Lactation Cookies

Lactation Cookies

Looking for a small boost for your milk supply? These delicious cookies have 3 active galactagogue ingredients – oats, brewers yeast and flaxseed meal. Sometimes it can be hard to find the time to fix a proper meal when you’re in between changing nappies and feeding bub, having a stash of these ready to go can help buy some time until your Uber Eats order arrives. And bonus – they are also helping you with your supply!

Lactation Cookies

Lactation Cookies

A delicious oatmeal-based lactation cookie with three active ingredients to help boost milk supply.
Prep Time 45 mins
Cook Time 12 mins
Total Time 57 mins
Course Snack
Servings 36 Cookies
Calories 155 kcal

Equipment

  • Electric scales
  • Electric mixer
  • Measuring cups
  • Measuring spoons
  • 2 mixing bowls
  • 1 extra small bowl
  • Spatula
  • Cookie/ice cream scoop
  • Baking tray/s

Ingredients
  

  • 4 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp flaxseed meal
  • 225 g salted butter room temperature
  • 1 cup caster sugar sifted
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cup plain flour sifted
  • 2-4 tbsp brewers yeast sifted
  • 1 tsp baking soda sifted
  • 1 tsp salt sifted
  • 3 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup choc chips optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 160 degrees (celcius) fan-forced. Line baking tray/s with baking paper.
  • Mix flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl, set aside to soak.
  • Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer for approximately 3 minutes.
  • Beat in eggs, one at a time, before mixing in the vanilla extract and soaked flaxseed.
  • Mix in the sifted dry ingredients on low speed – flour, brewers yeast, baking soda and salt. Stop mixing as soon as the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
  • Stir in the oats and choc chips until evenly distributed in the cookie dough.
  • Scoop dough onto prepared baking trays, making sure to leave enough space between scoops to accommodate any spreading.
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes (12 minutes for softer cookies, 15 minute for crunchier cookies). Remove from oven and rest for 2 minutes on the cookie trays before transferring to cooling racks to cool.

Notes

  • Flaxseed meal can be found at Woolworths or Coles
  • Brewers yeast can be found at natural health food shops or even at Woolworths as well
  • The optional 1 cup choc chips can be substituted with other mix-in ingredients of your choice. Some ideas:
    • 1/2 cup macadamia nuts + 1/2 cup white choc chips
    • 1/2 cup dried cranberries + 1/2 cup white choc chips
    • 1 cup raisins (or other dried fruits of your choice)
Keyword cookie, Lactation, Lactation cookie, Oatmeal

Inspirational Australian Cake Artists

3D Novelty Cake Artists

There are so many very talented cakes makers out there in the world, and I thought I might write a blog post sharing some of the amazing local Australian cake artists that inspire me. I then realised there’s possibly too many of them to fit onto the one blog post, so I will instead start a series of inspirational cake artists based on themes. In this post, I will share five of my favourite 3D Novelty Cake Artists (in no particular order, and definitely does not contain all of the amazing 3D novelty cake artists that inspire me, I just know that I have to draw the line somewhere 🙂 ).

1. Verusca Walker

I had seen her name come up in Facebook groups but admit I did not really start following her work until I saw her present a demo at a Cake Open Day in Canberra. During the demo she showed us how to create a cake that looked like a hat on a hat stand. You know when someone is a skilled SME (Subject Matter Expert) when they can present something so effortlessly like it’s just a walk in the park (but I know in my heart that I would be in struggle-town if I attempted something quite that complicated lol).

Source: https://veruscawalker.com/pages/about

If you were looking to have a go at recreating some of her elaborate cake creations, Verusca has written the book Structured Cakes that explains the ins and outs of creating structures in order to create some of these wonderful cake creations. You can buy an E-Book version (AU$49.50) or printed version (AU$60 + P&H). She also shares some FREE tutorials via her YouTube channel.

2. ButterSweet Lane Cakes

Margarita popped onto the scene in late 2017 and her 3D novelty cake creations are absolutely amazing! I am always blown away whenever I see one of her creations come up on my Facebook feed as they are always so fun and well executed.

As you can see above from her 2019 Top 9 on Insta, she creates a variety of sweet treats, from cupcakes, through to buttercream cakes and onto 3D novelty cakes – she really is a Jack of All Trades and a true master of them all! If you were looking to order a cake from her, she operates in the Kellyville Ridge area in Sydney. She also occasionally runs cake classes as well, so stay tuned to her website if you were wanting to learn from her.

3. Cherry On Top Cakes

I remember my first interactions with Ashini through a Facebook cake group, simply put, she is just such a lovely person 🙂 I’ve also been following her caking journey, and have witnessed her creations come in leaps and bounds in such a short timeframe – it has been a joy and inspiration to watch. I think she really hit the spotlight when she created the firefighter cake (below) – a monumental cake capturing the essence of the devastating bushfires that hit Australia during the 2019 summer.

If you were in the Wodonga area in Victoria and want to get a one-of-a-kind cake masterpiece, look no further than Ashini @ Cherry On Top Cakes. You won’t be disappointed!

4. Inspired Cakes – by Amy

Amy shot onto the caking scene less than a handful of years ago and took the Australian caking world by storm – and it’s not hard to see why! Her handcrafted 3D cakes are simply works of art that are flawlessly executed. I think it takes a lot talent to be able to pull off even simple anti-gravity cakes, but she takes it to a whole new level by sculpting even complex shapes to perfection.

She’s taken home a multitude of awards in the cake industry and continues to inspire swathes of people. You’ll see her partaking in all kinds of cake shows around Australia, and continues to take custom cake orders, so if you’re in the Bowral, NSW area and looking for a mind-blowing cake, then Amy is your gal!

For those cake makers feeling inspired to learn from her, you can find online tutorials on her website starting from AU$29.95. She also offers workshops for those in the area that wants a more in-person lesson.

5. A Little Nonsense Cakes

I first saw Dale’s creations from within a Facebook cake group I’m in, and wowee her stuff blows me away! Every one of her cake creations are simply immaculate – perfectly sharp edges, airbrushed shading on point, and I simply love how she incorporates lights in her cakes for the added extra WOW factor! Seriously, you wouldn’t even know some of her creations were cakes!

Source: http://www.alittlenonsense.com.au/gallery.html

If you head to her website’s gallery of celebration cakes, you’ll see for yourself why I am raving about her work and it will prove to you just how crazy-talented this lady is! If you live in the Kelmscott area in WA, and were looking for a cake with massive WOW factor, don’t look past Dale @ A Little Nonsense Cakes.

BONUS: Elegant Slice

OK so I thought I had better include at least one option for a 3D Novelty Cake Artist from the Canberra region in this post – so BONUS ROUND! There are a number of super talented cake makers in the area, but of the ones that I follow, Elegant Slice takes my vote as most inspirational for me – possibly because he nails square cakes to perfection. It’s seriously cake p0rn…

Source: https://www.elegantslice.com.au/copy-of-wedding-cakes-1

He has also done a number of car cakes that are just stunning (something I have not been brave enough to try as yet – I admit, it feels daunting to me!)

Source: https://www.elegantslice.com.au/copy-of-other-cakes

He is a qualified pastry chef of 30 years and has worked in a number of establishments in Europe as well as Australia. If you are local to Canberra, you’ll find Elegant Slice based in the suburb of McKellar (although he also does offer delivery – just sayin’ 😉 ).

Colouring Macarons: Review of the Master Elite range

Before I start, let me premise this post by saying I am not affiliated with brands or products mentioned in this article.

I have been making macarons for a while now, but admit to still having my good and bad batches. A friend dubs them “devil cookies”, and for anyone out there that’s made macarons before, I’m sure you can understand why she calls them that.

I found I usually got worse batches when wanting deep, vibrant colours. The general rule of thumb for colouring macarons, is to use gel colours (my usual brand preference for gel colours is Americolor), as they are high in pigment but low in liquid content. Works extremely well for pastel colours, but when wanting vibrancy, the amount of gel I found I needed to use to get the colour, affected the consistency of my macaron batter and therefore end product.

I knew I needed to invest in some powder colours. After a lot of reading other people’s reviews on Facebook, I took the plunge and bought some Master Elite colours by The Sugar Art (at AU$8.95 a little container I admit it felt a little risky – what if it didn’t work for me?).

A few hints I’d come across for using the Master Elite powder range were:

  • the powders are liquid-activated, so stir in the powder into the liquid egg whites and wait at least 30 minutes (or overnight) before using [note for reference: the recipe I use contains 60g egg whites]
  • a little bit goes a long way – most colours only need 1/8 teaspoon per batch of macarons
  • be really careful not to drop any on the bench or onto anything you don’t want stained!

I started my experimenting with Emerald Green. For my first batch, I did a light sprinkle of the powder into the liquid egg whites and found that it turned dark straight away. I didn’t want to overdo it, so I stopped adding more and proceeded to let the colour activate while I prepped everything else (following my preferred Swiss method).

When it came time to whipping the egg whites, I found within a minute or so, the colour began to fade. By the time the meringue was fully whipped, what I thought was going to be a deep, vibrant green, ended up a pale green. Keep this in mind – you won’t really know the end macaron colour from what you see at the liquid egg whites stage! What you see in the picture above was in a follow up attempt where I added 1/8 teaspoon to the liquid egg whites. The same amount worked well or the Sapphire Sky blue colour (perfect for Cookie Monster macarons ;-)), and also for Violet.

It seriously BLEW MY MIND when I saw just how well the powder colours worked! Suddenly, my concern about how wise was my investment decision dissipated, and I found myself bragging about my macarons to anyone asking in macarons groups for colour recommendations lol they really are well worth every cent.

But what about the dreaded red and black, I hear you asking? Well, I did experiments with those too!

As you can see above, the Red Rose colour also works brilliantly. In this instance, I pre-coloured the egg whites for a couple hours with 1/4 teaspoon. When the meringue was close to being done, I wasn’t quite 100% happy with the red, so added a small amount of Americolor Super Red. It was enough to ensure I got the red colour I wanted, without compromising the macaron batter with too much added liquid. For future runs, I think 1/3 or 1/2 teaspoon of red powder would be sufficient.

I was also really impressed with the Black! Although fair warning: there is a reason why the Black is sold in bigger containers lol In my first experimental run (pictured above), I went with 1 teaspoon and after whipping the meringue, found that it was a dark grey. So I added a decent squirt of Americolor Super Black to achieve the black macarons in this picture. Again, it was just enough to get the black I wanted, and because it wasn’t too much liquid added, it didn’t compromise the macarons like it would have if I used all liquid gel. I think 1.25-1.5 teaspoons of Master Elite powder would be enough to achieve black-black macarons without the need for extra Americolor gel paste assistance.

All in all, I highly rate the Master Elite by The Sugar Art powder colours for colouring macarons. A little bit really does go a long way for most of the colours, so well worth the price. If you are located in Australia and wanting to give them a try for yourself, you can buy them from Miss Biscuit.