Make, Create and Grow

I love to bake, mostly desserts and sweet treats. I don’t get much time to bake these days, and definitely not the time that is required to complete more involved cakes. We also don’t eat most of the ingredients in traditional baking these days, so my baking is usually more creative with ingredients, trying to use whole foods where possible. I don’t know how long it will be before I get a chance to make anything too exciting in the kitchen, so as the title says, I am dedicating this post to some of my favourite baking projects from over the years.

Over the years, I have a lot of fun creating desserts and cakes for different occasions. Unfortunately, I can’t find pictures for a lot of things, but I have dug up what I could. I am missing pictures of numerous pavlovas, cheese cakes and ginger bread creations, but I’ve found a few for now!

It’s been a trip down memory lane looking back at these, and inspiring me to look for a new baking project! I wonder who’s birthday is next…

Ruby’s birthday fruit train cake and “Magic Bean” chocolate cupcakes

Not quite an epic baking adventure, but I have to share the birthday ‘cake’ I made for my daughters 1^st birthday. Using the train from the Womens Weekly Birthday Cake Book (a huge part of my childhood!) as inspiration, I created this one from fruit. The cupcakes are made from a thermomix recipe (I don’t have a thermomix though, just used a food processor) for a “Magic” Bean Chocolate Cake. A recipe my sister shared with me a few years ago, and its amazing! Chocolate cake made with red kidney beans, eggs and coconut oil. Its gluten, dairy and refined sugar free and tastes so good. I half the amount of coconut sugar in it too. The icing used was a chocolate avocado icing – I can’t remember the exact recipe I used, but basically mashed avo, cacao and maple syrup. Finished with homegrown marigolds!

Magic Bean Cake recipe – https://www.recipecommunity.com.au/baking-sweet-recipes/magic-bean-chocolate-cake/ypc7sbzq-01eb7-187035-cfcd2-ynu6w8ud

Bean cake and Trifle

This is another version of the Magic Bean cake I made for a dinner with good friends. It was meant to be a 4 tier masterpiece, and it literally fell apart! After a frantic call to my sister, she calmed me down, offered some tips and this was the result. A trifle, made on magic bean cake, coconut cream, and cherries as well as a rustic two layer chocolate black forest cake. All gluten, dairy and refined sugar free, and tasted sooo good.

Lesson from this – the bean cake is soft and fluffy, it doesn’t stack well. Also, coconut cream doesn’t hold together like regular buttercream. Magic bean cake tastes better the next day after soaking in coconut cream and cherries!

Tyler’s Rainbow Unicorn Cake

I had so much fun creating this cake for a very dear friends birthday. A rainbow unicorn cake, complete with 3D printed ears and horn from my parents. This beauty survived the 1.5hr car trip to camping to surprise the birthday boy. Thanks to my husband, Louis, having to transport it on his own – no pressure!

This cake was a real challenge for me, but I loved it. It took two batches of cake, I think I burnt and cracked the first round! It was my first tiered cake, and first go at making ‘real’ buttercream. I still can’t quite believe how much butter and sugar goes into it all! I’m proud of the outcome, and still kicking myself that we didn’t get a picture of it cut to see all the rainbow layers inside!!

Macroons – just because!

These were created one Saturday, purely because I wanted to give them a go! They weren’t bad for a first attempt, completed with lemon passionfruit curd and meringue icing centres. Yum! They were a labour of love, and a whole day in the kitchen. Lots of stress, and maybe even some tears, but I forget all that until I suggest making them again and my husband reminds me of the experience! I think he was traumatised. Luckily they tasted good!

Louis’s 30^th birthday cake

This was another super fun one, and so yummy. Baileys and malterser cheesecake with a white mudcake cactus shape in the middle, with meringue mushrooms on top.

Another huge challenge, lots of techniques I’d never used before. I don’t quite remember all the things that went wrong with this one, but I know there were a few. I do remember it tasting amazing though!

Helen’s 30^th birthday “Fruit” Cake

Again, not technically baking, but I loved this creation. I organised a surprise birthday on the Kookaburra Queen (a paddle boat in Brisbane) for my sisters 30^th birthday, what a mistake! She doesn’t do well with surprises and not being in control it turns out 😉 Despite that, this cake fit the brief for everyones various dietary requirements, and was a hit on a very hot, humid, sticky day!

Raw Paleo Cheesecake

I don’t remember too much about this one to be honest. It was definitely my first attempt at this style of cake, and I haven’t made a great deal since. It’s a very rich cake, made with dates, cashews and maple syrup maybe. I remember being surprised at how much it cost to make compared to a regular flour, sugar and egg style cake! They are a great option for making a whole food cake/dessert and for people with dietary requirements.

Christmas Pavlova

The only pavlova picture I could find, going all the way back to Xmas 2012! I don’t remember much about making this, but I’ve made a few over the years. Mostly dad’s birthdays and Father’s Day, but also the odd Christmas. Not always traditional, I don’t think I’ve ever made one with cream on top. We tend to use a crème fraiche or really creamy flavoured Greek yogurt instead, and seasonal fruit – yum. This one was a little extra special, I think it was tiered with a white chocolate ganache with extra meringues on top.

The Train Cake

This one is rustic and home made looking for sure, but one I was so proud of. People would recognise it from the cover of The Australian Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book. My sister and I grew up with that book, and would pour over the pages for weeks before our birthdays trying to decide which cake we wanted, changing our mind a thousand times. My mum has made nearly all of them over the years I think, but it was my 3rd birthday she made the infamous train cake. The story I remember being told is that most of the cake was eaten by the dog in to end! I had always wanted to have a go at it myself. I made this for my mum’s birthday (also my birthday) in 2012. I can’t remember who ended up eating all of this one!

Nailed it 😉

While looking back through my photos to find these cakes, I found this beauty and had to include it. Not all of my baking outcomes have been a success! This one in particular was so bad, it was just too funny. I think it was meant to be a frangipani tart with rhubarb something on top, maybe seen on one of the cooking competition tv shows. Anyway, needless to say, it didn’t quite hit the mark!