A Graduation - Fondant Person on Plaque

From Left: Me, my Mum, my Sister

I have just got back from my little sisters graduation. She has just finished studying hairdressing and is about to begin an apprenticeship at a salon which is very exciting! I wanted to give her a little present that was original and special, so I made her this little figure from fondant with a hair straightener, comb, curlers and scissors.

The whole thing is edible, but it also sets hard so can be kept as a little figurine if she wants. I am so happy with it it came out exactley as I imagined!!

I am also excited about completing my Christmas cake for cake decorating. I have a special cake topper I have been planning and can't wait to finish it and post some pictures soon. I hope it will be a great weekend!

Tick it off the Wishlist - Hightop Sneakers

Yay!! I am so happy to tick one item off my wishlist. I found these on Trademe yesterday and it didn't take much for me to push that "buy now" button...

They are actually the same as my current silver ones but in shiny black - I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival in the letterbox now!!

Ballet Review - The Nutcracker

I really enjoyed the ballet on Friday night. The Nutcracker is so great this time of year and there were some amazing moments particulary a romantic duet between a doctor and nurse in a snow storm - so cool!

Check out my review here, on the Theatreview website.

Hope it's been a great weekend!

Late Spring Inspiration

I finally have my DSLR camera back after its visit to the shop to get fixed - so I made the most of a beautiful late-spring evening and captured some of the many flowers and plants in my jungle of a garden.

I've seen some amazing rhododendrons around the neighbourhood lately and am thinking about doing a little of study of them so I can make them out of gumpaste.

Hopefully I'll be able to snap some over the next few evenings!

My home town just held a rhododendron festival recently, check it out here.

Recipe: Date and Cinnamon Scrolls

I wanted something tasty to take for lunch this week and when I discovered half a bag of dates hidden in my baking cupboard I knew exactley what I wanted!

I came up with this little recipe (I love when random creations work out!) using my basic scone recipe and going from there. These aren't exactley health-conscious but baking shouldn't be! ;)

Date and Cinnamon Scrolls

3 C Flour
6 t baking Powder
Pinch Salt
1 T Raw Sugar
75g Butter
1 t Cinnamon and 1 t Mixed spice
1 1/2 C Plain soy milk or normal milk

Filling:
3/4 C Dates - chopped
50g Butter - softened
4 T Raw sugar

Topping:
1 t Cinnamon
1 T Raw Sugar

Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Place dates in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soften for 15 minutes, then drain.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a bowl. Add raw sugar and combine. Add cubed, softened butter and rub into flour until mixture resembles bread crumbs.
Add milk and mix with a knife until just combined.
Tip onto a floured board or bench and pat into a rectangle approx 2cm thick.
Combine butter and raw sugar (filling) and spread evenly over scone dough.
Spread date mixture over dough as well then start from long edge and roll dough onto itself to form a sausage. Cut into 2cm thick pieces with a serrated knife and arrange on a baking tray. Brush with a little extra soy milk and sprinkle with combined topping ingredients.
Bake for approx 10 minutes, until top is golden brown and scones have puffed up.

These are so yummy - you don't need any butter with them as you already have the nice gooey filling - so good!!

Dance Review - The Nutcracker

I have the opportunity to review another show next Friday night - The Royal New Zealand Ballet's "The Nutcracker". One of my favourite ballets and perfect for this time of year, this one is a spin on the classic with the main character Clara ending up in a children's hospital with concussion and drifting in and out of consciousness where her Nutcracker toy comes to life. Should be great!

Check out this great You tube video of some of the company doing a dance to Lady Gaga's bad romance - its awesome!

Weekly Wishlist - Shoe Cutters

Phew! Finally I have Internet again, it has been a long 2 weeks without it!!

This week on my weekly wishlist is shoe cutters. My cake decorating teacher introduced these to me a couple of weeks ago and I can't wait to get my hands on some and start churning out shoes! I found this great little post on bakingproject.com, her shoes are gorgeous!

Speaking of cake decorating I am busy making a fondant sleigh for my christmas cake, filled with presents and candy canes. I can't wait to take some photos once it is all put together!!

I hope everyone has had a great couple of weeks...now to spend a couple of hours catching up on blogposts!!