What unicorns eat

Always looking for a little fairy dust, my baking adventure is about to discover just what unicorns eat. For even more sparkle, find me on instagram @leakleiman

[whatunicornseat]

Hakuna Matata

What a wonderful phrase. 

Wasn’t so wonderful when it was 3am and my husband and I (I have to say that he helped, that we did this together) were gluing on man-made stones and arguing over the correct stones to pile ratio. 

I have to say we were super duper proud of ourselves for the end result. Note to self, icing paint dries very quickly. Sunsets are hard. 

But, Coby loved it. And by that I mean he looked at it and said that’s my Lion King Cake. Can I eat it now. No lingering stares of wonderment or anything. I mean, let’s be honest - the cake was really for me.

x

[whatunicornseat]

So <blushing emoji> how was your 2018? 

Yes, yes, yes. I realise that I have completely neglected the unicorns of this world. I apologise. 

In my defence, I have made a few things. Some bigger than others. Some louder than others. And some a lot messier. 

Just ending my second mat leave - crazy I know - it’s probably about time I restart my blog. Life has been a bit crazy you see. Mum of two (most of the time three) boys, freelance copywriter, trying to sell flat/buy house (some things really haven’t changed in 2 years) and now in charge of organising everything food related for the new Jewish community we set up in Mill Hill East. 

Today is the first day of a new start. Kids at childcare, husband at work and whilst organising myself with some new work, a day to myself (and a desire to do anything other than tidy the flat). 

It won’t be as long this time, I got a 3rd birthday party to plan for and I can hear a jungle cry...

Big love,

xxx

[whatunicornseat]

Short and sweet

Life has gone mad, food related madness, but madness all the same! 

Not only have been social media-ing and website-managing for Gefiltefest <insert plug here>, I’ve become Food Guru (self-appointed name, aka kiddush lady) for our new Jewish community in Mill Hill East. 

And working.. oh and chasing after a toddler who seems to only want to read books, eat cake and change the channel on the sky box. 

So my unicorn friends, I’ve let you down. 

But!! I have baked! 

Coby turned 1 in March and obviously had a Mickey Mouse themed party (I didn’t put Mickey in his cot every night since he was born for nothing.. or play disney music to the bump...). I got way to overexcited about the theme as you can see - complete with Mickey cupcakes, biscuits, macarons and cake!! There’s still some cake in my freezer if you’re peckish. 

And.. remember my Rocket Raccoon brother - well that time came round again so he essentially got a 5 year olds cake and it’s sad to say - I didn’t even have to research the characters - he has taught me well.

And.. my carrot cake with mascarpone cream cheese frosting - just you know, with a dusting of ground ginger. Mmmmmhmmmm. May have had leftovers for breakfast.. and lunch.

Like old friends, it’s like I never left. 

Love and sprinkles xxx

[whatunicornseat]

Ru-dy Ru-dy Ru-dy Rudoooollllpppphhh! 

So here are two very edible Rudolphs. The first is crunchy and the second, very much smushy!

I hope you all had a lovely festive break filled with Chrismukah joy. I ate a lot. I’m very good at that. 

5 days of madness in Leeds couldn’t have gone by without a special biscuity treat. Commandeering my mum’s kitchen for 2 hours (pre-and post a lunch out) when she had a million people coming for dinner was perfect timing. 

When searching for what I should make, I came across a reindeer cutter, and thought what better than Rudolph and his shiny red nose. I just needed a recipe.

Ah google, what a life saver. Warmly spiced with crunch said the recipe from the River Cottage, perfect I said, so here goes: www.rivercottage.net/recipes/christmas-tree-biscuits

All went to plan, my lovely biscuits cooling, ready to be iced. I know, I thought, I’d be clever and take them into the other room. Now you may want to sit down for this. Unfortunately a few reindeer we’re sadly harmed in the transfer process. We lost some brave deers that day, and thus was born the reindeer graveyard, a scattering of antler and legs, albeit very tasty ones.

In honour of those who didn’t make it, I happily decorated their reindeer friends and proudly presented them at our Xmas eve pub quiz, a story in itself.

To a happy new year for all xxx

[whatunicornseat]

Taken my sweet time?

Yes, I know. I disappeared again. Oooops.

Well I didn’t forget you, promise (see above!):

Exhibit A&B: Vanilla buttercream ombre cake (thanks Emma for asking me to make such a special cake!)

Exhibit C: Josh’s red velvet 30th birthday cake - clearly in it’s/his natural habitat 

Exhibit D&E: Baby boy cupcakes for 2 little blue bundles

Exhibit F: A chocolate fudge cake 30th birthday surprise for Jez - apologies to all those I have shamed, it is meant to be wiiiiii. Jez doing an impression of Josh doing an impression of Tange, have I even got that right? 

I would show you pictures of Coby’s meals - as my mum said he’s the best fed baby in London - but lamb tagine as a puree.. let’s just say its a vaguely familiar shade and texture.. 

So last year, I had a whole plan for a halloween cake, and then halloween happened, and the cake did not. Fingers-crossed it will be making an appearance this year!

Until the next time my faithful friends

xxx

[whatunicornseat]

Some things are worth waiting for!

So the tiny human I so lovingly baked is finally here! World, meet Coby, Coby meet the world. He’s 13 weeks and very cute and loves taking selfies (exhibit A!)

Now that I’ve learnt the art of fast nappy changing and Coby has decided that night-time is not daytime, I’ve squeezed in some baking along the way. So while the little guy plays in his chair, staring in amazement at a very colourful donkey, I wanted to update you all on my latest edible treats.

First on the list are my minions cupcakes. I love minions. Not as much as unicorns, but a close second. Each had its own personality and were so much fun to decorate! Next, here’s Elsa from Frozen in all her edible glory (not the doll part, only Coby likes eating plastic). The offer to bake her came along and I didn’t want to let it go (sorry : ) ). Then comes my donuts, They we’re scrummy and jammy and as this was my second ever batch, I think for next time I’ll upgrade to using a jam syringe, thank you Amazon. My next creation was for my nephew’s birthday, one very fabulous Captain Barnacles of the Octonaughts persuasion. Don’t ask, I’ve even watched the programme and I still don’t have a clue what he does or who he is!

Now that I’m back in the game, look forward to lots more scrumptious treats!

xxx 

[whatunicornseat]

Girls night out!!

So, I have been extremely lazy in my blog updates...sowwy!

I haven’t stopped baking though, so don't worry.. just been a little busy with baking something else, a tiny human something else (eek!). 

In the world of what unicorns eat, I’ve got a few treats stacked up for you, starting with hen party cupcakes!!

The idea of making sugar paste willies kind of scared me.. so I went with the more traditional underwear, garters and learner plates. Much more enticing to eat than willies (but I’d quite like to get off this subject now..)

Half lemon, half vanilla, these cupcakes add a little something special to any hen party, so let me know if you’re planning one soon : ) 

I know it’s nearly February, but Happy New Year everyone! It’s going to be a good’un so watch this space for all my new treats!

xxxx

[whatunicornseat]

Oh yes, that’ll be two tiered!

Ah, the beauty of freelance.. don’t mind me as I disappear on a casual Thursday for a spot of cake decorating. Birthday vouchers well spent (thanks Ed and Emma), I had great fun at Rock Bakehouse learning the art of the two-tiered treat. 

Too scared to attempt this previously - what’s dowling anyway? I decided a class was the only way forward. Now, I would love to say it’s easier than it looks - it really does take time, patience and lots of tools! But there are some sneaky little tricks along the way too and some shockers - turns out that a 6″ cake tin is not necessary the same size as a 6″ cake board (I know, it’s insane). 

But now that I’ve done it step by step, new creations will be coming your way! I really want to make a minnie mouse two-tiered cake - so if you fancy an experiment - I’ll be very willing to help you out : )

Until next time my unicorn friends xxx

[whatunicornseat]

Party like it’s 1935!

Where have I been all summer?? A very good question, I’m not sure! 

The reason this post is delayed is due to pure, unadulterated laziness. The photos I needed were on my camera (an actual camera!). After blowing the dust off the cover, it’s taken me this long to prize out the photos.. but I’m hoping it was worth the wait!

So, why 1935 you ask? Well this post is dedicated to my grandma. A woman who ended up with a very mad family, from which the phrase ‘I’m surrounded by idiots’, was born. Obviously said in a very loving, I wouldn’t have you any other way kind of tone. 

To celebrate her 80th birthday, we all surprised her with a weekend away in Coventry (well, the parenterals treated us, yay!) but that did mean we couldn’t come empty handed. My cousin made a family leaderboard complete with velcro photos which could be dispersed along the favouritism gradient according to good behaviour (yes, it came to dinner), beautifully hand-crafted songs (which had obviously not been practiced in advance), answers to a how well do you know grandma quiz and secret stories in preparation for a shocking reveal of our darkest secrets. We even got our waiter William involved (poor boy), although I think he had quite the evening!

And finally.. the piece de la resistance - the cake! One chocolate fudge cake with vanilla buttercream swirls. 

It’s a lot of pressure to make a birthday cake for such a special birthday and I think as the icing started to melt a few hours earlier that day (I obviously didn’t think about gravity being an issue).. I was close to regretting my decision! A few tufts of icing sugar, and a few tears (eeek) later, the cake was all wrapped up and ready to go! 

It was worth every second when I saw my grandma’s reaction. I felt very privileged to have made it for such a special occasion. And even better - it advanced me to the top of the leaderboard : ) 

So happy birthday grandma!! May this be a weekend of memories to treasure forever, with many more special times ahead.

x X x

[whatunicornseat]

A little party never killed nobody...

Sorry for the lack of postage. It has been a very manic few weeks! So much so that some days I wake up in the morning, quite unsure about where I’m meant to be going that day... the life of a freelancer indeed. 

But let’s get to the main story. I reached a milestone, the big 29! Ok fine.. I turned 30. It’s a big number. The number you reach when you’ve sorted out your life and have you’re future all planned out... Ah! Well, I’m come to realise that you can’t really plan anything. Life is full of fortunate and unfortunate surprises and really, you just have to make the most of it and try every day to push it in the right direction.

Right, now that the sentimentality is out of the way - let’s talk party! To celebrate my 30th, I decided that a speakeasy-prohibition 1920s party was the way forward. Who doesn’t love tassels and tommy guns!? Then I panicked, what did they eat in the 1920s? I could never have a party without cake (and I’d been told that some people would only be coming on the proviso that there would be cake!). 

Problem solved - 1920s themed cupcakes of course, and a few macarons to add to the mix (Vanilla with white chocolate ganache to be more precise).  And... back to cupcakes. I was feeling a red, white and black theme, so that meant vanilla and red velvet cupcakes frosted with decadent icing and topped with feathers, pearls [sadly no photo : (] rosettes and embossed lace. 

It was such a fun night, complete with jazz music, selfie sticks, 1920s paraphernalia, photo props and cocktails. I actually thought my dad would insist on taking the blow up tommy gun home with him - he didn't let it out of his sight! I was so happy to see everyone dressed up to the nines and ready to party with me - I have amazing family and friends!

Even more exciting was the next day My whole family met me for a surprise afternoon tea at the W hotel. But that’s another story for another day! 

So, here’s to my 30th name day! No I didn’t wake up to find my face wrinkled or feel like it’s time to come to terms with a new level of maturity, but there’s always 31. 

Lots of love and cupcakes,

xXx

[whatunicornseat]

With great power comes great responsibility

Not only does this apply to spiderman, but also to the maker of a birthday cake. It’s a huge responsibility to get it right!

So for my brother’s 25th birthday (yep, 25), his new wife asked me if I could make a cake. Now, there was only once choice for a comic book geek such as Ed, and that’s spiderman. Not superman. He is comically opposed to superman as he’s an alien. A person shooting webbing from their arm is clearly much more realistic.  

Please ignore the fact that Ed is disguised as some kind of gangster rodent. Rumour has it that he’s Marvel’s Rocket Racoon (??), an intelligent expert marksman and master tactician. The raccoon, not my brother : )

Just to clear things up, he was going to a costume party, he doesn't wear this on a daily basis.. although I think he would if he could. And there’s also a cameo from my other brother in the background having just escaped from prison and looking very pleased with himself about it. I was a brunette Alice in Wonderland in case you were wondering. 

So, back to the cake! It was huge!! I used Peggy Porchen’s chocolate fudge cake recipe and wasn't sure it would be enough so I doubled it and essentially I ended up with a skyscraper! Well, the more the merrier I say. The cake was sooo good (if I do say so myself) and I covered it in a vanilla buttercream and sugarpaste. For the webbing, I recruited an assistant to roll strip after strip of black icing (cue husband) and painstakingly arranged them on top of the cake with spiderman’s distinctive eyes to finish.

I was very proud of myself. It’s not perfect but the smile on my brother’s face was worth the effort. Especially as he was still happy eating it 4 days later (and was warming it in the microwave so he could mix runny icing into the cake). Yes, I have a weird family, but wouldn't have them any other way!

Happy birthday SpiderEd!!

xxx

[whatunicornseat]

Purim sameach! Or in English.. Happy Purim! A Jewish festival which remembers a story of the past and in doing so encourages people wear fancy dress, eat drink and be merry! It is a tradition to eat hamentashen on Purim. These are either pastry or biscuit based, always triangular and packed with sweetness. Poppy seeds are the traditional filling but as expected, this just ends in disappointment. The clever seeds parade their gleaming colour and I fall for it every time. Ewww, not chocolate. To be on the safe side I chose caramel apple and Nutella! One of the stranger festivals but also one of the sweetest too. Xxx

[whatunicornseat]

Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash but I would be proud to partake of your pecan piiiieeeeee.. peeeccccaaann piiiieeeee

Maybe a lesser known quote from When Harry Met Sally, but equally tugs on those 80s movie memory heart strings! Marc Bergen.. this one's for you : )

Now pastry. We have a love/hate relationship as previously discussed. I had it in my head I wanted to make pecan pie but I was scared. I was yet to find that perfect flaky pastry - not too hard, not too sweet, not too crumbly. I could have resorted to a little girl called Goldilocks.. but she only has the autonomy over porridge, I'd need to find someone with more specialist skills. 

Hello, Eric Lanlard. 

I bought his book Tart it up whilst at Taste of Christmas 2013. A truly special day as I met John Whaites (GBBO winner). Well, when I say met - I over excitedly pointed to my husband Josh that I could spot him down the nearby corridor. Josh proceeded to chase him - tap him on the shoulder (and ignoring my inner nooooooo) had the guy turn round, look at him and go 'I think it's my mate you want'. Awkward.... but not too much that I didn't get a sneaky selfie. Totes starstruck!

Anyway, back to pecan pie. Let's be honest, it's why you're here too. I have to say the pastry was perfect. A batch of sweet shortcrust is the perfect addition to the chocolate syrup filling and lightly toasted pecans. Instead of a large pie, I baked minis, cos they're just so damn cute (and means I finally used the mini tart tins from the cupboard, told you I would Josh!).

Let me know if you want the recipe and I'll send it to you on behalf of my friend Eric (we could be friends!)

So that's treat Tuesday folks. Harry and Sally. I'm so happy you met. 

xxxx

[whatunicornseat]

Thought of the (Fri)day...

Whilst searching for some motivational quotes at work, I came across this little gem. It made me smile and hope it does the same for you.

Happy weekend to you all xxx

[whatunicornseat]

"Raa Raa you are a noisy little lion" (and a tasty one too!)

Anyone with a child under the age of 5 will most likely have had heard these lyrics on repeat as they try to distract their kids with Cbeebies.

As I (aka ‘Uncle Lea Lea’) was asked make a birthday cake for my very smushy nephew Raffi, I narrowed down the choices quickly:

- Princess castle (more for me than him, he is in-fact a 2 year old boy, and it seems I’m a 2 year old girl…)

- Thomas the tank engine (great in theory, but got way too scared about the idea of modelling a train out of icing.. and I didn’t have any blue)

- Raa Raa the lion (how hard can making a lion face be? and if it doesn’t quite come out right.. it could be any lion - especially Simba, I have a weird obsession with Simba) 

So Raa Raa it was! 

I used a Peggy Porchen victoria sponge cake recipe for the actual cake (always adding the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture very slowly to make sure it’s light and fluffy.. and time-consuming). Once this was cooled, I whipped up some vanilla buttercream and spread it between the layers, with jam (of course) and then covered the cake.

It was time for the decorating to begin!!

Note to self, buy the icing ready coloured next time. As layer after layer came slowly together.. I started to see Raa Raa appearing and I genuinely surprised myself when the finished cake actually looked like him! And then I proceeded to look around the room.. and couldn’t actually see the floor or the table - there were cutters, boards, palate knives, butter-icing blobs, rolling pins, discarded brown sugarpaste and a trickle of edible glue.. ooops..

With no time to tidy as I finished with 10 mins before the party was due to start (and I live 15 mins away) - I rushed to the party, wheel in one hand, the other holding onto the precariously balanced cake on the seat next to me. Ignoring the small eye/nose-gouge incident in the cake box, all in all, Raa Raa and I arrived at the party in one piece. Phew.

Now 2 year old Raffi, who is just amazing (and thinks the whole family lives in his grandparents house and assumes if you’re not there you’re at work or the toilet) actually pointed to the cake, and I quote (this being one of the proudest moments of my life), ‘Raa Raa cake!’. 

So happy birthday Raffi! I hope you have a special year ahead with your soon-to-be baby brother or sister. You may have to learn to share.

And happy blog-iversary to What Unicorns eat. We made it to a year!!

And to everyone else, happy new year from Raa Raa and I. We’re now fine friends, even though I may have eaten him.

xxxx

[whatunicornseat]

We are fam-i-ly.. I've got all my brothers with me!

Feeling inspired by the Waitrose xmas advert and the fact that they are just really cute, I decided that this year's holiday munch would be gingerbread men.

I used a waitrose recipe I found online (if I'm borrowing their idea I thought it was only appropriate to borrow their recipe too!)

125g unsalted butter

100g dark brown muscovado sugar

4 tbsp golden syrup

325g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

- Preheat oven to 170oC

- Line baking trays with baking parchment 

- Melt butter, sugar and golden syrup, stirring occasionally until melted and remove from heat

- Sieve flour, bicarb and ginger and stir in melted ingredients to make a stiff dough and leave to cool

- Roll onto lightly floured surface to about 5mm (it's easier to do this in portions) and cut with the gingerbread cutters

- Place on the trays and bake for 9 minutes (depending on the size - the baby ones were a little on the cruncher side!)

- Leave to cool on a wire rack and decorate with royal icing in whatever way you fancy

There's something so festive about spicy sweet gingerbread, especially when dunked in freshly brewed coffee (with froth of course). 

Unfortunately I only had gingerbread men cutters.. so I'm in the matchmaking business for some pretty gingerbread ladies to keep my men company - send me pics!!

I hope you have all enjoyed the xmas break so far, I'll miss the sparkles, lights and time to watch Frozen on repeat.. but there's always next year!!

Happy new year to you all, I hope 2015 brings love, laughter and happiness to you (with treats from What Unicorns Eat!). It's gonna be a good one : )

xxxx

[whatunicornseat]

Donuts that taste like churros!

Now that’s the best of both worlds if you ask me!

I couldn’t let Chanukah finish without attempting to make donuts. After seeing a recipe on smitten kitchen http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/12/jelly-doughnuts/ I thought, how hard can it be!?

It all started fine, as in I weighed the ingredients, but my dough didn’t quite look like hers :( and was all a bit sticky so I (shhhh!) made the cardinal sin of adding more flour …which actually worked wonders in the end. I proved them (in my imaginary proving draw), shaped them, reproved them and fried those babies! Note to self, next time find a jam syringe, turns out the jam comes back out of the same hole you made to pipe it in!

Even though they’re all slightly different shapes and sizes, it’s not all about the way they look, but what’s inside that counts (btw that’s jam!). And it helps that they taste great too!

So, even though it’s the last night, Happy Chanukah one and all. I hope it was a sweet one!

XxX