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 :)

Another Office Bake

Blog posts at the minute are few and far in between, I currently do not have an oven!! This is proving most difficult, especially as I have a long list of christmas bakes up my sleeve. Luckily, I managed to fit in some baking for my brother before the oven was removed and, as a thank you, received some wonderful flowers!

As always, apologies for the useless photos! Anyway, I made a chocolate victoria sponge not too long ago and it went down really well, better than any cake I normally make! So, when my brother asked me to make some cakes for work, I decided to make another sponge.

This time, I put vanilla buttercream in the middle and chocolate around the edges. I was a bit worried that the two buttercreams wouldn't work together as the vanilla one was quite strong so I had a taste (a big spoonful of the two, I can't lie) and they were lovely! I don't think it looked as good as the first time I made it, but apparently it went down really well :)

I also made some chocolate fudge cupcakes with chocolate fudge buttercream. Overkill, maybe, but they were really lovely and the fudge melted into the cake. I used my favourite cupcake recipe and substituted the white chocolate for fudge pieces.

I put them in festively coloured cupcake cases, and topped them with Betty Crocker chocolate fudge buttercream. I know this is cheating, but its just sooo tasty!!

I'm still struggling with my icing, if i do it from the middle outwards, it doesn't cover the whole cake. If I do it from the outside, I don't get a good peak, see what I mean?

They went down a storm, which is all I can ask for, I'll just keep practising!

Chocolate Victoria Sponge- adapted from Mary Berry's Baking Bible

Ingredients

For the sponge:

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons boiling water

225g softened butter

225g caster sugar

4 large eggs

225g self raising flour

2 level teaspoons baking powder

For the filling and topping: I found this wasn't enough and made separate batches for the filling and topping

50g softened butter

175g sifted icing sugar

1 tablespoon milk

-Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4

-Grease two 20cm sandwich tins and line the base of each with baking parchment

-Mix the cocoa and water in a mixing bowl then leave to cool slightly

-Measure the remaining ingredients into the bowl and beat until thoroughly blended- I've previously found that this method doesn't create a good rise so used the creaming method which worked brilliantly.

-Divide the mixture between the tins and level them out. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes or until well risen. The tops of the cakes should be springy when touched

-Leave to cool in the tins for a while then turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

-For the buttercream, beat the butter, icing sugar and milk until smooth- I found more milk and cocoa powder was necessary!

-Once the cake is cool, sandwich the cakes together with the buttercream and spread the rest on top- or cover the sides like I did

Enjoy!

Malteser Fridge Cake :)

Chocolate Fridge Cake used to be my favourite thing to make when I was younger, it was forever a hit among my brownie group! Unfortunately, the recipe was from a book my Dad got me and was lost years ago and as a result, I have forever hunted for a replacement!

I'd like to thank My Dish for helping me rediscover my love for the first thing I ever successfully baked, if you class it as baking...

Warning: these cost next to nothing to make (providing you have the staples in the cupboard like I tend to!) and are mega mega delicious, not a good idea for those attempting a diet!

Malteser Fridge Cake- from My Dish

Ingredients:

100g margarine, softened- I used unsalted butter as it was in the cupboard
6 tablespoons golden syrup
250g cooking chocolate (milk)- I used Sainsbury's 27p choc, doesn't alter the taste as you'd expect!
200g digestive biscuits, roughly crushed- I used Morrison's own
200g Maltesers, cut roughly in half- I used 135g as this bag was cheaper...

Method:

Melt margarine, syrup and chocolate over heat (or in the microwave stirring often)
When it's all melted, take it off the heat and add the crushed biscuits and maltesers, mix well
Spread into a lined greased swiss roll tin
Chill in the fridge then cut up into small squares
Keep refrigerated, can also be frozen!
Enjoy!

Macmillan Coffee Morning: Cakes and Bakes

A while back, I was asked by a friend to make some cakes for a bake sale her Grandma was holding as part of Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee Morning. This scared me as the circumstances in which I normally make cakes never call for them to be particularly outstanding...

After much deliberation, I settled on a Coffee and Walnut cake, a Madeira and some Lemon Biscuits, all of which I have made before without much difficulty.

This is a picture from the first time I attempted Lemon Biscuits. These were left circular and un-iced as my family tend to prefer bakes without icing. As the biscuits for the bake sale needed to be extra special, I used a circular star type cutter and decorated them with lemon icing.

In order for the icing to remain on the biscuit and not dribble over the sides, I piped icing around the edges and allowed it to dry completely before adding the rest of the icing.

I was seriously impressed that I'd come up with this idea, it worked spectacularly. I finished them off with some citrus sprinkles by Dr. Oetker.

Next, I made a Madeira Cake. I've made this cake hundreds of times without any problems so it was really just typical that this turned out poorly when it really mattered! As I have just purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible, I decided to follow the Madeira recipe in it.

My regular recipe is from the original GBBO book and I felt this would also be a great bake. The recipe told me to throw everything into the bowl and mix, which I was uneasy with. The cake came out unrisen and a bit flat which I believe was due to the lack of method behind the recipe.

I therefore had to smother the cake in a lemon icing in order for it to look less rubbish. On the day, my Granddad bought the cake so disaster averted!!

And, for my 'Show Stopper'...

This cake was received in the best way I could have possibly imagined it to have been, I was so proud! Having made this cake previously, I knew that the sponges came out thin in the tins I was planning to make them in and therefore doubled the mixture. The cake was, quite frankly, colossal in size, and apparently was selling for £1 a slice!

Not necessarily a full house of successful bakes but it was all in aid of a charity very very close to my heart. I only hope the efforts of myself and my fellow bakers have helped Macmillan in all of the amazing work they do!

Coffee and Walnut cake from The Great British Book of Baking, Madeira Cake from Mary Berry's Baking Bible and Lemon Biscuits from Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets

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

Babka Cake

Here's another fantastic recipe I nabbed from The Caked Crusader!

I was so proud of myself for making not only such an appealing cake but also one that tasted so unexpectedly delicious. According to The Caked Crusader (my new go to for recipes), this is a traditional Polish cake with each family taking on their own version. Wikipedia also tells us that it is a sweet yeast cake, but this recipe has no yeast in it.

Although my cake did not have a consistent strip of chocolate through it's middle as I expected from the pictures the CC gives, it did have the most beautiful swirls and each slice concealed it's own little pattern!

I'm curious to see whether I could substitute real chocolate for the cocoa powder, to give a greater depth of both colour and flavour. I'd also like to try this with my Strawberry Yoghurt Cupcake recipe, I don't see why several sponge mixtures can't be layered in this way!

This cake was incredibly successful, I stayed out the night I made it and awoke to a text from my Dad saying half of it had gone with him to work and I now had another order for one! I should charge...

Thanks to The Caked Crusader for once again giving me such an amazing recipe :)


Ingredients:

225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
275g caster sugar
4 eggs
275g self raising flour
2-4 dessert spoons single cream (start with 2 and add more if the batter is dry)
3 teaspoons cocoa powder

Method:
Heat the oven to 160°C/fan oven 140°C/315°F/Gas mark 2-3.
Line an 18cm loose bottomed tin with baking paper.
Start by beating together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Slowly beat in the eggs and 2 dessertspoons of cream.
Fold in the flour. If the mix feels too dry add 2 more dessertspoons of cream.
Spoon 1/3 of the cake batter into the prepared tin and level the surface. Put to one side.
Spoon half of the remaining cake mix into a dish. Put to one side.
Add the cocoa to the half left in the bowl and stir gently until the batter is a nice even brown.
Spoon the cocoa batter into the tin and level the surface.
Spoon the remaining plain batter into the tin and level the surface.
Bake in the over for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer comes out cleanly. Mine took 1 hour 5 minutes.
Leave to cool completely in the tin, on a wire rack.
Enjoy!

Death by Chocolate

Frankly, I think Death by Chocolate is by far the best way to go, who wouldn't think that?!

As you can see, this cake is not for the faint hearted! As this recipe contains no flour, it takes on the role of one of those wonderful gooey in the middle sort of desserts, probably more suited to being warmed up with custard or cream.

As per usual, the recipe comes from The Great British Book of Baking and is so well written and easy to explain. The recipe also banishes cocoa powder and calls for 'good quality' dark chocolate. I felt it necessary not to rebel against such instructions, how could I insult such a beauty in that way?! As a result, the cake was incredibly rich and I wonder if the icing took it too far over the edge- I can't believe I just typed such an audacious sentence! I guess the occasion could determine such a decision in terms of icing/no icing.

I also felt it necessary to document the whole process step by step. This was for two reasons, the first being that I had never made a cake in this way, and I was amazed. Secondly, I felt the pictures accompanied the instructions perfectly.

These pictures show the mixture before the chocolate is added, puffed up and around 5 times the original volume and also once the chocolate was folded in and it had sunk somewhat.

Despite the cake's promising appearance straight from the oven, my cake sunk much to my disappointment! This was stated in the recipe though so this wasn't too bad. I then, against the instructions, covered the top of the cake in frosting, instead of turning it bottom up which caused the icing to be thicker towards the middle and therefore only possible to eat in minuscule slices!

Unfortunately, this cake wasn't for me but I was sent a doggy bag from my Grandad and it was phenomenal!

Ingredients:

For the cake:
300g good quality dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter, diced
5 medium eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g caster sugar

For the icing:
200g good quality dark chocolate
100ml double cream

A 22cm springclip tin, greased with butter and the base lined with greaseproof paper


Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas4
Break up the chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl with the butter. Set over a pan of steaming hot but not boiling water and leave to melt, stirring frequently. Don't let the base of the bowl touch the surface of the water or the chocolate may become to hot and seize up. Once it has melted, remove from the pan and leave to cool
Meanwhile, break the eggs into a large mixing bowl, add the vanilla and whisk for a few seconds just to break the eggs up
Add the sugar and whisk on full power until pale, very thick and mousse like and about 5 times the original volume- this should take about 5 minutes. To test if the mixture is ready, lift out the whisk- if a thick, ribbon like trail of mixture falls back into the bowl and is still visible after 5 seconds you can stop whisking
Pour the chocolate mixture on to the egg mousse and very gently, but thoroughly, fold the two together, using a large metal spoon- take your time, ensuring there are no pockets of chocolate at the bottom of the bowl
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until just firm to the touch- the centre should still be slightly moist under the crust as the cake will continue to cook once out of the oven
Stand the tin on a wire cooling rack and run a round bladed knife around the inside to loosen the sponge. Leave until completely cold before removing the tin. The cake will rise to the top of the tin during baking but will sink on cooling
Invert the cake onto a serving plate- it's easier to ice this part
To make the icing, finely chop the chocolate and put it into a large heatproof bowl with the cream
Set over a pan of steaming hot but not boiling water and make sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Leave for a minute or so until the chocolate is half melted, then remove from the pan and beat the chocolate well until glossy
Pour the topping evenly over the cake and let it trickle down the sides- if worked too much it will lose it's shine. Leave until firm
Enjoy!

Just a Little Something!

Just thought I'd share this little gem with you!

We had a wedding party at work a few weeks back and this was their cake. I'm not sure if it was their actual wedding cake as they had married in New York and were holding a party for those who weren't there back at home in Newcastle. They also had a four tier cake made from cupcakes, none of which were left over for staff!

Molten Mug Chocolate Cake

I am a great advocate of microwave cake! Well providing the recipe is right...

This recipe was not right, it was all wrong! Every time I've been desperate enough to resort to making microwave cake, I've used a recipe that my friend gave me over the phone and it was hurredly written down. Alas! I lost the recipe! And in a desperate time where I really needed cake, I had to turn to the internet.

The BBC Good Food website, where I found the recipe, claimed to have a 'melt in the middle' microwave cake, pah! I wish.. This cake was rubbery and sooo unsatisfying, a really poor effort, wish I had just made a proper cake!

You should always stick to what you know and love......

Should you want to try this, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 coffee mug
4  tbsp plain flour
4  tbsp sugar
2  tbsp  cocoa
1 egg
3  tbsp  milk
3  tbsp  oil
Small splash of vanilla
3  tbsp chocolate chips, optional
1  teaspoon peanut butter, optional

Method:

Add dry ingredients to mug, mix well with a fork.
Add egg, mix throughly.
Pour in milk, oil and vanilla, mix well.
Add chocolate chips if desired. Push a dollop of peanut butter into the center of the batter if desired.
Put mug into microwave and cook for three minutes on 1000 watts. Cake will rise over top of mug. Allow to cool for 2 minutes

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!



Lemon Drizzle Cake and Cupcakes

Today, I made cakes! Lemon Drizzle cake and cupcakes, nomnom! So, seeing as I've just come back from Zumba, I am writing about my cakes instead of eating them which sucks but hey ho...

Yes, I know it seems like I always make Lemon Drizzle Cake, but this time I tried a new recipe. I've followed the recipe in the Great British Book of Baking a few times now and, although the cake is amazing, I'm still hugely unhappy with the baking time and how it mainly comes out burnt.

But, then came along 'Baked and Delicious', a baking magazine -which is very expensive- with free silicon bakeware and this week happened to have a Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe in it. So I rang my Nana and Grandfather, as I do every week and asked them if they'd like to try it.

The recipe was relatively easy and it was pretty much the same as the old recipe but I hoped that the silicon loaf tin would stop it burning or at least stop it burning so much. I was wrong, almost, it still took an hour to bake and it still had browned edges despite the fact I had covered it in tin foil half way through- see above photograph! I still stand by the fact that every tin should be lined with baking paper, maybe I should take my own advice next time!

I was also really disappointed with how small it was! I felt they weren't going to provide sufficient slices but apparently it was brilliant, I must just be greedy!

Next, I made cupcakes!

These tasted unbelievable. I got the recipe from the UKTV Good Food channel website and, as per, bunged everything in the mixer and let it go. This is what happened when I added the flour, mid conversation with mum and forgot the shield...

When the cupcakes came out, they had all kind of peaked and I figured that the buttercream recipe adjoining the cupcake one that I had made was not going to cover all 12 cakes.

I had followed the recipe down to the letter but it barely covered the bottom of the bowl so definitely suggest doubling it for super iced cakes! Also, don't add too much food colouring, I figured a small drop would get me pale pink icing but it was really really pink...

So, I decided to make butterfly cakes but then thought it might look quite quirky if I just put the lids back on. I actually thought these looked really cool!

Definitely going to adapt these to my Strawberry Yoghurt cupcakes, maybe in my next installment? And, I figured that I could eat these tomorrow and it wouldn't affect my Zumba hot body!


Lemon Drizzle Cake- Take 2!

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
225g self raising flour
2 tbsp milk
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
6 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp golden syrup

For decorating:
1 small lemon, finely sliced (I skipped this out)
50g granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
a little bit of cold water
50g icing sugar, sieved

Method:


-Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas4

-If using a silicon loaf pan, dust it with flour once greased

-Cream the butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs gradually and then sift in the flour. Fold until combined then add the milk, lemon zest and half of the lemon juice and continue to mix

-Spoon the mixture into the tin and level off

-Bake for around an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean

-Heat the remaining lemon juice and golden syrup in a pan. Once the cake is out of the oven, prick the cake and drizzle the syrup all over it

Enjoy!

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

150g butter, softened
150g sugar
3 eggs, beaten
150g self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk

For the frosting: I suggest you double up here where possible

75g butter, at room temp
150g icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
a selection of food colouring- be creative!

To decorate:

crystallised flower petals, optional
sprinkles, optional
silver balls, optional
hundreds and thousands, optional
sweets, optional

Method:


-Preheat the oven to 180˚C/160˚C fan oven/gas 4

-Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

-Gradually add the beaten egg, adding the flour to stop it from curdling. Add the vanilla and milk and combine

-Place some muffin cases into a muffin tin and divide the cake batter into them

-Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Take them out of the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack

-In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth, then sift in the icing sugar. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy

-Once cool, decorate your cupcakes as you please!

Enjoy!

Cake, Brownies and a Little Bit of Cheating!

Have you ever had one of those days where you just cannot be bothered? Sunday was the day from hell, all Sundays are when you're a waitress in a pub that does good Sunday dinners. Although I was fed up and on the brink of tears, my mother gingerly asked me if I'd make a Victoria Sponge for my Grandfather. The prospect of spending an evening baking relaxed me somewhat but my regular recipe is a complete faff and I simply could not be bothered. As I was needing to go to the shops to get the cream and jam anyway, I figured I could take the cheat's way out. Yes, I do mean a packet mix! Shock! Horror! I was ashamed, I must admit. Even more so that I ended up buying a brownie mix too.

However, if I thought that the Victoria Sponge recipe was hard, the brownie one I use is just completely worse. Although, admittedly it does turn out the most amazingly mouth watering chocolate goodness! The mixes were easy with a capital E, I bunged them into the mixer (as I do with everything) and watched them take shape. They both went in the oven for 20 minutes or so and look what came out...

And these!!

The Victoria Sponge doesn't look as good as it normally does, the suggested 20 minutes made it a tad burnt and I probably didn't take too much care with the construction but apparently it tasted awesome!

As for the brownies, they were bloomin' gorgeous, gone in about a day. Definately a must for those who also can't be bothered!

However, for those who would like to make a Victoria Sponge from scratch, try my previous recipe. For those who also want to try my Chocolate Brownies, here's the recipe courtesy of BBC Good Food! I usually use chocolate drops instead of pieces to save the faff and I also omit the chocolate drops within the brownie as I find it too runny once cooked. This, of course, is down to your preference!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Victoria Sponge Cake

After the success of my lemon drizzle, I decided to attempt a traditional Victoria sponge and, after all, what could be so difficult about such an easy cake?! Ha! I thought wrong!

First of all, the recipe called for a whipped cream and jam filling. With hindsight, this seems obvious and completely justifiable having tasted the cake but I immediately presumed I would be using a buttercream filling.

So, after sending my boyfriend out for cream, I attempted the sponge. After following the instructions and finding my mixer could only do half the work, I sighed, folding in the flour with a metal spoon? Isn't that what my mixer was for!? Never the less, I finished the mixture off with the largest wooden spoon I could find and began to pour my cake into the tins. This was where I stumbled across the next problem as I tapped the tins against the work top to even layer the mixture and consequently knocked all form of air out of my potentially wonderful cake.

This didn't make any difference to be honest but as the cake was a gift, I was petrified it had failed and I would probably never know! Luckily my Grandfather, who the gift was for, halved the cake and I came home with some (score!!) to taste test. In terms of presentation, I was mightily impressed (see above photo!) as I delicately sprinkled icing sugar over the top as I've seen Nigella do so many times. For reasons beyond me though, I decided to go against the recipes suggestion of layering cake, cream, jam then cake once more and instead I put jam on one side, cream on the other and squished them together. This just made the jam less visible but made no difference to the taste, I should follow the rules next time!!

However, as I sit here and moan about my somewhat lack of common sense in the cake department, I eat my wonderful, airy, deliciously creamy and jammy Victoria sponge and I know I've succeeded. The cat and my dad agree too.

Victoria Sponge- adapted from The Great British Book of Baking

Ingredients
For the sponge:
175g unsalted butter, softened
175g caster sugar
3 medium eggs, at room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
175g self raising flour
1 tablespoon of milk, room temp

For the filling:
150ml double or whipping cream, well chilled
4 rounded tablespoons of good jam- raspberry, blackberry, strawberry etc.
Optional: 200g berries- if strawberries they should be hulled and sliced

To finish: icing sugar, for dusting

Method:


- Heat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas 4 and line two cake tins

-Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla and gradually add to the butter mixture

-Sift the flour into the bowl and add the milk, fold gently with a large metal spoon (I didn't use a 'large metal spoon' and it made no difference whatsoever)

-Divide the batter into your tins and level out. Bake in the oven around twenty minutes or until golden

-Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool

-For the filling, whip the cream until it reaches the soft peaks stage. Cover one sponge with the cream and the other with the jam, sandwich them both together and press carefully

Enjoy!

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Having been given The Great British Book of Baking by my brother for Christmas, I have been dreaming about making lemon drizzle cake for days. So, by side stepping revision for a bit, I decided to give the recipe a go. After raiding the cupboards, I only needed to buy some lemons so consequently it was pretty cost efficient but it does use a large amount of all of the ingredients included.

The picture on the page makes the cake look really lemony coloured and looked incredibly moist. However, after baking the cake for 60 minutes (yes, a full 60, that's what the recipe says!) mine came out looking burnt and not exactly as 'moist' as in said picture. The skewer kept coming out with cake mix on it so it continued to burn as it cooked thoroughly. I do believe, however, that had I lined the tin with baking paper, this may have been avoided.

As for the glaze, it's just pure caster sugar and lemon, so the contrast totally blows you away. I only had golden caster sugar though which turned the 'drizzle' slightly brown and not the bog standard frosty white colour that you would expect on a shop bought version. I thought this would spoil the look of the cake but it turned out that you couldn't see the glaze anyway. Despite this, the recipe was by far the easiest I've done in a while, I simply bunged it all into my mixer and away it went. I do suggest, though, that you mix it by hand for a bit first as my mixer sent the flour all over the kitchen, much to my parents annoyance. Or, if you have a Kitchen Aid, use the shield bit!

In the end, the cake tastes amazing, especially as the glaze on top has soaked through but I can't get over the extremely long cooking time which has left a peculiar burnt lemon flavour in my mouth!

Lemon Drizzle Cake- adapted from The Great British Book of Baking

Ingredients

For the Cake:

200g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar

3 medium eggs, beaten and at room temperature

2 medium lemons, unwaxed if possible and finely grated

250g self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

100ml milk, again at room temp

For the topping:

100g caster sugar

juice of 2 medium unwaxed lemons

finely grated zest of 1 medium unwaxed lemon

Method

-Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas 4. Line a 20cm springclip tin or deep round cake tin

-Place the butter, sugar, eggs and zest into a bowl and sieve over the flour and baking powder. Add the milk and mix until smooth and completely combined

-Spoon the batter into the tin and level it out. Bake in the oven for around 50 minutes or until golden brown. A clean cocktail stick should come out clean when put into the centre

-To make the topping, combine the sugar and lemon juice until it creates a runny glaze

-Once the cake is cooked, immediately transfer the tin onto a wire rack and prick the cake all over then spoon the glaze all over

-Leave to cool completely in the tin before serving

.

Enjoy!