Sometimes you don't have to sew a thing...

As well as finding heaps of cool fabric last week at Sallies store (Addington) I also found this dress! (I'm wearing a white long sleeved top underneath it in this photo though) It was only $5 and it fit just right! As a bonus it is made in New Zealand. I love finding old made-in-NZ things.
It is very Frenchy/Sailor-esque. I may use the shape to model more dresses on.

SWAN CAKES!

Okay, this has to be one of the yummiest cakes I've made ever.

My sisters (twins) turned 22 yesterday, so I thought I'd make them cakes. I choose a swan because it is like a '2' - I made two of them. Because swans are white I decided to make a white chocolate cake. So searching through my favourite recipe book (Crabapple bakery) I found a recipe for white chocolate mud cake with white chocolate ganache icing.

Here is how you achieve SWAN CAKES
(Waring: they contain SHOCKING amounts of white chocolate)



Get the following items and amounts:

CAKE:
4C Flour
1 and 1/2t Baking powder
500g butter, chopped
2C milk
4C castor sugar
300g white chocolate
4 eggs
2t real vanilla extract


ICING:
600g white chocolate
1C cream

DECORATION: White chocolate buttons, a licorice strap and orange food colouring.

OVEN:170c

Here we go!

Sift flour and BP together into bowl.



Then double boil the butter, chocolate, milk and castor sugar together until melted and combined



Cool this mixture down. I put mine in a dish then in the fridge.



In another bowl whisk eggs (out of their shells obviously) with the vanilla essence.



Trace around the tin then draw the swan shape inside, preserving as much cake as you can


When the choc mix has cooled, add the eggs mix to it and fold in carefully.



Then add it all to the flour mix and fold it together until combined



Oil the tin and put cooking paper on the bottom of it.


Pour mixture in


Then cook! For 45-50 mins (Don't worry if it's not all cooked by then... it will keep cooking when you take it out.) on 170c, Fan bake.



Take out of oven


And put on to cooling racks


When cooled stick skewers through the top of the cake-to guide the knife


Cut off the lid/rounded part


Then cut out the swan pattern and place it on the cake


Carefully cut around it


Cut off any cooked edges too


Carefully flip upside down and take off the cooking paper


Place on a new sheet of cooking paper and using a pastry brush, sweep away the crumbs



Now make some icing! Measure out your chocolate and break into pieces.



Boil the cream


Then pour it on top of the chocolate, leave it for a couple of minutes to melt.



Then carefully mix together (don't add air)



Spoon it onto the cakes straight away



Make sure you get all the sides too



Leave ganache to cool down then do the textured layer, leaving the head smooth. I used a knife to make the feathery effect.


Next, starting at the tail, add the chocolate buttons to create the wing



Make sure you have added texture to the edges as well



For the beak, add the orange colouring to some cream, boil it,



Then add some white chocolate to melt, mix together (it doesn't work adding the colouring cold to chocolate)


Scrape off the white icing from the beak


and very carefully add small spoonfuls of orange icing, make sure it goes down the edges too.


it should now look like this!


Next using the licorice, cut out some eyes, nose and black marks for the swans face.



Place these on the cake


NOW YOU ARE DONE!!!





With the leftover cake I cut out these hearts



and iced them



I used them to put the candles in



Happy cake making NOMNOMNOM

'Ears to you

For people's birthdays I have been making these ear warmers! They are fun and easy-ish to make.


Buy a cool, thick wool.
Knit 10-15 across, until it is long enough to fit around your head loosely (and has some over lap)


Cut a length of polar-fleece the same length


Pin the edges up then sew along it, using a wide stitch or if you have stretchy thread use this!


Using a wool needle sew the ends of the wool piece together strongly. (In a square then through the middle)


It should look a bit like this:


Next lay the polar-fleece around the wool, and cut to size if needed, then sew along the edge of the polar-fleece - making it into a circle.


Next with the bad side facing inwards, pin the polar-fleece on to the woolen piece.


Again using a wide stitch or stretchy thread sew along the two edges, joining the two pieces. Go easy on your sewing machine here, as it is quite thick to sew this...


Next pick out some buttons and sew them on


You are now finished!! So warm ^.^





I made these two for my sisters who play lots of netball and will get cold ears when training!