Black and White Chocolate Cupcakes

My parents have been married for 30 years today....that is longer than I have been alive!  I think it is amazing....how many people can say that these days - it is a true inspiration!

We went away as a family this last weekend to a game farm near Phinda....such a beautiful weekend away in the bush with our family....it was awesome! :) I made these chocolate cupcakes to celebrate their anniversary, and we made a special family dinner - loved it!

Happy anniversary Mum and Dad - I love you guys
xx

Happy Birthday to my Mum

Happy Birthday Beazle! 
I hope you have the a wonderful day today....looking forward to dinner in PMB tonight!  Love you lots Mum
xx

Put a Smile on your Dial

Halsie and her favourite smiley cupcake

Sometimes cupcakes just because are good enough...

I haven't really been around much over last month or so....been traveling a lot for work....so I came home the other day and made these Smiley Face Cupcakes for Halsie and her Mum...just for fun.  Then, the next day I went for dinner with my friends Lee Lee and Scotted Dogg, and so I made another batch and took a box full of smiles through to them....happy faces all round! :)

Sharks Cupcakes

We are black, we are white, we are, we are....dynamite!

My Mum made these RAD little Sharks cupcakes for a friend of hers' birthday today....HOW COOL ARE THEY!  Clearly I get my baking skills (and creativity) from her...it appears I also get my Sharks fever from her as well!  Love the cupcakes Beazle - they are your best ones yet!

We may have lost last weekend, but watch this space...we will be back on top of the log soon enough!  And when we are, please feel free to place your orders for cupcakes just like these ones...to be shared with non-Shark fans specifically - just to give them a taste of victory! :)

Basic Vanilla Sponge

There is something about a simple vanilla sponge cake that just goes so well with an afternoon cup of tea!  I baked this cake on the weekend, I was home for a visit, so I thought it would be nice to spoil the family with some sweet treats....Mum and Gran were stoked!

Fluffy and light with just the right amount of sweetness in the icing...delish!  Personally I think the best part was the piping design with the glitter and little pearl details...but that's just me :)

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!)

Baking is in the genes!

The five little faces that you can see in the pic above made this cake....how cute!  It was also for my Gran's 80th, and the little faces are all cousins of mine....much younger cousins, but cousins all the same.  I thought their efforts deserved some praise so now this pic is on my blog.

Well done guys...definitely the best chocolate cake I've ever had! :)

Granny's 80th

My Granny turned 80 last week, so the whole family (except my aunt and uncle in England) went to Salt Rock for the weekend to celebrate.  We had a fantastic lunch on Saturday with awesome food and lots of wine...and cupcakes for dessert  

Happy Birthday Granny - 80 years old and still going strong - I'm so glad I have your genes! :)

xx

Pink berrry delights

My Mum's birthday was on the 21st of October, and unfortunately Meg and I couldn't be around to celebrate with her on the day, so we had a birthday lunch the weekend before.  Coupled with the birthday lunch, we also celebrated Bryan and Lauren (our cousins) completing the Amashova....fresh strawberry cupcakes were definitely the order of the day! :)