Author: Anna Hogbin

RECIPE || Apricot & Almond muffins

Happy Saturday my friends! How was your week? I was in a little bit of baking heaven this week as I made a wedding cake and 70 cupcakes for a dear friend whose son is getting married today. I enjoyed getting into the groove of juggling a bench full of black forest cupcakes while giving spelling tests and listening to poetry recital from the girls. Talk about multitasking! Miss Daisy chopped chocolate for my ganache, Miss Charlotte made lemon curd and I showed Miss Mary how to make caramel. We are all in this together. 

One day I’d love to open a vintage tea house with my girls. Or maybe own a cute pink cupcake van. We talk about it all the time. Miss Charlotte is determined to be in charge of the coffee, while Daisy wants to help me with the cakes. Of course we would only serve organic brewed tea in pretty china cups and use embroidered linen supper cloths on the tables. The Platters would be serenading guests in the background, with a bit of Dionne Warwick thrown in for good measure. Ahhh…it’s good to dream.  

 Meanwhile, back in the kitchen we practice our skills in between english, reading, maths and history. These dear ones will be all grown up before I know it and I am determined to finish them well. Despite popular thinking, sometimes we have to wait to achieve a dream. We can’t always have everything when we want it. I recently bought a wooden plaque which reflected my new found motto for this year perfectly.

It read:                                       Start where you are

Use what you have

Do what you can

Now those are good words I can relate to. I can’t do everything right now, but I can use what’s in my hands and do what I can. 

 What I did have in my hands this week were some organic dried apricots, apricot nectar and almond meal. I’ve been making these delicious muffins for years now and they are always a hit wherever I take them. The key here is to soak the chopped apricots in the nectar for an hour or so, or if short on time, do this step first and let them soak while you get the rest of the ingredients together. The fruit soaks up the flavour of the nectar and really packs a punch. 

These easy to bake muffins are perfect for your kids lunch boxes or an after school snack. You can whip up a batch in next to no time. They are best served warm straight out of the oven and dusted with a little icing sugar.

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Apricot & Almond Muffins

A light muffin made with almond meal and dried apricots. Perfect for the kids school lunches.

Cook Time 18 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup apricot nectar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup almond meal soak apricots in nectar for an hour or longer if possible
  • 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
  • 1 cup dried apricots, chopped soaked in apricot nectar as long as possible
  • 1 cup chopped tinned apricots, drained
  • 1/2 cup flaked coconut Reserved for top of muffins
  • 1/2 cup flaked almonds Reserved for top of muffins

Instructions

  1. Chop apricots and soak in apricot nectar (overnight or an hour, or just while you make the rest of the muffin mix)

  2. Preheat oven to 180 C 

    Spray two muffin trays with oil or use muffin papers

  3. In a medium bowl, using a hand whisk, mix together egg, oil, vanilla, sour cream and milk

  4. Add soaked apricots and nectar. Stir gently until well combined

  5. In a separate bowl, sift flour, bicarb soda, baking powder and sugar

  6. Whisk in almond meal and coconut

  7. Carefully pour wet mix into dry mixture and stir with a spatula very slowly. It is important not to over mix as this will make your muffins stodgy. Mix until just combined. 

  8. Scoop into prepared muffin trays, until a third full.

    Chop tinned apricots and gently push pieces onto the top of each muffin. Top with coconut and almond flakes.

  9. Bake for 18 minutes or until firm to touch. Leave in trays for about ten minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely.

    Dust with icing sugar to serve.

I must leave you here to get the kiddies ready for a 7 mile beach ride with their Daddy and church friends today, while I dress the wedding cake in gum leaves, white roses and gumnuts. I hope you all have a great weekend and I’m already looking forward to seeing you next week.  xx

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RECIPE || Lavender & Earl Grey Cupcakes


Good Morning friends. It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow and I have the perfect cupcakes to spoil your lovely Mum with.  A light vanilla cupcake made with lavender infused milk and French earl Grey tea. Just pour your Mum a nice hot cup of tea and serve her one of these sweeties and she will love you forever.

Oh that’s right, she already does. 

 Mums are great aren’t they? My mother loves my brother and I so much. We are her world and she would harness the moon for us if she could. Growing up with such unconditional love and support was a blessing upon my life. Her example gave me the skills to love my own dear lambs with all that I am.

I think it’s perhaps not until you have your own children that you begin to realise the depth and sacrifice of your mother’s love. I would even go so far as to add that it’s not until you have teenagers in your house that you can see the full scope of all that your mother had to put up with endured for the sake of love. 

So, a word to any teenagers reading this. Go easy on your mums. They don’t  always get it right. They don’t know as much as you. They didn’t exist before you were born and aren’t as cool as you, so ease up. They are probably really tired and just a tad worn out from meeting all of your needs for years, trying to hug you and not cooking the right meals for you. I know it’s lame, but see if you can be extra nice to your mum this weekend.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to cake.

I love using tea in cupcakes. The flavour is so delicate and homely. The only tea I drink is this organic fair trade tea I buy online called Love Tea. Once you taste their French Earl Grey loose leaf, you will never buy tea from the supermarket again. It has no equal.

To make these cupcakes you will need to buy edible lavender, readily available from health food stores. By infusing the milk with lavender overnight before simmering with tea leaves in a saucepan, the flavours combine giving a unique and delicious cupcake. If you are short on time, infusing the milk with lavender for a couple of hours may be enough. Just use an extra tablespoon of buds. Topped with whipped lemon buttercream and a crunchy vanilla meringue if you are feeling extravagant, these beauties will be sure to spread the mother love.

 

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Lavender & Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon buttercream

A delicate vanilla cupcake made with infused lavender milk and french earl grey tea leaves, these cupcakes will be sure to impress. 

Servings 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup infused milk
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1 1/2 cups castor sugar
  • 2 tblsp edible lavender buds
  • 2 tsp earl grey tea leaves

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180C

    Line two muffin trays with 18 cupcake liners

  2. Put milk in a small bowl and add lavender buds. Stir until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

  3. The next day, pour milk and lavender into a small saucepan on low heat until simmering. Add tea leaves, stir until combined , then remove from heat. Leave to infuse while you make the rest of the cupcakes. 

  4. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add oil, vanilla and sour cream. Hand whisk until well combined.

  5. Using a sieve, drain lavender and tea leaves. Discard. Keep milk. Add extra milk to ensure you have one cup. Add to wet mix and whisk.

  6. In a separate bowl, sift flour, bicarb soda, baking powder and sugar. Hand whisk to combine.

  7. Gently pour wet mix into dry ingredients and hand whisk until well combined. 

  8. Using an ice cream scoop, pour mixture into prepared cupcake liners until 2/3 full.

  9. Bake in a moderate oven for 18 minutes until slightly brown and firm to touch. Place on a wire rack to cool. Frost with lemon cream cheese buttercream.

Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream

  1. Using an electric mixer on high speed with a paddle attachment, beat together 125g butter and 125g cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste.

  2. Turn mixer onto low and add icing sugar/ powdered sugar ( I use icing mixture, as it doesn't need sifting), half a cup at a time. You will need about 3 - 4 cups. As mixture thickens, add the juice from 1 or 2 lemons, until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add grated zest of 1 lemon and mix until combined. Frost cupcakes as desired.

 Well dear mothers, I do hope you receive an extra dose of love, cake and tea this weekend. My request? A day off. I just want to sit down, stare into space and have someone else run around tending to my sweet little people all day. Oh, but first I may need to go and bake myself some cupcakes. 

xx

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A Spring tea party in Autumn

Good morning Lovelies. Isn’t it wonderful that Autumn has finally poked his chilly head up after a long and tiresome Summer (sorry, I know most of you love hot weather, but not me!) He has taken his time this year and most days are still quite warm, but I am relishing the fact that my flannie jammies and slippers are finally out of the cupboard at last.

Last Spring we welcomed a precious family into our home for afternoon tea. They live in Singapore, although they are an Australian family who are blessed with 13 children.  I wanted to spoil them so I set up a really simple tea party using some colourful flowers as my inspiration. Never overlook cheap supermarket flowers. While some of them are quite ordinary, you will often find enough pretty ones to mix and match with greenery from your own garden to make a lovely table centrepiece. The key is to get creative with your presentation and put flowers in something unique, like these gorgeous vintage thermoses or painted mason jars.

With these sunshiney flowers as my inspiration, I built the entire theme around their bright colours. Sunset orange, fresh yellow, watermelon red with a splash of green became my colour palette.

Looking through my collection of vintage aprons I selected those which matched the theme, instantly adding a retro feel to the set up.

Another easy way to add a bit of fun to your tea party is to dress up some glass bottles. I raided my scrapbooking supplies to see if I had anything that would suit the colour scheme and found bright washi tape and cute wooden flower pegs. By adding string, paper flowers and matching straws to each bottle, I brought cohesion to the theme and delight to my guests. By adding white tags to each bottle, guests wrote their name, keeping their own bottle throughout the party. A win if there are a lot of children buzzing around.

What could be easier than giving guests soda water with fresh lemon slices and mint leaves to drink. Tea parties do not need to be complicated. It is all about presentation!

For the adults, I served tea in my gorgeous Johnson Australia cups.

To keep things super simple, I only served one cake for afternoon tea. I made a generous sized carrot and pecan cake with cream cheese frosting, decorated with flaked coconut and fresh flowers.

The rich colours of this tea party ooze the essence of Autumn, but could equally be a celebration of the arrival of Spring. Whichever hemisphere you live in, with Mother’s Day approaching, perhaps you will find inspiration to gather some of your favourite things together to host a little tea party of your own. 

For more seasonal party inspo, check out my Spring Brunch or Autumn dessert table

xx

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RECIPE || Anzac Biscuits

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance on the Australian calendar. April 25th marks the anniversary of the pre dawn landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey during World War One.  Sadly, the campaign was a failure with horrendous loss of life on both sides. It was here, however, on this treacherous battlefield, where the spirit of the Aussie Digger was born. Tales of endurance, camaraderie, self sacrifice, courage, humour and mateship emerged among the soldiers, creating a strong national identity back home in our fledgling country. 

  

While there is truth to the tale that ANZAC biscuits were boxed up and sent across the seas to our young men, these oaty treats were more often made at home to sell for fundraising. They weren’t given their iconic name until the 1920’s. They are traditionally made with butter, sugar, oats and flour. Golden syrup was cleverly used as a binding agent in a time when egg supply was short. 

 A lot of Aussie kids learn to bake making Anzac biscuits alongside their mother or grandmother in the kitchen. The simple no fail, pour and mix method is super easy even for the youngest child. All you need is a wooden spoon, bowl and saucepan to melt the butter, sugar and syrup. Nothing could be easier.

 

This Anzac holiday let me encourage you to share in our proud heritage, go to an Anzac march and tell your children the story of our brave young men who gave their lives birthing the resilient Aussie spirit. Oh, and when you get home, why not make a batch of these delicious biscuits too. 

Lest We Forget.

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Anzac Biscuits

A chewy Anzac biscuit made with coconut sugar, giving it a rich nutty flavour.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 125 g butter
  • 1 cup coconut sugar You can substitute brown or castor sugar
  • 2 tablespoon golden syrup
  • 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
  • 1 cup plain flour You can substitute wholemeal spelt flour for a healthier alternative
  • 1 cup desicated coconut
  • 1 cup organic rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

  1. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt together butter, sugar and golden syrup and stir until sugar and butter dissolves and mixture starts to bubble.

  2. Add bicarb soda and stir carefully until mixture fizzes and increases in volume. Remove from heat.

  3.  Meanwhile, sift flour into a bowl. Add coconut sugar, oats, coconut and cinnamon. Whisk together until combined. 

  4. Working quickly, pour hot sugar mixture into dry mix. Stir with a wooden spoon. If the mixture is too soft, add more flour a little at a time.

  5. Using a cookie scoop, place balls of mixture onto baking tray and flatten slightly.

  6. Bake in a preheated oven on 160C for10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely  before sealing in an airtight container. 

    Makes approx 20 biscuits.

 

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Boho Baby Shower

Hello Lovely ones, how’s things? Life is looking pretty good from where I am sitting. It’s such a crazy ride at times, and today is no exception, but somehow, at the moment, I have a peace in the journey and I will hang onto it. Yes Please.

We had a bit of a city escapade for a couple of nights this week. There is an exhibition from the British Museum (sigh…number 1 on my Bucket List) on Ancient Egypt that I have been trying to get the kids to for aaages. Finally the stars and planets aligned and we got there. Oh my heart. It was incredible. Like three and a half thousand year old bread in the tomb incredible….I feel things deeply and to stand there looking at ancient tablets from before the time of Moses impacted me profoundly. These people were so intelligent, talented and skilful.  I was impressed by their attention to detail and artistry. By the painstaking ritual of respect shown to the departed in preparation for the afterlife. Amazing.

One day I will head to London and spend an entire week in the British Museum. I know it’s big, but I want to see every single thing. Ironically, history and things past fill my heart with life. As I said goodbye to the artefacts, mummies, childrens shoes and three and a half thousand year old bread, I felt I had made new friends. I shared in the tiniest part of living history and it absolutely filled my heart to full and overflowing. 

Yeah, I’m a bit of a sentimental old fool like that. 

Back to reality driving home as we were expecting nearly twenty young Christian Surfers to arrive and set up camp in our back yard for the night. Our oldest daughter is also bringing a carload up from Sydney to join them for a weekend of surfing, fun, eating, sitting by the open fire and enjoying sweet fellowship. I love having these precious young adults in our home. They are so full of life and energy and see the world as it should be seen, full of hope and opportunity. 

Speaking of hope, is there anything more gloriously hopeful than welcoming precious new life into the world? This baby shower is very close to my heart as the family are sweet friends of mine. You may even recognise my lovely model from the Easter shoot I did recently. This baby shower was for her sister. 

We kept everything minimal (new for me!)  as it was quite a small gathering. I helped out with some gluten and dairy free cupcakes and the feature cake. The family provided all the savoury food and I set up a very simple dessert table to showcase the sweets. 

The shower was held in the stunning Blackwood House AirBnB. Oh my. If you are after luxury accommodation near glorious ByronBay, then look no further. It is truly spectacular.

I kept the styling fairly minimal, with a distinct earthy focus. Wooden cake stands and handmade tree slice cake stands were used for the succulent cupcakes which I decorated in deep shades of violet and avacado green. I threw in a bit of bling with gold sequin fabric draped over the timber trestle. I love to add a touch of quirky to my tables so I used vintage salt and pepper shakers as name card holders.

One request was a photo backdrop. I loved creating this very bohemian feature piece with lace and doilies fitted into embroidery hoops, sewn together with fishing line. I cut strips of old lace curtains from the op shop and sewed them onto the edges of the doilies (just in case you were wondering how I made it!) It looked quite dramatic up against the beautiful black timber wall. While it was not a quick project to make, it now hangs proudly in our entry way here at home.

It was an honour to play a small role in celebrating the imminent arrival of this dear little one. Baby showers are definitely my favourite parties to style. Those darling  bundles of gorgeousness just take my breath away every single time. I am so thrilled for this precious new mother, who is about to embark on the greatest adventure of her life.

Welcome to the world darling Husky. You are perfection. 

XX

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Birthday Bemusings

Happy Saturday my friends! The weekend is here at last. As I sit and type this I am actually watching the sun gloriously peek his head over the horizon to say hello. It is promising to be another fine weekend. 

It was our daughter’s birthday this week. Our baby turned 6, and while I am constantly informing her she is a big girl now (usually when she is having her more unravelled toddleresque moments), I am secretly relishing the fact that I still have a child young enough who plays with dolls, dances in the kitchen, has all her baby teeth, and tells me how pretty my face is. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen my post about Miss Kitty’s birthday. As often happens in Motherland, her birthday festivities were thwarted by the inconvenience of Mama Bear coming down with an inconsiderate flu. I was so sick I simply could not get out of bed. Awesome timing. This may not be a big deal for some (and yes, I relished the forced rest and even managed to read all of Ross Poldark. Score)

…but birthdays are really important to me. I have a strong need to create festive celebrations (duh..really!?), shower love, gifts, balloons and cake on the birthday recipient, making them feel like the most important person in the world. So to be sick in bed while my wide eyed little lamb eagerly expected creative attention, was quite distressing. Talk about pressure.

There was only one thing to be done. I rallied big sisters to my bedside and charged them with the task of making little sister’s birthday a success. I needed them to wrap the presents (I had been too sick to do them before), set a pretty breakfast table for her, pick flowers from the garden, blow up the balloons and shower her with love and attention. They did not disappoint. They took their mission seriously and gave my sweet lamb the most delightful day. I am so proud of them. Proud of the sisterhood that rallies when one of the troops is down.

And speaking of birthdays, this is my birthday cake.

As I just mentioned, in case you didn’t pick it up, birthdays are really important to me. Even my own. Now, I humbly recognise that not everyone has the desire, ability or even inclination to want to throw festive fanfare around at birthday time, but for me, unashamedly, it’s a must.  A few years ago I had the revelation to throw myself a tea party every birthday. Possibly bordering on OCD, I need to make my own cake, choose my theme and style and, yes, I have been known to buy my own presents, just to make sure I get what I really want. Told you it was intense.

As often happens in Motherland, I was sick on my birthday last month. Not cant get out of bed with the flu sick, but struggling with some health issues that hindered my ability to gather my ladies around and spoil them with celebration.

So I decided to make a cake. At least I was up for that.

My birthday present to myself was to buy the prettiest flowers in colours I love, make a cake in colours I love, with my favourite flavour (chocolate with peanut butter Swiss meringue buttercream) and then take a few photos, pull all the flowers out, sit down and eat it. Well, not all of it. Not all at once.

And so I did. Just for me.

The funny thing is, you guessed it, as often happens in Motherland, by the time I got a window of time to actually make the cake, it was way past my birthday, half of my family were away, the gorgeous hot pink gumnut blossoms that were to be the star of the show had all fallen out, and no one really wanted to eat my cake anyway. 

Never mind. I ate it. And enjoyed it. I gave the rest away. Better luck next year.

Hip Hip Hooray.

To me. Yayy! 

See you next Saturday with that baby shower I promised. xx

Cake topper || Glistening Occasions

RECIPE || Rose & Pistachio Cupcakes

Good morning Lovelies,

How has your week been? We were blessed to have big sister home this week, which brings much delight to our household. The younger girls all squibble to sit next to her at meals, go places in her car and get as much attention as they can. She has true celebrity status. It’s really nice watching the sisterhood develop as the years go by and true friendship emerges. This encourages me through the years of sister sass!

I didn’t get any baking done this week. However, I have been working on this recipe for quite a while now, and I think I have finally got the delicate balance of rosewater swiss meringue buttercream and the nutty pistachio cupcake just right. 

This is a very feminine cupcake with a subtle rose flavour and pastel pink buttercream. If you are hosting a bridal shower or girl baby shower, these little sweeties are perfect. I have used edible roses on my cupcakes, along with sugar rose petals. With a sprinkle of chopped pistachio nuts, they are irresistible. Make sure you eat them at room temperature though, as the frosting absolutely needs to be silky smooth, melt in your mouth consistency. YUM.

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Rose & Pistachio cupcake

A delicious vanilla cupcake with finely chopped pistachio nuts, topped with silky smooth rosewater swiss meringue buttercream.

Cook Time 18 minutes
Servings 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup warm water

Dry mix

  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarb soda
  • 1 1/2 cups castor (granulated) sugar
  • 1/2 cup pistachio nuts finely chopped

Rosewater Swiss Meringue Buttercream

  • 6 egg whites
  • 1 1/2 cups castor sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups butter (280g) at room temperature, chopped
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons rosewater I use 1/4 cup, but just add a few tblsp at a time until you are happy
  • 1 drop pink gel paste colouring

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 C

  2. Line two muffin pans with 18 cupcake liners

Cupcake instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, using a hand whisk, beat together eggs, oil and vanilla

  2. Add sour cream, mix well

  3. Add water, whisk together until well combined

  4. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and sugar together

  5. Add finely chopped pistachio nuts. Mix well with a hand whisk

  6. Carefully pour wet mix into dry mix and whisk together until well combined. Using an ice cream scoop,pour batter into cupcake liners.  

  7. Bake for 18 minutes or until firm to touch and sightly brown. Cool on wire rack before frosting with Swiss meringue buttercream.

Rosewater Swiss Meringue Buttercream

  1. Separate egg whites from yolks

  2. Put egg whites into a heatproof bowl ( I use my Kitchenaid bowl) 

    NOTE : Make sure your bowl and whisk are very clean and dry. Rub with lemon juice to get rid of any oily residue that will hinder your egg whites getting fluffy.

  3. Add sugar and whisk together with a hand whisk until well combined

  4. Put bowl on top of a saucepan with 1/2 inch (2cm) water in the bottom. Turn stove onto medium heat and simmer until sugar is dissolved,about ten minutes. 

    * You can check when it is ready by lifting a spatula of mixture, drizzling it and rubbing two fingers between it. Mixture is ready when cannot feel the sugar granules. NOTE : Be careful! It will be hot.

  5. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk egg mixture on med - high until soft peaks form, about 8 minutes.

  6. Change to paddle attachment and reduce speed to the lowest dial.

  7. Gradually add butter, one cube at a time. It is important to keep the mixer on the lowest speed. Keep adding butter until it is all mixed in. This can take around ten minutes.

    NOTE : Don't panic if the mixture looks soupy, then curdled, like scrambled eggs. This is normal and it will eventually come together.

  8. Once your buttercream looks silky smooth, and you are doing the Happy Dance because it worked, add rosewater and one or two drops of food colouring. Woo Hoo! You did it! Now have fun making your cupcakes look pretty! xx 

I hope you all enjoy your weekend. Let me know if you make these delicious cupcakes. I’d love to see your creations.

Keep an eye out next week for a boy baby shower with a difference.

See you next Saturday. xx


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Happy Easter

Good morning my Lovelies,

I know I have said this more than a few times this week, but Oh my heart!! I struggle to express how delighted I am to share my Easter photo shoot with you. To be able to turn this little idea of mine into a reality, and oh my what a beautiful reality it was, just about fills this mama’s heart to full and overflowing. 

My inspiration came from a few areas. Firstly, I have been longing to do a shoot in this location for years. It is a local farm with grazing cows and the most picturesque trees. As chance would have it, I was driving along the cute bumpy road one morning and met the owner of the farm, who readily gave me permission to do a shoot on his property. Win. All we needed to do was avoid the warm fresh cow pads as we hauled our goodies through the boggy grass, as it had been raining for a week. Well, we missed most of them. Yikes!

My vision was to create a whimsical Easter desert table in pastel tones, with a distinct vintage style. Lots of pretty pale pinks and baby blues with pops of yellow and fresh flowers. Instead of one feature cake I wanted to be a little bit more extravagant with three cakes taking centre stage.


I filled the dessert table with some of my favourite treats, including passionfruit curd meringue cupcakes, choc coated Oreo pods with edible nests made from vermicilli noodles mixed with green tinted white chocolate, Easter themed sugar cookies and meringue kisses. 

Part of my signature style is the use of vintage props on dessert tables. I love picking up quirky bits and pieces to incorporate onto my tables, keeping them unique and interesting. I am especially fond of kitsch baby planters and egg cups. Their pastel tones and very cute characteristics make for delightful cake toppers or sweets holders.

Every time I do a photo shoot my girls take turns modelling for me. They are all so adorable and love dressing up and posing for me. Miss Kitty was so excited that she would practice standing and smiling for everyone at home to show us how she was going to pose for the photo shoot! Too cute. I love that we are making memories together and I can give them a childhood filled with creativity, wonder and beauty.

Life is a gift that needs to be cherished. I know I often get lost in the everydayness of the pressing needs around me and fail to look up, look beyond my messy house and breathe. As I scroll through these pretty photos I am reminded that life, childhood, family and friendships all need to be celebrated. For me, I guess that looks like creating beautiful dessert tables, sweet treats and having fun baking and dressing up with my girls. For others it is taking the boards to the beach or riding bikes through a park together. Whatever it is you love to do with your tribe, let me encourage you to get out and do something fun together this Easter weekend. Create memories, build up the family love tank and leave the washing till next week.

Happy Easter. 

All my love xx

Concept, styling, props and desserts || Mama Bears Kitchen

Photography || Sarah Rickard Photography

Flowers || Alstonville Florist

Cookie stamps || The Cookie Stamp Co

Models || Kitty, Daisy & Parker

Vintage Easter sweets table

Hello dear ones,

It’s been an age since I have joined you here, but oh it’s nice to be back! As we all know, blogging is only a snippet of my life and it takes pretty much all of me to love my hubby and dear sweet lambs plus run our home and pastor a church. I have spent the first part of the year getting the tribe sorted and into the rhythm of our family / school / homeschool life and routine. 

The good news is that I am now resuming my weekly blog posts.  Every Saturday morning you will find my latest creative ventures, themed party, styled shoot or cupcake recipe. I hope you will join me. Despite my blogging absence, I have been quite busy creating new content and I can’t wait to share it all with you.

First up for 2018 is this  Easter dessert table I set up for a flower crown workshop I hosted in my home. My goal was to create a pastel sweets table with a distinct vintage feel. I wanted to draw out the child in each of us, with matching lollies, cookies, cake pops and cake.

The girls and I got our bunny cookie cutters out to give homemade coconut ice an Easter makeover. I was pleased with how easy it was, and how cute they looked. Even your toddlers could help in the kitchen with this one. 


Another super easy snack I made with the kids was choc dipped Oreos. We simply melted white chocolate (with a drop or two of candy oil colour, or you could use candy melts if you have a microwave, which we don’t). Dip half an Oreo biscuit into the chocolate and sprinkle with your favourite sprinkle mix. 

I’m not much of a cookie decorator, but I couldn’t resist these adorable radish and carrot cutters. Piped with pastel coloured buttercream and displayed in cute Easter bowls and plates, they added a bit of Easter cheer to the table.

What’s an easter dessert table without lollies? I know I shouldn’t, but I have a bit of a weakness for these tempting little sweeties. I have many a fond childhood memory  buying  bags of lollies, back in the day when twenty cents filled a huge bag to the brim! Ahh..the good ole days…

I love displaying sweets in cute little vintage planters, jars or timeless white milk glass dishes. They just look soo good all dressed up.



Perhaps my favourite element of any party is the take home favours. A gift giver at heart, I love to bless my guests with goodies to take home, which are preferably edible. For my Easter party I decorated cheap gift bags with fabric strips, ribbon, paper flowers, string and cute vintage easter tags, for guests to put their lollies in. I also spray painted the lids of plastic cylinders and filled them with jelly beans for the children to take home.

For the ladies I set up a tea station with my pretty tea cups on a white vintage dresser, decorated with a simple fabric bunting to tie in with the theme. I also decorated glass milk bottles with string and paper flowers in pastel colours.

Another weakness of mine is vintage aprons. Oh my heart, they are just soo adorable and make the perfect decorating accesory! My favourite way to use them is strung across the dessert table as a garland, or even as a backdrop. The colours are so pretty and I love that real women wore them as they cared and cooked for their families. A reminder of beauty in the every day.

Thanks for taking the time to scroll through my photos. Hopefully you go away inspired to create your own Easter gathering with the kids, family and friends.

I am so happy to be here.  Life is pretty big for all of us, and I am so thankful for the tiny time and space I get to meet with you and share my passion for all things sweet, pretty and vintage. Stay tuned and don’t forget to pop in next Saturday morning where I will share with you my latest Easter photo shoot, which I am so excited about, I think my heart will burst!

See you then. xx

 

RECIPE || Star Anise Christmas Cupcake

Hello Lovelies. How was Christmas? We had such a wonderful time with my parents and all of our chickies at home in the nest, including our sweet granddaughter who was undoubtedly the star of the show. As we all sat around the dinner table, my husband noted that there were four generations of family together. How good is that? We are blessed indeed. 

 This year I kept things simple. No dessert tables, no fancy set up. To my slight horror, I didn’t even get my camera out to photograph the table, which was set up quite nicely with it’s tartan fabric, red charger plates and rustic wreath in the centre. I wanted to enjoy Christmas for what it is and not purely as a styling/blogging opportunity.  {Yes, the struggle is real}

Family first.   

And so, after a busy, yet delightful Christmas day, I can finally breathe today and sit down with my second pot of tea and share this delicious cupcake recipe as a special gift to you all. I know it’s too late for Christmas, but I want you to pretend I am boxing you up a cupcake (with a tartan ribbon and homemade tag of course) and giving you a hug to say thank you for reading my blog in 2017. 

 This recipe evolved in my head over the Christmas season. I became fascinated by the look, shape, texture and most significantly the smell of star anise and just knew it would make a deliciously festive cupcake. Then began the experimenting. Of course this all happened in tiny snippets in between the hustle and bustle of the silly season. I made a few batches here and there, which weren’t quite what I wanted, threw them out or gave them to unsuspecting friends, until I finally came up with this recipe. The flavours are subtle. It is basically a vanilla bean cupcake with a delicate hint of licorice spice, black tea and orange zest. The trick here is to infuse the milk with star anise, cinnamon sticks, tea leaves,  vanilla seeds and pod, preferably overnight. 

Print

Star Anise Christmas Cupcake

An authentic vanilla cupcake infused with a hint of spicy licorice, black tea and orange zest.

Cook Time 18 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup full cream milk
  • 1 packet star anise (or up to 12 stars)
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 vanilla pod, scraped, with seeds in milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • 1 teaspoon black tea leaves

For the cupcakes

  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 tub sour cream (or 125g)
  • 1 vanilla pod scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1/2 cup infused milk, strained Leave 1/4 cup for frosting
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
  • 3/4 cup castor sugar
  • zest of one large orange, rubbed into sugar

Instructions

For the Infused milk

  1. Place all ingredients except tea in small saucepan. Heat on low until simmering. Stir in tea leaves and turn off heat. Leave to cool while you make the cupcake mixture, or ideally, overnight in fridge. 

For the cupcake

  1. Preheat oven to 180 C

    Line one muffin tray with cupcake papers

  2. In a medium bowl, using a hand whisk, mix together egg, oil, sour cream and vanilla.

  3. Add 1/2 cup infused milk, strained. Reserve 1/4 cup for frosting.

  4. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and bicarb soda.

  5. Rub orange zest into castor sugar until fragrant. Add to flour mixture. Stir until all combined.

  6. Slowly add wet mix into the dry mixture. Hand whisk until well combined.

  7. Scoop mixture into cupcake papers. 

  8. Bake in moderate oven for 18 - 20 min or until lightly brown or firm to touch.

  9. Put on a wire rack to cool.

  10. Frost with Swiss meringue buttercream

  11. Makes 8 - 12 cupcakes

Print

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

A silky smooth vanilla buttercream with a hint of spicy licorice.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups castor sugar
  • 325 g butter, chopped at room temperature Or 1 and 1/4 blocks of butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1/4 cup infused milk from cupake recipe

Instructions

  1. In an electric mixer bowl, hand whisk together egg whites and sugar until well combined.

  2. Place bowl over a medium saucepan with 1 inch of boiling water.

  3. Whisk lightly for a moment until well combined, then leave for about 5 minutes or until the syrup is smooth and not grainy. I find the best way to check this is to lift a whisk out of the mixture and rub the syrup between two fingers to check there are no sugar grains left. It is hot, but won't burn. Just be careful.

  4. Turn heat off and place your mixer bowl into the electric stand mixer. 

  5. Using the whisk attachment, whisk syrup on high speed until a stiff meringue forms, about ten minutes.

  6. Change to paddle attachment and turn mixer onto the lowest speed. Gradually add the chopped butter, one piece at a time, then leave to mix on low for about 5 minutes, or until silky smooth. 

  7. Note: The buttercream will look soupy at first, then like scrambled eggs. This is all normal. Just make sure you keep the mixer on the lowest speed. It will eventually come together and look smooth. 

  8. Add vanilla bean paste.

  9. Add remaining 1/4 cup of infused milk and keep mixing on low until it is well combined and smooth.

  10. Your Swiss Meringue Buttercream is now ready to use.

Now that the Christmas rush is over, I am taking things easy before getting stuck into some creative holiday projects that are mulling around in my mind. It feels soo good to stop, sit down and reflect on the year that was, and look towards the clean slate of the New Year. I hope you will all join me in 2018 as we continue to bake, create and share the cupcake love.  xx