Vanilla Bean Dream.

             

Step House Hotel.

We went for our first family Sunday jaunt out of the city yesterday
 and ended up in Borris, Co. Carlow.
 We stopped by the wonderful Step House Hotel for lunch and 

I just had to share a couple of photos of our incredible desserts.

I had the 70% Chocolate Pavé with Roast Banana, Peanut Butter Ice-cream and Kahlua Syrup

 My other half had the White Chocolate Delice with Passionfruit Sorbet, Roasted Peaches and Mango Pureé.

The rest of our lunch was pretty amazing too, although I scoffed the lot before I remembered to take my camera out!...oh well there's always next time.

Fondant Flowers.

My first attempt at covering a cake with fondant.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Ruffle Cake.

I first spotted this wonderfully frilly number on marthastewart.com and I thought that it looked like a good place to start on my baking adventure. I wanted a challenge. And as I've never made a Swiss meringue buttercream before or used a piping bag, I figured that this was as tricky as it gets for a cake decorating novice.

 

After doing little more research online, I discovered the
incredible Sweetapolita.
 I just loved her version the Buttercream Ruffle Cake and
 I adored the contrast of her Rich and Dark Chocolate Cake
against the pretty peachy pink buttercream.
 So I decided to give it a go!

 Thanks Sweetapolita for the endless inspiration!

The final result is far from perfect but for my first attempt I have to admit that I'm feeling pretty proud!!

You can find the original Sweetapolita recipe for the cake layers here.

And all you need to know about Swiss Meringue Buttercream here, here and here!

Enjoy!!