Oisin's 6th Birthday cake....Volcanic prehistoric island....

My baby turned 6 today and had a great party with all his pals.... we looked at pictures of dinosaur cakes for inspiration and he chose one with a volcano... OK, I thought, I can manage a volcano... so with the help of google and my hubby taking the kids out to play for the day, I managed to get the volcanic dinosaur island made!!!

 Chocolate Fudge cake inside.... Volcanic Prehistoric Island on the outside......

Gingerbread house 2013

Managed to squeeze in Gingerbread house this year again... always seems to be last minute but the boys love decorating it on Christmas Eve..... they did a great job this year my two kitchen helpers/cake decorators....

~AND THE BEST PART??? DEMOLITION......

YUMMY Christmas Tea Time with my gal pals this morning xx

Mocha Cake with Coffee Buttercream frosting and chocolate curls... it was a first time bake and was really tasty with our cuppas.  The coffee buttercream frosting (for all you Irish people) was identical to the superquinn coffee slices icing.... you all know you want one!!! YIKES waistband expanding and still a week to go to the big day!!!

Wellington Squares (posh twix as my Hubby calls them).... CAUSING A STIR !

I fancied making some caramel yesterday and remembered a GREAT wellington square recipe and since posting a picture this morning a few friends have asked for the recipe.. they seemed to cause a stir (scuse the pun, caramel requires lots of stirring.... bad pun hahaha)
Anway, here's my tried and TRUSTED recipe - they freeze pretty well too because believe me you will NEVER eat the whole batch!

Makes (24 decent squares (picture is marked out as 24 - or 48 fingers -they're rich so fingers are nice with a cuppa!)

Shortbread base:
350g self raising flour
225g butter
110g caster sugar

Caramel:
225g caster sugar
225g butter
5 tblsp golden syrup
1 tin (397g) nestle condensed milk

Choc top:
300g good quality choc (milk or dark) I usually use 200g dark and 100g milk (kids prefer that!)

Preheat oven to 180.  Rub butter flour and sugar together until resembles fine breadcrumbs and press FIRMLY and evenly into swiss roll tin (25cm X 38cm X 4cm) - I line with parchment paper so the base doesn't stick when I'm cutting out later.
Bake for 20 mins until golden. 
Caramel: melt butter in a heavy saucepan over a low heat.  Add sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk and stir continuously for 40-50 mins.... (u can make a cuppa to keep you happy while stirring!)p
It will change colour a few times... golden brown when ready but test by dropping a little blob into a bowl of cold water, it should firm up.  Pour over cooled pastry base and allow to cool (overnight is good)... Melt choc over pot of steaming water in a bowl not touching the water and pour over the top, smooth over evenly and allow to set... cut into squares w sharp knife... ENJOY XX

Cake Pops

Fiddly.... don't know why people are crazy about them... I much prefer a traditional type cake that you slice... lollipops should be on sticks NOT cakes... but I know kiddies love them as they were eaten like hotcakes at Christophers' party.....

My 2nd little boy's 2nd birthday cake....he loves fireman Sam!! so this is our version of the coolest firetruck!  We had a firework from Bulgaria on top, was fab .....

cute cupcakes

My sister in law bought me this little cupcake set of holders and decorations.... so cute and really turn simple cupcakes into something special!  Thanks Lucy!

girly birthday cookies

I made these a while ago for my nieces' birthday party in the park.   I had never done "flooding" cookies before so wanted to try it out... not the best first attempt but they tasted good :)

These are the spooky Halloween Meringues from Ruth Clemens blog, "the pink whisk"... they look V impressive but are VERY simple...They turned out well and are YUMMY squished together with a little dollop of whipped cream...

forgot to add these pictures ages ago!!! it was our first gingerbread house for Christmas 2010!! It did make it to Christmas Day, sort of, intact !

 

Dave's 50th Birthday Party

My brother in law had his 50th  Birthday party last night, it was a GREAT night and a good excuse to try a car cake (which I have never made before), as he loves Vintage cars... this is modelled on a vintage mg !! Not sure I did it justice, but it was demolished !  (after it got a parking fine from some of Dave's friends).  Lemon cake with a lemon buttercream inside.....Thanks to my Hubby for coming up with the jelly headlights held in with cocktail sticks xxx

Golf Cake for Grandad's 80th

There is an amazing man in our family who is turning 80 this week.  He loves his golf, so I thought I'd try to recreate one of the holes on the course that he plays.  It's a particularly hard "water" bound hole... the 9th on the course.  I hope it looks familiar to him !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

American Visitor

So we had an American Great Uncle come visit this week.... It was also his birthday, so a great opportunity to make a cake..... He's american on the outside and Irish on the inside so..... this SHOULD be self explanatory!