Rosewater Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream, and road testing some Queen Soft Sugar Pearls

      Have you bought your mum a Mother's Day present yet? Or will you be baking her something? How about a  bunch of rose cupcakes for the special person in your life?

       There's something about cupcakes that just make my eyes light up. Dainty little cakes, the perfect size for a little treat. Usually adorned with pretty swirls of frosting and sometimes adorned with pretty little decorations. Unfortunately a lot of cupcakes on offer at shops and cafes are pretty mediocre. Dry, crumbling cake, mass produced, generic taste of premix. Sometimes the frosting is just overly too sweet and not worth eating at all. To be honest, I can't quite remember the last time I've paid for a cupcake. I've always been very wary to try them fearing great disappointment. They're not the cheapest little treats and I expect to get what I pay for. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to venture out into cup cake world again but for now, I'm happy to bake my own little treats and share them with the people I love.

      Magnolia Bakery is one name that is known all over the world for their cupcakes, they did start the cupcake craze after all and were made famous by Sex and The City. I think they are one of the benchmarks for the best cupcakes. I myself have never personally had a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery but a recipe for their buttery vanilla cupcakes is sufficient enough for me until I eventually step foot in New York (or anywhere near one of their many stores now). I really like making cupcakes with their recipe (with some minor adaptions) so I hope when I finally do visit one of their stores that I am not disappointed.

       I've made rosewater cupcakes with lemon royal icing before but this time I've decided to use the Magnolia recipe as a base for my rosewater cupcakes. And instead of cupcakes I wanted to make baby cakes, a lot of baby cakes. Just adjusted the baking time as the cakes are smaller.

Recipe - Rosewater Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

Makes approximately 24 cupcakes (Or in my case, about 84 baby cakes)

Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon rosewater

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line your cupcake tins with baking cups.
2. Sift together the flours and set aside.
3. Add the rosewater to the milk.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and a pale creamy colour.
5. Beat the eggs in, one at a time.
6. Add one third of the flours and beat until combined.
7. Add one third of the milk and beat until combined.
8. Repeat 6 and 7 until all the flour and milk is mixed through.
9. Spoon or pipe the batter into the baking cups.
10. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden. (For baby cakes reduce baking time to 15 - 20 minutes, until golden).

*The trick to getting nice flat tops on your cupcakes instead of tall domes is to cook at a lower temperature, low and slow. The higher the temperature, the higher your cakes will rise which makes it tricky to frost and decorate. Remember that they will also take less time to bake if you put the temperature up*

Butter cream

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 250g icing sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (add more if needed)
• Food colouring of your choice

1. Sift the icing sugar and set aside.
2. Beat the butter until it is soft and fluffy.
3. Add about half of the icing sugar and beat until it is combined. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until all the sugar has combined. Keep beating until the butter is very pale in colour and is very soft and fluffy.
4. Add the milk and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice and beat until combined.
5. Add your choice of food colouring and beat until there are no streaks left.

      I was recently sent some Queen Soft Sugar Pearls from Beyond the Square Communications to try out and thought that they would be a nice touch for the top of my dainty little rose baby cakes. I normally use cashous (sugar pearls) anyway but find that they are not very pleasant to eat even though they can just add that finishing touch to a cake. I was actually very happy to find out that these ones made by Queen are not hard at all which means that they are not bad for your teeth (and children!). When it says 'soft sugar pearls' they are not actually soft as such but they give way when you bite into them. Not only do these sugar pearls look pretty, they're safe (for your teeth) to eat too. I haven't quite got the famous Magnolia butter cream swirl mastered yet so was happy to pipe pretty little roses for the top of my baby cakes  You just need a star piping tip and a lot of practice to get perfect roses. And I still need lots of practice.

    The Queen Soft Sugar Pearls come in white, rainbow and silver. They should be available at all Woolworths stores now.

      Happy Mother's Day Mumma! Thank you for all the delicious food that you are always serving up to us kids and thank you for instilling the love of food and cooking in me. Have you made any plans to spoil your mum/special motherly figure in your life yet?

[Angie Travels] Last few days in Israel - Jerusalem and Bethlehem

       So this continues our journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. Unfortunately we don't have many photos from this point onwards. As I mentioned in my last post, Ryan had his camera stolen when we got to Madrid and he had not backed up the photos from this part of our trip yet. I was a little 'churched out' so was relying on Ryan to take photos for us.

       Also a warning to my food loving readers, there aren't many food photos in this blog post. There are only so many photos of falafel and shawarma that I can take (and eat) which seemed to be our staple diet while we were in Israel. I know that there's more to Israeli food but well, it seemed to be the cheapest and fastest option when you're feeding 100 plus hungry young people at the same time. Don't get me wrong, the falafel and shawarma in Israel is fantastic, but it does get a little boring. The main reason for this trip was a spiritual pilgrimage after all so it wasn't about the food. We do get a bit more culinary freedom in Madrid but Paris is where Ryan and I go crazy eating. Blog posts to come eventually...

     We start our day with a visit to Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist and site of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Luke 1:43). The Church of the Visitation is quite beautiful inside...

     We then cross over into Palestinian territory into Bethlehem to visit Jesus' birthplace, at the Church of the Nativity.

     The Church of the Nativity is built over the stable where Jesus was born, now known as the Grotto of the Holy Manger. There are actually two churches on this site. The Orthodox church and the Catholic church. The Grotto lies beneath the Orthodox church. Mass for the day is held here.

     It's a huge contrast between the two churches. The Orthodox church is quite extravagant with their embelishments and icons throughout the church. They love their candle holders and lanterns, and bling.

     We queue up with the crowds to go down into the grotto. It is very cramped down there and there is a lot of pushing and shoving to get down. It's nuts. You don't really get a lot of time down there either, a couple of seconds and then you are pushed on. Not very much time at all to reflect on the significance of this site. There is a star which marks the spot where Jesus' crib was supposedly placed.

Gloria in excelsis deo - Glory to God in the highest.

     Our next stop is the Shepherd's field to remember the appearance of the angels to the shepherds on that first Christmas night.

City landscape of Jerusalem from the field.

     It's lunchtime! We head to Sababa Restaurant for more falafels! These were actually quite tasty. Nice and fluffy and not at all dry. We also had chicken shawarmas (again) and a whole heap of delicious sides. And yes, that says Manger Street, we are in Bethlehem after all.

     After lunch it's back into Jerusalem and we visit a scale model of Jerusalem as it was back in the time of Jesus.

     The top photo is taken from the coach of one of the streets we pass by that is full of street vendors. The bottom photo is one of the entrances into one of the quarters of Old Jerusalem city within the walls. It's quite a journey to get through the walls into the old city.

     We head to the Mt of Olives to visit the Church of the Pater Noster (meaning Our Father). This is the site where Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer, as a group we pray the Lord's prayer together.

View over Jerusalem from the Mt of Olives. The golden domed building is an Orthodox church.

     Our last stop for the day is the garden of Gethsemane. These old olive trees are believed to have been from the time of Jesus so are thousands of years old. It's possible that they were witnesses to the events that unfolded when Jesus was captured. We also spend a little bit of time in the Church of Agony on the site of the garden.

     We then head back to our accommodation to rest up and have dinner before a small group of us return to the Church of Agony for some silent prayer time. It had been one crazy week and a half in Israel, especially Jerusalem where our days seemed to be even busier than before. This time out gave us a chance to reflect on all the things we had seen and experienced on our journey thus far and to have some spiritual time out.

     Our last day in Israel seems to be a blur now (and even blurrier without photos) as it was just absolutely jam packed with activities. By this time of the trip, I was struggling to remember and truly reflect on the significance of all the sites we were visiting which is quite unfortunate but I do remember the main ones. I also remember the Church of St Anne, the amazing acoustics of the architecture of the church. Instead of praying we sung inside the church and it sounded amazing. Next to the church is the site of the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralysed man (Jn 5:2-9).

       Mt Zion is where King David's tomb is, and  also where the Room of the Last Supper is. The site of King David's tomb is a Jewish site which means that the men and women have to go through two different entrances, it was quite large from what I remember.

      I saw some street vendors which caught my attention (I know, my mind is always on food). Looking at the photo now I'm wishing I stopped to try some. I think I was still wary about health and hygiene even though we were told Israel was pretty safe compared to Egypt.
      We participate in the Via Dolorosa - the 'Way of Grief' or 'Way of Suffering'. This is the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross on his way to the site where he will be crucified. There are 14 stations where we stop for prayer, commemorating each event that happened leading up to Jesus' death. It was quite a tough journey walking through the narrow crowded streets of the Old City following the path which lead us to the Church of the Holy Sepulchure where Jesus' tomb is. Taking photos was the last thing on my mind during this time.

     The Church of the Holy Sepulchre which was our meeting point and where we will be having mass for the night. We also get a chance to have a proper look around the church. The site of Golgotha (the Hill of Calvary, where Jesus was crucified) is also in this church. It is a very large church, built up around the site of the tomb and encompassing the site of the crucifixion.

    Our final night in Israel is a very moving one, with mass held in the Chapel of the Apparition inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Not many words can describe the emotions moving through the chapel that night, it truly was special.

    The next day we depart our home away from home in Israel and head off to have Mass one last time at the Church of St John The Baptist before we make our way to Tel Aviv airport. Then it's onward to Madrid for a week of festivities and activities in the lead up to World Youth Day 2011.

      Oh and just a parting photo of our last meal in Israel - a McFalafel and a Big Texas meal from McDonalds at Tel Aviv Airport. The coke was HUGE and so was the burger and the falafel wrap. But it didn't taste too bad for fast food. Just goes to show we couldn't escape the falafel. They're just not the same back home in Sydney though.

      We stumbled across this website which has some fantastic photos of Jerusalem, go and have a look. All the photos just take me back our journey, as if it was yesterday. Great memories.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

      If you've never had a taste of chiffon cake, you are so missing out. It's the most lusciously light and airy cake that you could ever eat. You could easily devour a whole cake in one sitting because it's so light. Growing up in an Asian family, most desserts I've been introduced to are flavoured with pandan or coconut or both. It's quintessentially the South East Asian equivalent to Vanilla. Remember my pandan waffles? Hence why my very first chiffon cake I learn to bake is of course a pandan one. And everytime I've baked one, it just disappears so quickly. I've also tried a couple of variations from Pandan but the classic childhood favourite always reigns supreme. I think they call that nostalgia.

      The chiffon cake is something that I have always feared until recently. I have always marvelled at those who are able to bake perfectly straight standing chiffon cakes at home but never thought I could ever master it. The chiffon cake's airy texture comes from whipped egg whites, pretty much similar to that of the souffle. I've been able to churn out some stunning souffles (and also befriended the fickle macaron recipe) so my twitter friend  (and talented photographer) Mr Dexter Kewpie said I should be able to easily master the chiffon. He shared a couple of recipes with me which I sat on for a while because I was too chicken, and feared failure.

      One day I decided to buy myself an angel cake tin (or bundt/tube pan) and some cake flour and thought I would tackle it head on. One of the blogs I was referred to had a lot of details on what you should and should not do and that was all so overwhelming at first but I kept going over the recipe again and again in my head until it was all clear to me. A few tips from Mr Kewpie also helped.

Recipe - Pandan Chiffon Cake

12 - 16 serves (approximately)

Adapted from the blog I Eat I Shoot

Part A

• 150ml coconut cream
• 100ml vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pandan extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Part B

• 6 egg yolks
• 75g caster sugar

Part C

• 190g cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Part D

• 9 egg whites
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 75g caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celcius. You need a 25cm angel food/straight edged bundt cake pan with a detachable base. DO NOT grease it.
2. Combine all the ingredients of Part A together in a bowl or jug.
3. Beat the egg yolks together with the sugar until it is a pale creamy colour and has tripled in volume, approximately 5 minutes on medium to high speed. (Part B)
4. Gently beat Part A into Part B.
5. Sift ingredients of Part C into the egg yolk mixture and mix through.
6. In another clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites together with the cream of tartar until foamy. Add all the sugar and beat until firm peaks form. (Part D)
7. Fold one quarter of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture to loosen the batter.
8. Gently fold the rest of the egg white into the cake batter until it is thoroughly mixed through.
9. Pour into the cake tin and bake on the middle shelf for about 45 minutes and then turn off the fan and bake for a further 15 minutes.
10. Take the cake pan out of the oven and invert it over an upside down funnel or narrow necked weighted bottle (e.g wine bottle). Leave it to 'hang' and cool completely before removing from the pan. Run a knife around the middle tube and then around the outside edge of the pan to release the sides and middle of the cake. Push the base out of the pan and invert the cake onto a plate and then run the knife between the base and the cake to release it.
11. Enjoy your chiffon cake with a cup of tea, just don't eat it all in one sitting.

Notes:

• Cake flour is available at Asian grocers however I buy mine from Woolworths - I use the Lighthouse brand which comes in a red and white box. It is a lower protien flour that gives the cake it's light as air texture. The flour already has a raising agent but I still add the additonal baking powder - it gives extra lift to the cake.
• Coconut cream is all I had when I made my first pandan chiffon but I like using it now because it gives a nice rich flavour. You can use coconut milk which is what the original recipe calls for.
• I have not given a time or speed for the beating of the egg yolks and whites as every mixer is different. The best way to judge when it is ready is by looking at it. It also helps if you have previously made meringues and creamed egg yolks.
• If you are using a stand mixer and only have one mixing bowl, transfer the egg yolk mixture to a separate bowl before beating the egg whites, make sure the bowl and beaters are squeaky clean.
• I used a 25cm non stick angel food cake pan with removable base, this recipe yields a very large cake. It is preferable that the cake pan is not non-stick as this may effect the cakes rising ability as the batter does not have a non slippery surface to 'grip' to as it rises. However, after many uses the non stick cake pan will have been conditioned enough that it will provide more grip for the cake batter.
• I don't really recommend baking your chiffon in a regular cake pan. I had trouble with my cake gripping to the bottom of the pan as I lined mine with baking paper so that I could turn the cake out easily. You could bake without the baking paper lining the bottom of the pan but it is a little trickier to remove the cake.
• Your oven may work differently to mine so always monitor your cake. It will need at least the 45 minutes to cook.
• As great as the temptation is to turn the cake out before it is cold, DO NOT touch it before it has completely cooled down. It is also important to invert the cake pan as the cake 'stretches' down as it cools. This helps to stabilise the cake and minimise the chance of it collapsing on you. I've had my fair share of sinking cakes the first few times I made chiffon. The excitement is just so great you want to see what it looks like out of the pan. Still tasty though ;)
• There are many different recipes out there and at the end of the day, sometimes it just comes down to personal preference and experience. I started with this recipe and am so happy with it, I won't try and 'fix what isn't broken'.
• Practice, practice, practice! Every chiffon cake I make gets better and better and better, until I was recently brave enough to let a pastry chef try it and he declared it a 'perfectly baked chiffon cake'. Thanks Simon! ;)

Variations

Earl Grey: Omit the pandan extract and replace the coconut cream with some warm milk. Infuse the milk with 3 earl grey tea bags before added the rest of the ingredients in Part A. Break open an extra earl grey tea bag and mix the contents through the egg yolk mixture after the flour is mixed in.

Ube: Omit the pandan extract and replace the coconut cream with milk. Add 1 cup of ube mash with the milk and mix into the egg yolk mixture before adding in the flour.

*Ube is available from Filipino grocers, it comes cooked and grated in a frozen pack. Defrost before using.*

      Pandan extract is available is most Asian grocers. My Mum buys it by the litre so we always have it at home.

      Ube Macapuno Chiffon Cake for Ryan's mum's birthday. She loved it so much she even dared to say my version of the ube macapuno cake was even better than the traditional Filipino ones. Ube is a purple yam that is popular with Filipino desserts, similar to how taro is popular with other South East Asian countries.

Macapuno is a young coconut fibre (or sport) that comes from a mutilated coconut. I sandwiched layers of ube chiffon cake with ube cream cheese frosting and macapuno strips and then covered the cake in some more ube cream cheese frosting and then decorated it with some dessicated coconut.

      For my uncle's 50th birthday I made a pandan chiffon cake with a luscious coconut butter cream made with coconut cream and covered it in some hazelnut praline I had sitting around leftover from another cake. Topped the cake with some Ferrero Rafaello balls.

      This is the 'perfectly baked' earl grey chiffon which I made for our pop up DESSERTed Dinner Party which we held last month.

      The latest pandan chiffon cake that I baked was even more perfect then perfect. They do say, practice makes perfect! Good luck if you will be attempting a chiffon cake for the first time.

The DESSERTed Dinner Party - Apples and Caramel, Autumn Menu

     

      A few of months ago, Ryan planted a seed. "Why don't we host a 'pop up' restaurant for our friends" he says. At first instance I kind of dismissed the idea thinking that we already host dinners for our close friends and family so this wouldn't be anything special. The seed started growing and I asked Ryan whether or not we wanted to go ahead and if we would be able to pull it off. A few more shoots sprouted and Ryan suggested that we host a dessert pop up cafe/restaurant, knowing how passionate I am about my desserts. 

      Who would we invite? I thought. When will we hold it? Do we charge our guests? How much? What would be the layout of the night? etc etc. All those things were discussed and then I went ahead and put together a bit of an invitation and showed it to Ryan. Ryan approved and then on to Facebook it went.

      To be honest, we weren't sure how people would react to this invitation. Our close friends and family have always been spoilt with our cooking and baking but I knew that there were a lot of our friends that we don't really socialise with regularly (including our online friends) who would probably love to be able to have that experience. They were the ones that this invitation was targeted to. We were also hoping that these friends would also bring their friends to this event.

      Interest was slow at first, but I didn't really want to spam people so we just patiently waited to see who would respond. We did mention the idea to some friends here and there and before long we had filled about two thirds of the seats we were offering. Three weeks to go and we had 'sold out' our event.

      Next on the agenda was of course the food. During the few months before, we wrote down our ideas for the menu and eventually ended up with a theme of apples and caramel which I thought was perfect for Autumn. We also wanted to use a fruit that was in season for our desserts. It was tough because it was still summer when we were planning this and all I could think of was summer fruits. Ryan also wanted some savoury 'palate cleansers' in between so that our guests wouldn't be too overloaded with sugar hit after sugar hit. We recipe tested and changed things along the way if we thought they didn't work or if recipes needed adjusting. 

     Rather than regular tea blends, we wanted to make it a little special so I did a bit of research to find out what tea would go well with our desserts. We went to T2 and had a cup of Oolong tea and a cup of Darjeeling tea and tasted the teas along with an apple frangipan tart. The Darjeeling was a perfect match, drawing out the sweetness of the apple and caramel in the tart. The fact that it was called the champagne of teas had already had me hooked.

      We had our menu finalised the week before the dinner. I also had a spreadsheet with our shopping list, decor list, and run down of things to do during the week leading up to and also the day of the DESSERTed dinner party.We were getting pretty nervous and excited about the whole thing. Especially when people were telling us how much they and their friends were looking forward to it. There was even more pressure on us as we had paying guests this time, we had to make sure everything was as perfect as could be.

      It's the Friday before D-Day and I am over at Ryan's place nice and early so we can start on the cooking. We were in the kitchen all day, preparing and cooking as many of the various components as we possible could.

      We head back to my place and continue late into the night, not finishing until midnight. The next day I am back over at his place early in the morning. Despite the fact we had done so much the day before, there was still quite a bit left to do and we also had to set up our little instant restaurant.

      Ryan's parents have done some fantastic work to their back yard and we have previously used this space to host various lunches and dinners with our friends. This time there was more pressure to create the perfect ambiance for our guests. We transformed it from this photo above...

into this. I spent most of my lunch breaks trawling through The Reject Shop, and various homeware and bargain shops looking for bits and pieces that would work as decor for our event. Some things I had simply just bought for personal use before we even planned the dinner party but came in handy for the night.

      The four squared metal plaques were actually picked up in South Melbourne Market on our recent trip to Melbourne. I thought it was the perfect fit for our desserts only dinner party.

      We had to do place cards as we had to co-ordinate different groups of friends so that people wouldn't be split up. All seating plans came apart when we had cancellation after cancellation leading up to the night and we had to scramble to fill seats but it all worked out in the end. My good friend Diana had given me a deck of 'conversation starter' cards for Christmas which we placed on the tables just in case and they were very well received even though not needed as all our guests mingled with each other so well.

      Our one major dilemma when we first thought of the idea of hosting a pop up was that we wanted to use proper crockery and cutlery, but when you're catering for 16 people with three courses each plus tea and coffee, where the heck would we source it all. We did think about borrowing from our friends and family and also going out to buy 'cheap' stuff.

      Luckily for us, I remembered that we had all these gorgeous sets of China in the cupboard at home. At first I thought these were just brought home by dad (the obsessive hoarder) who had picked them off from the side of the street but it turns out all these gorgeous sets of China were actually mum and dad's wedding presents from 30 years ago. Who would be crazy enough to put these out on rubbish night! We were a few cups and bowls short but that was easily solved by a few everyday items from our kitchens at home and a trip to the swap and sell markets at Flemington.

     Ryan's parents backyard really is the ultimate space for entertaining day or night. When it gets darker we just switch the lights on and you have instant ambiance. My parents' house is a different story... and when Ryan and I do have a place of our own I doubt we'll even be able to afford anything with a back yard. So hopefully they don't think about selling this gorgeous place. The one thing that we did overlook was the fact that the weather had turned much cooler in the evenings. I did think of warning out guests that it was an outdoor event but as we were under shelter I didn't think the night would get so cold. Next time we will get everyone to bring a blanket!

     Getting ready for service. It felt weird when I told Ryan to 'get ready for service' but really we were, it was literally opening night of our pop up restaurant.

My cooking partner in crime, in his zone, doing what he does best.

The DESSERTed Dinner Party Dream Team.

      We managed to hire two fantastic waiteresses for the night. Our family friends, almost like sisters to us, Celine and Jessica were more than happy to help us out on the night when we came to them with the idea of the pop up. We said we couldn't pay them or give them a seat at the table but the promise of free food in exchange for their help on the night was all it took ;) We already always have so much fun with our Fancy Schmancy Dinner Parties. The girls were really excited and wanted to dress up the part so I let them run with it. Made me feel like I had to make an extra effort to dress up too being host and all ;) The apron was also bought during our trip to Melbourne though I didn't buy it specifically to wear on the night.

The girls getting ready.

Looking good, just the way he is ;)

      I found two tea pots in the cupboards at home and picked up the two blue ones while we were in Melbourne at the Made In Japan warehouse store. These were meant to go on the tables but in the end our waiters ended up serving our guests the tea as they needed it which was not what I originally had planned but worked out to be a nice touch to the evening for our guests. Coffee was also on offer but majority of our guests were happy to sip on their teas. Ryan did end up brewing some for those that were wanting the caffeine hit.

Amuse Bouche - Cinnamon macaron with green apple puree and white chocolate ganache.

      I wanted to incorporate my macarons into the menu somehow. Ryan originally suggested this as a little something to serve with tea and coffee at the end of the meal as a last 'kiss' of flavour. As it was all desserts I suggested that we serve tea and coffee right from the beginning and the macarons would be a good little teaser to start off with.
      I actually wasn't sure I was going to serve these at all as the feet of the shells didn't really come out as perfect as I wanted them to be. They were just too frilly and protruding for my liking but I just didn't have the time to remake them. I also had some issues with the filling as I attempted to make an apple ganache but that all went wrong too. With some thinking on my feet I was able to save the filling and when assembled they didn't look as bad as I originally thought they were.

First Course - Earl Grey Chiffon Cake with Caramel Sauce and Green Apple Jelly.

      All my friends and family love my chiffon cakes and Ryan said that it should definitely be on the menu. I'd only ever made pandan chiffon cakes so had to do some experimenting with earl grey. We've had the earl grey chiffon from Azuma Patisserie in the city and loved it and we also love the earl grey and caramel combination. Though that combination is not a new concept, we wanted to recreate it somehow on our menu.

    I originally played around with making the chiffon cake in individual moulds as it looked better for presentation. I had the cakes all baked and ready but at the last minute changed my mind as I decided that as soft as they were, they just wern't soft enough for my liking when baked in the moulds and I rebaked the chiffon as a whole cake to slice up and serve. The slices may have looked a bit big but that was the smallest I could cut them without having the cake fall apart on me. The chiffon was just so light and airy I wasn't worried the serving was too large. The size of the cake slice did end up making the bowls look like they were not the right fit for this dessert but we were limited with what resources we had.

      I may have warmed up the caramel sauce a little too much as it was a little too runny and soaked into the cake by the time it reached the table which meant it didn't look very 'saucy'. The apple jelly was originally a cider jelly but the bitter undertones from the cider clashed with the caramel and earl grey making it unpleasant to eat together. In the end I decided to just use green apple juice tinted with some colouring. The jelly was actually remade many times during the week to get the right texture and flavour to go with the rest of the dish. It was only meant to be a small garnish for the dish but we were told by our guests that they wanted more of the jelly.

'Palate Cleanser' - Cheese and Chive Gougeres.

      These were my idea, I love eating choux pastry as much as I love baking it and I thought the gougeres, which are the savoury equivalent to a profiterole, would be a great palate cleanser as they would be savoury enough to break up the sweetness of the desserts but also light enough that they would not be too overly  filling. The cheese we chose to use was gruyere which is a great tasting cheese, especially when hot and melted. It gives the puffs a little bit of bite without being too overpowering. I also paired the cheese with some chives and a sprinking of paprika. I left the cheese puffs unfilled as I wanted to keep the palate cleanser light and each person received at least two of them. They were so tasty there were requests for more coming back to us in the kitchen.

      We sent the girls out with my camera but forgot to put it on to automatic setting so a lot of them were quite blurry. Luckily though that the two best photos happened to capture all of our guests.

Second Course - 'Apple Crumble', Toasted home made Brioche, Sauteed Apples with Cider Caramel, Macadamia Crumble, and Cinnamon Cream.

      This was a combined effort between the two of us. We immediately thought apple crumble when thinking of apple desserts as it is such a classic and well loved dessert but we wanted to do something different with it. At first it was just going to be a deconstructed version of some sort but I wanted to think outside the square a bit more for this one.

      In the end I decided to use toasted brioche for the pastry/crunch element, and Ryan wanted to sautee the apples instead of stewing them to maintain a bit of texture in the apples while also giving them a nice caramelised flavour. He also wanted to do this to order so that the apples would be nice and warm which I did questioned him on as we had 16 serves to pump out. He assured me that all would be fine but on the night we were very slow to get the dishes out to the guests as he decided to only use one saucepan because he wanted more control over the apples. He said he was hesitant to have two saucepans going at the same time because he didn't want the apples to burn with his attention being split. 

      Apart from the slowness of the apples being cooked to order they were very well received, especially when drizzled with Ryan's cider caramel. An apple crumble is not an apple crumble without a crumble topping and we thought that macadamias are the perfect match with apples. Would double the quantity of nuts next time though as their flavour didn't really come through as much, even after making the recipe twice. A crumble is not complete without a cream or custard to go with it and we had a few ideas for this but practicality meant that the final decision was to make a cinnamon cream to go with the crumble. Something so simple was actually a highlight for the dish to many of our guests.

'Palate Cleanser' - Mini Spicy Beef Empanadas.

      This was Ryan's idea and he was quite persistent that we have some empanadas on the menu as a palate cleanser. He wanted something a little bit moreish to follow on from the 'main' course and something a little spicy to get everyone's taste buds excited (they're also one of his favourite snacks to eat). I was hesitant at first thinking it was too heavy but then we decided that we'd make them mini size so that we don't over fill our guests. I played around and experimented with a few recipes and tested out a few different types of pastries too. In the end it was a team effort with Ryan responsible for cooking the filling and I made the pastry dough. He helped roll out the dough and I made the pastries as it seemed I had more finesse at dealing with the finer details.

     I had bought some very cute vintage milk bottles but forgot to take a photo of them when they were brought out to the table. One of our guests has kindly let me use this photo, it also shows the action at the tables while Ryan and I were in the kitchen pumping out all the food.

  Third Course - Sea Salt Caramel Pannacotta, Moscato Poached Apple, Cinnamon Apple Crisps.

      The finale. Our original thought was to recreate the pandan pannacotta which we had previously made for one of our Fancy Schmancy Dinner Parties knowing what a hit it already was and that we would easily be able to recreate it without much stress. I thought that it was a little too tropical for Autumn and in the end thought I would align it with the rest of the menu and turned the last course into a salted caramel pannacotta instead. For a crunchy textural element I wanted to make some little apple crisps to go with the smooth and creamy pannacotta and to also tie in with the apple part of the theme. Thinking the dessert needed one more element to complete it I decided to add some poached apple to the dessert. Instead of poaching the apples in regular sugar syrup, I decided to poach them in moscato instead which give them a whole different flavour profile. Everyone loved the idea of moscato poached apple.

     As we were limited with resources for plating our desserts, Ryan suggested that we make the pannacottas in the jars that we had bought for our Christmas Dinner. He is such a smart one that boy. The jars added a fun element to the night despite the fact they were a little tricky to eat out of but that's what spoons are for ;)

      At the end of the night Ryan and I were able to kick back and mingle with our guests and also enjoy our culinary creations.

We also had an impromptu vocal performance from Celine which was requested by Ryan's mum.

      We had a donations box and a feedback box and were overwhelmed by what we received in both, a huge thank you to all our guests. The response from everyone was absolutely fantastic and everyone was so willing to give us feedback both good and bad, though it was mostly positives that we received. We are so glad that everyone enjoyed the night and the food and that everyone was already asking when the next one will be.

       Even though Ryan says that I was the brains behind most of this, I could not have done it without him. Thanks to him for planting the seed for this pop up idea and running with it as my ideas grew and grew, and also for being my cooking partner. We also could not have done it without being able to have access to such a wonderful space to host our friends, and also a great kitchen to work in - a big thank you to Ryan's parents for this. Who can forget our wonderful waitresses for the night, Celine and Jessica, you completed the dream team and Ryan and I could not have done it without you. And last but not least we couldn't have gone ahead and hosted such a fantastic event without our wonderful friends and their friends.

       It was days of hard work (and months of planning), but Ryan and I enjoyed every moment of it, even all the cleaning and packing up that we were still doing the morning after. We really do love cooking and being able to share that love is what makes us happy. This is the most successful event to date that Ryan and I have hosted and there are still many things to learn for next time.

       We are happy to say that we are already thinking about the next DESSERTed Dinner Party. For those that missed out but were keen to come, you will have to be quick as I think the seats will fill up much quicker this time around. Details coming soon so watch this space!