Mary Berry's Whole Orange Spice Cake

Whole Orange Spice Cake

I took this recipe from Mary Berry's Christmas Collection cookery book which I've had since it first came out in 2006, although there is now an updated version.

It's an easy cake to make but one which requires using a food processor.  My small processor just coped with the amount of batter mix.

The skin was too thick and my orange had to be cooked for an hour or so

The orange should be a thin skinned variety otherwise it won't cook down enough in 20 minutes and will process into hard chunks of orange.

It's a huge cake, well it is for 2 people, I think it will feed 12 easily and because it freezes well without the icing sugar topping, it makes a very inexpensive cake to feed a crowd over Christmas and New Year. If I made the cake again I'd definitely make some type of orange topping rather than the dusting of icing sugar. The cake is very light and moist and I served my cake with double cream.

The star template is reusable and came in an assorted pack from Lidl.

I line the base and sides of my sandwich tins
 to ensure the cake doesn't stick to the tin

The recipe can be found on the Mary Berry website.

Blackberry Buttermilk Sponge

The sponge has a lovely crunchy demerara sugar topping

This easy to make blackberry buttermilk sponge has a lovely tender crumb and if you can get hedgerow blackberries the cake will taste even better. My blackberries came from the supermarket, they were absolutely fine (but make sure they aren't dessert blackberries) or raspberries would be good to use too. The sponge is best served warm and can be reheated gently in the microwave.

I know sometimes it's not convenient to buy buttermilk and a buttermilk substitute can be made by taking 250ml milk (not semi-skimmed) and pouring onto 1 tablespoon of either white wine vinegar or lemon juice and leave to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Recipe is from The Great British Bake Off Everyday cookbook and they recommend serving the sponge with Hot Berry Sauce (recipe in the book). The cake is quite sweet and I think the berry sauce would counteract the sweetness. I served my cake with a dollop of cream.

Raspberry, Chocolate and Almond Cake

It made a welcome change to make a cake that isn't either filled or covered in buttercream but we did serve the cake warm with double cream poured over, and very nice it was too.

Chocolate and raspberries go really well together, the cake will keep covered for a few days in the fridge. It slices well and will freeze too.

The cake testers gave this one the thumbs up.......

I'll let you take a peek behind the curtains of Kitchen Delights new kitchen sometime in September, the finishing touches are taking longer than we anticipated.

In the meantime to make this delicious cake -

You will need:

150g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs
150g self-raising flour
50ml milk
150g ground almonds
135g dark chocolate chips
150g frozen raspberries
25g flaked almonds
Icing sugar
Double cream to serve

1. Grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin.
2. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
3. Beat the caster sugar and butter together until it is a light and fluffy consistency.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time and add a tablespoon of flour with the last egg, beating well.  Add the milk and keep on beating.
5. Sieve the flour over the egg mixture and fold in.  Add the ground almonds and chocolate chips and fold these in to the batter.  Now carefully fold in the frozen raspberries.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.
7. Bake for 60 minutes or until cooked through.  Cool and then release the tin and leave on a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Sieve the icing sugar and dust over the cake.
9. Best served with cream.

Banana Bread - Nigella Lawson Recipe

After cooling cover in cling wrap and place the cake in the fridge,
 slice and open freeze

Good news! I now have a working kitchen, now for the bad news, the kitchen is still to be finished. There is decorating taking place by my husband, a few more electrics to be fitted and various other bits and pieces.

I'm very pleased with the refit, it hasn't been fun being without a kitchen for a couple of weeks or so. I haven't a clue where anything is kept and I'm basically messing about all the time looking for stuff or moving things to another place.

The cooker is taking some getting used to but to be fair I haven't had much time to road test and get to know it.

Fresh from the oven

I thought I would treat my husband to one of his favourite cakes and make this lovely banana bread recipe by Nigella Lawson from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'. I love the walnuts in the recipe, the heady vanilla extract and the rum soaked sultanas. Those forgotten black bananas in the fruit bowl are best for this to give the cake a light texture.

I've made this cake many times over the years and I definitely prefer to overcook the cake slightly to produce a crust which then softens as the cake becomes sticky. The perfect cake for slicing, lunch boxes and picnics.  This is quite a large loaf cake and I like to slice it and open freeze for another day - the cake is too large for us to get through and I've got my waistline to think of!

The banana bread recipe can be found on Nigella's website.

Cherry and Almond Victoria Sandwich: Recipe

Today is World Baking Day - I didn't #bakebrave and step out of my comfort zone because I was drawn towards this lovely cake after seeing it on the front cover of Waitrose Kitchen May Magazine.

These days I'm not quite so keen on cakes slathered in cream, I prefer to whip up a small pot of whipping cream, then add an equal amount of natural yogurt to the cream and whip again until thick. Once you have tried the cream and yogurt filling I think you may well find you will always use this method.

A while back I was chosen to be a World Baking Day Ambassador and I chose to make a chocolate heart cake for this event. A couple of people on twitter have kindly sent me tweets with photographs of their chocolate heart cakes and I'm really pleased they had fun baking my cake.

Adapted Recipe

225g margarine
225g caster sugar
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp flaked almonds

For the filling:

425g can black cherries in light syrup (drained and juice reserved)
Approx 1 tsp arrowroot
150ml whipping cream
150ml natural yogurt
Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven 180ºC. Grease 2 x 18cm sandwich tins, base line with parchment paper.  Dust the inside of the cake tin with flour and tip out the surplus flour.
2. In a large bowl add the butter, caster sugar, sieved flour, baking powder, eggs, almond extract and milk.  Using an electric hand whisk, beat for 2 minutes until smooth.
3. Divide the batter between the two tins, scatter the flaked almonds over one of the cakes.
4. Bake for 25 minutes until golden.  Leave the cooked cakes in the tins for 10 minutes.  Turn out and place on a cooling rack.
5. To make the filling:  Put 1 tsp arrowroot into a small basin and mix to a paste with a few teaspoons of the reserved cherry syrup.  Place the drained cherries into a small pan with approx four tablespoons of the reserved syrup and heat gently.  Add the arrowroot mixture to the pan and stir to thicken.  If it is too thick add more of the syrup, or too thin mix more arrowroot with a few teaspoons of reserved syrup and add again to the pan.  Remove from the heat and cool.
6. Whisk the cream until floppy add the yogurt, whisk again until floppy.
7. On the base cake spread over the cherry compote.  Top with the cream mixture.
8. Place the cake sprinkled with almonds top.  Dust with the icing sugar.

Individual Carrot Cakes

Individual Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I can always be tempted by carrot cake, they are a great adult favourite here and a few carrot cake postings can be found on my blog.  A while back I visited a lovely coffee shop in East Dulwich, they had made a huge tray of amazing carrot cake and I would have happily taken the tray home with me. For me, great coffee and a slice of carrot cake are a match made in heaven.

Spray the tins with cake release and fill three quarters full with cake batter.

This recipe isn't too sweet, is light in texture and packed full of flavour - perfect for us.

Mini bundt tins are recommended for this recipe but I used my tin from TKMaxx and half the recommended quantity of ingredients to make six cakes.

The recipe can be found on Edd Kimber's blog - Edd is a past winner of BBC2's Great British Bake Off.

Links to other cake postings:
Passion Cake
Mini Carrot Cakes
Mini Carrot Cakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

The bundt tins recommended by Edd can be purchased from Amazon.

World Baking Day 2013 - Chocolate Heart Cake: Recipe

Chocolate Heart Cake

I have been asked to take part in World Baking Day which is sponsored by Stork, and to also be an ambassador for this wonderful annual event.  World Baking Day is on Sunday 19th May, 2013 - they are asking us all to bake for fun, bake with friends and Bake Brave, so let's all join together and bake a cake.

I have had a passion for cake ever since I was a child - baking cakes is a fun activity and has always been high on my list of things I most enjoy, and best of all you get to eat a piece of the cake you have baked.

I never like my everyday cakes to look as though they have come off a production line and I like my cake to look homemade.  I haven't spent hours and hours making the perfect bake but I've had a fun afternoon and I get to eat a wonderful slice of cake made in my own kitchen - it simply can't be beaten.

I think some people are put off baking cakes because they believe you need lots of fancy baking equipment, but you only need a bowl, a baking tin and a set of kitchen scales. Try using your hands to mix the cake batter, this method produces fabulous cakes and is fun and messy too, so trust me you don't even need to own a wooden spoon.

You will need:  2 x 18cm round shallow cake tins greased, base lined and coat the tins with a fine dusting of cocoa powder.

175g Stork tub
175g caster sugar
150g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs

Filling: Unsweetened apricot jam
Icing: 50g dark chocolate, 15g Stork packet, 2 tablespoons milk
Chocolate Hearts:  Good quality white cooking chocolate.
Decoration: Edible gold leaf and edible gold glitter.

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
2. Place the Stork, caster sugar and eggs into a mixing bowl.  Sift over the self-raising flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.  With an electric mixer beat everything together for 2 minutes or until smooth.
3. Divide the mixture equally between the two cake tins and spread out evenly.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out on to a cooling tray.
6. Icing: Place all the icing ingredients into a bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water.  Stir until melted and smooth.  Cool and spread over the top of the cake. This produces a matt icing.
7. Chocolate Hearts:  Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place 75g broken chocolate into a bowl, place over a pan of simmering water.  Allow the chocolate to melt without stirring.  When the chocolate has melted stir until smooth.  Place heaped teaspoons of melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread to make circles.  Place in the fridge to set. When set take a small heart cutter and cut out heart shapes. Dab a small amount of leftover melted chocolate to the underside of the hearts and place onto the cake.
8. Decorate with gold leaf and edible glitter.

Thank you to Stork for the fabulous baking set.

Mary Berry's Gingerbread Traybake - Recipe

A traybake can be made in any square or rectangular tin and you can increase or decrease the quantities to your hearts content. I love a traybake because of its versatility.  A traybake doesn't have to be a cake, it can be a pudding too, cut into squares and open freeze for a rainy day. It was Mary Berry who back in the day first introduced me to the wonders of a traybake bake, and true to say it lost favour for many, many years.

Iced and decorated gingerbread.

The batter waiting to go into the oven for baking.

When I first married I used to watch her on TV (I was a child bride!),  I then went on to purchase my first cookery book, which was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookery Book and I can remember they updated this quite a few years after it first came out.  When Mary contributed to Home & Freezer Digest I used to buy this from the newsagents and can remember saving every copy.

I bought a copy of Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook and gave my children a copy of this too, to use for reference, and hopefully cook a few recipes.  My daughters husband uses this cookery book and makes a fabulous Potato Dauphinoise, another favourite is Potato Lyonnaise, he has also turned out a few memorable starters using recipes from this book.

Some of my Mary Berry cookery books - do you have a collection too?

There are a few recipes on my site that I have cooked from Mary Berry cookbooks and they are all delicious.  One of my favourites is her Lamb Tagine and this is one of the best tagine recipes ever. A couple of her books on my wish list are Mary Berry's Family Sunday Lunches and her latest cookbook, Mary Berry at Home.

The following recipe is taken from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book - I always halve this quantity and use a 18 x 28cm tin.  Freeze un-iced.

Slightly adapted recipe.  For this quantity of mixture you will need a 30 x 23cm tin lined with parchment paper.

275g golden syrup
275g black treacle
225g dark molasses sugar
225g unsalted butter
450g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice
2 rounded teaspoons ground ginger
4 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons milk

For the icing:
225g icing sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
50g crystallised ginger finely chopped.

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas 3.
2. Measure the syrup, treacle, sugar and butter into a large pan.  Heat very gently until the butter has melted.  Remove from the heat and stir in the flour and spices.  Add the beaten eggs and milk, beat until smooth.
3. Pour into the lined tin.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes until beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
5. Cool in the tin.
6. When cold lift out of the tin and remove the lining paper.
7. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the lemon juice, drop by drop and mix until smooth.
8. Decorate with the chopped ginger and leave the icing to set.
9. Cut into squares.

Recipe: Chocolate and Beetroot Cake

Chocolate and Beetroot Cake - I have held back making this, even though it has been a popular bake with food bloggers.  The thoughts of a beetroot splattered kitchen and the earthiness I associate with beetroot had no appeal.

After feeling 'so last year' or is it the 'year before last' I decided Chocolate and Beetroot Cake should appear on the blog. After some research, the recipe in Fiona Cairns book Bake & Decorate appealed, mainly because the cake is made with vegetable oil which gives a light cake.

No grating, no mess. Simply cut the beetroot into chunks (I bought prepacked), place in the food processor and blitz to a puree = no splattered kitchen.

I made the cake in a springform tin because I didn't want to chance spoiling the cake when turning out. Some retained beetroot juice from straining the pureed beetroot is the natural food colouring for the icing. The icing is a lovely pink colour and it doesn't taste of beetroot.

Fiona suggests drizzling and flicking the melted chocolate over the cake to make an abstract design.  Is this something you learn at a chocolate masterclass?

The sensible persons guide is to drizzle the melted chocolate over the cake, I always put the cooled melted chocolate into a ziplock food bag and cut a tiny corner off the base of the bag. Or simply dip a teaspoon into the melted chocolate and drizzle over the cake, not my choice because I make chocolate blobs and somehow my drizzles don't happen.

The cake is a winner, easy to make, deep chocolate flavour, moist, has a tender crumb, cuts well and is a keeper.  This is a large cake and would easily feed twelve people. If you are looking for a cake recipe to feed a crowd then look no further.

I am entering my cake into the January Calendar Cakes Challenge. This is hosted by Dolly Bakes and Laura Loves Cakes - Laura is hosting this month.

Catch A Falling Star Christmas Cake

This years Christmas Cake is perhaps one of my easiest.  I used a large star shape to cut through to the marzipan layer, carefully lifted out the fondant star and filled with small silver dragees.  The silver beads around the base of the cake and the rope of silver stars I used as a cake topper are Christmas tree decorations.

Why Catch A Falling Star?  The silver star cake topper wouldn't stay on top of the cake whilst I was trying to arrange them and I had to keep catching the falling stars!

Happy Christmas!

Coffee, Walnut and Raisin Cake - Recipe

I've always enjoyed coffee and walnut cake, and this recipe by Tana Ramsay from her book I Love to Bake! is perfect.  I particularly liked the addition of raisins and used huge plump raisins. It's best to dust the raisins with flour before stirring into the cake otherwise they may well sink to the bottom, which is exactly what happened to me.  I turned my cake over, and now the raisins are at the top of the cake, and I then happily slathered over the buttercream and sprinkled with chopped walnuts. I wasn't too sure about the coffee, walnut, raisin combo before I made the cake, but it works beautifully.

The cake doesn't need dressing up with a circle of neatly placed walnut halves, a scattering of walnut pieces is the way to go.  After all, the best dressed cake doesn't necessarily mean the cake is a winner.

Fortunately, not an overly sweet cake because the coffee butter cream is only on top, it is best not to be  tempted to cut it in half.  I used half the amount of butter cream suggested in the original recipe and found it was ample, and light brown sugar instead of caster sugar in the recipe, to give the cake more depth of flavour.

I've eaten the good, the bad and the disappointing coffee and walnut cake in coffee shops - this is the perfect coffee shop cake, it is moist, has a tender crumb, not too much topping and keeps well too. I cut mine into slices and popped it into the freezer and then kept going back to the freezer and taking out another slice, it is that good!  Hubby thought this was a great cake too, he isn't very keen on cakes buried beneath a mound of sweet buttercream, and he said the cake/buttercream ratio I used was perfect for him. Phew!

Many of the bakes in I Love to Bake! are cooked at 200ºC or 220ºC which is something to be aware of - the suggested temperature for this cake is 200ºC and the timing is 35 minutes - if I cooked a deep cake at this temperature my cake would burn, peak and the batter would be a horrible volcanic mass.  A few years ago I went on a Patisserie Course at the local college and they cooked everything, including cakes, at almost maximum temperatures. A Victoria Sandwich at college in commercial grade ovens cooked in 10 minutes!

Adapted recipe.

You will need:  a 20cm round cake tin 5cm deep (I used a springform tin), greased , floured and base lined with parchment paper.

For the sponge:

175g softened butter, 175g light brown sugar, 3 large eggs beaten, 3 tbsp room temperature milk, 175g sifted self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water, 80g walnut pieces chopped, 60g plump raisins dusted in flour.

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and milk gradually whilst continuing to beat. Sift the flour and baking powder over and fold into the mixture. Stir in the dissolved coffee granules.
3. Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake for 30-35 minutes. If it isn't cooked through cover with foil and pop back in the oven for 10 minutes or until cooked. Cool the baked cake for 5 minutes, turn out onto a cooling rack.

For the topping you will need:

125g softened unsalted butter, 150g sifted icing sugar, 4 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water(cooled a little), 30g chopped walnuts.

1. Place the butter into a bowl and beat until soft, add the sifted icing sugar and the dissolved coffee granules. Beat with a mixer for 5/10 minutes until light and fluffy.
2. Spread the butter cream over the top of the cake and decorate with the chopped walnut pieces.

Strawberry Friands

Friands are popular in Australia and New Zealand, unfortunately you won't see them in many coffee shops here in the UK. Kaffeine in Fitzrovia, London sell the best strawberry friands and it is well worth making a trip to their coffee shop for these alone, better still, if accompanied by a fabulous coffee. See my previous posting here.

Friands are quite sweet and I think next time I will try and cut down on the amount of sugar.  I tried mixing some pureed strawberries into the buttercream but unfortunately I was left with a curdled mess. Topping friands with buttercream isn't the norm, but I can say they tasted wonderful.  Perhaps mixing some strawberry puree with either mascarpone or whipped double cream would be a better option, here again, after looking at images of friands they don't appear to be topped with any type of cream! 
 
Fresh strawberries, blueberries or raspberries would cut through some of the sweetness, all you have to do is pour the batter into the tin, scatter over a few berries and you can then poke some down into the mixture or leave a few on top. After they have cooled dust with icing sugar.

You will need:  6 hole friand tin well greased.

100g butter, 140g icing sugar, 25g plain flour, 85g ground almonds, 3 medium egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Melt the butter and use some of it to grease the friand tin. Allow the butter to cool.
3. Sift the icing sugar and sifted flour into a bowl. Add the ground almonds and mix all together.
4. Whisk the egg whites lightly until they resemble a froth, and then fold into the dried ingredients.  Mix in the cooled melted butter lightly.
5. Fill the tins with the cake mix.  Bake for 20 minutes until firm.  Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, run a knife around the edges, turn out and cool on a wire rack.
6. They will keep well, without the cream, in an airtight tin for a few days.

London: Fabulous Coffee Shops

Delicious quirky sandwiches at Allpress Espresso

Allpress Espresso, Shoreditch was first on our whirlwind tour of coffee shops in London - not all in one day, I hasten to add. They serve their local community and tourists, who like us, make a special journey to visit them.  Allpress Espresso originates from both Australia and New Zealand.  The coffee is faultless, and the food on both occasions when we have visited has been freshly prepared. The sandwiches and cakes are some of the best I have ever eaten in a coffee shop, and if you visit be sure to try their legendary fluffy scones served with cream and fresh berries, and whilst there perhaps you would be kind enough to see if you can get them to give you the recipe and pass it on to me!  Would you also ask them for the recipe of the cake in the photograph too...... :)

Almond and Orange Cake with a Custard Filling

Allpress roast their own coffee on site twice a week.

The coffee dispensers for take out fresh coffee beans.

Kaffeine, Great Titchfield Street, London was our next call. This is an independent Australian/New Zealand owned cafe in Fitzrovia, just off Oxford Street. It is a tiny coffee shop and very cool. 'Suppose you could say far too cool for us'. Their website says they use a Synesso Cyncra espresso machine which is known as the holy grail of espresso machines. If you like your coffee and latte art, want to sit somewhere that is 'too cool for school' then be sure to check out this tiny coffee shop. 

Beautifully presented latte art - just how I like my coffee

Delicious moist Strawberry Friand

Terrible photograph but it does show I visited Kaffeine!

St David Coffee House, Forest Hill SE23 is possibly the quirkiest coffee shop we have had the pleasure to visit. This coffee shop is also quite small but very cosy and homely too and we were greeted with a warm friendly smile. The background music is played on vinyl and adds a wonderful ambiance to the room. Full to the rafters with vinyl records, old furniture and collectables you can sit back and imagine you are in a bygone era. Weather permitting there are a few tables and chairs outside where you can sit for a while and simply relax......We thought this was a really friendly coffee shop and on this occasion didn't feel like tourists.  Nearly forgot, the lemon drizzle cake was superb.

Lots of time and care is taken to execute a perfect coffee.

The outside of St David Coffee House hiding the outside seating area.

The kilner jar holds free dog bikkies!

Another great coffee shop, and one that is new to Beckenham is Fee & Brown, we visited this too and the Australian barista made us a superb coffee. I think my favourite coffee shop is Monmouth in Borough Market and even though I have never eaten here, the coffee definitely takes some beating.  I like the ambiance, the queues, the frantic pace of Borough, jostling to get a seat, people watching, and their fabulous coffee topped with amazing latte art.

Back soon.

Mini Strawberry Victoria Sponges

I like mini pies, mini muffins, mini cakes, they always look so dainty, and from an era when ladies 'floated' into a restaurant or tea room to eat dainty mini morsels.

Afternoon tea has definitely made a come back and close to where I live there is a cafe that has taken  inspiration from the Lyons Tea Houses.  A while back hubby and I chose a beautiful sunny afternoon to visit a local hotel for afternoon tea and sat in the grounds with champagne in one hand and worked our way through finger sandwiches and cakes with the other.  We've enjoyed a few afternoon teas in various locations and it is a very relaxed and enjoyable way to spend a lazy afternoon.

The strawberries are from my garden and they taste sensational. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the name of the variety......I think they may possibly be Cambridge.

The recipe for the Mini Strawberry Victoria Sponges is on the Lakeland website.

My pretty polka dot plate is from the Bon Bon Collection by Sabichi, they kindly asked if I would review part of the collection a while back, and I love them. The mini sandwich tin is from Lakeland -  Chicago Metallic also sell a similar pan and this is available from Amazon.

Recipe: Chocolate Cake With an Apricot and Amaretto Filling

You can't go wrong with a chocolate cake, it's the cake of choice for my small grandchildren and when my children were younger it was their favourite cake too,  I'm not sure my grandchildren would thank me for an apricot and Amaretto filling though. My husband prefers alternative fillings to the usual buttercream and I find St. Dalfour Thick Apricot Jam makes a fabulous jam filling, and even better if you add a few teaspoons of Amaretto liqueur to the jam.  Apricot and almonds are a perfect combination of flavours.

The flower in the photograph is a beautiful alstroemeria, unfortunately it didn't come from my garden, I have tried to grow these but have now given up the fight.  These flowers are much sought after by flower arrangers because they should last for over two weeks.

You will need: Two 18cm sandwich tins base lined and lightly greased.

175g soft margarine, 175g light soft brown sugar, 110g self-raising flour, 50g ground almonds, 2 generous tablespoons best quality cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3 eggs, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.

Icing: 50g dark chocolate, 15g butter, 2 tablespoons milk
Decoration: grated chocolate or Cadbury Flake.
Filling: 3 tablespoons apricot conserve and a few teaspoons of Amaretto liqueur.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.
2. In a large mixing bowl add the margarine, sugar, sifted flour, ground almonds, cocoa and baking powder. Add the eggs and vanilla to the bowl. With an electric whisk mix for 2 minutes.
3. Divide the mixture between the two tins. Bake for 25 minutes.
4. Leave in the tins for 5 minutes then turn out and leave on a wire rack to cool.
5. When the cakes have cooled, spread the conserve over one of the sponges. Place the other sponge on top.
6. To make the icing: place the icing ingredients in a glass bowl, place over a pan of hot water. When the ingredients have melted together, stir to smooth the mixture, leave to cool and spread over the surface of the cake.
7. Decorate with grated chocolate.

I am entering this for the May challenge which is Almonds, and the hosts are Chocolate Log Blog and How to Cook Good Food.

Mini Carrot Cakes

I think it is a given that I love kitchen kit and gadgets. A new addition to my bakeware collection is my 12 cup loose-based mini sandwich tin from Lakeland. I had only just purchased it at full price when I saw them advertising it in the sale - just my luck. The tin has push out bases and you can remove the cakes easily without damaging them.  If you grease the tin with Cake Release the cakes will come out very easily. 

You can make lots of mini sweet treats in this tin, and in one of their mini brochures that come with a million other brochures inside my Sunday magazine, I saw this recipe for mini carrot cakes. I adapted the recipe and used only half the walnuts suggested and replaced them with raisins. The cakes get lovely and sticky after a day or so and although mine didn't make the freezer, I can't see any reason why they shouldn't freeze successfully.

You will need:  150g plain flour, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp all spice, 150g light brown sugar, 250 grated carrots, 50g finely chopped dried apricots, 50g finely chopped walnuts, 50g raisins, 150ml vegetable oil, 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.  

Lemon cream cheese icing:  50g butter, 75g full-fat cream cheese, ¼ tsp vanilla extract, 100g sifted icing sugar, 1 tsp lemon curd.

1.   Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease the tin, preferably with Cake Release.
2.   Sieve - flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and all spice.
3.   Add to a mixing bowl.
4.   Stir in the sugar, carrots, apricots, walnuts and raisins.
5.   Pour in the vegetable oil.
6.   Add the eggs and vanilla extract.
7.   Beat until combined.
8.   Scoop into the tin.
9.   Bake for 30 minutes until risen and set.
10. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes.
11. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
12.  Make the filling:
13.  Beat the butter.
14.  Add the cream cheese, lemon curd and vanilla extract.
15.  Stir in the icing sugar and mix.
16.  Slice the cakes in half.
17.  Spread with the cream cheese filling.
18.  Dust with icing sugar.

Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Icing

Recently I have been making 'proper cake' and decided to have a cupcake break. I made a fabulous iced lemon curd cake the other day, but it wasn't blog worthy, which was a shame. The cake was moist with a tender crumb, the lemon curd was perfect, but I didn't make enough icing for the topping. Not to be beaten I decided to make some more icing and add this to the icing already on the cake, it was too thin and dripped off the cake too much, in the meantime the lemon curd took on a life of it's own and decided to ooze out of the cake. Shame really because when I sliced the cake and put it onto plates it looked fabulous and tasted sensational, looks definitely aren't everything.

What has the above got to do with Nigella's cake? Well, I wouldn't describe this cake as a looker, but taste wise, it's got everything going for it, providing you aren't mean with the fresh ginger and you don't over cook the cake and dry it out.

I think the lemon icing is optional, even though lemon and gingerbread are a match made in heaven, the cake still tastes wonderful if you miss this out. The downside to icing the cake is the gingerbread discolours the icing after a day, and if you want to keep this cake for a few days to give it a chance to get even stickier, the icing will need to be cut off before serving. I've given twice the amount of icing specified in the original recipe because it was a bit on the mean side and the top of the cake shows through.

Slightly adapted recipe:

You will need: large roasting tin 30 x 20 x 5cm greased and lined with parchment paper.

For the cake:

150g unsalted butter, 125 dark muscovado sugar, 200g golden syrup, 200g black treacle, 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 250ml milk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water, 300g plain flour.

For the icing:

2 tablespoon lemon juice, 350g sieved icing sugar, 2 tablespoons warm water.

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the sugar, golden syrup, treacle, ginger and cinnamon. Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk, beaten eggs and bicarbonate of soda in its water.
3. Add the flour to a bowl and pour in the liquid ingredients, beating until well mixed. Pour into the tin and bake for ¾ hour to 1 hour (I baked mine for ¾ hour) by which time the cake should be risen and firm to the touch.
4. For the icing: Sift the icing sugar, add the lemon juice, then gradually add the warm water. The icing needs to be thick. Spread over the cooled gingerbread and leave to set before cutting into slices.
5. Store the cake in an airtight tin - if you opt for not icing the cake, the cake will get stickier with storing for a few days.

ICED SPARKLE CHRISTMAS CAKE

A Christmas Cake with all the usual sparkle we can safely get away with at this time of the year.

It was my first visit to Cake International at the NEC Birmingham this year and I have no idea why I have never made the trip before. Fortunately, I have a very understanding husband, who made no comments regarding my purchases, only to say, did I get everything I needed for my Christmas Cakes, bless!

Back soon.

Iced Reindeer Christmas Cake

A Reindeer Christmas Cake for my two small grandchildren and their Mummy and Daddy! I know it's unusual for small children to like fruit cake, but they both really enjoy it.

A very easy cake to decorate using Christmas red icing, two sizes of reindeer cutters, a Christmas tree cutter, red glitter, small red and gold stars, a dusting of snowflake sprinkles, and two different ribbons. Some of the items were purchased on my day out to Cake International in Birmingham last month, and as you can see I used my time well!

Back soon!

Review - The Silver Spoon: The New Edition

A small slice of The Silver Spoon.

Cake with Orange Icing taken from the chapter Dessert Cakes caught my attention, with an easy to follow recipe. The sponge has a moist soft crumb and although I made more icing than specified in the recipe, I felt the liquid measurement was too generous and not enough icing sugar. True to say I didn't make the icing to the recipe, and perhaps next time I make this, I will stay with the recipe!

I was delighted when asked to review the above book - memories of a magnificent display showcasing Phaidon Press in a department store at Westfield Shopping Centre London, came flooding back.

The revised edition has a fabulous new red cover and is the heaviest cookery book I have come across. In total there are 1,504 pages, 400 colour photographs, over 2,000 recipes, and chapters including First Courses, Vegetables, Meat, Fish, Desserts and Baking, just to name a few. Italy's best-selling cookery bible, The Silver Spoon, was first published in English in 2005 by celebrated publishers Phaidon Press, has sold over one million copies worldwide and is also the most successful Italian cookbook of all time. There are chef endorsements from Giorgio Locatelli to Gennaro Contaldo and praise from leading UK newspapers and magazines.

The book promises to set alight the nation's taste buds for authentic, home-cooked Italian food and is fully revised and updated for modern kitchens. The Silver Spoon is the definitive book on Italian cooking and stands alongside other culinary classics such as The Joy of Cooking and Larousse Gastronomique.

Most of the recipes are traditional and regional Italian dishes, whist others are more contemporary additions. For the English edition, the ingredients and cooking times of some recipes were updated in the light of changing tastes and lifestyles. Others have been left virtually untouched to retain their unique characteristics.

The Silver Spoon offers the opportunity to make Italian gastronomy part of your life, whether you are cooking simple family dishes or something for a special celebration.






Eating is a serious matter in Italy and as soon as the temperature falls, everyone is ready for a warming plate of Braised Beef with Barola, which is the recipe I chose to make. The beef topside was placed in a Barola, vegetable and herb marinade for 7 hours, browned all over and cooked on the hob until tender. I kept some of the cooked marinade vegetables back and pureed the remainder with the cooking liquid to make a sauce. A straightforward recipe, easy to make, a photograph to accompany the recipe and a great one pot dish.

A section in the book includes 23 Silver Spoon Celebrated International Guest chefs from around the world and their menus, including contributions from Theo Randall, Ruth Rogers and Georgio Locatelli here in the UK, Paolo Lopriore (Italy), Mario Batali (United States) and Robert Marchetti (Australia).

How did I fair in a domestic kitchen, located on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border and where to begin with a book such as this! My overall experience using the book was excellent, although to date I have only cooked two of the recipes, this is a very exciting book for lovers of Italian cuisine (and this includes me). The recipe selection is from easy, to recipes for the keen cook and gourmet. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book for a beginner because it assumes a level of cooking ability and confidence. Interestingly, I always presumed this book would be beyond my capabilities and now after studying the book, albeit over the last two weeks, it has proven me wrong.

More photographs have been added to this revised edition, but a photograph speaks a thousand words and even more photographs would be appreciated. To do justice to The Silver Spoon, I will revisit this again next year and make a few recipes, post them on the blog and give an account of how I get on.

Hopefully, the Fresh Pasta Chapter will encourage me to dust off my pasta machine, there are so many delicious recipes....maybe, next year!

Thank you to Phaidon Press and Lucy for the review copy.