"I'm legit, bitch!"

I apologise for my rude title, family members :D I've recently got into Michael Patrick King's HILARIOUS new comedy '2 Broke Girl$' (in which, coincidently, the main characters are trying to build a cupcake business. Huh, go figure.) and Max receives her first cheque for a legitimate cupcake gig and screams this out to her diner patrons. Well this was my first legit gig!



One of my brilliant friends, Tash, recommended me to her mum (the headmistress of one of Plymouth's secondary schools) when she needed someone to make a cake and cupcakes for a staff event at the school. A cupcake shop in town - which will remain anonymous, but if you live in the Muff then there's only one - charge £1.50 for theirs, and my going rate is two-thirds of that. So Tash's mum came to me and asked to create a sandwich cake to raffle off (I think, it was a long time ago now) and the cupcakes were for the staff. She just told me to decorate them colourful and sparkly!

I love the sandwich cake, it was so fun creating all the fillings and it genuinely looks so edible! Hehe! I just baked two 8" square vanilla sponges and halved each of them, then covered them in white icing. I made cheese slices and poked holes through to make it look like cartoon cheese (seriously, can you actually buy cheese with holes in?), cut out round circles for tomatoes (not too much detail on the slices as I knew these would be well hidden underneath the "bread") and then streaked different shades of pink and green icing to make bacon and lettuce, respectively. I painted on bread "crusts" with brown food colouring, and dented the top of the "bread" with my knuckles to make it look loafy.

Icing on the Top:

• I was later told that the winner of the sandwich was thrilled with her prize, which makes me happy :)
• The loafy effect of the bread was an accident. I dented the top of the cake when I was painting on the crust by leaning my hand on the cake (not the first time I've done this, oops!) but actually it was like a happy accident, much like discovering penicillin, or my brother! Haha.
• I had so much fun decorating the cupcakes with a range of sweets - Smarties, Magic Stars, marshmallows, sparkly sprinkles, Malteasers, etc...
• I bought a new HUUUUUGE icing bag to decorate the cupcakes with - allowing me to ice around 25 cupcakes without stopping to refil my bag with buttercream. £8 well spent!
• I thought the picnic-blanket effect for the cake board was very effective :) And whaddyaknow, I used my sugarcraft gun to create the long strips of blue icing!

Burnt Bits:

• I made the cupcakes the night before they were due to go out, and the next morning found that the colouring from a lot of the Smarties had ran into the buttercream due to the moisture :(
• The "crust" I painted on the cake ran slightly onto the cake board design. I tried my best to clear it up with vodka, but I risked ruining the check blanket effect the harder I tried. Sucky.

Needless to say, my friend's mum was super-pleased with the results, and agreed that if she ever needed me again she would be sure to call. And two weeks later she did! My first cheque from the CITY COUNCIL arrived soon after this order as it was technically a school expense. WAHOOOOO!!!

And so began my short-lived journey to official self-employment.

Happy Baking x

Vegetable Pasta Bake

Sorry, pasta again guys... It's so easy! And sorry also for not having a post in so long - it's Easter Break and I've literally just settled down after probably the most hectic month of my life. I had looooads of deadlines for Uni, had to plan my 4 Year Anniversary with my boy, then it was my birthday, and to top it off, my mum was in hospital :( So you understand why I haven't had time to tell you about the wonderful world of cooking...

Anyways,  this is uber yummy AND it's also Weight Watchers approved so very healthy all round, wouldn't you say? Pretty much, if you've tried my Cheesey Pasta recipe - think that with vegetables. Mmmm!

It's so simple, feeds a family, and it's healthy. Perfect meal, huh?

Okay, here we go:

Ingredients:

1tbsp Butter
4 tbsp Plain Flour
As much Cheese as you want
Semi-Skimmed Milk - probably at least 300ml. You'll see why in a bit...
Vegetables - I chose broccoli, peas and carrots for my mixture. Add mushrooms, onions, green beans, potato if you want... It's whatever you fancy - veggies are good for you, go crazy with them.
125g Macaroni Pasta
Half a slice of wholemeal bread

Method:

1) Get 3 saucepans. As per my photo, use one for the Cheese Sauce, one for the Veggies, and one for the Macaroni. Get the kettle going for some water to boil the veg and pasta. Get these going as soon as possible.
2) Meanwhile, melt your butter in your remaining pan, and mix in the flour until you get a doughy mixture.
3) Gradually add small dashes of milk to your dough, mixing the entire time. You don't want dough to stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep doing this, gradually adding milk, until you get a creamy consistency like you would a carbonara sauce. Add in the cheese 'til it melts into the sauce. Hey ho - you've made a Cheese Sauce via the Roux method! Go you!
4) Okay, your sauce is ready. Your veg and pasta most probably is, too, by this point. Remember, if you can run a knife smoothly through the boiling items, it's ready to eat. Drain your veg and pasta.
5) In your largest saucepan, add the pasta, the veg and the cheese sauce altogether. Get a large oven-proof dish and pour your concoction into the dish, spreading evenly.
5) Whizz your bread in a food processor for a few seconds until you have breadcrumbs. Sprinkle these evenly over the pasta/veg/sauce mush.
6) Chuck the whole lot under your grill for 3-5 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden.
7) Voila! Serve, enjoy, and tell your friends :)

Kirsten x