Life Bites

Seeing that life has been rather crummy for a few people lately, I figured that I would serve out a little cheery recipe to brighten up the day. This is a post that I wanted to put up much earlier but never got around to.

I always feel that strawberries add a little sunshine to life. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I now present my little remedy when life's trouble are taking a chew out of you; Strawberry Bites!



Strawberry Bites


Ingredients

Strawberries (of course!)
Puff pastry (I find Pampas the best)
Cupcake moulds
Nutella
Peanut butter


Method

1. Cut the puff pastry into 5 cm squares
2. Bake in oven at 180 C until pastry puffs up and browns
3. Use a teaspoon to poke a hole in the middle of the puff pastry and fill the indentation with Nutella and peanut butter. Use a fork to swirl it so that it form a circular pattern
4. Put a strawberry right in the middle to complete your creation.

Each bite is literally that, just about one mouthful. But a really yummy mouthful it is. As Yoda says “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not."
{I hope this puts a smile on your face. You know who you are}

Guest Post

~Grudgingly allowed by Strawbunny~

(Disclaimer: Before I allow this particular post out, I'd better inform anyone reading this that my sister is not the alcoholic, jelly-spiker she potrays herself to be here. At least, not usually. I'm wondering if it's going to cast my blog in a dubious light from now on though. I think I need to learn not to give in to her pestering in the future)

I'm sure everyone has been to those parties where everyone's a bit uptight with everyone else and mingle in their small little groups.
Best way to loosen everyone else up a bit: JELLY SHOTS =D

Mandarin Jellies
Ingredients:
Oranges
Jelly Powder
Caster Sugar
Orange Colouring
Thick Cream
Yellow Sprinkles

and the key ingredient:
ABSOLUT Mandarin that looks like the photo below

Method:

1. First cut the oranges into half vertically. Scoop the insides out, and put them into a bowl (they can be used for an orange smoothie if you feel like it).
   
2. Follow the instructions of your jelly powder. For the jelly powder I used, water content was 2750ml of water, but instead of that whole 2750 ml, I made do with 2 litres of water.
3. Boil the water with the jelly powder until the it is dissolved and add caster sugar and stir until that dissolves too. Turn off the fire and stir in a 1/4 tsp of orange colouring.
4. Wait for the jelly mixture to cool somewhat (about 20 minutes in this current Aussie weather of 15degrees)
5. Add 600ml of absolut mandarin in and stir thoroughly.
   
6. Pour the jelly into the halved-orange skins and any other jelly moulds you'd like to use. For my party, I used ice-cube trays and shot-glasses. Ensure the orange moulds are as full as possible. Use a muffin tray to stabilise the orange moulds if you have to.
7. Chill overnight, or until jelly is set and cut the orange into slices.

For the decoration, I opted for whipped cream and yellow sprinkles. Just put thickened cream into a bowl and mix it with sugar until it is stiff. I've got a major sweet tooth so I used plenty of sugar. It really depends on your preference though. Use a piping bag and pipe it on top of the jelly and sprinkle yellow sprinkles and wah-lah! You're done =D
(In absence of a real piping bag, i used a sandwich bag and cut a small hole in the corner)

All remaining whipped cream was kept for guests who wanted additional cream on their jellies.

Normal jelly can be replaced with Konnyaku jelly (minus the vodka) for a similarly beautiful dessert, guaranteed to be the hit of any party.

Fyi, i know strawbunny is going to insist i'm an alcoholic but i'm really far from it. Promise.

may the force be with jelly desserts.. with a twist,
Cheers~

Creatures of the Cupcake Cottage

Can you spot the (blurry) creature?

In lieu of a newly acquired cupcake patterned teaset and our ongoing baking craze, we decided to name our new home The Cupcake Cottage. Not that I am a fantastic cupcake churner but I figured the name suits us anyhow. And, what habitat would be complete without its resident creatures?

Actually, I wanted my first creation to be a bunny, but since the fur of a hairy-eared friend of mine is turning greyer today, I have given him the honour of being a part of our first Cupcake Cottage creature feature. This, my friends, is a not so spooky spider. Do you think I'm making that name up? The honest truth is that it was labeled exactly that in the recipe I dug up. So there. They're pretty cute, really easy to make and would do fantastically for a theme party eg. for Spiderman-crazy individuals.

I made some variations to the original recipe. Although I'd like to claim that this was my creative side rearing its head, my conscience forces me to confess that it was all due to lack of resources at the time of crafting of aforesaid spiders. In my defense, I think the tips of the matches make for cute spider feet. They have that oh-so-little disadvantage of being inedible, however. And, oh yes, they are flammable.

Also,be warned! The noodle legs are not exactly a treat to swallow. Unless you're the sort that fancies poking holes in your gullet. I'm a real sucker for the crunchy chocolaty texture of these choc coated rice krispies though. So I will choose to forgive spidey's legs.

Just as a reminder to the the birthday boy I shall include this last little line.
Happy Birthday Yoda Ears! May the Force be with you.

*Boo!*

Not So Spooky Spiders

Ingredients

1 c. dark chocolate morsels. I'm a dark chocolate kinda girl=)
3/4 c. Rice Krispies
1/2 c. thin chow mein noodles
Candy eyes

Dark chocolaty chip Rice Krispies galore!

Method

1. Line baking sheet with waxed paper.

2. In microwave, place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. If chocolate is not completely smooth, microwave an additional 20 to 30 seconds; stir.

3. Stir in Rice Krispies.

4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper, forming spider-body shapes.

I find that it's beter to shape smaller spiders. They make for easier chewing =)

Stick 4 noodles into each side of "body" for spider legs. Add eyes on top of spider.

5. Refrigerate about 15 minutes to set, or let them set at room temperature about 1 hour.

Makes 15-16 spiders.

*ka chink ka*