Six Little Hearts: Prettify Your Presentation with Pack Queen, A Sweet Little Truffle Recipe and A Giveaway #SLHFeaturedThursdays

Thursday, 11 June 2015

Prettify Your Presentation with Pack Queen, A Sweet Little Truffle Recipe and A Giveaway #SLHFeaturedThursdays

*This post is brought to you in collaboration with Pack Queen.

This role of Mothering is so often about making and baking and that's a truth whether you're a stay at home Mum or a working one. You will be regularly roped into the whole 'kitchen creations' thing either willingly or kicking and screaming against your will. (And I have met plenty of Mums from both sides of the kitchen bench so to speak.)

Kids can cost an absolute fortune if you spend regularly on lunchbox treats so I tend to avoid doing that as much as I can by being a bit of a baking queen at home. It's hit and miss for sure where the kids are concerned but luckily for me personally, it's usually fun too, so I persist...

Bah! What choice do I have really?!

Whatever side of the proverbial bench you find yourself on, it's fairly safe to say, you will bake either by choice or necessity as a Mum, especially once you start out in the wider-world of children's parties, playgroups, kinder, school fetes and other similar groups where community spirit and fundraising unite solidly with your children's activities.

It's in these instances, when you find you will need to pop on your communal apron and get on-board with the baking brigade to produce some pretty and tasty treats for the never-ending barrage of fundraisers, Christmas presents for teachers, thank you gifts for school helpers, the kids' friends and so on...

For around twenty years or so!

Oh boy, I almost don't need to tell you that it's quite competitive too! Those quaint cake stalls we all know and love are, behind the scenes, awash with snooping home-bakers who are eyeing the competitors' creations closely and the comparison stakes can be high.

How will your own baking and presentation skills measure up under all this public pressure and scrutiny?

Yes, how will YOU measure up?

Whatever your skill level, we're all capable of baking something sweet to gift or sell for such occasions. Here's a pretty little truffle recipe to try that makes a perfect gift or event treat. It's so easy to make, the kids can do it for you. (An added bonus if you will. :D)

Apricot Truffles

1 cup of plain sweet biscuits crushed
1 cup of rice puffs
Half a cup of desiccated coconut
1 tin of condensed milk
1/4 of a cup of warmed apricot jam
350gm of melted white chocolate
1/2 a cup each of coloured sprinkles and coconut for coating.

To Make:

Place the crushed biscuit crumbs, coconut and rice puffs in a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the centre and pour in both the condensed milk and jam, stirring gently with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well combined and comes together.

Roll tablespoon sized serves of the mixture into balls and place on a plate lined with baking paper.

Melt white chocolate according to instructions. (In a microwave this is usually in 1 minute increments at 50% power. Constantly stir and check to avoid over-heating.)

Coat each ball in chocolate and then finish off with a sprinkle of either the coconut or sprinkles.

Allow the truffles to set at room temperature.

Recipe makes approx. 15 plus truffles and takes around 20 minutes to prepare.

Which brings us to the presentation part.

Presentation of your baking treasures can be a little trickier than the making part. That's when you've really got to put your creative thinking cap on. You can spend literally hours on Pinterest hunting down suitable ideas (and let's face it, who can be bothered?) or you can pop on over to Pack Queen for some simple and easy to assemble boxes to finish your projects off with that coveted polished and uniform look bakers (and crafters) crave.

How cute are these little mini noodle boxes which are ideal for presenting small gifts or even party favours?