Chocolate Star Puffs

I've been paging through some foodie mags recently to find some new recipies....this one comes from the Pick n Pay mag....which I love...for those who don't know, it is called Fresh Living.  Every so often they include a little supplement called Fresh Ideas and these little puffs were inspired by the November 2010 edition.

It's something for all you chocaholics out there....chocolate and macadamia nut puffs with a little bit of cinnamon sugar sprinkle on top.  If you serve them warm, the chocolate just melts in your mouth....delicious! :) 

Quick and easy to make - especially if you cheat and but ready-made pastry* these tasty treats can be ready in less than 30 mins!  So for all you Mum's out there....there are real must if you have kinds parties coming up.

* To be honest, I am not advocating it - coz there is nothing quite like homemade puff - but I know peeps are busy, and sometimes ready-made is a necessary...pastry chef maybe, but human also! :)

Olive and Parmesan Bread Sticks

My first love after cupcakes is definitely cheese, and this week I have been craving savory and cheesy like nobody's business!  Yesterday I decided to put a stop to the craving and I made these olive and Parmesan bread sticks....mmmmm yummy!  I saw the recipe in the Fair Lady magazine - super quick and easy, they are definitely worth keeping in mind for snacks before a dinner party!  This recipe is going down in the official recipe book....thanks Fair Lady Food section! :) 

Bottled Biscuit Love

One of the worst things about moving towns is that when you have a friend who is having a bad day, there is nothing that you can do about it...because they aren't in your town anymore!  Fortunately for me, I'm heading to Cape Town this weekend and I'm taking these biscuits with me...a little bit of home baked goodness for a friend with a sore heart...little bits of my heart to fill the bits of hers that are hurting.  

Chin up my girl - things will get better eventually, and if you aren't feeling better by Friday, at least I will be there for a hug.

Lots of love

xx

Apple, Cinnamon and Almond Muffins

This week I got the happy news that My Favourite Cupcake is now officially going to have a stall at the Essenwood Market on Saturday mornings (starting on the first Sat in Feb...not to worry though...I will be sure to remind you!)

In excited anticipating of this, I have been experimenting this week with some new recipes for cupcakes and muffins.  During the experiments I came up with this little pearler...so I thought I would share.  They are apple, almond and cinnamon muffins.  A little bit of apple sweetness mixed with a little bit of spciey cinnamon and almonds to top it off....they were really delish - even if I say so myself!

It's Business Time

Exciting news....I got the proofs for my business cards this week...it's is really handy having awesome logo designer mates (thank you Jarrie) and a Dad in the printing industry!  Ok, but enough about that though....it's business time and I would like to hear what you have to say about the three options.  Let me know what you think...do you like the design and the colour etc, and which one of the three do you like best...I would really appreciate the feedback!

Option One:

Option Two:

 

Option Three:

 

As a complete aside - when I said "it's business time", it made me of a Flight of the Conchords....you know the one with the "business socks".  Ha ha.  Makes me laugh, so for those of you who have never seen it, do yourself a favour and click here

Love is in the air...wedding cakes to follow soon!

There is something in the air at the moment, but it seems that every second person is getting engaged....my sister and my best friend are both getting married in the next 6 months!  Hectic!  Never in my life have I spent so much time talking about dresses and seating plans, considering flowers and menus....it's awesome!  For those who find themselves in a similar position, you need to direct your attention to Green Wedding Shoes and The Pretty Blog...amazing stuff on there if you are looking for ideas.

The best thing about all this wedding talk, is that where there are engagements, there are weddings, and where there are weddings....there is wedding cake! :) I figured that if I am gonna start making more wedding cakes, I better get some practice in...so that is what this cake was, just a practice round before I make the cakes for all of you engaged types who are itching to get MFC to hook you up with a gorgeous wedding cake on your special day! 

Rocky Road Cupcakes

Meg and I had some people over for dinner last night, so that seemed like a good enough excuse to try out a new recipe....dum, dum, dum....I give you my Rocky Road cupcakes.  Basically they are chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow, nuts and chocolate bits in them - a total must for those who like nuts!

I heart Le Creuset!

The bonus about having the best friends in the world (see below post), and being into all things foodie, is that when Christmas comes around, I am always spoiled with lots of AWESOME goodies!  This Christmas my friends played out of their boots and gave me these awesome little Le Creuset heart shaped ramekin dishes - complete with little lids!

Now anybody who loves fusing in the kitchen will know how awesome all the Le Creuset products are, so you can imagine how stoked I was to have a whole set of these little ramekins....so RAD...thank you girls!

xx

Thank yous aside for a minute, the other night my sister and I had my parents over for dinner and it gave me the perfect excuse to use my new dishes...I used the recipe that came with my new favourite kitchen accessories and made Berry Creams.  What is really great though, is if you go onto the Le Creuset website, you can find a whole lots of really good recipes for all sorts of things....if you are keen to check it out...click here.

All-Star Cupcakes

My Dad bought me these star-shaped cupcake pans a little while ago, so I thought it was about time that I gave them a try...I made blueberry cupcakes and dusted them with icing sugar.  Along with the pans came this awesome little star stencil - so that you can make shapes on the top of the cupcakes once they are baked - how cool!

Thanks Farms for the prezzie

xx

White Icing Hearts

While I was home during the holidays I decided it would be a good idea to go for tea with my Gran, so baked these heart shaped cakes to take with me.  They are just plain vanilla cupcakes baked in heart shapes and then lightly dusted with icing sugar and finished off white a white satin ribbon.

My Gan loved them, but couldn't understand why on earth I had "wrapped the cake with ribbon" - note to self, when baking for Granny, never wrap cupcakes with ribbon! :)

Mixed Berry Tarts

This year I spent Christmas in the Karkloof at my uncle and aunt's place in Mbona - a nature reserve just outside of Howick.  We got to some fishing, some walking, some watching movies with my twin cousins and a lot of eating and drinking....it was totally my kind of weekend away!  It is such a chilled setting - the buck and zebra come right up to the house - you can see from the pic above - beautiful.  

We had the most delicious Christmas lunch, and my contribution was the dessert (of course), and I made white chocolate custard tarts with a mixed berry topping...nice and lite after a big Christmas lunch!

(Just a side note to all you foodies - how awesome is summer - so many berried to choose from!)

I love Cape Town Cupcakes

I thought that my last weekend in Cape Town deserved something special - a little something to celebrate the good times in a great town with awesome mates - so in typical Niki style I organised a little themed dinner party...Le Dolce Vita - The Good Life .

Dinner was outside on the balcony at our old faithful, Rick's Cafe.  Everybody came in black and white, and upon arrival all the girls donned some pearls and red lipstick and the guys put on some very tasteful taches.  Good food, good friends, the perfect Cape Town summers evening....what a flipping great time!  

Thanks to all my bests that came and shared the good time - I'm gonna miss you moles madly next year!

xx

With love from Germany

Thanks to Lee who brought these biscuits back from Germany for me...so awesome to get baked goodness from other countries :)

x

New year...new area code...Miss Cupcake has moved to Durban

Apologies to those of you who have returned to see what I have been up to these past three months...I have been really bad about keeping my blog up-to-date, and even worse at responding to your emails and comments, so thanks for the patience!

Truth be told, I have moved from Cape Town to Durban and with the move came quite a lot of admin and box carrying!  That coupled with the festive season and all the goodness that the new year has brought, I have been distracted to say the least!

After an update session this morning, I am now back on track - I have updated Facebook and the blog with some of the baking that I have been up to recently and there will be more to follow as the year goes on...and I promise to be more regular!  I hope you all had a fantastic break over the holidays and as always, I look forward to hearing from you :)

Niki
xx

* image from  We Heart It

Last Day of School Cupcakes

Your teacher is some kind of awesome if she rocks up with cupcakes for the last day of school!  Some lucky grade fives got these yummy cupcakes from Miss O on their last day in grade five at RGJS...spoiled girls!