Christmas Bauble Cookies

December 18, 2014 in christmas, cookies

At this time of year I'm always looking for Christmas themed snacks to take to class parties and other Christmas events. This year I've make Christmas Bauble Cookies, iced them with bright colours and added decorations using a mixture of gel icing and cachous balls. The children all loved these Christmas Bauble Cookies.

Add Christmas Bauble Cookies to your Christmas recipe box.

Enjoy

Recipe: Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

250g butter, at room temprature
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted

Method

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. I use an electric mixer for these cookies with a paddle attachment.
Add the egg and continue beating.
Add the Vanilla, salt and about 1/2 a cup of flour at a time and mix until a ball of dough has formed.
Pat the dough into a disc shape, cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for approx 1 hour.
Preheat over to 180c and line two baking trays with baking paper
On a floured surface, roll about a 1/4 of the dough at a time into a circle about 5 ml thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut into the desired shape.
Place on the baking paper and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until the edges are slightly brown.
Transfer to a wire rack to completely cool before icing.

Recipe: Royal icing

Ingredients

500g pure icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup water
food colouring

Method

Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl with a half of the water.
Continue to add water until the icing is well combined but not too runny.
Divide the icing into smaller bowls and add food colour a drop at a time until you reach your desired colour
Ice and decorate your cookies
Enjoy

Cherry Slice

November 30, 2014 in slices

Now that Cherries are back in season it's time to make Cherry Slice. Cherry slice is another fabulously simple slice, that is really quite delicious and while the slice does not use fresh cherries, fresh cherries are great served with this slice.

Another good, quick recipe to keep in the recipe file.

enjoy.

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 packet morning coffee biscuits
100 g chopped glace cherries
3 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 can (395g) condensed milk
125 g copha
pink food colouring
200 g cooking chocolate

Method

Line the base and sides of a 20 cm x 30 cm slice pan.
Arrange the biscuits over the base of the pan
Combine the condensed milk, vanilla essence, melted copha in a large bowl and mix well.
Add the coconut and cherries and continue to mix.
Add a small amount of pink food colour and mix, adding more food colour until you reach the desired colour.
Place the mixture over the biscuit base and press to cover evenly
Melt the chocolate and pour over the top of the slice.
Stand for one hour until set, in warmer weather place in the refrigerator.
Cut into small square and serve.
Enjoy.

Coconut Ice

November 15, 2014 in Treats for Children

As Christmas approach's I always think about making another batch of coconut ice, this may be because the weather heats up at this time of year and Coconut ice can be served chilled on a hot day, or it is the smell of coconut reminds me of many summer days covered in reef oil in a beach Either way a great simple slice to have in the recipe draw.

Enjoy

Recipe:

Ingredients

Cooking oil spray or Bakels spray
2 cups pure icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tatar
395g can condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 cups desiccated coconut
pink food colouring

Method

Spray a 20cm square tin with cooking oil or Bakels spray.
Shift the icing sugar with the cream of tatar into a large bowl.
Add condensed milk and vanilla essence and mix until well combined.
Add the coconut and mix well.
Divide into two equal amounts. Add a small amount of pink food colour to half the mixture and mix well, adding more pink food colour if desired.
Press the pink mixture evenly over the base of the tin and top with the white mixture.
Place in the fridge to set, approxamilty 2 hours.
Cut into small square and serve
Enjoy.

Sponge Cake with fresh cream and Berries

November 05, 2014 in Sweets / Desserts

This sponge cake recipe belonged to my Grandmother, it must be well over 60 years old and was the standard birthday cake for me as a child. Sponge cakes are easy to prepare and when covered with fresh cream and fresh berries they make a very attractive cake for any occasion.

This recipe is so old, it asks you to shift the flour not once, not twice but three times, it has to be a classic sponge cake recipe.

Enjoy

Recipe:

Ingredients

8 eggs separated
pinch of salt
1 cup caster sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons hot water
2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300 ml thickened cream, whipped (add sugar if required)
Strawberry Jam
Strawberries and blueberries
icing sugar to dust

Method

Peheat the oven to 180 C or 160 C fan forced.
Grease and flour two 18 cm sponge baking pans.
Separate the eggs and reserve the yolks.
Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form.
gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is thick and glossy.
beat in the egg yolks one at a time.
sift the flour and baking powder together 3 times.
heat water and butter together until butter has melted (I use the microwave for this)
fold the flour into the batter and then quickly add the butter mixture, add the vanilla.
divide the mixture between the two pans and bake for 20 - 25 minutes
when baked, leave in the pan for 2 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
when cold, spread jam and cream on one cake and place the other on top.
dress with fresh fruit and dust with icing sugar.
Enjoy.

Halloween Cauldron Cake Pops Stand Tutorial

October 14, 2014 in halloween, Tutorial

This tutorial is not so much about how to make Halloween Cake Pops, but on how to display Halloween Cake Pops using individual cauldrons. These look great and make a great display when grouped together on a Halloween dessert table.

Enjoy.

Materials Required:

Small Cauldrons
sytrofoam balls of equal size to the cauldron (1 ball covers two cauldrons)
Black and River pebbles
Nerds

**Materials to create a Cauldron cake pop stand**

Step 1

Cut the Styrofoam ball in half and place in the cauldron with the rounded side up.

Step 2

Insert the already made cake Pop, I find it easier to pierce a hole in the styrofoam using a metal skewer.

Step 3

Place both black rocks and river rocks over the Styrofoam, check that the Cake Pop sits without toppling over

Step 4

Place a small amount of nerds among the rocks to add colour

Step 5

Position in a bunch, I added mini bunting to the cake pops for added impact.

For this Party I did make three types of Cake pops. The first was an eyeball made with a blue or green candy melt, red gel for veins and black Gel for the pupil.

The Pumpkin Cake Pop was made with orange candy melts, and an orange gel pen to create lines and green icing Pen for the pumpkin leaves

My favourite Cake Pop this year has to be the cauldron, these were made my allowing the cake pop to rest upside down to form a flat top, I then used a brown gel pen and green nerds for the cauldron contents and a combination of red and orange gel pens for the flames.

Halloween Graveyard Tutorial

October 09, 2014 in Halloween, Tutorial

This Halloween we created a tabletop Graveyard for our Party, this was a great party and the graveyard was a huge success. To complement the party I've created a tutorial with lots of ideas so you can create your own graveyard at home. This graveyard looked great in candlelight, select the link to see this Halloween Graveyard party in action.

Materials Required:

Shallow cardboard box as a base, or art carvas
Back and white paint and brush
Duble sided tape
White and coloured stones (I used black green and purple)
Blu Tack
Skeletons (glitter and plain)
Halloween jewellery with bones and skulls
Small skulls
Halloween kits with fences, tombstones and monuments
Grim Reaper
Battery operated tea lights

This is not difficult to make but does take a few hours to complete.

Enjoy

Materials

I've included photo's of the materials used to construct the graveyard. I found the tombstone kits at on-line party shops and the jewellery and skeletons at discount stores and supermarkets.

**Coloured rocks - Halloween Graveyard Tutorial**

**Halloween Jewellery - Halloween Graveyard tutorial**

**Graveyard Monuments both Large and Small**

**Glitter Skeletons - Halloween Graveyard Tutorial**

Step 1

Paint a path and circle for the monument in white paint (Make sure you check the size of the monument and pencil the shape). Use black paint to cover the remainer of the box, including the sides.

Step 2

Using double sided tape, attach the fence the the edge of the box

Step 3

Cover the path with small white stones, use a colour stone to create an edge to the path

**Step Three - halloween Graveyard Tutorial**

Step 4

Place the monument in the circle and surround with skulls. Continue with the white and colour stones used on the path. I placed battery operated tea lights inside the monument which looked great at night.

Step 5

Mark out the graves and secure the Tombstones to the board using Blu Tack. Use White stones with a colour border to mark the graves.

Step 6

Place the skeletons on the graves using different poses. I used a combination of standing, sitting and crawling.

Step 7

Stand some Skeletons up at the front fence, rear and side fences. Use Blu Tack to secure if required.

Step 8

I created two monuments either side of the path which I attached with Blu Tack. I used a combination of rocks, skulls and bones at the base of the monument. I also found a small Grim Reaper that I placed on the path.

Step 9

I used more skulls to define the graveyard gate and placed another skeleton on the path trying to escape.

Step 10

The final touches. When the day arrives for you to move your Halloween Graveyard into place I added more skeletons and spiders on the table just outside the gate and added cobwebs to the fence.

This looked great with tall vintage candles either side of the graveyard with cobwebs linking them together.

**Step 10 - Halloween Graveyard Tutorial**

Halloween Liquified Ghost Cocktail

October 08, 2014 in drinks, halloween

Halloween Cocktails - Yum. This year I've made a liquified Ghost Cocktail. They are quite delicious and perfect for Halloween.

enjoy

Recipe (recipe is for one cocktail)

Ingredients

30 ml Vodka
30 ml Lemonade or you could use soda water
30 ml Cream
30 ml Simple Vanilla Syrup (see notes)

Method

Mix all ingredients together and serve.

Note: To make Simple Vanilla Syrup mix one cup of caster sugar with one cup of water. slowly bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Allow to cool and add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence. This will store well in the fridge for a few days.

Halloween Dessert Table

October 06, 2014 in halloween, Halloween

Halloween is always a great time of the year, this year our Halloween Dessert table had some wonderful Halloween ideas including Cauldron, Pumpkin and Eyeball cake pops, some wonderful Witch Hats and Bat cookies, pumpkin cup cakes and small jelly shots.

We decorated the table using a wonderful haunted house and some simple purple lanterns. The printables used for the Halloween Dessert table were created by Chic Party Ideas and will soon be available in our shop.

Enjoy

To decorate the table I started with black crushed velvet and used a wonderful haunted house that I found as Cosco. I added purple lanterns and some spooky old style picture whose faces changed from sweet to scary.

I created a lot of cake pops using Cauldrons, pumpkins and eyeballs. I places these in individual cauldrons for display, this looked really effective and I will soon post a tutorial on how to make the cauldron stands.

I used small skulls for jelly shots (child friendly) and placed a couple of sour snakes in each. Topped with a Jellified grave worm topper they added bursts of colour to the table.

Halloween cookies are a must for a Halloween Dessert table. I made simple Witch Hat and Bat Cookies, with a simple decoration that was easy to make.

You have to have Cup Cakes on a dessert table, I made simple vanilla cup dates and decorated with orange fondant icing and using a pumpkin template to chatter black sprinkles.

Our printable package includes mini bunting, great for straws

**Halloween mini bunting are great for decorating straws**

I served the Cake Pops in mini cauldrons and included halloween mini bunting around the cake pop stick

The must have halloween Jack O Lantern, this is always my husbands task at Halloween and I'm sure this is sponge bob.

My witch's and ghost stood guard of the dessert table and that concludes another halloween Party.

Halloween Indoor Graveyard

October 03, 2014 in halloween

As evening descends and you light the pumpkin you know Halloween eve has commenced.

This year we created an eerie Halloween Indoor Graveyard with skeletons raising from the grave to scare our trick and treaters. If you have a spare corner of the room this halloween, why not transform it into your own Halloween Indoor Graveyard.

Enjoy

**Halloween Indoor Graveyard with Bride and Groom Skeletons**

The bride and Groom were hanging props, I managed to sit them up by placing a 1.25 litre bottle under their clothes, the bottle was well hidden but it allowed the props to sit. The ground and back drop were created using a lot of black crushed velvet.

I included a number of dark red flowers (artificial) both at the entry to the graveyard and around the bride and groom.

While many of the tombstones had inbuilt lighting, I did place battery operated tea candles behind many of the tombstones to provide an eerie feeling.

**Halloween Indoor Graveyard with Bride and Groom**

A collection a small skulls were used to define the graveyard entrance.

Battery tea candles were placed at the bottom of the coffin to provide a low level of lighting.

The graveyard was filled with snakes, rats and mice and a couple of ravens looked on from high places.

I used shallow box's under the crushed velvet to define graves and simple gold chain to create a barrier to the graveyard.

A couple of extra large spiders stood guard just outside the fence and I placed skulls on tall planter poles to create some height.

Tips and Hints

Attach crushed vevlet to curtains using pegs.
Use battery tea candles to create eerie lighting
Place shallow box's under the crushed velvet to define the graves
Use 1.25 litre bottles (full) to make hanging props sit.
Embellish with spider web, spiders, rats, mice and Ravens

Halloween Graveyard Party

October 02, 2014 in Halloween, Adult's Parties

Who said Halloween is just for the children? This Halloween Graveyard was definitely created with the adults in mind. It was a dark and eerie scene, perfect for a late evening post trick and treating party.

For this party I transformed my Dining table into a miniature graveyard including well defined graves and tombstones, skeletons raising from the graves and lots of bones. As it was later in the evening it was a Champagne and Cheese affair served on crystal dishes which had been embellished with bones and skulls. I've created a tutorial for the graveyard which will be posted shortly.

I'm also offering the Halloween Printables used in this Party as a free download. I'd love to see how you have used them for your Halloween Party.

If you want to create something a bit different this Halloween, the Graveyard worked wonderfully.

Enjoy.

Halloween Graveyard - Adults Party — **Halloween** **Graveyard - Adults Party**

The actual graveyard was just over half the length and width of the table, allowing space for Champagne glasses and serving plates. I used black crushed Velvet as a table cloth and a pair of tall vintage candle sticks gave height to the table.

I used cobwebs to join the candlesticks and both candlesticks had a combination of spiders and skeletons crawling to the top.

I positioned some skeletons outside the Graveyard with some spiders who were all trying to escape.

Given the table was quite dark, I used a number of glitter spiders which added some colour and sparkle

**Halloween Candle with glitter Spider**

While this party was wonderful in candlelight, it was very hard to capture the detail in photography, so at this point the lights are turned on to show some detail.

At the front of the graveyard I had skeletons standing up on the graves and positioned to jump the fence.

Halloween Graveyard  - The skeleton's have raised from the grave — **Halloween Graveyard - The skeleton's have raised from the grave**

The graves and pathways were created using different coloured small stones.

**Halloween Graveyard - Glitter Skelletons**

I loved the concept of the skeletons escaping the graveyard and the spiders leaving with them.

**Halloween Graveyard - The Skeletons are escaping**

It appears that some our our skeletons decided to stay for some adult fun rather than leave the graveyard. I used a number of different skeleton poses to add interest to the table.

**Halloween Graveyard Table - Naughty Skeletons**

I dissected a number of skeletons and used the bones, I also used the bones from Halloween necklaces and bracelets.

**Halloween Graveyard - use dissected skeletons and small jewelry bones to decorate the graveyard**

For this party I wanted the dishs to hide in the background, so I used vintage glass and crystal bowls and decorated them with different bones and skulls, mostly from Halloween jewelerry which was dissected for the occasion. I used small amounts of Blu Tack to hold the bones in place and this worked really well.