Lots of News!!

Hey everyone.

Sorry I haven't stopped by for a while.

So much stuff has happened so I've got a lot to share with you.

So, after the Better Business Partnership event I went last month, I went to our local council to ask about what was required for me to have a home-based food business. Thankfully they said it was possible, as long as I complied with the Food Authority and council's standards. No worries on that part. I've studied the Food Standards code a few times in the past year and complying with their requirements will not be hard.

That was such a great relief, the place I was living before didn't allow this type of business, so having received a positive answer, made me very happy.

So now I could finally "press start". I created my ABN, and notified the government about the activity, so now I can happily say: WE ARE IN BUSINESS!!

Happy days!

But this is not all, to get things really started: I've got my first contract! I'm supplying my college (MnM Institute) with cakes for the morning and afternoon tea. How cool is that?

It's a great experience and I'm learning a lot (the right packaging, the best recipes, storage, etc).

But now, the school year is over and planning next year is what I'll be moving on to next.

Because of the Holidays, this school break is quite long, so I've decided to go to Brazil and spend the Holidays with my family.

But I couldn't just leave my business alone, could I? No. This is why I have my capable sister and associate taking care of it while I'm away. :)

However, I don't want this trip to be a waste of time (for the business I mean), so I've made plans to talk to my favourite businesses in the area and ask a bit about their work and learn more about the industry.

I have been looking for inspiration for new flavours and products and I actually already found some new stuff to experiment with, when I return.

I have big plans for Easter as well. :)

As you can see, I've been busy, but this is all part of the process.

Hopefully when I go back everything will go smoothly because of my planning ahead.

As I always say: great things are coming.

Have a good day everyone.

Catch you later,

Dee.

Networking

Dee's Sweet Shop went to their first "BetterBusiness Talks" hosted by the Better Business Partnership. It was a great event with lots of information that will definitely help us move forward!

On tonight's event the focus was on getting the local edge - knowing more about your local village and how they can influence your decisions. Who are your customers? What do they want from their local businesses?

The conclusion is: It's all about connections. Belonging. And this is something I absolutely love about Lane Cove and why I think Dee's Sweet Shop will fit nicely in this area. We want to connect and allow you to have great experiences that you can share with your loved ones.

How great is that?

Can't wait for the next one!

Cheers,

Dee.

http://www.betterbusinesspartnership.com.au/

Quindim - Recipe

Hey everyone!

I'm here today with a quick and delicious recipe to you!

As a baker, I always keep a stock of eggs in my place - you never know when inspiration may come :) - but since it's a product that can easily go bad, I don't like to keep them for too long.

This past week I didn't bake anything so I decided it was time to use the eggs fast! For that reason I looked for a delicious recipe that would require the use of heaps of eggs. :)

If you feel like making this dessert but, either don't have the full amount of the ingredients or you just think it's too many eggs, I suggest you proportion the recipe to what you have.

Well, without further a due, I bring to you "Quindim" - a Brazilian baked dessert, sort of like a flan/custard. It's made mostly of egg yolks, sugar and coconut.

Enjoy. :)

Ingredients

300 g of caster/white sugar
100 g of shredded coconut
20 egg yolks
1 tbsp of plain flour
50 g of butter
50 ml of milk

Preparation

1 - Pre-heat oven at 180ºc.
2 - Grease the small flan tins with butter and sugar.
3 - In a bowl, mix well the sugar, flour, coconut and the yolks.
4 - Heat the milk up with the butter until the butter melts and add it to the mix. Wait until it cools down.
5 - Put the mixture in the little tins.
6 - Put the tins in bain marie and take it to the oven until the top is golden brown.
7 - Unmold when it's cold.

Tip: Put in the fridge for a little while before serving it.

PS: I made aprox. 1/3 of this recipe and it was enough for four small "quindins".

Cheers,

Dee.

Carrot Cake

Hey everyone!

Tonight I bring a simple and delicious recipe.

This is a Brazilian recipe of Carrot Cake. It's a great choice when preparing your morning/afternoon tea.

Let's face it, everything is better with cake. ;)

So, let's get to it.

Ingredients:

- 3 eggs
- 3 medium size carrots
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 2 cups of white or caster sugar
- 3/4 cup of canola oil
- 1 tbsp of baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt

Like I said, this is very simple. All you have to do is pre-heat the oven at 180ºc; peal and chop the carrots and blend it with all the ingredients together.

Place the mix in a greased and floured tin.

Take it to the oven for about 30 min or until a skewer when inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

For the frosting, another easy recipe.

In a sauce pan add 1/2 tbsp of butter, 3 tbsp of sugar and 2 of chocolate powder.

Take it to medium heat until melted.

Add 2 tbsp of thickened cream and that's it!

Just cover the cake while still hot and wait for it to cool down before serving it - although some people prefer eating while it's still hot. ;)

I hope you like it.

See you next time.

Cheers,
Dee.

Engage your senses - Thank you!

Hey guys!

I just wanted to thank everyone who showed up at the event on Tuesday. It was really great!

We were able to successfully complete our assignment and collect a great amount of feedback.

I read it all during this week and value very much your opinion, and I will definitely take them into consideration for our next event!

I would also like to thank the support from everyone at MnM Institute and Michelle Smalley for making our beautiful logo and branding!

For those who couldn't make it, don't be sad, there will be a next time for sure! =D

Here's a little taste of how the event was.

In our stand, we had three different flavours of cupcakes:

- Dee Original - Chocolate Truffle
- Dee Jaffas - Orange with chocolate
- Dee Everyone - Chocolate Gluten free with fruit jam filling

And we also had the traditional Brazilian sweets:

- Brigadeiro - Chocolate balls
- Beijinho - Coconut balls
- Cajuzinho - Peanut brigadeiro

It was a great experience and I've learnt a lot. I hope you all had fun and enjoyed it.

If you have any suggestions of flavours and sweets you would like to see on our next event, I would love to hear it! Just leave a comment here on the blog or even in our Facebook page!

Until next time!!

Thank you.

Cheers.

Engage your senses!

Hi everyone!

Great news! We are having our first display here in Sydney!

This will be part of my Project Management class and I would love to see you there.

In this event we will present a few of our products alongside other great businesses.

Our stand is called "Engage your senses" and it's our goal to offer you the ultimate sensory experience.

Through the presentation of beautiful letterpress print work, incredibly tasty cupcakes and the possibility of amazing deals and savings we hope to present our individual ideas combined in one cohesive display.

This is an event you shouldn't miss!

Just pop up at the MnM Institute and you will be amazed at everyone's work.

See you soon!

When: Tuesday - 29th of July 2014 - from 11 am to 3 pm.
Where: MnM Institute
Level 4 - 39 Liverpool st, Sydney

Cheers,
Dee.

Banana Cake - Recipe

Hey everyone!

It's been while, ayeh?

However, I come bearing recipes. :D

A couple of weeks ago I started a temp job in a Childcare Centre where I get to prepare meals from scratch for the children.

It's a good challenge, I have to be aware of intolerances and allergies, prepare things in large quantities and on a timely manner - but other than that I get to have fun with the recipes.

My first experience baking for them was a wholemeal banana cake.

I started my prep as always, getting all the ingredients sorted before starting, and as I was doing that, I realised that we didn't have some of the ingredients of the recipe. Time for some improv.

I gathered the stuff we had and I had some fun with it. It worked out great, everyone loved it!

For me, this is what it's all about! :D

Now I want to share it with all of you.
Enjoy. ;)

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of rice bran oil
1 cup of wholemeal flour
2 cups of plain flour
3 tsp of cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 cup of milk
2 tsp of honey
4 riped bananas - mashed

Prep:

Pre-heat oven to 180°c.
In a bowl, mix the plain and wholemeal flour, baking soda and cream of tartar.
In a cup mix the milk and honey.
Mash the bananas on a plate and reserve.

(These are my standard steps for all the recipes I make. It makes the cake fluffy).

Using a mixer, beat the eggs for about 2 minutes.
Add the oil and mix it for another minute. Add the sugar and leave it beating for one more minute.

Add to the egg/oil/sugar mixture half of the bananas, beat for 30 seconds and add the rest for another 30 seconds.
Add half of the flour mix to the mixer and beat until well combined, add the milk-honey and finally the rest of the flour.
Grease and flour one large or two small tins and spread the mix evenly.
Take it to the oven for about 40 min or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Frosting:

1 lemon
3 tbsp of butter or Nutelex
1 3/4 cups of icing sugar.

Beat butter until soft and add the rest of the ingredients.

And that's it! Wait until it's cold, place the frosting and be happy. :D

Hope you've all enjoyed it.

Cheers,
Dee.

Presentation day...

Hi everyone.

I hope you are all having a great week.

I am having a blast! My week started in a very exciting way, it was presentation week at my college and we had to present our business ideas to our classmates!

I reckon it’s quite normal to feel nervous about speaking in public, especially when you don’t know how they will react to your idea. So yeah, I was a little nervous, however, I had a plan.

The night before, I baked a few cupcakes to bring to my presentation, because, well, what better way to showcase a food business than bringing some samples? So that’s what I did, I prepared a few batches of chocolate truffle cupcakes and off I went.  Much to my surprise, when I arrived at school, I was nervous not because I had to speak in front of everyone, it was about the anticipation. I wanted to tell them about my business, I wanted them to be as excited as I was.

I later on understood that when you have to tell people about something that’s yours, something you know better than anyone, it is quite easy. It’s not about explaining yourself to people; it is about showing them your passion and making them feel like they are a part of it.

Presentation was done, time to hand out some samples!!

The best part is always watching from a distance and seeing the expression on peoples’ faces when they try something you made. It’s very rewarding. When they like it, of course – and they did.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to learn more about myself and about my business – how to make sense of all my ideas and put them in action. On that note, I'd like to thank everyone from MnM Institute for their support.

It's going to be a very exciting journey and I hope you join me!

Cheers.

Own it!

Hi Everyone.

Sorry for disappearing. I've finally started my Management course and will be able to learn how to start my business.

It's very interesting! Yesterday we had our first class, we talked about how we have to get a better understanding of ourselves and what our goals are.

In today's class we had to identify what triggered stress in our lives so we could either "own it" and deal with it or get rid of it; later on, we had to think about what we do to let the stress go. And this is where this message starts. For me, music is very liberating. It doesn't have to be a calm song, rock is more of my thing and I bring this to my cooking.

I love baking with music on. It makes it much more exciting!!

But as you all may know, music is not my only liberating thing. Cooking also helps me to get over a stressful day.

And I don't believe you have to make everything from scratch, it is possible to get a cake, muffin, pancake mix and give it your little touch.

Last weekend we had a little barbecue to celebrate my sister's birthday, and of course, we had to have cake!

Since it was a lunch barbie we didn't have much time and I needed to make a gluten/lactose free cake, so I bought the mix and prepared it with a few little touches.

First I prepared it differently; instead of following their instructions I followed my own. I started by using a hand mixer to beat the eggs until fluffy. Afterwards, I added a little bit of vanilla and the amount of oil instructed; added half of the cake mix and, to finalize it, I added the water and the rest of the mix - I thought it would be a good idea to put in liquids-powder-liquids-powder. After everything was blended, I followed the baking instructions.

For the filling and frosting, I made a chocolate mousse. I had to make it gluten free and try to reduce as much as possible the amount of lactose I'd use, so I used dark chocolate and lactose-free thickened cream.

Now, to make the cake more delicious and moist, after it was baked and a little bit cooler - before adding the filling -  I cut it in half and made a mix of lactose-free milk and a little bit of brandy to delicately moisten the inside of the cake.

And that’s it! A small change can make a big difference!

You don’t have to create a recipe from scratch to own it. You can add your own talent and creativity to any step of the process. You just have to practice and add something that you believe can make the recipe pop! With time, knowledge and practice, you’ll be able to develop and set free the creativity within you.

Remember, you can always make things a little bit more special just by putting your heart and passion in it.

Yummy!

Hope you have enjoyed it.

Cheers,

Dee.

Happy Easter!!

I don't know about you guys, but I love these holidays - and it's not just for the chocolate!

But for someone like me who enjoys preparing a little something for their dear ones, why not prepare them some homemade Easter eggs?

It's pretty great! You can customize it the way you and your family want!

Before my return to Aussie land I prepared to my family a few Dark Chocolate Truffle - with a little cherry magic - Easter Eggs, unfortunately I didn't get to take any pictures, but gladly I could find some examples for you all!

I'm here to give you some ideas on how to surprise your family and friends. Let's see some ideas of fillings for your chocolates!

"Beijinho"

Marshmallow

Brownie

Eat-with-a-spoon Easter Eggs

Isn't this great?! I love making chocolate like these!

What do you reckon? Have you ever tried a Easter Egg with a delicious filling?

Hope you have a great Easter!

Cheers,

Dee.

Pictures:

http://mdemulher.abril.com.br/blogs/anamaria-receitas/2012/04/03/especial-de-pascoa-receitas-de-ovos-recheados/

http://artesanato.culturamix.com/curiosidades/como-fazer-ovos-artesanais

The First Event - My Sister's Wedding

After a lot of work, our first event was a success! Everyone loved the Dessert Table and that made me very happy.

I've learnt a lot over these past few days, I had help from my beautiful family and friends and everyone shared their thoughts and advice.

Since this was my first time preparing sweets for a wedding and in a large quantity, I had to research a lot about it and test the recipes, over and over again.

I learned that, in the end, it is likely that you will end up changing your menu and your technique/recipe.

This happened to me. At first I had planned to make a little cake called "bem-casados" - which means "well wed" - usually given as a gift to the guests. I tested recipe after recipe, trying to get the right texture. I tried five times before getting it right. I then realised that we were giving the guests a different gift and considering the way I wanted to display them (not wrapped, just like little macarons), the weather (it was very hot), the decoration and the time required to finish all of them, I decided to go in a different direction.

Another thing I learned was that, if you are catering alongside another business, things do not always turn out the way you had expected. For example, I had asked the decorater and the catering people not to display mousse at the table, it was supposed to stay in the fridge and then be served with the cake.

They did not follow my instructions, which could have caused the mousse to melt and lose its flavour. This could easily have hurt my image. Since I was part of the bridal party, I couldn't supervise the serving of the mousse. They looked pretty at the table, however they could have been ruined.

Luckly my mousse was well chilled and very firm and so it was fine.

This is something we need to be aware of, because if you are not in charge of the whole process, others may not follow your instructions and this can hurt your business.

Thankfully everything worked out fine and everyone was very happy. I was very grateful to receive their feedback!

I still don't have the official photos, but here are few examples of my sweets:

- Passion fruit and Lime mousse

- Liqueur and Chocolate truffle bonbons, and
- Brazilian nut brigadeiros.

Thank you all for your support!

Here's to a great beginning!

Cheers,

Dee.

Preparation

I've been gone for a while, but for a good reason.

Since I arrived in Brazil, I've been researching the sweets I'll be preparing for my sister's wedding. I need to know what are the must-haves, what is new, what would the  guests like and what will match with the wedding.

There are so many options and versions of the traditional wedding treats that is mind blowing, but I believe now I've reached a pretty good selection.

In my research I also found out how many different types of sweets you need to have, how soon you need to start preparing them and for how long they will last. It's pretty cool.

Anyway, now that I have my menu and quantities, I have to start my research of the best places to shop for my ingredients and start testing a few things. It's a bit close to the wedding, but I can't skip any steps, this has to be perfect!

The good thing is, I have a pretty good "team" to help me out, we are also planning the logistics of the preparation, storage and transportation.

The fun is about to start! I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Thank you for joining me in this journey.

Cheers,

Dee.

Alternative ingredients

While researching for my sister's wedding treats, I've come across a really interesting idea for a substitute for an often-used item in desserts: whipped cream.

Here in Australia the number of people with food allergies and intolerance is absurd! It's one of the highest prevalence rates in the whole world!

Why is it that in some countries kids can eat absolutely anything and over here childcare centres have to be, for example, "nut free" zones?

I wish I knew why that is, really.

Well, anyway, not going to get into that, but I'm here to talk about alternatives.

As you may have noticed, there is one common ingredient in a HUGE amount of desserts in Brazil (it's crazy when you stop to think about it), and that is: CONDENSED MILK.

Man, how we love cooking with condensed milk! - something else I need to research about. :)

Anyway, when I think about starting my business here in Aussie land, I wonder how I would substitute my dear condensed milk to reach out to those who can't have dairy, or any other ingredients I might need.

And what about whipped cream? Sure we can try making it with soy cream or something like that, but can we find a healthier option, an alternative to cream?

Well, for the condensed milk situation, I'm aware of some websites that sell the soy condensed milk from Brazil, it's quite expensive, but if you want to make an investment, that's something you need to think about.

But in a happier note, I saw a post on Low Carb Healthy Recipes'Facebook page talking about an alternative to whipped cream for our dear lactose-intolerant friends!

That is, coconut milk!

The idea is to chill the coconut milk overnight and then whip that adding a little bit of vanilla and cinnamon, which sounds pretty yummy.

I haven't tried that yet, still waiting for the opportunity, but it does seem like a good idea.

As soon as I prepare something with it, I'll make sure I tell you all about it.

I reckon it will be quite light and with a really nice texture to complement our desserts, don't you think?

So what about you, do you know any other great substitutes for baking ingredients?

I would love to hear from y'all.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Dee.

Looking for Inspiration!

One of my sisters is getting married at the end of March and she asked me to prepare the sweets and little gifts for the big day!

It's very exciting for me, I've never done such a thing, but I'm confident that it will be great.

Before making something for someone else, I like to research and test the recipes before making the final product, this time it won't be different.

I'm still looking for inspiration, I have some ideas, but I want to be certain of the choices I'll make.

I know what my sister wants, so now I just need to find the best way to give her that.

Testing the recipes and decorations will be a lot of fun, what I'll need is to find a nice group of people to taste and give me their feedback on it.

This is going to be awesome, my very first market research, I'm loving it!!

So let's get going!

I will love to know your ideas about sweets for the wedding day!

Thank you for being part of this journey!

Cheers,

Dee.

Brigadeiro!

Sometimes when I need that quick fix of sugar, something sweet and quick to make, I go straight to the Brazilian classics.

Last night, I decided to go with something called Brigadeiro.

You see, for us Brazilians, Brigadeiro is the most basic recipe someone can learn, I even had a class when I was in second grade where my teacher was teaching us how to prepare those little things.

It's delicious and simple.

If you don't know what Brigadeiro is, I'll tell you.

It's condensed milk and chocolate balls covered with chocolate sprinkles.

Sounds good?

Today I'll teach you how to make it, then.

Ingredients:

- 395 ml of condensed milk
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp of chocolate powder (it depends on how chocolaty you want it, I mean, you can add a little bit more or not as much, just to your taste)

Preparation:

In medium heat, add in a sauce pan the butter and let it melt for just a little bit, then add the condensed milk and the chocolate powder.

Stir it well. This is the hard part.

If you want to roll it in little balls (like bonbons), then you need to be very careful not to overcook it.

You have to stir until it is ready, do not stop, otherwise it might get lumpy.

When you see the mixture loosing up from the pan as you stir, turn off the heat and stir it for about 1 minute more.

Let it cool down for a while and place it on a plate so it will cool down a little bit more (the thing is, if you just turn the heat off and leave the mixture in the sauce pan, it will keep cooking, therefore, you should let it cool down a little bit and then transfer the mixture to a plate).

And that's it!

Now you just have to roll the little balls and put some chocolate sprinkles!

Tip: put some butter on your hands before rolling the brigadeiro balls so it won't all stick to your hands.

Tip 2: if you wish, you can place the brigadeiro in little cups instead of rolling them. You just need to turn off the heat when the brigadeiro gets a little bit thick, before it starts to loosen up from the pan.


This is a great option for kids' parties, they will love it!

I hope you have enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Dee.

Bittersweet

http://snstoman.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/sugar/

After a great couple of weeks back with my family in Brazil, I am finally back in Sydney!

My time there was really lovely and I had an opportunity to research a little bit about the things that I thought I missed the most (culinary wise).

There was a shop that I just knew I had to go, for me, they have the best cakes in my town, and with my creations, I'm always comparing to them and hopefully I will get my cakes to taste like theirs.

There is nothing too fancy about them. However, there is something quite special about their “essence”; it is the fact that as soon as you walk through their doors that amazing smell of fresh baked cakes fills you!!

But with their cakes, what I love about them is how super soft and moist they are, which is, for me, a perfect combination!

So the expectation was huge, all I could think about was getting my hands on one of their cakes.

As soon as I had recovered, a little bit, from the jet lag, I went to the store and bought my favourite: chocolate truffle - it has a touch of cherry that just makes the cake amazing.

It was just what I expected it would be - the soft and moist cake with a creamy chocolate and cherry filling.

After finally having what I was craving for, I went there again, just a few days before returning to Sydney, and bought a few different slices of cakes they had on display that day to sample all the different flavours.

That’s when it happened: disappointment. The cakes were extremely sweet, I took one little bite and that was it.

I didn't remember how sweet the cakes were, I was just so excited about trying their selection again that I just didn't think it trough.

Well, it is not like the cakes were bad, I wouldn't say that, but at that moment I realised that, as much as a dessert we like is meant to be sweet, we need to find a balance, something that can contrast the sweetness of it, otherwise we can get sick of it really fast.

Seems obvious, but it’s not!

I used to be crazy about sugar and all-things-sweet but as I got older and started analysing the things I ate, I started to notice how sugar overtakes the flavour of things and quite often you can see yourself trying things that just taste the same because of the lack of contrast and the overpowering sugar in them.

Now it’s time to research and experiment old and new recipes with less sugar, or simply introduce a little twist to contrast the sweetness of the dish.

I would love to know your opinion about this.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,

Dee.

Happy New Year!!

2013 has come to an end and I had to stop for a minute to thank everyone for their support.

It has been an amazing year! I met incredible people, had fantastic experiences, tried new things and I learnt a lot!

I am very grateful for everyone who supported me and helped me get this far, and I know this is just the beggining.

We all know that today it's just another day, but we should hold on to that feeling that everything CAN change and be better, that WE can be better this new year for as long as we can, because it is up to us, as long as we have hope, we'll have the strenght to persue our dreams.

We don't know what's going to happen next year, but give it some time, it may take a few months to get what you wished for, but as long as you try and hope, a lot can happen!

So let's get togheter with our family and friends, and just have a lovely time!

Leave all the bad experiences you had this past year behind, only take with you the lessons you've learned from them and don't forget the good memories!

I know I will!

Happy New Year everyone!!