Kiwi & Vanilla Cupcakes - Floral look

Today I felt really good, full of inspiration and in a girly mood. And what a better way to express my feelings then baking some delicious cupcakes and decorate them springlike. 

With all the flowers now blooming I feel fresh and I love the smell they send away.

I made my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe and I added a splash of fruit inside. I usually don't use kiwi in desserts, but here is a nice combination. A sweet and sour one.

To decorate the cupcakes I used the flowers that I have on my terrace and garden. 
I am really pleased with the final result. 
These cupcakes would look perfect at a baby shower or a tee party. 

Here is the recipe that I made with this occasion.

INGREDIENTS:

• 120 g plain or all-purpose flour
• 120 g caster sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 40 g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 4 kiwis 

To decorate:

•  fresh flowers at your choice
• shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 170C/ 325F/ GM 3 and line a cupcake tin with 12 medium sized paper cases.

Clean the kiwi and cut it in 3.

Sieve the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter into the bowl of a Kitchen Aid (or other freestanding mixer) and using the paddle attachment mix slowly until everything is combined and you have a sandy consistency.

While the mixer is running, slowly pour in half of the milk and mix until it's just incorporated.

Add the egg to the remaining milk along with the vanilla and continue beating until it's mixed in.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is properly mixed but be careful not to over beat the mixture.

Using an ice-cream scoop transfer the batter into the cupcake cases and add one slice of kiwi in the middle. Press it a little bit with your finger.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sponge bounces back when touched (with my oven 17 minutes works perfectly) and a skewer comes out clean with put into the center of the cake.
Leave to cool for a few minutes then transfer the cupcakes onto a wire rack.

My cupcakes after taking them out of the oven

Sprinkle shredded coconut on top of each cupcake and top them with fresh flowers right before serving. Enjoy!

Photo credit : Emi Trasnitu

Polo Shirt Cake

,

My hubby celebrated his 30 anniversary this year.

 Happy Birthday my love!

We celebrated his Bday party with our close friends and we had a great time together.
For this very special occasion I made a special cake.
Because he loves his polo shits so much I decided to go for a pile of T-shirts cake.
I found this great idea on Pinterest and I thought it's perfect for this occasion.

 Not only the outside part is having great colors. I decided to go for colors also inside. Take a look above :)

Purple roses cake - nutella and cherries

A couple months ago it was my mother's birthday.
Happy, Happy Birthday to my dear and beloved mother!

Here is the cute cake that I made for this special occasion.
Because her favorite cake is the  chocolate one , I chose to fill it with nutella.
To give it a nice kick, I added cherries.
The recipe for the frosting is this one.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did ;)

Photo credit : Emi Trasnitu

Nutella brownies

I'm back! It took me a while but I'm here.
And to start, I tried an easy brownies recipe (I don't think you can find  anything like this) with only 3 ingredients. Yes, just 3 :D And one of the ingredients is one of my husband's favorite. Nutella...  The result is a chocolaty brownie , sweet and with a nutty taste.

This recipe it's been on my to do list for a while now. I was so curious to see the final result. And I must say that is a really nice one.

The brownies also look amazing made in a cupcake tin. To decorate them a little bit I added the forth ingredient (it's optional) shredded almonds. You can also go for nuts, pistachio or dried cranberries.

Here is the recipe that I found. Just a few and easy steps for some nice brownies.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Nutella spread
• 3 eggs
• 10 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup shredded almonds (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the oven to 350 F/ 180C degrees. Line a 6 cupcakes pan with paper .

Put Nutella,  eggs and flour in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcakes tin (about ¾ full).

Optional : sprinkle with the shredded almonds.

Bake until a pick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs,  around 15 minutes. 

Set on a rack to cool completely. 

Photo credit: Emi Trasnitu