Valentines Day // Mini Honey Yogurt Cakes

 

So, tomorrow is Valentines Day! I plan on painting my nails tonight with red glitter nail polish in celebration. Apart from that, I don't have too many exciting plans. I have pulled a mini lamb roast out of the freezer though & I think these mini honey yoghurt cakes will be a nice accompaniment for pudding.

 

I got the idea for these from my Mum - I went to visit my family in Dunedin last weekend & Mum had made this amazing lemon yoghurt cake for afternoon tea - it was so tasty!

 

I changed the lemon juice to honey, added some vanilla paste & baked these in baking paper lined ramekins. They came out as cute little moist cakes which I dressed up with rose syrup & chopped pistachios with some yoghurt on the side (middle eastern inspiration is my favourite!)

 

The recipe is so easy, so I hope you give these a go!

 

 

Mini Honey Yogurt Cakes

3/4 C White Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 C Oil (I used extra virgin olive oil but canola is good too)

1/4 t Salt

1/2 C Yoghurt (Greek or plain unsweetened)

1 1/2 T Liquid Honey

1/2 t Vanilla Paste (or 1 t vanilla)

1 C Self Raising Flour

 

Heat oven to 180 degrees celsius & grease & line the sides & bases of 6 small ramekins (or a cheesecake tray with removable bases)

Mix sugar, eggs, oil & salt with an electric beater or whisk until thick.

Mix in yoghurt, honey & vanilla paste.

Fold n flour until just mixed.

Scoop into tins (the mixture is quite runny - I used an ice cream scoop)

Bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees, then drop the oven temperature to 150 degrees & continue cooking the cakes for approximately 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Serve with rose syrup poured over (or more honey) plain yoghurt & chopped pistachios.

 

Serves 6

 

**To make a lemon version, omit the honey & vanilla paste & add 1 1/2 T lemon juice & the grated rind of 1 lemon. Serve with yoghurt & blueberries.

 

These are so yummy & stay good for 2-3 days (if they last that long!) I really want to go out & find a cheesecake tray now so I can make a whole heap of them...

 

What do you have planned for Valentines Day?

 

Kc



Business Time // Southern Crafters Market

Yes...this post title does sound familiar!! I have just attended another Southern Crafters market here in Invercargill. It wasn't as busy as the first one but it was still pretty good!!

I thought I'd share some photos of my stall. I was really proud of it this time, I put a lot of thought into my display and  think it paid off! I ordered a banner off Vsitaprint and am stoked with how it came out - its huge! I got lots of nice comments so that was cool.

I made 8 flavours of cupcakes (lemon blossom, candy floss, double choc, carrot cake, malty milkshake, rainbow vanilla, peachy bellini and cherry bomb) a chocolate raspberry brownie & gluten free blueberry & lemon friands. Yum!

I made all my business cards myself, as well as the price lists and the cupcake menu's (I'm so pleased with the menu's! They work really well!)

Another exciting thing - my lovely friend Laura made me a website!! So check out Sequin Corner Cakes on the web - www.sequincornercakes.com - she's added all my prices and photos which is pretty cool!

Do you guys have any little businesses on the side? Do you have a stall at a local market?

Recipe Post // Blueberry Pancakes

I kind of treat baking as an experiment. I know some people say you should follow the recipe to the letter - but there's so many variables! I quite often change recipes slightly to get a better result, or just make them up from scratch - like this one!

One of my favourite cafes in Dunedin makes amazing pancakes. Like, plate sized pancakes! Filled with chopped fruit (watermelon, apples, bananas, grapes...whatever is available) and yoghurt. Capers was always the first stop for a tasty hungover breakfast on a Sunday morning when I was a student. 

So, I experimented. I had to have a go at making these at home! After multiple attempts (and a few fails!) this is my recipe. They turn out like giant pikelets, kind of cake-like in texture. I hope you'll give them a try on a lazy Sunday morning one weekend!

Blueberry Pancakes

 50g Butter, melted
1 1/2 C Plain Flour
1 Egg
 1/4 C Sugar
1 C Milk
3 t Baking Powder
Blueberries

Melt butter in a bowl in the microwave. 
Add all the other ingredients and whisk/beat with an electric mixer unti all combined. 
Heat a frying pan & grease with a touch of butter.
Scoop 1/3 C lots of batter into the pan and spread out slightly until about 7mm thick. Drop 5 or so blueberries on top of the pancake. 
When the pancake starts to bubble and turn matt, flip it over.

I stack mine up with Greek yoghurt and sliced bananas inbetween, sift over some icing sugar and then douse the whole thing in maple syrup. YUM!!

I hope you enjoy my pancake recipe! What is your favourite weekend breakfast meal to make?

Life Lately // A Concert, Cupcakes & a Vege Shed

I had great fun up in Cromwell for the Winery Tour concert! It rained on us the whole way as we travelled up there, then as we arrived the sun came out and the temperature zoomed up a few degrees! I had a great night eating some AMAZING pizza being sold at the venue plus gluten free cupcakes I made & took with me, drinking a couple of glasses of Olssens Winery Pinot Gris and dancing on my picnic blanket to Gin Wigmore. Man she is amazing live!

On the way home today we stopped in Arrowtown for a pie from the Bakery (they make awesome gourmet pies!) and I dragged my friend to the Remarkables Sweet Shop so I could get some fudge (I convinced her to buy some too!!) Can you see all my trips end up revolving around food?

We also stopped at the Vege Shed in the Athol Valley. The woman running the place was so lovely! I found a super cute cupcake-related necklace which her daughter had made and I had to buy it. She then came and sat outside with me and my friends and we had a great chat about cupcakes, blueberries and her business. She was really supportive of my little cake business and gave me some great tips! It’s so nice meeting people who get all excited about my business idea and offer up tips from their own experience. After we left my brain was going a hundred miles an hour thinking of what my next step could be!

**Photos all from the Vege Shed because I was having too much fun to remember to take photos at other points of the trip...

Today is also February 22^nd here in New Zealand – a year ago today at 12:51pm there was a devastating earthquake in Christchurch, a city 5 hours away from my hometown of Dunedin. 185 people died and the city is still receiving aftershocks and dealing with the cleanup. Although my friends and I missed 12:51pm by 10 minutes – we had our own little 1 minute of silence at 1pm in the car between Arrowtown & Queenstown to remember those who were lost. Kia Kaha Christchurch – Stand strong. 

Recipe Post // Greek Lamb & Feta Patties

I love taking inspiration from friends and family when I’m thinking of new meals to make. Last summer I frequently spent weekends at a friend’s house, drinking raspberry mojitos and having BBQ’s in the sunshine. I loved how her and her husband always served the meat with lemon squeezed over, with feta cheese and pita bread on the side. My friend made these amazing feta-filled patties and while I didn’t get the exact recipe off her this one is inspired by hers.

You will need;

300 – 400g Lamb Mince (or beef mince)

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 t Oregano

1 piece of bread – toasted and cut into small cubes (I like multigrain)

1 t Cumin

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 Egg

Feta Cheese – cut into cubes

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl.

2. Mix everything together with clean hands, or wear gloves.

3. Fold a small palm-full of mixture around a cube of feta until it is covered.

4a. Place on a baking tray and bake at 180°C about 15 minutes, or until just cooked.

4b. Cook on a BBQ until just cooked through. 

I serve mine in toasted pita bread, with hummus, salad and a favourite creamy dip. The lemon and feta add a nice freshness to what would otherwise be boring old BBQ patties!

What is your favourite Summer BBQ food?

 

Recipe Post // Banoffee Cupcakes

I'm always trawling through the recipe apps at the app store on my iPhone and the other day I came across one from Primrose Bakery. After having a quick look at the screen grabs I was smitten and immediateley downloaded it!

The first recipe I wanted to try was the Banoffee Pie Cupcakes. The cake itself is so yummy and moist! I decided to use the icing recipe I have been using for my other cupcakes. I made a plain buttercream icing and then added a couple of tablespoons of golden syrup to give it a yummy caramel flavour. 

Banoffee Cupcakes

125g Butter

250g Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
250g Plain Flour
2 t Baking Powder
4 Ripe Bananas
Dried Banana Chips (to decorate)

Frosting:
115g Unsalted Butter (I just used salted - its cheaper!)
60ml Milk
500g Icing Sugar
2 T Golden Syrup

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a tray with paper cases.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, add eggs one at a time until well combined.
Add the flour, vanilla and baking powder and mix again.
Mash the bananas and add, mixing again.
Spoon mixture into paper cases (I used a icecream scoop so they were all even-sized)
Bake for 25 minutes or unitl cooked through.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting:
Cream butter, milk, vanilla and 1/2 the icing sugar. Add the rest of the icing sugar and the golden syrup and beat to combine. Place in a piping bag with chosen nozzle attached and top cupcakes with frosting.

The recipe says it will make 12, but I managed to get 16 good-sized cupcakes out of it!

 

I think the app was $4-$5 NZ which isn't too bad for a recipe app that looks pretty, is easy to use and (so far!) gets yummy results! I took a bunch of cupcakes up to Dunedin with me to feed all of my family and they all gave them a thumbs up. 

I spent the weekend seeing 'Sleeping Beauty' with my sister, catching up with friends, shopping for summer dresses and I finally got a candy thermometer!! I can't wait to start making yummy Christmas treats.

Work is beginning to wind down for me now, as any consents for new buildings have to be in to the council within the next 2 weeks before they close over Christmas, so I'm gonna have plenty of time for baking, recipe posts and fun DIY's!

Are there any recipe apps you would recommend? What did you get up to in the weekend?

Girl About Town // Malayka in Auckland

Here we have the last remaining Guest Post from my Girl About Town series! Today's post is from Malayka over at Dashfield Vintage. She has some great vintage clothing posted over on her blog, as well as a cool hair tutorial I noticed recently! Keep reading to find out about her favourite places in Auckland.

Hi there,

My name is Malayka.  I moved from Germany to Auckland about 27 years ago (yes that’s right I was 2 years old!) and although I have lived in numerous other cities and countries around the world I seem to always gravitate back to Auckland.  At the beginning of this year my partner and I moved away from the city and out into the country where we live in a little cottage close to the beach.  My little blog is called Dashfield Vintage and features all sorts of vintage related fun, events, life ramblings and regular updates about my vintage store (www.dashfieldvintage.com).  When I’m not skimming through blogs I am working as a translator, writer and vintage seller.  Anyway here are a few of my favourite haunts around Auckland,

Eat

One of my favourite cafes in this city is Cosset.  Truth be told I only discovered it a few months ago and have since become a regular customer!  Cosset has this adorable rustic/ vintage décor, super relaxed atmosphere, the most amazing vegan food (trust me you’re going to love this even if you’re not vegan!), and delicious homemade sodas in flavours like hibiscus and lavender. 

Quite on the opposite end of the health scale is my favourite pizza joint Sals.  This has since become a bit of a chain place around town but they still serve the best and only ‘big as your face’ slices of authentic New York style pizza’s!  They are super thin and drowning in fantastic gooey mozzarella.  What more could you want from a naughty treat!

Shop

Auckland is slowly seeing the return of vintage stores and small time designers which is fantastic!  Although they are dotted all over the city a great place to start is St Kevins Arcade on Karangahape Rd.  This is a beautiful old deco building filled with sweet little shops selling one off vintage and hand made designer pieces.

Something else that is making a real come around here are weekend craft markets such as First Thursday, Kraftbomb and Supermarket.  For specifically vintage ones look out for the monthly Travelling Vintage Sale.  It’s not only a great place to find unique treasures but it’s also nice to know that you are supporting local artists.

Best spots

When it comes to ‘getting away’ without ever leaving the city you really can’t beat the winter gardens in the Auckland Domain.  This is by far my favourite place to be in Auckland!  These amazing glass houses were built in the 1920s and are true to the art deco style.  One is a tropical hot house filled with all sorts of exotic plants (and a great place to warm up on a cold winters day I might add) and the cool house has equally beautiful plants that prefer a colder climate.  Oh and while you’re there you may as well check out the war memorial museum followed by a coffee by the big ponds.

If you’re feeling a little bit more adventurous then another really fun place to go in Auckland is North Head  North Head is situated on (and in) a giant hill in Devonport.  It consists of a series of tunnels (yes you can go into them), old army barracks, rusty canons and all sorts of other spooky and exciting things.  It was built in the 1800s to defend against the threat of a Russian invasion.  This place is rife with mysterious stories and suspicious tales.

It wouldn’t really be right to visit Auckland and not soak up a little culture.  After years of renovating, the Auckland City Art Gallery has finally opened and much to everybody’s surprise it looks amazing!  Oh and after you’ve checked out the art work, make sure you go upstairs and have a coffee on the new balcony over looking Albert Park, I could happily spend hours up there in the sun!

Lastly I would recommend checking out the viaduct if you are new to the city.  You have probably heard all sorts of horrifying stories about the sleazy bars and wanky restaurants down here but thankfully it has more to offer than just that!  On a sunny day the viaduct is a beautiful place to hang out, go for a walk around the Warf, have a nosey at the super luxury yachts and maybe even be tempted to jump on a ferry!

So you see Auckland City has a lot more to offer than you might think!  I used to always complain that living in New Zealand was so boring compared to places like Europe, in all honesty though you just need to look at this country through the eyes of a tourist and there’s actually so much to see and do!  Thank you Kasey for inviting me to come and brag about my city J.  x

Thanks Malayka! What an awesome post. I love the look of that travelling vintage sale! And a lavender soda from Cosset?? Sounds amazing!

I hope you've all enjoyed my Girl About Town Series, thanks to all my lovely guest posters - Maria in Dunedin, Sarah in Christchurch, Trees in Wellington and Malayka in Auckland. Soon I'll have a post up about Invercargill for you and some of the awesome places I've found!

Girl About Town // Trees in Wellington

Here's the next town on our little around-New-Zealand adventure - Wellington! Brought to you by the lovely Trees. She posts pictures from around Wellington, crafty things and outfit posts on her blog and I always enjoy checking it out! Take it away Trees!

 Kia Ora my name is Trees and KC has been kind enough to ask me to do a guest post for my beautiful city of Wellington. For those of you who don't know, Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand and also a place for all kinds of artsy happenings. I work as a public servant and enjoy the life style the city offers. My partner and I live in an art deco apartment in the city centre and we don't have to walk too far from our front door to find something interesting whether its a cafe, art house cinema, music venue, play or the Wellington waterfront. My blog Adventures of a girl from the Naki and I blog about craft, fashion, music, movies, art, food and life in Wellington.

There's a saying in Wellington - "You can't beat Wellington on a good day" and its true! On a good day this is quite possibly one of the most beautiful cities in the world (not that I am biased or anything). If you don't believe me, here's some photographic evidence. 

On days like these you just want to eat your food outside and one of the best places to do this is Kreuzberg Summer Cafe. This cafe is fabulous, its based in an old parking lot. Your food will be cooked on a barbecue and it will be delicious. Despite being such a small cafe, they also have vegetarian and vegan meals.

Another favourite place of mine to hang out in Wellington is Expressoholic - this place is pretty iconic in Wellington and it seems that I find myself there at least once a week. It's a great place to meet your friends and chat over a tea or coffee. But they also have the most amazing cabinet food (my favourite is the tortilla stack) and a full menu. My favourite at Expressoholic is a "horchata" which is a Mexican drink. It tastes like warm vanilla melted ice cream - only better!

When it comes to shopping my favourite place in the city is Cuba Street, you can visit great stores like Iko Iko or Madam Fancy Pants. However, I an op shopper at heart so you are more likely to find me in Newtown or Kilbirnie op shopping during the weekends. One of my favourite Wellington op shops is Opportunity for Animals - they have really great prices and the Kilbirnie store has the most amazing selection of shoes!

Another one of my favourite shopping events is less frequent, Craft 2.0 which is an indie craft market which happens four times a year. Usually it takes place in the New Dowse Gallery in Upper Hutt, but the next market is due to happen in Wellington city - Yah! Craft 2.0 usually includes all kinds of crafty and baked goods, as well as a photo booth - everyone loves a photo booth.

Finally - if you're in Wellington where should you visit? Well one of my favourite things to do is to go for walks around the city. This may be a hilly city but it is idea for walking as it is so small and compact. You could get a bus to Lyall Bay and then walk from Lyall Bay to Island Bay - its pretty much all flat. Once you get to Island Bay you can check out the mini aquarium and say hi to an Octopus.

Finally, no trip to Wellington is complete without a visit to the Wellington waterfront, its my favourite place in the city, luckily I only live 10 minutes away. Anything can happen at the waterfront - on Sunday you can buy your fruit and vegetables and attend the food market or you may bump into a friendly seal or see some waka or dragon boats. Last weekend we bought hot chocolate from a double decker bus - there's always something happening in this little city.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post - I hope you enjoyed your virtual tour of Wellington!

Thanks Trees!! So many great photos and places to visit. Looking forward to my next trip to Wellington now! Check out Maria's post on Dunedin and Sarah's post on Christchurch too!