Baby Milk Bottle Macarons

Around this time last year, I thought I was at the lowest place I could possibly be. I made myself a birthday cake, which turned out to be the happiest thing I've ever made. It was just the thing I needed to lift my spirits at the time, and it still makes me smile to look at that cake.  It's been an incredibly year since then, and it's crazy to think about everything that I've gone through. Sorry there wasn't a post last week, somehow this particular time of year seems to bring out all the drama and this time around baking was not the coping tool that I needed.

After my last batch of animal macarons, I swore to myself that I would take a step away from doing cute shaped macarons because it seems like everyone is doing them these days! But this weekend was Betty's baby shower and I couldn't resist pulling out one more weird macaron shape for the occasion. I tried my best to make them look like little baby milk bottle macarons, with blue tops because she's having a boy :) Unfortunately it seems that the funkier I made the shapes the more bumpy and uneven the macaron shells turn out. They are far from perfect but I think you could still tell what they were supposed to be, or at least I hope you can!

I added a few white sprinkles on the side of each bottle to look like the measuring lines on a bottle, which I think worked quite well. It was a bit of a pain to sift through my rainbow sprinkles to find the right length of white sprinkles and carefully place them on each shell. I filled the shells with a simple white chocolate and vanilla bean ganache. After this, I swear I'm going cold turkey on the funky shaped macarons, I really want to focus more on making some beautiful smooth shells with some intense, lovely flavours. This time around I did try out a tip I learnt from BraveTart, I added a small amount of salt to the shells to help balance out the intense sweetness and I think it's genius. Will definitely be using salt in my macaron recipe from now on.

Baby Milk Bottle Macarons

(makes about 15 macarons)

For the macarons: (if you are a beginner with macarons, read up and practice plain macarons first. BraveTart has lots of useful advice and info on the subject)

100g aged egg whites (you can use fresh eggs too, just make sure they are room temperature. I always use fresh these days, and zap it in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds)

110g almond meal, at room temperature and well sifted

200g icing sugar

50g caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Optional: 1 tsp powdered egg whites (available from The Essential Ingredient), helps to stabilise egg whites but is not necessary

To decorate: blue or pink food colouring (I used Wilton's gel icing colour), white sprinkles

For the ganache:

200g white chocolate, finely chopped

120ml (about 1/2 cup) pure/pouring cream (or heavy whipping cream in the US, min 35% fat unthickened)

1 vanilla bean pod, split and seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste/pure vanilla extract)

Prepare the macarons first; line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse for about 30 seconds to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites, salt and egg white powder in a medium mixing bowl until the egg white powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks. Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white (you really want to beat all the large bubbles out of the mixture, be rough!), then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after about 30 seconds.

Place about 1/5th of the mixture in a separate bowl and add blue/pink food colouring to it. Place blue mixture and white mixture in two separate piping bags. I attached a 0.5 cm round tip to the white bag and a narrower tip (about 0.25cm) for the blue. Pipe the white mixture in rectangles to form the base of the bottle. Pipe a narrow line of blue above each rectangle as shown in the picture above, then pipe a small triangle of white on the top of each blue line. I find it is easiest to use a wooden skewer dipped in warm water to help neaten up the edges. Additionally, you can place white sprinkles along the side of each rectangle to look like measuring lines.

Leave to dry for at least half an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently it does not break. This will help prevent any cracking and help the feet to form on the macs. Preheat your oven to 140-150°C (285-300°F), depending on your oven. Place on top of an overturned roasting tray or another baking sheet if your sheets are not professional grade, for better heat distribution. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Carefully test if the base of the shell is ready by gently lifting one and if it's still soft and sticking to the baking paper, then it needs to bake for a few minutes longer. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes, then gently remove from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

Prepare the ganache; place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and gently heat cream and vanilla bean & seeds in a small saucepan until it just comes to the boil, then pour hot cream over the chocolate and set aside for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Remove vanilla bean pod. Using a whisk, gently combine mixture until it is smooth (if there are still lumps, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until they are gone).  Set aside to cool (or chill if you want to speed it up), until has returned to room temperature and is thickened enough to hold it's shape but still pipable. Sandwich macaron with the ganache (by piping it or using a spoon to spread it). Chill in the fridge in an airtight container overnight, serve at room temperature. 

Ispahan Marshmallows (Lychee, Rose & Raspberry)

Wow, it's been an exhausting week. I'm only just starting to get over being jet lag's bitch, so if I start to ramble in this post please excuse me because I'm very sleep deprived. It's been pretty hard to get back into the swing of things, I'm suffering some serious post-holiday blues as you would expect after having such a fun and food-filled trip. I've been catching up with friends and going through our giant collection of holiday photos and while it's nice to see how much fun we obviously had, I'm sad that it's over. I keep wishing I was back in Barcelona or Paris!

Speaking of Paris, I had the chance to sample some of the lovely treats at Pierre Hermé while I was over there. This included his famous ispahan creation, which combines the flavours of rose, raspberry and lychee. It's a truly perfect marriage of flavours; the sweetness of the lychee and the fragrance of rose are the perfect counterbalance for the tartness of the raspberry. One of my favourite treats that I picked up were these ispahan pâtes de fruits with two distinct layers, which worked well to keep the flavours distinct while in a single mouthful.

I decided to do a similar effect but with some homemade marshmallows instead. I'm always surprised whenever I post a marshmallow recipe how many comments I get from people who have never tried homemade marshmallows. It's a real shame because you are really missing out if you've only ever tried storebought ones. They are nothing alike and I've never been a big fan of the mass-produced version. The homemade ones are so light and fluffy, and you can add all kinds of delicious flavours to them. They're a lot of fun to make once you get the hang of it.

My original plan was to top these marshmallows with some crumbled freeze-dried raspberries, to give it a pretty pop of colour as well as an extra tartness. Unfortunately I didn't have much luck finding anywhere that sells them, but I did manage to find some really pretty dried rose petals. They're mostly meant for infusing, so I wasn't sure how well they would work sprinkled on top. I tried to chop it up very, very finely and only sprinkled on a little bit, but even then I'm not sure it was a very successful experiment as the petals were quite soft. If I had the choice again I would definitely replace it with my original idea of the raspberries.

This recipe is a great opportunity for anyone who hasn't tried the combination of these three flavours together, or hasn't tried a homemade marshmallow before. Some tips when making the marshmallows; it can get sticky and messy with all the sugar syrup, so make sure you have all your kitchen utensils ready to go and your ingredients measured out beforehand. Make sure you give your marshmallows enough time to set and dry out uncovered either in a cool room or in your fridge, as they will release quite a lot of moisture while they are setting. If you don't let them release that moisture they will go all goopy and sticky when you dust them. Not a huge deal if that happens, just leave them out to dry for longer and re-dust them. When cutting and handling the marshmallows, use a light touch and keep your hands dry and well-dusted.

Ispahan (Lychee, Rose & Raspberry) Marshmallows

(adapted from my Oreo Marshmallow recipe, makes about 40 marshmallows)

2 x 250g (about 1 cup) sugar

2 x 2 tsp liquid glucose or light corn syrup

2 x 1 tbsp gelatine powder

2 x 1 large egg whites

Vegetable oil for greasing

For the raspberry rose flavour:

125g fresh or frozen raspberries, pureed & strained

1-3 tbsp rose water or rose syrup, adjusted to taste

For the lychee flavour:

1 can of lychees in syrup, or about 250g fresh, peeled lychees, enough to make 2/3 cup of puree

1/2 cup (75g) icing sugar (confectioner's sugar), sifted

1/2 cup (75g) cornflour (cornstarch)

Optional: edible dried rose petals, finely chopped, or freeze dried raspberries

Grease and line the base and sides with baking paper of a 24x32cm lamington tray, or two 20cm square cake tins. You should lightly grease the baking paper as well, to make it easier to peel away from the marshmallow once it is set. Make the raspberry rose layer first; place 250g caster sugar, 2 tsp glucose in a small saucepan. Place raspberry puree in a measuring cup and top up with rose water or rose syrup to make 2/3 cup of liquid. Alternatively you can replace any amount of the rose with plain water, adjust it to your taste. Add puree mixture to the saucepan and place on low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Place 100ml cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle 1 tbsp gelatine powder over it and set aside to soften. Increase heat on saucepan to medium-high and insert a sugar thermometer. Boil for 3-5 minutes, until sugar thermometer reaches 120°C (250°F) (I got my candy thermometer from a $2 dollar shop for those wondering). Remove from the heat and carefully add gelatine to mixture and whisk until gelatine dissolves and no lumps remain (if you are worried about this step you can heat the bowl of gelatine over a pot of simmering water first to make it smoother before adding it).

Place egg white in a large mixing bowl and start beating with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment on high speed. Gradually add hot sugar syrup to the egg white while mixing, if you are using a hand mixer you should beat your egg whites to a stiff peak before you start adding the syrup, but it works fine to add it as soon as you start beating the egg in a stand mixer. Beat until mixture is glossy and thick, about 5 minutes on a stand mixer and closer to 10 with a hand mixer. Before mixture starts to cool too much, pour mixture into prepared tin and use a spatula to quickly smooth top. Try to keep it as smooth as possible so you have nice, neat layers. Repeat entire process above for the second layer, replacing the raspberry and rose with lychee puree instead (I topped it up to equal 2/3 cup of liquid using the lychee syrup from the can). Sprinkle the dried rose petals or freeze-dried raspberries over the top for decoration.

Leave to set at room temperature overnight (or in the fridge uncovered if you are doing this in summer). Mix icing sugar & cornstarch together in a large bowl. Using a lightly greased knife or dusted with the icing sugar mixture, cut 3-4cm sized squares. Roll marshmallows in the icing sugar mixture, covering all sides well then shake off any excess. Place on a wire rack or a piece of baking paper to dry for at least a few hours, then store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 week (you may need to re-coat in the icing sugar mixture after a few hours after you first dust them).

Chocolate, Olive Oil & Sea Salt Cupcakes

I'm back! How's everyone doing? I don't know if you missed me but I definitely missed blogging on here. I just got back from my honeymoon in Europe where I had the most amazing time ever (you might have noticed if you happen to be following me on instagram) and even though I am still completely, utterly messed up thanks to the evilness that is jet leg I couldn't wait to get back into the kitchen to whip something up.

It feels so good to be excited about baking and blogging again. Right before I left for my trip I was so weary of everything and completely out of new ideas. It was nice to be forced away from updating the blog every week, to give myself some breathing room and a much needed break from my regular routine.

My holiday was packed full of so much good food; I dined at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant in London, ate ridiculous amounts of bread, cheese, foie gras and pastries in Paris, drank so many jugs of sangria with tapas every night in Barcelona and gorged myself on stroopwafels and fresh herrings in Amsterdam. Not only that, I had about 2 weeks in KL to get my fill of all my favourite Malaysian food. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be suffering from the post-holiday blues for the next few weeks while I get back into the swing of things in Sydney, but my travels did give me plenty of inspiration for new baking ideas.

This recipe might look like nothing special, but the combination of really great chocolate, olive oil and sea salt was one I encountered a lot on my holiday and managed to make me fall in love chocolate desserts all over again. The flavours are simple but beautiful. The jet lag meant that I didn't have the energy to bother with macarons or layered cakes or fancy piping, but it didn't really need it in this case. These little olive oil cakes are super soft and moist and topped with fluffy bittersweet ganache. The sea salt on top gives it little pops of flavour that breakup the richness of the chocolate.

Along with all the dessert inspiration that I picked up along the way, we also spent a couple of days in the most charming little English town Arundel, where we visited Aaron's grandmother and I managed to pick up a few awesome props as well. There were so many amazing antiques but unfortunately I could only bring back a few small things that would fit in my suitcase and would get through Australian border security. I also had the best fish pie EVER. Anyway, I probably won't write up a post about my honeymoon since I didn't take my DSLR with me, but I will definitely make sure to share some of my stories from the trip in my future posts. It's good to be back!

Chocolate, Olive Oil & Sea Salt Cupcakes

(makes 8-10 cupcakes, feel free to double the recipe for a larger batch, adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe)

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

110g (about 1/2 cup) sugar

1 packed tsp finely grated orange zest

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising, I made my own using these instructions)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

For the chocolate ganache:

200g (7oz) good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

150ml (about 2/3 cup) pure/pouring cream (or heavy whipping cream in the US, min 35% fat unthickened)

Optional: 1/2 cup icing (confectioner's) sugar, sifted

Sea salt, to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 160°C (about 325°F). Place 8-10 paper liners in a cupcake tray. Whisk eggs, yolk, granulated sugar and orange zest in a medium bowl until foamy. Add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until combined. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Fold into egg mixture in 3 additions. Fill cupcake papers, about 2/3 full, and bake until light gold and testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

Prepare the ganache; place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Gently heat cream in a small saucepan until it just comes to the boil. Pour over the top of chocolate and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Use a whisk to stir the mixture together until smooth. Chill until it reaches room temperature and thickens. At this point you can spread the ganache over the top of your cupcakes, or if you prefer you can add the icing sugar and beat the mixture using an electric mixer to make it fluffy (beating the mixture increases the risk that it will split, so be careful not to overmix). Spoon or pipe over the top of cupcakes and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top. Serve immediately, or store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Cake Batter Ice Cream Sandwiches - Lisa from spicyicecream Guest Post

Note from Steph: If you're trying to contact me at the moment you won't have much luck because I'm in Europe on my honeymoon! But I thought it would be cruel of me to abandon my poor blog for several weeks, so I lined up some amazing guest bloggers to take over for me while I'm away. The baking blog community is so lovely and I was blown away by how willing everyone was to jump in and lend a hand. This week is another of my best friends from Sydney, my baking soul mate, Lisa from spicyicecream. This girl is seriously talented. Not only does she bake beautiful things, she is a fantastic photographer and an amazing graphic designer. If you didn't already know, she designed my blog header AND helped design my wedding invitations. I'm sure you're going to love this post because hello, SPRINKLES! 

Hello hello! Lisa from spicyicecream here. When my gorgeous friend Steph asked if I’d like to guest post for her while she was off on her amazing Europe honeymoon, of course I said yes. Steph and I are like kindred baking spirits, and she’s my absolute favourite person brainstorm crazy dessert ideas with. I just knew that whatever I ended up making, it had to have sprinkles.

Ice cream sandwiches have been popping up on restaurant menus all over Sydney this year and I wanted to put my own spin on the now infamous dessert. Cake batter flavoured ice cream fit the bill perfectly as it’s delicious, sort of unusual – and perfect with sprinkles! Everyone who’s tried it couldn’t quite pick the flavour right away, but when I told them that it has cake mix in it, they immediately recognised that taste. PS, it’s also awesome in marshmallows!
(http://www.spicyicecream.com.au/2012/06/birthday-cake-marshmallows.html)

This is the easiest ice cream recipe in the world – hands down. There’s no ice cream maker required, no custard to make, no eggs to separate, minimal washing up, and it still turns out to be super creamy. These ice cream sandwiches can also be completely prepared in advance, so no more scrambling around the kitchen in the middle of a dinner party. Enjoy!

Cake Batter Ice Cream Sandwiches

Serves 16

Brownie (adapted from Gourmet Traveller)

• 350g egg whites (from about 10 eggs)

• 150g caster sugar

• 275g almond meal

• 150g pure icing sure

• 150g dark chocolate, melted

Ice Cream

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

• 1/3 cup vanilla cake mix powder

• ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or ½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped)

• 2 cups thickened cream

Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Whisk egg whites to soft peaks in an electric mixer. Gradually add the caster sugar, whisking continuously until stuff peaks form. Fold in the almond meal, icing sugar and chocolate. Spread between two oven trays lined with non-stick baking paper to form two 22x32cm rectangles. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through. Remove baking paper and cakes from trays, cover with another sheet of baking paper and gently flatten with a rolling pin until even. Cool, and then trim each cake into a 20x30cm rectangle.

In the meantime, make the ice cream. Combine condensed milk, cake mix powder and vanilla bean in a bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream to form soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the condensed milk until fully incorporated. Line a 20x30cm brownie tin with foil and pour mixture into tin. Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

To make the sandwiches, place one cake on a flat tray. Turn ice cream out onto the cake, and sandwich with remaining cake. Trim edges, cut into 16 pieces with a hot knife and serve. You may need to place the ice cream sandwiches back into the freezer for 15 minutes before serving if your ice cream has melted.

Brioche Chocolate Buns - Karen from Citrus and Candy Guest Post

Note from Steph: If you're trying to contact me at the moment you won't have much luck because I'm in Europe on my honeymoon! But I thought it would be cruel of me to abandon my poor blog for several weeks, so I lined up some amazing guest bloggers to take over for me while I'm away. The baking blog community is so lovely and I was blown away by how willing everyone was to jump in and lend a hand. This week is a guest post from one of my favourite Sydney bloggers and also one of my closest friends; Karen from Citrus and Candy. If you aren't already a regular visitor to her blog, shame on you! I'm constantly in awe of her beautiful, moody photos, she is hilarious and she makes food that looks and sounds super schmexy. Check out this wonderfully buttery and chocolate-filled post. 

I admit, I'm a little terrified to be guest posting for Steph. She happens to be one of my closest friends but this girl is a baking genius and the amazeball creations on her blog never fail to astound me. But I'm more than thrilled to be here on Raspberri Cupcakes while she's living it up overseas (and I certainly hope she is because she deserves an awesome holiday!). Cheers for having me!

If there's one thing that I love intensely, it's butter. I just cannot live without it and I need it thickly slathered on everything; crusty bread, sourdough, muffins, banana bread and most of all, brioche. Omg brioche, I love it so much that it brings tears of joy to my eyes whenever I catch a whiff of the buttery aroma as it's baking and I would happily polish loaves of it in one afternoon with extra slabs of butter (before quietly disposing of all my skinny jeans afterwards).

So here I present to you the king of breads. But I'm not done yet; I just had one of those weeks and I needed extra back up. Brioche + chocolate? Excuse me while I have a moment.

Please, please do not be intimidated by the thought of making brioche for yourself. If you have a bread machine or Kitchenaid mixer, there's really nothing to be scared of since the appliances are doing all the hard work for you. Plus it's a cinch to put the whole loaf together. All you need is a little time and a warm spot for the bread (and a quiet spot to enjoy it all by yourself). I promise you it'll all be so worth it in the end because there are few things in the world better than homemade bread. Especially one that comes with lashings of butter and chocolate.

Brioche Chocolate Buns

Ingredients:

40ml milk, slightly warmed to 100-115°F (37-46°C)

50g caster sugar

1 packet / 7g of instant dried yeast

250g plain flour

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

3 eggs

175g good quality unsalted butter, softened then chopped

1 extra egg for egg wash, lightly beaten

Filling:

170g good quality dark chocolate, very finely chopped

35g butter, at room temperature

35g light brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

To make the dough; whisk one teaspoon of the sugar into the milk then the yeast. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for about 10 minutes until frothy.

In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, salt, eggs, remaining sugar and frothy yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until it comes together in a dough (making sure to scrape the flour off the sides to incorporate properly) then turn it up to medium speed and knead for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then knead for a further 10 minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic.

Add a few pieces of butter into the dough then after it’s incorporated, lower the speed and add the rest of the butter one piece at time, waiting until it’s mixed in before adding the next. When all the butter is in, turn up the speed and knead for at least 6-10 minutes or until the dough is very smooth, shiny, unsticky, elastic and comes away from the sides of the bowl perfectly (it’ll make slapping sounds while it's kneading).

Remove the dough hook then cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise at room temperature (no warmer than 24°C) for about 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, to make the filling, add the butter, sugar and cinnamon to the finely chopped chocolate then mix until it's all crumbly (use a food processor or a knife to cut the butter in).

Knock the dough down a couple of times then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat out the

dough on a sheet of greaseproof baking paper into a rectangle approximately 24 x 35cm with the long

side facing you. Layer as much chocolate filling as you like on the bottom half leaving a half-inch border.

Note - I made mine a thin singer layer because my family isn’t as nuts for chocolate as I am. Personally I would’ve had it bulging and ripping at the seams lol.

Brush the edges with egg wash then fold the top half over the filling and pinch the edges to seal. Loosely cover with glad wrap then leave to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size and is soft and pillowy. Meanwhile preheat oven to 180°C. Place the brioche and baking paper onto a tray, gently brush the entire surface with egg wash then bake for about 30-35 minutes until golden and it sounds hollow when you tap the top. Rotate the bread halfway through cooking to brown evenly.

Leave to cool on tray for about 20 minutes then transfer to a rack. Slice and serve slightly warm. Best eaten within a few hours however brioche can be stored at room temperature wrapped in cling wrap for up to two days. To serve, reheat in a low oven until softened and warmed (or for an out-of-this-world indulgence, make French toast with it).

*Brioche dough recipe adapted from Michel Roux

Coffee Cloud Cake - Kaitlin from Whisk Kid Guest Post

Note from Steph: If you're trying to contact me at the moment you won't have much luck because I'm in Europe on my honeymoon! But I thought it would be cruel of me to abandon my poor blog for several weeks, so I lined up some amazing guest bloggers to take over for me while I'm away. The baking blog community is so lovely and I was blown away by how willing everyone was to jump in and lend a hand. This week I have a very special guest post by the lovely & super talented Kaitlin from Whisk Kid. I've been reading her blog from the very start, and am completely in love with her gorgeous recipes and writing style. I feel very lucky that I get to feature one of her creations on my blog, enjoy!

I should be in class.

I should have woken up this morning, taken a quick shower, eaten a filling breakfast and headed out to campus with a back pack filled with materials for the first day of class.

Except... I didn't.

I woke up on a friend's couch at 5:50AM and fought with his unfamiliar shower. I helped stuff luggage for 5 into a Jeep Compass. We went to Meijer for an air mattress patch, a roll of duct tape, and 2 bags of chips. We stopped at Panera. We stopped at Caribou Coffee.

Then we hit the road.

I'm going to be missing two days of class for this trip, and the thought, initially, concerned me. I don't particularly enjoy skipping classes, and going to NYC isn't exactly easy on the budget of a college student who has, ha, not yet purchased the required reading for the semester.

I was also concerned for the impression that this would give my professors. How could I possibly tell someone who deserves my respect and controls my grade that I would be attending neither their first nor second lecture? Could I really be so careless and stupid?

It didn't take me long to decide that, no, I couldn't.

But still, it bothered me. I began to wonder, could I really be so stupid to miss the chance to go on a road trip with four friends, spend a week in NYC and not have to pay a cent for accommodations because - oh hey - the recently graduated friend we're going to visit lives in a house just outside the city?

No. No I couldn't.

There were a lot of people who helped me change my mind, but it was mostly my old roommate, S, and her brother, A.

I hate YOLO, but really, you really do only live once. This is my last year of college. Don't get me wrong, it's no time to slack, but it's also kind of my last chance to go out and be free, isn't it? Missing the memories from this trip would have been more of a burden to me than missing the classes will, and I know it.

Besides, the end of college means that I finally have to take all the elective credits I neglected to take before. So the classes I'm missing... They're not "required" for my marketing major. One is a hospitality course about food and retail that I am eager to return to, but my cousin is in the course and she'll take notes for me anyway, so why worry?

And the other course? Yeah... It's bowling. And honestly... I don't think going to be missing too much.

NYC > bowling.

All the restaurants/bakeries I'm going to visit in NYC are going to give me tons of out-of-the-classroom experience for the HB class anyway, won't it?

As much as it pains me to say it, never forget: YOLO.

I'm missing class and I couldn't care less.

Coffee Cloud Cake
1 tbsp instant coffee
237ml (1 cup) boiling water
284g (2 cups) flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
400g (2 cups) sugar, divided
6 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
90g (1 cup) ground pecans, or other nut

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and find your 25 cm or 10" tube (not bundt!) pan. Set aside without oiling.

Combine the instant coffee and boiling water. Set aside to cool. You may also use a cup of freshly brewed coffee for this step. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat on high speed until soft mounds begin to form, then gradually add 100g (1/2 cup) of sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. Beat until very stiff, straight peaks form, taking care not to over- or under-beat. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks on high speed until well-combined. Gradually add the remaining 300g (1 1/2 cups) of sugar, 2 Tablespoons at a time, beating until thick and lemony. Beat in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the egg yolks, alternating with the cooled coffee. Blend thoroughly after each addition on low speed, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the ground nuts.

Fold the egg yolks into the egg whites, 1/4 at a time. Use no more than 15 strokes after each addition, but blend until thoroughly mixed after the last of the yolk mixture has been added. Just be aware that each stroke removes more air from the batter! Pour into an ungreased 25 cm or 10 inch tube pan. Bake 60-70 minutes, until the cake is lightly golden and springs back when pressed. Cool upside down for at least one hour.

To remove the cake from the pan, run a tall knife around the edges. Pop out with the bottom and run a knife around the top. Frost with whipped cream and macerated fruit.

Fudge Brownie & Cookie Dough Cake

Let me introduce you to Calorie Mountain. It may leave you feeling slightly queasy if you try to conquer it. Last week was Regex Man's birthday. His birthday has been the inspiration for many epic cakes on this blog including the mint chocolate chip cake and the fruit tingle cake. This time I went a leeeeetle beeeet overboard. Regex Man's favourite Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavour is Half Baked, so I decided to do a Half Baked flavour inspired cake; (brace yourself) Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake layered with Cookie Dough Buttercream and topped with Fudge Brownies. It's ridiculously rich and completely over the top, but hey we live in a world of bacon ice cream and deep fried Coke.

Trust me, you want to have very small slices of this cake at a time. It's incredibly sweet and rich, but I tried to reduce the sugar where I could and used salted butter to try and balance it out. But even then with all the sugar and chocolate it's incredibly decadent. Only someone with superhuman cake-eating abilities like Regex Man would get a cake like this.

The cookie dough buttercream is SO good, it's the same one from Annie's Eats that I used in these macarons, it tastes just like cookie dough. I went a little crazy with the amount of mini chocolate chips that I mixed into the icing, so feel free to adjust the amount of chocolate chips that you use in it. The brownies are super easy to make and they have that crisp outer layer and dense, fudgey innards that you want from a brownie. The cake recipe is a very reliable marble cake recipe which uses buttermilk, which ensures that it stays soft and doesn't dry out at all.

It might be a while before you see the next recipe post from me after this week, as I'm taking a much-needed break for my Chinese wedding and honeymoon. But don't despair, I'm not abandoning my blog, not for a single week! I have several exciting posts lined up, including some fabulous guest bloggers who were lovely enough to come up with some amazing recipes to share on this blog. For the meantime, enjoy this crazy cake and by the time I come back I hope to be invigorated and ready to jump back into the kitchen.

'Half Baked' Fudge Brownie & Cookie Dough Cake

(Adapted from this cake, buttercream from Annie's Eats, brownies from Taste)

For the cake:

115g (1 stick) butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing

300g (1 3/4 cups) cake flour (not self-rising, I used 270g plain flour + 30g (3 1/2 tbsp) cornflour/cornstarch as per these instructions)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

225g (1 cup) sugar (I used caster sugar)

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp boiling water

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder

For the buttercream:

250g (about 2 1/4 sticks) butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 cups (about 315g) icing/confectioners' sugar, sifted

2/3 cup (about 85g) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

200g (about 1 cup) mini chocolate chips or finely chopped pieces of milk chocolate

For the brownies:

200g (7oz) good quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

200g (1.75 sticks) butter, chopped

3 eggs at room temp

2 egg yolks at room temp

200g (about 1 cup minus 2 tbsp) caster sugar

115g (3/4 cup) plain flour

35g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder

Prepare the brownies first (can be done a day ahead); preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Brush a 16 x 26cm (base measurement) slab pan with melted butter. Line with non-stick baking paper, allowing sides to overhang. This stops it sticking to the pan and makes the brownie easy to remove from the pan. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (make sure bowl doesn't touch water), stirring regularly. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks in a jug until combined. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool slightly before adding the egg mixture. If the chocolate mixture is too hot, the egg may start to cook and scramble. Stir to combine.

Combine the sugar and flour in a large bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until just combined - over-stirring can make your cooked brownies tough. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes or until crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into the centre. Don't over-bake your brownies or they can dry out. Cool in tin, then store in an airtight container for at least 6 hours or overnight. This helps the brownie to set.

Bake the cake; preheat oven to 180°C (350°F), grease and line the base of two 18cm round cake tins with baking paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and use a whisk to combine, set aside. Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add eggs one at a time until combined, scraping down the sides of a bowl with a spatula when needed. Add vanilla and beat again until combined. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour. Place 1/3 of the mixture in a separate bowl. In a small bowl, mix the cocoa and boiling water, whisking until it is smooth. Gently mix into the separated bowl of cake batter until combined. Spoon half the vanilla batter and half the mocha batter into the prepared cake tin, and the other half of each batter into the other prepared tin, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and mocha to simulate a checkerboard. Run a table knife through the batter in each tin to create a swirl effect. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Cool in tin for 10 minutes and then remove from tin and cool completely on a wire rack. Cakes can be made the night before assembly, wrapped in clingfilm and chilled.

Prepare the buttercream; beat together the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high. Mix in the icing sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended. Stir in chocolate chips until evenly mixed. Place one cake layer on a cake stand and cover the top of the cake with a layer of the buttercream, smoothing with an offset spatula. Sandwich second cake layer on top. Cover entire cake with the remaining buttercream, smoothing with the offset spatula. Cut brownies into small squares and pile on top of cake (you don't have to use all of them). (Optionally) Melt 100g chocolate and drizzle over the top of the brownie pile. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.