Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Calling all Cake Lovers!

It’s been a while since my last blog post in fact nearly two months. I apologise, as many of many of you who know me understand my life can get hectic at times. I have been doing a fair bit of travel to Sydney (for my real job), which has prevented me from spending some quality time in the kitchen.

However I figured a blog post is long overdue, and so I want to share with you my adventures in the kitchen and out over the last couple of months, let kick this off.

All good courses must come to an end! -12 April 2012

I finally completed my eight-week figurine course; all in all it was a great experience. I learnt many new techniques that will help me. I wish I had more time to dedicate to educating myself, as I mentioned above work has become demanding and being away from home does mean committing to cakes can be difficult. So far my customers have been very understanding and accommodating so there hasn’t been to many dramas, and by that I mean that I have always been able to deliver a cake.

Here is a collage of all the things I learnt in my course along with my cute instructor Pam, she was great in showing us all the old-school cake decorating techniques. I cant wait to do the  mad-hatter class with her later in the year


Greek Orthodox Easter 14 April 2012


Being Greek, has its advantages and one which I absolutely enjoy is Easter, don’t get me wrong the fasting can be challenging but its worth it, both spiritually and the food you get to feast on at the end.

I hosted Easter Saturday this year at my place and it was a first having the family share in the traditional Egg-Lemon Soup (Avgolemono) and Tripe (Magiritsa) and for dessert we had a feast of Sweet Bread (Tsoureki). I have made these little gems every year since I have been married using my mother in laws recipe, and each year they don’t disappoint.

Congratulation on your Engagement Helena- 21 April 2012


A HUGE congratulations to my girlfriend and “Koumbara” Helena for getting engaged, I would put a picture up of the lovely couple to be but I think her fiancĂ© may kill me if I did that, so instead I have posted the cake that I made for them as a gift along with a beautiful Vera Wang cake server, I thought it was a fitting gift from the cake maker.

Happy Bday to me! 27 April 2012

I had the great pleasure in enjoying a beautiful dinner at Comme to celebrate the last year in my 20’s. I was more than impressed with the menu and the company was great also. Thanks to my girls for making it out, I loved catching up with them and sharing some Christian Grey stories.

Happy Bday Karlos & Soph!- 28 April 2012

A huge happy birthday to my mate and mentor Karlos and his gorgeous wife Soph. If ever there was a couple I looked up to, its these two, they seem to have it all together. Not only are they are gorgeous couple they are great parents, and friends. A 80’s birthday party didn’t make much sense to me given they were born in the 70’s, but we forgive them as it was a great party. The pictures are to embarassing to post.

 
Mia’s Christening- 5 May 2012

My gorgeous friends Vicky & George christened there beautiful daughter Mia Xenia. What a cute bubs, she was so well behaved in the church in fact didn’t hear her until the very end, but at that stage we were all getting restless. Here is a picture of the cake I made for them.  This cake will haunt me for years to come. I think I spent a good hour rolling out the fondant to get it the perfect size and given it was the week I spent four days in Sydney, I did not have a spare minute. In fact placing the polka dots minutes before racing out the door was stressful to say the least. I am very happy with how it tuned out and all the guests complimented me on the taste, which is the great.


A little uneven as I mixed up my ganache recipe and I couldn't get the cake to set...dam it! Lessoned learned DO NOT RUSH KATIE.


Unfortunately my only regret is that I didn’t take a picture with all the family, oh well we have many more events to that.

Sunday Strawberry Sponge. - 10 June 2012


Winter is now here, and Melbourne seems to be getting mighty icy in the mornings. We were thrilled to be invited for lunch (actually was dinner but I stuffed up the booking and double booked myself) with our friends Joe and Lucy.  As such being the gracious guest I made a beautiful strawberry Sponge, filled with French strawberry jam and vanilla cheese and cream filling. Yummo! The fresh strawberries really made this cake a winner.


Princess Julia…. 6 months on- 16 June 2012


Many of you may recall that boxing day 2011 my cousin Julia Passed away from breast cancer. I spent a considerable amount of time with her during my university days and was always touched with how generous the entire family was to me.  


During the time that Julia was in remission we spent every second Friday enjoying lunch “Soup” down Degraves Street and sharing stories. I recall mentioning to her a while ago how I found a lump in my breast and the only reason I had even gone to the G.P for a check up was prompted by her story. At 30 years old you don’t expect a healthy individual to be struck by cancer. Julia was really upset at me, she was outraged that I hadn’t spoken to her and that I was going through the scary process of testing, ultrasounds and biopsy without telling anyone. I was taken back, here sitting before me was someone who experienced the full-blown “C” and all I had done was a biopsy that thankfully came back clear and yet she still remained humble enought to still think of other and willing to be there for her family.
To celebrate what would have been Julia 35th  Birthday I baked a vibrant heart cake with a little piggy, which was Julia’s nickname (Porky) a family joke which stuck.


With all this talk, I want to remind you to all make sure you do your own self examinations, if you are unsure how to do please consult your G.P early detection is critical and at the end of the day we are all responsible for our own health and well being.

Thanks you all for reading, blog ya soon