls onto lined tray, about 1cm apart. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes, or until buns double in size. Preheat oven to 190°C.

4. Make flour paste: Mix flour and water together in a small bowl until smooth, adding a little more water if paste is too thick. Spoon into a small snap-lock bag. Snip off 1 corner of bag. Pipe flour paste over tops of buns to form crosses. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until buns are cooked through.

5. Make glaze: Place water and sugar into a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Brush warm glaze over warm hot cross buns. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe from www.taste.com.au


Raya X

Weird News Article

Welcome to Monday! I hope your weekend didnt go too fast. Even if it did, you're halfway through Monday now and its a short weeks so really, you're nearly half way through your week...kinda.

Anyway, as the children were sleeping I decided to look at the news website and came across this article which made me giggle;

A CHEF at a trendy New York bistro is letting diners munch on fig and paprika cheese made from his wife's breast milk.

Daniel Angerer, who runs Klee Brasserie in the city's Chelsea neighbourhood, said customers started demanding his custom-made "human cheese" after he blogged about his efforts to make it, the New York Post reported.

"The phone was ringing off the hook," the chef explained. "So I prepared a little canape of breast milk cheese with figs and Hungarian pepper."

"It tastes like cow's milk cheese, kind of sweet," he added, noting that the flavour depends on what the cheese is served with and "what the mother eats."

The response among those who tried the cheese was described as generally positive, although many customers were too squeamish to attempt it.

"I think a lot of the criticism has to do with the combination of sex and cheese, but ... the breast is there to make food," said Lori Mason, Angerer's wife, who is mother to the couple's 10 week old daughter Arabella.

The restaurant was inundated with creepy queries since it began offering customers a taste, she said.

"Some people who clearly have issues have ... emailed me saying, 'I wasn't breastfed as a child, so can I taste your breast milk?'" she said.

Mason politely declined the offers.

"I'm not here to walk people through their psychological problems," she said.

That said, Mason is now prodding Angerer to make gelato out of her milk.
New York health chiefs said that even though department codes do not explicitly forbid the practice, they advised Angerer to refrain from sharing his wife's milk with the world.

"The restaurant knows that cheese made from breast milk is not for public consumption, whether sold or given away," a spokeswoman for the city Department of Health said.

Now, I'm all for cooking and eating weird and wacky food, but seriously, I dont think I would be game enough for this.

Raya X

Pizza Scrolls

So I was asked to make some Pizza Scrolls for my friends engagement party after I made them for our New Years festivities and as I was making them I thought "Hey, why not post the recipe onto my blog..." and so I am...

It is a pretty simple recipe that started out as a kids recipe in a book that I altered (which I do with nearly all recipes) and then I realized that they were delicious and that most adults are really children and we all love something simple, bite size and delicious!

Ingredients:
Puff Pastry sheets
Tomato paste (go for the stuff with garlic etc so it adds a bit more flavour)
Salami - Chopped into 1cm pieces
Ham - Chopped into 1cm pieces
Pizza Cheese
Parmesan - Shaved (buy a block of parmesan and shave it yourself for the best flavor)
Salt and Pepper (of course)
Egg and milk (for the egg wash)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Lay the defrosted Puff Pastry sheet out on a bench, slop a good spoonful of tomato paste on it and spread to the edges. Don't go overboard on the tomato paste or any other ingredient as its going to be rolled up at the end and you want to be able to taste every flavor and not be bombarded with an overload of cheese etc.

Ok, so now sprinkle the ham, salami and a handful of cheese over the pastry.
Again, DON'T overdo the cheese. If it looks too sparse, thats fine - you're going to get about 4 layers of it once its cooked so don't stress.

Sprinkle a pinch of Parmesan over everything, along with some salt and pepper.

Wet one of your fingers with water and run along one of the edges of the pastry (this will be the edge that gets folded last and sticks the roll together) then start rolling the pastry from the opposite end towards the wet end.

Once rolled up, cut with a sharp knife into 1-1.5cm rolls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Mix egg and milk together and brush over the rolls with a pastry brush.

Place in oven and bake until golden brown (about 20 mins)

With Parmesan cheese always get a block instead of grated, and preferably buy a european parmesan as they make it right. Parmesan is not supposed to smell like vomit like it does in Australia. It is actually a super creamy cheese with a bite, but not one that leaves your mouth tasting like you've just woken up lying next to an empty bottle of tequila and the only memories of the previous night are the sand inside your pants and the above mentioned taste in your mouth.


Raya X

Adventures to Luna Park

Today I went to Luna Park with the little girl I nanny and we took some photos. Although I'm no photographer like alot of my friends, these are my favorites...

Hello smiley face, what are you so happy about? Perhaps its that you have a prime position on Sydney Harbour? Or that every day you get to see people walking around, holding hands, kissing, playing games and grinning as largely as you?
This is written all through Balmain and I love it.
The only letters I want are Love letters.

Good news people! Its Wednesday evening which means you have come through the first half of the week relatively unscathed (I hope) and now you are on the home stretch to the weekend. Hooray!

Raya X