Lion Birthday Cake

I made this lion birthday cake for a friend's son's birthday. I used Wilton's Stand-Up Cuddly Bear Pan. To make this cake, I combined 2 recipes - a yellow pound cake recipe and a yellow butter cake recipe. It took me quite some time to make both recipes and even more time to decorate the whole cake. But I loved the end result and I'm glad the birthday boy was happy too. :)

Here's the Yellow Pound Cake recipe.

And here's the Yellow Butter Cake recipe.

Single Rose Cake

This was a chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. I tried decorating it with a single rose which I piped directly onto the cake. It was my first try, so I guess I did okay. I'm glad my friend enjoyed the cake. :)

Cake Ispahan - Rose Water & Raspberry Cake

If you love baking, then you will definitely love Pierre Herme. Well, love his recipes, at least. ;) I've a list of recipes that I have yet to try and Cake Ispahan was one that I could not miss. It's a rose water and raspberry loaf cake. Separately, you wouldn't know it that when these two flavors are combined, they're amazing. And beautiful too! Your kitchen will smell so sweet ;)

Check out Pierre Herme's Cake Ispahan recipe.

Sacher Torte (minus the Kirschwasser syrup)

My sister was vacationing in Austria and since I couldn't join her, I decided to try baking the famous Austrian cake, the Sacher Torte. This is a layered chocolate cake with apricot jam coated with chocolate ganache and chocolate glaze. I'm not really a fan of apricot jam, but I love chocolate. And chocolate ganache. And chocolate glaze. How decadent! The recipe calls for some alcohol, but my version was made without it. 

Check out the Sacher Torte recipe.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

While I was transitioning between moving house, I was staying at a hotel and had to borrow a friend's oven to do some baking. This was a great recipe and I loved the swirling effect of the chocolate with the cheese. This recipe is definitely a keeper!!

Click on the link for this wonderful Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies recipe.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie Recipe
(Adapted from Donna Hay Chocolate)
Makes 16 slices

Ingredients

185 g (6 1/2 oz) butter, melted
1/4 cup (30 g / 1 oz) cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup (220 g / 7 3/4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (150 g / 5 1/4 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

Cheesecake:
285 g (10 oz) cream cheese, softened and chopped
4 1/2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (320F). Place the butter, cocoa, sugar, eggs and flour in a bowl and mix well until smooth. Spoon into a 20cm (8 in) square slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper.
2. To make the cheesecake, process the cream cheese, sugar and eggs in a food processor until smooth. Place large spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture on top of the chocolate mixture and swirl with a butter knife. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until set. Cool in the tin. Cut into 16 slices.