Etsy Love - Fionna and Cake

1. Robotopia / 2. Choc Rain / 3. Avo Art / 4. Ryna Arts / 5. Geek Amore / 6. Mix Posters / 7. The Pink Castle / 

8. Juliefoo Stitches / 9. Ex and Oh

Chocolate, Raspberry & Coconut Cake

Being a chocolate lover, one of my favourite things to bake is chocolate fudge cake. You really can't beat a moist, rich, chocolatey cake covered in buttercream. This recipe is based on a traditional chocolate fudge cake recipe, but i've twisted it and added creamy coconut and fresh, tart raspberries to compliment the rich and indulgent chocolate cake.

Sponge Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup unbleached cane caster sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 cup thick coconut cream
1/2 cup coconut milk

Frosting Ingredients:
5 cups icing sugar
1 cup thick coconut cream

raspberries to decorate


Sponge Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Grease or line your cake tin. I used a deep 8 inch tin but anything around that size will do.

2. Sift all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix in all of the wet ingredients until it is all completely mixed.

3. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 mins (This will be less for fan ovens so check it after about 35 mins. To tell if the cake is done put a sharp object into the middle of the cake, if it comes out dry the cake is done.)


For the frosting & decorating:

Mix all of the icing sugar and coconut cream into a thick icing consistency.

Once the cake is cooled, if you want a double layered cake cut in half through the middle. Ice in between the layers and then ice the complete cake. Decorate the top with fresh raspberries.

Etsy Shop Feature: Bunny With a Tool Belt

I got so excited when I discovered this shop. Not only does it have a super rad name: Bunny With a Tool Belt, but it sells amazing and creative cake toppers and adorable little sculptures. This shop in an absolute feast for your eyes (I had trouble only picking a few photos, I wanted to show you them all).

Bunny With a Tool Belt was founded by Hilary, who has been making a living from her creativity since 1989. Part of Hilary's reason to choose the etsy shop name came from her fondness to appear in public in a bunny suit.

Go check out the Bunny with a Toolbelt facebook page for more creative goodness.
Which is your favourite sculpture/cake topper? Mine has to be the sausage dog!

ER MAH GERD ERNSTERGRERM

Translated: Oh my god Instagram. If you want to learn to speak ERMAHGERD look no further than this translator. Em from Lick My Cupcakes was kind enough to send me the link to this ingenious website. It's entirely her fault if I start talking like this in real life.

Anyways, here's my latest update in instagram pictures, as you can see there aren't many this week as I'm saving loads of my piccies for a post about this Sundays photoshoot (although, it may not go ahead now due to stupid rain).

1 & 2. Of course I can't do an update post without featuring my scruffy little bear dog. She's now had a hair cut and looks far too sleek and neat, it totally dosn't fit her crazy bouncy personality. In pic 2 she's snogging the face off my friend Ginge. She loves ginge cause she smells like dog butts. True story.

3. I made the nommiest chocolate fudge cake I've ever eaten, seriously! And it's vegan, but you can't even tell. I sort of vowed never to make this again cause I ate far too much of it. But now I've decided to make it again in order to get some good pictures of it and do a recipe post :)

4. I tried lino printing and failed. The result looked awful! I'm going to have to try again. I managed not to take a chunk out of my thumb this time, so kind of a happy ending.

5. I made PonyChops note paper!! This makes me so happy. I want to write everyone letters on it now.

6. I painted and reupholstered some charity shop furniture for sundays photo shoot. I've decided I'm keeping this furniture as I've fallen in love with it.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Honey Cake

I haven't baked for a couple of weeks, so yesterday I decided to try and make a white chocolate and raspberry cake for my drunken girly DVD night.

I was really pleased with how this came out. It's really sweet so i'd recommend using a fairly sour raspberry jam to even out the sweetness. I think it would even work really well with cream cheese frosting as a filling instead of the buttercream. If you want to make this with all sugar instead of honey use 325g sugar.

This is for a large cake. Half the ingredients for a smaller one.

Ingredients for the main cake:

• 6 eggs
• 325g self raising flour
• 325g unsalted butter
• 200g cane sugar
• 100g honey
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 75g white chocolate, finely grated
• Raspberries to decorate

Ingredients for the frosting and fillings:

• Raspberry jam (preferably a sourish jam)
• 200g white chocolate
• 225g unsalted butter
• 300g icing sugar
• 100ml double cream

Method:

1. Set the oven to 180C. Grease 3 round 8 inch cake tins.
2. Sift the baking powder and self raising flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, sugar, white chocolate and honey and mix thoroughly. Heat the butter until it's soft enough to mix in with the other ingredients and mix it in.
3. Pour the mixture into 3 greased, 8inch round cake tins.
4. Bake for 20-25 mins.
5. Once cooled, trim off the top of each cake slice to make sure it's flat.
6. Sandwich a thick layer of buttercream and a generous layer of raspberry jam in between each slice and cover all over in white chocolate frosting. Decorate the top with raspberries.

For the white chocolate frosting (for the outside of the cake): Melt 200g of white chocolate with 85g butter, sift in 120g icing sugar and add 90ml double cream. Mix until even.

For the Buttercream: Thoroughly mix 140g softened butter with 10ml double cream and 280g sifted icing sugar.

My Weekly Photos 22-04-12

I've had a week full of poorly animals. So I haven't had nearly enough time to focus on work.
First, my oldest dog Holly had to go in for an operation. She had to have 2 tumours and 2 teeth removed, she's 14 so I was terrified she wouldn't make it through the operation. But I'm pleased to say she's home now and back to being her naughty self!
Secondly my loan horse hurt his back. So he has to have at least two weeks off work while we wait for the back lady to come and look at him. He's not very pleased at not being able to work off his energy and tries to squash me at every chance he gets!

Here's my weekly pictures :

1. I started on some hand painted shorts for the shop. I have lots more work to do on these but I'm excited to be painting on a different surface!

2. I spray painted my office chair turquoise. My job for next week is to reupholster the ugly blue fabric to a pretty lilac fabric I've have lying around for ages.

3. I dyed my hair a darker grey. I loved the white grey but my stupid yellow hair kept peeking through. I used Nirvel Nutre Colour Grey. I'm so happy that I mixed it half and half with conditioner to lighten it. otherwise I'm pretty sure my hair would have turned black.

4. I baked a white chocolate and raspberry cake for a girly DVD night with the girls from the yard. I'll post a recipe tomorrow!

5. Working on some scalloped wedges for the shop, they'll be up in the shop tomorrow :)

6. The beautiful Kate from Scathingly Brilliant wore her PonyChops shoes for an outfit post.

7. Kaylah from The Dainty Squid did a post about her PonyChops shoes. I can't wait to see her wear them in an outfit. I think she'd totally rock them!

8. I've been working hard at learning Adobe Illustrator and completed my first proper work on there, a posh pug with a bow. I will post more about this cutie soon as I'm working on some more vectored pugs to make into stickers.

Deadly Desserts

Scott Hove (the genius responsible for Cakeland) is displaying some of his new works in the Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco starting this weekend. I am gutted this isn't in england!!!

Here's a reminder of how awesome Cakeland is! I wan't to live there!!

Droooool

I have just discovered the most amazzzing edible cake decorations from Andies Speciality Sweets. I want them ALL! I especially love their toadstools, nuts that aren't nuts and their candy buttons. I definitely need to invest in some of these before baking my next batch of cupcakes.

Butternut squash honey cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!!

I figured because of the healthiness of the butternut squash in these cupcakes it's probably ok to overload them with yummy cream cheese frosting om nom nom nommm. I adapted my recipe from Tooth Fairy Recipes. They taste like little mini carrot cakes and are a great way to enjoy eating veg. If you're struggling to know how exactly to react when you try this cake, refer to 0.45 of this video.

Here's what you need for the basic cakes:

• 230g butternut squash
• 2 free range eggs
• 100g unsalted butter, melted
• 50g natural caster sugar 
• 50g brown sugar
• 80g honey
• 100g self raising flour
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Orange zest (optional)

For the icing:

• 125g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 50g icing sugar
• 250g low fat cream cheese

Method: 

• Preheat the oven to 200c (gas mark 6)
• Peel the squash and cut it into chunks and place in a microwaveable bowl with boiling water. If you life your cakes a little bit more textured like carrot cake then zest a bit of the skin into the bowl too. Cook in the microwave on high power for 10 mins. Drain the excess water and mash up the squash as finely as possible.
• Whisk the eggs and then mix them with the sugar, honey and butter.
• In a separate mixing bowl, mix the flour with baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg (and orange zest if using it). Add the egg mixture and the butternut squash and mix together thoroughly. 
• Place some cupcake liners on a cupcake tray. Fill with the mixture and bake for 20 mins (possibly less in fan ovens).
• For the frosting mix the unsalted butter with the icing sugar until even and then add the cream cheese.
• Wait until the cupcakes are cool to add the icing you duh brain. Add a candied orange on top if desired.