{How To Make an 'Easter Egg Hunt' Surprise Cake}

Last year I made the teachers at pre-school Easter Egg Cake Pops (see here).
This year I wanted to do something fun and different.

Introducing the Easter Egg Hunt Cake! 

Start with the Cake:Basically you require a round cake with a whole in the middle. There are two main ways you could do this.
1. Use a ring tin. I didn't have a regular ring tin, so I used a bundt tin that I had on hand anyway. You also need to put some batter in a small cake tin/ ramekin to use as a topper.  
2. You could even bake a regular round cake and cut a hole in the middle afterwards with a cup or something else round. If you've cut a hole out of the middle, set aside.

Fill The Cake:
Buy a packet of candy covered Easter eggs (the ones without foil) and fill the hole with them. Place the extra cake circle on top of the Easter eggs.

Finish The Cake:
Use a vanilla butter cream (or similar - choices are endless) and frost the entire cake using a swirled kind of texture. This is so that you can't see the extra circle hiding the hole.

Serve:
As this was a gift I didn't get a photo of the finished product when cut. However, if you were serving this for a family Easter dinner, there would be such WOW factor at discovering the hidden Easter eggs inside as you cut it at the table!

How much fun is that! I hope that however you and your family celebrate, you have a great Easter!


Lauren x

{A Left Overs Make Over : Black Forrest Bites}

Well, as my last post "The Lorax Party" shows, I had made a mega cake for the party. Afterwards I had about half of the three layer cake left over. I was keen to get these calories off my kitchen counter and share them around. So, this was my plan:

                

{The Lorax Birthday Party}

My (then) 5 year old son took me on a movie date a few months ago during his first ever school holidays in Kindy. We watched the Lorax and we both LOVED it. The environmental message is so well explained and interspersed with much humor, colour and catchy songs.
So here are the photos of my interpretation of Dr Seuss' delightful world. I apologize if there are a few ;)

{Carrot Cake}

I was craving carrot cake the other day and I have to say this was such a delicious recipe. I have doubled the spices here as I was after a 'spiced cake' type taste. I often like more ginger than recipes call for too.



Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil (or other tasteless oil i.e. not olive oil)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon ground
1 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 cups grated carrot (I just grated 3 carrots)
1/2 chopped pecans (walnuts would also work - can be omitted for allergy purposes)
1/2 cup sultanas (I omitted these by choice)

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180'C
2. Place sugar and oil in bowl of an electric mixer for a few minutes.
3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.
4. Sift the flours, powders and spices over the sugar mixture. Add the carrots and nuts and stir until just combined.
5. Pour your mixture into a greased cake tin. I used a silicon loaf 'tin'.
6. Bake for about 50 mins or until cooked when using the 'skewer test'.
7. Serve warm or cool completely before adding cream cheese icing.


I left the cake covered overnight and I had some for morning tea the next day. This was so moist, full of taste. It didn't need the cream cheese icing, it was delicious as a spiced loaf on its own.
SO good, just like my grandma used to make!

Lauren x

Banana Bread Recipe

I changed the last banana bread recipe to call it a banana cake. If you are looking for a banana bread that is more dense and like a loaf but still fluffy, this is for you! DELISH! I didn't have the walnut crumbs and so I left them out, but it didn't affect the taste at all. It was quickly devoured by kids and Mums at a morning tea recently which always means a successful recipe in my books :)

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 1 3/4 cups (260g) plain flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2/3 firmly packed cup (150g) dark brown sugar
• 100g walnut crumbs (see note) or chopped walnuts
• 3 large over-ripe bananas
• 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Lightly grease an 11cm x 22cm loaf pan and line base and 2 long sides with a sheet of baking paper, leaving 2cm overhanging.
2. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a bowl with the brown sugar, then add the nuts.
3. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher, then stir in the eggs, vanilla extract and cooled melted butter. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they're just combined - don't overmix.
4. Scrape cake batter into prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool the loaf in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Cut into 8-10 slices.

Notes

• This banana bread will keep in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days, or frozen in individual slices for up to 1 month.

Enjoy;
Lauren x

Banana Cake Recipe

This recipe was requested to be blogged, so here it is. It is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee and a chat with a friend :)

Ingredients

• 125g butter, softened
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mashed banana (you will need 2 large, very ripe bananas)
• 2 1/4 cups self-raising flour
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease base and sides of a cake tin.
   

2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Gently fold in sour cream and bananas. Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda over batter and gently fold through.

3. Spoon batter into cake pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. I cooled mine overnight in the tin and popped it out the next morning. It came out perfectly :)

Lauren x

Birthday Time

Well the middle of the year is birthday season in our house. Our boys have their birthday a few weeks apart in June and July and then we have lots of friends celebrating birthdays this time of year too!
Yesterday I wanted my eldest son to take a cake to share at preschool. However, this presented a baking challenge as it had to be nut, egg, dairy free. So, no eggs, butter, milk.....hmmm.

I found a cake recipe for a vegan chocolate cake and I'll tell you, it was surprisingly DELICIOUS!!! I arrived in time to share the celebrations with him and his preschool friends. All the kids asked for seconds and some even thirds. None of them turned it away. So, I figure, if its approved by a room full of 4 year olds, its got to be good!
Here is the recipe I used. I added rice milk instead of soy milk or water as I had a carton in the pantry. For the Icing I used icing mixture (about 4 cups), cocoa (few tablespoonfuls) and water (about 1/2 cup added slowly to make sure i get a good icing consistency).

Its not my most 'pretty' cake i have ever made because of the limitedness of the ingredients I think I did well - 'J' liked it too and that's all that matters right!