Baking with Gab

Worms in mud cupcakes and more Halloween ideas

Last year for Halloween I made spooky cupcakes. There were ghosts, spider webs, grave yards, brains and mummies. I couldn’t find any photos of them, except for this one on Instagram. I’m an Instagram tragic, I know.

I really enjoyed making the tombs look like they were in dirt…mainly because I adore chocolate sprinkles. So I used them again! This time I created worms in mud cupcakes – they’re about as gross as I want to make my food look. They’re still pretty cutesy, but more importantly, they taste delicious!! Continue reading “Worms in mud cupcakes and more Halloween ideas”

Spooky spider cupcakes and witches

Even though I’ve never trick or treated, or had clusters of kids roaming my streets in dress-ups, I love that there are parts of the world which are neighbourly enough for this to happen! I’ve got some pretty decent neighbours, but I know that there are a few grinches on the street as well… my brothers and I used to think that one elderly woman who lived next door was a witch!!

We’re yet to see evidence to prove us wrong.

She used to hoard our tennis/bouncy/basket/cricket balls when they went over her fence – she’d line them up so that we could see them from the top of our steps, as though goading us into knocking on her front door. Then when we ran out of balls, we’d play scissors, paper, rock to determine who would knock on her door. Continue reading “Spooky spider cupcakes and witches”

Vanilla biscuits and DINOSAURS!!

The Boy loves dinosaurs. I bought these biscuit cutters for him some time last year because I thought they were hilarious. Unfortunately, it’s not often that there’s an occasion where it’s appropriate to serve people t-rex shaped biscuits. Thankfully, they’re totally Halloween appropriate!!

I started my Halloween blogging yesterday (check out the angry owl cupcakes!) and I’m pretty excited about sharing my cute/scary creations!

I kept these biscuits quite thin because I figure that kids (and adults!) are going to be eating enough sweets around Halloween, and you don’t want them to overdo it on the sugar! You can roll this mixture out to whatever thickness you want, it holds its shape well. If you don’t have dinosaur biscuit cutters, use whatever shapes you have. Make spooky ginger bread men, or use a tumbler to cut out circles and decorate them like eyeballs. Continue reading “Vanilla biscuits and DINOSAURS!!”

Angry owl cupcakes and Australian Halloween

Australians don’t really embrace Halloween. I grew up thinking that it was a really “American” thing to do. I’m not making a comment on the origins of Halloween, or its potential pagan roots; I mean the commercialised, gore-loving, pumpkin-carving Halloween that is marketed to us every year.

As much as I think it’s a pretty weird occasion to celebrate, I do love an excuse to decorate cupcakes! I realised, however, that I’m no good at genuinely gruesome or scary things…my Halloween cupcakes are like a cutesy kind of gross. Like Frankenstein and the Powerpuff girls collaborated.

Or something like that. Continue reading “Angry owl cupcakes and Australian Halloween”

Earl grey poached pear muffins and thriftiness

These lovely little muffins are gorgeous and packed with floral notes. They’re the perfect afternoon pick-me-up because they’re full of pears and they’ve not got too much butter or sugar in them; the sweetness in the mixture mainly comes from the vanilla bean and the earl grey tea. They’re also great because there is no wastage! You make use of the poaching liquid and the pear peel, so they’re super thrifty! Thriftiness is in at the moment, thank you Macklemore!

I bought my tea from a fabulous little tea supplier I stumbled upon at the Marricvkville organic markets, but you can use whatever type you want. The Ttotaler tea that I used is particularly special because it’s bursting with rose petals, which give the mixture a beautiful fragrance and a pop of colour as well. Continue reading “Earl grey poached pear muffins and thriftiness”

Perfect icing and more unbirthdays!

If you read the last post, all about the unbirthday party I threw, you would have seen the cake that I posted. I’ve put up the recipe for the the cake before (here), but I haven’t posted the Swiss meringue buttercream recipe for some reason. This buttercream is gorgeously silky in texture and makes your cake look super professional.

This recipe makes enough to generously cover a sandwich cake – it will fill the gap in between the two layers and then cover the cake entirely. Continue reading “Perfect icing and more unbirthdays!”

Lime and raspberry cupcakes and unbirthdays

I know too many people who were born in the last three months of the year, October is particularly packed. Lots of people, including the Boy, must be celebrated in such proximity to one another that I decided to throw another unbirthday party. It’s not that I dislike birthdays (quite the opposite, actually), it’s just there are not enough days to celebrate people properly!

The last unbirthday party I threw was mainly for one person, whereas this one was aimed at three people. It is worth noting that anyone can claim an unbirthday – as long as their birthday doesn’t fall on the say that it is celebrated!

I feel as though I’m becoming a bit of an unbirthday expert…

Norman, meanwhile, is an expert unbirthday crasher. He’s got his puppy dog eyes look sorted!
Continue reading “Lime and raspberry cupcakes and unbirthdays”

Birthday recap and jam ramblings

I spoke about preparing for the Boy’s birthday last post. The melting moments were sent off to his work (and Instagrammed by me, obviously) and thoroughly enjoyed by his work mates. I was informed that the vanilla melting moments were better than the chocolate – the chocolate ones are too cakey, you need a glass of milk to accompany them. Duly noted!

This post is just a catch up of his birthday – which means no recipe, sorry friends! The boy requested salad and a sponge cake for his birthday meal and I’m fine with doing salads, it’s the sponge that irritates me. I can whip up multi-layered cakes without too much fuss, but sponges leave me stumped for some reason. Continue reading “Birthday recap and jam ramblings”

Chocolate melting moments and birthdays

It’s the Boy’s birthday tomorrow. Every year I labour over what to buy him – whether he will like this gadget, or approve of that shirt. This year, I’ve gone for something different. He has far too many gadgets and says he doesn’t need any more shirts, so I’ve gone for something completely, outrageously odd. If I had to title it, I would call it “for the man who has everything.” I love it, so I hope he does too. Keep an eye on the blog, I may post pictures of it if he approves!

Being unemployed and slightly short of money, the majority of my present is going to come to him in the form of food. He wants a big salad for dinner and a sponge cake for his birthday cake.

I don’t love making sponge cakes, I find them temperamental and disobedient…he says he doesn’t mind if I don’t make a sponge though, he knows how much I enjoy making deliciously dense chocolate cakes! Continue reading “Chocolate melting moments and birthdays”

Speculoos biscuits and travel adventures

In February of this year I was in Belgium. It sounds so far away from where I am at this moment that it’s quite hard to comprehend. Like a lame tourist, I indulged in waffles and ‘frites’ because I believed that was what I was supposed to do. I bought loads of chocolate (some amazing, some disappointing) and generally ignored the fact that my cholesterol was probably going through the roof! But speculoos was a shining beacon of delicious individuality amidst all the tourist trappings. Continue reading “Speculoos biscuits and travel adventures”