Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin, Sultana, and Coconut Loaf Cake is a favourite at our place. The mashed pumpkin makes for a moist cake, and the sultanas and coconut add to the texture. With the mashed pumpkin it is somewhat healthy and it makes for a great lunch box treat. 

Loaf cakes are great for giving - they can be easily wrapped in waxed paper, brown paper and string. We found some loaf sized baking liners at Target recently which were perfect for presentation. 

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:
125 g (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup coconut
1 1/2 cups mashed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sultanas (raisins) with 1 tablespoon flour added to stop them sinking

Method:
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in coconut and mashed pumpkin. Fold in remaining ingredients and mix well.

Spread mixture into a lined large loaf tin (15 x 25 cm)  and bake for 65 - 75 minutes in a moderate oven, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Served sliced, with or without butter.

If you love Pumpkin recipes, you can find our recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Muffins over here.

{Book Reviews} Just Your Style and Art Quilting

This week we are reviewing two titles that will interest Quilters.

Just Your Style by Gudrun Erla includes designs to make 7 different quilts. What we love about this book is that each quilt is shown in two different colourways, so whether your preference is for bright and modern quilts, or more traditional colours, you will find a design that suits your style. Each quilt has clear instructions, and step by step diagrams to guide you through the process. Each quilt includes directions for making it in a variety of sizes ranging from Lap Quilt through to Queen Sized. 

Booktopia has a google preview on their site, so you can take a look inside the book and see more of the designs.  We recommend this book to anyone who loves to make quick pieced quilts.

Book Details:
ISBN:         9781609003050
Publisher     Leisure Arts
Format        Paperback, 68 pages
RRP            $24.99


Just Your Style is available from Booktopia.

The Complete Photo Guide to Art Quilting by Susan Stein is a great reference for anyone interested in Art Quilting. It contains over 500 photos that showcase different techniques, and design principles to help inspire and build your skills in this area. It includes helpful chapters on Getting Started, and setting up you work space; Design Elements such as value, colour, and texture; Creating the Art Quilt Top; and Finishing the Art Quilt. It also includes 5 beginner projects to get you started, and a Gallery of inspiring pieces.

You can find a Google Preview over at Fishpond if you would like a sneak peak inside the book.

Book Details:
ISBN:        9781589236899 
Format:      Paperback, 224 pages
Publisher:   Creative Publishing International
RRP:          $29.99

The Complete Photo Guide to Art Quilting is available from Fishpond and Booktopia.

Disclaimer: Please note that we are not paid to write book reviews but we do receive a review copy of the book from distributors/publishers. We are affiliates of Booktopia and Fishpond.

Win a Chux Hamper!

Until recently, we never thought a lot about the colours of our cleaning products. Though as long time users of Chux cloths we do use different coloured cloths for different applications/areas of the house. Chux have recently launched a Chux Collections range that delivers in both style and practicality, and will make using colour coded cleaning cloths so much easier! We love the vibrant colours of red, blue, green, and purple. Perfect for injecting a bit of colour in your life and your cleaning.

Chux arranged for us to have a colour consultation with Chris Brazel, a colour consultant and Chux ambassador, who gave us insights into our home energy and gave us some tips to add a splash of colour to our home. Chris uses the principles of colour theory, numerology, and feng shui to help people add some energy into their life, home and business. 

Chris is a firm believer that if you make a small change in your home (eg add a splash of colour with flowers, reorganise a cupboard, clean a window/door) whilst thinking about a change you would like to make in your life, the positive effects and energy will start to flow into your life. She suggests putting a photo or image of your goal on the fridge, to motivate you throughout the day. Chris made the interesting connection that the colours of our blog - aqua, white, and red, are also being injected into our home through home furnishing, pictures, quilts etc.  Red is the colour for focus, confidence and new beginnings. Blue, the world's most popular colour, is tranquil and relaxing. 

Chux have a fantastic competition running on their facebook page to win a $5000 Colour Makeover with Chris Brazel to brighten a special place in your community. If your nomination wins, you will win a $1000 Bunnings Voucher, plus two runners-up will also win prizes. Competition is open until September 30. For more details and to enter, see the Chux Facebook Page. 

Chux are also giving A Spoonful of Sugar readers, the chance to win a Hamper full of fantastic and practical Chux Cleaning Products - which will help you inject some colour into your cleaning! 

*To be in the running to win a this fantastic prize from Chux,  log in to the Raflecopter giveaway box below with your email address or facebook account and follow the steps. Do as many of the giveway options as you wish - if your already follow A Spoonful of Sugar or Chux on facebook or twitter, just click the button below for an automatic entry. 

Giveaway is until October 2. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks to Chux for providing us with the Colour Consultation and samples; and for providing the Giveaway Hamper.

Plum Pie with Pavlova Ice-Cream

The lovely folks at Sunbeam, recently sent us a Pie Magic Family to review, complete with a delicious sweet pie recipe, created by their home economist, to bake a Plum Pie with Pavlova Ice-Cream. Yummm. The pie was super quick to prepare using the Pie Magic Family, and it tasted amazing.

As you can see, the Pie Magic Family is sized to make a family pie that is 22 cm (8.75 inches) in diameter. It is perfectly sized to use the ready made Pampas pastry sheets. The Pie Magic is coated with a non stick lining and comes with a pastry cutter to make the top and base of the pie, and a pie lifter. It heats up within a few minutes, and then takes 15-18 minutes to cook the pie. It is important to note that when making a pie (either sweet or savoury) the filling needs to be pre-cooked and cooled before adding it to the Pie Magic. The Pie Magic can also be used to heat frozen or thawed store bought pies.

Plum Pie with Pavlova Ice-Cream
If you are looking for a wonderful summer pie recipe, you really can't go past the Summer Lovin' Plum Pie with Pavlova Ice-Cream. It would be the perfect dessert after a summer BBQ, but would also look elegant at a Christmas dinner party. The great thing about using the Pie Magic in summer is that it won't heat up the kitchen like your oven will.

Ingredients
(To make 2 Family Pies using the Pie Magic Family, or 8 individual pies using the Pie Magic Traditional 4 Up)

• 1 kg plums, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons plain (all purpose) flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 sheets of ready rolled shortcrust pastry

Ice-Cream:

• 1 litre Vanilla ice-cream
• 200 g pavlova or meringues, crushed

Method:

1. Place all the pie ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally for 20-25 minutes or until the plums are tender. (As plums are not currently in season, we used tinned plums and reduced the cooking time).

2. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool.

3. To make the ice-cream, remove the ice-cream from the freezer and allow to soften. Gently fold through the meringue and 1/2 cup of the cooled plum mixture. Place back into the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving.

4. Heat the Pie Magic Family. Using the pastry cutter, cut a base and top for the pie.Place the base in the pie maker. Spoon in the filling. Add the pastry for the top. (We added a few holly leaves cut from the leftover pastry). Cook for approx 15 minutes. Lift out of the pie maker using the pie lifter provider and allow to cool. Serve with pavlova ice-cream.

We sprinkled our pie with castor sugar before serving.

The pie was absolutely delicious and was really easy to prepare. We will definitely be making this one again soon.

We also made a savoury chicken pie over the weekend,. We used some leftover Thai Peanut Chicken from the slow cooker, with some puff pastry to make a quick family meal. As a family with busy teens, a Pie Magic is a handy appliance. Using left overs or a few ingredients, you can make up a batch of pies quickly - perfect for an after school/uni snack, or to eat on the run before heading out to work. Cooked pies also freeze well. We have had a Pie Magic Traditional 4 Up for many years - pies are always popular at our place.

Do you have a favourite Pie Recipe?


Disclaimer: This is not a paid sponsored post but we did receive a Sunbeam Pie Magic Family to review. All opinions and photographs are our own.

Rocky Ledge Bars

If you like chocolate brownie. you will love Rocky Ledge Bars. They have a moist, cake like consistency, and are studded with white and milk chocolate chips; caramel baking bits; and mini marshmallows.

Ingredients:

·         125 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

·         2 1/4 cups plain (all-purpose flour)

·         2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

·         1 teaspoon coarse salt

·         1 1/2 cups packed dark-brown sugar

·         3 large eggs

·         1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·         1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

·         3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

·         3/4 cup white chocolate chips

·         3/4 cup caramel baking bits

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly butter a brownie tin, (9-by-13-inch baking pan). Line with baking paper.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until well combined. Mix in flour mixture until combined. Fold in half of each of the marshmallows, chocolates, and caramel baking bits.

3. Spread batter in prepared pan. Scatter remaining marshmallows, chocolates, butterscotch chips, and caramels on top. Bake until top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Lift out of pan, and transfer to a baking sheet. Refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes. Cut into squares.

Recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart's Rocky Ledge Bars.  Rocky Ledge Bars freeze well - so you always have a sweet treat on hand. 

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Bonjour!

Most of our crockery is white - we love having all of our dinnerware and serving ware matching and it is easy to buy replacements when you get the odd plate chipped or broken. Sometimes though, white can be a little bit boring. I jazzed up a few coffee mugs recently with some vinyl numbers to make them more personalised.

Today I made a Bonjour! mug by applying some vinyl lettering to an old white mug. It has put a smile on my face and will be perfect for my breakfast cup of tea. My mind is already dreaming up words to put on other coffee cups. It would be fun to make up personalised mugs as Christmas gifts. All you need is a digital cutting machine, such as a Cricut, and some vinyl. What word would you put on a coffee mug?

The personalised mugs that we made 6 months ago have been through the dishwasher heaps of times and the vinyl is still well adhered and the colour hasn't faded.

This project was inspired by Martha Stewart's Painted Persoanlized Mugs.

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Sew Can She

Just wanted to let you know that we are excited to be guest posting today over at the Sew Can She Blog. Caroline from Sew Can She brings you the best sewing tutorials from around the web every day. We were asked to make up one of the featured sewing tutorials and we selected the Little Purse Thingy designed by Anna from Thimbleanna.  It is such a darling little zippered purse design with a clear front vinyl pocket - perfect for storing your ID card or Drivers License. You can find our guest post - here. 

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Whoopie Pies are the perfect treat - two little fluffly chocolate cakes, sandwiched together with a delicious chocolate chip buttercream filling. They freeze well and when popped into your lunchbox frozen, are ready to eat for morning tea/recess.

Sarah has been experimenting with different whoppie pies and fillings, and these ones are definitely our favourite so far. She has a whoppie cake tin, but these smaller sized ones made with an ice-cream scoop are the perfect sized treat. They use the new Nestle mini chocolate bits which we only recently discovered.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies 

(Makes  15-25 pies depending on size)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup plain (all-purpose) flour

2/3 cup dutch cocoa powder 

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

dash of salt

125 g (1 Stick) butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk 

Preheat oven to 190 deg C (375 F)  and line baking sheets with baking paper. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add half the milk and mix. Add half the flour and mix. Add remaining milk and mix. Add remaining flour and mix lightly until combined. Using a small ice-cream scoop, place a scoop (tablespoon or two) of batter evenly spaced 2 inches apart on the baking trays. Bake for 10 minutes or until they spring back.  Cool for 5 minutes and move to a wire rack. Cool completely and frost with desired filling. 

Chocolate Chip Buttercream

Ingredients:

125 g butter (1 stick), softened

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tablespoons plain (all purpose) flour

1 1/2 cup icing (confectioners) sugar

1 – 2 tablespoons milk 

1/2 cup mini chocolate bits

Beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add vanilla, flour and half the milk and beat until creamy. Add in the additional milk until the buttercream is a spreadable consistency. Fold in the chocolate chips. Using a palette knife, spread the buttercream on a cake, and sandwich two together to make a Whoopie Pie.

Sarah was inspired by the Classic Whoopie Pies from My Fair Baking.

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Honey Castella Cake

We love everything Japanese here at A Spoonful of Sugar, and Sarah is always keen to try out recipes for Japanese sweet treats. This week she treated us to a Honey Castella Cake which is a traditional Japanese sponge cake -  made without any oils or rising agents. It uses bread flour which gives it a chewy texture, and honey adds sweetness to the cake. It is a really moist, light cake, and is best eaten plain with a cup of tea.

Honey Castella Cake

• 5 Egg Yolks (room temperature)
• 4 Egg Whites (room temperature)
• 125g  (1/2 cup) Sugar
• 100g (0.8 cup) Bread Flour (sifted)
• 50g (2 1/2 tablespoons) Honey (diluted with 2–3 tbsp. hot water)

1. Line base and sides of a 7 inch square pan with baking paper. Preheat oven to 160 C (325 deg F)
2. Place egg whites in the bowl of your electric mixer and whisk on high speed for about 30 seconds, then add sugar a tablespoon at a time. Beat until firm peaks are formed.
3. Add egg yolks one at a time, and mix on low speed until well combined.
4. Add sifted bread flour and mix on low speed until just combined.
5. Add honey and hot water mix­ture and mix on low speed until combined.
6. Pour bat­ter through a sieve into cake pan, use a spat­ula or whisk to help the thick bat­ter go through the sieve.
7. Tap pan on the counter to remove any large bub­bles in the batter.
8. Bake in pre­heated oven for about 60 min­utes or until golden brown on top — check with a skewer to see if cake is ready.
9. If ready, take out of oven (with oven mitts) and drop the pan on the counter from about a foot in height to pre­vent shrinkage.
10. Cool cake. Place cake onto a piece of baking paper and wrap in plas­tic wrap, and leave in the fridge until ready to serve (at least overnight) to pre­serve mois­ture in cake.

Sarah was inspired by the recipe she found at Yummy Workshop. It reminds us of the cake we have eaten from bakeries in Japan.

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Drawstring Pouch

Drawstring Pouches are so handy - perfect for storing all manner of things. Using the Pretty Drawstring Pouch Tutorial, we enlarged the pattern by 3/4 inch on all sides to make a slightly larger pouch. 

These ones have been decorated with a patch of Retro Clock fabric and a small piece of ribbon on the front of the pouch before it was sewn together.

They are perfectly sized to hold all of our chargers/adapters when travelling.

They would also be perfect as a small Christmas gift bag - with some Festive fabric on the front.

 

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Winners of Back to School by Sew-Ichigo

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the "Back to School" Paper Piecing set by Sew-Ichigo. The winners are:

paulapatchwork said...

Oh! How I'd love to own those patterns! tks fr the chance! xx

Carmen said...

Their patterns are just adorable -- I seriously need to set aside some time in order to make them!

Thanks to  Penny and Kerry from Sew-Ichigo for providing the prize. Can't wait to see what wonderful paper piecing designs you come up with next!

{Book Reviews} Artful Halloween, and Party Ensembles

This week we are reviewing two titles that will be of interest to those of you that love to decorate for Holidays and put together Parties for special occasions.

Artful Halloween: 31 Frightfully Elegant Projects by Susan Wasinger, is packed with amazing Home Decor, Costume, and Entertaining Ideas for Halloween. Decorating for Holidays is always so much fun and you will find plenty of inspiration in this lovely book. All the projects have very clear instructions, and lots of step by step photos to guide you through the process. Most of the projects can be completed by a beginner so get the kids involved! Some of the techniques used include: painting, stamping, sewing, paper crafting, jewellery making - and may of the supplies and materials are items that you will find around your home, at the op shop or charity store, at your local hardware or craft store.

Book Details:
Publisher:     Lark Books
Format:        Paperback, 128 pages
ISBN:          781454702474 
RRP:            $21.99

Artful Halloween is available from Booktopia and  Fishpond.  We recommend this book for everyone who loves to put some special touches to their home for Halloween.

Party Ensembles  is an inspiration book from the editors of Papercrafts Magazine. It brings together a collection of over 1000 ideas to create party embellishments out of paper. The projects are suited to a wide range of holidays, themes, and special occasions. You will find ideas for birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, movie nights, wine tastings and more. Each theme includes basic instructions for making the projects using general paper crafting supplies and materials. The book comes with a CD which contains full supply lists, patterns and digital design elements. For more details you can check out the google preview over at 

Fishpond.

Here are a couple of the themes -

Book Details:
Publisher:       Leisure Arts
Format:         Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN:           9781609003814
Price:            $29.99

Party Ensembles is available from  Fishpond and Booktopia. This book has many inspiring ideas and is recommended for those that enjoy creating special parties and need some project inspiration.

Disclaimer: Please note that we are not paid to write book reviews but we do receive a review copy of the book from distributors/publishers. We are affiliates of Booktopia and Fishpond.

Paper Cut Book Marks

As avid readers and lovers of the classics, we were excited to see the fabulous bookmark project available free this week at the Cricut Craft Room. If you have a Cricut machine head on over to the Cricut Craft Room and download the free software so that you can use the online applications. Each week they have a free project.

Here are the bookmarks that we made with our new Cricut Mini - perfect to pop in with a gift for your favourite reader!

We love the papercut style - reminds us of the wonderful papercut images by talented papercut artist, Rob Ryan.


Sarah is reading Jane Eyre for Literature this term. What is your favourite classic? I think mine would have to be Little Women or Pride and Prejudice.


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The Passing Collective

We are really excited to tell you about an exciting new initiative - The Passing Collective. It was created by Kate Kirkwood of Hug Me Harry & Jodie Maloni of The Haby Goddess in June 2012 to help promote online businesses, including their own, by working together as a collective group. They recently had a Pop-Up Shop and have just launched their fabulous Spring Catalogue - which has a magical selection of wonderful gift ideas from a talented range of Australian artisans and small businesses.

The Passing Collective Ultimate Online Shopping Guide

Here is a peak at some of the lovely things you will find in the catalogue -

Craft supplies, kits, and more.

There are beautiful and unique gifts for babies and kids, for crafty types, for friends, and for yourself! In fact, you will find something for everyone on your list.

Toys, home décor items, jewellery, and so much more.

We know that on-one wants to hear the "C" word just yet, but you do realise that it will be here in just over three months. Now is the time to get organised and start your online shopping. Please consider buying handmade and from small businesses this year!

Some of our top reasons for buying handmade include:

• Products are original, unique, and creative
• Items are not mass produced and are more environmentally friendly
• Feels good to support artisans, small business and your local community
• Handmade items have a high quality and they are made with love and care
• We love to avoid busy Shopping Centres at Christmas
• We want to keep the crafting and design industry alive

If you have an online business, The Passing Collective are always on the look out for other online businesses to work with and they have many exciting projects in the pipeline. Kate and Jodie have a new facebook page to keep you in the loop for upcoming events and can be contacted via email at  info@thepassingcollective.com

Make yourself a cup of tea and have a browse through the Catalogue!