When showing friends and family the photos from my recent Perth trip, many of them asked why are there so many photos of food? I didn’t find it strange at all, actually its been a habit of mine for years. Looking through old holiday photos it’s not unusual to find pictures of various lunches scattered amongst those of beaches and palm trees.

I’ll leave the detailed restaurant reviews to those who do them best, but I wanted to quickly mention two places at which we dined. An afternoon in Fremantle culminated with the best frites I’ve ever tasted at Little Creatures, a restaurant/brewery with a great buzzy atmosphere. The rest of the menu was awfully appetizing but my poor stomach couldn’t handle it. Much deliberation also took place at Little Caesars Pizzeria, Mundaring in the Perth Hills. We finally decided on the Mexican-inspired Chicken Siesta and the dessert pizza Caramello Sam, which was much acclaimed by past visitors, and rightly so. Pastry cream, bananas, macadamias and caramel sauce – this pizza was lick-your-fingers good.

But we cooked at home for the most part, which I really enjoyed. Holiday cooking need not be complicated, though it was tempting to make it so when you have all day to plan for it. I made my delicious roast chicken, tried pizza dough from scratch for the first time, and was treated to my host’s own specialty – plum chilli chicken nachos. One night we lit candles and ate outside just after sunset. But closest to my own heart was something that had been in the works for well over a year – the aptly named sea disaster cake.

I don’t even remember how the idea came about, but somehow a shipwreck and the subsequent bloodshed at the tentacles of a monster on the high seas seemed a good concept for cake decorating. We started with a white chocolate mudcake base, one of my favourites and used a buttercream icing for its versatility and texture. The sinking ship is a piece of chocolate and almond biscotti. The sea monster is a green meringue, although next time I would bake a smaller cupcake in addition to the large cake and use green icing. The sea disaster victims are unfortunate jelly babies. We had so much fun putting this cake together, and we’re already planning the next catastrophe to be rendered in cake form.

White Chocolate Mudcake
Recipe Adapted from Australian Women’s Weekly Cupcakes
Serves 10-12

• 250g butter, chopped coarsely
• 160g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon coconut essence
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

Butter Cream Icing
• 250g butter, softened
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food Colouring

1. Preheat oven to 170°C, and line a 22cm round cake tin with baking paper
2. Place butter, chocolate, caster sugar and milk in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth. Transfer mixture to a small bowl and cool for about 15 minutes.
3. Whisk in sifted flours, essences and eggs.
4. Transfer to cake tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin.
5. To make the butter cream icing, beat butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add icing sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add food colouring as desired.
6. Spread over cooled cake and refrigerate until set.

I had the most wonderful thought the other day. It made me smile and dream and hope as only ambition can. I love simplicity and most of all, genuine thoughtfulness, and often find more happiness in the little things in life than the so-called milestones. Plus who wants to wait until society obligates you to let people know you care about them. This is why I have mixed feelings toward Christmas and the holiday season. I enjoy the gift giving but not the gift buying.

A sneak peek into the more corporate world of graphic design showed me that it isn’t where I want to be – deadlines for clients you’ve never even met in person! But in this business, it’s all about learning and experience. I may very well end up there for a few years before I can go out on my own and start my own design studio (in a little terrace house with gorgeous wooden floorboards and a fireplace). That’s my dream, and I’ll tell you now, things will be done differently.

In this daydream I was about to start a presentation to a client. It was a project I was excited about, to be working on packaging with an artisan chocolate maker. It was a casual meeting, explaining initial ideas and really getting to know them and their product. In the middle of the table was a plate of freshly baked muffins that I’d made that morning.

It might never happen – who knows what the future will bring – but it got me thinking, it got me hoping and dreaming. And to complete the reverie, I baked some gorgeous blueberry muffins. It was kind of nice to get back to one-bowl basics, since muffins were one of the first recipes I ever cooked. I used Donna Hay’s recipe, but next time I’ll tweak it slightly to be a little more moist, perhaps with some applesauce or yoghurt.

Also, if you haven’t already, go and check out the prizes available for this year’s Menu For Hope. This year I’m offering a fully personalised logo design and development package that I am very excited about! There are only a few days left, so please help us beat last year’s amazing total.

Blueberry Muffins
Recipe adapted from Donna Hay
Makes 12

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ cups caster sugar
• 1 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 punnet fresh blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar.
3. Place the crème fraiche or sour cream, eggs, lemon zest and oil in a bowl and whisk well until smooth. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Be careful not to overwork the mixture or it will not rise as successfully.
4. Add the blueberries and stir gently.
5. Spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tin. Bake for 12-20 minutes depending on the size of muffins.

Re-invention is a theme often on my mind. As a graphic designer, I often find myself drawing inspiration from a huge variety of sources, from food to fashion, people to literature, nature to architecture and so many more, because design would be boring if people looked only to other design for inspiration! It is these individual interests and influences that create difference. Even at college when 30 of us have exactly the same project, everyone’s solution is unique.

This is also why I love the food blogging community. I’ll admit, I’ve been lurking watching from afar for a little while at different events. It is incredible to see what you all come up with, that one theme can inspire so many different ideas in people. The food blogging world has opened up my eyes to so many different culinary possibilities that I would never have thought of in a million years, each inspired by different cultures, interests and talents.

I am very happy though, that my first blog event is cupcake related, it seems oddly appropriate, as they are quite an obsession for me these days. The dish that I have chosen to reinvent is apple pie. As simple as it sounds, it has always been a favourite of mine, and its infallible popularity suggests plenty of others feel the same way. It is also something that I’ve personally never seen done in cupcake form before.

I started with a cinnamon cake base, filled with a home made applesauce and topped with a custard cream. I really liked the way the flavours and textures came together here. The only thing I would have liked better is a stronger cinnamon flavour in the cake, or even in the applesauce.

I know there looks like a scary amount of steps here, but much of this recipe can actually be done in advance. The sweet pastry can be refrigerated or frozen (see note), and the applesauce and custard cream can both be stored in air-tight containers in the fridge for 2-3 days. The cupcakes taste best when served on the day, but one day (unfilled) in an air-tight container won’t be a problem.

Thanks to Cheryl and Garrett for hosting such a great event!

Apple Pie Cupcakes
Makes 12

Sweet Pastry
• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ cup almond meal (optional, to make it almond shortcrust)
• 1 tablespoons caster sugar
• 150g cold butter, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons cold water

1. In a food processor or stand mixer with a dough hook, combine butter, sugar, flour and almond meal (if using) until it becomes a crumbly mixture that resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Add water as needed, until a smooth dough forms and comes away from the sides of the bowl.
3. Roll 12 small balls of dough, of about 1.5-2cm diameter. Place them on a baking sheet covered with non-stick baking paper, about 5cm apart. Place another sheet of baking paper on top and press each down until it is about 0.5cm apart.
4. Roll the rest of the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze it until needed.
5. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. Peel off the top layer of baking paper and make holes in each pastry piece with a fork. Place in a preheated (180°C) oven the oven for 10 minutes until they are slightly golden.
Note: I wouldn’t recommend making the pastry crust just for these cupcakes. If you have some leftover sweet dough from another recipe, or have other plans for a pie or tart, then go for it, but these cupcakes are truly just as good without the pastry as with. Sweet dough can be refrigerated for a couple of days or frozen for a couple of months.

Cinnamon Cupcakes
• 115g butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup flour, sifted
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a standard muffin tray with paper liners.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 20 seconds after each addition
4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon
5. Combine milk and vanilla
6. Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter mixture alternately, starting and finishing with flour
7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool in tray for 5 minutes then move to a wire rack.

Apple Sauce
Makes enough to fill 12 cupcakes, and probably a small apple pie or two
• 2 medium apples (I used Pink Lady), peeled, cored and cut into 1.5cm cubes
• 4 tablespoons water or apple juice
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place apple pieces in a small saucepan with the water/juice and cook over a low heat, stirring often until apples are very soft.
2. Stir in half of the sugar until dissolved and then add the other half and the cinnamon.
3. Place in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Vanilla Custard Cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 tablespoon custard powder

1. With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale. Add the flour and custard powder and mix well.
2. Place milk and vanilla extract in a small saucepan and heat until milk is just boiling.
3. Pour the milk into the egg mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.
4. Return mixture to the pot over a low heat and whisk continuously until mixture is starting to thicken. At this point it depends if you want a runny custard or a thick “pipe-able” custard, but remember that it will thicken slightly as it cools.
5. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl sitting in a dish of iced water. When cool, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until needed.

Assembly
1. Make pastry, if using
2. Prepare cupcake batter
3. Place 1 tablespoon of the batter in each of the cupcake liners. Add a pastry disc to each, and add more batter so that they are about three quarters full, and bake.
4. Prepare apple sauce while cupcakes are cooling
5. When cool, use a small sharp knife to cut a cone from each cupcake. (See this post at Cupcake Bakeshop for detailed instructions) Cut off the bottom and set the lid aside. Place 1 teaspoon of the applesauce in each cupcake, then replace the lid. Store in an air-tight container.
6. Make the custard cream.
7. Just before serving, remove paper cupcake liners.
8. Warm cupcakes in the microwave, and either pipe thick custard on top of each cake, or spoon runny custard so it dribbles deliciously down the sides.