Foodie Friday - In Love with This Cake

We Heart This Cake - every pun intended :) but also, what a fabulous treat to share with you're loved ones this coming valentines day! Check out this absolutely darling cake and how to actually make it yourself with the full tutorial right here!

Aussie As

It's one week exactly until in true Aussie style we enjoy another public holiday... can't wait! Last year the invite went out alright vegemite & we celebrated with a back yard bbq and a bit of driveway cricket, but in true m&g style couldn't resist imparting a stylish touch to the green and gold... hessian, yellow gingham & gumnuts with home made treats with an aussie flavour, lamingtons & pavalova - yum! An intentionally fun and kitchy spread that went down a treat :) 7 sleeps to go and counting until a mid-week mini holiday yay!

Coming up Roses

Absolutely loving these gorgeous images from over at Design*Sponge... What a fabulous signature cocktail for any girl to add that wow factor and memorable element to any occassion! We're thinking simply fabulous for birthdays, hens days, wedding receptions... endless opportunites for this feminine and delicious martini. Get the recipe here.

Merci Madame

Head to Atypical Type A and check out the amazing new letterpress stationery line Alicia has developed for Akimbo... LOVE love love it! & we can't wait to see the cake buffet for more of these divine doily cookies! So in love with these doily cookies, & love how you carried through the palette you used in the invites into the food styling - Awesome work A!

Foodie Friday - French Macaroons....

Tomorrow is my first year wedding anniversary, and it got me thinking about all the fabulous experiences I shared with my husband on our honeymoon (here)... One of my favourite memories is enjoying the most delicious authentically french macaroons from LADUREE in Paris so I thought I'd share just a few of the pics I took of these amazing treats... Oooohhhhhh! they were so light and melty and the flavours were to die for... they really did taste as good as they look & would be the perfect addition to any dessert banquet or buffet!

If you want to try some of these amazing treats more locally, Callum (from Australia's masterchef) sells a line of them at Providore in the Adelaide Central Markets, & the amazing From Scratch Patisserie is most definitely worth a visit at the Adelaide Farmers Market at Wayville... definitely definitely worth it!

Happy weekend! M

Oh Baby!

We're very excited to announce that Sonia delivered her beautiful & healthy baby girl Holly on the morning of Tuesday 22nd of June! To celebrate Holly's 1st week we thought we'd share images of the delicious desserts evening that was held a few weeks back in honour of the lovely Mother-to-be.

While it was important for guests to enjoy the feast for the senses, it was most important that the very expectant Mum-to-be couldn't be more comfortable and relaxed, so a cosy lounge setting adjacent the desserts was definitely order of the evening for seating arrangements and the custom themed bunting that flanked the lounge suites ensured a casual & fun, but refined atmosphere. The bunting & the balloon canopy that greeted guests as they entered the front reception hall were some of our favourite decorative DIY elements that announced 'celebration' and contributed to the sense of occasion.
Absolutely stunning, seasonal pink & red themed floral arrangements created by Poppies helped anchor the delicious home made desserts table perfectly and contributed a little lush luxe to the evening. We also chose to break with the strong fashion of ushering the desserts table to one side of the room to generate more communal space and instead chose specifically to make the table literally the centrepiece of the room to add a sense of grandure to a relatively small space & promote interaction among the deliberately limited guest list.
The evening couldn't have been sweeter, & neither could beautiful Holly... Congratulations Sonia & Chris! xoxo

Foodie Friday - More than Cake Stories

One event m&g are busy planning at the moment is a baby shower in anticipation for the arrival of one sure to be adorable Holly Bishop! We can't wait to meet her, but while we do we are helping the expectant mum Sonia celebrate this momentous occasion with a day of pampering and pressies. The adorable treats above are by Cake Stories a local Adelaide Patisserie & Chocolaterie that we both LOVE for decadent cakes and are some of the delicatable inclusions we are considering to appropriate as invitations. Stay tuned to see what we do!

Foodie Friday - Wine & Cheese... Yes Please!

This is the very clever invite from our friend Alicia of Akimbo to the wonderful Wine & Cheese night she held with her man to celebrate their birthdays over the weekend. We Loved the spread she did & she even picked up some amazing amazing ash chevre from the central markets!! (nice one!) When in Adelaide & wanting to celebrate or even just enjoy some fabulous fresh food of any description... number one hot tip - hit up the Central Markets!! We are also very spoilt here in Adelaide with some of the best wine in the world on our doorstep, so needless to say the vino was nothing short of fantastic either... But one of our most favourite details of the night was what had been done with some recycled wine bottles (courtesy of a local restaurant) and taper candles... have a look at how repeating a simple element en masse can create a sensational backdrop - not to mention some great ambient light and a decent amount of warmth for a cold autumn night. Enjoy your weekends!

Foodie Friday - Banana Pancakes for your own Pretty Pancake Party

Taking inspiration from the pretty pancake party we posted yesterday, and as the autumn mornings start to get a little cooler, we thought we'd share our delicious recipe for banana pancakes with you... Mary is definitely making these for breakfast tomorrow! Our favourite indulgence is to drizzle with honey and serve with a scoop of icecream... Mouth. Watering. Already!

Preparation time 5 mins Cooking time 10 mins Serves 10 large pancakes or approx 18 pikelets

Ingredients
1 Cup Self Raising Flour
3/4 Cup Milk
1 Egg
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon to taste
2 Ripe Bananas
Pinch of Salt
Butter
(Honey & Vanilla Ice cream for a treat!)

Method
Sift flour and combine flour, milk, egg, cinnamon, ½ banana (mashed) and pinch of salt until batter is smooth (it’s ok if there are some lumps from the squished banana).

Heat Frying Pan on stovetop to moderate heat, add knob of butter.

Slice remaining banana into pieces no thicker than ½ centimetre. Once butter is melted and has coated the surface of the pan, place desired number of banana slices (we suggest 3-5 for large pancakes, or if you’re making pikelets just the one slice for the centre of each pikelet) and pour/spoon batter to coat slices to desired pancake size.

Wait until the surface of the pancake starts to bubble and turn pancake to cook on other side. After each pancake is cooked, remove from pan and place on plate in low oven to keep warm and ready to serve.

When all pancakes are cooked, stack and plate with remaining fresh sliced banana, drizzle stack with honey add a scoop of ice cream and dust with cinnamon... ENJOY!

image from here

Foodie Friday - Melon ball cocktails

This is one of our favourite sweet treats to have at a summer cocktail function. We are making them for a small christening event on Sunday afternoon in glass shot glasses with pink green, yellow and watermelon coloured tooth picks. They are perfect for any summer occasion or even as a palate cleanser. Yummy!

Melon Ball Cocktail

Boil 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar for 5 minutes.

Stir in 3 tablespoons of finely chopped mint leaves to the liquid, cool, then strain.

Add the juice of 2 lemons and 1 orange.

Cut lots of balls of watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe with a melon baller

Pour the sugar and mint mixture over the melons and chill for a few hours.

Foodie Friday - sweet treats

We are OBSESSED with candy buffets (that's why we do them for weddings here in Adelaide) and this one in particular has left us all hot an flustered and feeling like a child in a candy store! What girl doesn't love pink? Especially when it is done this well. This stunning pink candy table by Dawn from One Girl Cookies could be suited to almost any wedding theme. Our coconut ice would be perfect for this! Speaking of pink, we are on the look out for pink glass be it cake stands, vases, jars so if you see something let us know!
Have a wonderful weekend!

photography by Mel Barlow Photography

Foodie Friday

Happy Easter Weekend everyone! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday! This weeks Foodie Friday is looking at one of our favourite food blogs. Sweet Paul is a food and prop stylist not only makes incredible dishes (like the apple and cinnamon ice cream cones below) but also does some amazing stylist work. It is well worth taking a good long time going through his blog and exploring all the yummy recipes and photos that go with them.

Foodie Friday - coconut ice

To sweeten your weekend we thought we’d share the recipe for the amazing Coconut Ice Mary made for Gabrielle’s wedding confectionery stall. It was a huge huge hit with all the guests and so easy to make. With every recipe we share and any food we recommend we’re going to aim to pair it with one of our fave refreshments too. As this recipe caters for the child in all of us and for those of you who may like to treat your little ones, we think it best that you enjoy our wonderful coconut ice with a strawberry milkshake or raspberry lemonade... either would suffice and whichever you choose will make for a wonderfully sweet treat for a frivolous and reminiscent weekend! So Enjoy!!

Preparation Time 10 minutes Cooking Time 5 minutes Serves 8-10

Ingredients
125g copha
250g desiccated coconut
500g pure icing sugar, sifted
2 egg whites, lightly whisked
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 drops red liquid food colouring

Method
Line a square 20cm (base measurement) cake pan with non-stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang the sides (it makes it easier to remove to slice when it's set).

Melt the copha in a small saucepan over low heat then remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes or until cooled to room temperature.

Combine the coconut and icing sugar in a large bowl then add the copha, egg white and vanilla extract, and stir until well combined. Divide coconut mixture in half and press half the coconut mixture over the base of the prepared pan.

Add a few small drops of the red food colouring to the remaining coconut mixture and stir until well combined and evenly coloured (less food colouring is the best way to start unless you're throwing a fluro party). Spread the pink coconut mixture over the white mixture in the pan and smooth the surface then cover with glad-wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour or until set.

Remove the coconut ice from the pan and using a sharp knife cut into small squares to serve and present on a lovely cake stand for all to devour!

Notes
You can make it up to 1 day in advance but be sure to store it in an airtight container out of direct sunlight.