cake Archives - Twins And A Blog

Camilla and Madison’s Cake Smash

For Camilla and Madison’s first birthday, the amazingly talented Amelia from Cherry On Top Photography generously gifted a cake smash session for the girls. It was the best day ever for the girls having their first taste of cake and icing!! They definitely love cake just like mummy!!

I am soooo IN LOVE with these beautiful photos that have captured the girls perfectly! In all the photos it is Camilla (left) and Madison (right). Amelia captured their personalities perfectly and the photos were the first time they had ever sat on their bottom (they only ever sat with W shaped legs before this!).

If you are in Sydney, especially in the Hills District area, I highly recommend Cherry On Top Photography! As you can see, Amelia’s photos are gorgeous, she is a natural with the babies and it was such a fun, smooth running and enjoyable session!

Website: https://cherryontopphotography.com.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cherryontopphotography/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherryontopphotography/

PS. I used the same backdrop for the girls birthday party and smash cake. It is a hula hoop I bought from Kmart, wrapped ribbon around it and I tied the ONE balloon & some fake greens onto it with fishing line. I cut up a bouquet of fake flowers and glued them on with a hot glue gun to change it up for the smash cake and to go with the pink floral theme. I was going to unravel it all for the boys to play with the hula hoop but now I’m keeping the frame as is and changing the middle number for the girls birthday each year! ??

As much as I love making cakes for my boys, I am over the moon to make OTT girly girl cakes for my girls! The cakes I made for the girls’ smash cake session were using my Perfect Buttercream Icing and Eggless Vanilla Cake recipes. For the buttercream I used 5 different colours & piping nozzles – it pipes beautifully especially using the tricky russian icing tips! The cakes were eggless as the girls had been getting a localised reaction from egg around their mouths – their mouths get red for about an hour then it disappears. I know some people can be allergic/not allergic to eggs cooked in different ways but the girls hadn’t tried cake before (let alone cake with egg in it) so I didn’t want to take that risk with these precious photos taken!

October 20, 2018 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Non Thermomix/ Thermomix

Eggless Vanilla Cake

This is my eggless vanilla cake recipe based on my Crunchy Lemon Muffin & Doughnut Muffin recipes (which can be made eggless too!) They are super light and fluffy, great by itself or iced with my Perfect Buttercream Icing. I made these for the girls’ 1st birthday smash cakes as they showed signs of an egg allergy & I didn’t want to risk any flare ups during their cake smash session!

3 layers of Eggless Vanilla Cake iced with Perfect Buttercream Icing

Cake Smash with Cherry On Top Photography

Eggless Vanilla Cake

Print Recipe

Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

300 grams self raising flour
150 grams white sugar
75 grams butter
230 grams milk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/extract

Instructions

METHOD (Thermomix):

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Add all ingredients into the bowl - mix 20 seconds/Speed 5.

Spoon batter into lined cake tin(s).

Bake for 35-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean (depends on the size of the cake tin).

METHOD (Non Thermomix):

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Melt butter.

Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined.

Spoon batter into lined cake tin(s).

Bake for 35-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean (depends on the size of the cake tin).

Notes

The mixture makes 1 x 22cm+ cakes, 2 x 12cm cakes or 12 x muffin sized cakes.

September 30, 2018 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Chocolate/ Snacks/ Thermomix

30 Second Chocolate Banana Slice

My favourite recipes are the ones where you chuck in all the ingredients and mix! This is light, fluffy, chocolate-y with a hint of banana, and very very easy to eat!

This is the first recipe I’ve created since finding out I’m pregnant with my 2nd lot of twins as I’ve been feeling sooo sick and uncomfortable this pregnancy (moreso than with the boys!)! Was a quick and easy way to use up the 2 lonely overripe banana’s on my bench!

Add all ingredients to bowl.

Mix 30 seconds/Speed 4.

Spoon and spread batter into a slice tin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool before cutting up into squares.

30 Second Chocolate Banana Slice

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 x bananas
180 grams self raising flour
120 grams butter
120 grams sugar
100 grams dark chocolate chips
20 grams cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/extract
1 x egg

Instructions

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Add all ingredients to bowl. Mix 30 seconds/Speed 4.

Spoon and spread batter into a slice tin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool before cutting up into squares.

April 29, 2017 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Healthy/ Snacks/ Thermomix

Healthy Carrot Cake Slice

New year, healthy snacks!! This is a healthier version of a carrot cake, but in a slice form – which makes it super easy to make and super easy to eat!! Deliciously moist, with a crunch from walnuts, and a burst of sweetness from the sultanas.

Add carrots, oats, flour, maple syrup, oil, coconut, chia seeds, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon to bowl.

Mix 20 seconds/Speed 6.

Add walnuts to bowl.

Mix 5 seconds/Speed 4.

Add sultanas to bowl.

Mix 5 seconds/Speed 3/reverse.

Pour mixture into a greased slice tin.

Bake for 15 minutes or until top is browned.

Cool and cut into squares.

Healthy Carrot Cake Slice

Print Recipe

Ingredients

300 grams carrots (washed, tops cut off, cut into smaller pieces)
100 grams oats
100 grams wholemeal self raising flour
100 grams maple syrup
80 grams oil (extra virgin olive oil, rice bran, coconut etc)
30 grams desiccated coconut
10 grams chia seeds
2 x eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100 grams walnuts
60 grams sultanas

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Add carrots, oats, flour, maple syrup, oil, coconut, chia seeds, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon to bowl. Mix 20 seconds/Speed 6.

Add walnuts to bowl. Mix 5 seconds/Speed 4.

Add sultanas to bowl. Mix 5 seconds/Speed 3/reverse.

Pour mixture into a greased slice tin. Bake for 15 minutes or until top is browned.

Cool and cut into squares.

Notes

*Nut free: use sunflower seeds instead of walnuts.

January 2, 2017 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Thermomix

Floral Wreath Cake

This is my SIL’s birthday cake for 2016! The last few years I’ve gone with icecream cakes since her birthday’s in summer, but this year I thought I’d make a proper cake with buttercream for her!

This cake consists of an orange chiffon cake, topped with rosewater buttercream icing and edible gold leaf.

1. The Cake – Orange Chiffon Cake

I cheated and my mum made this cake for me to decorate, as she’s the chiffon cake expert in the family! She has her own recipe which she uses (which I am yet to learn from her to post on the blog!), but here is a similar recipe on recipe community.

However, you can use ANY cake you like in a bundt tin (or even a round cake tin and cut a hole through the middle to form a wreath shape).

2. The Icing – Rosewater Buttercream Icing (x 4 batches)

I used my Perfect Buttercream Icing and made 2 x 2 batches at a time with 1 teaspoon of Rosewater (instead of vanilla) with each double batch (i.e. 1/2 teaspoon per batch).

I used the icing first to crumb coat the cake. Then whilst I let it firm up in the fridge, I divided the remaining buttercream icing into 6 small bowls and added 6 x different gel food colouring (pictured below) to create really vibrant colours.

3. Assembly of the cake is illustrated as follows:

December 11, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Thermomix

Coconut Ice Cake

This is my mum’s birthday cake for 2016! Her favourite sweet is coconut ice, and she also loves marshmallows – so I thought I would combine the 2!

This Coconut Ice Cake consists of two layers of Coconut Butter Cake, Coconut Buttercream, topped with toasted marshmallow, coconut ice balls, white roses, edible glitter, pink sugar rocks and edible gold leaf.

1. The Cake – Coconut Butter Cake x 2 Cakes

I used my 30 Second Vanilla Butter Cake recipe – and added 1 teaspoon coconut essence (instead of Vanilla) and 20 grams desiccated coconut.

2. The Icing – Coconut Buttercream x 4 Batches

I used my Perfect Buttercream Icing recipe – and added 1 teaspoon of coconut essence (instead of Vanilla) per batch.

3. Toasted Marshmallows

I used my Vanilla Bean Marshmallow recipe – dripped it onto the cake, and torched it, and poured and set the remaining in a slice tin (made a big batch!)

4. Coconut Ice Balls

I used my Coconut Ice Balls recipe and shaped it in various sizes to top the cake.

5. Assembly of the cake is illustrated as follows:

November 3, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Thermomix

30 Second Banana and Date Cake

This is a quick and easy deliciously moist cake with beautiful banana and date flavours! I love the chia seed topping as it not only looks amazing but adds a beautiful crunch!

Banana and Date Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

180 grams wholemeal self raising flour
125 grams butter
80 grams milk
70 grams pitted dates
70 grams maple syrup
2 x bananas
1 x egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
+ extra pitted dates and chia seeds to decorate

Instructions

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Add all ingredients to bowl. Mix 30 seconds/Speed 4.

Pour into lined cake tin & decorate with extra pitted dates and chia seeds.

Bake for 35 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

October 18, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Dessert/ Thermomix

Flower Power Cake

This was the cake that I made for my grandma’s 87th birthday!

This was a really easy and simple cake to make and includes:

1. 30 Second Vanilla Buttercake (x 2 cakes in 20cm cake tins) with toasted coconut in-between cake layers

2. Perfect Buttercream Icing (x 4 batches) piped with a Wilton 2D piping tip

3. Candy Melt Flowers (Red and Pink Candy Melts melted in ziplock bags and piped into flower shapes) with edible gold leaf.

I don’t speak/read/write in Chinese, however I copied some Chinese writing which says ‘Happy Birthday’ for my Chinese speaking grandma – and lucky she knew what it said! I was worried I copied the characters poorly lol!!

Assembly of the cake is illustrated in the photos below:

October 11, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Chocolate/ Non Thermomix/ Thermomix/ Twins

Car Drip Cakes – Ethan and Harley’s 2nd Birthday Cake

Car Drip Cakes for my 2 year old car loving boys!!

I wanted to incorporate the fun look of a drip cake, with cars which the boys are loving right now! My husband had doubts of it looking like a ‘car’ whilst I was making this, but the end result turned out better than I thought, and the boys kept on pointing at their cakes very excitedly saying ‘CAR!’ so mission accomplished!! 🙂

These are the first cakes that I’ve made using ALL of my recipes which is exciting and special for myI boys!!

The cakes consist of Milo Fudge Cakes topped with Perfect Buttercream Icing, drizzled with White Chocolate Ganache, and decorated with Fruit Jelly Lolly wheels, silver sprinkles and gold leaf windows, and a chocolate smiley face.

A FEW DAYS BEFORE…

A few days before the boys birthday, I made 4 x Milo Fudge Cakes (I only needed 3, but made 1 spare) – each ‘car’ consisted of the Milo Fudge Cake baked in a loaf pan, and a 15cm round cake pan (cut in half for the top of the car shape). I cooked the cakes a few minutes longer so it was more like a Milo mudcake (less gooey fudgy) so that it was firm to decorate. Once the cakes were cooled, I double wrapped the cakes in plastic cling wrap, double wrapped them in foil, then popped in them in the freezer.

TWO NIGHTS BEFORE…

I made 1 x batch of Fruit Jelly Lollies – I used apple and blackcurrant juice, added edible black glitter, and blue gel food colouring to make the jelly really dark. I then poured it into a silicon baking pan and set it in the fridge overnight.

THE NIGHT BEFORE…

I made another 1 x batch of Fruit Jelly Lollies – this time with coconut water (so it was a light colour). I then used cookie cutters to cut out ‘E’, ‘H’ and ‘2’ from the dark blue/black glitter Fruit Jelly Lolly mixture. I then placed the cut out ‘E’, ‘H’ and ‘2’ into silicon muffin trays, and then poured the coconut water Fruit Jelly Lollies over them to set in the fridge. I could see the colouring spread into the light coloured coconut water jelly, however only the colouring spread into this, not the glitter, so the ‘E’, ‘H’ and ‘2’ were still quite visible.

I took out the cakes from the freezer and decorated the cakes whilst frozen/defrosting. I cut the circle shaped cake in half with a large sharp knife. I attached the bottom loaf shaped cake to the cake tray with melted chocolate (so it doesn’t move around).

I then made 2 x batches of Perfect Buttercream Icing at a time (2 x batches per Car Drip Cake = 4 x batches in total for the 2 cakes) with Wilton ‘Teal’ Gel Food Colouring. I iced a ‘crumb layer’ of the cakes, and attached the cakes with a wooden skewer to keep them in place. I then placed the cakes to set in the fridge for an hour.

Once the crumb layer was firm, I iced another layer of buttercream icing, and smoothed the icing with a dough scraper (this took the looongest time out of everything!)

I then let the cakes set in the fridge overnight.

IN THE MORNING…

I made the White Chocolate Ganache, and let it sit on the bench for about an hour to thicken. I then dripped it on the sides and middle of the cake with a metal teaspoon, then placed the cakes back in the fridge to set. I added white chocolate melts/dark chocolate chips for eyes, and dark chocolate piped on as a smily face. I then added silver sprinkles in the shape of windows, gold leaf on the drips inside the ‘windows’ and then attached the Fruit Jelly Lolly wheels with toothpicks.

August 30, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Thermomix

Caramelised Pear Upside Down Cake

YUUMMM!!! This is sooo goood!! Caramel and pear flavours go sooo well together! This is a very easy and impressive cake to make! There are 3 x pears in this, with a caramel pear topping, and a moist fluffy cake!