My Cupcake Addiction’s Elise Strachan shares her Christmas baking tips for sweet desserts
SOCIAL media sensation Elise Strachan fromMy Cupcake Addictionis hoping to spread some Christmas cheer with her new book Sweet! Celebrations.
Parramatta
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SHE’s a self-confessed “cake nerd” with more YouTube followers than celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
Now former flight attendant Elise Strachan is hoping to spread some Christmas cheer with her book Sweet! Celebrations.
Strachan, the creator of online baking showMy Cupcake Addiction, burst into the spotlight after posting a cookie monster cupcake tutorial on YouTube in 2011.
She now has more than 2.9 million subscribers to her channel compared with Oliver’s 2.7 million.
At Westfield Parramatta last week, Strachan who splits her time between Australia and the US showed her fans just how easy it is to pull together basic festive fare from cupcakes to simple no-bake candy houses.
“Don’t feel you have to scratch bake every single element,” she says.
“Store-bought vanilla sponge cakes can save a ton of preparation time for your Christmas trifle and the pavlova magic egg (mixture) is a blessing.”
Strachan’s chocolate candy cottage was put together with no oven in sight.
“I love making desserts that double as themed table decor,” she says.
“All you need is a couple of blocks of chocolate on a Kit Kat base and you’ve got a no-bake version of a traditional Christmas gingerbread house with no mixing, cutting, baking or cooling.
“Add a few battery operated tea lights inside for a warm glow and you’ve got a fun dessert that’s incredibly Instagram-worthy.”
Another dessert that doubles as a table decoration is Strachan’s Christmas tree – filled with chocolates.
She also says Christmas cakes and puddings shouldn’t be hard work.
“As a fun twist, I like to make a dark chocolate and raspberry ‘fruit pudding’. I use a traditional chocolate mud cake recipe, add chunks of dark and milk chocolate and frozen raspberries and bake the cake in a metal (or ovenproof glass) bowl,” she says.
“Turn it out and decorate with drizzled white chocolate ... you’ve got a delicious ‘fruit pudding’ without pre-prep.”
Sweet! Celebrations by Elise Strachan is out now (Murdoch Books RRP $39.99)
Cookie Monster cupcake tutorial
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