Christmas doughnuts

These are some festive themed doughnuts I've made for Christmas this year.  They are currently on sale here and here in my Etsy shop.  They're a perfect stocking filler!

 

 

Christmas cake

 

I love Christmas cake! I have very fond memories as a child of helping my Nana bake Christmas cakes.  I loved the way she used to decorate them too.. with little plastic snowmen and Santa's and gold coloured 'Merry Christmas' signs, it was 1980's Christmas kitsch and I loved it.  These cakes were inspired by the ones my Nana used to make but with a modern twist.  Novelty cakes nowadays are often crafted with fondant and sugarpaste elements and this is the look I wanted to recreate with my Christmas cakes.   On each cake there is a mini snowman with a carrot nose, coal eyes and buttons, a top hat and blue scarf; two Christmas trees with multi-coloured baubles; an iced gingerbread man and festive candy cane.  These cakes are currently available to buy in my Etsy shop here.

 



 

 

 

Pecan Pie

I was very lucky to be asked by the lovely Auralea, editor of American Miniaturist, to make a Fall themed food scene for their November issue and write an article to go with it.  A pecan pie making scene immediately came to mind as I knew it was a Thanksgiving favourite and fit in with the theme perfectly.  I had no trouble with the food scene, but I was a bit nervous about writing the article.  It's been a few years since I'd written an essay but was more worried being an English girl writing about an American and much loved national dish...I didn't want to get the facts wrong and upset anyone! Hopefully I didn't and the AM readers enjoyed it.  We don't really eat so much pecan pie over here in the UK. I have tried it a few times and it was absolutely delicious! The last time I made it myself I made it with some homemade Jack Daniels flavoured ice cream and it tasted amazing!  I will definitely have to hunt that recipe down and make it again!

 

 

 

Free Christmas pudding tutorial!

If you would like to know how to make Christmas puddings like mine, there is a free project in this months email newsletter from Dolls' House And Miniature Scene.  Follow this link to register your email address and it's all yours!

Afternoon tea cake stand

Whenever I think of a tea party or afternoon tea I always think of those tiered cake stands laden with pastries, cakes and mini sandwiches.  I found this beautiful glass cake stand on ebay and the food sort of made itself! I researched some ideas of different foods to include then came up with this  selection of afternoon tea party treats: pastel coloured macarons, fruit scones, chocolate eclairs, strawberry cream tarts and tuna finger sandwiches.  I wanted to create something typically 'English tea party' and  refined in my table packed full of quaint and whimsical food and this is what I came up with!

 

 



 

 

 

 

"Eat Me" biscuits

"Soon her eye fell upon a little glass box lying underneath the table. She opened it and found in it a very small cake, on which the words "EAT ME" were beautifully marked in currants"                                                                     - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Scene from Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951)    Alice discovered the 'Eat Me' biscuits when trying to grow again in size after drinking the 'Drink Me' potion.  These are an important plot device and memorable food item within the book so I have included them here on my Mad Hatter's tea party table just in case anyone drinks too much of the shrinking potion!   I designed these biscuits to match the pastel colours I used in Alice's 'Merry Un-birthday' cake and gave them a pretty vintage floral design.  There are fourteen biscuits (or cookies) in total, eight heart shaped and six circular, each with a separate design and colour scheme.  The look I wanted to achieve here is a fondant topped biscuit with finely piped lettering and designs.  This is my own Dinky Diner version of the 'Eat Me' biscuits!   The biscuits are fixed to a large pink ceramic serving plate.

 

 

 

Chocolate and strawberry layer cake

 

This is a chocolate and vanilla sponge layer cake sandwiched with chocolate buttercream, covered with dark chocolate ganache and topped with halved fresh strawberries.  There are two loose slices cut out of the cake which comes displayed on a glass domed cake stand with a fine paper doily.

 

 

 

 

 

Crumpets

Breakfast, lunch, tea time or supper...I love hot buttered crumpets and could eat them all day long! They just go perfectly with a cup of tea!

 

 

 

 

Rocky Road bars

 

Rocky Road (also known as chocolate tiffin or chocolate fridge cake) is a no bake chocolate snack bar made with melted chocolate, golden syrup and a little bit of butter mixed together with ingredients such as dried fruit, biscuits and nuts. 

 

My  Rocky Road bars have little pieces of pistachio nuts (green) marshmallows (pink and white) and digestive biscuits (beige) inside.  I made a slab of my tiffin mixture and cut into eight squared pieces so it looked like it had been poured and set inside a deep tray (as you would do if you had made this in real life!) Mmmm delicious!

 

 

 

Cheshire Cat chocolate cupcakes

This is proof you never can have too many cupcakes at a tea party! These are Cheshire cat themed cupcakes which I have made using colours inspired by the cat's  striped pink and purple fur.  There are six chocolate cupcakes (each with magenta and purple paper cases) topped with dark chocolate ganache and boiled sweets and one with the Cheshire cat's face made from fondant.  All the cupcakes are fixed to a fluted glass serving plate.

 

 

 

 

Doughnuts

 

Also included at the Mad Hatter's tea party table are these delicious doughnuts with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles... So adorable and without any of the calories you'd find in a real doughnut!