The Caked Crusader

Sultana and cinnamon sandwich cake

2012-01-29T16:48:00.002Z

I really crave comforting, old fashioned baking at the moment – if you can imagine it on the kitchen table of a farmer’s wife in an Enid Blyton book then I want a slice of it!

Sandwiching this cake is a classic buttercream given a bit of punch by adding some cinnamon. I thought about using a different filling but it’s wrong to mess around with a cake like this – sometimes classic is the way to go.

So many people don’t like sultanas (or raisins, or currants) and I never understand why; they have such a flavoursome fruity sweetness and I love their squidgy texture when baked. They are one of my dessert island ingredients – give me sultanas and I’m happy! We all have favourite ingredients that will tempt us to bake/buy/order a cake – so come on, share... what’s yours?

This cake sums up the power of simple pleasures to me – it’s heavenly to eat; the crumbly sponge populated with juicy sultanas and a faint spark of cinnamon. Add to that the whipped, smooth buttercream and I’m in cake heaven.

This isn’t a traditional sponge – it’s more of a cross between a sponge and a rock bun; therefore I recommend eating it on the day of baking as it the texture will get harder. Of course, because it’s crumbly and delicious it’s a total nightmare to try and photograph. I spent ages trying to get a nice clean slice...but I shouldn’t complain too much – it was fun eating the rejects!

Ingredients

For the sponge:
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
225g self raising flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
225g sultanas
milk to mix

For the buttercream:
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
300g icing sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line two 20cm round loose bottomed sandwich tins with baking paper.

Make the cake on the day you wish to serve it, otherwise it may get a bit hard (like rock buns do). Beat together the butter and sugar until the mix is pale, light and fluffy – don’t skimp on this stage as this is where the air gets into the sponge.

Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Fold in the flour and cinnamon.

Stir in the sultanas.

Stir in enough milk to make the batter a dropping consistency – I needed 2 tablespoons.

Spoon into the prepared baking tins and level the surfaces.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Mine took just over 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.

When cool enough to safely handle, de-tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Now make the buttercream: place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy.

Place the first layer on the serving plate and spread the buttercream over it.

Place the second layer on top and gently press down to ensure the layers have adhered to the buttercream.

Serve in generous slices with a cup of tea.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

White chocolate, cranberry and oatmeal biscuits

2012-01-26T13:33:00.003Z

Last night I had a strong hankering for a soft oaty biscuit. So much so, that my final act, before turning off the light to go to sleep, was to write, “oats, dried cranberries/raisins?” on a post-it note and leave it by my bedside. When I read it this morning I understood what needed to be done (I always obey notes I leave myself, particularly when they involve food)...so, braving the rain I ventured out to purchase porridge oats and dried cranberries.

Luckily (hah! As if luck had anything to do with it!) I had a bar of white chocolate in the fridge and thought its mild creaminess would work very well with the cranberries; even though the cranberries I bought were sweetened, they still had a degree of tartness to them.

These biscuits are the work of minutes to make and are incredibly moreish. Normally I prefer a crisp biscuit but there is something comforting about the soft chewiness of these – they’re like a cake/biscuit/flapjack hybrid and probably even a bit healthy because of the oats and cranberries.

They stay soft and lovely for days after baking too...I am slowly working my way through them (obviously, I let Mr CC have some!)

Ingredients

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g dark brown sugar
2 eggs
150g dried cranberries (I used sweetened)
100g white chocolate, cut into small chunks
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
120g porridge oats
200g plain flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Line three baking sheets with baking paper.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and airy – as it’s brown sugar the mix will not whip as light as if caster sugar, but it will turn noticeably paler.

Beat in the eggs gradually.

Stir in the cranberries and white chocolate.

Stir in the bicarb, oats and flour.

Place rounded teaspoons of mix on the baking sheet leaving approximately 2-3cm between biscuits as they spread as they bake.

Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden. I checked them after 10 minutes and turned the tray for the remaining baking time.

Leave to cool on the baking sheets as they are very soft when warm.

When completely cool, store in an airtight container.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Raspberry bakewell cake

2012-01-22T17:00:00.003Z

Paula Radcliffe is undoubtedly one of England’s most famous and successful female athletes of all time –and not just for that incident in the 2005 London marathon (I won’t go into it here, but it has a paragraph devoted to it on her Wikipedia biography).

She has won more marathons than I’ve probably eaten (vintage chocolate joke for you there, admittedly it would be wittier if they hadn’t changed their name to Snickers).

Paula is currently the world record holder for the marathon with a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds. She has won the London marathon three times, the New York marathon twice and the Chicago marathon once. All this is even more amazing when you learn that she suffers with asthma.

When I was selecting who to write to for my Famous Faces feature, I tried very hard to ensure a good balance of celebrities, politicians, sports people, journalists, musicans etc but, have to admit, I didn’t expect an athlete to eat cake...let alone have a favourite! Paula’s choice of raspberry and almond cake is a choice very close to my own heart as it’s a combination I love too.

I decided to pick this bakewell cake recipe as it is packed with raspberries; so often bakewell tart recipes use jam rather than fruit but in cake form the fruit works better. The rich, soft almond cake contrasts so beautifully with the sharp, squidgy pockets of baked raspberries. The flaked almonds on top add some crunch but mostly this is soft, indulgent comfort baking at its best.

NB. I know I say in the recipe that the batter is very thick and don’t panic, but here’s some photographic proof!

Ingredients

210g unsalted butter, at room temperature
210g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
210g ground almonds
210g self raising flour
325g raspberries
3 tablespoons flaked almonds

To serve: dusting of icing sugar, thick cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm springform round tin with baking paper.

Beat together the butter and sugar until it is light, pale and fluffy; as you are using golden caster sugar it won’t turn as pale as ordinary caster sugar but you will notice the batter change as you beat. Take your time over this stage as this is where you get the air into the cake.

Gradually beat in the eggs, followed by the almond extract.

Fold in the ground almonds.

Fold in the flour.

Spoon a generous half of the mix into the prepared cake tin and level the surface. Your batter will be quite stiff but this is necessary to support all the raspberries which will collapse and ooze juice on baking.

Scatter over all but a scant handful of the raspberries then spoon the remaining cake batter on top. Take care, when levelling the surface, not to disturb the raspberries.

Gently press the remaining raspberries into the top of the batter.

Scatter over the flaked almonds.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Place the cake, still in its tin, on a wire rack and leave to cool. I find almond cakes are very soft and vulnerable to break when warm so I advise de-tinning only when the cake is completely cool.

Store in an airtight container until ready to serve. Don’t panic if, overnight, it looks like your cake has sunk a little in the middle – the almonds release oil, and the baked raspberries get squidgy and this seems to concentrate in the centre. Your cake will be all the more delicious for it!

Serve with a dusting of icing sugar and some thick cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Blue Hawaiian cupcakes

2012-01-15T15:34:00.005Z

I am rather partial to a cocktail or two, but have never been able to bond with very creamy cocktails. There’s just something about their inherent gloopiness that turns me off. That said, I love the idea of the flavour combinations in creamy cocktails so decided to adapt a cocktail recipe into a cupcake.

The Blue Hawaiian cocktail (not to be confused with the Blue Hawaii, which is totally different) is a classic blend of white rum, coconut, pineapple juice and Blue Curacao. The latter ingredient turns the drink a rather shocking shade of blue and the whole mix of flavours is exotic– the taste of a being on a tropical beach somewhere lovely.

When you think about it (trust me, I have...) cocktails share several similarities with cupcakes – both are pretty, decorated, attention-seeking and designed to be quick hits of happiness. I remember once reading an old book of cocktail recipes and the barman explained that you should drink your cocktail quickly or, as he termed it, “while it is still winking at you”. Cupcakes are the same.

I had to use the Blue Curacao in the buttercream, as the chance to make shocking blue buttercream was too fabulous to resist...but as you will see, that didn’t happen and instead I got a delicate, fresh green. That left the coconut, rum and pineapple for the sponge; I used Malibu, which is a coconut rum, but ordinary rum would be just as nice. I opted for a coconut sponge filled with pineapple curd – this added extra texture and kept the flavours separate. Here they are loaded with curd...

...and this is how it looks in the finished cupcake:

The flavours worked really well in this cupcake and they looked ever so pretty without a lot of effort on my part. These are the perfect cupcakes for January – they’re little hits of happiness!

For those of you nervous about making Swiss meringue buttercream here’s my step by step guide.

Ingredients

For the pineapple curd:

2 egg yolks (keep the whites for the buttercream!)
200ml pineapple juice
50g caster sugar
25g cornflour

For the cupcake sponge (this will make 12 cupcakes):
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
4 tablespoons desiccated coconut
2 tablespoon Malibu (coconut rum)
2 eggs
125g self raising flour
1 tablespoon milk

For the swiss meringue buttercream:
4 egg whites
250g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 teaspoons Blue Curacao

To decorate: maraschino cherries

Method

Start by making the pineapple curd; this can be done several days in advance: place all the ingredients into a saucepan and stir, over a low heat, until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Don’t panic and think yours isn’t working – it can take 10 minutes or more before, in an instant, it thickens and turns into curd.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then refrigerate until needed. It will thicken further as it chills.

To make the cupcakes, increase the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Line a cupcake pan with paper cases.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix together the coconut and Malibu so that the coconut absorbs some of the rum. Normally, I’d add this after the eggs but I wanted to ensure it was added early and well distributed in the batter.

Beat in the eggs, flour, and milk.

When the mixture is smooth and well combined, spoon into the paper cases.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean. Mine took 16 minutes.

Leave to cool on a wire rack and remove from the tin when cool enough to handle.

On the day of serving, use a corer or knife to remove the central core of the cupcake sponge out, taking care not to go right down to the bottom of the cupcake.

Now make 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 (when you cannot see any crystals on the back of the spoon), 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 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.

Now add the Blue Curacao gradually and beat until the colour of the buttercream is evenly blue.

Fill the whole with half a teaspoonful of pineapple curd.

Pipe the buttercream on top of the cupcake and top with a maraschino cherry.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

Coconut and chocolate biscuits

2012-01-11T15:37:00.003Z

If there was a prize for heavenly baking smells, I think coconut might just pip vanilla to the gold medal slot. I sit typing this in January’s Stygian gloom and yet the smell wafting down the hallway is of sunshine and tropics – divine!

I’m drawn to biscuits at the moment. I think they have stealth qualities that are admirable at this time of year e.g. you can sneak a biscuit out of the tin and eat it before you’ve even cut a slice of cake; you can walk around doing stuff whilst eating a biscuit – there’s no need for a plate or a fork. Most importantly of all, you can totally lie to yourself about how many you’ve eaten – when you opened the tin there were several in there, when you closed the tin there were several in there...who’s counting?

The recipe may have made two more biscuits than are shown here; I cannot confirm nor deny it.....

Chocolate and coconut is a perfect marriage of flavours and pack these biscuits full of flavour. Coconut always gives baking a nice, short texture; a comforting crumbliness. The texture doesn’t change as the biscuit ages either – they stay crisp and crumbly for several days.

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
140g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
280g plain flour
100g desiccated coconut
100g milk chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/ Gas mark 5.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper or non-stick foil.

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light, whippy and pale in colour.

Beat in the egg yolk.

Stir in the flour.

Stir in the coconut and chocolate chips. The dough will be stiff but not firm enough to roll out.

Take tablespoons of the dough and shape gently into balls – don’t squeeze!

Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet and flatten the top slightly

Place the balls about 2-3cm apart to allow for them spreading whilst baking.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the biscuits are a light golden brown. Don’t panic if yours take a little longer; mine took 20 minutes (possibly because I made them bigger than the recipe said!)

Remove from the oven and place the trays on wire racks to cool. Don’t attempt to remove the biscuits from the trays until they have cooled as they will be crumbly when hot.

The biscuits will store in an airtight tin for several days.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Cashew puffies

2012-01-07T11:24:00.004Z

Early update this week as Mr CC and I are out and about on Sunday!

This recipe is from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “Rose’s Christmas Cookies” book. It caught my eye for two reasons: firstly, I haven’t used cashews in a cake or biscuit recipe, and secondly, most of my male relatives are cashew-obsessed!

Making these biscuits really is the work of minutes. They looked so cute all puffy and fresh from the oven, and what a bonus that you get so many of them from one batch (this photo is only one tray from the three that I got)!

The biccies are subtly flavoured – you don’t get the big hit of cashew I anticipated, but the flavour does build in your mouth as you eat. Like anything with nuts they are best made a day in advance to give the nut time to develop its flavours. The biscuits aren’t oily or greasy in texture – my one complaint when eating cashews is that they are a particularly greasy nut - but here, the baking seems to mitigate that.

They keep like a dream in an airtight container and, unusually for biscuits, get better with age. In that respect I wish I was a cashew puffy!

Ingredients

115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
190g light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
120g sour cream
290g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
185g unsalted cashew nuts, coarsely chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C /fan oven 170°C /375°F/Gas mark 5.

Line three baking sheets with greaseproof paper – if you don’t have three, don’t panic – just bake the biscuits in batches and then reuse the baking sheet.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and whippy.

Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.

Beat in the sour cream and ensure that all the ingredients are well combined.

Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cashew nuts and beat – very gently – until just combined.

Take a heaped teaspoon of the dough and place on the baking sheet. Place the next teaspoonful approximately 4-5cm away. Continue until the tray is full.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. I baked for 10 minutes, then turned the tray for any subsequent baking – it guarantees even baking.

Leave the biscuits to cool, still on their tray, on a wire rack.

When they are cool enough (and firm enough) to handle, lift them off and place them directly onto the wire rack to cool.

Store in an airtight tin.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Snowball jellies

2012-01-04T18:45:00.002Z

The saddest sign that Christmas is well and truly over is the empty Advocaat bottle. Yes, I know you can buy Advocaat all year round but, for me, it is THE seasonal drink. A snowball is such a wonderful thing – like drinking fizzy custard –that I rue the end of its season.

But what to do if you have some Advocaat left over? My suggestion is snowball jellies! This idea came to me one day, probably when I should have been thinking about something far more important, but hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth!

For the uninitiated, a snowball is a drink made up of Advocaat, lemonade with a twist of lime (7up or Sprite is perfect) and it is served in a long glass over ice. At least that’s how Mr CC and I enjoy it. Make sure you stir it well because the Advocaat is much more viscous than the lemonade and it has a tendency to settle out leaving you with a thick layer of pure Advocaat in the bottom of your glass (oh, the horror!)

The trick with this jelly is to add the Sprite as late as possible then get it in the fridge as quickly as possible. Manage that and you have the strange sensation of fizzy jelly – a bizarre feeling on your tongue. But nice...and boozy!

Ingredients

8 gelatine leaves
250ml Advocaat
660ml i.e. 2 cans of 7up or Sprite – I used Sprite Zero

Method

Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water to soften.

Pour the Advocaat into a saucepan, which is large enough to take all the Sprite.

Bring the Advocaat gently to the boil, then remove from the heat.

Squeeze all the water out of the gelatine leaves and whisk into the Advocaat. You will be able to see when all the gelatine has dissolved.

Leave the Advocaat to cool before adding the Sprite – this is to try and keep some fizz in the finished jelly.

Gently whisk in the Sprite and leave it for a couple of minutes for the froth to calm down.

Ladle the jelly into small bowls or ramekins (I got 6 out of mine) and place in the fridge straight away – again, this is to try and retain some fizz.

Leave to set for several hours or, preferably, overnight.

Serve straight from the fridge as required and top with some cream but this isn’t necessary.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Spiced treacle cake

2012-01-01T17:12:00.002Z

There’s something about spice that is so wintery and festive. This recipe caught my eye because it uses a large quantity of black treacle but no sugar or eggs. Black treacle is an appealing ingredient instantly reminiscent of traditional Christmas cakes and puddings.

I consider this a “Christmas come-down” cake – by which I mean it’s that time of year when you know that the festive feasts have finished and you shouldn’t really still be polishing off as many Quality Street as you are on an hourly basis, but you do actually rather fancy a bit of cake. This one hits the spot with its strong flavours and easy to eat, no-fuss simplicity!

This cake gave me the chance to test out my fab new nutmeg grater, a Christmas present from the CCM and CCD (Caked Crusader’s Ma and Da):

It’s a one handed device similar in look to those hand-strength building devices – it seems to get mixed reviews but I love it. The nutmeg sits in the middle and a simple squeeze of the handles deposits a nice amount of nutmeg in your batter!

Weighing treacle is so much easier when you weigh it straight into the pan or bowl – here’s my in-no-way-precarious set up:

The cake is topped with a simple white glace icing. I chose not to flavour this as there was a lot of spice in the cake and I didn’t want it to compete. I made a largish amount of icing for the size of the cake – this was at the behest of the CCM who is partial to a thick layer of icing!

Happy New Year to all my readers; may all your cakes turn out splendidly, and may your biscuit tin never be empty!

Ingredients

For the cake:

130g unsalted butter
330g black treacle
375g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
300ml boiling water

For the icing:

225g icing sugar
2 tablespoons warm water, to start – you may need more

Decoration: anything you choose! Silver or gold balls would be nice, but I had some wafer snowflakes left from Christmas so used those.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°C/Gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Place the butter and treacle in a saucepan and gently heat until the butter has melted and combined with the treacle. Stir occasionally. I find that weighing the treacle directly into the saucepan makes life a lot easier i.e. replace your scales’ dish with the saucepan for weighing it out.

Place the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and all the spices into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.

Pour in the butter and treacle and the boiling water and mix until you have a smooth batter. Take care at this point as the batter will be piping hot – don’t use a plastic spatula unless you’re sure it’s heatproof (trust me – this was an awful lesson to learn, not on this cake but an earlier one!)

Pour the batter (it will be gloopy) into the prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Place the cake, still in its tin, on a wire rack and leave to cool – the cake will be delicate until cool so I let it cool completely in the tin before turning out.

Don’t panic when your cake sinks a little – it will not stay as high as it does when first out the oven. It won’t sink with a hole in the middle, but the whole top will settle. Very sticky treacle and spice cakes always seem to do this – it’s a sign of how delicious it will be to eat!

On the day of serving, place the cake on its serving plate.

Now make the icing: place the icing sugar in a bowl and gradually beat in water. You can always add more water if needed so be sparing!

When you have a thick, opaque but still pourable consistency it is ready to be poured over the cake.

Ensure that the whole top of the cake is covered and let the icing drizzle down the sides.

Decorate as required.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Christmas cake

2011-12-27T10:54:00.002Z

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and will have a happy new year too. I stuck to my classics this Christmas, with mince pies, gingerbread men and Christmas cake. I’ve posted them all many times before so thought I’d spare you another trip down memory lane!

I did make some tweaks with my Christmas cake this year so thought I should document them...if only to aide my aging brain come October 2012 when I’m desperately trying to recall what I did!

I stuck with my classic Christmas cake and fondant icing recipe and used brandy as the spirit in the cake this year. The holly decoration is made from leftover fondant icing coloured red and green – I used Dr Oetker natural colouring.

For the marzipan I used the dead easy no-faff recipe that I first tried at Easter with my simnel cake – it tastes divine and is sooooo good natured to roll out. I’ve never had such a lovely smooth covering:

Normally, I only cover the top of the cake, but this year I decided to do a full covering...I have to admit it does look nicer when you cut a slice. I think the key to it is getting the marzipan and icing thin enough so that it doesn’t over power the cake.

Apologies for the slightly fuzzy photos, but it was rather late on Christmas day when I suddenly realised, “oh bother, I am yet to photograph my Christmas cake”. Yes, that’s exactly how the thought formed in my mind.....!

Father Christmas honey and almond biscuits

2011-12-18T17:40:00.003Z

I’m not much of a cake decorator and when I look at beautifully decorated cakes and biscuits my reaction is always, “wow, that’s gorgeous....but what a faff.” However, when I saw these biscuits in a magazine (can’t remember which one) I loved them so much I decided I had to make them. And do you know what? For something so cute, they’re pretty low faff (nb. do not equate “low faff” with “speedy”!)

The biscuits are tasty - like a gingerbread without any ginger. They’re not a crisp biscuit but neither are they chewy – they’re somewhere in between, almost a cakey biscuit. You can’t really go wrong with the subtle honey and almond flavour and the brown sugar adds an almost caramel/toffee element; they could also take a smidge of spice, should you so wish.

The hat and gloves in the original recipe were made with ready rolled icing. I’m not a fan of that – to me, it’s just an irritant you have to pick off before you can start eating...but chocolate appealed to me! (in other shock news, I can report that the sun will be rising tomorrow morning).

In a rare moment of foresight, I looked up whether you can add food colouring to white chocolate and it all seems rather complex. The short answer is “no you can’t”– I think liquid food colouring would make the chocolate seize i.e. go grainy and stiff, but I can’t see why gel or powdered colouring would be an issue. Anyway, to eliminate any risk, I purchased specific chocolate colouring which did the job (details in the ingredients list below).

If this was the real Father Christmas then I think I've just ended his present delivering days....

Happy Christmas everybody! May your festive period be full of tasty treats and happy times with those you love.

Ingredients

For the biscuits:
250g clear honey – I ran out of honey so used 150g honey, 100g golden syrup
100g soft light brown sugar
150g unsalted butter
2 egg whites
500g self raising flour
100g ground almonds

To decorate:
200g white chocolate, melted
Red colourant suitable for chocolate – I bought mine from Cakes, Cookies and Crafts
1 small tube of white icing (and black icing if you’re making the eyes, I used ready made eyes)
Gold ball decorations – I used Dr Oetker
Red balls or cupcake sprinkles for the nose

Method

First make the dough: Place the honey, sugar and butter into a saucepan and melt over a gentle heat, stirring often. You will know when it’s ready because the ingredients will be well combined and there won’t be any sugar granules on the back of your spoon.

Pour into a bowl and leave to cool.

When cool, stir in the egg white.

Stir in the flour and ground almonds and mix to a dough. It will be a very soft dough – quite gloopy and you may think you’ve done something wrong....you haven’t!

Divide the dough in two, and wrap each part in clingfilm. If you shape the dough like a fat disc it makes rolling out easier.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but an hour is better.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Line 4 baking sheets with baking paper. If you don’t have 4 baking sheets, use what you have and bake your biscuits in batches. It doesn’t really matter as it turned out I needed 6 trays!

Take one of the discs of dough from the fridge and roll out between two sheets of clingfilm – this stops you needing to use any additional flour. However, if your dough still feels really soft put a fine sprinkling of flour on the clingfilm

You want the dough quite thin – remember that it contains self raising flour and will rise a little whilst baking.

Using a large 5 pointed star cutter cut out the stars and leave 2-3cm between biscuits on the baking sheet.

Re-roll the trimmings (it’s an incredibly good natured dough and re-rolls with ease as many times as necessary) and then repeat with the second ball of dough.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. As the biscuits have angular points, they will catch so it’s best to turn the tray halfway through baking. It doesn’t matter if you forget – just make sure they’re the points you dip in chocolate!

Leave to cool, on the baking sheets, on a wire rack – the biscuits will be soft when they come out of the oven. Wait until they have firmed up before removing the baking sheet.

To decorate the biscuits melt the white chocolate (i do it in the microwave) and add the colouring per the instructions on the colouring’s packet. If you don’t wish to use chocolate, you could decorate with sugar paste or icing.

Dip three of the star’s points in the red chocolate – one for the hat, the other two for mittens.

Place each dipped biscuit on a sheet of baking paper to set.

When set, pipe white icing around the edge of the hat and gloves for fur trim. Also, pipe on the beard.

Use the white icing to fix the eyes and the gold balls for buttons and hat bobble. For the noses I picked the red dots out of a packet of cupcake sprinkles.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Maraschino cherry and banana loaf

2011-12-11T17:08:00.002Z

Most tasks in life have either a sensible or a silly order in which to tackle them; let’s take the totally random example of baking:

Sensible order – ooh, that recipe looks nice; I’ll go out and buy the ingredients to make it

Silly order – ooh, that enormous jar of maraschino cherries is irresistible. I have to buy it...I’m sure I’ll find a recipe to use it somehow.

I was perusing my local market this week and came across the bargain groceries stall; most markets will have a similar stall selling stock that they’ve bought up cheap –it might be well known brands but with foreign labels, or orders that fell through and the manufacturer just wants rid. Anyway, long story short, I found myself in possession of a kilo jar of Belgian maraschino cherries (for £1.50 – bargain of the year or what?). I figured I’d either find a nice cake recipe or Christmas for Mr CC and I would be a cocktail-tastic blur!

For those of you unsure what a maraschino cherry actually is it’s that festively red cherry you will find floating about in your cocktail. It’s a sweetened, preserved cherry and I think when they’re candied they become glace cherries. I should also warn you that chopping up maraschino cherries is a terribly sad task – it feels like chopping up hundreds of tiny clown noses:

Without being too obviously so, I think this is a festive looking cake. It packs a great flavour, hardly surprising when you consider it contains a lot of cherries plus banana and walnuts. It’s also a plain cake, by which I mean it doesn’t need cream, buttercream or any other jazzy accompaniment.

If, like Mr CC, you’re not mad about bananas in cake but, like me, have an impulse-purchase jar of maraschino cherries you’d like to use you could do worse than make my Madeira cake recipe and simply add 250g of cherries to it! The recipe can be found here.

So, both cakes made and a whole jar of cherries emptied. Of course, what a truly crazy person would do is go back to the market stall and buy another jar....mwah hah hah ha!

Ingredients

300g maraschino cherries, plus 2 tablespoons of the syrup from the jar
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
110g light muscovado sugar, plus 2 tablespoons extra to sprinkle on top
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
225g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
50g walnuts, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°C/Gas mark 4.

Line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking paper.

Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving 2 tablespoons of the syrup.

Cut the cherries into quarters and put to one side.

Beat together the butter and sugar until they are smooth and whipped.

Beat in the eggs and reserved syrup until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas – recipes always say to do it with a fork but I think it’s easiest to do this with your potato masher.

Stir in half the flour to the butter mix followed by half the bananas.

Add the remaining flour plus the baking powder, followed by the remaining bananas.

Stir in the chopped cherries and walnuts.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Sprinkle the additional 2 tablespoons of sugar over the top and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Mine took 1 hour 10 minutes.

Place the cake, still in the tin, on a wire rack until it is cool enough to handle and remove the tin. Then leave to cool completely on the wire rack. The cake will keep for several days in an airtight tin.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

History Corner - Coconut and almond cake

2011-12-04T17:15:00.004Z

I am well aware of the old adage, “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, but I completely disregard it when considering the purchase of a vintage cookbook. The cover for “Home Cookery illustrated” is so fab I wouldn’t have cared if the book was just blank pages. Except for the child with the red horns at the front, this picture could be a portrait of Mr CC and me when I’m preparing dinner. I still can’t work out the husband’s expression; is it one of delight, horror or surprise at what’s in the pan?

There is no date anywhere in the book but online resources place it in the region of 1955-57. I like the subtitle of “A practical guide for the beginner and the experienced housewife” and wonder what purpose it serves, why not just “a practical guide for housewives”?

Published in the 1950s this book highlights that Britain, even post rationing, was still an austere place. The introduction to the book, which covers buying, preparing and cooking food stresses: “Nowadays it is more a question of making the most of what is available than choosing what we prefer.” It goes on to suggest it is the housewife’s duty to ensure that shops sell all their stock: “Whenever you see a plentiful supply of any kind of perishable food, buy that in preference to goods that will keep. If the shopkeepers do not sell that food it may mean that it may have to be wasted. Help avoid that by buying.”

I chose this recipe because I am a fiend for coconut, plus I loved the inclusion of ratafia essence in the ingredients list. I’d heard of ratafia biscuits but not essence; some hunting around online told me that ratafia essence is made from peach, almond and apricot kernels and is no longer available. The closest modern substitute is good quality almond extract as that contains ground up bitter almond kernels – so that’s what I used!

This is a versatile cake – you can have it, as we did today, plain with a cup of tea, but Mr CC was mooting adding some jam to it. Tomorrow night I’m going to warm two slices and serve as dessert with custard.

Coconut and almond is a lovely combination and this flavoursome, light, cumbly sponge is a worthy teatime treat in any era – austerity or otherwise! It is a plain cake...but in a good way! The coconut is the dominant flavour with a hint of almond coming through at the end. The one aspect of austerity cooking I couldn’t let lie was the meagre quantities; my quantities below are double those of the book.

Ingredients

230g / 8oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
170g / 6oz caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract (or ratafia essence – but good luck finding it!)
340g / 12oz self raising flour
115g / 4oz desiccated coconut
6 tablespoons milk

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Beat together the butter and sugar until you have a soft, whippy, pale cream. Don’t be tempted to skimp on this stage as this is where you get the air into the sponge.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the almond extract.

Beat in the flour.

Beat in the coconut and milk.

Spoon into the prepared baking tin and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 1 hour. It’s done when a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. Mine took 1 hour 5 minutes.

Leave to cool, still in the tin, on a wire rack.

Remove from the tin and store in an airtight container.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Quick and easy shortbread

2011-11-30T15:38:00.004Z

The CCMIL (Caked Crusader’s Mother in Law) has a birthday only two days after mine. As she has to be careful about her sugar intake I decided against a cake and, knowing her fondness for a ‘plain’ biscuit, decided on birthday biscuits.

This is such a simple recipe yet the results are amazing. I know some people think shortbread can only be called shortbread if it contains rice flour or similar to “rough” the texture up, but I think this recipe produces a wonderful, buttery, crisp yet crumbly biccie. And surely that’s what we all want?

It was a first outing for my Wilton biscuit cutter and stamp. The ‘happy birthday’ message just about survived baking! I think it would work better on a less buttery biscuit that would hold its definition more on baking – I did try chilling the biscuits before baking to hold the shape more, but it made no difference at all.

This is the type of recipe that works as a standalone biscuit to enjoy with a cup of tea, but would also be a fab accompaniment to a mousse or pannacotta for dessert. You could flavour the biscuit with any extract or alcohol and you could also add dried fruit or chocolate chips. Just think how yummy it would be with dried cranberries for Christmas. It only takes a few minutes to make the dough so is a good recipe to have in your armoury!

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
55g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinking
180g plain flour

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark5

Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper.

Beat together the butter and sugar until you have a smooth paste.

Stir in the flour and bring together to a dough.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of clingfilm. You’re aiming for a thickness of approximately 1cm.

Cut into rounds and place on the baking tray; allow a little room for expansion but no need to leave more than about 1cm. NB. The dough re-rolls easily so don’t waste any of it!

Sprinkle with additional caster sugar.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown. Mine took nearer 18 minutes.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container – they will keep for days and days!

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Pineapple birthday cake

2011-11-27T17:12:00.014Z

Sorry for the strange look of this post - blogger is having "a moment" with me and doesn't believe I want any of the formatting I've asked for. Before I combust in rage, I'll call it a day and revisit at a later date!

I always put so much thought and planning into my family’s birthday cakes, yet when my own birthday comes around I leave it all to the last minute and hope that some sort of inspiration will strike. It struck late this year, but I think it was worth the wait!

If it were just for me, my birthday cake would be coconut every year – no deviation. Sadly, some of my family don’t like coconut so it’s never the right cake to pick for a family get together. Everyone likes pineapple though so I came up with the idea of a pineapple sponge sandwich cake...and just kept adding detail. What if I cut each layer into two, making four layers? What if there was pineapple curd between the outer layers? What if I beat some of that curd into the Swiss meringue buttercream? What if I added juicy chunks of pineapple into the centre layer? What if I made some mini meringues for decoration and a nice bit of crunch? It all snowballed into this rather OTT creation:

There are quite a few processes to this cake but none are difficult and can, except for the buttercream, be made in advance. I made each element on a different day so it didn’t take that long. I made them in the order: curd, sponge, meringue, buttercream.

The mini meringues looked so cute on the baking sheet – take care to place them on the cake at the last minute as they go soft quickly when they hit the buttercream.

There is a nice mix of texture in every slice – crumbly sponge, crunchy meringue, creamy buttercream and juicy curd and fruit. Not bad for a last minute creation (I say last minute, but it was actually about 5 days before the event...which for me thinking about cake is total red alert panic stations!)

I’ve had several comments and emails that people find Swiss meringue buttercream an elusive technique to master, so I took photos and made a note of timings while I made it. Here’s the journey:

Start with the egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a simmering pan of water. The bowl must not touch the water. Stir the whole time until the sugar has dissolved – you can tell when this has happened as, if you run your finger over the back of the spoon, it will feel smooth. Mine took 6 minutes. It froths a little from the stirring and will look like this:

Next, transfer to a clean bowl for whisking. I used my kitchenaid. Whisk until the egg white is fluffy and stiff and – most importantly – until it is cool. If you add the butter to hot egg you will get a rather yucky mess. Mine took 9 minutes of whisking at a high speed:

Now beat in the diced, soft butter. This is the key stage for whisking. At first the mix will turn sloppy and won’t hold on to the beaters – it will look gloopy, sunken and almost curdled. If you lift the beater all the buttercream will slide off and resemble slop (from the emails I've had I'm guessing this is the point some of you panic and give up):

KEEP GOING! If you keep beating – at a high speed – you will suddenly notice the buttercream firm up and start to look like whipped cream. Mine took 10 minutes. Here it is thick and whipped up:

The next thing to do is beat in any flavouring/jam/curd that you’re using to flavour the buttercream. Don’t add too much as you don’t want to risk making it wet and sloppy. I added my pineapple curd while the beater was still running. I gave the mix a further 5 minutes of beating.

You should now have light, whipped, smooth mousselike cream – the most heavenly of buttercreams! Pipe over cupcakes or use to sandwich together a layer cake. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the pineapple curd:

2 egg yolks (keep the whites for the buttercream!)
200ml pineapple juice
50g caster sugar
25g cornflour

For the cake:
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
220g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
80ml milk
300g self raising flour
227g can of pineapple chunks – drained and chopped smaller

To decorate: Large can of pineapple rings or chunks

For the mini meringues:

2 egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
60g caster sugar

For the swiss meringue buttercream:
4 egg whites
250g caster sugar – I used vanilla infused caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 teaspoons of the pineapple curd (made earlier)

Method

Start by making the pineapple curd and keep, covered, in the fridge: place all the ingredients into a saucepan and stir, over a low heat, until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then refrigerate until needed. It will thicken further as it chills.

Now make the cakes: Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Line the bases of two 20cm loose bottomed sandwich tins with baking paper.

To make the cakes: Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage as this is when you get lots of lovely air into your sponge.

Beat in the eggs gradually, add some of the flour if it looks like it might curdle. (NB. If you have beaten the eggs and sugar for long enough the mix should not curdle).

Beat in the milk.

Stir in the flour until the mixture is smooth and well combined.

Gently stir in the pineapple chunks.

Spoon into the prepared tins and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the sponge comes out clean. Another good sign is if the sponge is just pulling away from the edge of the tin.

Leave to cool in the tins for about 20 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

You can make the sponges a couple of days in advance and store in an airtight tin.

Now make the mini meringues: Preheat the oven to 110°C/fan oven 90°C/230°F/Gas mark ¼ .

Line two baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment.

Place the egg whites in a bowl and whisk until you reach the stiff peak stage.

Keep whisking and add the sugar a spoonful at a time.

Whisk in the cream of tartar.

Spoon the thick meringue into a piping bag and pipe small rosettes no bigger than 2cm across. Leave a little gap between each one.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the meringues are crisp – you’re not really ‘baking’ them, more ‘drying them out’.

Leave to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Do not place on the buttercream until you are ready to serve the cake otherwise the meringue will turn soft due to the moisture in the buttercream.

On the day of serving the cake make 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.

Beat in 3-4 teaspoons of the pineapple curd.

Cut both the sponges through so that you have 4 layers of sponge.

Take one of the sponge layers and cover with some pineapple curd.

Place the second layer on top and spread with some buttercream.

Lay the pineapple chunks or rings over the buttercream and cover with some more buttercream.

Place the third sponge layer on top and gently press to ensure it has “stuck”. Cover this layer with some pineapple curd.

Place the final sponge layer on top and gently press to ensure it has stuck.

Spread or pipe the remaining buttercream over the top and outside of the cake.

Decorate as you choose – I used the mini meringues (place these on the cake at the last minute or they will go soggy)

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

Cream buttons

2011-11-18T16:45:00.004Z

An early update from me this weekend as Mr CC and I are out and about having adventures and thus I won’t be at my computer. These little biscuits are great to have in your armoury – they are lovely just to eat, but you can also serve them on the side of a dessert to “glam it up”, or you can sandwich them with jam, nutella, or whipped cream and fruit. That’s a lot of options from one, rather plain looking, biscuit!

What attracted me to this recipe is that there is no sugar actually in the biscuit dough; the sugar is dredged over the dough once it is rolled out. Not only does this give the outside of the biscuit a pleasing crispness, but it also allows the cream to be the dominant flavour of the biscuit dough.

I wouldn’t make these biscuits any bigger – the ideal size is small enough to pop on your tongue and just feel it melt; the sugary crispness gives way to creamy crumbly biscuit and is divine! The texture is incredible – the biscuits puff a little while baking giving a layered texture like puff pastry.

The biscuits are small so you get quite a lot from a batch. They are also extremely easy to eat – they’re the kind of biscuit that you have with a cup of tea and then realise you’ve eaten half the batch! So save yourself time and heart ache and double the recipe up...but chill it in two bowls so it’s more manageable to roll out.

The aroma while these cooked was of warm cream; it reminded me of a oven baked, creamy rice pudding. Here they are ready to go into the oven – yes it looks a lot of sugar but remember, there’s no sugar in the dough:

Because of the unusual method of preparation and rolling, there is no option to re-roll unused dough. This forces you to be economical with your cutting out. Here’s what I had left over:

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter
2 tablespoon double cream
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g plain flour
6 tablespoons caster sugar

Method

Beat the butter until very soft and whippy.

Beat in the cream and vanilla, then stir in the flour.

Don’t panic – the dough will be incredibly soft!

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of clingfilm. The dough needs to be thin – about 1/2cm thick.

The dough will soften and be sticky but gently peel the top sheet of clingfilm back and sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of the caster sugar over the dough. The dough should be covered with sugar but so you can still see the dough through the sugar.

Place the clingfilm back over the dough and fold up the clingfilm edges.

Carefully flip the dough and clingfilm so that the sugared side is now underneath.

Peel back the clingfilm and sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of the caster sugar over the dough. Once the dough is fully sugared you will experience no problems with cutting it and lifting it from the clingfilm.

Using a 4cm round cutter, cut out the dough and place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Be economical with your cutting out as the dough does not lend itself to re-rolling.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuits are golden and slightly puffed.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before removing from the tray. Biscuits can be very fragile until they have cooled and you don’t want to risk breaking them.

Store in an airtight container.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Rocky road cupcakes

2011-11-13T17:20:00.006Z

Unusually for me I was extremely dithery in what to bake this week; normally I know what I want to bake as soon as I’ve posted the previous week’s bake on my blog! I was eventually drawn to this recipe as it contains just about everything – I might as well call them “kitchen sink cupcakes”!

I’ve never had rocky road before although I’ve been aware of it. Reading about it online it seems that you can pick or choose what you want to include – biscuits, dried fruit, coconut, brownies...I even saw popcorn mentioned, but the vital components are marshmallow, chocolate and nuts. So I’ve obeyed the rules but added chopped honeycomb pieces (like you’d get in a Crunchie, not actual honeycomb!) simply because I’ve tidied my baking cupboard and been reunited with them!

These turned out to be substantial cupcakes in size, look and the amount of stomach space they occupy. Or in other words: win, win, win!

The cake is squidgy – almost a halfway between sponge and brownie; the frosting is thick and fudgy. They are a perfect combination. You can see how squidgy the sponge is in this photo, taken when the cakes were fresh from the oven:

Ingredients

For the cupcake sponge:
140g unsalted butter, at room temperature
140g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
150g self raising flour
55g cocoa powder
50g milk chocolate chips
30g mini marshmallows – or diced larger marshmallows

For the topping (this topping is very rich and therefore I recommend piping on a little less than you would a normal cupcake. If you want the normal amount of buttercream, double the quantities as this is quite a mean recipe!):
50g plain chocolate, broken into squares (I actually used ½ dark, ½ milk chocolate)
2 tablespoons water
25g unsalted butter
175g icing sugar

To decorate:
85g mini marshmallows
40g nuts, roughly chopped – I used almonds
50g honeycomb pieces
Optional: 55g milk chocolate ,melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Line a cupcake pan with paper cases.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage as this is what makes the sponge light and airy.

Beat in the vanilla extract

Beat in the eggs, using a little of the flour if it looks like it might curdle.

Gently fold in the flour and cocoa powder.

When the mixture is smooth and well combined, stir in the chocolate chips and mini marshmallows

Spoon the batter into the paper cases.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean. Mine took 18 minutes.

Remove from the tin as soon as possible and leave to cool on a wire rack – removing from the tin is important as the heat of the tin will mean that the cupcakes continue to cook.

Now make the topping: place the chocolate, water and butter in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water.

Stir until melted and smooth.

With the bowl still over the water stir in the icing sugar and beat until smooth and thick. At this point you can remove from the heat and whip further off the heat.

It takes a lot of beating – firstly, until it is cool and secondly, until it’s thick enough to pipe. I mixed it until cool, then popped it in the fridge for 30 minutes before giving it a final whip up.

Pipe the frosting over the cupcakes then decorate with whichever components of a rocky road you have chosen to use.

Optional: Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the top.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Yorkshire parkin

2011-11-06T17:24:00.003Z

As my love affair with all Yorkshire related baking grows, I chose to make parkin this week. Parkin is traditionally eaten in Yorkshire on 5^th November, Bonfire Night, and as I was heading to a firework display with Mr CC and the CCMIL (Caked Crusader’s Mother in Law) it seemed an appropriate treat to have waiting for us on our return.

Parkin is a true test of willpower as it needs to be allowed to age – you can’t leap on it and gobble it up the minute it comes out of the oven! It needs to be stored, in an airtight container, for at least 4 days so the spice and treacle can mellow and mature; the texture also changes and becomes darker and stickier.

I have to admit that when my parkin came out of the oven I was a little disappointed, because it didn’t look particularly dark or sticky. Here it is, freshly baked:

Now, I understand the need for aging. Just look at the difference after two days in an airtight container. It’s sunk, it’s darker and it’s sticky to the touch. If ever there was a reward for patience, this is it:

After four days it had improved even further:

What makes parkin different to gingerbread is the inclusion of oatmeal. This was a stumbling block as I couldn’t find oatmeal anywhere; so I bought rolled oats and blitzed them to a fine, gritty flour in my food processor. The look and taste of my finished parkin matched those I’d eaten in Whitby, so I’m assuming this is an acceptable substitution:

When a slice of parkin is put in front of you, you have a big decision to make – to butter or not to butter? In the interests of science I tried both and liked both. I think buttering the parkin makes it a more substantial bite to eat, and I liked the salty contrast of the butter with the sticky spiced cake. Remember the rule re:buttering - it must be so thick that you can leave teeth marks in it! My dentist could probably identify me from this photo:

Ingredients

300ml milk
225g golden syrup
225g black treacle
115g unsalted butter
50g dark brown sugar
450g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger – next time I would use more, probably 4 teaspoons
350g medium oatmeal – I couldn’t find this so blitzed rolled oats (i.e. porridge oats) in the food processor until it resembled coarse flour
1 egg

Optional extra: pinch cayenne pepper

To serve: butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper that comes up above the height of the tin – this makes it easier to lift the baked parkin out.

Place the milk, golden syrup, black treacle, butter, and dark brown sugar into a saucepan. I placed the saucepan on the scales and weighed the syrup and treacle directly into the pan – it stops the scale’s tray getting icky.

Place the pan over a gentle heat and stir continuously until the ingredients have melted and combined. Do not let the mixture boil.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Place the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, oatmeal and – if using – the cayenne into a large bowl and mix.

Stir in the egg, then make a well for the wet ingredients.

Stirring all the time, pour in the wet ingredients (from the saucepan) and stir until well combined. It will look a bit gritty because of the oatmeal, so don’t panic.

Pour into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes or, until the surface of the parkin is firm to the touch. The skewer test isn’t great here because you want to retain some squidginess.

Leave the parkin to cool in the tin, until the tin is cool enough to handle.

Remove the parkin from the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight tin for at least 4 days before eating. You can eat it plain, or buttered.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Peanut butter cookies with ganache filling

2011-11-02T14:07:00.003Z

Continuing my love for all baked things using peanut butter, I present to you a work of art – a peanut butter cookie filled with an oozy ganache filling. Oh boy, does this work!

Somewhat perversely, having amassed a collection of biscuit cutters that can only be contained in 12 drawers of storage (small drawers – it’s not like I’m obsessed or anything), I find myself currently favouring biscuit recipes where cutters aren’t required. They are often quicker and easier to make.

Having said that, I found these a bit of a faff – however, they are TOTALLY worth it...if they weren’t I wouldn’t feature them on my site! The problem is moulding the biscuit around the ganache. I tried the approach the recipe said, which was to make a patty then put a spoonful of ganache in the centre, then drawing the sides up:

This was tricky as the dough was prone to crumbling. So I then tried making a patty and pinching the edges to make a volcano – this did work, but the finished bake looked....well, let’s just call it rustic:

What worked best for me, was making a ball and using the end of a wooden spoon to make a well, spooning some ganache into it then closing it up. The finished biscuit (shown here uncooked) looked decent enough...

...especially when compared to one of my earlier efforts. Let’s be honest, this one ain’t gonna win no beauty contest ("why, Ambassador, with this biscuit you're really spoil- ugh!"):

The salty peanut butter in the biscuit works so well with the thick ganache – a flavour sensation!

I decided to double the mixture based on this email exchange with the CCB (Caked Crusader’s Brother):

CCB: Do they come in large batches, nothing more disappointing than an epic biscuit that only comes in 24’s ?

Me: The mix apparently makes 18, so I’ll double it up

CCB: Will there be enough to go round? [Author’s note – there were 5 of us for tea, and I was also making a cake]

Ingredients

For the ganache – I found this too much and only needed half. If you’re more confident in your biscuit making (particularly with getting ganache into a biscuit dough!) go for it, but – be warned - you might have some left over:

125g dark chocolate – I used half dark, half milk
150ml double cream

For the biscuit:

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
125g crunchy or smooth peanut butter – whichever you prefer, I used crunchy
4 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon milk
225g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Start by making the ganache, as you want this to have time to cool naturally before adding to the biscuits. Best not to refrigerate it as it can set hard, I found placing it by an open window helped. If you’re pushed for time give it a short burst in the fridge. I think my ganache was possibly still too runny so give it time to firm up.

Place the chocolate, broken into chunks, in a heatproof bowl.

Heat the cream to boiling point, then immediately pour over the chocolate.

Leave to stand for a couple of minutes then stir until it is smooth and well combined.

Now make the biscuits: Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until it is light, whipped and fluffy.

Beat in the peanut butter, followed by the golden syrup and milk.

Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and knead until you have a smooth dough.

Take a generous tablespoon of dough and flatten it into a patty.

Place a teaspoon of the now firm ganache into the centre of the patty and then pull up the sides so you can seal them i.e. leaving you with a ball of biscuit filled with ganache. If the ganache isn’t completely sealed in it can leak during baking. I found this didn’t always work and it was easier to make an indent (with the end of a wooden spoon) into a ball of dough and then spoon the ganache in before pinching it closed – but you will get less ganache in using this method.

Place the ball on the baking sheet and flatten slightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Leave to cool completely, still on the baking sheet, on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container for several days and eat as and when required.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Coble cake

2011-10-30T17:10:00.004Z

Mr CC and I have just returned from a splendid jaunt to Whitby; a beautiful town on the rugged North York coast. It is also the inspiration and setting for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

My cake this week is therefore Yorkshire-themed. Cobles are open fishing boats, with flat bottoms, commonly sighted on the North York coast. This cake is named after them but doesn’t seem well documented – there are some mentions but I couldn’t find a recipe anywhere on the internet. The cake is a spiced sponge, filled with apple puree and served with cream. This was all the detail I needed to produce my own version!

I was tempted to whip the cream and fill the sponge with it, along with the apple puree but I think this wouldn’t have produced such an elegant finish. I also considered stirring the apple puree through the cream but again, I wanted to keep the flavours distinct.

The one thing that the internet seems in agreement about re: Coble cake is that it needs to be served with cream. I was happy to oblige:

There were some lovely tea rooms in Whitby; one thing we noticed very quickly was that the region hasn’t got much time for fancy patisserie, favouring good hearty cakes in – and remember this is me saying this – hearty portions! We enjoyed, amongst other things, a toasted teacake so huge it took both hands to lift it to my mouth! I took the biggest bite I could out of one half (for photographic purposes only, obviously) – it barely made an indent:

I think our serving of chocolate cake and flapjacks highlights the generosity of Yorkshire portions. There aren’t many places where TWO flapjacks are considered the standard serving! Also notice how the chocolate cake is only just contained within the boundaries of the plate:

Another highlight was this toffee apple betty cake – the flavours were a delight and I loved how the apple was layered in the middle section:

This scone was lovely – unusually for me I chose to have it with butter and jam rather than cream and jam:

Mr CC was pleased with his carrot cake...and who wouldn’t be, having a triple-decker slice like this put in front of them?

Ingredients

For the cake:
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
220g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
80ml milk
300g self raising flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoon mixed spice

For the apple puree (puree is never an exact science so make whatever quantity you wish – it freezes brilliantly); however for this cake I used:
1-2 Bramley apples
10 tablespoons caster sugar – or to taste
Water

To serve: thick or whipped cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Line two 20cm round loose bottomed sandwich tins with baking paper.

Start by making the sponge: Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage as this is when you get lots of lovely air into your sponge.

Beat in the eggs gradually, adding some of the flour if it looks like it might curdle.

Beat in the milk.

Fold in the flour and all the spices until the mixture is smooth and well combined.

Spoon into the prepared tins and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the sponge comes out clean. Another good sign is if the sponge is just pulling away from the edge of the tin.

Leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make the apple puree. Take a saucepan of appropriate size – roughly so that the apples will half fill the pan.

Cover the bottom of the pan with water – ideally about 2cm deep.

Peel, core and thinly slice the cooking apples.

Slowly simmer until the apples break down and you have a puree; if the pan looks dry add some more water. You can speed this up placing the pan lid 3/4s over the pan.

Personally, I like my puree with some apple chunks still in it; if you don’t cook until smooth.

Add the sugar right at the end – this is totally to taste so add gradually until you have the right sweetness for you.

When you are ready to assemble the cake place one sponge layer, flat side up, on the serving plate.

Spread the apple puree over the sponge and then sandwich with the second sponge, flat side down.

If you wish, dust the top sponge with icing sugar.

Serve in generous slices with whipped cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

Ginger and chilli biscuits

2011-10-19T11:08:00.004+01:00

Now I’m going to start with a moan: I am fed up with the way chilli is being put into things it has no place being just to be trendy. Maybe it’s me, but I’m yet to taste any chocolate bar that benefits from teaming up with chilli - it always tastes like an unwanted add-on. I don’t like lots of spice with creamy things – it’s a personal choice – I can’t even eat creamy curries. These biscuits have proven to me that chilli in baking can work. I haven’t tried any chilli in cakes so if you have any recipes you think might educate me please share!

The first time I made these biscuits I wondered why they didn’t spread on baking. Then I realised that the idiot making them i.e. me, had left the golden syrup out – but they tasted delicious and looked like domed buttons:

Second time of making I made sure my brain was awake, and added the golden syrup. This created a softer dough that did spread on baking. Just as tasty, but a different look. The golden syrup does diminish the hit of chilli – so if you use it, I’d consider adding more chilli. Here they are made with the syrup:

This recipe appealed to me because I suspected the spice would work really well...and it does. You don’t get a burn of chilli; what you get is delicious enhancement to the gingery fire of the biscuit. This recipe is the way forward for me, as often in the past I’ve put loads of ginger into biscuits to get that burn of spice and it’s been a hit-and-miss affair. This is far simpler – you only put in a little ginger and the tiniest hint of cayenne yet achieve a warmer, rounder flavour.

The biscuits can be made two ways – larger for a soft, chewy cookie (don’t get me started on soft, chewy cookies. I’ll save that rant for another day!) or smaller for a crisp biscuit. I got 50 cherry-sized (they spread on baking) biscuits from the mix. Did someone say, “bargain”?

These biscuits couldn’t be easier to make. The one snag, which could hold you up if you don’t read the recipe in advance, is the chilling time required. It needs to chill for several hours (or overnight) before you roll your biscuits. You need a firm, chilled dough:

Incidentally, it’s National Baking Week this week; I only knew because Tanya from Cooking Fantastic told me! Was everyone else aware and it’s just me with my eyes and ears closed?

No update from me this weekend as I’m off to enjoy a long weekend with Mr CC.

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
75g light muscovado sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup – you can omit this if you wish and you’ll get a firmer, smaller biscuit
180g self raising flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper – use two pinches if you include the golden syrup
50g stem ginger, cut into tiny pieces – I used the food processor

Method

Cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and well combined.

Add the golden syrup and beat well. (NB. you can omit the syrup for a smaller, firmer biscuit - just as delicious!)

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and cayenne pepper along with the chopped stem ginger and stir well.

Place the dough in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ fan oven 180°C/ 390°F/ gas mark 6.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Take cherry sized balls of dough and roll between your hands. This will give you crisp biscuits; if you want chewy cookies take a walnut sized piece of dough.

Place on a baking sheet leaving approx 2cm between the biscuits. Maybe leave more room if you put golden syrup into the mix.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the biscuits are golden.

Leave to cool, on their trays, as they will be soft at first.

When cool store in an airtight container. They will keep for several days.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

Morello cherry sponge cake

2011-10-16T16:22:00.003+01:00

If I see something interesting or tasty looking in the supermarket I will buy it even if I have no planned use for it. This means I have beautifully stocked but permanently overfull cupboards. When I say “overfull” I mean full to the point that I can’t always face looking at what’s up the back of the cupboard. I’m trying to get Mr CC to appreciate how exciting a well stocked cupboard is but I think I’m failing – he sees my ‘treasures’ as obstacles hindering him access to the cereal.

Every time I tidy my baking store cupboard I take out the jar of morello cherries, check the date is still ok, and then put them back. Too ashamed to go through this ritual again I decided it was time to use the cherries....and here’s the cake!

Usually I find a recipe to bake and then make sure I buy everything I need to make it. It’s a nice change to start with a jar of cherries and seek a recipe to use them. This cake is adapted from a German recipe; I always seem drawn to German recipes – I like no-nonsense, no frills flavoursome cakes and Germany seems to share my fondness!

Morello cherries are unique; they have the sweet fruitiness of other cherries but also that tart/sour note...I want to say they have an almost nutty taste but don’t want to mislead anyone! I’m not really sure how to describe their complex flavour but I love them contrasted against sweet, soft, buttery sponge cake.

The shiny glaze on the top comes from brushing molten apricot jam over the hot cake; it elevates a simple cake to something more patisserie-style. The glaze sets shiny and unsticky so it’s not a pain to eat!

Of course, while I’m pleased I have finally used the morello cherries, I can’t help thinking that there’s room on the shelf for another jar now......!

Ingredients

For the cake:
350g jar morello cherries
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 drops lemon juice – I always have a jif lemon on standby in the fridge for such things!
3 eggs
200g self raising flour
2 tablespoons milk

For the glaze:
2 tablespoons apricot jam
1 tablespoon water

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ fan oven 160°C/350°F/ Gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm springform round tin with baking paper.

Drain the cherries and leave them to air dry while you make the cake.

Beat together the butter and sugar until it is light, pale and whippy. Don’t skimp on this stage.

Beat in the vanilla and lemon.

Beat in the eggs one at a time; if the mix looks like it might start to curdle add some of the flower.

Briefly beat in the flour and milk. Don’t overbeat it – just go until the batter looks smooth and the ingredients are well combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Gently place the cherries on top of the batter. Don’t press them down as you don’t want to encourage them to sink!

Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly.

While the cake is baking, pass the jam through a sieve and stir in the water.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, heat the jam and water to boiling point then brush over the hot cake.

Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack. Leave it in its tin until you can safely remove it.

The cake will store in an airtight container for several days.

Serve in generous slices with thick cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

The Caked Crusader plaque...made by a talented friend!

2011-10-13T13:42:00.001+01:00

One of the best things about having artistically gifted friends is that presents tend to be thoughtful, unique and totally tailored to you. My friend Soo is not only a mega-talented knitter but has now branched out into paper crafts.

I love my glittery plaque – when I put the lights on at night the glitter goes bonkers; it’s like having a disco in a frame! Oh yes, in case you were wondering – she made the frame too!

If you’d like to read more about how Soo made it here's the link.

Thanks Soo!

History Corner – Empress cakes

2011-10-09T10:49:00.006+01:00

Miss Tuxford’s “Cookery for the Middle Classes” was – despite its rather exclusive title – a big hit. Originally published in 1902, my copy is the 11^th edition dating from 1930. That’s quite a lifespan for one cook book.

The subtitles of this book highlight how far food and food preparation has come in a short period of time. The full title is “Cookery for the Middle Classes (including a few vegetarian dishes) and Useful hints on Gas Stove Cooking Including the New Automatic Control”. This book is set in the time when having a temperature control on your oven was cutting edge innovation. There is a section at the back of the book instructing you how to set the oven properly depending on what you’re cooking. Sponge cakes need to be baked at 5E, if you’re interested.

One wonders what Miss Tuxford would’ve done had any of the lower classes dared bake from this book? It seems a crazy thing to limit your market in such a way especially when Miss Tuxford had an entrepreneurial streak. At the back of the book she has a page of items for sale included food essences such as vanilla, and also “useful and inexpensive utensils”, my favourite of which is the “Straining grid for use in deep fat frying or boiling fish and cauliflowers whole (designed by myself)”. A whole boiled cauliflower. Imagine it. Are you imagining it? Well, you don’t have to – here is the least appetising illustration of a cauliflower ever (with a strange looking thumb thrown in for free) :

And a close up:

I chose the Empress Cakes recipe as they were probably a well-known recipe at the time the book was originally published. Queen Victoria died in 1901, only a year before publication. No doubt these little cakes were named in honour of her, as one of her titles was Empress of India.

Lining the pan with nuts wasn’t as fiddly as I thought it might be. The recipe gave no indication as to the amount of nuts to use so I guessed (my guess is in the recipe below) – feel free to use less if this looks too nutty:

The cocoa is delicate; I wouldn’t call these a chocolate sponge, more sponge with a hint of cocoa. The idea of lining the pans with nuts so that they bake into the sponge works surprisingly well and creates a nice look. However, I wasn’t sure which way to serve them – nuts up or nuts down? On this blog post you’ll see a mix of both!

As you’ll notice my cakes came out a touch on the large side – that’s the problem with old recipes; they don’t tell you what size pans to use or guidelines. I know I should’ve trimmed the mushroom top off to make them look daintier but, let’s be honest, the mushroomy top is often the best bit of a cake!

They were also delicious warm with custard – a cake or a pud; what’s not to love? One thing I would say, they definitely dried out a couple of days after baking (tasted lovely though) – still fine to serve as pud with custard, but if you had them with a cup of tea if would be a good idea to add a dollop of cream.

Although Miss Tuxford wrote the preface well over 80 years ago it shows how nothing really every changes. Except for the old fashioned phrasing, this could’ve been written today:

“During recent years the cost of living has greatly increased and many ladies have sought a cookery book giving recipes which, whilst ensuring dainty, wholesome and nourishing dishes, are withal modest in cost.”

Ingredients

½ lb / 227g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease the pans
½ lb / 227g caster sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
4 eggs
¾ lb / 340g plain flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking powder
Milk, if needed
Chopped almonds to line the tins – I used a mixture of ground almonds and chopped hazelnuts totalling 120g

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C/ fan oven 130°C/300°F/ Gas mark 2, or as the recipe calls it – “slow”.

Generously grease a cupcake pan – if you have a deeper, more ‘muffin-y’ pan that will be better. Take a second pan and grease half the holes – the mix will make 18 cakes. I made 12 from mine and they were too big!

Sprinkle the chopped almonds into the pans ensuring that they stick to the bottom and sides. This can be a bit fiddly but is worth the effort.

Place the butter, sugar and cocoa in a bowl and beat together until light and whipped.

Add two of the eggs and beat well.

Add half the flour and stir in.

Add the remaining two eggs and beat well.

Add the remaining flour, along with the vanilla and baking powder and stir well.

If the mix is dry i.e. not a dropping consistency, add a little milk – do this with caution so you don’t add too much.

Carefully spoon into your almond-lined cake pans and level the surface. Fill them more than you would a cupcake case because the low baking temperature means they won’t rise as much. I filled mine to the top because the recipe gave no guidance – I think the ideal would have been somewhere between 1/2 - ¾ full.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean. Mine took much longer – just over 30 minutes, so don’t worry if yours take longer too!

Leave to cool – in the tins – until cool enough to handle and safely remove. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

The cakes will store for several days in an airtight container but note they will dry out – best to have some cream on hand!

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Ginger cake

2011-10-02T16:48:00.004+01:00

“Legend” is a word that is bandied about far too often these days if you ask me, but I’m going to use it here and mean it. If you asked most people to name a snooker legend the first name out of their mouth would be Steve Davis.

In terms of someone dominating a sport you’d have to look quite a way to beat Steve Davis. Just read this incredibly potted (ha ha, pun totally intended!) summary of his achievements:

First player to complete a televised 147 (maximum) break;
More professional titles than any other player;
Winner of the World Championship six times in the 1980s;
World number 1 for seven years running;
Famously lost the black ball finish in the 1985 World Championship final against Dennis Taylor, which although finishing past midnight had an audience 18.5 million people – still a record for BBC2;
BBC Sports personality of the year;
MBE and OBE;
Top ten hit with Chas & Dave (OK, he might want to forget that one!)

Famous for his ginger hair he gained nicknames such as “The Nugget” and “The Ginger Magician”. My grandmother though, who was a staunch fan, only ever referred to him by one name: Lover Boy. Quite how she came up with this name I do not know, but that was what she ALWAYS called him! Maybe that’s why I decided to write to him; he provided my grandmother with so much entertainment that, even now several years after her death, we still refer to him as Lover Boy (which might freak him out if he ever reads this!)

His calm-under-pressure temperament led him to be called boring, something that he has always played up to despite having a terrific sense of humour. Perhaps it was that sense of humour that led him to choose ginger cake as his favourite fancy!

This ginger cake is something a bit different; it is adapted from a German ginger spice cake recipe and doesn’t contain the usual golden syrup and treacle. This results in a lighter, less sticky texture. It replaces sugar with honey and adds some lightness in the addition of soured cream. I was further intrigued by the use of rye flour...which I couldn’t find anywhere so will have to revisit this when I find some! There’s quite a lot of spice:

I brushed some ginger syrup over the cake as it cooled just to intensify the flavour. This is optional. As with all ginger cakes, the flavours develop over time so try and make a day or two in advance of when you wish to serve it.

For this cake, I made my white icing much thicker than I normally would. I think it was the German influenced recipe which got me thinking about the thick icing on German Christmas gingerbread – often the biscuit will be shaped like a house with thick white icing representing snow on the roof. That’s what I’ve tried to do here and I love it –the icing looks almost cartoony!

Ingredients

For the cake:

125g unsalted butter
250g honey
3 eggs
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon allspice
125g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g rye flour – I couldn’t find this in my local shops so used wholemeal flour
150ml soured cream

Optional: 2 tablespoons ginger syrup to brush over the cake when it comes out the oven

For the icing:

100g icing sugar
Enough water or syrup from a stem ginger jar to make a thick icing – add a tablespoon at a time

Method

Generously grease a 20cm bundt tin with butter or, ideally, cake release spray. The recipe I used gave no indication of cake tin size so I used a 23cm tin, which was too big.

Place the butter and honey in a large saucepan (all the other ingredients need to fit in here) and melt together. Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 170°C/ fan oven 150°C/325°F/ Gas mark 3.

Beat the eggs and spices into the butter-honey mixture.

Fold in half of the plain flour, rye flour and baking powder.

Fold in half of the soured cream.

Repeat the folding process until all the ingredients are combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.

Bake for 15 minutes then lower the temperature to 130°C/ fan oven 110°C/250°F/ Gas mark 1 and bake for approximately a further 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Mine only needed 35 minutes which surprised me as I never thought the cake would cook successfully at such a low temperature.

Leave to cool, still in the tin, on a wire rack. I find ginger cakes rather fragile so usually let them cool in the tin before turning out.

If using, brush the ginger syrup over the cake in the tin, let it seep down the edges too (the cake will have just started to pull away from the tin giving a gap for the syrup!)

When the cake is cool it can be iced: place the icing sugar in a bowl and gradually beat in either water or ginger syrup. Add liquid sparingly as it is easy to make it too runny. I made mine very thick.

Pour the icing over the cake and leave to set.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Macmillan Cancer Support Coconut Cake

2011-09-25T16:47:00.003+01:00

You may have seen adverts or mentions for the “World’s Biggest Coffee Morning” on Friday 30^th September; now in its 21^st year this event encourages people to take some time out with their nearest and dearest, enjoy a cup of coffee (or tea!) and perhaps a slice of lovely cake whilst raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

This year, even if you can’t hold or attend an event you can do your bit by buying Macmillan’s Little Book of Treats from any M&S Cafe – the book is amazing; it’s only £3 and has 31 recipes in it...and I honestly want to make ALL of them! And if that isn’t for you, you can simply buy any from a range of nine products in an M&S Cafe and they will donate 10p to Macmillan for each purchase.

So, faced with a book where I wanted to make all 31 recipes what did I pick? I followed my heart and went with one of my true loves – coconut! The moist coconut cake recipe is lovely and I made minimal tweaks to it.

The cake has an interesting method in that you soak the desiccated coconut in the milk for a few hours to plump it up before adding to the cake batter. Not only does this soften the coconut, but it also infuses the milk a bit too. I will definitely be using that tip again.

Textures are important in this cake; the soft, moist sponge is one of the lightest I’ve ever made – you’d almost swear it was made with only the white from the egg (it isn’t). The white icing was thinner than I’m used to and set with an almost crisp, shell-like quality. I loved it – cake perfection!

I really rate this tip I picked up from watching Ina Garten – stand the cake on 4 squares of paper or foil before pouring on runny icing. These protect the plate from having a puddle of icing – simply remove i.e. pull out when the icing is set! Here are the three stages:

If you’re hosting a coffee morning on 30^th September you won’t go far wrong with this cake. I could eat it forever if there was a continual supply of cups of tea!

Ingredients

For the cake:

100g desiccated coconut
150ml milk
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
250g caster sugar
2 eggs
250g self raising flour

For the icing:

25g desiccated coconut – or you can use sweet tobacco (it’s just a name – it isn’t tobacco), available from sweet shops – it’s toasted shredded coconut tossed in cocoa powder
200g icing sugar
75ml water or lemon juice – I used water

Method

2-4 hours before you wish to start baking, soak the coconut in milk.

Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/340°F/gas mark 3.

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It won’t go creamy as it normally would because the amount of butter has been reduced to accommodate the milk.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Gently stir in the flour, coconut and milk.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 1 - 1 hour 15 mins or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly. Check it after an hour and cover the top with foil if it’s browning too much.

Leave to cool, in the tin, on a wire rack. When the cake is cool enough to handle de-tin it and leave to cool completely on the wire rack.

Now make the icing: sprinkle the desiccated coconut into a dry frying pan and toast gently. It will burn quickly so don’t leave it unattended. I used sweet tobacco from a sweet shop (it doesn’t contain tobacco)

Tip onto a plate and leave to cool.

Place the icing sugar in a bowl and gradually beat in the water/lemon juice – you may not need it all. Beat until you have a glossy, thick, lump free icing. You want a consistency that will ooze but not run...if that makes sense!

Stand the cake on 4 squares of paper or foil – this will collect any icing and stop it pooling on the plate. Simply remove when the icing is set.

Drizzle the icing over the cake and allow it to ooze down the sides a little.

Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Classic Victoria sponge…with buttercream

2011-09-25T16:15:00.005+01:00

This is a repost of something originally posted in July 2011. I know blogger had a “mishap” and posts were lost on many peoples’ blogs. I didn’t think I had been affected until I tried to locate this post. Sadly, all your lovely comments have been lost. Probably some other posts of mine have also been lost and – if I become aware – I will repost those too. This week’s new post will follow shortly!)

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to receive a reply from Julie Walters, and I was even more thrilled that she chose the queen of cakes, a Victoria sponge.

Julie Walters – a bona fide National Treasure – needs no introduction from me. If you need any reminder of her work she is (depending on your age, geographic location etc):

Mrs Overall in Acorn Antiques (I can still never say the word “macaroons” without turning it into a Mrs O impression);
Pauline Mole aka Adrian Mole’s mum;
Rita in Educating Rita (one of my all time favourite films);
Ron Weasley’s mum in the Harry Potter films;
Annie, one of the naughty WI ladies in Calendar Girls (I can’t advocate using cakes that way!);
Billy Elliot’s dance teacher in…er…Billy Elliot;
Rosie in Mamma Mia.

A classic victoria sponge has two key elements. Firstly, the weight of the ingredients is determined by the weight of the eggs in their shells. Secondly, it must be sandwiched only with jam – no cream or buttercream. It was with the second point that I hit a snag; when I told Mr CC I was making a classic victoria sponge thus could only use jam he said quietly, in a wounded puppy kind of way, “but I like buttercream”. To cut a long story short (if it isn’t already too late) – my classic victoria sponge now has added buttercream. I know this means it can’t be deemed a classic victoria sponge…so feel free to omit it if you’re more of a purist than me.

It did feel weird weighing the eggs in their shells and then using this measurement for all the other ingredients, but if it’s good enough for Mrs Beeton it’s good enough for me!

The sponge was different to the more modern sponge recipes with prescribed quantities; it was richer, more buttery, yellower and had a moist rather than crumbly texture.

Here’s my top tip for transporting a sandwich cake; I have found that – in transit – the top layer can slide off the buttercream filling making a bit of a mess. By wrapping the cake in a collar of baking paper it holds everything in place. I think I might start wearing a collar of baking paper...

My nephew, The Boy Wonder, has a lovely dog called Monty. He’s in late puppyhood and is about to celebrate his first birthday. We offered him some sponge (the first cake he’s ever had) to see what he thought; here he is inspecting it...

...before deciding that it really was pretty tasty stuff:

Finally, if you want to see a masterclass in comic timing from Julie Walters then please watch this classic sketch from “Victoria Wood as Seen on TV”. It has entered our family language as a description of when it’s difficult to walk i.e. “my back was so sore and stiff I was walking like Two Soups.” Click here to see the "Two Soups sketch".

Ingredients

For the sponge:
4 eggs
Unsalted butter, at room temperature
Caster sugar
Self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
A little milk, if necessary

For the buttercream, if using:
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To assemble the cake:
Raspberry jam
Icing sugar or caster sugar, for dusting

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan oven 160˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4.

Line two 20cm sandwich cake tins with baking paper; just to be sure, I line the base and sides of the tin.

Weigh the eggs in their shells – this will tell you the weight for the butter, sugar and flour. Mine weighed 267 grams.

Whatever the weight of your eggs (in their shells) weigh out the same amount of butter, sugar and flour.

Beat the butter until it is light and whippy, then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage as it’s the key way of getting air into your sponge.

Beat in the eggs one at a time; if you whipped the butter and sugar enough there shouldn’t be any curdling, but if there is add some of the flour to correct it.

Beat in the vanilla extract.

Fold in the flour.

If the batter is thick and won’t easily drop from the mixing spoon, fold in a tablespoon of milk. It may need a further tablespoon. Add enough milk to reach “dropping consistency”.

Spoon the batter into the prepared sandwich tins and gently smooth the tops with a knife.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the sponge comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Now make the buttercream: beat the butter until it is light and whippy. It will start to look almost like whipped cream.

Add the icing sugar and beat until soft, light and airy looking.

Add the vanilla and beat again.

To assemble the cake turn one of the sponges upside down on the serving plate, so the flat surface is uppermost.

Spread the buttercream over the sponge.

Take the other layer of sponge and generously spread the flat side with jam.

Place the jammy sponge, flat side down on top of the buttercream and press gently to ensure the layers have stuck.

Dust the surface with icing sugar or caster sugar before serving.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

Cheesecake fortress – a birthday cake

2011-09-18T16:56:00.007+01:00

As my nephew, The Boy Wonder, is what I admiringly term ‘a cheesecake hoover’, he warmly received my idea of a cheesecake fortress for his 14^th birthday cake. This idea developed from his initial request of “the biggest cheesecake you have ever made”.

Raspberry:

These cheesecakes are all made from the same “no bake” cheesecake recipe. It’s quick and easy to make and you end up with a light, delicious cheesecake that can hold its own alongside any fancier recipes.

Blackberry:

The recipe below sets out the basic quantities to make a 20cm cheesecake, but I doubled those to make the base, a 27cm beast! I then made a double batch and divided it up before adding different flavours to make the turrets – I simply made foil rings to keep them in shape. I toyed with using food rings but couldn’t face all the washing up when the cheesecakes were freed!

I am very lucky to have a fab foodie friend, the wonderful Miz Ratti who brought me back a most welcome gift from Germany – Philadelphia cream cheese mixed with Milka chocolate. Why isn’t this available in the UK? Why????? The task of making a chocolate cheesecake suddenly becomes laughably easy!

Chocolate:

Along with the chocolate ‘turret’ cheesecakes, I also made smooth peanut butter flavoured (with chocolate covered peanuts mixed in), blackberry, pineapple (simply a small tin of crushed pineapple) and raspberry flavours. The base (aka the 27cm beast) was a classic vanilla.

Peanut butter:

Pineapple:

You never have to worry about making too much cheesecake (is that even possible? I almost hate myself for typing that!) as it freezes well. To make it even easier, cut the slices and wrap them individually then you only need defrost what you want and the rest is safe for another day.

Happy 14^th birthday Boy Wonder!

Ingredients

For the basic cheesecake mixture (this will make a 20cm round cheesecake, or 5 of the mini's I've made here):

250g digestive biscuits
100g unsalted butter
600g cream cheese – I used Philadelphia
100g icing sugar
284ml double cream

Suggested flavourings: Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod, 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter, 3 tablespoons fruit puree, small tin of strained crushed pineapple.

Method

Place the ring from a 20cm round springform tin on the plate you’ll server the cheesecake from. Wrap the ring in either clingfilm or greaseproof paper to ensure that you can free the cheesecake easily.

Butter and bics in the food processor - pulse it until the butter is distributed.

Use the crumbs to line the base of the cheesecake. Press them down onto the plate but not so hard that you create biscuity concrete!

Refrigerate while making the cheesecake.

Slice the vanilla pod in half and remove the seeds. (if you are using any other flavourings this is the time to add them)

Place seeds in a bowl along with the cream cheese and icing sugar and beat until smooth and well combined.

Pour in the cream and beat until the mixture is completely combined.

Spoon over the biscuit base and level.

Leave to set overnight in the refrigerator.

Lattice topped peach pie

2011-09-11T16:59:00.003+01:00

This pie is my one last nod to summer baking, before my thoughts turn to more autumnal flavours. There is something very homely, yet at the same time elegant, about a lattice topped pie.

Normally I will use tinned peaches, but I think here you really need the fresh as you need them to bake down and release juices into the honey; I’m not sure that tinned peaches would behave the same way.

Here are the peaches cooking in honey and cinnamon. It looks a lot but it does cook down quite a lot and you end up with a quantity just enough for a generous pie (the ONLY kind of pie worth having!):

I cannot recommend the “boiling water” tip enough for peeling ripe peaches. The reason I usually use tinned peaches is because they are smooth and perfect, whereas when I’ve tried to peel a peach it comes out looking somewhat butchered. Look how perfect these are:

Simply pouring boiling water over the peaches and leaving them for one minute has a magical effect – rinse the peaches off in cold water and the peel almost falls off between your fingers. One of those strangely enjoyable tasks!

The lattice top isn’t as scary as you’d think as long as you’re methodical and alternate which strips of pastry you lift. At this point I had planned on photographing the progress of my lattice on the pie....however, moments before I started to make the lattice I had dropped almost a pint of thick double cream into my fridge and it kindly decided to pool under the crisper drawers; an area you can only access by removing most of the shelves in the fridge. On the plus side, I did surprise (impress?) myself with just how many swear words I know. Consequently, because of my cream fuelled rage, I totally forgot to take photos. But there are lots of useful aides on youtube and I really liked this one.

I used this pastry wheel to get the nice edge to the lattice strips. One wheel is plain, the other crimped. I was in a “crimped” sort of mood so went for that!

This was a lovely pie/tart – the gentle spicing and the honey mixed with peach juice gave an almost fruity butterscotch element. If you don’t fancy a lattice top you could make a ‘solid’ pastry lid or cut shapes of pastry and just lay them on the top.

Ingredients

For the peach filling:
7-8 fresh ripe peaches, peeled, stoned and sliced into wedges
5 tablespoons runny honey
100g caster sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 ½ tablespoons plain flour

For the pastry (this is comfortably more than you will need, simply either freeze any leftover pastry or make some bonus jam tarts):
500g plain flour
250g unsalted butter, diced
2 teaspoon milk or water (I used milk)
2 eggs

To sprinkle on top of the pie for baking: a handful of caster sugar

To serve: custard or thick cream

Method

Start by making the peach filling: if your peaches won’t peel easily, pour boiling water over them, leave them for a minute or so, then remove them from the hot water, run under the cold tap and voila – easy peeling! You could also microwave them for 15 seconds then leave to stand for 2 minutes before peeling – I haven’t tried this method though.

Place the peach wedges (aim to cut each peach into about 12 slices, more if you can) in a pan along with the honey and cook over a gentle heat until the peaches soften and the honey thickens. Stir occasionally; it will take about 10 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and cinnamon.

Add the flour gradually until the liquid starts to thicken – you might not need it all - and bring the mixture back to a simmer.

Simmer gently until the flour has thickened the liquid – this will take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Spoon into a container and cover with clingfilm.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or, ideally, overnight.

To make the pastry: pulse the flour and butter in a food processor until you have crumbs.

Add the egg and milk and pulse again until the pastry clumps but does not form a ball – be careful not to overwork it.

Tip the dough onto a sheet of clingfilm and kneed it just enough to form a ball.

Cut the ball in half (make one half a bit more generous than the other), then for each ‘half’ - flatten, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out the larger half of chilled dough between two sheets of clingfilm. I didn’t need to add any extra flour. Use one sheet of the clingfilm to lift the pastry to line a 25cm pie pan or a loose bottomed flan tin.

There is no need to grease the pan as the pastry is buttery and will not stick.

Press the pastry into the pan and trim off any excess pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/fan oven 180˚C/390˚F/Gas mark 6.

Spoon the chilled peach filling into the pie case.

Roll out the remaining ball of pastry and cut 14 strips approximately 2cm wide.

Lay the longest strip across the centre of the pie and work outwards ensuring you have a regular under/over pattern. If you need more help then there are many guides on youtube – this is a good one.

Brush some milk, or beaten egg over the lattice top and sprinkle with a handful of sugar.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and cooked.

Leave to cool, in the tin, on a wire rack.

Serve either at room temperature with thick cream, or warm with custard.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Golden rum cake

2011-09-04T10:11:00.004+01:00

Today I celebrate The Caked Crusader’s 4^th birthday. It doesn’t feel that long ago that I received an ‘all you need to know about blogging’ masterclass from my friend Soo but I guess time flies when you’re having fun.

Now I’ll admit that I have one or two cookery books in my possession but that doesn’t mean I’ll turn away new ones! When Quirk books kindly offered a free copy of Krystina Castella’s “Booze Cakes” I was delighted; it was a book that had been on my radar for some time. Further, as luck would have it, I’d just purchased a new bundt tin (a Wilton Dimensions Cascade tin) and was desperate to try it out!

The golden rum cake recipe stood out to me as I have a passion for rum cake, borne of many lovely work trips to the Bahamas and memories of the wonderfully aromatic Tortuga Rum Cakes shop. With some shame, I can confess that, on one trip, I had to buy an extra suitcase while I was out there, in order to bring all my purchases back – a case full of rum cakes (nb. I am not exaggerating for comedic effect; I speak the cold hard truth). This recipe gets pretty close to those heavenly creations.

I have made a rum cake before (recipe can be found here) but it was more of a nutty rum cake. This one replicates the more yellow, pudding-y rum cakes and has rather more booze in it! You can see the rum saturation in this slice:

From memory, this is the first cake I’ve ever made where I think it needs to come with a “drink and drive” warning. Because the rum glaze contains rum where the alcohol isn’t cooked out, it does pack a punch. Bear it in mind if you’re partaking in this cake and have already had a beverage or two. Be safe out there, people!

I think you could cut back on the quantities in the glaze if you weren’t that into rum. Some of my eaters found it too strong...while others loved it. The cake definitely mellows with age and the punchy strength of the rum softens; the cake is huuuuuge but this doesn’t matter because a) it’s heavenly, and b) it keeps a week in an airtight container.

As the recipes in the book are American, they are only given in cups. I have converted them to metric but include the cups for anyone who prefers them.

I finish on a more serious note. My friend, Soo, the one I have to thank for getting me into blogging and introducing me to a whole new world is supporting a really important charity – the Canadian Parkinson’s Society. The charity funds research into Parkinson’s and I’m sure you’ll all agree that any findings will benefit sufferers the world over. You can read more about it and make donations via Soo’s site.

Just one last sweetener to add; Soo being Soo, she’s offering great gifts (awesome earrings that she’s made) for anyone donating over $10 (that’s about £6) and also entry into a prize draw for anyone who donates.

Ingredients

For the cake:

230g / 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
400g / 2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
375g / 3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
250ml / 1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
180ml / ¾ cup golden rum – I used Mount Gay Golden rum (oh Tortuga – why don’t you export?)

For the glaze:

60g / 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
200g / 1 cup caster sugar
63ml / ¼ cup water
125ml / ½ cup golden rum

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan oven 160˚C/350˚F/Gas mark 4

Grease a 9-10” bundt tin (that’s approx 23-25cm). As bundt tins have fine details and I wanted the cake to retain those, I used a cake release spray – it gets into the nooks and crannies of complicated moulds better.

Cream together the butter and sugar – dedicate a lot of time to this, until the batter turns pale and light textured – almost like whipped cream. I can sometimes spend 10 minutes or more on this stage.

Beat in the eggs one at a time; if it looks like the mix might curdle add some of the flour.

Combine the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.

In a jug, combine the milk, vanilla and rum.

Beat about a third of the flour mix into the batter, followed by a third of the milk mix.

Repeat twice more until all the ingredients are combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Check the cake after 50 minutes as mine only needed 55 minutes cooking time.

Leave to cool, still in the tin, on a wire rack.

Now make the glaze: melt the butter over a low heat.

Stir in the sugar and water and slowly bring to the boil.

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring all the time.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum.

Pour the glaze over the cake while it’s still in the tin – this forces the cake to absorb all the liquid. Pour gently and slowly as it’s possible that the cake might not absorb it all in one go and you might have to stop and give it time to recover!

Leave to cool completely (still in the tin) before de-tinning onto a plate and storing in an airtight tin.

Serve in generous slices – I don’t think it needs any accompaniment but whipped cream is an option!

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Coconut almond macarons

2011-08-28T17:09:00.003+01:00

I can take a hint; for as long as I can remember whenever I have mused out loud what to bake Mr CC has helpfully suggested, “macarons”. Much as I love macarons – their crisp, light shells sandwiching rich delights – I have been a little wary of making them. They seem so….high maintenance….so needy.

I’ve read on many a website that macarons hate humidity...so, of course, I end up baking them on one of the most humid weekends of the year. This isn’t as bad a tactic as it sounds – if they succeed I am a baking genius who can defy all the odds; if they fail it’s the stupid weather’s fault!

But, never let it be said I shy away from a challenge. Armed with my new non-stick macaron mats from Squires I got to work.

I’m torn as to my favourite flavour macaron from Laduree; it’s either coconut or chestnut. Sadly, both are seasonal flavours rather than all-year round, so for my first attempt at macarosn I opted for coconut. The fact that they were sandwiched with white rum white chocolate Ganache may have been a factor!

OK, so they’re maybe not as uniform or pretty as the lovelies that you see for sale at Laduree or Pierre Herme, but they’re not bad! And they taste heavenly.

As is often the way with much in life, what you fear and dread most actually turns out fine. I enjoyed making these and, while they’re not a quick bake, I think they’re worth the work. Oh yes, did I mention? In your face, weather!

Ingredients

For the macaron shells:

90g ground almonds
20g desiccated coconut
3 egg whites
55g caster sugar
½ teaspoon coconut extract
200g icing sugar, sifted

For the Ganache filling:

60ml single cream
150g white chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons coconut liqueur – I used Malibu

Method

Start by placing the ground almonds and desiccated coconut into a food processor and blitz until you have finely ground powder.

Tip into a bowl and put to one side.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper or macaron mats (see above).

Beat the egg whites until you have soft peaks.

Add the caster sugar and coconut extract and beat further until the sugar has dissolved (rub a small amount of the mix between your fingers – if you can feel grains it needs more beating).

Fold in half the icing sugar, ground almonds and coconut.

Fold in the rest of the icing sugar, ground almonds and coconut – it’s easier to do it in two lots.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag, which has a round nozzle – about 2cm is ideal.

Pipe rounds approx 3cm across leaving a gap between them to allow for spreading. Don’t expect the mixture to be firm like buttercream; it’s firm enough to hold its shape but it will run out of the icing bag without you squeezing so work quickly and precisely.

Lightly tap the baking sheets on the work top to encourage the macarons to spread a little. At this point the macarons are sticky and, if you tap you finger on one, some of the mix will come away.

Leave to stand for 30-40 minutes. This is important as they need to develop a thin skin and their “foot”. If you tap the macaron again, you will feel the shell and nothing will stick to your finger.

Preheat the oven to 150˚C/fan oven 130˚C/300˚F/Gas mark 2.

Bake the macarons for approximately 25 minutes or until they have a firm-ish shell but aren’t brown. I gave them 15 minutes, then turned the trays and gave a further 10 minutes – they must be cooked otherwise they won’t lift cleanly off the baking sheet.

Leave to cool, on their trays, on a wire rack.

When cool, they can be stored in an airtight container. Only fill and sandwich them on the day of serving.

To make the Ganache filling: bring the cream to the boil over a low heat.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate.

Stir until melted and smooth.

Stir in the liqueur.

Pour into a bowl and refrigerate for approximately 20 minutes, or, until the Ganache is smooth enough to spread. I found that 10 minutes in the freezer got the ganache to a perfect spreadable consistency.

Sandwich the macarons using the Ganache.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

Damson Jelly

2011-08-24T08:39:00.006+01:00

Please stop sniggering long enough to read this very serious post on jelly making! Mr CC and I went to a local antiques fair last month and I was delighted to find a ceramic cone jelly mould. Once I’d checked it over for cracks and found none, I was so excited I almost forgot to haggle. Almost! My vintage mould cost me £12, which seems ridiculously cheap.

Making a jelly with damsons as beautiful as these cannot result in anything less than deliciousness!

Ceramic, like glass, can be a nightmare for turning out jellies therefore I made this jelly much firmer set than I usually would. Also, this mould is tall and tapers towards the top making it far less stable than a lower, rounder jelly. I gave the very tip of the mould a squirt of cake release spray and I think this helped (you don’t taste it).

Turning out a jelly is always a heart in your mouth moment but thankfully, this one came out perfectly. As you can see, it suffered a little with “Brewer’s droop” but that didn’t matter as it caused mirth all round...a little too much mirth perhaps, we reverted to 5 year olds. And yes, I am fully aware of what it looks like!

Damson plums have such a lovely fruity flavour that they are perfectly suited to jams and jellies. Didn’t it come out a pretty colour?

Ingredients

Note – this is the basic quantity for the jelly – you can scale it up as required but allow extra setting time. For my mould I used 1.5x the quantities.
8 leaves gelatine
750g damsons – washed, but no need to stone
225g caster sugar
600ml cold water

To serve: cream

Method

Start by soaking the gelatine leaves in cold water until they are soft.
Place the damsons, sugar and water in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
Simmer further and mash the damsons with a spoon or – and I found this really productive – the masher you’d use to make mash potato.
The stones will naturally come out of the fruit and be captured in the next stage.
Pass through a sieve and return the liquid to a clean pan.
Heat gently and then remove the pan from the heat.
Squeeze all the water from the gelatine and whisk into the damson juice – it will dissolve very quickly.
Leave the jelly to cool a little.
Pass through a sieve into your chosen mould – sieving again will strain out any bits that passed through first time.
Chill until set – I left overnight.
Turn out of the jelly mould any way that you find works for you! For this ceramic mould we stood it in warm water for a minute then gave it a vigorous shake!
Serve with cream.
Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.
Eat.

Damson sponge sandwich with cheesecake filling

2011-08-21T17:23:00.004+01:00

The strangely changeable weather we’ve had this summer has resulted in a bumper crop on my parents’ damson tree. The branches are heaving with so many damson plums that some are almost reaching down to the ground.

There is so much fruit that the damsons are clumping together and resemble giant bunches of grapes:

This cake came about because I couldn’t decide whether to make a sponge cake or a cheesecake. Of course, the answer was obvious – combine them so you get both! I’ve never really ‘got’ the concept of self deprivation.....

Each sponge layer is, in itself, an upside down cake – the damsons hide underneath the batter and become caramelised and sticky during baking. When the cakes are de-tinned, the damsons become the top of the cake.

Sandwiching a sponge with cheesecake is ridiculously decadent and I genuinely haven’t seen any other recipes that do it. My conclusion was that I am in a league of my own for self-indulgence!

I cannot recommend this recipe enough – the cheesecake filling works so well with the sponge and the flavours and textures of each seemed enhanced. Absolutely yummy!

Proving I can be as prone to arty photos as the next person, here’s the juice and sugar pooling in a damson half. Doesn’t it look pretty?

Hopefully by now, you’ve picked up on my ethos being “cake for all”. Some people in my family either don’t like (what can I say? Every family has a couple of ‘crazies’!), or can’t eat, cheesecake so I made another cake using the ingredients and method below but I made it all in one deep 20cm tin and omitted the cheesecake filling.

Here’s what I did: Placed all the damsons (they will form two tiers) in the bottom of the tin, made the batter and spread it over the damsons. Bake for approximately 35 minutes and serve in generous slices with whipped cream. Cake for all!

Ingredients

For the cake:
Approx 16 damson plums, or plums, washed, cut in half and de-stoned (damson plums are small – similar in size and shape to Victoria plums)
200g caster sugar, plus 2 extra tablespoons
200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 eggs
200g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons milk

For the filling:
1 vanilla pod
300g cream cheese – I used Philadelphia
50g icing sugar
150ml double cream

For decoration:
300ml double cream, whipped

Method

Preheat the oven to 190˚C/fan oven 170˚C/375˚F/Gas mark 5.

Line two 20cm loose bottomed sandwich tins with baking paper ensuring that the paper comes up above the height of the tin.

Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar in the bottom of each tin then arrange the damsons, cut side down, into the tin

Place the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Take your time over this stage and only move on when the mixture starts to resemble whipped cream – it will take 10 minutes or so.

Beat in the eggs one at a time; if it looks like the mixture might curdle add some of the flour.

Fold in the flour, baking powder and milk.

Spoon the mixture into the tins – taking care not to disturb the damsons - and level the surface.

Place the cake tins on a baking sheet then place in the oven. Normally I put my baking tins straight onto the oven shelf, but when the cake might leak juice I take an extra precaution!

Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the batter comes out cleanly. Mine took 40 minutes – I think the plums bubbling away with their juice under the batter means it takes longer!

Leave to cool in the tins until cool enough to de-tin; then leave to cool completely on a wire rack. The sponges can be made a day ahead of serving.

Now make the cheesecake filling, this can also be made a day ahead: Slice the vanilla pod in half and remove the seeds.

Place seeds in a bowl along with the cream cheese and icing sugar and beat until smooth and well combined.

Pour in the cream and beat until the mixture is completely combined.

Spoon into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate.

On the day of serving build the sponge: place one of the sponges on a plate, damsons on the top, and spread with the cheesecake filling (if the cheesecake filling is stiff beat it with a spoon until it softens enough to spread).

Place remaining sponge on top, also damsons on the top.

Refrigerate until serving – try to remember to take the cake from the fridge 20 minutes or so in advance of serving so the flavours can come through.

Serve with whipped cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.

The Caked Crusader

Sultana and cinnamon sandwich cake

White chocolate, cranberry and oatmeal biscuits

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Raspberry bakewell cake

Blue Hawaiian cupcakes

Coconut and chocolate biscuits

Cashew puffies

Snowball jellies

Spiced treacle cake

Christmas cake

Father Christmas honey and almond biscuits

Maraschino cherry and banana loaf

History Corner - Coconut and almond cake

Quick and easy shortbread

Pineapple birthday cake

There are quite a few processes to this cake but none are difficult and can, except for the buttercream, be made in advance. I made each element on a different day so it didn’t take that long. I made them in the order: curd, sponge, meringue, buttercream.

The mini meringues looked so cute on the baking sheet – take care to place them on the cake at the last minute as they go soft quickly when they hit the buttercream.

I’ve had several comments and emails that people find Swiss meringue buttercream an elusive technique to master, so I took photos and made a note of timings while I made it. Here’s the journey:

Next, transfer to a clean bowl for whisking. I used my kitchenaid. Whisk until the egg white is fluffy and stiff and – most importantly – until it is cool. If you add the butter to hot egg you will get a rather yucky mess. Mine took 9 minutes of whisking at a high speed:

KEEP GOING! If you keep beating – at a high speed – you will suddenly notice the buttercream firm up and start to look like whipped cream. Mine took 10 minutes. Here it is thick and whipped up:

The next thing to do is beat in any flavouring/jam/curd that you’re using to flavour the buttercream. Don’t add too much as you don’t want to risk making it wet and sloppy. I added my pineapple curd while the beater was still running. I gave the mix a further 5 minutes of beating.

You should now have light, whipped, smooth mousselike cream – the most heavenly of buttercreams! Pipe over cupcakes or use to sandwich together a layer cake. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the pineapple curd:

2 egg yolks (keep the whites for the buttercream!)200ml pineapple juice50g caster sugar25g cornflour

For the cake:250g unsalted butter, at room temperature220g caster sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract4 eggs80ml milk300g self raising flour227g can of pineapple chunks – drained and chopped smaller

To decorate: Large can of pineapple rings or chunks

For the mini meringues:

2 egg whites½ teaspoon cream of tartar60g caster sugar

Cream buttons

Rocky road cupcakes

Yorkshire parkin

Peanut butter cookies with ganache filling

Coble cake

Ginger and chilli biscuits

Morello cherry sponge cake

The Caked Crusader plaque...made by a talented friend!

History Corner – Empress cakes

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Ginger cake

Macmillan Cancer Support Coconut Cake

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Classic Victoria sponge…with buttercream

Cheesecake fortress – a birthday cake

Lattice topped peach pie

Golden rum cake

Coconut almond macarons

Damson Jelly

Damson sponge sandwich with cheesecake filling

2 egg yolks (keep the whites for the buttercream!)
200ml pineapple juice
50g caster sugar
25g cornflour

For the cake:
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
220g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
80ml milk
300g self raising flour
227g can of pineapple chunks – drained and chopped smaller

2 egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
60g caster sugar