You Say Raisins, I Say Sultanas

I've been out and about this morning leaving me little time to conjure up a cake for the empty tin before I settle down in front of the fire to watch the Six Nations Rugby Union - I love it!

Usually I'd rustle up either Aunt Nancy's Fruit Loaf or Crunchy Lemon Squares, but I fancied a change.  After leafing through a couple of baking books I found a Rum and Raisin cake that looked simple and quick to make.  The only trouble being that I didn't have enough raisins or any rum!  So substituting sultanas for raisins and apple liqueur for the rum, here we have it...

oh, is that sunken fruit I see?

Sultana and Apple Liqueur Cake
Ingredients
155g sultanas
3 tbsp apple liqueur
185g self-raising flour
150g unsalted butter, cubed
140g soft brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Method
Put the sultanas and the liqueur in a bowl and leave to marinate for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile melt the butter and sugar together in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved - keep a close eye on this and stir frequently.

Sieve the flour into a bowl.  Add the melted sugar mixture to the dried fruit and then add to the flour with the eggs and mix together.  take care not to over beat the mixture.

Pour the mixture into a greased and lined 20cm cake tin and place in oven preheated to 180C for 40 minutes.  Turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I've decided to drizzle a little plain icing over the top of the cake, can't wait for it to cool so that I can taste the finished results.

Note: You could, of course, turn this back into a rum and raisin cake by replacing  same quantities of the sultanas and apple liqueur.

Lemon Zest

A few lemons in the fridge and a hankering after cake...hmm, must be lemon drizzle cake.  My favourite citrus sponge, there are many recipes for this cake but the one that I've found tastiest, reliable and, best of all, simple is the one below.

Lemon Drizzle Cake
Ingredients
225g soft unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
200g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g ground almonds
grated zest of 3 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
icing sugar

Method
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  You can do this by hand, with a handheld electric mixer or in a food processor.  Add three quarters of the lemon zest and the eggs and beat well to combine, don't worry if the mixture curdles this will be resolved when the flour and almonds are added.

Sieve together the flour and the baking powder and fold this into the egg mixture, then fold in the ground almonds then add three quarters of the lemon juice.  Put the mixture into a 20cm round cake tin which has been greased and lined and bake in the oven at 180C for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile mix the remaining lemon juice with enough icing sugar to make a thin icing.  Using a chopstick make about 10 holes in the top of the cake and spread the thin icing over the top of the cake.  Leave in the tin until the cake is cool but not cold and then remove from the tin and sprinkle over the reserved lemon zest.  Zingy!

Where Did That Year Go?

A very special family occasion occurred last week - the first birthday of my lovely grand-daughter!  I can't believe that a year can have passed so quickly, but there we are.

So time for a birthday cake - just a victoria sponge covered in a thin layer of marzipan and then fondant icing - still it seemed to go down well at her official birthday party yesterday.

My other contributions to the buffet feast were: vegetarian 'sausage' rolls, tomato and mushroom quiche, scones and jam, and mini double chocolate cakes.

We had a lovely afternoon and little M really enjoyed being centre stage.  Happy birthday my darling and thank you to Nanny and Grandad W for hosting the event!

Rediscovering Passione

Recently I've been reviewing my cookbook collection and have rediscovered an Italian cookbook that's been languishing at the back of the larder. I keep a few books close to hand in the kitchen; my most frequently used ones - Delia's Complete Cookery Course, Hugh's Everyday, Mary Norwak's baking book etc and in amongst these I found Passione from Gennaro Contaldo.  From the condition of the book I 've obviously leafed through it many times but I don't recall using any of the recipes until recently...

It's become one of my favourite books in less time than it takes to whizz up a torta alle pere - recipe to follow in another post.

So far I've been tempted by the chocolate and red wine cake (sounds so much better in Italian - torta al cioccolato e vino rosso); a lovely dense and rich, but not too rich, cake.  It makes an ideal dessert served with summer fruit compote and icecream. 



with a sauce made from Holly Grove's first raspberries of the season, yum, yum!

 On the savoury front we've tested the peperoni ripieni - stuffed baby peppers.  I'll definitely make this one again with a couple of tweaks to the recipe - simple and delicious with a green salad. 

Very soon I'm going to attempt the fagottini di zucchini when my courgette plants start to mass produce, any time now, and then there are the delicious sounding Italian salads: insalata di zucchine con menta fresca, insalata di arancie e finocchio.

So a book to keep us well fed through the summer months and dreaming of the Amalfi coast!

Torta al Cioccolato e Vino Rosso
Ingredients
200g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
25g cocoa powder
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I didn't include this)
100ml red wine
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain chocolate drops (I mixed plain, milk and white chocolate drops as I didn't have enough of the plain ones)

Method
Heat the oven to 180C and grease and line an 20cm cake tin.

Cream the butter and sugar together then gradually beat in the eggs.  Sift in the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder (and cinnamon, if using) and fold in gently.  Mix in the red wine and vanilla extract and then fold in the chocolate drops.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour until the top of the cake springs back when gently pressed.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.  Cut into wedges and serve with a summer fruit compote and good vanilla icecream.

Despite the Weather

After an incredibly dry Spring, the weather here is unseasonably cold and wet for June, we even had a hail storm on Saturday - poor garden!  Anyway I decided to ignore the weather and my cravings for winter-type baking (steamed puddings, custard etc) and adapted an easy all-in-one sponge recipe using some zingy citrus flavours.  I've also used a mascarpone icing; it's becoming a favourite icing as it is so soft and creamy and really adds a bit of luxury to an otherwise simple sponge.

The cake was light, fresh and very summery; I'll try it again with a few of our homegrown raspberries and a dollop of fresh cream on the side when we get our crop sometime in July - can't wait!

Lemon and Lime Sponge
Ingredients
for the cake
6ozs softened butter (if you don't have softened butter you can use a soft margarine such as Stork)
6ozs castor sugar
6ozs self raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
3 free range farm eggs
juice of half a lime
zest of half a lime and half a lemon

for the icing
250g tub mascarpone
10ozs icing sugar
about 1 tbsp lemon juice
zest of half a lime and half a lemon

Method
Set the oven to 180C and grease and line two 7" sandwich tins. Place all the ingredients for the cake in a food mixer and mix together for 2-3 minutes until all ingredients are well combined and you have a smooth, light sponge mixture. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and smooth out. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The cakes will be golden in colour and the tops will spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven and turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the icing by sifting the icing sugar into a clean bowl. In a second bowl beat the mascarpone until it is smooth then gradually add the icing sugar beating in well after each addition. When all the icing sugar has been combined, add the zest and juice of the citrus fruits and mix well. Place the icing in the fridge until the cakes are completely cooled.

Finally sandwich the cakes together with just over half of the icing and then spread the remaining icing on the top of the cake – et voila! This cake is delicious with a cup of tea or coffee or served as a dessert after dinner with any orange liqueur.

Coffee and Cake

Just had the last piece of the most delicious coffee cake!  I made it a week ago and, apart from the miracle that there was still a slice left in the tin, I was amazed at how moist and fresh it had remained...definately worth the making and a post on the blog.

Another interesting thing about this cake is that there is no butter or margarine, corn oil is the magic ingredient. The recipe calls for the cakes to be baked in two 20 cm sandwich tins, just make sure that they are at least 4cm deep as my cakes spilled over the sides when baking. I managed to disguise the damage with the mascarpone topping - phew! Next time I think I'll make on large cake and slice it through the middle when baked.

The recipe came from 'baking with passion' by Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington.

Coffee Cake with Mascarpone Cream
Ingredients
for the cake
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
225g caster sugar
225ml corn oil
2 eggs, separated
2 heaped tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 2 tsp boiling water
75ml milk (I used semi-skimmed)

for the icing
250g mascarpone
quarter tsp grated lemon zest
350g icing sugar, sifted
2 heaped tsp instant coffee granules dissoled in 2 tbsp boiling water

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. grease and line two 20 cm sandwich tins (at least 4cm deep).

Sift the flour, baking powder and caster sugar into a mixing bowl.  Beat in the oil, egg yolks, coffee and milk.  In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites to soft peaks.

Stir in a spoonful of the egg whites to the cake mixture and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.  Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for about 45 minutes or until the sponge springs back when gently pressed int he centre.  Remove from the oven and cool oin a wire rack.

To make the icing, put the mascarpone and lemon zest in a bowl and mix together.  Slowly add the icing sugar, mixing in well, until you have a thick paste.  Finally beat in the coffee.

Sandwich the cooled cakes together with half the icing, then smooth the remaining icing on the top of the cake - delicious!

Ooh, Another Sweet Treat

'Tis the season of cakes and sweet things...well, it is here at Holly Grove and today's treat makes use of some raspberries frozen from our summer harvest. This makes a lovely fresh, zesty and moist cake..delicious and possibly one of your 5-a-day!

Raspberry and Blueberry Lime Drizzle Cake

Ingredients

For the cake

225g softened butter

225g caster sugar

3 large eggs

2 limes, zest and juice

250g SR flour

25g ground almonds

100g each raspberries and blueberries

For the drizzle

1.5 tbsp lime juice

70g caster sugar

Method

Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in square cake tin (not loose-based) with greaseproof paper. Set oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs. Beat in the lime zest, then fold in the flour and almonds. Fold in enough lime juice - about 3 tablespoons - to give you a good dropping consistency (the mixture should drop easily from the spoon when tapped). 

Fold in three quarters of the blueberries and raspberries and turn into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface, then scatter the remaining fruit on top - it will sink as the cake rises. 

Bake for about 1 hour, a skewer pushed into the centre should be clean when removed.  

To make the syrup: put the lime juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan. Put over a gentle heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer then spoon the syrup over it. To store, cool before wrapping in paper and/or foil.

Slice of Delight

The Handyman and I love tray baked cakes, they are easy to pick up with a cup of coffee (for me) and tea (for him) without it being too obvious that slices are disappearing. So we can keep our greedy secret at least for a while until the cake tin is empty. 

I don't know why we feel guilty for eating lovely home baked cakes that contain no unnatural additives and we certainly work hard enough in the garden and around the house to use up the calories; probably just our culture that seems to say that if you enjoy something it must be naughty!

Recently I've discovered a couple of new tray bakes that have disappeared from the tin with alarming swiftness.  One was a chocolate bake from Jacqueline over at Tinned Tomatoes, Chocolate Tiffin, a no bake slice, very easy to make and to eat.  I used 70% cocoa chocolate for mine, a very adult taste; if I was making for children I'd probably use a milk chocolate...a good excuse to make another batch to try out the milk choc version, oh, and what about a white chocolate version with apricots instead of the raisins!

The second bake that we've had recently is an apricot and macaroon slice.  I made a half quantity in a 7" square shallow cake tin and it came out beautifully after a few anxious moments when the first layer of sponge was baked - it looked too thin but actually turned out really well in the finished cake.  Sweet,coconutty and generally yummy!


Apricot and Macaroon Slice
Makes about16 pieces
Ingredients

Base
100g unsalted butter, softened
80g caster sugar
1 egg
185g plain flour
half tsp baking powder 

Filling
250g dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 tbsp Amaretto
2 tbsp caster sugar 

Topping
100g unsalted butter, softened
80g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
270g dessicated coconut
40g plain flour
half tsp baking powder

Method

Heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease and line an 8"x12" shallow baking tin.

To make the base put all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric beater until smooth.  Press into the baking tin and bake for about 25 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile make the filling by combining the apricots, Amaretto and sugar in a bowl with 4 fl ozs boiling water. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes then puree in a food processor.  When the base has cooled slightly cover it with the apricot mixture.

Make the topping by creaming together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract.  Beat in the eggs and then fold in the flour and baking powder followed by the coconut.  Spoon on top of the apricot mixture then return to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden.

Note: Next time I make this I'm going to replace the apricot mixture with some Holly Grove jam in a thick layer.

Bags of Pears

To my mind there is nothing sweeter than a really ripe pear, just the thought of all those natural sugars and soft melting flesh makes me dream of cake.  So when I saw a large bag of slightly under ripe pears in the supermarket I was tempted to buy...and then the price confirmed it...only £1!

On my way home in the car I dreamt of what I might make with my bargain pears...cake, pudding, jam - all three?  So once the shopping was unpacked and stored; not a chore that I enjoy having just loaded it into the trolley, loaded it into bags and then loaded it into the car; I made myself a coffee and sat down with a couple of cookbooks.

One of my favourites at the moment is Hugh FW's Everyday, and I wasn't disappointed as in there I found a recipe for an Apple and Almond Pudding cake which looked delicious.  As it says in the title Hugh uses apples and adds cinnamon as his spice. 

I changed the recipe to use my lovely pears with ginger as the spice and where Hugh uses almond essence for extra flavouring I added Amaretto liqueur.  Served with custard this cake proved a real hit. I'm looking forward to trying a slice with my morning coffee and/or afternoon tea!

Pear, Ginger and Amaretto Cake 

Ingredients

4 firm pears, peeled, cored and thickly sliced

25g unsalted butter

1 tbsp unrefined granulated sugar (I might try honey next time)

150g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
75g self raising flour
75g ground almonds
half a tsp ground ginger
1 tsp (or a bit more) Amaretto  

Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease and line an 8" round cake tin. Melt 25g butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the granulated sugar and stir gently until it has dissolved. Add the pears and cook gently, turning once or twice, until they have softened and are starting to colour, this takes about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and leave to cool. 

In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with the caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs, adding a spoonful of the flour if required to stop the mix curdling. Fold in the remaining flour, ground almonds and ginger. Gently stir in the Amaretto and then put the mixture into the prepared tin. Arrange the pears on top and pour over any juices from the frying pan.  

Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Allow the cake to cool slightly in the tin before taking out.  Serve the cake warm with luscious custard.

Note: Look out for more pear recipes in the next day or so. I've a pear and lemon jam recipe to try...

Back to Baking

I've really enjoyed the focus on fish in my recent posts and still have the sardines from my delivery to eat - they're in the freezer at the moment.  My thoughts now turn to some more home baking. 

Last night I made a Victoria sponge using Holly Grove bramble jam instead of the more traditional raspberry or strawberry jam.  The bramble jam was made from hedgerow blackberries growing in the lanes around Holly Grove - very satisfying to make something so delicious from free fruit!

The cake makes a lovely light, sweet offering with a cup of tea or coffee as an afternoon treat or served with cream or ice cream as a light pudding.  Good use of the larder full of homemade jam!

Today I've adapted a recipe for shortbread biscuits to incorporate some essence of orange flower water that I bought on impulse a few days ago.  These, like the sponge, make a lovely accompaniment to afternoon tea or morning coffee or with some stewed fruit and ice cream make a quick dessert. 

Orangish Shortbread Biscuits
Makes about 35
Ingredients
325g plain flour
200g chilled unsalted butter, diced
125g caster sugar
2 tsp essence of orange flower water
2 egg yolks
icing sugar, for dusting

Method
Set the oven to 180C.  Put the flour and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add the sugar, orange flower water and the eggs and mix to a smooth dough.

Roll the dough into a long sausage shape, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.  Cut the dough into 5mm thick slices and arrange them on the baking sheets spacing them slightly apart.  bake for about 20 minutes until pale golden in colour.  Place biscuits onto a wire to cool and then dust with icing sugar. 

Note: The 'orangish' in the recipe title is because the biscuits didn't taste very orangey, perhaps next time I'll add some grated orange zest?  Despite that the biscuits were crisp and lovely with my latte.

Light and Lemony

The weather here yesterday was glorious, a beautiful day for the garden but we'd run out of cake. So I wondered what I might make that was quick yet a little more unusual than a plain sponge cake. I decided to leaf through my baking books whilst enjoying my morning coffee sitting in the sunshine.

My search revealed an old favourite that I haven't made for many years and this brought memories flooding back of when my boys were boys - so feeling warm from the sunshine on the outside and the memories on the inside I went dreamily back into the kitchen to make...

Lemon Crunch Squares
Makes 12 squares
Ingredients
For the cake
4ozs soft margarine or butter
4ozs castor sugar
4ozs self raising flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice

For the topping
2ozs castor sugar
1 generous tbsp lemon juice

Method
Grease and line a square baking tin 7"x7" and preheat the oven to 180C. Put all the ingredients for the cake in a large bowl and whisk together until light and creamy. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes until the top of the cake is golden and springs back when lightly pressed.

Whilst the cake is baking, mix the topping ingredients together. As soon as the cake is out of the oven lightly prick over the top and then cover with the topping. The lemon juice will sink into the cake and the sugar will create a lightly crisp topping. Leave the cake to cool in the baking tin then when the cake is quite cold remove from the tin and cut into 12 squares. Delicious eaten with a nice cup of tea or coffee or serve as a dessert with blackberry coulis and vanilla icecream.

Someone's Two!

Another cake decorating challenge, though not on the scale of the Wedding Cake, my grandson JM's second birthday approaches and I've a birthday cake to make. My cake decorating skills are limited so I needed something simple yet effective and using ingredients and cake tins in my cupboards.

Bright colours and simple shapes seem to be the thing for 2 year olds, so out come the fondant icing, natural food colourings and shape cutters. I thought I'd make the decorations before the cake just in case I had to change plans should the decorations prove a disaster...the results can be seen below...not too bad, so then on with the cake baking...

I wanted to use an 8" cake tin and make a single sponge that I could cut into 2 sandwich sponges but all my recipes for a Victoria sponge used 7" tins and having made the mistake before of using the wrong sized tin for a recipe I wasn't keen on guessing whether this would work or not. Then my Mum's edition of Good Housekeeping Cookery Book came to the rescue again with the answer...

Fill the cake tin with water to the depth that you want your sponge and then measure the quantity of water used and for each pint of water make a multiple of the quantities below:

2ozs castor sugar
2ozs softened butter or margarine
2ozs self-raising flour
1 egg

I wanted 3 pints in my baking tin, so I used 6ozs sugar, butter and flour with 3 eggs and combined as for any Victoria sponge recipe, set the oven to 180C, the timing had to be judged (35 minutes for my 8" cake)...et voila...

Now for the most important part of the challenge, would young JM enjoy his cake? Well the blowing out of candles was a great success. I think he had at least three goes before we got to the cake cutting and finally the tasting...


















And the verdict...in JM's own words...'more pease Daddy!'

More Raspberry and Blackcurrant Fare

The soft fruit harvest continues; so much this year that I foresee lots of jam making, freezing and possibly an attempt at bottling looming.

So far I have gathered ten pounds of raspberries and just over four pounds of blackcurrants. The redcurrants should be ready around the end of July; sadly the whitecurrants have been taken by the birds, but I can't really complain as they seem to have left the raspberries and other currants alone (for the moment!).

So more baking and preserving; this time a raspberry and blackcurrant jam. I used the same method as the Almost Seedless Raspberry jam with two pounds of raspberries and one and a quarter pounds of blackcurrants. This produced a slightly tart jam, just the way we like it.

I found a recipe on another blog for a cake using raspberry and blackcurrant jams with chocolate, so using Holly Grove R&B jam I got out the baking tin and tried out the recipe for Chocolate, Raspberry and Blackcurrant Cake. The result is a rich and dense cake, not too pretty to look at, to accompany the cake I made a raspberry couli and the Handyman added a little cream drizzled over the coulis. The resulting dessert tasted delicious - not sure the photo does it justice.


Raspberry Couli
Makes about quarter of a pint
Ingredients
8ozs raspberries, rinsed
1.5ozs castor sugar

Method
Place the raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle over the sugar. Cover and leave for 30 minutes. Then place the contents of the bowl in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add more sugar if required and blend again for a few seconds. Strain the liquid through a fine nylon sieve to remove the seeds. Put into a container, cover and store in the fridge until needed.

The coulis can be stored for several days and used over cakes, icecream, pancakes etc.

Note: if you don't want to get the blender out you could just press the fruit and sugar mix through a sieve, a bit more work but the same result.

Travellers from the North

My cousin, E, and her husband, S, live way up in the north east of Scotland so we don't see them very often; in fact only about 3 or 4 times in the last 20 years! So when they stopped over with us on their way to Spain it was reason enough to search out a dessert recipe for a celebration.


After much searching through my cookery books and favourite websites and perusing what might be available from Holly Grove's kitchen garden, I found Rachel Allen's Cherry Crumble Cake and modified it to use the berries available from the garden supplemented with some market produce.

The cake was served warm with softly whipped double cream. I'm already thinking about a rhubarb and/or apple version of this cake or what about plums?


Berry Crumble Cake
(Serves 6)
Ingredients
350g (12oz) ripe fresh berries (I used HG blackcurrants, raspberries and strawberries)
150g (5oz) self-raising flour
pinch of ground cinnamon
50g (2oz) caster sugar
1 egg
30ml (1fl oz) milk
100g (4oz) butter, melted
Icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

For the crumble topping
25g (1oz) plain flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
25g (1oz) caster sugar
25g (1oz) butter, cubed
20cm (8in) diameter spring-form/loose bottomed tin

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

Prepare the fruit removing the stalks etc. Keep the fruit whole unless the strawberries are particularly large then half or quarter them. Set the fruit aside.

Sift the flour and cinnamon into a large bowl, add the sugar, mix together and make a well in the centre. Then whisk the egg, milk and melted butter together in another bowl. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together to make a thick, smooth mixture, then spoon into the prepared tin and spread evenly. Scatter the berries over the mixture and gently press them in.

To make the crumble, put all the ingredients into a bowl. Rub in the butter to make a crumb-like mixture and scatter the topping over the berries.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the top is lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Leave in the tin for about 10 minutes until cool enough to handle, then run a knife around the edge and remove the cake from the tin. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Lightly dust with icing sugar and serve with softly whipped double cream or creme fraiche.

More Chocolate Consolation

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything..so much to do, so little time.

Anyway whilst sorting through my emails I came upon this recipe from my elder son G - he's turning into quite a baker! I haven't managed to try it out yet but am planning on making it for a weekend away with my special girlfriends in March - probably should have a test run before then...

In the meantime here's G's recipe and his photo of the result...


Chocolate Goo Cake
Ingredients
oil for greasing
300g dark chocolate, broken in pieces
150g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
6 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Grease the base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
3. Whisk the yolks with two tablespoons of the sugar until pale and light. Stir in cooled melted chocolate.
4. Whip the whites until they resemble soft peaks and gradually whisk in the remaining sugar.
5. Gently stir one-third of the whites into the chocolate mixture followed by the remainder. Transfer the cake mixture into the tin.
6. Bake for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven, until just firm to the touch. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out and transferring to a wire rack.
(It states 20 minutes but I ended up cooking mine for around 30 minutes until firm to touch)
7. Leave to cool.

I found leaving it over night allowed it to set properly, although you can eat it once cooled that day it tends to crumble quite a bit.

For the chocolate coating
200ml double cream
200g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
25g butter

Method
To make the chocolate coating, bring the double cream to the boil in a pan. Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until melted then pour in the heated double cream, mixing together well.

You then have a couple of choices to choose from to serve the cake.
1. Serve cake with the warm chocolate sauce to be poured over the cake with a little double cream.
2. Spread the chocolate coating over the cooled cake using a palette knife or spoon. Allow to cool and set, then serve.

The Great Day Dawns!

By the time you read this, dear readers, the wedding cake will have arrived at its destination and the wedding celebrations will have begun.

It's been a real challenge to produce a cake good enough for my son's wedding, I hope that I've managed to make the best cake that my skills will allow. The hardest part of all, of course, is the icing as its on show, and this was also the most traumatic part of the preparations. All the cake lacks in these photos is the Bride and Groom topper that my niece, O has made and will be bringing along on the great day - more photos to follow.


So raise a glass of your favourite tipple (mine's champagne) and wish G & K a joyful and fulfilling life together - good health and happiness!

Christmas Cheer!

The Handyman and I have had a lovely Christmas with our family - we hope that each and everyone of you has had an equally enjoyable festive season. So lovely to spend time together, chatting, feasting and playing. Here's to a successful and joyful 2010!

No recipes today, just a few Christmas images...




Twinkling Christmas cake!



Deck the halls and the tree of course!



A family feast...

Wedding Cake Marzipan

It's almost time to tackle the next stage of the wedding cake challenge - marzipan.

I've opted for a white marzipan rather than the usual golden colour and I am reading through the application techniques on various websites - can you tell I'm a bit nervous about this? After all it's only my elder son's and future DIL's wedding cake - arrgh! Wonder how they would feel about standing in front of it and obscuring it from view for the cutting the cake photos?

I may or may not post a photograph when I've finished the marzipaning - let's see how traumatised I am by the time I've completed this stage. Heaven knows how I'll get through the icing challenge - more on that in December.

Aunt Nancy's Fruit Loaf

Love of cooking and baking runs through the female line of our family and my sister is no exception. JA and her family are vegetarians and the food they cook and eat is fantastic and has inspired me over the years to cook more and more vegetarian meals, some of which I'll publish in future posts.

JA and I love to share recipes for savoury and sweet dishes and as I'm off to spend the weekend with her I thought I'd bake and take one of the family's traditional recipes.

Aunt Nancy's Fruit Loaf
Ingredients
4 ozs butter or soft margarine
4 ozs sultanas
4 ozs raisins
5 fl ozs water
8 ozs SR flour
2 level tsps bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
4 ozs unrefined castor sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan. To the melted butter, add the fruit and water. Bring to the boil and bubble gently for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile grease and line a 2lb loaf tin. Then sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and the melted butter and fruit mixture and mix well. Finally, add the beaten eggs and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

Put the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake at 180C for 45 minutes check the cake after 30 minutes, If the cake begins to over brown cover top of the loaf tin loosely with cooking foil). Then reduce the heat to 150C and bake for a further 15 minutes. Test with a skewer to ensure that cake is baked and then remove from tin and place on a wire rack to cool.

Variations
This fruit loaf is lovely either on its own or spread with a little butter. The original recipe did not contain the spices - that's my enhancement. I replace the water either with half water and half orange juice or completely replace the water with HG pressed apple juice.

I've even, in the depths of Winter, replaced the water with Guinness and increased the spices to 1 tsp of each for a Christmassy feel - then you might like to try a generous slice covered in creamy homemade custard - yummee!

Easiest Chocolate Cake Ever

I have a great recipe that impresses all those chocolate cake lovers amongst us and the best thing about it is that it's sooooo easy. I've been making this recipe since I first started baking whilst at home with my two little boys about 30 years ago (is it really 30 years? it feels like yesterday).

Anyway, the cake became my signature dish, and my BIL JC's favourite cake. The recipe made an appearance in my sister J's handmade and bound family cookbook - a limited edition of 5. Made for birthday's, family gatherings and just for us, I've lost count of the number of times this cake has been baked in my kitchens over the years and to date it's been a success every time - now that is tempting fate! So here's the recipe...


Easiest (and Best) Chocolate Cake Ever
Ingredients
For the cake
4ozs golden castor sugar
4ozs softened butter or soft margarine
4ozs self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1oz cocoa mixed to a paste with 2 tbsps hot water

For the icing
2ozs butter
1 tbsp cocoa
2tbsps hot water
10ozs icing sugar, sieved

Method
Set the oven to 180C and grease and line an 8" cake tin (or 2 x 7" sandwich tins).

Place all the ingredients for the cake in a food processor (or large bowl and mix with electric hand mixer) and thoroughly combine. Put the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin(s). Bake in the oven for 30 minutes (or 25 minutes if using the 7" tins). Check the cake is baked by pressing lightly in the middle, the cake should spring back. Remove from the tin(s) and cool on a wire rack.

To make the fudge filling and topping, put the butter and cocoa in a large saucepan on a gentle heat until the butter has melted and the cocoa is combined with it. Remove from the heat and add 2 tbsp of hot (not boiling) water to the pan with a little of the icing sugar and beat together (I do this by hand with a wooden spoon, though you could use an electric mixer). Continue to add the icing sugar, beating together vigourously between each addition.

When the cake is cool cut it through the middle to make two cakes (no need to do this if you've used the 7" tins as you already have two cakes) and sandwich together with about two thirds of the fudge icing. Put the remaining icing on the top of the cake and spread over evenly using a palette knife. To make a smooth finish, wet the palette knife with cold water as you spread the icing.

The cake will keep for a few days in an airtight cake tin, that's if you can resist eating all of it at one sitting! As you can see from the photograph we're not very good at resisting.