Craftathon

I've been very busy lately with all of my crafting projects. I think of this as a blessing as it manages to distract me from the more negative things that have been going on lately. You'd be surprised at how calming it can be to simply sit down and write all of your ideas for future projects out for an hour or two!

The most recent thing I've been up to is baking - something that I'm particularly close to because I just have a natural given talent for it. I think that everybody is born with a talent whether they like it or not and sometimes it just takes people a bit longer to figure out what theirs is.

I used my new stand mixer over the weekend to bake up two cakes for a birthday get together. The first was a chocolate chip cookie dough cake (I used the recipe from one of my favourite baking bloggers and it was a roaring success! How could a 3 layer devils food cake, vanilla cheesecake and cookie dough cake NOT be a success! The second cake was a much more simple two layered pineapple upside down cake.

Besides the baking I've been busy making notes and plans for new soap creations. I've decided on an apple and mint creation and a citrus themed one. I'm definitely curious to try out some marbling techniques this time around! I also purchased the most adorable baby soap mould which I'm planning on using for a in the future babyshower that is still to be planned. I think the idea of receiving a newborn babyshaped, baby scented soap would be lovely.

I've put a lot of knitting projects on hold because I simply haven't had the time to really sit down and get to it properly. I currently have about 3 different projects on the go: a cabled sweater, a baby kimono jacket and a super cute pink baby dress. Let's not even mention the fact that I had a grand idea to knit hats for a charity project in Africa! I fear I'll never get around to finding the time to do that.

I have a lot of fabric printing to do too! Mostly baby related, but I'm also planning a surprise thank you gift for a friend which I think they'll really like. 

Stay tuned to find out more :)

What kind of natural given talents do you all have? And who do you think you inherited them from?

It may not be Christmas anymore...but....

Earlier on in December I made a Kugelhopf, which are mostly traditionally eaten around that time of year (but can also be enjoyed at any other time of the year as well). 

I thought I'd share the recipe with you because it's something I really enjoyed making and it's something that I think looks really pretty after it's finished.


1) Gather your ingredients: 

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (less than 1 envelope)

2 tablespoons warm water (105–115°F)

1 cup whole milk

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups golden raisins

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange or lemon zest

About 20 whole blanched almonds (1/2 ounces)

1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

2)  Stir together yeast and water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Heat milk with 6 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar over low heat, stirring, until mixture is warm (105 to 115°F), butter is melted, and sugar is dissolved.

3)Sift together flour and salt into bowl of standing mixer. Make a well in flour and add yeast mixture. Add warm milk in a slow stream, mixing at low speed with paddle attachment. Increase speed to medium and beat in eggs 1 at a time, then beat in raisins and zest. Continue to beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (Dough will be very sticky.)

4)Butter kugelhopf mold with remaining tablespoon butter. Put 1 almond in each depression in bottom of mold (the almonds are only decorative; you can skip them altogether if your mold has no depressions), then scrape spoonfuls of dough evenly into mold (dough will be very elastic). Cover top of mold with oiled plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place until it fills pan, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

5)Remove towel from kugelhopf and gently peel off plastic wrap. Bake kugelhopf in middle of oven 15 minutes, then loosely cover mold with foil and continue to bake until golden and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes more. Cool in pan 2 minutes, then invert cake onto a rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. Dust with confectioners sugar.

How to protect yourself against vampires...garlic cupcakes!

It's no secret that I'm a big lover of garlic. Pretty much all of my favourite foods have got garlic in them, when I go to restaurants the first thing on the menu that will catch my eye is the word garlic and when I cook at home I always usually use garlic too, even if the recipe doesn't call for it. 

I'm quite sure that I inherited this garlic love from my father. If you thought I was bad, he's even worse. He's been known to even enjoy a 'garlic sandwich'. 

Last week my dad came home for a visit (he works away for months at a time) and today while I was browsing through some of my favourite baking blogs I came across a recipe for garlic cupcakes from The Cupcake Project which I thought would be absolutely perfect to make for him! 

Sure, I know, it sounds like a weird combination but think of all the other great weird food combinations that have worked....: Bacon and maple syrup, chocolate and beer, chocolate and chilli...the list is endless! 

Oh, and sorry, but as usual I was being my forgetful self and only remembered way after I'd finished the baking part that I had forgotten to document the making of it. I'm really sorry about that and promise that next time I'll do a picture tutorial. 

Here's the ingredients you'll need for the chocolate garlic sponge: 

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup of butter (unsalted)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 4 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 2/3 cup brewed coffee
• 8 cloves of roasted garlic (you can see the tutorial here of how to roast garlic)

and here is the method on how to make them: 

1) Whisk flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl

2) Beat butter and sugar in a bowl for 1 minute until light and fluffy.

3)Beat in eggs and sour cream.

4)Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave.

5)Mix the chocolate into the wet ingredients.

6)Alternately fold in the flour mixture and coffee into the batter.

7)Mash garlic cloves and mix into batter.

8)Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.

9)Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the cupcake clean.

And here's what you'll need for the cream cheese frosting: 

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature

3 C powdered sugar, sifted

2 t garlic powder

1 t ground coffee 

Here's the method on how to make the frosting:

1)Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.

2)Slowly mix in the powdered sugar.

3)Mix in the garlic powder and ground coffee until integrated.

Enjoy! But more importantly, remember to stock up on breathe mints! :P 

Thank you to The Cupcake Project for this great recipe!