Koala-Tea Cakes

This vanilla cake recipe is my favourite to use because it is sturdy (perfect for tall or sculpted cakes) but still absolutely delicious! (Also, the scraps make wonderful cake pops.) One note though: DO NOT OVERMIX the batter at any point after adding the eggs!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

4 eggs

2 ½ cups cake flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180oC and prepare pans.

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla.

In the meantime, sift together the dry ingredients.

Add the eggs into the butter mixture two at a time. Beat until just combined after each addition.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients (in 3 parts) and the milk (in two parts). i.e. Start and end with dry ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. This is about 40 minutes for two 8” round pans.

Let cool completely before icing. (Cooling racks are perfect for this.)

Have fun with this recipe; try it in different shapes and colours, try it with different fillings, and try it with fruits and flowers. And when you do, don’t forget to show me!! I’ve included some of my creations in this post so while you get ready to make your own, let me know which is your favourite.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups cake wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp ground nutmeg

340g butter (unsalted)

1 cup brown sugar

½ granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup orange juice

450g cups grated carrot (2 ¾ cups)

Optional: nuts

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare pans/tins.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (not carrots).

Use a mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla.

Add the eggs one at a time, and mix until just combined.

Add juice and carrots and beat until well combined.

Add in flour mixture in three parts, mixing between each addition.

If using nuts, add them now and mix. Do not overmix.

Pour batter into prepared pans/tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (approx. 30 minutes).

Sugar Cookies

Aaaah, the humble sugar cookie. You can do so much with these, and they are super simple to make. You can eat them as is, or decorate them with some royal icing– the possibilities are endless! This recipe does not require rest time, so you can make and bake straight away. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

2 ¾ cups sieved flour

1 tsp sieved baking powder

 Method:

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed.

In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder.

Add egg to butter mixture, and beat again until combined.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions. Mix between each addition.

Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness.

Cut out shapes and place on a prepared sheet tray.

Bake at 180C until the cookies have golden brown edges.

Let cool before decorating or eating as is.

 Notes:

Makes about 20 10x10cm round cookies.

Can keep for about 2 weeks in an airtight container.

Royal Icing

I held back from making this for far too long. I honestly got scared off, believing royal icing is super hard to make. It’s not! Thing is, now I’m addicted. Not only do I love the taste of sugar cookies with royal icing, I also love how gorgeous they can look.

Quick tip: I use 15 second royal icing to flood my cookies. That means it takes approximately 15 seconds for the icing to smooth out after “interrupting” it. i.e. in a bowl, draw a line in the icing using a knife or spatula and count how long it takes to return to normal. If it’s longer than 15 seconds, it’s too thick; if it takes less than 15 seconds, it’s too thin.

Note about flavoring: I usually use 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence, but 1 teaspoon lemon extract is also common. If you would like to use a stronger flavoring, you usually wouldn’t need more than ½ a teaspoon.

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites

4 cups sifted icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence (see notes)

 Method:

Place egg whites in a clean, large bowl. Use a mixer at high speed and beat until foamy.

Gradually add the icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Beat at high speed until thickened.

Add more water (tiny amounts at a time) for a more runny consistency. Add more icing sugar for a thicker consistency.

And that’s it!

There are two basic types of chocolate; eating chocolate and baking chocolate. Eating chocolate is the one we typically find at a grocery store and eat as is. It has a high fat content so it doesn’t set as easily or as quickly as baking chocolate. To make it more “user friendly” it needs to be tempered. Baking chocolate, on the other hand, is more stable. It is often sold as baking, cooking, or compound chocolate. Because it sets a lot quicker than eating chocolate, it can be great to use in hotter climates, but if you are making decorations like a chocolate collar, you don’t have much time to attach them. All-in-all, each one of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. When it comes to cake decorating, I find what works best in most situations is a combination of the two; 2/3 baking chocolate and 1/3 eating chocolate (you can play around with this ratio to find what works best in your area.) This also makes it taste better than just using baking chocolate by itself - because let’s be honest, taste is the most important thing.

Simply add some coffee to your mix (coffee is always the answer;)). Coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate (and who wouldn’t want that?). Simply add a tablespoon of instant coffee powder to your recipe. A shot of espresso works perfectly too.

A secret to a moist and tender chocolate cake is using buttermilk (in most recipes, this can be substituted with vinegar). Using oil instead of butter also helps to give a light texture to a chocolate cake. A combination of these two ingredients helps to counteract the cocoa (cocoa can lead to dryer cakes.)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup Sugar

1 cup Oil

1 cup Water

6 Eggs

2 cups Flour

½ cup Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

6 tsp Baking Powder

 Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease pan/s.

Add all the ingredients into a large bowl (don’t forget to sieve the dry ingredients!) and mix well. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into prepared pan/s.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

 And that’s it. How easy is that?! You’re welcome;)