Football Pitch Birthday Cake

It was my wonderful boyfriend's birthday last week and, having made him a bakewell tart last year, I decided to go all out this year! Football consumes every inch of our lives, whether it's being played or watched, so the theme was a no brainer...

Unfortunately, none of the photos seem to justify the colour of the icing. I used nearly half a bottle but still couldn't go beyond a slightly pale shade of green!

For the sponges, I doubled a bog standard victoria sponge recipe and baked them one at a time in a large tray bake pan. I planned this cake about a month before making it and obsessed every single day over whether this would be too shallow. Following several attempts, I just went for it and it was a monster of a cake!

I followed a ratio of 2:1 icing sugar to butter for my buttercream and it was delicious! The footballers were a set by Wilton that I found in Lakeland and for once, I was pleasantly surprised at how cheap they were!

I struggled to find a cake board to accommodate such a whopper of a cake, so my dad bought me a cheap chopping board and we covered it with tin foil. It worked wonderfully!

Never again do I want to repeat my car journey with this cake on the front seat, journey of terror. All in all, a lovely cake and a very happy boyfriend! That makes me a happy Ray :)

Marbled Cupcakes

I can never decide what I like best in a cake, chocolate or vanilla. Luckily, these cupcakes have both! As part of my Christmas present, my boyfriend bought me a book dedicated just to cupcakes, which is where I found this little beauty of a recipe!

The batter looked great as it sat in the cupcakes cases, however I was worried that there wasn't going to be enough of it to make the 12 cupcakes that it claimed to make. Despite having to be a tad economical, there was enough for 12 healthy sized cupcakes in the end!

The marble in these cakes looked great when you bit into them. They also tasted fantastic, next time though, I'll put more vanilla and chocolate in their respective batters.

I also used my Wilton 1M for the first time when decorating these cupcakes and I have no idea where it has been all of my life! As you all suggested, a larger nozzle really has defined my buttercream swirls and I'm looking forward to using my 2D.

Hmmmm!

Halloween: Pumpkin Cupcakes and Dracula Biscuits

I hold fond memories of Halloween from when I was younger. Each year, my parents would take my brother and I to our respective scout and brownie parties, bob apples, carve pumpkins, the lot! I always dressed as a witch with an obligatory eyebrow pencil mole on my cheek and my mum's lipstick.

This year, I decided to do some Halloween cakes. I had them planned for weeks, I was to have chocolate cupcakes with a wickedly orange coloured swirl of icing. Unfortunately, I decided at the last minute to turn them into pumpkins, which didn't turn out brilliantly. My chocolate icing solidified, causing me to have to use white icing to paint the unconvincingly scary faces on.

As sad as it seems, the failure of these cupcakes played on my mind all week. Eventually, I forced myself to start my Halloween bakes from scratch. I got the idea of Dracula cupcakes from the Wilton website and used my regular Vanilla Cookie recipe.

I am really proud of myself with these, they taste and look great. They could even be a bit spooky!

Happy Halloween!!

Cake in a Cake

I came across this idea on Bake it in a Cake and was immediately desperate to give it a go. Unfortunately, the website was undergoing construction and there were no recipes regarding how to make this cake. Alongside this, they had made cupcake versions and I wanted to make a full cake.

I googled the idea and came across a version on Butter Hearts Sugar. This recipe was for a loaf cake which was what I was looking for but it used heart shaped cutters that I didn't have. This was the only website which clearly explained the steps in making such a creation, go have a look!

Due to no recipes, no heart shaped cutters and generally no idea whatsoever, this cake became completely about compromise which unfortunately became it's downfall.

I followed a Vanilla Sponge recipe from The Caked Crusader and then adapted it to fit the instructions from Butter Hearts Sugar by splitting 1/3 of the batter and colouring it red. At this point I became confused, the sponge recipe was to be cooked for over an hour but once splitting the batter, I had to cook the red sponge for 20 minutes. Aswell as this, one recipe said 180 degrees and one 160 which I set my oven to. After about 16 minutes, the cake was browning and a skewer came out clean.

Although all of the signs were correct, the cake smelt eggy and to me, that means undercooked. I figured this would be ok as it was going back in the oven and continued...

I used my cutters and got as many as I could from the sponge, which turned out to be just enough for my small loaf pan. I then layered half of the original batter into the pan and started to assemble the circles

I then layered the remaining batter over the top and the secret was concealed!

This went in the oven and, although the recipe said 1 hour 20 minutes, this was for a round sponge and my loaf tin was rather small. After about an hour, a skewer was coming out clean.

The sponge recipe from The CC came with a syrup and a buttercream but I chose not to use these as the amount of buttercream was too much to cover such a small cake and, as it was nearing midnight, I really couldn't be bothered to make the syrup (sorry!).

Having gone to bed with an unfrosted cake (not literally), I decided it needed a bit of buttercream as when I cut into the cake, it was incredibly dry. This may well have been because I chose to ignore the use of the syrup but I genuinely believe it was the fact that some of the cake is baked twice. The white (and cooked once) sponge is tasty but the red sponge is dry and tastes peculiar, obviously not helped by being cooked twice, once undercooked.

I whipped up a buttercream (also from The CC), but put in some strawberry jam to match the reddish theme. This provided a good colour but little flavour. I figured the cake had been so much about compromise that a little more wouldn't hurt and I added 1/4 teaspoon of Strawberry flavouring.

The cake is also too crumbly to cut!

With thanks to Bake it in a Cake, The Caked Crusader and Butter Hearts Sugar for all of their recipes and my complete apologies for ruining what could have been an awesome cake!!

I have provided a link to all of the full recipes above but have written the recipe below in the way that I used them.

Post Blog Update: I allowed the cake and buttercream to do their thing in the fridge over night and the buttercream has matured somewhat into a more delicate flavour. The cake has also moistened completely and has an all round better flavour. Upon reflection, I really like this cake!!

Ingredients:

For the cake:
250g unsalted butter- room temperature
250g golden caster sugar- I used half regular and half golden as I had run out of golden
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod- I substituted these with another teaspoon of vanilla extract
5 eggs
85g plain flour
100g full fat Greek yoghurt
250g self raising flour
3 tablespoons milk- I used semi skimmed
A few drops of red food colouring

For the buttercream:
80g unsalted butter- room temperature
200g icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk- I used two
Strawberry jam- I used 3, unseeded is best
A few drops of strawberry flavouring- I found 1/4 teaspoon was far too much

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160˚C/fan oven 140˚C/320˚F/Gas mark 3

Lightly grease a 8 inch square cake tin and a loaf tin

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl and beat until they are light and fluffy; you will also see the colour changing to a pale cream. Don’t skimp on this stage as it’s important to get lots of air into the mix
Beat in the eggs, one at a time. If the mix starts to curdle spoon in some of the plain flour
Beat in the yoghurt
Fold in both flours using a metal spoon; this gives you a better cutting edge than a wooden spoon. I just continued with my KitchenAid flat beater
Fold in the milk
Put 1/3 of the mixture into a separate bowl and colour with red food colouring. I went all out here and used quite a few drops!
Spread the red cake mix into the square cake tin and bake for about 20 minutes or until it springs back when poked in the centre
Allow the red cake to half cool in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cake is cold cut out your chosen shape using a cookie cutter
Pour half of the remaining cake mixture into the loaf cake tin and smooth out. Press the hearts cutouts in a upright line down the middle of the pan
Pour over the rest of the cake mix and smooth the surface
Place in the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean- mine took an hour
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack until cool
Meanwhile, make the buttercream by placing the butter in a bowl and sieving over the icing sugar. Then, add the milk and strawberry jam and beat until smooth and light. Add the strawberry flavouring to your preference
Smooth the buttercream over your cake
Enjoy!

Vanilla Sponge with Nutella Frosting

I adore this cake! Look at it in all of it's glory...

Clearly my life has come down to spending my evenings in bed wondering how I can improve on my Swiss Meringue Buttercream. After the failure of my lemon cupcakes (I'm exaggerating somewhat, they weren't too bad), I was so determined to try again that I felt I owed it to myself to succeed. Yes, my life has become that sad!

I'm pleased to say that it was this time that I succeeded! I followed two recipes from the great Caked Crusader, using her Nutella Cupcake recipe and her Vanilla and Coconut Cake with Sweet Tobacco recipe. An odd choice, I know, but after much discussion my brother and I felt that my cakes were always nicer and ultimately more successful than my cupcakes (should I be offended at that?!). So, I used the Nutella frosting from one and the Vanilla sponge from the other and merged them together, resulting in this...

As per usual with any of The CC's sponges, this cake is unbelievably light, moist and, most importantly, it has the perfect amount of vanilla in it to contrast with the bitter Nutella to create a perfectly rounded cake.

I followed her instructions for the buttercream more thoroughly than previously and had the pan of sugar and eggs over the heat for the full ten minutes. I then put my KitchenAid on speed 2 and, instead of whipping it up into a frenzy in a minute or so, allowed it to cool in it's own time. I feel this benefited the buttercream greatly and it has a fantastic flavour and texture, just as I had hoped for!

Once again, a huge thank you to The Caked Crusader. I have provided the links for the recipes I used individually above, but here are the recipes together as I used them!


Ingredients:

For the cake:
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g golden caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
175g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the Swiss meringue buttercream:4 egg whites
250g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons Nutella- I used 4 teaspoons not tablespoons and my buttercream looked aneamic..

Method:

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/325°F/Gas mark 3
Line the bottoms of two 20cm loose bottomed sandwich tins with baking paper.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Do not skimp on this stage as it’s the key to a lovely sponge
Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the flour if it starts to curdle
Beat in the vanilla extract
Beat in the flour and baking powder
If the batter is too stiff i.e. not dropping consistency, add a dash of milk
Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared tins. Level the surfaces
Bake for approx 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tins before removing from the tins and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack
The sponges can be made the day before and stored in airtight containers

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

Place the egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir pretty much constantly to prevent the egg from cooking
After 5-10 minutes, when the sugar has dissolved, remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water and whisk until the meringue has puffed up and the mix is cool
Add the butter and vanilla to the meringue and whisk until the butter has been completely incorporated into the meringue. At first it will look a disaster – it will collapse and look curdled but don’t worry! Stop when the mixture is smooth, light and fluffy
Beat the nutella into the buttercream – add a spoon at a time so you can judge how much nutella the buttercream needs

A Multitude of Cakes

Cherry Cake

How awesome is that?!! I would just like to point out here that I have NEVER made cherry cake before, this was my first ever attempt!

Again, I used my British Book of Baking. As with all their recipes, this seemed a tad faffy but, having read all the horror stories of the cherries sinking etc., I followed it word by word and look at how beautiful it is! As I say, it was very faffy, having to sift the flour onto baking parchment (never good when you're back door is open!) and then cleaning the cherries (three times!) and chopping them.

The ground almonds help hugely here, as they provide enough texture to stop the cherries sinking however this won't work unless the cherries are thoroughly rinsed!

I chose to use a loaf tin rather than a cake tin, which didn't really affect it at all however it did reduce the cooking time which I couldn't argue with!

Unfortunately I didn't get to taste this, but my Yaya raved about it!!

Vanilla Sprinkle Sponge

A few weeks ago I had a real craving for the sort of cake I used to get in first school, a moist vanilla sponge with thick icing and lots of sprinkles and custard.

I struggled to find a really good vanilla recipe, and found that this one wasn't really up to scratch as it failed to rise and it burnt very easily (after the first 10 mins!) but it worked. I also ran out of icing sugar so this kind of just failed from the start!

This recipe was from AllRecipes.co.uk but I'm still struggling to find a really good sponge recipe, I wonder if a regular sponge recipe would work? Please help my cake disasters!

Cherry Cake- adapted from The Great British Book of Baking

Ingredients:

200g best quality glace cherries- natural colour if possible

200g self raising flour

a pinch of salt

175g unsalted butter, soft but not runny

175g caster sugar

3 medium eggs, room temp, beaten

50g ground almonds

a 20cm round deep cake tin, greased with butter and lined with greaseproof paper

Method:

-Preheat your oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3- I have a fan oven so usually knock off 20 degrees. Grease and line your tin of choice, I like to use a loaf tin for this cake

-Cut the cherries in half and rinse them under a hot tap (this removes the sticky syrup), leave to dry

-On a piece of greaseproof paper, sift the flour and salt together. Set this aside and continue by beating the sugar and butter until light and creamy

-Add the eggs slowly and beat after each addition to stop the mixture from curdling. Gently fold in the ground almonds

-In a bowl, toss the cherries with a tablespoon of the flour. Sift the remaining flour into the mixture and fold, then add the cherries and mix until combined. You need to add the flour from the cherries in here too

-Spoon the batter into your prepared tin and level evenly. According to the recipe, making a slight hollow in the centre of the cake allows it to rise evenly, this works brilliantly

-Bake for around an hour or until golden and firm to the touch. Once cooked, allow to cool on a wire rack

Enjoy!

Vanilla Sprinkle Sponge- adapted from AllRecipes.co.uk

Upon reviewing this recipe, I feel it may work best as cupcakes but I'll leave this down to you!

Ingredients:

200g sugar

115g butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

200g flour

1 and 3/4 tsp baking powder

120ml milk

Method:

-Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4- again, reduce by 20 degrees for a fan oven

-Grease and flour a tray bake tin or, if making cupcakes, line a bun tin with cupcake cases
-Cream your butter and sugar until creamy, add the eggs one at a time and beat with the vanilla until combined
-Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold well. Add in the milk and continue to beat until smooth
-Spoon the mixture into your tin or cupcake cases
-Bake for 30-40 minutes or for 20 to 25 for cupcakes

Enjoy!