Thursday 22 September 2011

Surfing Couple Wedding Cake - Beach Theme

Surfing Couple wedding cake

Another fabulous creation by Trudy. This three tier cake was created for a young couple who had a relaxed beach themed wedding. The bottom and top tier was chocolate mud with milk chocolate ganache and the middle tier was butter cake with white chocolate ganache.

Custom designed fondant figurines were created to reflect the couple and the groom had a cheeky hand on the bride's bottom. The shells were hand made out of fondant and individually painted to resemble real shells, even the sand was edible.

Detail of custom made "surfing couple"

If you would like to talk to us about a similarly themed cake for your wedding, an approximate price for a cake of this height and with custom made figurines will cost from $550. Having less tiers and simpler figurines will reduce the price.

We can deliver Sydney wide and we cover the South Coast as well. Contact us by email at thelittleoaktree@exemail.com.au
 
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Saturday 17 September 2011

A Rustic Country Birthday Celebration

Last Saturday was the weekend of the big 30th country birthday party that we were styling. I had already created the invitations weeks earlier (you can read about that post here,) Trudy had completed the birthday cake which was designed as a cowboy hat, and everything was falling into place for the big day.


Sydney had been experiencing some gorgeous weather leading up to the day so I was relatively confident that the outdoor event we had planned would go off without a hitch......Hmm can you sense my overconfidence!!!! Even with all of our planning and detailing we couldn't control the weather, cue freezing temperatures, black clouds and howling wind ! Thankfully it didn't rain though.

Picture a huge bonfire with bales of hay for seating, roasting marshmallows, sun setting and people relaxing on the lawn, drink in hand.....NOT ! The wind was so fierce, if we attempted to light the fire I think we would have burnt down half the countryside.

The marquee where the dessert table was supposed to be nearly blew away ! We had designed the dessert table to sit beneath the white marquee with a sheer white cotton curtain backdrop, bare tree branches with glass ball votive candles were to be suspended above the table and tree logs were to be used as risers for the desserts. Given the horrible weather, this gorgeous design flew out the window, along with every other outdoor activity. Trudy and I quickly turned to plan B, the bonfire was canned, the dessert table was set up indoors, and the drink station was moved under the verandah of the house, but most disappointingly for us, we didn't get to see the full design come to life. Oh mother nature certainly is a cruel mistress.

So, the big lesson for us was to never take the weather for granted and to always have a rock solid plan B, for when everything turns pear shaped.

Here are a few shots of the day courtesy of my gorgeous photographer husband. Thanks babe x


We tied a manila tag with brown string to each of the bottles, the idea being that the guests wrote their name on the tag to "keep their glass for the night". If you have a large party of guests that don't know each other, the tags on the glass make it an easy reminder if a name slips their mind.








Some of the props we placed around the property to help enhance the "country" feel. Used wine barrels old steel wheels and the owners driza-bone and Akubra hat. The birthday boy is affectionately referred to as "tractor boy" this was captured in the invitations with the silhouette of the tractor removing trees from the property. The party wouldn't have been complete without the tractor, so we drove it on to the lawn and it worked well as a cheeky reference.


The drink station under the verandah.


The dessert table was moved inside due to the horrible weather. The cowboy hat cake was designed and created by Trudy, and was nearly picked up accidentally by an unsuspecting guest. The cake was a caramel mud cake with white chocolate ganache covered in fondant.


The Little Oak Tree designed and catered the dessert menu. The key ingredient was caramel, which we were told was a favourite of the birthday boy.

Featured on the table:

~ Lamingtons
~ Rocky Road
~ Chocolate Brownies
~ Caramel Slice
~ Anzac Biscuits
~ Fleur de sel Caramel Macarons
~ Fleur de sel Caramels
~ Belgian Chocolate Mousse w' whipped cream and caramel sauce

As I mentioned in a previous post we trialled a new recipe from the Miette cook book for the Fleur de Sel Caramels. These were such a success, we should have made two batches.

Vendor Credits

Glass beverage dispenser - The Little Big Company
Paper Straws - The Little Big Company
Mosser milk glass cake stand - Sweet Style
Invitations, printables and styling - The Little Oak Tree
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Thursday 8 September 2011

Spring has sprung - Afternoon Tea Lemon Syrup Cake

Spring has well and truly sprung here in Oz, with the cherry blossom trees in our yard in full bloom, the scent of jasmine in the air and to top it off it was 27 degrees the other day, magic !

I was given a bag of lemons recently by my kind neighbour and my thoughts instantly turned to our family's favourite cake recipe, Lemon Syrup Cake. It is an old recipe from my grandmother and I have made it so many times now I think I could bake it in my sleep.

 Lemon Syrup Cake

This recipe is my 'go to' if I have to whip up a quick afternoon tea for unexpected guests, but 9 times out of 10 I bake it for the hubby and Callum who are both big fans.

You only need a couple of ingredients and most will be staples in your pantry or fridge.

Place the sugar, lemon rind and butter in your mixer


Cream the butter, sugar and lemon rind until light and fluffy


 
After beating your eggs into the butter mixture, fold in the milk and flour


 Our little man is always on hand to lick the spoon

Serve it hot out of the oven with a cup of tea and I promise you won't be disappointed ! My grandmother's recipe for Lemon Syrup Cake is posted below for you and your family to enjoy.

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Recipe - Lemon Syrup Cake

Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of self raising flour sifted
1 cup caster sugar
Rind of one lemon finely grated
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

Lemon Syrup
2 lemons juiced (approximately 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup caster sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line a 7 inch springform cake tin or loaf pan.

Using your electric mixer, cream butter, 1 cup caster sugar and rind until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add half the flour and half the milk to egg mixture and gently stir to combine, then fold in the remaining flour and milk. Spoon the mixture into your cake tin. Bake for around 45 to 50 minutes (depends if your oven is fan forced or not). Insert a skewer into the centre of the cake and make sure it comes out clean.

For the syrup, combine 1/2 cup caster sugar and juice of two lemons, use a fork to mix well. Pour the lemon syrup over the cake whilst it is still hot. I like to skewer the cake a couple of times to allow the syrup to really sink into the cake. Stand in the tin until cooled (I can't bear to wait this long and usually start cutting up the cake when it is still warm from the oven. Yum !)

all images - the little oak tree
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