Busy Busy with Birthdays

So I have been quite busy the last week what with Easter, two birthdays, sorting out work experience, AND my 2nd cousin coming to stay – consequently having to keep her entertained! Well trying to! Unfortunately the weekend was so busy that I didn’t get a chance to be creative with ‘Easter themed’ anything which I would have liked to do. I did however make chocolate fudge Birthday cupcakes for my friends 23rd Birthday, as well as Vanilla/Chocolate marbled cupcakes for a good friends 25th Birthday. Both went down a storm and recieved much apreciation so I had a big Saturday night was a night out at ‘The Playboy Club’ in Mayfair…well I have to say I enjoyed getting glammed up and the evening was great even though it was full of a pretentious lot! NOTE – See the cupcake with an attempted playboy bunny below!

Apologies for the rubbish photo quality! I was rushing to get to the destination and had to settle with taking a last minute snapshot!

Photo sent to me after demolition…spot the playboy bunny? It apparently took the friend a while to figure out that it was not just an ‘easter bunny’…but that was due to her OCD organisation state that night…according to her. The flowers used for decoration are made by me too.

Snack Time @ Bake Me Sane

Peanut butter on rye cracker with sliced banana = healthy fat + healthy carbs tastyness. Better with oat cakes though I must admit.

 

 

 

 

A much needed HAPPY DAY!!! :D

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Why am I so happy??? Because I got the internship at the cupcake bakery that I reeeaaalllyy wanted and I start 3 days a week on the 18th!! I had my trial today and it was so much fun, just helping the girls in the bakery and then doing some icing and decorating, i’m hoping this will give me some good experience of not only the piping skills but also the whole running a small business side of things and give me some ideas for the future…as far as that may be…but one day! All the girls were so friendly and helpfull too, and hey, never know there may be a possible job at the end of it fingers crossed! Extra happy with my Oz refund too also much needed! These are the mini cupcakes I brought back…they got a little smooshed on my train home unfortunately but still yummy!…

Now…the other day I was talking happily to a friend on Skype using the smilies as you do when I remembered that I was planning on making some sugarpaste emoticon decorations. End product turned out pretty sweet I think What do you think?? Next to put them on something – cupcakes maybe??

Mmmm Greens and Protein are Good for you!!!

Healthy choice for lunch today! It’s mixed green salad leaves with tuna, red pepper, carrot, sugar snap peas (Mange Tout), a whole red chilli SPICY basil leaves and balsamic vinegar…so good.

Results of Last Weekends’ Dinner Party

Since moving back home after travelling I have inevitabley been roped back into making the dessert for mums’ dinner parties. I usually go for the brilliant Pavlova because it’s easy and delicious. But this time I thought i’d try something else so I turned to the books, it’s funny how I know there’s sooo many recipes I want to try out but when I get the chance to I can never remember where I saw them! So after rummaging through my cupboard of cook books I settled on a Honey and Pear Gateaux style cake from ‘The Hummingbird Bakery’ cook book. Turned out delicious…but very sweet especially with the cream cheese buttercream frosting. Made some decoration for the top also – Bubble Sugar and a Sugarpaste Pear and honeycomb.

Sweeeeet Brunch

After being in Australia for nearly two years (tears fall as I reminisce and dream of being back there…Melbourne I LOVE you!) I became quite accustomed to their vocabulary/slang and their love of healthy food! So this morning I was deciding on porridge or eggs…and the result was definitely ‘sweeeet!’ (basically means awesome). So, sorry it is not sweet as in sugary…which isn’t a good choice for breakfast/brunch anyway unless you’re in France indulging in a light, flakey, buttery croissant – YUM! OR a bowl of fruit .
What I made was toasted rye bread with avocado, mushrooms, a poached egg, and a dollop of tomato sauce. Protein, good fats AND low GI carbs there!

I made the perfect Poached egg…best one i’ve ever made! I do it by simmering water in a pan, add a drop of white wine vinegar, crack the egg into a small ramekin then carefully slide it into the simmering water and cook for about 4 minutes then drain on kitchen paper…perfect. Runny middle rocks!

Now…I bet you’re thinking “ok all this healthy stuff is nice but what about the cakes promised?!” :p
Well remember I cook/bake to keep myself sane…for health and for happiness. Being healthy now and then is a priority, but being indulgent is not a bad thing either! What is it that they say…everything in moderation?
I do have some sweet things in store for you, this weekend I have a dessert request for a for a dinner party so I will be posting that on Sunday hopefully. I also have two birthdays coming up which I think will be cupcake gifts, and lets not forget easter goodies!
Happy Thursday!

Healthy Fruity Oaty Bars

Good Evening! Healthy (Well healthier than a cake) Fruity Oaty bars made today! I personally like these but I have been trying to tweek some ingredients to make them that much tastier but still healthy e.g low sugar, no fat etc. Try them out and let me know what you think…suggestions welcome!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 Cup Muesli (I used fruit and nut)
1/2 Cup Ground Almonds
1 Tblsp Ground Flaxseed
1 Tblsp Ground Ginger ( I love ginger so I put a lot)
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon ( Again if you like cinnamon put more)
1/4 Cup Raisins or Currants
1/2 Cup Almond milk
2 Tblsp Honey
1 Tsp Light Olive Oil
Drop of Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C / 350 F and grease a shallow square non stick tray.
2. Place all the dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix.
3. Combine the Almond milk, Honey, Vanilla and Olive oil.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine to form a moist mixture.
5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tray and flatten to fit the tin, then bake in the oven for 12-18 minutes depending on how crispy you’d like
them to be. I like mine to be golden and crispy ontop so I generally bake them for about 18 minutes.
6. TUCK IN

I ate 3 already today :s …They’re healthy it’s ok! :0

Decorations!

Hello!!!! Oh dear I need to apologise for lack of posting! So we all know it was mothers day on Sunday…Well I did a tasty meal for my lovely mum. It was an asian style sirloin steak salad with asparagus and watercress, and then for dessert I did individual baked chocolate mousses…UNFORTUNATELY this is a bit of a tease as I didn’t get a chance to take any photos! It was all very rich though and consequently I haven’t felt like baking (which would inevitably end up in eating) cakes! I’ve also been quite stressed out about the job hunt! I have a possible trial for an internship with a cupcake company so fingers crossed!  So today I did a few butterfly sugarpaste decorations with glitter. I also had the idea to do some ‘emoticon’ themed sugarpaste deco too but I will post that in the next few days!

I have just run 3 miles in preparation for a Sports Relief run that i’m doing on Sunday (further information below if you are so kind to be interested )and my calf muscle is consequently hurting a little so i’m thinking an early night for me! BUT I am going to do some HEALTHY baking tommorow in the form of Granola Oat Bars so stay tuned for the recipe! Goodnight!

http://my.sportrelief.com/sponsor/sophiebernardo

6:30am wake up…and the result – Caramel Cupcakes with Caramel Filling and Buttercream Frosting!

I woke up über early this morning feeling fresh…this seems to happen when I know I’m going to be doing some baking in the kitchen. Having qualified catering college about 2 years ago then deciding to fly off to Australia and NZ for 2 years of travelling and working (except not as a pastry chef) I recently returned. Now I am finding myself in the limbo stage with my life…all those questions like what am I going to do next, should I pursue the pastry chef world or go down a different route? Am I good enough is a main question that keeps popping into my head! All I know at the moment is that ultimately I dream of having my own cake/cupcake business and that is something that won’t go away.
I’m currently experimenting with flavours and decoration ideas as I’d like to start selling at my local markets sometime soon, so if anybody reading this lives in the Surrey area please follow my blog and be sure to keep an eye out for Sophie’s Cakes/BakeMeSane (possibly Epsom market).  All in the planning at the moment!

So here we are with the results of my day…the first ‘filled’ cupcake attempt and quite successful I’d say. I wanted to try switching up my usual cupcake recipe VERY sweet though with the caramel filling and buttercream frosting together so maybe something I would try to correct. I started off making the caramel filling which unusually required evaporated milk instead of condensed, so when it cools it’s more like a fudge. The cupcake sponge is a usual vanilla recipe with the use of brown sugar instead of white, and evaporated milk instead of semi-skimmed to give it that golden, toffee like flavour. To top the cupcake off is a simple vanilla/caramel buttercream frosting with some edible gold glitter of course (I love my glitter). TASTE TEST…I cut the cupcake in half intending to only eat half…but that did not work as my will power is just not up to scratch at the moment so consequently I ate the whole thing and it was well worth it!!
I wasn’t sure whether to tell you this either…but my cat Pepe also managed to nab himself a cake too the cheeky minx. I think he liked it.

The Beginning…

SO firstly HELLO! My name is Sophie I have been meaning to create a blog for a loooong time and only just getting my act together and doing it! In this crazy world we all need something to keep our minds busy and baking is my way of doing just that! Here at BakeMeSane you will find my ongoing experimentations – cakes, cupcakes, maybe even some cake decorationing. For those of you with a sweet tooth but an angel and a devil on your shoulder like myself I have some great HEALTHIER options too which I will post recipes of soon!
So please check back at my page in the next few days and follow me because ima be baking tommorow! Possibly Caramel Cupcakes! Yumm
But for now I will leave you with the full monty of my gingerbread men from above enjoy…