Chocolate Torta

I made this chocolate cake today and it was delicious, if I do say so myself. It was very moist and chocolatey. The recipe is from Willie's Chocolate Bible by Willie Harcourt-Couze and can be found here.

This is a picture of my sister Ainsley with our dog Lily dressed as a bride. What a cutie!

I haven't really got any other news. Just business as usual.

Here are some links to some yummy things I would like to make:

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart from Annie's Eats- This looks fabulous, the photography is beautiful!

Cookies N' Cream Owl Cupcakes from 6 Bittersweets- These little owl cupcakes are gorgeous!

New York-Style Soft Pretzels from the Sophisticated Gourmet- I love pretzels and would like to try and make my own one day.

Passion fruit bars from use real butter- Passion fruits are one of my favourite fruits and these bars sound delicious! I wish it was summer here!

Cinnamon Rolls from the Pioneer Woman- I got given the Pioneer Woman's cookbook for Christmas and have been wanting to make these Cinnamon rolls ever since! They look absolutely scrumptious!

I found all of these recipes apart from the Cinnamon Rolls recipe from TasteSpotting, a foodie website that lets you browse blog posts that people from all over the world have submitted. Warning: do not look at this website if you are hungry, I can guarantee you will be drooling over your keyboard!

That's all for now!

Love, Little Miss Cupcake

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I recently did work experience at a cake shop and this is one of the recipes that Charmaine, the owner of the Cake Place, uses. I got to try one of these red velvet cupcakes for the first time while I was there and I loved it. I made them the next weekend at home. It is quite possibly my new favourite cupcake flavour! By the way, if you're reading this Charmaine, I loved doing work experience! Thanks for having me :)

You will need: 125g cake flour (or plain flour), 1/4 teaspoon salt, 10g cocoa, 57g butter (at room temperature, 150g white sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon liquid red food colouring, 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

First sift flour, salt and cocoa powder into a large bowl.



Beat butter until soft with an electric mixer. Then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and beat until combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla extract.

Combine the red food colouring and the butter milk.

Wow, very red! It's a good idea to do this in a measuring jug with a spout, so you can pour it in easily.

Alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, beating on low speed. Start and end with the flour mixture.

And try not to spill the red buttermilk mixture on your bench! I did and had a little panic attack, but it came off. Combine the vinegar and baking soda in a small cup and quickly fold into the cake mixture.

Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake liners and bake in a 180 degree C preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the cream cheese icing you will need: 113 g cream cheese, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 30g icing sugar, 80ml of whipping cream.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and icing sugar and beat until combined.

Gradually add the cream and whip until the icing is thick enough to pipe. I accidentally bought light cream so it didn't get as thick as it should have but it still held its shape.

To decorate I cut the tops off some of the cooled cupcakes, piped some icing in the hole and replaced the top. I also just piped swirls and decorated them with sugar flowers.

Yum! I brought these to school for my friends and they loved them.

Recipe from Joy of Baking

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Tomorrow is Good Friday and it is traditional to eat buns with a cross on them to represent the Crucifixion. This year I decided to make my own hot cross buns, with chocolate chips instead of fruit. They are fairly easy to make but take a bit of time. They are also very yummy!

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups warm milk


• 2 tsp dried yeast


• 1/4 cup caster sugar


• 60g butter, melted


• 1 egg


• 4 1/4 cups plain 00 flour (I used baker's flour)


• 1/4 cup cocoa


• 1 tsp salt


• 3 tsp mixed spice


• 250g choc chips


• 1/3 cup cold water


• 1/2 cup apricot jam

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk in a small bowl.



Add a tablespoon of the sugar and combine. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for about 10 minutes or until frothy.

Lightly whisk the egg and add to the milk mixture in a jug.

Add the melted butter and whisk to combine.

Combine 3 and 3/4 cups of the flour with the cocoa, salt and mixed spice in a bowl.

Add the chocolate chips and stir.

Oops, almost forgot the remaining sugar! Add the sugar and stir to combine.

Make a well in the centre.

Pour in the milk mixture and use a wooden spoon to stir until just combined.

Then use your hands to bring the dough together and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10-15 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Place in a warm draught-free place for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Grease a 23cm square cake pan.

Knead dough again on a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. First cut dough in half.

Then cut each half in half.

And so on...

Roll the 16 pieces of dough into balls.

Arrange dough pieces in prepared cake pan. Leave dough to rise in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix remaining 1/2 cup of flour with water until a smooth paste forms.

Place paste into a small plastic bag and snip of the corner to pipe crosses along the buns. Mine were a bit wonky :s. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 180 degrees and bake for a further 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Heat apricot jam in a small saucepan, strain through a sieve and brush on buns. Eat the buns while they're fresh! Enjoy :)

Recipe from Taste.com.au