Anna Trivedi Cakes

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since my last update - tut, tut, tut! Well I have been quite busy between one thing and another. Looking after The Emperor keeps me busy on one hand, but I have also been hard at work at starting my own cake business! Yes, I have decided to get a bit more serious about making cakes. I thought it was about time I stop talking about doing it and actually DO it!

Here are some pictures of my recent work...

I called this beautiful giraffe 'Sophie' after The Emperor's much-loved (and chewed) teething toy. Sophie was made complete with beautiful lashes and a cheeky tongue! This was a cake I made as part of some of my recent training at Planet Cake in Balmain, and was donated to the Ronald McDonald House in Randwick. The kids were thrilled to bits to enjoy such a fun chocolate cake for dessert :)

I've also been making some birthday cakes for children in my mothers' group recently. This drum cake was for a little boy of Swedish heritage, so it was befitting that blue and yellow be included in the design.

And another first birthday cake. This one based on the popular children's book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. I read this book to The Emperor every night before he goes to sleep so I am very familiar with the story. Making all the little food figurines in reference to the book was a lot of fun.

That's all from me for now, but hopefully it will not be too long before I update again with more cake shots!


Anna x

RSPCA Cupcake Day 2011

Today was my third year of participation in the RSPCA Cupcake Day, and it was a success once again... Thanks to the support of my family, friends and colleagues I raised $360 for the RSPCA! Hurrah, and a big thank you to everyone for their support of this wonderful cause :)

Vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream

This year I decided to keep my cupcakes simple, but no less delicious. I made my usual favourite chocolate cupcakes topped with ganache, as well as something new - a lovely Nutella cupcake which went down a treat with my fellow Nutella-addict friends. The recipe comes from this The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook - if you are keen for me to do a post on this recipe, please let me know!

'Nutella Lovers' cupcake

I also offered vanilla cupcakes with four different butter cream flavours - vanilla, strawberry, lavender and passionfruit. And because I'm not at all a fan of essences (oh don't even get me started!), I used all natural ingredients to create scrummy flavours. My favourite of the four was the strawberry buttercream - Mmmmm!

Vanilla cupcake with lavender buttercream

Vanilla cupcake with passionfruit buttercream

Vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream

Here is my recipe for you, my lovely readers...

Ladybird's Strawberry Buttercream (enough to generously top a dozen cupcakes)

an original Diary of a Ladybird recipe

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
pinch of salt
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g punnet strawberries, washed and hulled
2 tablespoons caster sugar, plus extra to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus extra to taste
pink food colouring (optional)

1. First start on the strawberry syrup that will flavour the buttercream. Blitz the strawberries to a fine puree. Combine in a a small saucepan along with the caster sugar and lemon juice. Stirring occasionally, bring to a simmer over low-medium heat. Reduce to low heat and stir frequently until the liquid has reduced to a thick syrup. Taste as you go, adding more lemon juice / caster sugar as required. Pass the syrup through a fine sieve and set aside in the fridge to cool.

2. Now start on the buttercream. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, vanilla extract and pinch of salt for a minute. Then beat in the icing sugar a third at a time, mixing well and scraping down the bowl after each addition to keep the mixture light and fluffy.

3. Finally, mix in the cooled strawberry syrup until well combined. If the mixture is a little wet for spreading/piping, simply add extra icing sugar. At this point you could also add a little pink food colouring if you wanted to enhance the colour, but I find that the syrup itself gives colours the buttercream nicely.


Till next time, dear readers

Ladybird x

Cookbook of the Month - August 2011

With RSPCA Cupcake Day fast approaching, my kitchen (and dining room!) have quickly become a crazed cupcake workshop this weekend. As I type this, my laptop is surrounded by trays of freshly baked cupcakes cooling  before they can be iced and adorned ready for sale on Monday. It's a lot of work, but I do love it.. there's just something about cupcakes that I will never tire of, and when it's for a good cause, how can I resist?!

With cupcakes on my mind, I am pleased to announce the cookbook of the month for August - The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook by Jennifer Graham. Published in 2007 this book has been around for a little while, but there is good reason behind its popularity. Written by the famed founder and director of the now closed Crabapple Cupcake Bakery in Victoria, I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to any cupcake lover. I recently received this cookbook as a gift and I am absolutely in love with it. It is filled with delicious and easy to follow recipes, both classic and imaginative.

I am looking forward to trying all the book's recipes, but as a litmus test I have already tried the book's basic vanilla and chocolate cupcake recipes twice now. Both get the big thumbs up from me, but below I have included both recipes so that you can make up your own mind if you like. I feel that both produce a great flavour and texture, as well as that highly sought-after smooth domed top.

Each of the following recipes is supposed to make 24, but I seem to get around 27 out of each recipe when I use a levelled off ice cream scoop to divide the batter among the cupcake papers. They will keep for 2 days and freeze for 2 months. For best results, start with all ingredients at room temperature. And as I always say, choose your eggs wisely! :)

Crabapple Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 & 3/4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
200g softened unsalted butter
1 & 3/4 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Line two 12 hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

2. Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the caster sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minute after each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

3. Add a third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add half of the milk and beat until combined. Repeat this process. Add the remaining third of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not overbeat as this will toughen the mixture.

4. Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three-quarters full. Note: I use a levelled off ice-cream scoop to divide the batter quickly and evenly. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

Crabapple Bakery's Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

3 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 cup hot water
1 cup cocoa
1 cup cold water
200g softened unsalted butter
2 & 1/2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Line two 12 hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

2. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the coffee, hot water and cocoa until you have a smooth paste. Add the cold water and whisk until evenly combined.

3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the caser sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minute after each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

4. Add a quarter of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add a third of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Repeat this process twice more. Add the remaining quarter of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not overbeat as this will toughen the mixture.

5. Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three-quarters full. Note: I use a levelled off ice-cream scoop to divide the batter quickly and evenly. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting


Till next time, dear readers!

Ladybird x

Coming soon - RSPCA Cupcake Day 2011!

RSPCA Cupcake Day is set to be held again this year on August 15th - that's only a 5 days away! As an animal (and cupcake) lover, this fundraising event is definitely something I look forward to each year - it is such a wonderful cause!

I am so looking forward to this event that I even decided to pen a little poem about it!

Bakers for the RSPCA

Support creatures great and small

Host a morning tea, or set up a stall

All you have to do is register and get baking

Let bakers unite – it’s history in the making!

RSPCA Cupcake Day – it’s an excellent cause

Get involved, and raise your paws!

Tell me, dear readers, will you be cupcaking this RSPCA Cupcake Day?


If you are, that's fantastic!!! Remember to choose your ingredients wisely when baking for this worthy cause.. Using caged eggs really defeats the purpose of supporting the RSPCA's work, so please choose free range eggs :) For more information about how to choose your eggs wisely, please click here.

Not a baker? No problem! Simply support a friend / family member / colleague by buying a cupcake from them on the day, or by sponsoring them through their RSPCA fundraising page. If all else fails, you can sponsor me if you like! To sponsor me, please click here.

So do support RSPCA Cupcake Day 2011 in any way that you can - the animals will love you for it!

Ladybird x

Planet Cake Course - Basics 102

I headed to Planet Cake's headquarters in Balmain yesterday for their Basic 102 course. I arrived at 9:30 for the course's commencement at 10am with what felt like a hundred butterflies in my stomach. I was about to learn from some of the very best in the cake decorating industry, and I couldn't wait to get started.

Part of my reason for the nerves was that I was about to learn things that I had never before attempted: ganaching and covering a square cake, making a big bow, and making a figurine. Clean, straight lines are very difficult to achieve, with even many seasoned decorators in the industry opting for round cakes instead to avoid them. This was not a challenger to shirk away from. It was going to be a big day, but I was ready :)

Under the friendly guidance of our teacher, Jessica and Planet Cake apprentice, Adam, myself and around 8 others set about our task of creating the present box with a figurine.

At each step Jessica demonstrated the technique required , and we then had a go with our own cake back on our benches. We also had notes to refer back to, but Jessica and Adam were on hand throughout the class to encourage and supervise our work, lending fantastic tips and advice along the way.

An unexpected bonus on the day was meeting Planet Cake's Paris Cutler, who joined us for a quick chat during our lunch break. She offered us some encouraging words about cake decorating, as well as some advice on the realities working in the industry.

At the end of the class, we had some time to take pictures of our work, as well as a group shot. Tired but happy, it was so satisfying to see all of the beautiful cakes we had created.

One of my favourite aspects of the class (which is difficult to decide, because it was all so amazing!) was learning how to make figurines. I decided that a fabulous cake called for some fabulous attire on my figurine. With a full length evening gown and pearl earring and necklace, she was oh so ladylike :)

I also painted on a little red colour for lipstick and gave her a stylish updo with a side-part to complete the effect. A lovely lady ready for the opera, or any other such posh occasion :) It was just like playing dressup - I felt like a kid again!

I must say, I am still on cloud nine after my class at Planet Cake. It was an incredible experience. I learnt so much and had so much fun in the process, that I have no doubt that I will have very fond memories of the day for a long time.

The difficulty, however, lies in deciding the fate of my chocolate mud cake... As I type this my cake is carefully boxed up and in a cool dark place at home. Whatever happens, I'm just not sure that I'll be able to bring myself to cut it... I might have to get someone else to do the deed! It really is incredibly how emotionally attached you can get to food when you put your heart and soul into it!

Since posting this story, this cake was donated to the families of Ronald McDonald House in Randwick, NSW. Ronald McDonald House provides support to seriously ill children and their families. To learn more about Ronald McDonald House, click here.

Ladybird x

RSPCA Cupcake Day

One of my first ever blog posts was 2009 RSPCA Cupcake Day. A year on, I am more passionate than ever about using baking to raise money for worthy causes such as The Heart Foundation and MS Australia. However, if there is one day that I go all out for charity, it's RSPCA Cupcake Day which was today!

Thank goodness it was held on a Monday, because it takes a longgg time to bake, ice and decorate over 100 cupcakes from scratch. It's times like this you crave the capacities of a big kitchen! Nevermind.. my little kitchen managed to cater the job.

Besides, I got to wear my RSPCA Cupcake Day Shirt that I ordered last week and picked up from the post office this morning (just in the nick of time!)

I kept the flavours relatively simple due to the quantity (over 100 in total!) Here's just some of what was on offer for benevolent buyers:

Vanilla with vanilla bean buttercream

Vanilla with white chocolate and vanilla bean ganache

Chocolate with chocolate ganache and strawberries

Lemon with lemon buttercream

Carrot with cream cheese

Chocolate with salted caramel

Cupcakes were decoated with butterflies, dragonflies, pawprints, dog bones for an animal themed spread. However, my  favourite decoration of all was the little fondant carrots I made, finished with a tiny sprig of dill to complete the effect.

The fastest cupcake to sell out was the chocolate with salted caramel icing - Dang! they tasted fine, even if I do say so myself! I've never really liked caramel.. but with a little bit of fleur de sel, caramel is taken to a whole new level! It's sophisticated and grown up, and pairs beautifully with a moist chocolate cake like this one.

Lucky for me, my office has quite a sweet tooth and people get behind a good cause when they see it. As a result, I raised $360 for the RSPCA :) My most successful 'Cupcakes for Charity' event yet!

Thank you to everyone who supported RSPCA Cupcake Day today... across the country animals are barking, meowing, quacking and goodness knows what else in appreciation of your generosity!

http://www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au/


Ladybird x

Cardamom and Rosewater Scented Cupcakes

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice, and all things nice 
(including rosewater)

Just like these cupcakes...

It's been a little while since the first instalment of Cupcakes for Charity, and it was that time again in my office today. For today's sale I made Cardamom and Rosewater scented cupcakes. The proceeds of today's sale went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Australia (MS Australia). MS is a debilitating disease that affects the central nervous system. It affects thousands of Australians, yet its cure remains elusive. In short - a worthy cause.

These delicate cupcakes were scented with two of my favourite flavourings - cardamom and rosewater. For me, the heavenly scents of these ingredients are luxurious, and reminiscent of beautiful sweets from South Asian and the Middle East. These ingredients have been used for centuries, and not just in cooking. During the days of the Mughal empire, palaces were filled with such aromas. Rosewater flowed in fountains and was used to cool sleeping chambers - now that's decadence!

These cupcakes were made using a classic vanilla cupcake recipe with a quarter teaspoon of freshly ground cardamom added along with the vanilla extract. If you're trying this recipe, don't be tempted to buy ground cardamom - it is a waste of money. Buy green cardamom pods, pop them open and grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle just before you start baking. The result is well and truly worth the little extra effort :)

To top the cupcakes I made a Rosewater Glacé Icing and topped them with little rosebuds and silver cachous. You can get dried rosebuds safe for cooking purposes at tea stores like T2.


Ingredients
320g icing sugar
1 tsp butter (or vegetable oil)
approx 2 tbsp boiling water
2 to 3 tsp rosewater
red food colouring
Plus - silver cachous and 12 dried rosebud

Method
1. Sift icing sugar into a heatproof bowl; stir in butter (or oil) and enough hot water to form a thick paste.
2. Place bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until spreadable.
3. Add the food colouring a drop at a time, as well as 2 teaspoons of the rosewater. Add a further teaspoon if you want a stronger flavour, but bear in mind it should be delicate (we're not making potpourri here).
4. Spoon carefully over cooled cupcakes, then top with rosebuds and cachous. The icing will set firm to touch.


Happy baking, readers! Till next time...

Ladybird x

Cupcakes for Charity - The Heart Foundation

As a regular baker, I often think about how I could use my skills for the benefit of those in need. With cupcakes being so popular in my office, I thought.."Why not sell them and put the money towards a good cause..." So with that, I have come up with the concept of Cupcakes for Charity.

My aim is to do a Cupcakes for Charity sale at least twice a month, and each time I will choose a different charity. For the first instalment of Cupcakes for Charity I chose the Heart Foundation. Cardiovascular disease remains one of Australia's biggest health problems... The Heart Foundation relies on gifts and donations to continue its lifesaving research, education and health promotion work, so it is a very good cause.

It seemed only right that the cupcakes be decorated with love hearts. Cupcakes with heart.. awww! ;)

Ladybird x

http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/

RSPCA Cupcake Day

RSPCA Cupcake Day has been a resounding success in my office. Jacqui and I hosted a cupcake morning tea and we sold 84 cupcakes in 15 minutes! yay! All of our proceeds will go to the RSPCA.

Jacqui made beautiful vanilla cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache and very creative fondant animal cut-outs - very cute! There were ducks, cats and dogs.

I made 4 varieties of cupcakes:
Lovely lemon
Vanilla with rosewater glace icing
Vanilla with vanilla buttercream and a shortbread dogbone
Gluten free chocolate w strawberries and cream



Then it seemed that all that sugar couldn't go to waste, so the girls went crazy with the RSPCA balloons...

It's great to be able to combine my love of cupcakes with a charitable cause. What a great way to start the week :)

Love,

Ladybird x

PS - My photos do leave a bit to be desired today, don't they?! I hereby resolve to take better photos for my blog!