Tomato Tart

This is one of my mothers favourites to make for a quick and fuss free lunch with a salad.  It's a recipe inspired by Marita van der Vyver's book "summer in Provence". I love easy fuss free recipes like these and the best is that you can play around with the ingredients.  It's like a pizza, just easier.

What you need:
A roll of puff pastry
Basil pesto - a good half a cup at least
Half a cup of parmesan/gruyere {and a few shavings for serving}
Sliced ripe tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
Thinly sliced mozzarella - about 12 slices {you can use more or less depending on how much you like cheese}
Fresh basil leaves

Roll out the puff pastry, and just fold up to make an edge around the outside of the pizza.  You can also make it in a tart dish, it does look a little more rounded off.

Spread with the pesto.

Sprinkle with the parmesan.

Place the tomatoes on the tart in an ordered way to make it look pretty.

Then pack the mozzarella on the top, this is optional.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 20min

Serve with a few parmesan shavings and basil leaves, and a big fresh garden salad on the side.

Bran muffins

I got this muffin recipe from my mother {it's out of the "You winning recipe" book}.  I remember she always made them. They are delicious and they great for a lunch boxes or picnics.  Only 20min to bake {just the time you take to make a great cuppa} and the best part if you don't need the whole mixture you can keep it in the fridge for up to a month.

So freshly baked muffins for a month... sound good!

What you need:
6 cups of Bran
2 cups Boiling water
1 cup of Butter {melted}
3 cups of Brown sugar
4 Eggs
4 cups of Buttermilk
1 Tbsp Bicarbonate of soda
2 1/2 cups Cake Four {sifted}
2 1/2 cups Wholewheat Meal
2 tsp Salt
{Optional: 1 cup of Raisons and/or 1/2 cup coconut}

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven at 220 C.

Step 2: Grease the muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.  {Alternatively you can use the cupcake cups, then pack them out on a baking sheet.}

Step 3: Mix the bran and the boiling water in a large mixing bowl.

Step 4: Add the melted butter, stir and allow to cool slightly.

Step 5: Add the sugar, eggs, and half of the buttermilk.

Step 6: Combine the bicarb, and the rest of the buttermilk and add to the bran mixture.

Step 7: Combine the cake flour, wholewheat and the salt {and raisons/coconut if you wish to add it}

Step 8: Add the flour mixture to the bran mixture and blend to form a soft dough.

Step 9: Spoon the mixture into the muffin pan {or cupcake cups} until two-thirds full.

Step 10: Bake the muffins in the middle shelf for 20 min.

Step 11: Remove muffins from the pan {if you baked them directly in the pan} and allow to cool.

Serve with butter.

Homemade Lemonade

When life hands you some lemons... make homemade lemonade! :-) That's what they say, so that's what we'll do!

Spring has finally arrived in Cape Town, and the last few days have just been absolutely beautiful here!

I have a bowl full of lemons, and thought it was time to make some homemade lemonade! Nothing better on a hot day than an ice cold homemade lemonade to keep in the fridge.

This is quick to make but takes a bit of time to cool down.

A little tip for squeezing out the lemons.  Before cutting them, roll them between the palms of your hands so that they soften a bit, this makes squeezing so much easier!

What you need:
1 cup Freshly squeezed Lemon juice {about 5 lemons}
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar

Heat the water and sugar on the stove top at a medium temperature and stir until the sugar has dissolved, to form the syrup.

Allow this syrup to cool completely.

Then add the freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Voila, that is you lemonade syrup.

For serving mix with water {about one to 5 or to taste}, ice and a few mint leaves and chunks of lemon.

It's a great drink for a party to serve in bottles with beautiful straws in, or as a non-alcoholic cocktail at a baby shower.

Cake Topper {DIY}

Make your own Cake Topper with Ribbon and Bakers twine.  If you put this on a plain cake it just rounds if off nicely... no need for fancy icing techniques!

What you need:
40 - 60 cm Ribbon {25mm}
40 cm Bakers Twine
Stop fray glue
Sewing machine {or fabric glue}
2 x Skewer sticks

Cut 5 to 8 pieces of 8 cm ribbon.

Fold it in half and pin together over the twine.

Using the sewing machine sew the pieces of ribbon on.  Don't however sew over the twine, so that you can move it around as you please.

{If you don't have a sewing machine glue the ribbon over the twine}

Cut a triangle out of the bottom of the ribbon {both ends} with a sharp scissors, and make sure all the triangles you cut out is the same size.

Using the stop fray glue, put a drop on and spread it over the whole edge of the ribbon {this will keep it neat}

Tie the ends of the twine to the skewer sticks and voila you have your have topper.

For party and craft supplies visit my online shop

I love freebies {eat me printable}

Print on board, cut out and glue {glue gun} onto a toothpick.  Stick them into your cupcakes to give it a fun twist.  You can also print on sticker paper, cut out and stick on a plain white paper bag with treats in {email me and I'll send you the pdf file for the printable: denise@weloveevents.co.za}

{For personal use only}

Handmade roses {with coffee filters}

We had a craft workshop last week and made these beautiful coffee filter roses...

In the same way that we made the paper roses in a previous post, but only using coffee filters.  I also used florist tape instead of the glue gun, but you can use which ever one you feel most comfortable with.

We used beetroot juice, red wine and food colouring to colour the roses.  And they looked beautiful. Here is a photo for you too see what the different roses looks like.

Beetroot:

Wine:

Food colouring {pink}:

Experiment with different colourings and see what it comes out like.

Here is a template that I have made that you can use to cut out the petals.  Cut them all on a coffee filter {so you will end up with two of each} but the no.4 cut it on a fold where the arrows are {so you will have one long one} and the no.5 and no.6 cut 3 {thus ending with 6 of each}.

Common mistakes:

• When folding make sure that you fix the whole bottom edge {don't let is hang loose}
• Make sure that you put the bottom edges on top of each other and not attaching them down the stick so that you can see the tape of the previous size
• The first few leaves will bend and curl a bit - but that is what gives the rose it's lovely look... as long as the bottom edge is attached leave it
• Mould it as you go along, scrunch the leave and stick the bottom edge... play around don't feel that you have to just stick it flat to the stick
• You can use wire, but the thinner the object you use to for the rose around the more difficult. So I would suggest that you try the first 3 or 4 on sticks and when you feel comfortable use the wire {wire is nice to put in a bouquet so you can make the rose face any direction}
• Don't number your petals... in fact there should be no pencil marks on them.

Happy rose folding! :-) And if you use other things to colour it with let me know!

Name tags

I made these cute name tags for a craft workshop I have tomorrow and they were just too cute not to share :-) They would also be great for bridal showers, kitchen teas, or parties were all the people don't know each other.

What you need:
Old book pages
Washi tape
Off-cut ribbon
A pretty pin

Use your creative flair and tear the book pages and position the piece of paper so that the top of the "name tag" has the big open space for each person to write their name.  Then stick the ribbon to the paper just under the open space with a small piece of washi tape.  Put the pin through the washi tape.

Put all the name tags on a table with a pen, so that each person can write their own name and pin it to their chest.

Cremora Tart {no bake}

This is a very easy recipe, and takes about 20min to make and half hour to an hour to set.  All the ingredients you can keep for a while so the perfect tart for those unexpected guests. :-) This is my grandmothers "flop free all ingredients in the home" tart when we pop in.  She uses fridge water though... but all other recipes other than her's use hot water :-) {which makes more sense for the powder to dissolve better}  she is 83 years old, so we'll excuse her ;-) which ever you prefer they both work! {the rest of the recipe is hers though}

2 cups Cremora powder {coffee creamer}

1 cup Hot water

1 {200g} packet Tennis Biscuits 

100 g Butter

1 {385g} can condensed milk

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mix the Cremora powder and the water together till well mixed and leave to cool in the fridge.

Crush the biscuits and mix well with the butter to form a crumble mixture {I find it easiest to put the biscuits in a bag and crush them using a wooden spoon}.

Line a pie dish {or individual containers} with the crumb mixture and place in the refrigerator.  

Remove the Cremora mixture from the fridge and add the condensed milk and mix well.

Now slowly add the lemon juice and mix well {you will see that this thickens the whole mixture}.

Remove the Pie dish from the fridge and pour over the Cremora mixture.  

Allow it to refrigerate for about a hour before serving.

Top with some biscuit crumbs, lemon rind or leave as is.

It can be served as a dessert or as a tart with tea.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all my followers {and those just popping in :-) }... 

Wishing you all a very blessed Easter time with family and friends, and those travelling, drive safely!

Here's a few Easter ideas for you!

Make a beautiful marshmallow easter cake for your table

Fill hollow candy coated easter eggs with chocolate mousse

And make paper boats to serve your easter eggs, cheese and biscuits or any nibble that you want to put into it :-)

Easter {Vanilla and Marshmallow} cake

This is such a beautiful cake, one that deserves a photo taken of it :-) it looks very impressive {and it's not that difficult}

What you need:
2 basic vanilla cakes
butter icing
400g marshmallows {10 for the middle of the cake}
1 packed of speckled eggs
1 Tablespoon butter

Place the one layer of vanilla cake on the cake stand, and spread half of the icing on the cake.  Cut the marshmallows in half and spread it on the cake.  Cover the bottom of the other vanilla cake with the res of the butter icing.  Then place it on top of the marshmallows.  

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Place the rest of the marshmallows in the pan and stir until melted.  When all the marshmallows have melted completely, pour it over the cake.

Place the speckled eggs on top of the cake.

This is a beautiful cake, but difficult to cut.  So make sure you have a sharp knife to cut it with.  Kids also love it they can pull everything apart.

If you don’t have a recipe for a basic vanilla cake or butter icing here is some out of the “You, Let’s cook book” a very easy cake recipe and only need one mixing bowl :-)

Basic white cake
150 g soft margarine
3 extra-large eggs
200 ml milk
5 ml (1t) vanilla essence
500ml (2c) cake flour
12 ml (2.5t) baking powder
pinch of salt
250 ml (1c) caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C
Grease two 20cm loose-based cake tins with butter, margarine or nonstick spray.
Line the base with baking paper.
Place the margarine, eggs, milk and Vanilla essence in a large mixing bowl and beat well.

Sift the Flour, baking powder, salt, and caster sugar over the margarine mixture in the bowl.  Beat with an electric beater for 1min or until well blended.

Divide the batter between the 2 cake tins, making a slight well in the centre of each.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 min or until a testing skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cakes.  Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.  {makes 2 layers}

Butter icing
150g soft butter
900ml icing sugar
5ml (1t) vanilla essence

Beat the butter until creamy.  Sift in the icing sugar by the spoonful while beating continuously.  Add the vanilla essence and beat until creamy.

HAPPY EASTER!

Ribbon Bunting

This ribbon bunting is so soft and feminine.  Add a touch of vintage to your next event! It's easy and quick :-)

What you need:
{for 1 meter of ribbon bunting}
Lace {different shades and patterns} 25 x 60cm strips {15m}
Soft satin ribbon {different shades and patterns} 25 x 60cm strips {15m}
2 m strong rope or ribbon {to tie the pieces to}

{You can also use material and cut it up into 60 x 2 cm strips - but remember it must be soft and flowing material}

Then simply just tie the pieces to the ribbon, one knot it enough and move around till you are happy with the spacing.

If you find it difficult to tie the it - tie the ribbon between two chairs then you don't have to worry to keep the ribbon straight :-)

Another idea is to arrange your ribbon and lace so that it goes from light to dark to give an ombre effect!

Hang above a table, at the entrance or under the trees and enjoy!