Diamond Jubilee Dome Cake

The other day I posted my review of Peggy Porschen's new Boutique Baking book.  I was so excited when it arrived, I couldn't put it down.  I flipped through the pages over and over again, examining every recipe trying to decide what to make first.  

The recipe that stood out the most to me was a very simple, yet elegant dome cake that Peggy calls her Raspberry & Rose Dome Cake (pictured below from her book).  This cake isn't your typical cake - it's made up of a thin layer of jaconde sponge and then filled with a delicious custard butter cream that's been studded with raspberries.

I'm not going to lie - this cake is fairly labour intensive.  There's a lot of steps involved and it's best to do them over two days, but the step by step pictures are a huge asset and really do help to reassure you that you're doing things correctly.

Peggy's version of the Raspberry & Rose Dome Cake (above) is covered in pastel fondant and decorated with pretty sugar paste flowers.  I choose to decorate mine in a royal theme to help celebrate the upcoming Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  I used the same sugar paste flowers that I made last year on my Royal Wedding Cupcakes, and I also made some cute little crowns from a mould that I picked up a few months ago at the Squires Kitchen Cake Decorating Exhibition.

  

I've decided not to post the recipe for this cake because it's very long (approx 4 pages in the book) and requires a lot of steps (see the pictures above).  I don't want that to detour you from making it though.  It's not hard to make - especially the jaconde sponge (I made a similar one here, and they only take 8 minutes to bake!), it's just the assembling of the cake that takes the time.  So if you think you'd like to try baking your own dome cake, then please buy Peggy's Boutique Baking book - you won't regret it!

To make the crowns you'll need a mould like this one here from Squires Kitchen that I used.  First I took some Mexican modelling paste and tinted it a light golden colour (I used golden yellow from Wilton).  Next I brushed some gold metallic lustre dust inside my mould which helped to give it the golden colour, but also to prevent the modelling paste from sticking.  

Firmly push the modelling paste into the mould and trim off any excess with a sharp knife,  To remove the crowns simply turn the mould upside down and tap the back of the mould firmly with the handle of a knife to help shake them out.

To give the crowns their nice golden colour I mixed a bit of the gold lustre dust with a tiny bit of vodka to create a shiny gold paint and used a paintbrush to coat the surface of the crowns.  The red and blue gems in the crowns are actually just shimmery sugar sprinkles that were given to me by Waitrose in a goody bag a few months ago.

This cake calls for a dome mould (Peggy uses half of a ball pan) to give the cake it's perfect shape, but I didn't have a dome mould, so instead used a bowl.  Although the bowl worked, it didn't turn out exactly as I'd imagined.  It was a bit deeper and not as perfectly domed as I'd hoped, but I think I could have done a better job of lining my bowl with the jaconde sponge to get a better shape.  I get a bit annoyed when my baking attempts don't turn out exactly as they do in the pictures!

This cake, like most traditional UK cakes is covered in both a layer of marzipan, followed by a layer of fondant.  I'm not a huge fan of marzipan, and I honestly don't see much of a point in using both layers of covering (other than the fact that the marzipan layer makes the fondant layer a little easier to smooth out).  I almost did't bother using the marzipan, but I wanted to make the cake exactly as it's shown in the book.

I had intended on using the same fondant boarder around the base of my cake that was shown in the book, but the red fondant (Renshaw brand) I'd bought a month earlier had dried into a rock hard block before I even got a chance to get it out of the package!  Instead, I kept things simple and just used some red and blue ribbon.

Overall, I was quite pleased with my dome cake - even if it didn't turn out perfect.  Although I've done a few, I'm still fairly new to covering cakes in fondant, and really just enjoy tinkering around in my spare time making flowers and sugar paste decorations.  I've always wanted to improve my cake decorating skills, and I'm very pleased to announce I will get that opportunity this week!  


You see, last summer after I made my Peggy Porschen Baby Shower Cookies I was absolutely thrilled to receive an invite from the Peggy Porschen Academy inviting me to attend one of Peggy's cake decorating courses!!!  The only thing was, they had invited me to a course that was taking place 3 weeks after I was due to give birth to baby Jayden.  I knew there was no way I could attend a cake decorating course and leave my 3 week old at home. Luckily, Peggy's team was very understanding and told me to contact them when I was ready to take one of her courses.


A few months ago I got back in touch with Peggy's team and we decided on my course.  I'm so excited to tell you all that this Tuesday I will be spending the day with Peggy learning how to make this absolutely stunning Black and White Anemone Cake!!

I'm sooo looking forward to learning how to make this stunning cake and picking up tips from the master herself.  I can't wait to share my cake with you all when I'm done, so keep watching, and I'll post it soon!

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Crackle Cake (or Pie?)

Do you like cake?  Do you like pie?  I like both, and if you do too then you'll like this cake (or pie - or whatever you want to call it).  I've had the idea for this cake (I'm calling it a cake) for a few months now, but only just got around to making it last week.  It turned out slightly different than I had imagined it would, and in the end the line between cake and pie was slightly blurred.  It's tall like a cake, but has a crust like a pie, and is super ooey gooey inside!

I've been on a bit of a caramel apple kick lately which is kinda weird because I usually only think about caramel apple combinations in the fall, and it's practically Easter! 

I whipped up my latest creation imagining the end result as something slightly different than what it actually turned out to be like, but needless to say I was pretty pleased with the results.  

My cake has a solid crunchy cookie type crust on the bottom and has a layer of cinnamon apples and then a creamy gooey dulce de leche caramel filling. Yum!  But beware!  This cake is sweet.  It's super duper sweet, so don't cut your slices too big. 

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Crackle Cake

Cookie Crust

2 Cups (250g) Flour 

1 1/2 (335g) Cups Sugar 

2 tsp Baking Powder 

1 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp salt 

1 egg 

1/2 Cup (114g) Butter, melted 

2 Tbs Milk  

1.  Grease a 9 inch round Spring Form pan.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Next, add in the egg, melted butter, and milk. Using a spoon or an electric fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the ingredients together until it forms a dough.  

2.  Press the dough evenly in the bottom of the Spring Form pan, and set aside.  

Apple Layer 

4 Cups Apples, sliced

1 Cup (225g) sugar 

7oz (200ml) Water 

3 - 4 Tbsp Corn Startch 

1 tsp Cinnamon 

1/4 tsp Nutmeg 

1/4 tsp Salt  

1.  Combine the water sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a large heavy pot, and and bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly - the sauce should become slightly thickened.  Add in the apples, cover and simmer until apples are tender, about 5 minutes. Cool and set aside.   

Dulce de Leche Caramel Layer 

8 oz (225g) Cream Cheese, softened 

1 cup (250ml) Dulce de Leche 

3 Eggs 

1/2 Cup (114g) Butter, melted 

3.5 Cups (450g) Icing Sugar  

1.  Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC).  In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and Dulce de Leche together until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together.   

2.  To assemble the cake, layer the apples on top of the cookie base so that it's completely covered.  

3.  Gently spoon the dulce de leche mixture over the top of the apples until you've used all of the mixture.  *If you pour the mixture directly from the bowl onto the apples the pressure of the mixture may shift your apples all over the place so they're no longer evenly covering the crust.  Bake the cake uncovered for about 45 mins, or until it starts to brown, then cover with foil and bake for an additional 30 - 45 minutes or until the center is slightly giggly, but not runny.  Once done, cool in the fridge overnight before serving.

So what do you think? Is this a cake?  Or a pie?

It's Good To Be Back! Let's Celebrate With A Chocolate Blackberry Layer Cake

Well, after a much longer than anticipated hiatus after having little Jayden, I'm proud to say I'm back!!!  I'm not going to lie - caring for a new born baby was a lot more time consuming than I ever expected.  I went from reading baking blogs to reading skimming baby books, and I can probably count the number of times on one hand that I actually turned my computer on in the past 3 months - thank goodness for iPhones!  I haven't really had much spare time to bake, but I've started to ease back into it over the past few weeks and have a few Christmas treats I'm dying to make, and blog about.  But this post isn't about Christmas at all - in fact, it's  a wonderfully thoughtful guest post from the amazing Arthi who bakes the most amazing creations over on her blog Soul Curry.  As Arthi mentions below, we first met at a blogger potluck last year, and I was so taken with her and her husband and how genuinely nice they both were.  They drove down to London all the way from Manchester just for the potluck, and we soon discovered that the regional office where I sometimes worked was very near to her house.  She even offered to let me stay with them incase the impending snow storm that was forecasted to happen while I was scheduled to be there prevented my plane from returning back to London.  How nice is that?!?!  Anyways, a huge apology to Arthi for taking an inexcusably long time to get her wonderful guest post up that she so thoughtfully prepared for us all.  Like I said before, I've barely had a chance to turn on my computer on over the past few months that I haven't even been able to reply to the majority of the emails I've been sent, so sorry if you were one of those people I haven't replied to!  Now that we're in more of a predictable routine, I will do my best to go back and reply to you all!  Before turning it over to Arthi, here's a little picture of my time consuming munchkin!  

A few days back I got a DM on twitter from Andrea of Made With Pink and I was thrilled to hear that she had delivered a healthy baby boy. I quickly rushed to her site to see the pics of her new born. Pure Bliss! 

 

I met Andrea at the FBC Potluck last year and me & I absolutely loved her Nanaimo bars ( a rich confection from a town called Nanaimo, that's made up of Graham cracker , cocoa, coconut and nut crust, a chocolate topping & has a rich custard buttercream filling).

Thanks to twitter we managed to keep in touch, although I missed her at the Plate2Page & FBC this year. Andrea asked me to guest post for her and when asked about what I should be making, she said anything sweet…Now, that anything sweet cannot be made-with-pink (sorry Andrea), as she has a handsome boy and I decided I have to make-it-with-a-little-bit-of-blue (errr Lilac). With a bit of brain storming and checking what my friend’s little boys like, I decided it has to be chocolate..so I made this special Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Butter-cream for the very special Jayden.

Its a shame we cannot share this huge 5 layer cake with them in person! Congratulations to both of you… May the joy of parenting bring you loads of happiness, sleepless nights and caffine overdose…….and hopefully culminating in a new set of strong hands in the kitchen for some serious muscle power whisking!

Chocolate Blackberry Cake

For the cake I doubled this chocolate cake recipe and baked in 3 6inch tins.

For the Swiss butter-cream I doubled the recipe from Tartlette.

Ingredients:

200gms (7oz) sugar
4 large egg whites
330gms (1.5 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
150gms (1/3 lb) Fresh blackberries
1tsp Vanilla extract

Method:

Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a bain marie and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch & 150ºC (300ºF) on a candy thermometer. The sugar should be dissolved at this point. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 10 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Make sure you add the butter once the meringue is cool. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, about 10 minutes. Add the fresh blackberries and whisk. You could add pureed fresh berries for a smoother buttercream.

Bananas Make The Bestest Bread!

This banana bread is probably one of my favorite things that my mom made for us while growing up.  She'd always bake two loaves - one with nuts (bleh!) for her and my dad, and one with chocolate chips (yay!) for me and my brother.  I've mentioned before, that I have a horrible habit of buying fruit and not finishing it in time before it goes bad.  This especially goes for bananas.  I like my bananas pretty ripe - with no green what so ever, and preferably all yellow with a tiny hint of brown.  The problem is, is that if I buy 3-4 bananas and wait until they get to the right colour for me to eat, then inevitably there's going to be at least one of two that will get too brown by the time I get around to eating them.  Again, my solution is to freeze them.  Just peel the bananas and throw them in a ziplock bag and then into the freezer.  

I don't really mind having a freezer full of frozen bananas because it means that I can thaw them out to make a loaf or two of this fabulous banana bread.  It really is the best banana bread I've ever had, and I've tried a lot over the years.  Aside from cupcakes, it's probably the thing that disappears the fastest when I bring it into the office.  It's super moist, and loved by numerous people I know that actually hate bananas - including my husband.

One thing to note is that this recipe fills a standard North American loaf pan perfectly, but UK loaf pans are slightly smaller, so there's just a tad too much batter.  If you're using a standard UK pan, then you may need to have a small ramekin on hand to pour the extra batter in, so you'll end up with an extra mini loaf / muffin. And even though it's called banana bread, it's more of a load cake, and not bready at all.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 Cups (250g) Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup (115g) Butter

1 Cup (225g) Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Cup (250ml) Banana, mashed - about 3 frozen or very ripe bananas

1/3 Cup (80ml) Milk

1 tsp Lemon Juice or White Vinegar

1 Cup Chocolate Chips (or Nuts)

Instructions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350ºF (175ºC).  Grease a loaf pan with non stick cooking spray, or butter and line with parchment.  Sift flour, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  

3.  Measure your milk in a measuring cup and add the lemon juice or vinegar to it.  Stir, and set aside for 5 minutes until it's curdled. 

4.  Alternating between the flour mixture and milk, combine each with the butter, egg and sugar mixture, making sure stir until just combined before adding in the next bit.  I usually dive each ingredient into thirds when alternating and mixing together.

5.  Once everything has been combined, stir in the bananas and chocolate chips (or nuts).  Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan, and bake for 45 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick that's been inserted into the center of the load comes out clean.  Let the loaf cool completely in the pan before removing to cut.

* I've mentioned before that my oven is basically crap, and because it only has a top heating element, loaves like this take longer to cook and they also brown faster on top.  At around the 40 min mark, I usually cover the top of my pan with foil to prevent further browning, and leave it to bake for another 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes clean.

I'm not sure why, but my family has always eaten this banana bread with butter.  It's totally unnecessary, but it's really good.  This banana bread freezes very well, so it's a nice thing to bake and throw into the freezer so it's ready to bring out an hour or so before company drops by.  Cutting the banana bread while still slightly frozen makes it a bit easier to slice.  I took these pictures while the banana bread was still slightly frozen, so it appears a bit dry in the pictures, but it's NOT!  I promise!  Enjoy!

And now to announce the giveaway winner of the beautiful apron from Cooking Gorgeous!  A big congratulations goes to Nickie who won with her bonus entry for tweeting about the giveaway!  Nickie, I'll be in touch shortly with more details on how to claim your prize! 

Cinnamon Peach and Ice Cream Waffles

For those of you that have been following my blog since the very beginning, you may remember one of my very first posts, which also happened to be about my first entry in the Iron Cupcake London competition (which was sadly cancelled a couple months later).

The theme for my first contest was fruit, which meant that every cupcake entry needed to incorporate fruit into it in some way.  I choose to do a cinnamon and peach cupcake because the combination of cinnamon and peaches was a favorite ever since I was a little kid back in Canada.  Shortly after arriving at the Iron Cupcake competition I discovered that cinnamon and peaches weren't a very common combination in the UK, so I had convinced myself that the people there that night wouldn't like them.  Well.... I was wrong!  My cinnamon peach cupcake ended up winning the Runner Up prize for best cupcake that evening, and I was glad to have introduced so many people to the wonderful flavor combination of cinnamon and peaches.

My Cinnamon Peach Cupcake (slightly smooshed)

Peaches with cinnamon still remain one of my favorite combinations, and I look forward to peach season every year, although I do find it hard to get a nice ripe peach in most supermarkets these days.  (If you follow me on Twitter, you'll have seen me tweeting about my search for the perfect peach!) 

One of my favorite desserts that I've been making for years is my cinnamon peach and ice cream waffle.  The hot waffle with cold ice cream, cinnamon and peaches makes for a truly delicious flavour combination.  And best of all, they're incredibly easy to make!

To make this yummy dessert you'll only need a few things: peaches, cinnamon, sugar, ice cream and waffles.

Now, I'm not going to lie - sometimes I cut corners when I can, so rather than taking the time to make my own waffles (not that it's hard) I choose to use an instant waffle mix from Cost-Co that only requires a bit of added water and a tablespoon of oil.  Even though I cheated on this occasion, I'm going to include my favourite waffle recipe that I use regularly because not everyone has (or wants to have) instant waffle mix at home.  If you don't have a waffle iron you can also use store bought ones, it's totally up to you! 

Waffles With Peaches, Cinnamon and Ice Cream 

1 - 2 Peaches
1/2 - 3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Sugar
Waffle (recipe follows)
Ice Cream 


1.  Since peaches have a fuzzy skin on them that's not very nice to eat, you'll need to peel them.  Peeling the skin off a peach is really simple if you use one little trick - boiling water!  Bring a small pot of water to a boil and submerge your peach in it for about 30 - 45 seconds.  Remove the peach from the boiling water and place it on a cutting board for about 30 seconds, just so it cools down a bit.

 

The skin on the peach should be very loose when you touch it.  If you gently pinch the skin between your fingers a part of it should tear upwards, allowing you to start peeling the rest of the peach.  The skin should be so loose and slippery that it peels off the entire peach with out any effort, often in one big piece.  You should end up with a juicy slippery skinless peach. 

 

Cut your skinless peach into slices, and put them in a bowl along with the cinnamon and sugar.  Stir them around and set them aside for at least 5 mins to allow a nice juicy cinnamon syrup to form.

2.  Next you'll need to make your waffle.  If you're making your own, pre-heat your waffle iron and follow the waffle recipe below (or the manufactures instructions if you're using a mix).  ** Because I add peaches and ice cream on top of my waffle I purposely fill my waffle iron only about half full so I get a smaller waffle.  Alternatively you can make the full sized waffle and only use 1/2 of it.  Now's also the time to leave your ice cream out to soften up a bit. so it's easy scoop.

3.  Once your waffle is done cooking and your ice cream has softened up a tiny bit, all that's left to do is assemble your masterpiece!  This probably doesn't need explanation, but start out by placing your waffle on a plate.  Next, add a scoop of ice cream (I prefer vanilla or something with a caramel swirl in it), and then spoon the peaches and cinnamon syrup on top.  That's it!  Really simple, but really delicious!

Waffles 

Ingredients:  

1 Egg 
1 Cup (125g) Flour 
3/4 Cup (175ml) + 1 Tbsp Milk
1/4 Cup (60ml) Vegetable Oil 
1 1/2 tsp Sugar 
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Salt 
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions:

1.  Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in all remaining ingredients (flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and vanilla), until just smooth. 

2.  Grease your preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the mix onto your hot waffle iron, and cook until golden brown. ** Because I add peaches and ice cream on top of my waffle I purposely fill my waffle iron only about half full so I get a smaller waffle.  Alternatively you can make the full sized waffle and only use 1/2 of it.

The combination of cinnamon and peaches is one of my favourites,  It's so good that I'll often eat a peach (or two) in the evenings with a bit of cinnamon on sugar on it, just as I described in step 1.  In all honesty, they really don't need any added extras like whipped cream or ice cream, but if you're feeling rather indulgent then adding a waffle and a bit of ice cream is definitely the way to go!

Lemon Cupcakes With Fruity Meringue Nests

I've had the idea for these cupcakes for ages now, so it was about time I actually got around to making them.  After all it's been nearly 2 months since I've made a cupcake. How very odd of me!

These cupcakes are the perfect summer time treat.  A delicious and moist lemon cupcake with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, topped off with a homemade meringue nest that I filled with lemon curd and fresh raspberries and strawberries.  AMAZING!!!  They were even more delicious than I imagined they would be.

These cupcakes were the perfect excuse to try making my own meringue nests - one of my many bookmarked recipes from "Desserts" by Gordon Ramsey.  I must point out that this book is not a new release, but the most recent re-print of Gordon Ramsay's book previously titled "Just Desserts".  Despite the original release of this book being over 10 years ago, I would definitely recommend it as it's got some very solid recipes and techniques such as Pear Tatin, Chocolate Torte, Puff Pastry, Creme Patissiere, Brioche, Lady Fingers, Chocolate Truffles - the list goes on and on.  

Desserts is split into 8 chapters: Fruit, Ices and Creams, Mousses Bavarois and Souffles, Crepes and Batters, Homely Puddings, Accompaniments and Chocolates, and Basics.  I think probably the most useful chapter for me would have to be the Basics chapter because it covers things that I've wanted to make for ages, but have just never got around to such as pastries, pastry cremes, and Choux Pastry - which is actually supposed to be very easy.

Summer Berry Filo Horns

There are so many delicious looking recipes in this book I can't wait to make some of the others.  If the rest of Gordon's recipes are as delicious and simple to make as the meringue nests (or Vacherins as they're called in the book) were, then I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of use out of "Desserts."

In order to make these cupcakes I'd recommend preparing the meringue nests a day in advance - you don't have to, but because they take at least 2 hours to bake, so keep that in mind.  

Lemon Cupcakes with Fruity Meringue Nests

Meringue Nests:

3 Large Egg Whites

Small squeeze of Lemon Juice - approx 1/2 tsp

150gr Castor Sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 230ºF (110ºC).  Pour the egg whites and lemon juice into a clean bowl (make sure there is absolutely NO grease, otherwise your egg whites will not whip properly). Using an electric mixer, whisk the whites until they double in volume and hold a peak when the whisk is drawn through them.  While the mixer is still running and add the sugar a tbsp at a time, incorporating completely before adding the next. Whisk until all the sugar has been added and the whites are stiff and glossy. 

2.  Trim a sheet of parchment paper so that it fits onto your baking pan. Using a pencil, draw medium sized circles the size of the top of a cupcake (about 2.5 inches) onto the parchment, and flip the sheet over so the pencilled side is facing down. Spoon the meringue into a large piping bag fitted with a nozzle (I used a Wilton #18 nozzle) and begin to pipe your nests.  Start in the middle of the pencilled circle working your way out to the edge in a spiral motion.  Once you've got the correct base size start building up the walls of your nests by piping around the outside edge 2 or 3 times.  Bake the meringue nests for 2 hrs until they are crisp and lift off the paper easily. Leave to cool completely.  


Lemon Cupcakes:


1 1/2 Cups (188g) Self Raising Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup (114g) Butter, softened
1 Cup (225) Castor Sugar
2 Eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
1/2 Cup (125ml) Whole Milk, divided
1 Tbsp + 3/4 tsp Lemon Juice

1.  Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC), and line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.  Sift the self-rising flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside. 


2.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until they're light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next one.  Mix in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 


3.  Gently beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, one third at a time, alternating with half the milk and half the lemon juice after each of the first 2 additions of flour. Beat until just combined.  **Do not over mix. 


4.  Pour the cupcake batter into the paper liners so they're about 3/4 full (I weigh mine out on a scale so they're all the same size - usually between 55g-60g each).  Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean - about 17 minutes.   Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling a rack, and cool completely before moving on to the assembly stage.


Sweetened Whipped Cream: 

3/4 Cup (175ml) Whipping Cream or Double Cream
2-3 Tbsp Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1.  Whip the cream with an electric whisk until it's slightly thickened.  Add in the icing sugar and vanilla extract, and whip until thickened.  Just make sure not to over whip or it will turn into butter. 

To Assemble The Cupcakes: 

Meringue Nests
Lemon Curd
Fresh fruit of your choice (I used raspberries and strawberries)
Lemon Cupcakes
Whipped Cream

1.  Fill each meringue nest with 2-3 tablespoons of Lemon Curd and top with freshly cut fruit.

2.  Take your lemon cupcakes and add a dollop of the sweetened whipped cream onto the top of each one.  

3.  Place the meringue nests on top of the whipped cream topped cupcake, and serve immediately.  

**The meringue nests will begin to dissolve once they begin to absorb the moisture from the fruit, lemon curd and whipped cream, so only assemble the number that you need.

5 Fruit Smoothies

Ever since I found out I was pregnant I've done my best to try and get in as many fruits and vegetables as possible.  I kinda figured that carrot cake, banana bread and apple crisp weren't exactly going to count towards my "5 a day" - bummer!  I'm a lazy eater, and tend to grab what's easiest at that particular time, which isn't always what's best for me.  Although I was buying a lot of fresh fruit, I wasn't necessarily finishing it before it would start to go bad.  In order to prevent the fruit from spoiling I'd cut it up, put it in zip lock bags and throw it in the freezer where it would wait until I came up with something to use it in - like these Lemon & Lime Blueberry Muffins I made a while ago.

I've had a slight obsession with strawberries over the past few months, and since strawberry season came kind of early in the UK this year, they were often on sale for buy one get one free.  I'd eat one package and wash, cut and freeze the other pack.  The same thing happened when I made those Lemon & Cheesecake Raspberry Bites I just threw the left overs in the freezer.  

I quickly began to accumulate a wide variety of frozen fruit in my freezer, and I needed some way to use it up.  Then it hit me - the best way to get a few servings of fruit into my diet quickly  and easily would probably be to make a fruit smoothie.  Back in Canada I loved smoothies, but I never actually made them myself - I always ended up paying a ridiculous price for one whenever I was at the mall.  

After ordering and waiting for my smoothies to be made at the mall, I'd seen how easy they were to make, so I started making my own.  I love tropical flavours like pineapple and coconut, so usually try to incorporate at least one of those in my smoothies.  I don't have an exact recipe for them, and I tend to just use whatever fruit I have on hand.  Lately that's been pineapple, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, mango, etc.  Add in a bit of vanilla yogurt and some fruit juice, blend for a couple minutes and you're done!

5 Fruit Smoothie

15 Blueberries, frozen 

1/2 Banana, frozen

10 Raspberries, frozen

7 Large Pineapple chunks, frozen

5 Strawberries, frozen

2 Tbsp Shredded Coconut

1/3 Cup Vanilla Yogurt

1/3 Cup Pineapple Juice

1.  Dump everything into a blender, turn it on, and you guessed it - blend!  Blend everything together for a minute or two until there are no large chunks of fruit remaining.  Check the consistency to make sure it's not too thick (or thin).  If you think your smoothie is too thick, just add in a bit more juice and blend again.  If it's too thin, add in a bit more frozen fruit and blend. 

To avoid making a portion way larger than I can drink, I usually fill the glass I'm going to use with my fruit as I've found it to be a pretty good indicator of how much smoothie it will make.  Fill the glass with frozen fruit - get a glass full of smoothie.  Fill it half full, get half a glass of smoothie.  Pretty simple.

If you don't like or have one of the fruits above, just use something else.  There's no rules with smoothies!  You can also use fresh fruit as well, as long as you use at least 1/2 frozen fruit then you'll still get a nice thick consistency and it will be cold without needing any ice.

I like my smoothies to be a tad thicker which can mean that they can be a little hard to drink through a regular straw.  I've found the best thing to drink my smoothies with is a Bubble Tea straw because they're wider than normal.  

There you have it - a quick and delicious, yet healthy treat!  I can't say that about most of the things I blog about!