marzipan & strawberry raspberry muffins

A few pages from the book:

It's been a while since I last put up a recipe on the blog! This one comes from a book called Taste Freedom, by Neil Roake. I was lucky enough to be apart of the book... This was my first stint at food and prop styling! I teamed up with stylist/designer Lisa Doyle - we had so much fun working on this together. Styling is definitely an avenue I would love to explore in the future.

This particular recipe actually came from my mom - Neil isn't much of a fan of sweet things, whereas I am (DUH), so I insisted we include a couple of sweet items on the menu for the book. These muffins were craaazy delicious. I made them again this weekend, and when I say they were a hit, best you beleeee-dat!

You can find Taste Freedom cookbook at Exclusive Books, Woolworths and The Space.

Marzipan and strawberry muffins 

Makes 6 large muffins

*I substituted raspberries for strawberries as my mom had picked fresh strawberries from the garden that morning :)

FOR THE FILLING

4-6 tbsp raspberry jam

180g marzipan

300g flour

175g brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg, beaten

1 cup (250ml) milk

150ml melted butter

1. Prepare by preheating the oven to 190 degrees. Place 6 muffin papers in a large muffin pan, then start with the marzipan. 

2. Roll and cut into 12 equal pieces, and flatten with the back of a teaspoon into small circles.

3. Scoop a dollop of raspberry jam on one, and sandwich with another. Keep going, making 6 rounds.

4. Now mix together the egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder, stirring well. 

5. Spoon the mixture halfway up the muffin papers. Pop a marzipan and jam circle on top of each, and cover with the rest of the mixture. This is where I added chopped strawberries to the muffins.

6. Bake for 20 minutes, poking with a skewer to check they're cooked through.

transfixed.

Pause for a moment. Take in the beauty that is Frida Kahlo. 

I scanned these from the book Kahlo by Gerry Souter (Grange Books), so I apologise for the poor quality. I'm fascinated by the complexities of her mind, and how she translated her struggles into bright, naive, symbolic, folk-inspired oil paintings. She had to deal with polio from the age of 12, a tumultuous marriage with artist Diego Riviera, several miscarriages, and a terrible bus accident that resulted in life-long injuries. But this lady was strong. Somewhat misunderstood. Man, I love her so much. (My friends will know this, as several years ago I threw a Frida Kahlo-themed party for my 19th birthday. We watched the movie Frida, ate Mexican food, and thrashed a pinyata!)

holla! :)

Hope 2012 rocks your socks. 


Photo: autumnfever

pink flamingo

Breathe in, breathe out... What a dress! Image via Style Essentials.

people, props, party.

Last week we had our Christmas party with clients at our offices. We made sure all the party essentials were in place - a caterer who makes faaabulous food, a portable bar with an infinite supply of alcohol, a photobooth, as well as a take-home rescue kit to nurse a hangover the next day. 

Between my work friends and I, we had loads of fun... with only a few fatalities. :) 

This photo is of Sam, Megan and I messing around in the photobooth. I've only been working at Wisdom & Youth for 3 months now but these girlies have already become great friends of mine. I don't think I could ask for a better team to work with :) 

gemma correll

Gemma's illustrations always put a smile on my face. See more of her work over here.