Hummingbird Bakery red velvet cupcakes

We were supposed to play at Felix's house this morning, but his mum got in touch to say she was feeling quite under the weather and could we please take a raincheck.  Of course, we said, then wondered what to do instead.  It was raining outside, and we'd eaten all of the brownies we'd made on Tuesday so thought, what the heck, let's bake!  Immediately the girls said, 'let's choose an apron' (yes, we have 4 child-sized and 2 adult-sized from which to choose) and I reminded them that handwashing was a necessity too.  Jobs done, it was on to the chair to watch the Kenwood Premier Chef at work.  Amidst much shoving and wriggling, we got the 2 mixes done and combined and added in all the other ingredients.  Unfortunately though, the girls got bored with all the fiddly bits necessary and wandered off (after removing their aprons and washing their hands again).  Not surprisingly, they returned as I had just finished doling out the mix into the cupcakes cases.  I have been led to believe that a sous-chef has an area of expertise, whereas a commis chef is more of a general helper.  My two are becoming experts at bowl and utensil licking...

They both get a look-in to start with

 The elder moves aside to let the younger swirl her spatula for more

Then steps up again to swirl her spoon about to catch the last bits

Here's what came out of the oven after 18 minutes (I did them in cupcake rather than muffin cases, because they were just for us so didn't need to be big). 

Then they were iced once cool.  This was the first time I'd tried the Hummingbird's cream cheese icing recipe, and it didn't work for me.  There didn't seem to be enough butter into which all the icing sugar could dissolve.  So instead of waiting until it worked, I added in the cream cheese and kept my fingers crossed.  That did go into the correct texture after a moment or two - phew!  My sous-chefs had fully retired by this stage, but came back in the kitchen at the end, to marvel over the finished product, and when more bowl-licking was required, ha ha



Great photo from aspire2be

Thanks to my friend Jill at aspire2be...creative photography, I have a wonderful and far superior photo of yesterday's Hummingbird Traditional Brownies.  Which is lucky, really, as there are no more left!  Yep, that's right.  The taste testers thought they were so tasty, that every last bite got tasted.  And the result - lovely.  So chuffed, thanks guys.
Now, the only problem is that these were meant to be for our playdate with Liz on Friday.  So I guess we'll just have to make more, this time with the addition of mini Smarties (great idea from our photographer, Jill).  Watch this space, and that biscuit tin!

Hummingbird Bakery traditional brownies

Finally we had a chance to bake something new and delicious just for us - I chose the Hummingbird Bakery's Traditional Brownies from their first book.  Truthfully I was going to do Nigella Lawson's Everyday Brownies, because that's the one that has worked consistently before but then my friend mentioned on Facebook that she couldn't stop making these ones, so here we are.  I do want to try out most recipes in the book, so what better way to dip in than by recommendation. 

I started just after serving the girls their dinner, and they were keen to eat quickly so they could help stir the ingredients (after much bubbles and handwashing, of course).  My oven seems to need a little less time than is usually suggested, so after 32 minutes I took them out.  The tray didn't wobble so I was worried I'd overdone them, and left them to cool in the tray.  As the girls were getting their bedtime stories, the house smelled chocolicious - yum!

At first, I didn't even decorate them with icing sugar, so sure was I that they were overdone.  I cut straight into the middle to test them - and boy, were they good!  Really squidgy, just about perfect.  Needless to say, I dusted them with icing sugar and cut them into bite-size pieces.  I've been quite restrained and managed to eat just one, so far...

Happy birthday Tanya

Well, here's the reason I tried out the carrot cake in a round tin a week or so ago - it's my friend Tanya's birthday tomorrow and she requested a carrot cake as her treat.  Her daughter requested the cake be fully iced, so their wishes were my command.  And, just because I can, I coloured the orange cream cheese icing in a pale orange colour and topped it with stars and red and gold glitter. 

I mean really, if you can have edible glitter on a cake - why wouldn't you?
From an academic point of view, the taste test reviews on the practice cake were very positive so I didn't bake this one any longer than the previous.  And I nearly doubled the amount of icing made, which gave plenty to cover the cake with a layer inside too.  I sent it away with Tanya then remembered that because it has cream cheese icing, it needs to be refridgerated.  Luckily, I have her number so was able to pass on this important info, phew!