A cupcake Affair to Celebrate a Ruby Anniversary

A friend of mine asked me to make 70 mini cupcakes to celebrate her parents reaching a marriage achievement the Ruby 40th Anniversary. Granted the weather was awful in Melbourne, torrential non-stop rain. In fact it was extremely humid and working with fondant was not pleasant, two attempts later I managed to achieve dry heart and flower decorations, just in time for the deliver. The weather didn't seem to dampen the spirits when I arrived and made the delivery.

The cupcakes are vanilla buttercream on a vanilla sponge, the perfect bite size for dessert.

Macaroon Adventures: Part 1

Hot Pink Macaroons with chocolate ganache with a piccolo coffee

So I finally got around to testing out whether my baking skills were as good as what I thought. Granted it was on the most temperamental cookie known and loved to bakers the Macaroon. The word itself can create fear on even the best bakers, but as I have learned when you have zero expectation you may surprise yourself. I read about 5 different recipes weeks prior to make sure I had the right ingredients, process and method.

There were some critical elements that you need to get right, for instance ageing the egg whites, letting the macaroons rest and changing the settings and heat on your oven just before you put them in.

Beating the egg whites

Mixing the dry ingredients

Yes they are tricky, I stood over these little babies the entire time hoping that they would grow little feet and resemble to some degree what a macaroon looked like.
Mine turned out a little peaked, but next time I am sure they will will look a little more perfect

resting the macaroons and listening to some tunes...thats how I like my baking

The end results...two hot pink macaroon with chocolate ganache