Trickster Desserts: This is not a cake

Pinata Cake

This is not a cake.

But before we riddle, lets get to the real business of this post – goodbyes.

And so it is time for another goodbye. This time it’s my Extension 1 English class that i’m farewelling. Of course, my farewells happen with cake. After all, a class party without cake is just a class. Not that my classes are boring…

In this class we study an unusual topic that is all about challenging the things in this world that we suppose to be true. My students grappled with complex intellectual concepts that sometimes resulted in some minds being blown. But these girls persevered and trusted me when I kept telling them that it would all make sense soon. I’m so grateful to have had the privilege to teach such clever, hard working and all round cheerful girls. They tackled every challenge with unwavering good humour and this even extended to the difficult task I gave them for our final class: bring in dessert that reflected the elective that they studied this year (Textual Dynamics).

Class Party!There were:

  • pancakes with bacon and maple syrup to challenge the conventions of breakfast foods being either sweet or savoury (not to mention eating breakfast for afternoon tea!)
  • intertextual foodstuffs with monopoly house fruitcake
  • a deconstructionist eton mess
  • texturally dynamic rocky road (puns galore!)

They set the bar pretty high, so I had to pull out all the stops to bake a textually dynamic cake. After considering some of the texts we have studied, in particular, the graphic novel ‘Building Stories’ by Chris Ware which looks remarkably like a board game, I thought, why not make something that looks like a cake but is not a cake?

This is not a cake

See? Looks like a chocolate cake, but isn’t a cake.

What is it?

It's a Pinata!It’s a pinata!

It looked like a cake, tasted like a cake, but when we cut it open and lollies spilled out it became clear that it was a pinata! A cakey, tasty pinata but a pinata nonetheless. This was such a fun cake to make and eat and I felt like it reflected the atmosphere of our classes perfectly.

Thanks for being such great students! <3

Pinata Cake Assembly Instructions

Firstly, you need to make your cake. I used this Chocolate Cake recipe (which is pretty much my go-to recipe)

Then you need to whip up your icing. Normal buttercream should be fine but I wanted something sturdier so I used this chocolate icing recipe from Sweetapolita

Pinata Cake

Next, using a scone or cookie cutter, cut a hole in the centre of each layer of cake and remove the circle (to eat later, but keep the circle from the top layer of cake!) Then layer each slice of cake, using the icing to keep it all stuck together.

Pinata Cake

Pour in your lollies (I used jaffas and smarties) so that they just reach the height of the second last layer of cake.

Pinata Cake

Place the final circle of cake on top of the lollies making sure that the top is level

Then ice ice baby!

Pinata Cake

Gingerbread Cake with Cinnamon Icing

Gingerbread Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream

Its the weekend. Thank god. For some reason this week has really taken it out of me and all i’ve craved was a sweet, sweet night of deep, deep sleep. But when things get like this, no matter how tired I am, I think that there is nothing that a delicious slice of cake can’t fix. A simple layer cake like this gingerbread cake with cinnamon buttercream is the perfect thing to soothe the soul.

Gingerbread Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream

Chocolate Sundae Cupcakes With A Cherry On Top!

Chocolate Sundae Cupcakes

I’ve been busy. But not the bad kind of busy where I forget about you all! If you’re following me on instagram (follow me @bakerbowie) you might have noticed a sharp increase in my baking productivity with far more photos of things i’ve made myself than things i’ve bought from fancy places. The truth is, I really love baking. I find it soothing and it feels as though everything is right in my little world when I have something delicious in the oven. Since I realised that baking has this effect on me i’ve been deliberately making more time to experiment in the kitchen and try to get a bit more creative. So I decided to try making a cake that wasn’t a cake – or at least a cake that didn’t look like it was a cake!

Cupcake Gifting: Chocolate Sprinkle Cupcakes

A True Love of Mine: Gifting Chocolate Cupcakes

Aren’t edible gifts always the best? If you answered ‘no’ you’re a liar. Or perhaps I need to be more specific? So, i’ll ask you again

Aren’t edible CUPCAKE gifts the best?

Of course the answer is yes! Cupcakes make a fabulous gift if you’ve only got a couple of hours to rustle up a gift for an impromptu (or forgotten!) birthday or celebration. They’re also super budget friendly which is a big plus for me these days and did I mention that they’re delicious? All you have to do is pipe a pretty swirl and garnish with sprinkles of your choice and your friends and family will love you forever. Because, sprinkles.