Challenge #2 Maple Syrup Cake

So recipe number 2 from Mary Berry's baking Bible was maple syrup cake. The main ingredients were maple syrup (obviously), pecan nuts and orange rind. I was a huge fan of the instructions which were pretty much 'measure all ingredients into a large bowl and mix together'.

All in all it was pretty straight forward to make but it takes a long time to cook in the oven (1hour and a  half) as it's made in a deep 8 inch cake tin. 

Then you have to slice it into 3 layers (mine were a bit dodgy but you can't notice once it's assembled).

The cream filling and coating was also easy to make - double cream whisked to spreading consistency and then maple syrup folded in. 

And then to finish it all off you sprinkle grated orange rind to the top. 

It was a really nice cake, subtle flavours and not too sweet or heavy (surprisingly, considering it was smothered with cream!!!).

The only annoying thing is having to store it in the fridge!...

Challenge #1 Lemon Swiss Roll

So I cheated and had 2 goes at this. The 1st one ended up as a lemon swiss pyramid and I accidently used moldy flour (so I didn't even get a chance to eat any!). 

 The filling was lovely and easy - shop bought lemon curd...

Attempt number 2 came out better. I managed to make it a roll shape and I used edible flour (!). The sponge could have done with a few more minutes in the oven as it stuck to the paper when I rolled it up (hence the bumpy outside). 

It tasted nice and was really light. The sponge was fat free - just eggs, sugar, lemon rind and flour.

The Mary Berry Baking Challenge

The Mary Berry Baking Challenge - I am going to attempt to work through my favourite recipe book 'Mary Berry's Baking Bible'. I've always wanted to do something like this since I watched the film Julia and Julia, and last week I came across an article about someone who had done the same thing. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2191208/Mary-Berry-helped-bake-away-blues.html

I'm going to skip the ones I've already done (like victoria sponges etc). So the first recipe is.....(drum roll please).......Lemon Swiss Roll. Watch this space!

3 Layer Chocolate Cake

I've had some (girl) friends staying with me this week whilst my husband is away in Italy, so I thought it was only polite to make a massive chocolate cake with some pretty sprinkles.

It was a really light sponge using milk and sunflower oil instead of butter. Very moist but airy. Then I loaded it with buttercream mixed in with melted dark chocolate.

Just what the doctor ordered!

Pre sprinkles...

Cake Painting Course

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to attend a Nevie Pie cake painting course last week in Warrington.

http://neviepiecakes.com/.

I was given a cake dummy covered in fondant icing, 3 paint brushes, a palette & step by step instruction and tips.

It was so much fun, and the result is so effective. I'm looking forward to trying out my own designs soon. We were also taught how to paint small flowers on round disks that you can use on cupcakes.

It turns out can get white powder/paint for cakes called super white. You can use it as paint (like we did) AND to make buttercream white instead of yellow!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sugarflair-Superwhite-Whitening-Powder-20g-Food-Colouring-Cake-Decoration-/170839869042

Clever stuff!

Cheerful Wedding Cupcakes

Yesterday was the wedding of some super cool friends of mine Jon and Kas. They asked me to make 200 cupcakes for their reception. So this week has been a busy bakathon. I've never made more than 150. Thankfully my very kind friend Anna lent me her big kitchen which made the mission so much easier (thanks again Anna!) and I had my trusty assistant Rachel on hand to help reload the oven (thanks Shanners!). It was very fun. They let me loose on sprinkles, glitter, polka dots and lots of colour. Here are lots and lots of photos...

I used a simple and light victoria sponge and vanilla buttercream recipe - these were all about the visual impact!

The polka dot baking cups are from here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-x-Rainbow-Polka-Dot-Pleated-Baking-Cups-Muffin-Cupcake-Cases-Party-Cups-Bowls-/230827362571?pt=Uk_Crafts_Cake_Decorating_MJ&hash=item35be62090b#ht_2008wt_1129

I'm sending these to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Kate of What Kate Baked and Karen ofLavender and Lovage, as their theme this month is cupcakes and muffins.

Lemon Drizzle Tray Bake

One of my favourite recipe books is Mary Berry's Baking Bible. It is my favourite because I know that whatever recipe I choose - it'll be awesome.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mary-Berrys-Baking-Bible-Berry/dp/1846077850

I had some lemons that needed using up so I looked up 'lemons' in the (baking) Bible and out popped a lemon drizzle tray bake recipe. Which is basically a lemon drizzle cake that isn't baked in a loaf tin and therefore doesn't take donkey years to cook.

And as usual, it turned out great (because of her recipes - not blowing my own trumpet!).  It has a really yummy crunchy topping. Here's the recipe....I recommend it.

225g softened butter

225g caster sugar

275g self raising flour

2 level teaspoons baking powder

4 large eggs

4 tablespoons milk

Finley grated rind of 2 lemons

Crunchy topping

175g granulated sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and beat until well mixed3. Bake for 35-40 minutes (or until the cake starts to come away from the sides and is springy)4. Let it cool a little but whilst it's still warm mix the crunchy topping sugar and lemon juice together and pour over the cake.5. Leave to cool completely and then consume

DIY Retirement Cake

My first 12 incher! Not sure my kitchen was quite prepared for the carnage that this caused. 

18 eggs. 1kg of sugar. 1Kg of flour. Crazy.