A take on a classic, bakewell cake!

It's one of those flavours that make you feel like your wrapped up, sung and warm under your cosy duvet on a cold blustery day. A Bakewell...with it's alimondy aroma, soft melting texture, zingy jam and pleasing crunch of toasted almonds on top.

Have you had a go at making this classic tart? For me, I found, it was way too complicated.

Leave out the hard work of pastry making and blind baking and opt for this cake instead. You still get the almondy yummyness with jam and crunch of fragrant toasted almonds on top but with less of the fuss. It's great with a cuppa and just as good as a warm dessert with either custard or icecream.

I had found the recipe online but substituted the fresh raspberries for jam. Sometimes I find that raspberries are a bit tart for me but I'm not stopping you if you like it that way! 

Here's the link, I promise you, you won't regret trying it out http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11695/raspberry-bakewell-cake

Happy baking...and eating ;)

Have you been touched by the buzz??

Light airy sponge wearing its own paper wrapper, beautifully adorned with a crowning glory of soft, morish, comforting vanilla buttercream. It's got that childish excitement of unwrapping a gift, that feeling of this is personal, it's for me, Only me, thats exactly what a cupcake does!

Cake, I love it. But for some reason, or maybe due to the surge of cupcakes on programmes and in shop windows, sold and bought, I lost interest in them, that sparkle....until today!

I had a few friends coming for tea and wondered what I was planning to serve with a good cuppa (I'm sure you know the feeling), and thought I'd give them (the cupcakes) a chance. Good vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Simple. My only dread was dry tasteless cake and a heavy buttercream. But it turned out better than I had expected. 

The secret..it's in the batter and how quickly it's baked. Most people bake the cakes in the middle shelf. I bake them on the top..why? It's so they don't dry out but beware, they bake super quick and can colour really fast too. As for the batter, make sure it's not too dry. I use the normal 4oz of everything but also add  about 2-3 tbsp of milk to loosen it up. It does the trick! No more dry cardboard sponge, I promise you. 

I added a little drop of jam in the centres for a tasty tangy surprise...

All I can say, give these little pleasures a go. Yummm...

A Wedding cake...chocolate with layers of dark ganache and lemon cake filled with a luscious custardy and raspberry filling!

It was a relief...everyone enjoyed the cake. Cake can sound pretty simple but it was the first time I was making everything by myself. The cake had to be scrumptious and the finish had to be impeccable! It was for my darling cousin!!

This was the finished result at the wedding reception hall.

This a close up of the sugar flowers.

3 tier cakes are great. Not too small, not too big, not too showy and not too shy! I had made the bottom and top tier a deliciously dark, moist and chocolatey cake with layers of melt in the mouth ganache. The middle tier was a light lemony sponge with layers of tangy rasberry jam and buttercream with creme patisserie lightly whipped. 

Each was covered in marzipan as I hadn't tried covering with buttercream before. I've now learnt buttercream is what you should cover the cakes with before you cover it with fondant! But it tasted delicious, so no harm done there....except that it was a more expensive route!

A lovely covering of mint coloured fondant

On with cream lace decoration and gold ribbon.

Add the sugar flowers. 

The end result was a really pretty vintage looking cake which thankfully tasted great too. My belief is, if it doesn't taste nice, my hen what's the point!!

My babies, my red velvets, all finished and ready to be gifted away...I don't want to let you go...follow me day 4

That's quite some emotional attachment to a few cakes. 'My babies'?Seriously??!! 

It may sound a bit pathetic but I don't want to give the cakes away, I don't want anyone to cut them or eat them...look but don't touch!!

 Ok,ok, I am still going to gift them as intended but the work that goes into making these beauties is a true labour of love. And they look so pretty too. I'm sure they'll be appreciated and enjoyed too...so heres what I was up to.

The last time, I made the sugar flowers, so all I needed to do was cover the cakes with fondant, add ribbon to the cakes and put the flowers on top...and that's exactly what I did.

Here I've rolled out the fondant to 4mm in thickness

It's time to cover and smooth the fondant over the cakes...must take your time and not rush

The mini cakes finished off with cream ribbon and flowers on top

And here they are all ready and wrapped up. A lovely little pre wedding gift. I wonder if any one would buy these...it might be a new buisness venture...who am I kidding ;-)...

I hope you enjoyed following my journey making these mini cakes.

 

The luscious vanilla buttercream and a cosy crumbcoat...day 2

It always looks so easy on tv. In moments the cake is covered in a thin layer of buttercream, chilled, then given another layer of buttercream to even it all out. 

It isn't easy! That was the shock. You couldn't even put the buttercream on without the cakes wanted to either topple over or wobble side to side. It was a long and tedious task that truly felt like a labour of love!

But...the buttercream was luscious. It was really easy to make with 5oz really soft unsalted butter beaten with 10oz of icing sugar added gradually till it becomes really light airy and fluffy. I also added about 2tbsp of milk to loosen it up a little and a 1tsp of vanilla bean paste for flavour. 

That's the cakes chilling in the fridge with the first coat of buttercream.

Here they are, with their second layer of buttercream.

Now my next task are the gorgeous sugar flowers. Delicate and really pretty.

Sugar flowers for my red velvets...to eat or not to eat...follow me day 3

They look pretty and delicate and absolutely stunning. They taste sweet. Too sweet. Some people enjoy eating them but I'm one of those that prefer looking and appreciating its beauty than eating it.

For the cakes, I wanted to try and make a range of different flowers in peach and so I had to colour the fondant with yellow and pink to get a deep peachy colour for the centre. I used a Peggy Porchen book to make the flowers, and although not exactly the same, they look to be turning out pretty well.

First you have to make the centres and leave them on wire to harden. The next day is when you start making the petals and assembling the flower.

You initially need to have a few tools and correct cutters which is a bit of an investment, but, what you really need is time.

Another trick is to improvise when you don't have all the tools. Here I used heart cookie cutter to make this flower as I didn't have the correct Camillia lace flower cutter.

All the flowers turned out really pretty and I was quite pleased with them. Which one do you like??

Now, the finishing touches ie. the flowers are made...the mini cakes need to be covered in fondant and simply finished off. 

Hope you're enjoying this journey with me...

Gifting mini cakes,a deep red hummingbird velvet, follow me..day 1

Weddings are wonderful and a time when giving gifts at pre wedding events is both wonderful yet irritatingly impersonal or just frustrating. So Ive come up the solution, I'm going to make a few small cakes, decorate and present. It'll be a sweet and special gesture of my love and support for the couple.

I'm going to take you through this journey with me...and if it goes horribly wrong, then I'll abandon this plan and buy a lovely box of chocs for them instead.

I've decided the colour that I'm going for. A pretty and elegant peach. 

Today is the most important part. I'll be making the cakes and the buttercream. 

Like the many of you, I typed in red velvet cake recipe on Google and went for this one. I must admit that I was a little nervous as the ingredients and quantities are quite different from a standard sponge. Here's the link for the light yet delicious red velvet cake: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/475341/Red-velvet-cupcakes

Ok, so they didn't turn out as red as I hoped but they had a shade of red to them and they did taste delicious. The recipe makes 12 cupcakes so I used 6 ring moulds. The cakes turned out tall and light and I only made half the cream cheese frosting recipe and gave those cakes a good layer of filling.

Next, my task is to start on some decoration. I'll be making sugar flowers to go on the top so I've made different sized cones /balls of fondant on wire to make the flowers on. 

Here's a picture of the dome that I plan to give the cakes in. I'm trying to make it look professional...eek!

That's all I had time for today...tomorrow I'll have to make the buttercream.....yum yum!

Chocolate fondant is now easy...I promise!

The thought of a rich warm chocolatey cake with an oozy deep chocolatey centre makes me feel all giddy and warm. It sounds comforting but indulgent. Wicked yet soft. Promising yet daring....

Ok so I watch lots of cookery programmes...and yes, like the many of you, it's the one dessert that gets me drooling but it's the one that always makes me a bit nervous to try and make. But, having started this blog, I thought I'd try and make it. If it all went well for me, I know you can have a go at making it too. (I know I sound a bit pompous, but I'd like to think I inspired someone...even if it's to feed my own ego..)

Here it is. I wasn't patient enough and put a huge scoop of icecream ontop, squashed my fondant a bit.

So here goes. You'll need two ramekins greased and dusted with cocoa powder and preheat the oven to gas mark 4/5

Ingredients:

50g butter

150g good quality dark chocolate

1 egg

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

Method:

1)Melt the butter and chocolate over boiling water ( or microwave but be careful not to burn the chocolate)

2)Add the sugar 

3)Add the egg and mix it in quickly

4)Add in the flour 

5) Pour into the moulds and bake for 15 to 18 min and turn out to enjoy!

Tip: put a small circle of greaseproof paper in the bottom of mould. It makes it so much 'safer' and easier to turn out!

 

So yes it's that simple. I made 2, one for me and one for my husband. One was great and the other one stuck at the top...hence my tip for the grease proof. That one oozed a bit before I cut it...but...it tasted great and definitely worth the nail biting moments while coaxing it out of the mould. Enjoy!!!

A dark spin on a choc Victoria sponge

I enjoy a good Victoria sponge...done right, it's morish and absolute perfection for an afternoon tea. However...

I wanted something a little darker, a bit more indulgent and that little but more wicked for a dinner party!!

So here's what I did, kept the original chocolate Victoria recipe and instead of baking it in a round tin, baked a 8oz cake batter in 2 flat trays( like what you may use to bake a swissroll in).

Once baked, I allowed it to cool and chopped up some roasted pistachios and whipped up some ganache (200ml hot cream poured over 200g dark chocolate). 

The cake were cut so I had 6 slices and simply layered with lashings of dark silky ganache and a sprinkling of green pistachios. It was brilliant! 

Ok, and here is my secret. I made it the day before n left it in the fridge. On the night, I warmed it slightly in the microwave which made it go all luscious and glistening again. 

The result was a happy quiet bunch eating their chocolate dessert with either a scoop of cold icecream, lashings of hot custard or a good helping of cream quietly content. 

Go on and give it a go. I promise, it's divine.

Light tasty Mauritian chicken curry

Curries come in all different forms...hot and spicy, sweet and sour, mild and sweet etc etc...the styles of cooking just one curry like a 'vindaloo' can have so many variations!  

This is a simple Mauritian curry and is so simple yet tastes so good. It doesn't have a lot of spices therefore is quite light and great for children and adults alike.

 

So here's how....

You'll need chicken. Either one small baby chicken jointed or two large chicken breast cut into chunks.

1 onion diced small

3tbsp sunflower oil

1 clove garlic minced

1 small thumb size ginger crushed (tip: use a blender to crush the ginger and garlic)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tin plum tomato crushed

Fresh coriander to garnish

Method: 

1)Sauté onion in a large pot till caramelised in oil 

2)Add the ginger and garlic. Then add the spices.

3) Add the tomato and the chicken and allow to cook.

4) Garnish with coriander and serve with steaming basmati rice.

Make sure you add water for the chicken to cook and then allow the sauce to thicken.

Optional: add 1/2 tsp red chilly powder for a kick and even try adding baby potatoes (my kids love them in this curry)

I hope you enjoy this recipe...

Crumbly, indulgent chocolate biscuit

Do you sometimes get that craving for a chocolate biscuit? I know I do. And do you get a sinking feeling when you find your biscuit tin is a bit lacking (meaning, everyone's taken the favorites and left you with the ones you almost certainly avoid...yes, it happens to all of us...

Well, don't just wait...I've got the perfect recipe. A lovely light crumbly biscuit made indulgent with the gorgeous drizzle of good quality delicious chocolate!

And yes, I added a little dusting of sparkle on them to make them feel even more of a special treat!

It's quite simple really. All you need is a lined baking tray and piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. And the following ingredients:

125g unsalted butter

160g icing sugar

187g plain flour

37g cocoa powder

1 egg

Milk, dark or white chocolate for the drizzle( it's totally up to you)

Method: 

1) cream butter and sugar till light

2) add egg and beat

3) add sifted flour and cocoa powder

4) pipe the mixture onto a lined tray and bake for 15 min at gas mark 4

5) once cooled, decorate the biscuits with the chocolate of your choice.

 

I made the biscuits one day and decorated on another day...makes the job a bit easier

1,2,3 Easy Aubergine Curry

It's fast, easy and simply wonderful. The curry is tangy, sour, coconuty with a lovely bit of sweetness coming through at the end.

So why is it called 1,2,3 you may wonder...hmmm?

Is really has only 3 steps. 1)prepare the aubagine 2)blend all the other ingredients

3) put it in a pot and cook!

I love this way of cooking...and yes, I'm lazy. Sometimes, having to sauté the onions, cook out the spices, adding each ingredient at the right time seems a bit of a chore which is when a recipe like this one is a lifesaver. Quick and delicious.

Here's how:

1) cut and wash 6 small aubergines in 1/2 cm slices lengthways

2) Blend the following ingredient till it becomes a sauce: 

1 medium onion

2 clove garlic

1 tbsp coconut (dessicated)

1 small tomato

1 tbsp tamarind paste 

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar 

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp tumeric

3/4 tsp salt

6 curry leaves

2 tbsp sunflower oil

3)Add the paste into a hot pot and then add the aubergines till tender and sauce thick

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with hot naan breads or even with fragrant basmati rice

Hope you enjoy...

Mummy's hot bombay biryani

My mums Biryani is simply the best around! But then again, I would say that wouldn't I?! 

Biryani is one of those classic indian celebratory dishes which has so many variations and styles...some recipes have tomato, some don't, some will add eggs and others will add potatoes...all in all, I'm not sure of the most authentic biryani recipe but I love my mums and think it's simply the best!

So here's how...

Ingredients: 

200g basmati rice

1 small chicken jointed/ 4 chicken breast cut in chunks

2 tbsp butter

1 large onion

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric 

2 clove garlic

1 thumb size piece of garlic

1/2 tsp chilly powder

1 large tomato crushed

1 large potato cut in chunks

1/4 cup frozen peas

Method: 

1)Fry onions till brown then add minced garlic and ginger along with the spices and salt

2)Add the tomato and cook till sauce thickens, then add the chicken and potatoes

3)Cook till chicken and potatoes are done adding water till done.

4) Add the peas and ensure the sauce is thickened well

5) boil rice in salted water and cook till just cooked, then drain

6) layer the rice and biryani sauce in a pot and put on a low heat to steam and to allow the rice to become fluffy( around 20 min)

7) Serve up and enjoy! (Even better with a helping of cucumber raita)

I hope you give it a go, it's really tasty, I promise you.

Freshly whipped cream and jam Swiss roll

So yes...I've jumped on the The Great British Bakeoff bandwagon and decided to give a go at the great British Classic Swiss roll. My verdict: it's a lot simpler than I thought it'd be. 

It's all about whisking in a lot of voluptuous air into the 3 eggs and 75grams of caster sugar and simply folding in 75grams of sifted self raising flour. The batter looks gorgeously light and airy and is baked in a preheated oven at gas mark 6. It only takes about 7 minutes to bake in a standard Swiss roll tin ( by the time you've got a greaseproof paper sprinkled with some caster sugar to turn your cake out onto and done a bit of washing up...7min are gone!).

Once it's baked, all you have to do is turn it out onto the sugared paper and roll it up, let it cool, whipp up some cream, lather it on with a good helping of jam and hey presto, it's done. 

It was simply scrumptious! Go on and give it a go... I did. Now I've mastered this recipe, the great thing is that I know I can mix it up....how does chocolate and chestnut sound with lashings of cream...or a zesty zingy lemony swissroll...the possibilities are endless and I can't wait to try them out.

Moist mango, peach and coconut cake

It was embarrassing. I can't get my head around the mistake I made today. Cake without sugar...now I'm sure you've never done that !! 

I don't know what I was thinking. Or perhaps I do...ok, I'll admit it, I was feeling clever and overconfident. So instead of following the recipe, gave it a dismissive glance, threw the ingredients in a bowl,a mix, a stir, in the oven it went. It was all going well till I greedily took a bite of hot cake. My head was telling me it's sweet moist cake but my tongue was saying savoury. That's when my heart sank and I felt a little deflated. 

So I sulked a bit...or maybe a lot. I plucked up some courage and then gave it another go. At last it was what I had set it out to be. Simple and delicious.

And here's how..

Ingredients:

140g butter

140g sugar

140g self raising flour

100g ground almonds

40g dessicated coconut

2 eggs

1 peach 

1 mango

Method: 

1) Line your tin or small tins with grease proof paper

2) slice the mango and peach so you get thin circles ( and please resist the temptation to eat them!) and place alternately in the tray 

3) Chop the remaining fruit (you'll only need about half a cup so the left over fruit can be the chefs perks...yum. 

4) Cream the butter and sugar

5) Add in the eggs and beat

6) Add the almonds and coconut and stir

7) Fold in the flour then add in the fruit. Don't worry if the mixture looks too stiff or dry. The fruit will make it moist.

8) Bake in the centre of the oven at gas mark 5 for about 30 min. The time it takes will vary depending on the tin used. The key is to check with a skewer and if it's clean, your cake is ready!

This cake is really moist and fruity. The mango and peach give a warm summery glow and the coconut gives the cake a lovely bite, an exotic smell and good crumb. Best of all, this cake is delicious with a greedy helping of hot comforting custard. Aaaah...bliss. 😛

Tantalising sweet chilly vegetables

Right. So you might've read my last blog about the succulent spicy chicken...and here's the yummy vegetables that I made to go with it.

Now I used quite a Mediterranean mix of vegetables but then threw in some parsnips and carrots. So, do as you please...add what you like and not necessarily what might be expected!

The end result once roasted was pretty good. I loved the medley of vegetables, sweet and a bit spicy, textures were great too. Carrots, peppers and parsnips had a bite to them while the courgettes, onions and tomatoes were sweet soft succulent and juicy. The butternut made it all luscious soaking up all that mouthwatering marinade. Delicious.

The ingredients (feel free to change it) I used was...

1/4 Butternut squash

2 Courgettes 

2 Carrots

2 Parsnips

1/4 Red, yellow, green bell peppers

1 small onion

The all important marinade:

 Juice of half a lemon

1 tsp honey

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 small red chilly (mince it up with the garlic)

1-2 tbsp olive oil

Method: 

1) Wash and prepare the vegetables and cut them all roughly equal in size

2) Add all the marinade ingredients in a blender and whizz it up

3) Add to the vegetables and toss the vegetables ensuring they all get a good coating

4) Place in a baking tray, cover with foil and roast on a high heat at around gas mark 8 for 45 min to an hour.

5) Tuck in and enjoy!!

Mini chicken skewers

Well today I was a bit stuck on what to cook for myself and the kids. And since they love fruit kebabs (usually banana and strawberries), I thought I'd give it a go with chicken and veg. 

My verdict; it was extremely simple and really tasty. Served on a bed of turmeric rice, it looked vibrant and inviting. Their verdict however was varied. My daughter (who is more adventurous when it comes to flavours) loved it all. My son however was a little choosy. My advice, choose vegetables they like with maybe one addition of something new. 

And the key is in the marinade. It was fresh and zingy with lemon with a subtle note of garlic and herbs. Yum, I wish I'd made more.

So here's a rough guide to what I used.

Ingredients:

1 boneless chicken fillet

Mixed veg of your choice. I used: 

1 small carrot

1/4 green pepper

4 cherry tomatoes halved

1 small onion

Marinade: 

1/2 lemon (juiced)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp mixed herbs 

1 tiny clove of garlic minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Method: 

1) Cube the chicken in thumb size pieces

2) Chop the vegetable in a similar size to the chicken

3) Skewer the chicken and vegetables alternatively on the skewers and dip in the marinade

4) Leave for an hour at least and pop on a baking tray lined with foil

5) Make a parcel with the foil with the skewers inside and bake in the oven at gas mark 7 for 15 minutes. Check if it is ready and put back in for another five minutes if not ready. 

Here's a tip: use vegetables that don't take longer than the chicken to cook. I used carrot and it was still a bit crunchy. My kids didn't mind though!

Give it a go...maybe if you have friends over or got children, they can get stuck in too and give you a hand. It's quick, simple, tasty and fun!!

Succulent spicy chicken and sweet,chilli veg (chicken first!)

Have you done it the wrong way around? Shopping for ingredients before actually deciding what you wanted to cook? Well that's exactly what I've done. Bought more than I should've and have taken a bit too long thinking of what to cook!!

Here goes...how does this sound. Roasted spicy chicken with a medley of bright delicious looking vegetables in a sweet chilly marinade. Sounds good but will it end up looking and tasting as I'm imagining it....I certainly hope so!!

So today I'll be tackling the carnivorous part and tomorrow I'll write about the veg. I don't know about you, but many people (certainly at my house) feel that the meat has to be the star, now I disagree. I think, if it's going to be there on my plate, it'd better be good, or not be there at all!

So here's to the chicken....

Let me tell you the result. It was lipsmacking delicious. Golden, succulent, spicy and irresistible....and don't worry. I'm going to tell you exactly how to make it.

Ingredients:

1skinless chicken cut in four / 4 leg and thigh prices 

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp herbs

1/4 tsp chilly powder

1/2 tsp peri peri seasoning or chilli flakes

1/4 tsp lemon pepper (optional)

1 tomato blitzed up (easy if you do it with       the ginger and garlic)

1 clove garlic 

1 small thumb sized piece ginger

1 tbsp yogurt 

1/2 lemon juiced

4 tbsp olive oil

Method: 

Now it's pretty easy once you've got all the ingredients for the marinade. Just put it all in a bowl and mix it up!

That's the dry spices

That's all the wet things for the marinade.

Once the marinade is mixed, all you have to do is coat the chicken and leave for a few hours (preferably overnight in the fridge).

Preheat the oven at gas mark 8 and place the chicken on a baking tray. Cover and seal with tin foil and bake for about 45 min. Always check and make sure the chicken juices run clear!!!

 And yes that's it. All done. It's really easy, and you can mix it up a bit. I like to 'substitute'...if I don't have an ingredient, I improvise and try something else. Yes, sometimes it can be an epic fail, but more often than not, it just evolves into another scrumptious recipe. 

Try it and I hope you love it.