Welcome 2011!

Happy New Year!  Another year and a brand new decade!  I'm looking forward to a busy 2011!!

Wishing you all had a marvellous Christmas and an even better New Year!  Time to revise the bucket list again!

I had an amazingly lazy Christmas.  With temperatures in Perth near 40 degrees Celsius, it really is too hot to do very much.   It is however, great to spend time on the beach, especially at sunset!

I could not resist baking for Boxing Day breakfast though as there are few things comparable to the smell of freshly baked croissants.   The house smells amazing all morning, and that first bite into a warm croissant lathered in Danish butter and raspberry jam.....well, you'll just have to try it for yourselves.  If you're lazy to make them from scratch, ask your favourite local patissier to sell them to you raw and frozen.  The rest is self explanatory! 

After the novelty of not doing very much started to wear off, I decided to attempt a recipe I've wanted to try for some time from the Tartine cookbook.

Tartine

Gourgeres - or otherwise known as savoury choux.  

I added a pinch of pink Murray River salt and a some ground black pepper to the batter and topped it a generous sprinkle of gruyere cheese.

It is such a versatile pastry and if you make them bite sized, the perfect elegant party snack!  Or as the Tartine Bakery suggests, make big ones and fill them with meats and salad for a light meal.

The recipe I used is in the book, but if you want to give it a go, the fabulously talented Bea of La tartine gourmande has a wonderful recipe online with lots of helpful flavour combinations.

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And of course my last cake of 2010 was this adorable one for little Elisa who turned 4.

I heard it was a big hit and that poor Miffy only lasted 30 minutes after being unveiled with the birthday girl promptly biting into Miffy's ear.  

I hope Elisa had a memorable birthday!

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High on my list of to dos this year, is of course, to do more good.  Part of the reason why I love making cakes, is seeing how happy it makes people, and how nice it is to be a part of that.

I first heard about Icing Smiles through Pink Cake Box.  The idea of providing a sick child with a beautiful birthday cake was one that really struck a chord with me.  Although it is an American group that is making a difference in their part of the world, us decorators here in Australia have been inspired to start one of our own.  Thanks to the lovely Lacey who is spearheading the movement,

Throw a little sugar on is on Facebook and soon a website too.  So if you know someone who is need of a sugaring, you can nominate them by posting on the wall.  We provide a free not for profit service to brighten the day of those sincerely deserving.  Is there someone in your live that you'd like to throw some sugar on? 

Let us know, or even better, join us!