When orders flow, they come in droves! Christmas 2012 has been a bit hectic but a lot of fun!

Over the last 5 days, we have created 20 gingerbread trees, 2 macaron trees, over 30 gingerbread men, 100 macarons, 2000 fondant cookies, 4 large fruit cakes, 48 cupcakes and toppings, fillings, decorations to match!!

It's been a long week from day time job to night time job (it's a good thing I LOVE TO BAKE!). A lot of early starts (day time job) and late nights/early mornings! And I can't thank the tireless efforts of my parents enough. Who else was going to help me package over 300 bags of cookies? Deliver them and still be smiling after only a few hours sleep!

These macarons below turned out amazing. So happy with both the colour and the feet. And that jaffa orange filling is awesome, especially with that little kick of Cointreau.

Next came the most time-consuming order of them all. The order for 2000+ cookies, individually gift-packaged into 300 bags. This was a mammoth task that took a few days and great planning to achieve. Again, so happy with the result - we managed to get the colours of Christmas in there!

Follow that (there's no stopping!) with an order for gift boxed cupcakes. These were my favourite to make. Love the flower sitting on the holly leaf. Adds that bit of Christmas touch! And the candy canes (hand made of course) aren't so bad either. However, I am partial to pretty things and I love the flowers.

And to finish it off (okay, there was a lot more in between but I think you get the gist), gingerbread trees as my gift to friends, family and colleagues. These will go down a treat I am sure!

Time for a break though - hope you all have a safe and very Merry Christmas. We'll be back in the New Year with more baking adventures (and finger's crossed, more orders!)

xx

Wynnie

To finish off the week, had a midweek order for a Tiramisu. The very first cake I ever made. Still popular I see.

Rather simplistic in comparison to the other things I have made recently but its kind of hard to dress up a cake that's basically cream, cheese and coffee dipped sponge. Smells delicious though.

Hard to disappoint with one of these - great for a girls' night. Or any night really...

The secret is to plan. And to plan well! And to plan for the unknowns.

Truffle mixture. Macarons. Cookies. Icing. Fondant. Cupcakes.

Easy right? Not a walk in the park by any means and definitely tested one's time management but I am quite pleased (and relieved) at the way everything has turned out!

Macaron shells can be pre-made a couple of days ahead of time. You don't have to necessarily fill them right away. (Hint: Macarons almost always taste better after resting for 24-48 hours). So these were timed perfectly.

Next came the truffles (sorry, no photo). Fairly straight forward. Just requires refrigeration time. A good day or so will do the trick. Them you need to hand make each and every one. Roll them in your choice of topping and you're done. Good idea to keep them in the fridge and bring them out to stand for about 20 before serving. Quote colleague today "these are like gold".

And then you do cookies. Make dough, roll, cut, bake, fondant, ice, wrap, seal. Repeat. And repeat some more when you need to make 80! I have to say though - this part was a lot of fun. And the final product looks so pretty!

Cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes. These of course, I saved till last. Made these the night before for optimal freshness and I am so pleased the way they have turned out. Alas, I didn't have enough time to put them all on a tree for a tiered photo but there is always next time. Imagine 80 of these little beauties sitting on a wedding stand. They are mighty delicious too!

So happy to have been able to cater and be apart of this wedding. The bride-to-be came and picked up these goodies on her way to Kangaroo Valley today. Congrats to Kelly and wishing her and her husband all the very best for the future!

It was something along the lines of 37 degrees outside.

It wasn't much better in the kitchen... reaching 32 on the thermometer, furthest away from the oven!!!

We sweated through a whole day of baking for charity and whilst there were some downs (re: macarons don't work in extremely hot, humid conditions), we were able to get there in the end!

Caramel Slice
Brownies
Lamingtons
Gingerbread People
Anzacs
Macarons

Loads and loads of goodies to sell which should make a nice little donation towards Vision Rescue!

Check out my helpers / packagers in action!

It was hard work - something that we have never done before i.e., baking in extreme weather conditions. And whilst some things didn't go to plan, thankfully most things did. With a little help from "this is what I prepared earlier" (and also, "this is what I will do after you have all left"), we got there!

100+ gingerbread people (all different in some way, some already broken before eaten) and enough sugar loaded tea time treats to last someone a good while.