Category Archives: Gourmet Geek

Mario Shroom Cupcakes

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Hi guys, sorry it has been so long since I posted anything, but I’ve been going through a lot of major changes in my life. Most exciting of which is starting a degree at Qantm College in Sydney. It is a Bachelor of Interactive Entertainment in Games Design! They also do Animation, Programing, Graphic Design etc. (Audio and Film across the road at sister college SAE), so if you have ever been interested I recommend you check out the site at least. I made a 3D hand today, in 30mins, second lesson… (it wasn’t very good though, lol). But yes, big changes have held me back from really having anything to post. I, also, will be studying hard til December (so many new applications to learn to use), so my posts will remain limited in this time, but if I have anything interesting or that I am proud of, you guys will be the first to know ;)

The first of such feats is the making of these cupcakes. I made them for my “Grow Up and Get a Life” Party (ok, so it was more of a gaming, casual get together with a few people I have’t seen for ages) to celebrate turning 25 and starting my new course. I thought the theme was rather fitting. Continue reading →

Harry Potter: Rock Cakes

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Yet another Harry Potter influenced post, this time influenced by the mention of Rock Cakes when Harry and Ron first have tea with Hagrid at his hut in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. However unlike Hagrid’s, these ones are guaranteed NOT to nearly break your teeth!

Rock Cakes

2 cups self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

90g butter

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 cup sultanas

2 tablespoons mixed peel (you can replace this with sultanas  if you are not a mixed peel fan)

1 lightly beaten egg

1/2 cup of milk

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Sift flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl and rub in butter. stir in sugar and fruit

2) add beaten egg then enough milk to give a moist but firm consistency

3) place 2 level tablespoon portions of mixture on a lightly greased baking tray about 5 cm apart. Sprinkle with extra sugar if you wish.

4) bake in oven for about 15 minutes or until browned, loosen cakes and cool on trays.

 

 

 

Gourmet Geek: Bubble tea inspired ice pops

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Even though Australia is not having much of a summer at the moment (I hate you rain) summer time to me usually means lots of cold drinks and ice cream galore. And in terms of drinks, my consumption of bubble tea usually skyrockets around this time as well. I prefer easyways over chatime but each to their own…..

So when i stumbled on these ice pops ideas inspired by my favourite drinks, i had to give them a try. And the results may i say were…interesting.

Continue reading →

Creepy Cupcakes

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Halloween was never a big holiday for me growing up, but lately Australians seem to be embracing this American Holiday (no offence to our U.S readers) But hey, any excuse to dress up besides conventions is good enough for myself and film nerd!!

In order to semi celebrate Halloween, as well as have an excuse to bake, may i present to you……creepy cupcakes! For these there is no recipe, just use your favourite cupcake recipe (mine are chocolate) and decorate with mint and chocolate butter cream and any interesting lollies that you can find. I decorated these with body part gummies and monster sprinkles found at Woolworths and Big W respectively.

 

 

Kirby Whoopie Pies

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Hello All! I am back after a forced hibernation of sorts (uni assignments), and ready to share more of my geeky baking/cooking experiments with you all.

Apparently there is a fashion when it comes to baked goods. Everyone remembers the cupcake craze a few years back, and last year it was all about the macaron. The latest craze taking over the blogosphere is apparently the whoopie pie. An Amish creation, it is a cross between a cookie and a cake, with either a marshmallow or buttercream frosting sandwiched between each half.

Reading about the traditional marshmallow frosting got me thinking about the Nintendo character Kirby for some reason. According to Wikipedia, Kirby is a living pink marshmallow and it was the marshmallow reference that made me wonder whether I could make a Kirby themed whoopie pie with soft and fluffy marshmallow innards.

Continue reading →

The Sonic Screwdriver 11

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Recently, I road-tested the Sonic Screwdriver, a vodka and orange derivative drink that was blue in colour to represent the business end of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ sonic screwdriver.   The Eleventh Doctor, however, has a green glow to his screwdriver, so I set about to try to adapt the recipe to suit.

Continue reading →

AC/DC Wines – Tasting Notes

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You may have heard that the band AC/DC recently released their own range of wines, four varietals that each bear a name of one of their classic songs.   I decided that this would make for a very different Gourmet Geek post, so I have tried each to let you know whether you are buying these bottles to drink, or just purely for the novelty value. Continue reading →

The Sonic Screwdriver

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Each week, Fourth Verse has a knack for finding something particularly cool (in the geeky sense of the word) to email through to me.   Last Friday’s email contained a link that put me into action stations, leading to this post.

Before I say much else, you can go to this page yourself by clicking here.

Yes, that is right ladies and gentlemen, she found an alcoholic beverage that takes your everyday beverage of the Screwdriver, and makes it sonic, just as the Doctor himself decided to do one day with a common household tool.   So I went on an ingredients hunt, and this was the result…

Though listed in the link above, here is the recipe once again for convenience;

1 1/2 parts vanilla vodka
1 1/2 parts Blue Curacao liqueur
6 parts clear lemon-lime soda

 

Lemonade is a fine soda or mixer drink to use, and works well, but I used some soda water with lime instead, and found it gave a slightly smoother beverage.   Both give an amazingly citrus alcoholic beverage that, whilst being blue like the business end of the tenth Doctor’s sonic, is a fine approximation of the classic Screwdriver beverage.

The cake is a lie- Portal

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First of all, this post is for Cyber Siren (who had the original idea) and Fourthverse (who egged me to do it). It is a tribute to the cake featured in Portal, a lovely looking black forest cake….

However making a black forest cake, although one of my favourite cakes, does not exactly make the cake a lie, does it?????

So Gourmet Geek presents a cake that is a lie…..

It is a meatloaf cake!!!!!!!

Not only is this cake a meal in one slice, it is also the perfect birthday cake for the carnivore in your life, or a great centrepiece at an anti- vegetarian function. Hell, it can probably even be modified to be a pet dog’s birthday cake if you so wish. So without further ado, here is how to make it.

 

 

 

 

 

Meatloaf Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart

You will need:

  1. your favorite meatloaf recipe, preferably one that uses at least a kilo of mince (I would publish mine, however as it is a cherished family recipe, my mother would kill me if I did). Make sure that your recipe uses enough eggs to hold it together. Here are some links to similar recipes, if you have never made a meatloaf before.
  2. Two 20cm round cake pans
  3. 300g bag of instant mash potato (can also make your own mash, however I did not have time to put the mash through a potato ricer in order to get the smooth texture that is needed, so I used the instant kind)
  4. 1 cup (250g) frozen mixed vegetables
  5. 6 cherry tomatoes
  6. Piping bag fitted with star nozzle

1. Grease the cake pans and line with alfoil

2.  Make meatloaf mix according to recipe used. Divide mix evenly between prepared pans.

3. Bake meatloaves at approx 350°F/ 180°C/160°C (fan forced), until cooked through. Drain excess juices and leave to cool slightly in pans.

4. Meanwhile, cook vegetables according to packet instructions and make mash potato. Take a quarter of the mash potato mix and fold this through the cooked and drained vegetables (this will be the middle filling).

5. To assemble meatloaf, place one meatloaf round onto serving plate. Spread meatloaf with mash/veggie mix and top with second meatloaf round.

6. Spread top and sides of meatloaf with mash potato, adding more liquid if needed to keep mash at a smooth consistency. Pipe leftover mash potato using star-shaped nozzle around sides of cake and top. Top cake with halved cherry tomatoes.

7. Enjoy!

Eggy in a basket (V for Vendetta)

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Ok this is a lazy gourmet geek post, I must admit. Our grand plans this weekend was to recreate the “cake is a lie” cake from portal, but other things happened to pop up unexpectedly.

 

For those who do not get the above reference, eggy in a basket, also known as one-eyed Egyptian, frog in a hole, sunshine toast and egg in a blanket, was the meal that V cooks for Evie in the film. And as i have my own V, what better thing to make for him for a lazy Sunday breakfast.

Eggy in a Basket

 

You will need (depending on the number of people you are making this for):

eggs

bread

butter

salt and pepper

tomato sauce

cookie cutters or egg cups

1)   Using the egg cup or cookie cutter, cut a circle out of the middle of the bread.

2)  Melt some butter in a fry pan.  Put the bread in the fry pan.   Crack the eggs carefully into the holes in the bread.

3) Fry them a little while then turn it over.  When the egg is cooked to your liking remove from pan and gobble it while it’s hot! serve with sauce if you wish

4) Enjoy!!