Classic chocolate chip cookies for the first day back at school

I don't know if you recall, but last year and the year before (and perhaps even the year before that), The Team had fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies as a treat for their first afternoon tea on their first day back at school after the long summer holidays.  I had seen the idea on another ladies page, and her son was going into his last year of high school (daughter was already at college) and as he left his house that morning he said to his mum, I hope you're baking cookies today.

And I thought that was just lovely, that he still wanted the cookies after so many years!

So I resolved to make our girls cookies, even though they'd forgotten that they'd had the treat for the last two or three years running... 

It was a new recipe I'd tried, one I found on an American page, and purporting itself to be the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. (sorry to say that for the moment I simply can't recall which site. But I promise that if I find out, I'll include the link here so you can try it out and judge for yourself). So I felt it was only right to give it a go.  

And it made so much batter that I made half of it into cinnamon apple cookies!  They were flavoured with a package or two of Whitworth's new little snack bags of cinnamon apple goodness.  These also contained yoghurt covered raisins, so I removed them as I didn't think they'd bake up well at all. These cookies smelled and tasted great, but the kids preferred the choc chip ones.  

There were so many cookies in total that we ended up gifting some to their new teachers, for their first day back treat!  I've never done that before, but am pretty sure the ladies liked it.

Rustic style rainbow wedding cake

I haven't accepted any orders for wedding cakes before, because I never wanted to be under that much stress and pressure.  That's not to say that a birthday cake, or confirmation cake or order isn't stressful, as the cake will always be the centrepiece of the dessert table.  It's just that I've heard too many stories of bridezillas and the like, where the cake maker is under pressure of changed minds and specifications, despite contracts being agreed and whatnot.

So when I was contacted last winter for a wedding cake this summer, we sent many emails back and forth before coming to a mutual agreement of one stunning cake for their centrepiece.  The groom was one of the loveliest young men I've worked with in a long time, wanting to get everything just perfect for his bride.  He was kind, considerate of her feeling and wants, and a pleasure to work with. 

A rainbow cake is fun to make, but quite fiddly and time-consuming.  Then again, all the best things are, aren't they?  And those colours just make me happy!

I really like this shot, showing just a hint of what's underneath.  I had asked the groom to send me along a photo of them cutting the cake, so we could see the interior - but I guess they've got far more important things to remember than me, ha ha.  Like passports for their honeymoon I guess

Wishing Joe and Beth many many years of love and happiness, and a life as happy and colourful as the rainbow cake they chose...

P.S. Here's the update you've all been waiting for - photos of the couple and the cake at the venue...

 Doesn't it look lovely with those pretty pink and green flowers?

 And aww, aren't they just gorgeous!?! 

Baked lemon cheesecake, Donna Hay style

The recipe for this Baked Lemon Cheesecake was in the same Sunday colour supplement as the previous Cinnamon Cheesecake post, and is also a Donna Hay recipe.  It had a fresh whipped cream topping, but I didn't feel that it would add much to the taste, so decided against using it.  The recipe was fairly straightforward to follow and I had the cake ready for the oven fairly soon.  Mmm, fresh lemon rind, yummy!

A quick sprinkling of icing sugar and this baby was ready to serve.  And oh my, was it good!!  I posted the initial photo on my Facebook page at the time, and got great feedback from just the photo!  As it was made not long after the cinnamon cheesecake, we were more than happy to share.  Just be sure to have a hot cup of coffee, or cold glass of milk, ready when you have your slice...

Cinnamon cheesecake a la Donna Hay

Mmm, doesn't that cake look great - a baked cheesecake (here's Donna's classic baked cheesecake recipe for you to see), with fresh local Scottish strawberries.  This beauty was a Donna Hay recipe that I cut from a Sunday newspaper colour supplement, and it didn't disappoint.  The original recipe was actually for a pear and cinnamon cake, but when I read it through the pears were actually just for decoration on top.  They were cooked to start with in a sugary syrup, and placed on top at the end, with the syrup drizzled over, but still...

I felt that it was going to be a fair bit of extra time and work involved, for not that much pay-off.  So I cheated a little.  I made the cake according to the recipe instructions (I always do that the first time, then I write notes in case I want to tweak things for subsequent bakings) and that was all fine and went well.  I felt it looked a bit naked when fully done - smelt amazing, but looked naked.  We had some fresh berries in the fridge, so on they went, with a touch of real Canadian maple syrup for added taste.  You can't really see the drizzle in the photo, but it was there...

This was the first time in a while that I'd baked a cheesecake, and it won't be the last!  It was really delicious, with a light delicate cinnamon taste.  Another winner from the fabulous Ms Hay!!