GIANT Cupcake it is

My little princess is turning 10 and had her school birthday party this weekend.


Here's the final version......

and this is how is was made!

After making my madeira cake, I divided the batter into 4 bowls.  I added more mixture to each new bowl, so it had more than the previous one.  Dividing the mixture equally would not have given the desired effect as below.

I just wanted to make the topping of the cupcake a rainbow cake so the tip (the cherry on the cake) needed less batter than the next layer and that layer needed less than the layer after it and so forth till the cake was complete.








and once the cake was cut, the surprise was revealed!

 

If you need a recipe for a simple madeira, find me on twitter! 

It's chocolate week chez-nous!

So my chocoholic daughter is off on a school trip and as part of her luggage will contain a few snacks, she has specially requested a chocolate selection of midnight snacks!

Anything would do really; chocolate cake, chocolate biscuits as long as it is of course CHOCOLATE! But then we settled on chocolate chip cookies and some truffles.

If you need some chocolate inspirations, here are some of mine:

Chocolate orange fudge cake - http://concitademicoli.blogspot.be/2009/04/chocolate-orange-fudge-cake.html 

Banana choc-chip ice-cream - http://concitademicoli.blogspot.be/2008/04/banana-chocolate-chip-ice-cream.html 

Pasteis de nata

Having spent a good amount of time chatting to a foodie who happens to be Portugese, I became intrigued with the Portugese custard tarts or as they are referred to locally " Pasteis de nata"

The original recipe for these delicious little tarts is guarded by few and in most cases taken to their grave. So I cannot really claim to have the original recipe!

Having said that I think I came quite close to the original version. My first attempt was based on a Portuguese recipe. Luckily I know enough Italian to be able to comprehend! Must confess that the custard needed to be cooled further before pouring over the pastry. Having said that, the judges (or guinea pigs, depending on how you look at it) were very pleased with the result.

And another confession is

1- I made a giant Pasteis (9 inches) instead of tiny ones
2- I used ready made puff but worked it a little extra.

I shall try and post the recipe shortly.