chocolate and caramel

Whilst I haven’t made many layered cakes in my time, this one is definitely my most favourite. I made this chocolate and caramel cake for a friend’s birthday and it was gobbled up insanely quickly. There are four lovely layers of cake - vanilla, caramel, choc-caramel and chocolate – with caramel sandwiched in between each layer, and a coating of milk and dark chocolate ganache. The cake layers are beautifully moist due to the addition of yoghurt in the mixture, taking the cake to another level. And despite the caramel in between and chocolate ganache coating, the cake isn’t overly sweet which is perfect if you want to have more than just one piece (which you most definitely will want to do!). I got a bit lazy with decorating and decided to keep it simple by using chocolate shavings. Find the recipe here.

xx

strawberry cupcakes

Another non-chocolate-based cupcake, another surprisingly delicious result! Due to the strawberry buttercream epically failing (I have no idea what I did wrong!), I whipped up a simple vanilla buttercream to accompany the strawberry cupcakes instead. Find the recipe here.

Thil

xx

sweet, sweet sydney

Pizza topped with pure melted chocolate, caramelised pecans, cornflakes, marshmallows and white chocolate droplets, with a side of strawberries - Max Brenner.

Malted milkshake macaron and pancakes & maple syrup macaron - Adriano Zumbo, Star City.

Strawberry and mascarpone torta - Manfredi at Bells at Killcare, Central Coast.

Chocolate, raspberry and amaretto brownie with vanilla ice cream - Jamie's Italian, Sydney City. 

Buttermilk pancakes with fresh strawberries, cream, vanilla ice cream and strawberry coulis - Pancakes on the Rocks.

The Cupcake Bakery - QVB, Sydney City.

I love Sydney for so many reasons, but I especially love it for the endless culinary experiences it has on offer. Best of all are the deliciously sweet goodies you come across at every corner as you explore this beautiful city.

Thil
xx

bananas and cream cheese

Banana cake and cupcakes are the perfect way to make something scrumptious from bananas that have been hanging around uneaten for a bit too long. Whilst these cupcakes are nice by themselves, the cream cheese frosting is an absolute hero and a perfect partner to this cupcake. A caramel buttercream or honey-cinnamon frosting could also be used. As a finishing touch, I drizzled maple syrup over the top, but caramel sauce, fresh banana slices or walnuts would work just as deliciously.

Find the banana cupcake recipe here, cream cheese frosting here, caramel buttercream here and the honey-cinnamon frosting here.

xx

maple, cinnamon and walnut

To shake things up a bit, I thought I’d attempt making cupcakes without using my favourite ingredient of chocolate. So I came across this Martha Stewart recipe and whipped up these beautiful walnut and cinnamon cupcakes with maple syrup buttercream and candied walnuts. And they were yummy! The cupcake is quite light meaning you can go back for more, has a hint of spice through the use of cinnamon, and has a lovely buttercream which adds the right amount of sweetness. If your buttercream is a bit runny and starts going over the sides of the cupcakes, like mine initially did, set it aside for a while to make it easier to work with.

Thil

xx

pink velvet roulade

One of my favourite cakes when I was growing up was the Swiss roll. So obviously I was delighted to come across this pink velvet roulade recipe. It was relatively easy to make, and the difference in texture of the cake allows it to be flexible enough to roll up perfectly. Neither the cake nor buttercream are overly sweet either, meaning you can easily keep going back for more and more. If you want something more decadent, look no further than a Lindt chocolate roulade. I’ve made it a couple of times and absolutely love it – find it here.

xx

tiramisu cake

This recipe beautifully combines sponge cake, espresso syrup, mascarpone frosting, cocoa powder, dark chocolate shavings and sweet ladyfingers to create an amazing cake. Every single component of this tiramisu cake blends in so nicely and the combination of flavours and textures is incredible. I really enjoyed the sponge itself and have a feeling that the addition of cream to the cake mixture has something to do with that. And the mascarpone frosting is divine!

I absolutely love tiramisu and this cake really does this classic dessert justice. Find the recipe here.

Thil

xx