monday morning message #66

{vie weheartit.com}

May Be | A May WRAP UP & WEEKEND WIND-UP #64

May is rather exhausting.

I have mentioned this before, but I really would love to have my brain magically connected to my blog because so many times over the past few days and even weeks I found myself thinking about all the things I wanted to blog about.

Although I always had written these blog posts in my mind already, I never got around to actually sit down at the keyboard and write.

And because I know that you guys like my wrap-up posts, here’s another round up on what else happened in May:

1. I made a pretty cake and chocolate ornaments (at culinary school):

2. I missed out on seeing Bruce Springsteen again. Couldn’t get a ticket to his sold-out show and despite me knowing that it was sold-out for the last six months, I was still pretty buggered came the day of the gig. (And now I have even more reasons to be buggered: He played 30-odd songs that night, a total of 3 hours and 21 minutes and eight encores. And I missed it. BUGGER!)

3. Luigi and I did some serious house cleaning.

When we cleared out a wardrobe full of documents, we found this amazing card you can see in the top left corner. It was made by my fellow students back when I studied in New Zealand and I had totally forgotten about it. So when I held it in my hands the other day, it brought back the loveliest memories and tears to my eyes.

4. I celebrated “another year of Sabrina” with family and friends and had a lovely coffee table set up to showcase the collection of confections I’ve made for this occassion:

 Plenty of other things have happened in May, as you can see in the image at the very top (in no particular order):

I got a haircut and bought new clothes to match the new colour, I taught myself how to make lemon curd (and lemon curd strawberry tartelettes), I watched ‘Pirates of the Carribean 1-3′ once again, I found lovely miniature cakes called Gugl in the mail, I attempted to make Hummingbird Bakery-style cookies, I started a new amigurumi project, I created a new version of a coconut layer cake for my birthday, I ate a fabulous ice cream cake with strawberries at a nice restaurant, I got lost on a mini-road trip….

And what have you been up to?

I May Love

May is always the best of all months.

In May, the coolest things happen.

{http://www.wheatpaste.com/store/constellation-of-taurus-1.html?SID=q8r1in0rbd4639t2408f72aj85}

Like my birthday, for example. And along with my birthday comes one week off work (because my boss reckons taking one week off is better than taking one day off, so whenever I want a day off I get a week off). So I’ve got a birthday and a holiday coming up.

In the past few years, the coolest things have happened in May: I got given tickets to my very first concert (a Bon Jovi show, of course), I went to the coolest places in May, I met the coolest people in May.

Take this week, for instance.

On Monday night, I met UPI journalist and bestselling author Martin Walker – and apparently I look like Pamela, one of the characters in his books.

At least that’s what he told me when I handed him my copy of his book to sign: “I like your hair, it has the colour of Pamela’s in the book. You look exactly like her, exactly like how she looks. I really like it.”

Naturally, I was starstruck.

And now I regret it.

Just imagine how exciting it would have been to find out more about his life as a journalist and writer.

How did he get his career started? Did his younger self ever feel like all the effort he put into becoming a journalist lead to nothing (like I did which is why I’m currently more of a pastry chef than a journo)? What does it feel like to be a war reporter?

What inspired him to write his Bruno series? Where does he get the inspiration for his writing from? And what are his sources – I mean, does he actually KNOW all these things he writes about or is an awful lot of research involved in all his works?

Now, two days later, all these questions pop to my head and I could go on and on and on and on forever. How cool would it be to sit down with a good cup of coffee and just talk and get answers to all these questions? Like, in person.

Oh, I guess I’m still starstruck.

{Sorry for the lack of pics, but my dad has taken pictures on Monday night but hasn’t sent them to me yet.} 

monday morning message #66

{via Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/276971445803606961/ – original source unknown}

Happy new week, everyone!

To me, this quote means to dream big, to fight for what I really want and to work hard to gain what I wish for. And it reminds me of another quote I came across recently: 

“She turned her can’ts into cans and her dreams into plans.” 

Most people have a bucket list of things they want to do and places they want to visit – I carry mine with me all the time as I keep my personal bucket list in my mind and talk about it whenever possible. That way I ensure to turn my dreams into plans. 

… and a cupcake fairytale

Seems like April is study month on coffeerocketfairytale.

I have yet another fun chart for you to look it, except this time it’s not about coffee but about my second great love: cupcakes.

Here we go, a beautiful chart by All Culinary School (via Best Friends For Frosting):

I bet you want a cupcake (or two or three or maybe even four?) really badly now, right?

Well, for some baking inspiration, have a look at my creations (in the ‘small goodies’ section).

For some food porn (= looking at pictures of delicious food you wished you had) try a web search or simply go and see what I’ve pinned onto “Cake Inspiration” on Pinterest.

I will opt for a combination of option no. 1 and 3 – which means I’ll be heading down to my kitchen to make myself some cupcakes (but try a new recipe or even create a new one, depending on what I’ll find in the fridge).

Make sure to let me know what you guys ended up doing!

monday morning message #65

{via icanread.tumblr.com}

Currently obsessed with… | WEEKEND WIND UP #63

Once again I’d like to show you the things I madly love at the moment. (We should really make this a category on the blog, don’t you think?)

So, here we go, currently, I’m obsessed with…

1. Matching movie and ice cream duos. Like Casablanca, the movie and Casablanca, the ice cream. 

{Remember last year when I got all crazy about Doctor Zhivago?}

2. Cavo

{Listening to their new record ALL THE TIME!}

3. Bluntcards/ecards – they’re just so perfectly… blunt. ^^

A coffee fairytale…

… of some sort.

This blog is called coffeerocketfairytale for a reason and it’s been a while since we last talked about my favourite hot beverage, right? (Oh my God, last time coffee played a role on coffeerocketfairytale was actually at Christmas time!!! Eeek!) 

So without further ado, have a look at this fabulous chart created by the amazing people of Happy To Serve You:

For the odd paranoid reader here (yeah, I have to admit, that sometimes includes myself, too): If you follow THIS link you will find quite a handy website that will (hopefully) destroy all your remaining concerns in terms of how harmful coffee can be.

In fact, it will tell you, how much caffeine you would have to take in before you die. Fun, aye?

If you still can’t get enough and want to know more about…

…click either on the image above or follow THIS link and you’ll end up looking at a beautiful chart created by The Oatmeal that will provide you with yet more information about the liquid brown gold as I like to call it.

Sorry to leave you, but I have a déjà-brew right now. The feeling that I had this coffee before.

Oreo cupcakes & miraculous B/W chocolate bark

Let’s move straight on to the recipes because that’s probably what you came here for after reading this week’s monday morning message, right?

Both, the Oreo cupcakes and the Black and White Chocolate Bark, are quite simple yet miraculously delicious and here’s how you make them.

There are so many Oreo cupcakes recipes out there but I decided to go with my very own version and blend two delicious recipes and throw in some biscuits.

You may remember my Fairytaleicious Chocolate Cupcakes which I adapted for this recipe.

Beat 50 g butter with 125 g white sugar until white and fluffy, then add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, 125 g plain flour and eventually fold in 120 g sour cream. Crush 6 Oreo biscuits and fold in the mixture.

Divide 12 whole Oreo biscuits among 12 muffin holes (place one biscuit on the bottom of each hole, if you don’t use paper liners, grease the muffin tin first).

Divide the batter among the 12 holes and bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

For the topping:

Bring 150 g cream to the boil and pour it over 100 g chopped dark chocolate, stir until the chocolate has melted. Keep stirring until cream and chocolate have combined. Let cool*, then whisk or beat with a hand mixer until the canache reaches the consistency of butter cream. Use a pastry bag to decorate the cupcakes, then stick half an Oreo biscuit on each cupcake.

Enjoy!

* THIS is the time when you can either chillax and do nothing or make some chocolate bark in the meantime, like I did. 

If you decide on the latter, set up a double boiler and melt 90 g dark chocolate (I used Valrhona, because… you know… it’s good quality and I still have about 2.5 kg left).

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spread the melted chocolate in a thin layer and evenly on the paper. Sprinkle coconut flakes on one half and sliced almonds and hazelnut brittle on the other half. Chill until set.

Melt 180 g white chocolate and spread evenly on top of the layer of dark chocolate. Sprinkle with… you know… sprinkles.

Chill again (I recommend putting it in the fridge over night), then break into pieces and enjoy.

monday morning message #64

So it’s been a while…

I’ve got no excuse other than the fact that I had some personal matters to deal with (things that are considered good news in general, but in my particular situation I considered them bad news and got told I “over-reacted” and so I ended up being a little depressed about what I can’t change in the first place. You know that feeling when no one bothers to try and understand your point of view? Anyway, let’s not get into further detail here – let’s just say I spent my days in bed doing nothing or at work and neither was much fun).

So on this note here’s today’s monday morning message:

{via Madame Mia - click for source}

Now yesterday I decided to “feel good anyway” and finally attempted my come-back in the kitchen.

Obviously, I spend my days baking all the time anyway, but work is so much different from baking at home, so it was good to get back to it.

First I made…

… Oreo cupcakes.

{Oreo bikkies turn 100 this year – in case you need a reason to make some Oreo cupcakes yourself. I’ll post the recipe later.}

And while I waited for the frosting to cool down to proceed further, I spent my time making…

… Black and White Chocolate Bark with coconut, almonds, hazelnut brittle and rainbow sprinkles.

So I guess it’s fair to say: I’m back.

Life is a roller-coaster ride and after going down, you have to go back up again – and I am on my way back up for certain!