The Aston Martins of the cake world

1^st March marked the first day of autumn here in New Zealand. But at 31 degrees, with not a cloud in sight, it is clear that summer is showing no signs of relenting just yet. What a summer! It has become the sort of season where jumpers and jeans have gone into complete disuse, the sort where you get dressed in summery clothes before even looking outside, such is the certainty that the sun will be beating down. The last time it rained was about four weeks ago - for approximately 8 minutes. It hasn’t been so long since I’ve abandoned the gumboots of my childhood that I don’t feel for the dairy farmers facing a drought, though.

The 1^st March was significant. It was my second cousin Chelsea and her fiancé Craig’s wedding day. Beautiful day, beautiful bride, beautiful event. And, as this is a baking blog, beautiful cake.

Wedding cakes are the Aston Martins of the cake world. A chance for truly gifted bakers to really show off. Chelsea and Craig’s cake was exquisite – a tower of meringues.

It got me thinking back to our wedding cake (made by Sue Pedley – family friend and gifted cake maker): three gorgeous white tiers, each a different flavour, each separated by layers of strawberries and red roses. Again, exquisite.

It makes me wonder, if I keep it up, my pursuit of baking excellence, will I ever be capable of making something so amazing? I’m beginning to think the self-taught method (i.e. devouring cook books like novels) may have its limitations, and that perhaps there may be a reason why brilliant pastry chefs have usually undergone extensive training. Having said that, I have many friends who simply have a knack and a passion for baking and produce works of art.

I may be lacking in knack, but have plenty of passion! Check out my recent birthday cake attempts. Here is the cake I made for Neil’s 31^stbirthday. Somewhat lacking in theme (I had considered a bike cake in honour of his newfound cycling obsession but ruled it out on the grounds of difficulty and lack of time), but given his advancing years (31 - blimey!) I thought understated might be best. After all, is there any birthday more insignificant than the 31^st? It’s not a big round number, you’ve just had a big party last year, you’re launching out into the wilderness of those middle decades... 

 

Hmm, if my wedding cake was an Aston Martin, this was probably a Toyota Corolla. The observant among you will have spotted the embossed icing – yes, new cake decorating toy. I got to use it again a few weeks later when making my cousin Renée’s birthday cake. Renée turned 12 – a decidedly more exciting age! Pink and girly was the order of the day and I was thrilled to oblige. Here was the result...

 

Hmm, Volkswagen Golf? Birthday cakes aside, I’ll be honest: the sunshine and the busy humdrum of work and kids has kept me out of the kitchen lately and my baking output has been rather pitiful. However, I did whip up these lemony-coconutty-passionfruity little cakes for afternoon tea today. Fortunately my icing bowl lickers weren't far away...

 

Perhaps with the new season will come a surge of productivity.  We’ll see.

TTFN x

 

And the verdict is...

....unfortunately, I didn’t make the cut for New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker competition.  I feel a mixture of things: a little disappointed, as it would no doubt have been fun to experience my 15 minutes of fame (and given I am still very much a baking novice, 15 minutes is probably all I would have had); a smidge embarrassed, since my pursuit of a place on the show has been so public (mild inner cringe); quite relieved, as I hadn’t really worked out how I was going to take time off work and who was going to look after the kids, and so on. There is also the very real possibility that I would have been way out of my depth and fallen at the first floury hurdle!

So, mixed feelings. But I can now reveal what I made for my audition! We had to make something sweet, something savoury and something ‘uniquely me’. My something sweet was a lemon, coconut and blueberry layer cake. My something savoury was brioche with sundried tomatoes, feta, pesto and spinach. My ‘uniquely me’ dish were little tarts with layers of lemon curd, blueberry coulis, frangipane and crème patissiere (all homemade!) topped with summer berries. I was very proud of this effort!

 

I’m still not sure if we were supposed to bring such large examples of our baking or not – they looked a little surprised at all the trips to the car to bring everything in, and when I left the audition laden with baking tins, baskets and platters, the guy who was auditioning after me had a little plate with a three little morsels on it. It was a funny moment in hindsight – you could see he was packing it, thinking ‘oh, no, I’ve misjudged it’ and I was thinking ‘oh no, I totally overdid it!’ My inner try-hard still lurks within.

So. Where to from here? I’ve come to a bit of an impasse with my baking, now that the show is no longer an option. Funnily enough, the few people I’ve told so far have all said, ‘Please don’t stop your blog’. And I haven’t had any desire to stop baking – if anything, I have more urge than ever to get better. I guess there’s always next year...

Meanwhile I'm still baking, still learning, still making works of art one minute, absolute disasters the next. Here are some of my latest accomplishments:

Passionfruit and coconut meringues

 

Tomato and feta tart with thyme pastsry

Herby focaccia bread

 

Blueberry, lime, coconut and passionfruit cake

 

Baking for the sake of baking is fine, but I feel I need another challenge or goal – so any ideas are welcome!

TTFN x

The mother of muffins

I had a good haul of pressies this Christmas. I suspect by the time you hit thirty you should perhaps have outgrown that smug feeling of receiving a large stash of excellent gifts, but just as Dan’s eyes lit up when he opened his remote control car, Emily squealed with glee at her new doll’s house and Neil pronounced himself “stoked” with his new chilly bin (what? that was what he wanted!), so too did I feel a rush of giddy delight upon receiving some great new recipe books (including Thomas Keller’s ‘Bouchon Bakery’ and Paul Hollywood’s ‘How to Bake’ – thank you Steve and Heather respectively!)

Among them was Peter Gordon’s ‘Everyday’ (thank you, Tristan and Jen!) – a book I’ve been lusting after ever since I spent ten minutes ogling it in Paper Plus, while Dan and Emily ran around the shop and I pretended they weren’t my kids.

I’m somewhat in awe of Peter Gordon, the so-called ‘father of fusion cuisine’, with his Kiwi-British restaurant empire, his column in the Herald and now his amazing new cook book, from which I tried my first recipe last night: blueberry custard tarts. Partly through burning creativity, although more accurately through lack of correct ingredients, I adapted the recipe somewhat to more of a blueberry peach cheesecake tart. 

His sweet pastry is a Spanish version, made with sherry. I was somewhat surprised to find we had sherry in our rather sparse liquor cabinet; even more surprised when I realised post-tart that I’d used brandy instead of sherry (which we actually didn’t have as it turned out), however the texture and taste were great.

 

The pastry was cooked beautifully, or so I thought, until Neil says, in the manner of an airport security guard who has just spotted something dodgy in your hand luggage, “Waaait. Mine is slightly undercooked on the bottom.”

Sure enough, there was a very fine transparent line of raw pastry in the centre of the tart.

“That’s the sort of thing they’ll have a go at you for on the show,” says he, who claims to have never watched it.

The ‘show’ he refers to is, of course, 'Chelsea New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker'. Applications close about now so I should hear soon...

I’ll be honest, the tarts were the first thing I’ve made in a while. The Kiwi summer has morphed into a series of endless, hot, beachy, loll-about-on-a-sun-lounger-with-an-iceblock days, which don't lend themselves to time in front of the oven.  However, summer also means summer fruits – stone fruits, berries, pineapples, melons: I love them all. Neil, on a particularly inspired Daddy daycare morning, took the kids to boysenberry-picking.  They returned with full juicy punnets, so boysenberry muffins with lemon curd centres and cream cheese icing were the order of the day.

 

 

 

If Peter Gordon is the father of fusion, does that make me the mother of muffins? I don’t think anyone’s claimed that yet, so I’ll take it.

Next post, I shall have NEWS! Good or bad, you’ll hear it here first.

 

TTFN x

Christmas traditions

It's funny how childhood traditions can become sticking points in a relationship. I find it fascinating how a couple can learn to maturely compromise on meal times and who does the laundry/shopping/childcare, yet lock heads over whether to hang the stockings by the chimney or at the foot of the bed.

In those blissful pre-children years, before death do us part and all that, Neil and I hadn't discussed festive childhood traditions in any great detail. Until recently that is, when we were wrapping the kids' presents and reminiscing about our own Christmas childhood memories.

Mine involved attending a midnight mass church service on Christmas Eve (an attempt, I reckon in hindsight, on my parents' part to prevent us rising too early on Christmas morn, and also to provide an antidote to all the imminent Santa action), then creeping out at the crack of dawn to the fireplace to see if  Santa had been. We knew better than to crack into the pressies - we had to wait until Dad got in from milking the cows. It seemed to take an eternity, even though some years he would get the cows in at 2am after the church service in an effort not to keep us waiting too long. Then present-opening frenzy would ensue, followed by manic Christmas lunch with Mum or Dad's side of the family, then manic Christmas dinner with the other side.

Neil's childhood Christmas involved hanging his stocking up at the foot of the bed on Christmas Eve. Upon waking in the middle of the night, he would check if Santa - sorry, Father Christmas - had been. If he had, then Neil would open a present or two, then fall back asleep until the morning, when he'd open the remaining presents. All this recounted with misty-eyed nostalgia.

Given that we don't have a fireplace (hanging the stockings under the heat pump doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?!) my argument for having the stockings in the living room was perhaps on shaky ground... however Neil agreed he wanted to see the kids' faces upon seeing if Santa/Father Christmas had been. (Privately, I also think that Neil was perhaps a better behaved and more restrained child than our offspring; I don't trust either Dan or Emily not to rip into every present at 2am.)

But I digress. A Christmas tradition that is not to be messed with in my family is the Christmas pudding. When I was a little girl it was my Great Aunty Jean's job to make the pud; she passed the task on to Uncle Bruce. I am lining up as Bruce's 2IC, and have assisted him with pudding-making for two years now. The recipe itself is straightforward, but the best part is using the ancient scales that once belonged to my great-great grandmother.

 

With traditional pudding-making comes little quirks like making a wish with each stir of the pudding. Here, my granny (or GG as she is known to the kids) and Dan have a go.

A newly discovered Christmas tradition in our house is the baking of goodies for the kids' pre-school teachers. Frankly, anyone who can put up with Emily's stubborness and Dan's unwillingness to join in craft activities when sporty options are available, should be given a case of champagne rather than a handful of homemade choccies, but times are tough - homemade choccies it is.

I made a combination of rich brandy and nut truffles and rocky road for each of the eight teachers. Here they are:

Then Christmas drinkies with the cuzzies calls for some more festive baking. Lemon curd cupcakes with cream cheese icing and little fondant decorations.

This little boy (Dan, 4) is soooo excited about Christmas, it literally cannot come fast enough for the wee man. Neil and I can't wait to see his face (and Emily's) on Christmas morning. No doubt the little rascals will gradually cement a whole new range of family Christmas traditions, which, years from now they will fight over with their spouses.

But for now, Merry Christmas everyone!
Jude x

Fairy lights and fruitcake

Post-audition, life has seen an onslaught of all things Christmas: tinsel, advent calendars, the annual debate of whether or not it will irritate people to send them a family Christmas letter, and an endless string of Christmas parties - sadly more involving Santa than champagne. The kids are already at fever pitch over the prospect of a visit from Monsieur Claus; the morning after the Christmas tree (a rather sad looking specimen chosen by Dan and Gramps from the farm) was installed - at 5.45am to be precise - Neil found the kids standing in front of the "tree", fairy lights twinkling, totally enraptured, looking for presents.

And, of course, festive baking. For a learner baker like me, Christmas lends a good excuse to try out things I'm unlikely to cook otherwise. Starting with a brandy-soaked Christmas cake...

It isn't very rewarding, however, making fruit cakes for people who don't like fruit cakes. For instance, it was hard to draw much pride from Neil's "If I liked fruit cake, I'm sure I'd like this", said with his face distorted into obvious displeasure at being forced to sample it. Similarly, Dan's "I like it Mummy, but just the icing, but just the white icing - not that yucky yellow icing". So really, I should have just served up some white fondant icing and basked in the compliments.

And then I had all this dried fruit to find a use for - so I had a bash at mincemeat. I made some festive brioche, filling with the mincemeat and Whittaker's Dark Ghana chocolate, to which I've become addicted. These were duly delivered to the Mainly Music Christmas party, which in hindsight was not a wise move considering the amount of brandy-sodden fruit the brioche contained, and was eaten by hordes of preschoolers. Their parents have me to thank if their children were unusually mellow for the rest of the day.

Then I made mince pies. Athough I cooked them within an inch of their lives, they were delicious. The pastry was beautifully short and perfectly cooked on the bottom, if borderline over-cooked on the edges.

I've also had a few attempts at pavlova making. Our local Nosh store held their annual pavlova competition today, so I duly entered a very homemade looking piece. When presenting it to the store, the lady who was organising it said "I bet it tastes great"... which is the food equivalent of saying "You've got a great personality". So I plonked it down among these meringue, cream and strawberry works of art and haven't heard since. Suffice to say, I don't think I won! Still, I bet it really did taste great...

What else? I had another bash at croissants. Definite improvement. And easier, although I had rolling pin arm ache for a day afterwards. My physio husband's professional opinion was that I needed to, and I quote, "take a concrete pill and harden up".

So, some interesting baking escapades these past few weeks..and more to come!

TTFN x

Filming and four year olds

I'm delighted to say after submitting my application, I was asked to audition for Chelsea New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker! The audition was a fantastic experience...but sadly, not one that I'm at total freedom to discuss.

But I am allowed to say it was a blast. I was the very first of approximately 70 people who have been asked to audition. The fact that I've even put myself in the same league as 69, no doubt, accomplished and articulate bakers, makes me cringe slightly. Once I got on that beautiful pink, black, silver and white set kitchen with the mikes and cameras and lights I realised I wanted to enter this competition more than I thought I did! Must be my inner drama queen fighting to get out. In hindsight, I wish I'd been a little more extroverted and arrogant - goodness knows I'm capable of both! - but we'll just have to wait and see. Here I am on the set (yes, I had no shame in asking the people auditioning me to take my photo; I never claimed to be cool...)

I really, really want to post pictures of the baking I prepared (one sweet dish, one savoury dish and one "uniquely me" dish), of which I am immeasurably proud...but this is a no go apparently. Fair enough.

The audition came at a crazy time. Dan's four year old birthday was the day before. It seems birthdays are no longer confined to just the day itself. No, no - we were on morning tea duty at Playcentre on Tuesday (cue: birthday cake 1), pre-school cake - lest they are forced to face the shame of a playdough cake! - (cue: birthday cake 2) and finally the party (cue: birthday cake 3). I'm making it sound like a chore - it wasn't; it is an utter privilege to make birthday cakes for my kids. As a mother and a baker, for me, birthday cake construction it is one of life's better tasks! Here are the cakes...

 

That's it for now - TTFN x

The hunt for NZ's Hottest Home Baker has begun!

So there I was, Thursday night, half watching some average film on telly, half randomly liking people’s kids and holidays on facebook, when a TV advertisement caught my attention...the ad calling for contestants for TV3’s Chelsea’s New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker 2013. I’d almost forgotten my original goal of applying for the competition but even the ad made me tingle (and how many ads do that to you these days – aside from that new Westpac one!) so I must still have lurking in me somewhere the drive to enter.

My next job for tonight, after posting my blog entry of course, is to apply. Naturally I’ll be submitting this blog as proof of the pudding (or rather cupcakes, naan bread and roulades) along with a very cheesy video clip of the kids helping me make bread.

I’ve been back in birthday cake bake mode lately. Labour weekend saw two grandparents hit phenomenal ages. As the official family cake baker (to be honest I’ve always made the cakes, but previously in a more unofficial capacity) I was assigned birthday cake duties.

First up was Pop’s birthday. Lemon sponge cake with an attempt at decorating like a parcel. Still plenty of practice required but at least I’m veering away from fondant roses! Dear Pop, he was still recovering from a nasty fall, hence his bruised face.

Sorry Dad - had to be done!

Then was Granny’s (or GG – Great-gran – to the kids) birthday. I opted for a black forest sponge for her cake... a creation that was somewhere between a Victoria sponge and a gateau and involved a lot of kirsch – a yummy cherry liqueur (hooray for parents’ random and well-stocked liquor cabinets).

 And that’s been it for the moment. Of course if my application for NZHHB gets accepted, prepare for this blog to be ramped up a notch!

Wish me luck!

TTFNx