Focus on the Journey, not the Destination handmade card

This card has an inspirational sentiment that would be suitable for a birthday or someone who is going travelling - though I actually gave it to my dad for Father's Day.

It's made from free gifts that came with a recent issue of Creative Stamping magazine. I stamped a white card blank with some of the clear stamps that came with this issue - one was a train ticket, one was a passport stamp, one was a postmark that you might get on a postcard and so on. I stamped them in different coloured inks randomly over the card, then cut a circle from a piece of paper that came with the magazine with a map design. I cut a border from the same paper and stuck it around the edge of the card.

I stamped the plane stamp onto brown paper and cut around it, and stamped the sentiment onto white card which I mounted onto brown card and added those to the card as well.

I'm sending this to My Time to Craft where the challenge is a stamped background, Simply Create Too where the theme is 'for a male' and Ellibelle's Craft Wednesday where the theme is 'make it masculine'; Always Fun Challenges - for a male/dad and Stamps and Fun where the theme is travel and holidays.                 

Dr. Oetker Popcorn Fudge Brownies

These treats are really good at this time of year if you want something chocolately that isn't going to melt! I made them for Father's Day and was meaning to post this beforehand but ran out of time as we were away for the weekend celebrating our first wedding anniversary, which this year fell on Father's Day.

The recipe is one by Dr. Oetker, who sent me a selection of the ingredients to try out. Their salted caramel easy-fill cake centre is brilliant - it comes in a pouch with a handy nozzle that you can stick into a cupcake to pipe caramel filling right into the cupcake. In this case I used it to mix with popcorn and also to spread on top of the brownies; as well as being easy to use it tasted really nice.

The popcorn does go soft quite quickly so if you can, I would make these as close to when you want to eat them as possible.

Dr. Oetker's recipe is gluten free but I used ordinary plain flour. The recipe below is Dr. Oetker's; the photos and opinions are my own.

 

Gluten Free Popcorn Fudge Brownies

Preparation time: 40 minutes plus cooling, chilling and setting

Cooking time: 55 minutes  (including chocolate melting time)

Makes: 16

Ingredients

For the brownie layer:

150g bar Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks’ 54% Dark Chocolate

100g (3 ½ oz) Unsalted butter, softened

100g (3 ½ oz) Dark brown sugar

2 Medium eggs, beaten

100g (3 ½ oz) Gluten free plain flour

For the blondie layer

150g bar Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks’ White Chocolate

100g (3 ½ oz) Lightly salted butter

100g (3 ½ oz) Caster sugar

2 Medium eggs, beaten

2.5ml(1/2 tsp) Dr. Oetker Caramel Flavour

100g (3 ½ oz) Gluten free plain flour

For the topping:

1 sachet Dr. Oetker Salted Caramel Easy Fill Cake Centre

25g (1oz) Lightly salted popcorn
 

Method

1. Grease and line a 20cm (8inch) square cake tin.

2. First make the brownie layer. Break up 100g (3 ½ oz) Dark Chocolate into pieces and place in a saucepan with the butter and sugar. Heat very gently, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes. 

3. Whisk the eggs into the melted mixture to make a thick glossy batter. Sift the flour on top and carefully mix all the ingredients together. Pour into the prepared tin, smooth to the edges and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan oven, 350˚F, gas 4

5. To make the blondie layer, follow the same instructions for making the brownie batter as above, using 100g (3 ½ oz) White Chocolate -  you will find that the melted mixture separates during melting, but once the eggs and flour are added, the mixture will blend together again. Stir in the Caramel Flavour. Carefully spread the White Chocolate batter over the brownie layer, trying not to press too heavily as you spread - there is no need to chill this layer

 

6. Bake for about 35 minutes until slightly risen, lightly golden and lightly crusty on top – the mixture should be slightly soft underneath. Leave to cool in the tin completely then remove from the tin, peel away the tin lining parchment and place the cake on a board.

 

7. For the topping, melt the remaining White Chocolate as above. Put the popcorn in a bowl and squeeze in 50g (2oz) Dr. Oetker Salted Caramel Easy Fill Cake Centre and add the melted chocolate. Mix well to make sure that all the popcorn is coated

8. Squeeze the remaining Dr. Oetker Salted Caramel Easy Fill Cake Centre over the top of the cake and spread right to the edge. Spoon over the caramel popcorn mix, and spread it out so that the whole top is thickly covered. Pat it down a little using the back of a spoon

 

 

9. Melt the remaining Dark Chocolate as above. Using a teaspoon, drizzle the top all over with melted chocolate. Leave in a cool place for a few minutes to set. Using a large bladed knife, cut into 16 chunky pieces. Your brownies are now ready to serve and enjoy!

Replace the gluten-free flour with plain white flour if preferred – this will give a slightly less dense texture. 

 

Thanks to Dr Oetker for the recipe and ingredients

Father's Day Shirt and Tie card

This card would be really nice alongside this cake...  but if you don't have time for baking this is a quick and easy make. It's not my neatest - I made it rather on the hoof standing up in my craft room which I had tidied in anticipation of new double glazing being done that week, and didn't want to get out all my craft supplies again and mess everything up!

You can use any pattern for the background - plain, striped, checked - anything that would resemble a man's shirt. This piece of paper is actually an offcut from a piece of wrapping paper!

I cut out the tie not following a template (you can tell, oops) and added a 'happy Father's Day' silver outline sticker; it doesn't show up too well in this photo and it looked better in real life!

I'm sending this to:
Cardz for Guyz - something blue for Father's Day
Always Fun Challenges - for a male or dad
Crafty Cardmakers - Father's Day

Get Well Soon Card for a True Hero

I finally found a use for that 'hero' sticker.....

Usually when I share the cards I've made, it's so that people might be able to take the ideas and create something similar for the same occasion, should they so wish. But this get well card is a bit unique and I doubt many people have the occasion to send a card wishing a friend a speedy recovery after getting injured while defending innocent people in a terrorist attack. (Though it would also make a good Father's Day card!).

The London terror attacks were scary enough without waiting for news all night of a friend I knew was in one of the pubs involved, knowing nobody could get through on his phone, then fearing the worst after hearing he was among the injured. Thanks to the efforts of some of his friends who called around hospitals to track him down, a few hours later we learned he was already out of surgery and doing well. Now I can't stop welling up not only when I think about what happened but when I see the continued news coverage calling him a hero. Not many people would have the courage to step in and defend someone being attacked - as we later learned, by two of the terrorists - engaging them and  preventing them from moving on to immediately harm others, and sustaining severe injuries himself in the process. Geoff Ho, the nation salutes you.

While waiting to be able to visit Geoff I decided to make him a get well card and found I had the perfect thing.

Years ago I bought a packet of stickers for father's day which had various dad-related words and sentiments. There were a few I thought I'd never use, but I hadn't thrown them out just in case - words like tough guy. I don't think my dad would mind me admitting those don't specifically apply to him - my dad is more mild-mannered.

I suddenly remembered these stickers and found a pre-printed card blank -it looks more pink in this photo but was mainly purple. I mounted a different sticker in each circle and a 'get well soon' die cut in another.

I was able to deliver the card in person when I went to visit Geoff in hospital and I am glad to say he is now back home and on the mend.

 

I'm sharing this card with the Unicorn Challenge where the theme is 'for the guys' and also the Cards in Envy challenge with the theme 'you're the man' and Lawn Fanatics where the theme is 'cheerful get well'.

Father's Day Shirt and Tie Cake

This cake would be perfect for Father’s Day or a male birthday – or a colleague leaving work. It’s really simple to make and you can easily add your own personal touches.

 

I made this cake as part of an evening class I am taking at South Thames College. The course is aimed at all levels and because it is an evening class with many participants who work full time, we used shop-bought cake. You can of course make a cake yourself; this particular cake doesn’t need carving into a shape (though you will need to trim the top and sides) so you can bake any kind of rectangular cake.

 

We used madeira cakes from the supermarket though they are not all exactly the same size so a bit of trimming was required.
 

We started off by covering the cake board then made the tie first, and I’d suggest you do the same. We used a template the tutor, Bridgette, had prepared but you can easily draw and cut out the shape of a tie.

 

 

Cover a 14 inch cake board in white fondant, trim the edges and leave to dry. You can also put a ribbon around the edge.

 

We used flower paste (like modelling paste) with a little sugarpaste (fondant) mixed in, so the tie would dry stiff. Roll out whichever colour you want as a base, and place the template on top, then cut around with a sharp knife, being careful not to drag the edges of the paste.

 

Do the same with the knot of the tie and the collar part.
 

I wanted my tie to be stripey so I mixed another colour of flower paste. My tie was royal blue, and for the stripes I mixed a little black into the royal blue to make it darker. I used a thin strip of paper to measure to make sure each stripe was the same width, and that when I placed them on the base of the tie, they were spaced evenly apart. Use a little water or clear alcohol to stick the pieces on.

You can do anything you want with the tie – plain, or polka dots, or rainbow stripes as one person in the class did!

 

Take the section you have made for the collar and gently fold over so it stands upright. Curl around so it looks like the neckline, and place it on top of the tie knot. Place both parts on top of the tie.

 

Place the tie in the centre of your cake board to set. I had very carefully prise it off of the board a week later as it had stuck; but I managed to get the tip of a sharp knife underneath. It did make a few holes in the sugarpaste that I had covered the board with but that didn’t matter as the cake itself sits on top.

 

 

When you are ready to make the cake, mix 1kg of fondant with a different colour for the shirt. I used sky blue, to go with the royal blue of the tie. If you are making this for a specific person you might want to think about their favourite colour shirt or if they wear a uniform to work!

 

 

Use buttercream (with jam as well if you wish) to stick the madeira cakes together; or, carefully split and fill your cake. I used five shop-bought madeira cakes, using a mixture of plain and ones with icing and filling.

 

Trim the top of the cake so it is completely flat, and trim the sides as well if they need to be neatened up. Cover the top and sides with buttercream and smooth over.

 

Roll out your fondant and cover the cake, then trim off the excess. A cake smoother is a useful tool to get the corners sharp and the top and sides flat and smooth.

 

 

Lifting the cake onto the cake board is not easy, especially if you have stuck smaller cakes together! Bridgette, the tutor, helped each of us in turn; you need to slide two palette knives under the cake vertically and another one or two horizontally, and have two people lift it at the same time. Place the cake carefully on the cake board.

 

Arrange the tie on top and stick down with a little water or clear alcohol. You can also make a pocket but I felt my cake was a bit too narrow and there wasn’t enough space.

 

 

Most of the class had never done lettering before and I’ve never done a particularly good job; I recently bought myself a set of FMM Tappit Cutters in the ‘funky’ style. These letters are fairly large so probably not ideal for writing ‘happy birthday’ or ‘happy birthday’, but they are great for shorter words, names and ages. I love the way that they look!

 

There is a knack to using these which I will explain. First you need to grease the cutter with some Trex (vegetable fat) and then remove any excess using a cocktail stick.

 

Roll out some flower or modelling paste; I used the same colour as the stripes on the tie as I had some left over. Make sure your surface is dusted with icing sugar; press down the cutter and move it around on the worktop using the palm of your hand. Lift the cutter and remove the excess paste; you will see your letter firmly stuck inside the cutter. These are thin and fragile which means if you try to extract it using a cocktail stick you will ruin it. The reason they are called Tappits is that you tap it on the edge of the worktop. I alternated between a short sharp tap and ‘twanging’ it slightly like you might a ruler; the letter should dislodge and fall out by itself.

 

Carefully pick it up – you could use tweezers but I used my fingers – and lay it out on the cake board so that you can make sure all the letters will fit before you stick them down. Use a paintbrush to dab some water onto the back of the letters to stick them down when you are happy.

 

As I said, this is a simple cake, in that it is a plain rectangle, covered with sugarpaste, and you can leave out the lettering if you like. I think that with the matching tie and the letters it looks really professional and I’m really pleased with it – my dad will be getting this on Father’s Day!

 

 

 

I’m sharing this with the Food Year Linkup, hosted by Charlotte's Lively Kitchen
 

 

and also with Love Cake, hosted by Ness at JibberJabberUK.

 

 

Do Not Disturb Birthday Card

This card was put together from a decoupage card pack but you could also cut out the shapes yourself from different coloured card. I made it for a birthday but it would also work really well for Fathers' Day this weekend!
The backing paper was part of the set and I simply had to cut out the different shapes and build them up using sticky pads so the image of the man snoozing on the armchair stands out. I added a happy birthday sticker at the top.

Fathers' Day Decorated Cookies - House Husband Cookie Cutter

Because dads are heroes.... and deserve some special cookies this Fathers' Day! These cookies would also be a great gift for a female friend or to make and decorate on a hen night, because which woman doesn't want a hunky fireman, lifeguard, chef...

I was sent this cookie cutter to review. It's called Bake Your Own House Husband - they are made by a company called Niion and there is also a Bake Your Own Boyfriend cookie cutter in the range. They cost £3.60 which is a fair price I think for a large cookie cutter.

There is a recipe on the back of the packet which I decided to follow, to make a basic sugar cookie dough.

To make about 8-10 cookies depending on their thickness, you need:

150g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
300g plain flour
1 egg
Pinch of salt
Dash of Vanilla Extract

Simply cream the butter and sugar, add the flour then the egg and finally the salt and vanilla. Mix until you have a dough; wrap this dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for an hour before using.

Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out the cookie dough on a lightly floured surface and grease and line a baking tray - I used two trays at a time.

The cookie cutter was easy to use; not as sturdy as a metal cutter but I was very happy with it.

The men's legs are a little thin so you have to be careful when you transfer them to the baking sheet - I used a spatula.

Bake for around 15 minutes but keep an eye on them - the cooking time will depend on the thickness of your dough once it is rolled out.

I was also sent a few products by Dr. Oetker to review; I have mentioned before how good their Cake Release spray is. This time they sent me a pack of Regal-Ice ready to roll icing which contains green, red, yellow, blue and black. I find decorating cookies with royal icing quite messy so regal ice is much easier and cleaner, and these colours were perfect for what I had in mind.

Use the cookie cutter to cut out your icing so you have the exact shape. The Dr. Oetker icing offers really vivid, true colours - reds and blacks are very difficult to achieve if you are colouring your own fondant, so this pack is perfect. I also find that ready to roll icing doesn't keep that long so having smaller packs is a really good idea.

I decided to decorate my first man as a footballer, and cut out the shape of his body in red and blue fondant then used a knife to cut off the parts I didn't need, e.g. at the end of the sleeves. I rolled out a thin sausage shape from the blue icing and curled it to form the number six, in honour of Bobby Moore (even though it's the wrong colour).

Next, thinking about dads and Fathers' Day I decided to decorate one as 'office worker dad'. So he has a shirt and tie, black trousers and boots.

Many men like to cook and if you are making this for your girl friends I'm sure they would all like a man who knows his way around the kitchen. So here is 'chef', wearing a black top and trousers with a white apron over the top and a white chef's hat.

What girl doesn't love a hunky fireman... the yellow in the Dr. Oetker pack is perfect for the all-in-one suit the fireman wears, with a red trim. Definitely a hero!

This one is more for a hen night than Fathers' Day... unless your dad is a life guard of course! Here's David Hasselhoff in biscuit form (maybe....)

And finally if you are going to have a superhero, either to tell your dad he is a hero or to sweep a female friend off her feet, it has to be Superman. This one was a little trickier. I made a top with long sleeves in blue and also trousers in blue. Then I added red underpants and a yellow belt and also gave him a red cloak. To make the logo on the front of his costume, I had to check the shape online, and cut out a piece of yellow, which I then edged with red (much easier than doing the other way around). I rolled a thin snake in red and curved it to make the S shape.

Here's all six, ranging from ideal husbands to superheros - how else would you decorate these cookies?

If you're looking for other ideas for what to bake for Fathers' Day, Dr. Oetker has lots of great recipes online, including a Chocolate Layer Cake, Chocolate and Guinness Cake and Homemade Chocolate Bars.

Thanks to Niion for sending me the cookie cutter and Dr. Oetker for sending a pack of goodies including the Regal-Ice.

 

Pint of beer cards - Father's Day and birthday

I bought a template to make cards shaped like a pint glass - you simply draw round it on a suitably-sized card blank, though you could also draw and cut out this shape freehand as it isn't too hard. Just make sure the edge of the handle is the fold of the card so the front and the back of the card stay attached!

I wanted to decorate it to still look like a pint of beer so on the card above, I used a patterned yellow paper for most of it and plain yellow to represent the froth on the top. I cut out a small square and used gold outline stickers to say "to my dear father".

 

I did something similar on this card but covered it with printed paper that had 'man-related' words on it - if you look closely you can see it says football, beer etc. I also had a pack of metal tags with different alphabet letters, that you can fix onto paper or card using small brads that came in the same pack. I bought these ages ago for something else I made but still had the right letters to spell out the recipient's name. Of course if his name was more than four letters long, it wouldn't have fit on the card!