White Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Every Easter for the last couple of years, I've made a rich chocolate cake, complete with chocolate ganache. It's awesome, but this year I wanted to try something a little different. I originally went looking for a simple butter cake recipe, but when I came across this recipe on taste.com.au, I decided to go with it, and adapt it a little. If the reviews from my colleagues who enjoyed the spoils are anything to go by, this is definitely a winner- give it a go for Easter!

White Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from taste.com.au, originally published in Delicious magazine, April 2010

For the cake:

200g salted butter, at room temperature

250g caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 2/3 cups self-raising flour

200ml milk

130g white chocolate, melted*

For the frosting:

250g unsalted butter, at room temperature

350g icing sugar^

1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Strawberry or raspberry jam, mini-eggs and coloured sugar decorations

Preheat oven to 160C/320F. Grease 2 round 20cm cake tins.

For the cake:

1. Cream butter and sugar with an electric beater (hot tip! Make sure your butter really is room temperature- I suspect that's what broke my hand mixer!).

2. Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. 

3. Mix in the flour and milk in batches- flour, then milk, then flour, then milk, then flour.

4. Fold in the melted chocolate.

5. Divide the mixture between the 2 cake tins, then bake for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. The cakes should have a golden colour.

6. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

For the frosting:

1. Beat the butter until pale- this takes longer than you think it does.

2. Add the icing sugar in batches, beating well each time, tasting occasionally to check for sweetness.**

3. Add vanilla essence, and beat well.

4. Add milk gradually to achieve a light, easy to spread texture- depending on how much sugar you use, you may not need it all.

Assemble the cake:

1. When the cakes are completely cool, secure one cake to a cake board or plate with a small smear of jam.

2. Spread the bottom cake with jam, then place the second cake on top. 

3. Using 1/3 of the frosting, cover the top and sides of the cake sandwich. Don't worry about crumbs- you will get some in the frosting (unless you're super clever!). Put the cake in the fridge for an hour to allow the frosting to harden.

4. Using the rest of the frosting, ice that baby up! You should be able to achieve a nice, clean finish without crumbs, thanks to your crumb layer. 

5. Sprinkle the top of the cake with sprinkles, then add a nest of mini-eggs in the centre. 

* I actually used 100g of strawberry flavoured white chocolate, and 30g normal white chocolate. It gave the batter a slight pink hue, but it baked out to a white cake, and the strawberry flavour was lost. My advice- stick to normal white chocolate!

^ I didn't measure how much sugar I put in, I'm guessing based on how much was left in the box and what I think was in there before I started- don't rely on the measurement alone! Trust your tastebuds!

** If, like me, you tend to get icing sugar all over the kitchen when you make frosting, try putting a tea towel over the bowl- it will help to keep the powder clouds under control!

Why the end of Google Reader isn't also the end of the world

 

The internet is all abuzz this week with the news of Google Reader's imminent demise. Bloggers are panicking that no one will follow their blogs any longer, readers are panicking that they won't be able to keep up with their favourite sites. Totally understandable, especially for bloggers who rely on their blog for income and might see their traffic drop. But- there's no reason to panic, if you're a reader- there's plenty of other options. I read a heap of blogs, but I haven't used Google Reader in a couple of years- and I get by just fine!

I used Google Reader for years, but after a while, I realised wasn't in love with it's aesthetic and looked for an alternative. Sure, it does the job, and I liked being able to organise blogs and other sites into folders, so I could pick and choose how I wanted to read on any given day. But I primarily read design, DIY, lifestyle and fashion blogs, and a big part of that is the overall site aesthetic, which you don't get by reading through in Google Reader. I also got really lazy about clicking through to sites and leaving comments, which as a blogger was totally hypocritical, since I love comments on my own blog. For me, the alternative came in the form of Bloglovin', which I switched to maybe 18 months ago. 

Here's what I love about Bloglovin': 

- It's prettier than Google Reader, and gives you a nicely designed pictorial preview of the post (and thumbnail for the blog) before you click through. 

- When you click a post summary, it takes you to the actual blog, giving you the full site experience as it was designed, and you can easily leave comments. 

- You can still categorise blogs how you'd like. I organise based on the location of the blogger, as I like to keep an eye on my favourite UK & Australian based blogs separately from the North American blogs I follow (as they easily get lost in the sea of US and Canadian blogs I read).

- If you select the option in Setting to open blogs within the Bloglovin' frame, you can then easily click to the next/previous post in your list, based on the folder you were viewing (e.g. all unread posts, or just a particular blog or category of your subscriptions). 

- The new(ish) app for iPhone works well (the Android version I used a while back didn't work as well, but I can't comment on what it might be like now). My only complaint here is that a couple of the Typepad hosted blogs I follow don't have their images show when reading posts within the app, so I need to click through to the original post, but I'm not sure whether this is due to something on Bloglovin' or Typepad's side. 

- You can import your subscriptions directly from Google Reader (although this might be a great opportunity to tidy up and delete any old subscriptions that no longer interest you). 

I highly recommend trying out Bloglovin'- it's changed (in a good way) the way I read blogs- and you can follow Apples and Green while you're there!

I've heard positive things about Feedly, but I've only just signed up to see what it's like. It seems pretty, but a little cluttered for my liking- but it's too early to make a judgement.

While we're at it, remember that most bloggers offer multiple ways of following them- you don't need to rely on one Google service! In my sidebar, you'll find a number of social media links, including a link to my RSS feed (the one that looks a bit like half a rainbow). A lot of bloggers have one, and it will help you subscribe to our blogs in a number of different blog aggregators. I also have the option of subscribing by email (no icon, yet- it's coming soon!). While we're at it, you could also follow Apples and Green on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. 

Moral of the story- don't put all your eggs in one basket, and don't forget to look to look beyond Google for options to make your online life easier (says the girl using Gmail and Google owned Blogger to run her site!). Do you have any recommendations for following blogs and other sites?

Ben and Freddy

Just two lovely cats, one who thinks he can do an excellent impression of a lion roaring. I was never much of a cat person growing up- cats don't have the greatest of reputations in Australia, what with all the destruction of wildlife they cause- but these two, along with their predecessor Buster and a couple of others I've come across have done their best to change my mind. These are Jay's parents' cats, not ours, but I've known them both since they were little tiny kittens. Now they like to think they're big man cats.

Adventures in Paper Piecing: Episode 1

I began work on a new quilt last night- for the first time, I'm trying out the traditional English Paper Piecing technique. I like to think I have a reasonable grasp on quilting- by no means am I an expert, but I can usually piece a quilt fairly easily without having to refer back to the instructions over and over- however I've never really tried hand piecing before. 

This project started because my Mum gave me a pack of die cut hexagons for paper piecing from Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics for Christmas. I boosted it with another pack, and this weekend decided to get stuck in. English Paper Piecing is a technique where you tack fabric to paper templates to help ensure accuracy when hand stitching pieces of fabric together. It's great for shapes with a lot of set in corners, which are a right pain to try and tackle by machine. 

There were a couple of surprises once I got started. First, the technique I'd planned to use (which was based on a video I watched a couple of years ago on the technique), wasn't in fact the most common technique I came across when I did a little more research yesterday. The first few videos I came across yesterday suggested basting down the entire seam allowance of each edge of the hexagon to the paper, whereas I was sure I should just be able to tack down each corner. I did find a video using "my" technique after a little while, which just validated my thoughts, so I decided to start with that and see if it worked. It did! Take it from me- there's no need to tie knots in your thread, or put a lot of time basting your shapes to the paper- as long as the seams and corners are neat and relatively secure, you're good to go. 

I discovered this technique doesn't take nearly as long as I imagined it would. Sure, it's still slower than machine piecing, but because I'm using precut fabric, I have 2 advantages: a much wider range of fabrics than I would have if I had to buy from the bolt, and I cut out all the tedious cutting time. It's actually pretty fun- a couple of episodes of TV, and I had the first 30 hexagons basted to the paper, plus made a start on stitching them together. I still have a pack of 50 hexagons to baste, and piles to stitch together, before I'll have anything approaching a quilt, but it's a great couch activity- no sewing machine means it's portable. I'll probably buy at least one more pack of hexagons before I decide I have enough- I have plans for how to finish this into a quilt, but I'm as yet undecided as to whether I'll hand piece (and quilt!) the entire thing, or just do the hexagons by hand then finish by machine. It seems a shame not to finish by hand, since so much work will have gone into it.

You never know, this may turn out to be my first completely "hand" made (as opposed to handmade!) quilt! If you want more information on English Paper Piecing, here's a good blog post- or just search for it on Youtube, there's heaps of good tutorials. 

What's the biggest project you've ever tried making by hand?

Collection 1: Nail Polish

In lieu of the recipe I was planning on posting (it's not blog ready yet- needs some work before I'll be happy to share it with the world), I'm bringing you the first in an occasional series: Collections. I don't really think of myself as a collector, but when you look around my home, you'll notice a few small collections which have accumulated over time.

Nail polish above: OPI Ski Teal We Drop

First up- nail polish! I have a reasonable number of nail polishes, in a lot of different colours. Jay would tell you I have every colour covered, but we all know that's not true, right? We came to a deal a while back that it would be one in, one out (with the idea being I'd ditch cheap pharmacy brand polishes in favour of pretty, pretty OPI polishes). I actually got rid of quite a few a while back when we had a big clear out, so I figure there must be room for a few more before I start having to trade them out again.

I love nail polish for several reasons: it's fun to apply; it's an easy way of adding colour without worrying about touch ups and maintenance (the same can't be said for lipstick... but I do love lipstick, too!); applying it forces me to sit still for a good 45 minutes while it dries. Favourite brand? OPI, as you can probably tell from the picture above, but I also have a few mini Nails Inc polishes (from a gift pack I bought at Sephora), one Ciate (which has AMAZING staying power- I was chip free for nearly a week with that baby), and a few pharmacy brands. 

I've learnt over time that applying nail polish on a regular basis isn't exactly good for your nails, and it's taken me a while to settle into a routine with a few supplies I really like. The products in the picture above are my absolute favourite. 1. Sephora instant nail polish remover- I love that I can just dip my fingers into this little pot, swish them about, and they come out polish free. 2. Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Top & Base Coat: Top and base coat in one? I'll take that. I do find that my nails last a little longer with a top coat, it's worth the extra step and drying time. 3. Sephora 4-step nail buffer: All four-way buffers were not created equal. I can't quite pin down what I like about the Sephora buffer, but I think it's the amount of grit on the nail file side. I love it! 4. Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover (I've had this one a while, and couldn't find a link, but that link is to their liquid nail polish remover range): When I want to make sure I've got every last drop of polish off, I need to use remover and a cotton pad. I like the smell of this one, and it seems to be a little gentler on my nails.

One thing I'm yet to master, though, is painting my nails without spilling over onto my skin. My right hand never looks too bad (I'm left handed), but my left hand? It usually looks a bit of a state for a few hours. Any tips on how to fix that problem? How about you- any collections taking over your home?

Easy Tote Tutorial- with button closure and French seams

I can't get enough of canvas tote bags. I use one most days to carry my lunch to work, and love that when they're empty, they fold up nice and small in my bag. I have a few cute bags (this one from my friend Nicola Rowlands is my favourite!), but after I picked up this fabric cheap at Hobby Lobby when I was in the USA a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had the perfect amount to make a pretty tote to add to my arsenal.

Totes are easy to sew- if you can sew a (relatively!) straight line, you're good to go. This one has some fancy touches, but while sewing a button hole might be a little challenging if you haven't tried it before, it's totally worth it, and the French seams means there's no loose threads to fray on the inside. It's all in the finishing touches with this bag!

Supplies used: light to medium weight fabric (I used a little under 70" of interior decoration weight fabric, but you could get away with quilting cotton if you don't mind the end product being a little floppier); coordinating thread; button; sewing machine; iron & ironing board; rotary cutter & cutting mat (or just use scissors); scissors; hand sewing needle; pins & tailor's chalk (not shown).

1. Start by cutting your fabric. 

Cut the following on the fold:

Main piece: 1 piece 15.5" x 19" (short edge on fold, 15.5" x 38" unfolded)

Handles: 2 pieces 5" x 16" (short edge on fold, 15.5" x 32" unfolded). This makes nice long handles, you could easily shorten this a few inches if you prefer shorter handles.

Cut the following off the fold:

Button flap: 2 pieces 3.5" x 10"

Now, you're ready to start sewing (numbers relate to those in the pictures above).

2. Fold the handles in half length ways, right side out, and press. Open the handles out, fold each of the edges into the folded centre, and press again. Finally, fold the handle in half length ways again and press. You should have 2 long handles, 4 layers of fabric thick. Pin to ensure the folds stay together neatly, then set aside for now.

3. Place the button flap pieces right sides together. Fold in half, and trim one end to a gentle curve. Stitch using a 1/4" seam around the long sides and curved bottom of button flaps. Clip triangles from the seam allowance of the curve, taking care not to clip the seam itself. Turn right side out, ensuring that the curve is smooth (the clipped seam allowance will help), and press. Top stitch around the long edge and curve. 

4. Using the tailor's chalk, lightly mark where you'd like your button hole. Your button hole should be marginally longer than your button's diameter. Using this line as a guide, stitch your button hole using your preferred method. There's lots of ways of sewing button holes, here's a decent tutorial if you're unsure.

5. Open up your button hole, and check that your button fits through.

6 & 7. Take the handles you prepared earlier, and top stitch around the handles, taking care to ensure the open edge remains lined up as you stitch. You only need to stitch the long edges, the raw short edges will be covered. You should now have 2 completed handles and 1 completed button flap.

8. Take your main bag piece, fold WRONG sides together, and lightly press (you should have a double layer of fabric, 15.5" x 19"). Using a 1/4" seam, stitch each long edge, back stitching at the edges. If this is the first time you've stitched French seams, it will feel a little weird to have the seam allowance on the outside of the bag- don't worry, we'll fix that in the next step.

9. Clip the corners of the seam allowance to make it a little easier to achieve a crisp corner. Take care not to clip the seam. Turn the bag inside out, and press the seams. 

10. With right sides together, stitch the long edges again, using a wider seam than you used the first time- I used 3/8" for the second seam. Take care to ensure the seam you're stitching is wider than the first seam- otherwise the seam allowance will peek through your new seam. Congratulations, you've just made a pretty French seam!

11. Fold the top edge of the bag over 1/2" towards the inside of the bag, and press. Fold over again, around 1.5", and press, folding the side seams to one side of the bag- this will form the top hem of the bag. Using a tape measure or quilting ruler, mark each side of the open end of the bag 3" from the seam. This is your placement for the handles. On one side, mark the central point between the two edge seams. This is your placement for the button flaps. 

12. Position the handles, using the 3" marks as a guide- place the outside edge of the handle against the mark, inserting the short edge of the handle just over 1/2" under the folded hem of the bag, and pin in place. Take care not to twist the handles! Match the middle of the button flap with the central mark on the bag, insert the open edge just over 1/2" under the folded edge, and pin in place. Top stitch around the bottom edge of the hem, close to the edge.

13 & 14. Fold the handles and button flap up towards the top of the bag and pin. Reinforce the handles  & button flap by stitching around the rectangle where they align with the hem, adding diagonal lines of stitching across the rectangles for added strength. This step is best completed from the outside of the bag, to ensure the finish is neat. Turn the bag right side out, pushing the corners out to achieve a crisp finish.

Finally, fold the button flap to the front of the bag, work out where you want your button placed, and hand stitch the button on. 

I really hope you give this a go! I think it makes both a great beginner project, and a great relaxing project for those with a little more experience under their belts- and would make great gifts, too. After all, you can never have too many totes, right?

Any easy, fun projects you'd like to recommend? Any questions, drop them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

P.S. If you've been looking through some old posts, and found broken Flickr images, I'm working on fixing them. It's a slow job though- I'll let you know when it's all done. Thanks so much to Olivia for emailing to let me know they were broken!

Cook: Beef & Vegetable Chilli

Edit: If you're stopping over from A Beautiful Mess today, welcome! It's so great to have you here! I have a cute tote bag tutorial coming up on Wednesday, so be sure to check back. xoxo

While chilli may not be the most photogenic dish, it is one of the tastiest. This recipe makes a huge batch, perfect for the freezer for lunches or easy evening meals.  I'll admit right now that this is very much my own take on chilli, and may not resemble traditional versions too closely. However, I think the addition of a bunch of vegetables can only be a good thing, right?

I love this recipe so much I thought it would be mean not to share it. If you use lean beef, it's also a healthy option. The great thing about this recipe is it's super versatile- you can swap in whatever you have in your fridge, and adjust it to your own preferences. I'd normally also include a tin of red kidney beans, but didn't have any in the cupboard.

Beef & Vegetable Chilli

Serves at least 6

500gm lean minced beef

2 tins chopped tomatoes

500ml beef or vegetable stock

1 onion

2 celery sticks

2 large carrots*

2 medium peppers*

1 large handful green beans

1 tin no salt added sweetcorn

1 tin black beans

1tbsp olive or vegetable oil (not shown)

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground chilli seeds

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Chilli powder to taste (not shown)

Black pepper to taste (not shown)

1. Roughly chop the vegetables into 1in cubes. Keep in 3 piles: onion; carrots & celery; peppers & green beans.

2. In a large pan, sauté onions in the oil over medium to high heat. When partially softened, add half the beef and cook until beef is lightly browned. Remove from the pan. Brown the remaining beef (there will be enough fat in the pan from the first batch, you shouldn't need to add more oil), adding the celery & carrot to the pan when the beef is half cooked.

3. Add the beef & onion you set aside back to the pan. When the onions, carrots & celery start to soften, add the peppers & beans. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the tinned tomatoes and stock to the pan and bring to the boil. Add spices and stir well- be careful not to add too much to start, as the flavours will develop. You can always add more, but it's difficult to take out 3 spoons of chilli once it's in!

5. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are fully softened, stirring occassionally. If it starts to dry out, add a small amount of water. 

6. Add the sweetcorn & black beans (drained and rinsed), and stir well. Check the level of spices, adding more if necessary. Simmer for a further 5-10 minutes, allowing the corn and beans to soak up the flavours.

Serve over rice and top with cheese, then freeze the leftovers.

What's your favourite go to freezer meal?

* I used 4 small carrots and 3 small green & red peppers, as that's all I had in the fridge.

Wardrobe Curtains, or how I tamed the eyesore

Let's be honest. Full length curtains aren't the easiest thing to photograph in a confined space. So this post may not be filled with the prettiest pictures you've ever seen, but you'll at least get a chance to see the idea.

We have a stand alone wardrobe in our master bedroom- it's not particularly pretty, but it does the job. In our last move, one of the doors came off, and we were unable to get it back on. For months (okay, years), we had one door on, one door off- and the door that was there was a weird mesh- think fly screen on a wardrobe (is the idea of fly screen universal? It doesn't really exist in the UK, whereas it's everywhere in Australia- I don't remember seeing much in the USA, either).

I had the idea to remove the 2nd door completely, and then cover the front of the wardrobe with curtains. Rather than installing hooks, I used an extendable shower curtain rail- the curtain isn't heavy, so weight bearing capabilities weren't high on the priority list, and this way it's quick and easy to take down, if necessary.

The curtains came together quickly, I started on a Friday evening, then did another hour or two on Saturday morning. If anyone is interested, I could do up a quick tutorial, but in essence I just added tabs to the top of two long pieces of fabric, then used some accent fabric to brighten up the grey, and hemmed. The top band of accent is mostly decorative, but also functions to hide the raw seams holding the tabs on. The bottom band is more functional- my grey fabric (a plain quilting cotton I bought a month of so back intending to use for a quilt, but decided was too dark once I got it home) was too short, so I added a band of decorative fabric to lengthen the curtains. I also used additional grey fabric to create a false hem along the bottom- again, because my fabric was too short lengthwise, but I had left over from the width I'd cut off.

This is such an easy project- if you can sew a straight line, you can easily make curtains. Because of the odd design of our wardrobe, the curtain doesn't hang quite as flat as I'd like, but I think I can live with that. I recommend hanging the curtains for a couple of days before you hem, to allow them to settle- then measure from the ground up, not the top down, but it really shouldn't make too much difference as you're unlikely to be cutting on the grain, and they're not so heavy they'll stretch out a lot.

Have you ever made simple curtains to solve a problem like this? I'm tempted to make smaller versions for our bedroom windows, now.

Felted star patches cardigan

This project was a Pinterest win- I totally love the end results! I saw the original Honestly WTF DIY Elbow Patch tutorial pinned a couple of times, and it reminded me that I had some wool roving on the shelves waiting for a project. I thought about adding some felted patches to a cardigan a few months ago, but never got around to it- the addition of a cookie cutter was the inspiration I needed to take the leap.

I used various sized star shaped cookie cutters (from a single set), rather than a heart cutter- mostly because stars is what I had on hand. This is such an easy project, and totally cathartic- constantly stabbing the fabric with the little felting needle is fun.

I added stars to the elbows, centre back and neckline of a cropped cardigan I've had for a couple of years, rather than sticking to just elbow patches. I have no shortage of cardigans, so I wasn't worried if I messed up or decided I didn't love the end result. 

A word of warning if you're going to attempt this project- make sure you use a wool cardigan or sweater- when you iron to set the design, you don't want to melt the cardigan. Mine is acrylic (and was originally super cheap), and one of the elbows is a tiny bit shiny from where I ironed- it's not noticeable to anyone else, but I know it's there and it annoys me a little bit. If you do use an acrylic sweater, it might be worth trying to hand wash it to set the fibres, rather than using an iron. I haven't tried this, though, so I can't vouch for the end results- but based on what I know about wet felting, I can't see why it wouldn't work fine. I did manage to break my felting needle just as I was finishing the last star, so be careful to stab in with a vertical technique, not on an angle. 

 What do you think? Tempted to start upgrading all your cardigans to fancy versions? 

Special thanks to my friend Marta for snapping these pics for me while it was freezing and treacherously icy outdoors after the snow!

My blog redesign story

You might have noticed a few things have changed around here. I've completely redesigned my blog from the ground up- I've kept the banner at the top, as I only designed that a couple of months ago, but everything else is changed.

In case you've forgotten, this is what it looked like before- I started working on a design a few months ago, but never really finished and I wasn't really happy with how it looked. There was no cohesive Sitemap, and looked a little too much like a a stock Blogger template despite the changes I'd made.

There's a few new things to look out for. I have a new, easy to use navigation bar at the top, to easily move between some of the most common topics I post about. 

 I revamped my About page, as well as my Contacts page. They're linked in the sidebar, if you fancy exploring. 

There's also an FAQ page now. If you've got any questions, let me know!

I had a little help with the redesign. While I had a lot of ideas, and had a fair idea of how to implement the code once I had the design down, I was having trouble solidifying my ideas. Enter the Blog (Design) Love E-Course from Elsie Larson and Elise Blaha Cripe. This course helped me so much in working out what I wanted to aim for. I loved the early sessions on branding, mood boards and developing a Sitemap, as they really spoke to the gaps in my knowledge. I would absolutely recommend the class to anyone thinking about making over their site- it's so easy to work through the sessions, and I can almost guarantee you'll pick up some tricks you hadn't thought of- working out how to easily design a navigation bar was a big light bulb moment for me!

What do you think? Anything you'd like to see that I haven't included?