Happy Australia Day!

My friend over at Rhyme Time shared an idea with me for Australia Day that is from the New Idea Magazine. She knows how much I love to make and bake gorgeous food, and felt that I would love these too. Very easy to make, these Koala Cupcakes are sure to be a huge hit with my kids tomorrow. They will love their special Australia Day treat.

I will let you in on a dirty little secret though... I didn't make the cakes from scratch! When I decided to make these little beauties I knew that I would want to send some to my lovely neighbours next door. Their young son has a dairy allergy, so the recipe needed to be adapted to suit him too. I have had the most insane couple of weeks (I'll fill you in at the end of the post about everything that has been going on) and really really didn't feel like baking, but I also really wanted to make these for the kids. So instead, I went to the supermarket and found a packet mix that is gluten free, dairy free, nut free etc etc. Super easy to make once I used the milk and margarine that he can have, and I know that it won't make him sick.

Anyway, once the cakes were made, I whipped up some buttercream frosting and coloured it with black food colouring until it made the most beautiful silvery grey colour. Then dipped them in the coconut, made the ears from pink marshmallows (cut in half, iced and coated in coconut); the eyes are mini choc chips or mini chocolate M&M's; and the nose is a black jelly bean. Add one Australiana prop and you have a True Blue, Dinky Di, Aussie Morning Tea!

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On a side note... The reason for the madness and mayhem at my house lately is that I have quit my job at Curves - I am instead embarking on a new career as a Family Day Care provider. Basically this means that I am my own boss, working from home caring for other people's children. This is all very regulated and official and runs through our local council. It has involved lots of work around my house getting it all up to scratch as far as safety issues go (Big thanks to my Dad for all his hard work, as he has been the one making it all happen!). I will also be going back to school, studying for my Certificate III in Children's Services. I'm very excited about all of this and hope that it works out well.

In addition to all this we are madly packing for a holiday. Just before Christmas my SH entered a competition with an online Cruise magazine and he won a trip for two onboard the Celebrity Century cruising from Auckland to Fremantle for 18 nights! We have come to realise just how great my parents are as they have agreed to watch our kids (and our house) while we make the most of this opportunity. What a great start to the year!