Cakes galore!

Chanel Cambon in Orange!

This is my 2nd attempt in making a designer purse bag, this time i did the quilting effect after i'd laid the fondant over the cake. What did i learn this time around - the layer of fondant needed to be just a few millimeters thicker! Anyhow, i still love it!

Another attempt at fondant decorating...

Well, i guess it didn't turn out too bad... but practise is the way forward from here. I made this spotty & stripy gift box style cake... again without proper tools, but overall i'm happy with it.

Fondant Ribbons and fondant decorations

Today i've made my first attempt at making the fondant ribbons I featured in my previous posts about fondant decorating tips... It's not complete as the ribbon pieces are yet to dry, so will have to wait til tomorrow. Anyhow, I found another great little site which has great step by step instructions on making fondant roses... Here's the down-lo from Make Fabulous cakes.

All images via Make Fabulous Cakes

Moussaka Madness!

image via Friends Eat.

I've never made moussaka before, and I knew there was a fair amount of work involved, well actually i just wish i had a bigger pan to fry the slices of aubergine with. It's a fantastic hearty Greek dish with several variations of the classic recipe, some involve using potatoes and some with Aubergines (eggplants).
I'm a sucker for Aubergines, so went with the recipe below, of course with a few tweaks here and there.

Here's Rick Stein's recipe from BBC

Ingredients

150-175ml/5-6fl oz olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped - I used 2
3 garlic cloves, crushed
900g/2lb lean minced lamb - or minced beef
50ml/2 fl oz white wine (a generous splash)
1 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes - or fresh chopped tomatoes
1 x 5cm/2in piece cinnamon stick
handful fresh oregano leaves, preferably wild Greek oregano, chopped
3 large aubergines - I used 4 for extra layering
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping
75g/3oz butter
75g/3oz plain flour
600ml/1 pint milk
50g/2oz parmesan cheese, finely grated - traditional Greek recipe calls for Kefalotiri
2 medium free-range eggs, beaten

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6. - I turned this down to 190C as the top/bechamel was going brown at a quick rate.
2. For the lamb sauce, heat two teaspoons of the oil in a pan. Add the onions and garlic and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the minced lamb and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine, tomatoes, cinnamon and oregano and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes while you make everything else.
3. Slice the stalks off the aubergines and cut them length ways into 5mm/¼in slices. Heat a frying pan until it is jumping hot, add one tablespoon of the oil and a layer of aubergine slices and fry quickly until tender and lightly coloured on each side. Lift out with tongs (every kitchen should have some!), layer over the base of a 2.5-2.75 litre/4 ½-5 pint shallow ovenproof dish and season lightly with a little salt and pepper. Repeat with the rest of oil and aubergines and seasoning each layer as you go. - I went from this step to step 5 before making the bechamel sauce. The meat bit needs to be sauceless or the moussaka won't hold (as i've just disovered), it'll get a bit soggy, hence spread more fine breadcrumbs!!!
4. For the topping, melt the butter in a non-stick pan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for 1 minute to cook out the flour. Gradually beat in the milk, bring to the boil, stirring, and leave to simmer very gently for 10 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then. Stir in the cheese and some salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly and then beat in the eggs.
5. Remove the cinnamon stick from the lamb sauce, season to taste with some salt and pepper and spoon it over the top of the aubergines. Pour over the topping and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden-brown and bubbling. I also sprinkled fine breadcrumbs on top of the meat sauce under each layer of aubergines and finished the last layer with slices of aubergines before adding the bechamel.

Extra notes:

Moussaka can be prepared up to the béchamel and refrigerated overnight. The next day, make the bechamel, pour over the top, and cook as directed.

Moussaka is traditionally served in very large pieces and it is a heavy dish. Serve with a green salad, crusty bread, and a dry red wine. Right, mine's just come outta the oven, yum!

Layering of meat and aubergine

Fine bread crumbs over the meat - holds the layers together

Bechamel sauce with kefalotiri & eggs

Nigella's Chocolate & Banana Cake

Delicious and Dead easy to make!

Right now, I've got a damn cold and am not hungry, well actually i'm craving Chocolate and bananas, surely this recipe will suffice for an iron and potassium quick fix?

I've been ordered to go to bed now, so this cake will have to wait til tomorrow.

Nigella's Chocolate and Banana cake

INGREDIENTS

75g (3oz) chocolate

110g (4oz) soft butter

125g (4 ½ oz) caster sugar

2 eggs

125g (4 ½ oz) self-raising flour

1 level tsp baking powder

1 rounded tbsp cocoa

2 medium bananas, peeled and mashed (really ripe ones are great for this)

METHOD

1.	Preheat the oven to 180oC/350oF/gas 4. Line with parchment paper a 900g (2lb) loaf tin.
2.	Melt the chocolate in a low oven, microwave, or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water.
3.	With a wooden spoon, cream the butter, add the sugar, and beat well; then add the eggs one by one, beating all the time.
4.	Add the sieved flour, baking powder and cocoa, followed by the melted chocolate and the mashed bananas. Stir to bring together.
5.	Pour into the prepared loaf tin and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before removing.

My love for cupcakes!

How about these scrumptious beauties from Crumbs & Doilies, UK? It makes me so happy to look at these little treats of joy! Note to self: must order cupcakes when back in London.
These guys are the best of the best, when it comes to creating stylish and delicious cupcakes, I just had to share these pics from their blog. Go check out what other little wonders they have!





I've also done a run around for some of the best and most basic cupcake recipes (fairy cakes to the folks in the UK). I also found the perfect Vegan Cupcake blog too with an incredible range of recipes that will tickle any vegans fancy! My vegan friends will sure appreciate this for sure!
The information below is sourced from the Telegraph.

FAST VANILLA CUPCAKES

Makes 12

A simple recipe to top with icing and decorations. Vary the flavour at whim (see box, below, for ideas for fillings).

• 4oz/115g butter, at room temperature
• 4oz/115g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• half tsp vanilla extract
• 4oz/115g self-raising flour

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases.

In the food processor or a tabletop mixer, beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.

Turn off the motor and add the flour. With the pulse button, or brief bursts of the beater, mix the flour in, stopping as soon as it is blended.

Divide the mixture between the paper cases.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.

HUMMINGBIRD CUPCAKES

Makes 12 large (or 18 regular size)

Why this recipe from the southern states is called "hummingbird" is a mystery. Perhaps it's because it's nectar-sweet and vaguely tropical.

For the cupcake version, I like to make a little hummingbird to place on top, with a raspberry head, a mint leaf tail and a sliver of vanilla pod (one that has already had its seeds scraped out and has been living in the caster sugar jar) for the needle-like beak.

• 7oz/200g self-raising flour
• 8oz/225g caster sugar
• 3floz/85ml vegetable oil
• 2oz/60g chopped pecan nuts
• 1 large banana, mashed (about 4oz/110g)
• 4oz/110g pineapple, chopped (tinned or fresh)
• Half tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the icing:

• The grated zest of an orange
• One quantity of cream-cheese frosting (see box, below)
• Raspberries or other soft fruit
• Frosted mint leaves
• Slivers of vanilla pod

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper liners.

Making the cake couldn't be easier: just put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir together. Divide the mixture between the cupcake liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden.

Cool the cakes on a wire rack.

To decorate:

Beat the orange zest into the cream cheese frosting.

Cut a slice from the top of each cake and cut the slice in half to make the hummingbird's wings and use the remaining ingredients to make the head, tail and beak.

Pipe the frosting on to the cupcakes.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Makes 12

These are the Dolly Parton of cupcakes, artificially coloured, unashamedly vulgar and absolutely irresistible. The base, a vanilla cake with a hint of chocolate, tinted deep red, is another Southern speciality cake, made famous when it was chosen as the wedding cake in the 1989 weepie Steel Magnolias.

• 5oz/140g self-raising flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• Half tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4floz/110ml buttermilk
• 1 tsp vinegar
• Half tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp red food colouring
• 2oz/60g butter at room temperature
• 6oz/170g caster sugar
• 1 large egg

To decorate:

• Cream-cheese frosting (see box) and fresh cherries

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cup cake tin with cases.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of salt. In a mug, mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food colouring.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg a little at a time. Mix in a third of the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk mixture, then another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk and finally the last of the flour mixture.

Divide the mixture between the paper cases. Bake for 20 minutes, until risen and springy - don't overcook them.

Cool on a rack.

To decorate, pipe on the frosting and top with a cherry.

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

These little cakes are squidgy and intensely lemony. They are very good with or without the frivolous meringue topping. If you do decide to gild the lily, be sure to use the shiny foil cake cases, since paper ones may singe when the meringue is being browned. Baked in tiny petit four cases, these are delicious after dinner with coffee.

• 4oz/110g butter, at room temperature
• 4oz/110g caster sugar
• 2oz/60g ground almonds
• Grated zest of 2 lemons, juice of 1
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2oz/60g self-raising flour
• 4oz/110g icing sugar

To decorate:

• 2 egg whites
• 4oz/110g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with foil cases.

In the food processor or by hand, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and light. Beat in the almonds and lemon zest, followed by the eggs a little at a time. Add the flour and pulse until just combined.

Divide the mixture between the foil cases. Bake for 20 minutes, until springy and touched with brown (they won't rise as much as regular cupcakes). Meanwhile mix the lemon juice and icing sugar to make a syrup. Spoon the syrup over the hot cakes, then leave to cool in the tin.

To decorate: beat the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the sugar a little at a time until stiff and smooth. Use this shaving foam-like mixture to fill a piping bag, and pipe over the cupcakes. Brown with a blow torch or under a preheated, fiercely hot grill.

TOP TIPS FOR MAKING CUPCAKES

Use paper cases that fit the cake tins snugly, or they'll either spread too much or wrinkle up. Annoyingly, sizes aren't standardised, so measure your tin's cup size before buying cases.

Use butter and eggs at room temperature for lighter cakes.

Don't get any mixture on the edges of the cupcake case: it will burn and may stop the cake rising evenly.

Turn the tin round after 12 minutes or so if your oven has hot spots.

If all else fails, buy ready-made and ice them yourself. (Best cheat: ready-made cupcakes that are not filled too high look most homemade when flooded with fondant icing - try Asda's cakes with Tate & Lyle fondant icing mix.)

Ideas for fillings - I have to add that if you want to have a filled cupcake (with jam, chocolate etc) you can either fill half the cupcake case with mixure before spooning in a bit of jam/chocolate then fill the rest of the cupcake with mixure then bake. Alternatively, i have seen peeps cut a cone from the top of the cupcake then pipe whatever they want in it then replace the cake plug to seal it in. Wilton's also have the perfect accessory for piping in the filling.

Lemon curd (Homemade or Duchy Originals do a good one) Chocolate Spread (Marks and Spencer's Fairtrade Chocolate Sauce is to die for)

Raspberry Jam

Whipped cream, lightly sweetened

A cherry soaked in Kirsch (from a jar)

Cream-cheese frosting

This is really a buttercream icing, made with cream cheese rather than purely butter, which cuts the sweetness a bit.

• 11oz/300g cream cheese
• 2oz/60g butter at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 12oz/340g icing sugar

Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor. Chill for an hour or so before using.

The Observer has 3 superb recipes!

Magnolia Bakery's red velvet cake with creamy vanilla frosting

Makes around 24 cupcakes

For the cakes:

500g plain flour
165g unsalted butter, softened
500g sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tbsp red food colouring
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ tsp salt
330ml buttermilk
1½ tsp cider vinegar
1½ tsp baking soda

For the frosting:

6 tbsp plain flour
440ml milk
450g unsalted butter, softened
450g sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4. In a small bowl, sift the plain flour. Set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about three minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Whisk together the red food colouring, ­unsweetened cocoa powder and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

Stir the salt in with the buttermilk and add to ­the batter in three parts, ­alternating with flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are fully ­incorporated, but make sure you do not overbeat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda and add to the batter and mix well.

Divide the mixture into cases, then bake each tray of cakes for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 ­minutes. Remove from the tins and cool ­completely on a wire rack before mixing together the frosting ingredients and applying the icing.

Dan Lepard's vanilla cupcakes

What makes these new-look cupcakes magnificent is their size. They're baked in large muffin cases and topped with a jaunty swirl of butter frosting to give them a Dior glamour. But underneath beats the heart of an old-fashioned pound-cake, albeit one with a touch more flour to give a soft volcano peak.

For the cakes:

125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, very soft
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
150g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

For the frosting:

75g unsalted butter, very soft
250g icing sugar
75g sweetened condensed milk
75ml double cream

In the bowl of an upright electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla for three minutes on the highest speed until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder two or three times (this stops tunnels forming in the crumb), then add to the butter mix and beat for 30 seconds. Spoon into eight muffin cups placed in the pockets of a muffin tray, and set aside to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and firm. Leave to cool.

For the frosting, get the butter as soft as possible without melting, then put in a bowl with the other ingredients. Whisk until smooth and fluffy, then top each cupcake with a thick swirl. The sugar in the frosting means it will keep at cool room temperature.

· Go to danlepard.com/guardian for more baking tips

Allegra McEvedy's English strawberry cupcakes

Makes 18 little ones or one large one

55g butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp milk
120g self-raising flour
140g caster sugar, plus a little more for sprinkling
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Punnet of English strawberries
200g mascarpone
About 5 tbsp grappa

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°f/gas mark 4.

Thoroughly combine the eggs and milk in a food mixer or with an electric whisk, then add all but 20g of the sugar, beating hard. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, and gently fold in with a wooden spoon. Stir in the butter.

I used small (5cm wide x 2cm deep) muffin tins, but you can also make one big one, about 20cm across. Grease with butter, then shake a little flour round. Load in your cake mix, nearly up to the top for the wee ones, and bake for 10-12 mins, or 15-20 for a big one.

Hull and halve the strawberries and put in a shallow bowl with a sprinkling of sugar and the grappa. Stir gently for a few minutes. Mix the mascarpone with the remaining sugar.

Once cooked, let the cakes stand for five minutes in the tin, then lever them out on to a cooling rack. Drizzle some strawberry grappa on each, then, when room temp, splodge on some mascarpone and top with a strawberry. The leftover strawberries and grappa make a knock-your-socks-off digestif.

· Allegra McEvedy is co-founder of fast-food chain Leon. Her colour cookbook is published by Kyle Cathie Ltd at £19.99. To order a copy for £18.99 with free UK p&p go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0875.

Parisienne chocolate ganache balls

I heart Galaktoboureko - γαλακτομπούρεκο

What's baking in Paradise Catering's Kitchen? Puffy filo, custard filled pastries! Heavenly stuff I can assure you!

Really The Best-Ever Brownies!

Orlando Murrin's Best-ever Brownies

Ok, so I won't share with you the other tricks of the cake trade, but I will share with you this amazing recipe for brownies by Orlando Murrin at BBC Good Food - one of my fave website for all things delectable. I have made this countless times and it always turns out perfect and a mega crowd pleaser.

image via BBC Goodfood

Ingredients:
185g unsalted butter
185g best dark chocolate
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
50g white chocolate
50g milk chocolate
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar

Cut the butter into smallish cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break the dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them. Now remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively, cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put in the microwave for 2 minutes on High. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.


While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to fan 160C/conventional180C/gas 4 (most ovens take 10-15 minutes to heat up). Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base. Now tip the flour and cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl, and tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.
With a large sharp knife, chop the white and milk chocolate into chunks on a board. The slabs of chocolate will be quite hard, so the safest way to do this is to hold the knife over the chocolate and press the tip down on the board, then bring the rest of the blade down across the chocolate. Keep on doing this, moving the knife across the chocolate to chop it into pieces, then turn the board round 90 degrees and again work across the chocolate so you end up with rough squares. I also chopped up a handful of walnuts for an extra crunch factor.



Break the eggs into a large bowl and tip in the sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is, so don't lose heart. You'll know it's ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you're there.
Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like - you don't want to undo all the work you did earlier.

Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly. Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don't want to overdo this mixing.

Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks, (nuts) until they're dotted throughout. Now your mixing is done and the oven can take over.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it. Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 minutes. When the buzzer goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit and gently shake the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it's not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven


Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold, then, if you're using the brownie tin, lift up the protruding rim slightly and slide the uncut brownie out on its base. If you're using a normal tin, lift out the brownie with the foil. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into triangles. These brownies are so addictive you'll want to make a second batch before the first is finished, but if you want to make some to hide away for a special occasion, it's useful to know that they'll keep in an airtight container for a good two weeks and in the freezer for up to a month.

Before you ask...

We're really sorry but we can't reveal the secrets to perfecting the best tasting Baklava, Kataiffi - bird's nest version (Καταΐφι), Saragli/Σαραγλί or Chocolatopita/Σοκολατόπιτα (oozing in chocolate sauce mind). I love all these delicious treats drenched in sweet gooeyness and if you've been trying to replicate this at home, I can assure you it's damn hard & a bit messy!

Kataiffi by Paradise Catering

Saragli Baklavakia by Paradise Catering

Tasty Greek Cheese Pies (Tiropita/Τυρόπιτα)

image via: Greek recipes

These little beauties are the perfect snack to munch on and has many variations ingredients wise when it comes to making them. Some recipes call for a bechamel cheese mixture which is pretty much sandwiched between sheets of filo, some call for nutmeg, cottage cheese or other types of cheeses, some cheese pies are folded into triangles or cut into squares...Anyhow, I'm not fussy but i sure do like a tasty tiropita based on the more traditional version, which has several individual layers of filo and crumbled feta and a eggy milk mixture poured over the top.

I've pulled several versions of Cheese Pie recipes:

As seen on this video on Star.gr

Ingredients 1/2 kg filo (the thin ones)

700g feta

2cupevaporated milk

8 eggs

1 cup Olive oil

1 1/2 soda (drink not baking soda)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

• Set oven at 180 C
• In a nutshell from what i could see/understand, brush baking tin with olive oil something like 3 sheets of thin filo were brushed with olive oil and laid into a rectangle baking tin.
• Crumble feta onto filo, add a little pepper to taste. Brush another layer of filo with oil and place on top. Fold another sheet of filo and brush oil. Add a little pepper to taste.
• Repeat until you have at least 3-4 layers of cheese.
• Add final 4-5 sheets of filo brushed with olive oil. Score (don't cut through) & mark the top of the pie outlining 2inch square potions.
• Beat eggs and evap milk with a little S & P then add soda and pour onto filo layers until covered evenly - give it a shake from side to side.
• Chuck it in the over for around 45-55 mins at 180 C til golden brown.
• When ready cut the squares marked & let it cool a little before serving.

GREEK FOOD. ABOUT

Ingredients:

8 ounces of feta cheese, crumbled into small pieces

1 cup of grated graviera (or a gruyere-type cheese), grated (or 1 pound of feta cheese without graviera)

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

1/3 - 1/2 cup of fresh finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 pound of thin phyllo dough sheets

1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter

Preparation:

Day One: Defrost the phyllo dough in the refrigerator overnight.

Day Two:

1. Bring eggs and phyllo to room temperature (about 3 hours).

2. Preheat the oven to 350∞F (180∞C).

3. Mix the cheeses, eggs, parsley, and pepper in a bowl until blended. The mixture will be thick and slightly lumpy.

4. Cut the phyllo dough lengthwise into strips 2 1/2 to 3 inches wide (for most phyllo, this means cutting it into four strips).

5. Using a pastry brush, brush or dot the strip lightly with melted butter and place 1 teaspoon of the cheese and egg mixture on the strip, centered 1 inch from the end.

6. Fold one corner over in a triangle, and then continue turning over the triangle to the end of the phyllo strip (like folding a flag).

7. Brush each triangle with a little melted butter and place on a lightly buttered or non-stick baking sheet.

8. Bake at 350∞F (180∞C) degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

9. Remove from the oven, move to racks or plates, cool for several minutes, and serve hot.

Yield: about 80 pieces

Cooking Tip:

Do not leave the tyropitakia on the baking sheet after cooking as they will continue to draw heat which slows the cooling process.

Storage Tip:

Tyropitakia may be stacked uncooked between sheets of waxed paper, and frozen in air-tight containers. To use after freezing, separate them while frozen, place on a baking sheet, and bake at 350∞F (180∞C) for 30-35 minutes. Do not thaw before baking.

RECIPEZAAR

SERVES 12 -15

1 (1 lb) package frozen filo

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup milk

6 eggs

3/4 lb feta cheese, crumbled

1 cup grated parmesan cheese or kefalograviera cheese or regato cheese

2 cups ricotta cheese (or anthotiro or cottage cheese)

8 ounces butter melted

Directions

• Thaw phyllo dough completely.
• Melt the 6 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan.
• Whisk in the flour and cook slightly (1-2 minutes) to get rid of 'raw' flour taste.
• Slowly whisk in the milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until sauce thickens.
• Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
• Quickly whisk the eggs into the sauce one at a time.
• Then stir in the cheese.
• Preheat oven to 375∞F.
• Butter a 13 X 9" Pyrex baking dish generously (you can also use a larger baking pan - the tiropita just comes out a little thinner, but is nicer for appetizer servings).
• Flatten phyllo dough and cover with a sheet of wax paper and a lightly dampened towel (to avoid drying out).
• Take one sheet at a time and place in baking dish.
• Brush phyllo generously with butter.
• Use about 6 sheets this way and then add 1/2 of cheese filling.
• Layer 3 more sheets of phyllo (brushing each one with butter) and then top with remaining cheese filling.
• Finally, layer 6 sheets of phyllo over top (brushing each one with butter) and fold in the edges to make the tiropita look neat.
• Brush top generously with remaining butter.
• Score top of phyllo carefully with the point of a sharp knife, just cutting through pastry (only cut through the top layers of pastry, do not cut all the way down to the bottom layer), into the size of pieces you will want to serve.
• Make sure you don't cut right through pie.
• Bake for about 45 minutes to one hour, or until golden brown.
• (Make sure bottom crust is nice and golden- if it isn't- put it directly on floor of oven for about 10 minutes to brown faster. You don't want a soggy, uncooked bottom pastry).

Fondant Decorating techniques

Ever since my recent fondant exploits, I decided I needed to learn different techniques and practice more. I've a long way to go, but for now I want to share what i've discovered online by Wilton's - the very finest in Cake knowledge & Bake Decorate Celebrate! I'll be playing with these techniques in my next cake decorating exploits.

Draping effect - v. luxurious!

Fondant Veil - add detail for a bit of Va Va Voom

Full Bloom Rose Fondant

The following techniques are by Bake Decorate Celebrate.