Chicken Themed Birthday Cake

Chris celebrated her birthday recently with a chicken themed cake. Here are the directions to create your own hen masterpiece:

Ingredients:

-Your favourite rectangular-shaped slab-style cake

-Cooking chocolate

-Shredded coconut

-Green food colouring

The Icing:

-1.5 to 2 cups of icing sugar

-2 tablespoons of Nuttelex

-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

-2 tablespoons of your choice of milk substitute

Method:

-We split the cake horizontally and added a thin layer of plum jam for flavour before icing.

-Melt your cooking chocolate. Use a spatula to apply the chocolate in a thin layer onto some baking paper or a thin, flexible chopping board and cool in the fridge or freezer. When the chocolate has hardened, remove from the paper or board and break into pieces large enough to cover the sides of the cake.

-To make the icing, we combined all the icing ingredients and beat until creamy. Please note that the ingredient measurements are approximate – you can alter the amounts to create an icing of your preferred consistency.

-Apply the icing to the top of the cake. This icing is easiest to work with at room temperature. If you have stored it in the fridge, you may need to use a heated spoon or knife to apply it. Run your knife under hot water. 

-Keep a little icing back in the bowl and use as glue to attach the chocolate to the sides of the cake. Dab some icing onto the chocolate pieces and push them on. 

-Make grass for the cake by putting shredded coconut into a bowl and slowly adding green food colouring. Stir with a spoon or fork to avoid getting green colouring on your fingers. Sprinkle the grass onto and around the cake with a spoon. If you touch the green coconut before the colouring dries it will colour your skin.

-Dust a little cocoa or crumbled chocolate onto the icing where there is no grass to give the appearance of a crumbly ground.

-Now you can decorate with your favourite hen figurines. We purchased our materials at online store Minizoo http://www.minizoo.com.au and through Ebay. Minizoo sells many different animals and birds perfect for decorating cakes.

-Enjoy your cake!

Guest Chef Natalie Krawcyzk - Basic Scone Recipe

Ingredients:

-3 cups (450g) self-raising flour, sifted

-½ cup (110g) caster sugar

-100g cold vegan butter, chopped (I used nuttelex)

-1 ¼ cups (310ml) soymilk

(Note: I added an extra ½ tsp of baking powder to see if I can make them fluffier and I think it worked).

Method:

-Preheat oven to 180°C.

-Place the flour and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine.

-Add the vegan butter and use your fingertips to rub it into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

-Make a well in the centre and pour in the soymilk.

-Use a butter knife to gradually mix the soymilk into the flour mixture until just combined.

-Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently bring the dough together.

-Roll out to 2cm thick and use a 5cm round cutter to cut out 14 rounds (I just cut 14 pieces and shaped them to make rustic scones).

-Place the scones close together on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

PVAS Wine and Cheese Evening 2018

By Chris R.

On the 21^st of April, Possum Valley held its fourth wine and cheese fundraiser at South Perth Community Hall. With more than 140 people in attendance, and over twenty cheeses and twenty wines on offer, it was an amazing night of socialising and tasting cruelty free fare.

 

Pete Blake headed the kitchen, creating a range of freshly cooked pizzas, curry puffs, savoury pastries and stuffed potatoes. Satay skewers, sausage-less rolls and fruit kebab peacocks filled the tables, tempting the crowds. Stacey and Leigh worked their magic with incredible light and floral arrangements

 

Thanks to Scent to Rescue for once again supporting the event with their beautiful candle range for purchase. 

A huge thank you to everyone who donated food, wine and auction items and also to our tireless volunteers for their time spent helping organise the event.