Donna Hay's Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter Frosting

brownie cookies with peanut 

butter frosting

•                 350g dark chocolate, chopped

•                 40g butter

•                 2 eggs

•                 ⅔ cup (150g) caster (superfine) sugar

•                 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•                 ¼ cup (35g) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

•                 ¼ teaspoon baking powder, sifted

peanut butter frosting

•                 1 cup (160g) icing (confectioner’s) sugar mixture

•                 1 cup (280g) smooth peanut butter

•                 80g butter

•                 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•                 ⅓ cup (80ml) single (pouring) cream

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Place 200g of the chocolate and the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk for 15 minutes or until pale and creamy. Stir through the flour, baking powder, chocolate mixture and remaining chocolate and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Spoon tablespoonfuls of the mixture, at a time, onto baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 8–10 minutes or until puffed and cracked. Allow to cool completely on trays. To make the peanut butter frosting, place the sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla in an electric mixer and beat for 6 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the cream and beat for a further 2 minutes. Spread half the cookies with the peanut butter frosting and sandwich with the remaining cookies. Makes 12.

I made these on the weekend! So sickly sweet but so so yummy! of course mine didn't turn out as well as Donna's, but Hay, what can you do! (See what I did there! Gosh I crack myself up!)

I would definitely recommend doing only teaspoon sized spoonfuls, as one of our trays just became a solid mass of brownie! Let me know if you make these and how they turn out! Enjoy! 

Image and Recipe From Donna Hay Magazine Oct/Nov 2011

The Perfect Dinner Party

Gosh I love Donna Hay, her style is just impeccable, so modern, simple and just beautiful! Ive always always loved her work, and have so many of her cook books! This gorgeous party to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the magazine is just everything you'd want in a party, fabulous friends, beautiful setting, amazing food and gorgeous flowers! Stunning!

All Pictures from Donna Hay Magazine Oct/Nov 2011

A California Vineyard Wedding

Love this beautiful wedding! Just stunning, especially the amazing pagola, just breath-takingly beautiful!

From the Bride… From the moment Greg and I got engaged I was completely over-the-moon with excitement.  After contemplating the idea of having a small and intimate beach wedding, we ended up deciding on having a larger wedding closer to home so that we could share this special day with all those who mean so much to us.  We began scoping out different venues and when we came across Concannon Winery we both fell in love and knew this was exactly what we envisioned for our wedding day.  It was such a beautiful venue with many different elements that made it perfect for Greg and I.  It had a gorgeous Victorian house (the Glen Ellen home) for the ceremony, a beautiful vine covered arbor for dinner and my husband’s favorite, the barrel room with large wine casks for the reception.  The venue was surrounded by hills covered in vineyards which gave it such a romantic and elegant feel.

When picking out many of the details for our wedding, I wanted the day to feel very romantic with small handmade touches to give it a more personalized feel.  I love the relaxed and vintage feel of burlap and twine so for some of our centerpieces my mom and I wrapped mason jars with twine and added a cute little bow, then staggered them around the table on small wooden blocks.  Through the planning process, ETSY and I became best friends, finding many great ideas to incorporate into our day like our love bird cake topper, that I absolutely adore, our burlap signs, and the Mr. and Mrs. Signs for our chairs.  Greg and I were also very lucky to have his Aunt Allie (a local artist) to paint a tree to match the one on our invitation as our sign-in for our guests.Our florist Nicole was also amazing and was able to capture my vision perfectly.  She used a combination of peonies, garden roses, ranunculus, and lisianthus, with sage green foliage to give it a romantic and soft feel.  I couldn’t have been happier with the florals.  She did an amazing job!

Looking back I have so many amazing memories of our day, from the excitement and overwhelming happiness I felt when I first saw Greg, how on an extremely cloudy day the sky opened up and the sun shined down as we said our vows, and how all our family and friends celebrated the night away.  It was the most amazing night of our lives and Tanja our photographer captured that day exactly how I remembered it, she is truly amazing at what she does and I couldn’t imagine a better way to be able to look back and remember those memories. Our day was perfect thanks to all of our amazing vendors, family and friends.  Without their love and support, our wedding would never have been so special.

All pictures from Style Me Pretty

Kikki K Celebrates 10 years

I know, I know, I just got a job with them and now I'm a little KK crazy, but just wait, take a second look at that top photo, ITS ALL MADE OF CAKE! WHAT???

Made by the amazing 'Just call me Martha'!

Crazy amazing, just HAD to share!

Kikki K

Yay! Just got a job with Kikki K! Just as a sales assistant, for Christmas Casual, but it'll be a nice change of scene from hospitality, and I'm pretty sure all my friends are looking forward to Kikki K chrissy pressies! And im so super excited to get so decked out with them too! going to be buying so so so much stuff! Cant wait! 

Paul Stevens Photography

"Natural and beautiful storytelling from a day unlike any other". Paul Stevens is a Melbourne Photographer and family friend. I love his gorgeous photos, and the way they really capture gorgeous moments in time! For more info, or to get in contact with him, head over to his website!