Beetle Drive

Unfortunately I have been unable to access this blog due to a small registering-my-email-address-incorrectly-type-error and meanwhile my little cooking experiments have been stacking up, including lavender cakes and honeycomb. However, in response to the last comment I feel I should post a picture of the cake which Liz incorrectly describes as a Mini. 

Any fool can see it is a Beetle. Made for mine and the twin’s 18^th it was obviously made many moons ago and my icing looks decidedly shaky. I can’t help feeling it is rather like a combination of left over advertising brainstorming ideas for female car insurance and sanitary towels embodied in cake form. That said, digestives as wheels are always a winner and I was very young...

You can't beat a pet giraffe

I recently ran a princess-and-monster painting competition in aid of the Alzheimer's Society to coincide with the Royal Wedding. I think you'll agree that the winning artist (6 years and 2 days) incorporated everything you'd want including a fantastic pet giraffe.

The picture reminded me of one of my very early cakes made for a cousin who is now grown-up and I even managed to find a photo.

Her favourite an animal was a giraffe. I decided the only way I could make one was to have it lying down.  The icing was butter icing with spots made from chocolate buttons. I remember being particularly proud of the chocolate-flake eye lashes and flake & smartie horns.

Princess Meringues & Wrecks

I felt I had to make something to celebrate the royal wedding and I wanted to make something different. Why not make princesses in actual meringue wedding dresses I thought?

Well predictably they didn’t all go according to plan in fact some were so bad they deserved to be posted on the fabulous cake wreck website

What I tried to do was make a really stiff meringue mixture and pipe it into some meringue princesses with pink heads and hands. Although I cooked them at 90 ^oC some of them drooped and looked rather like drunken hunchbacked princesses - not the look I was after:

However a couple of them survived and I gave these chocolate hair (princesses now have dark hair naturally) and painted on eyes and lips. I even tried to rectify one of the drunk ones with a mini-egg head, and here they are:

and just so you can see how life-like they were here's a comparison!

Choc Chip Cookies and Nest Cakes

This is my favourite choc chip cookie recipe and is very easy, perfect for Kids. You can vary it by adding some nuts instead of choc chips or combine the two. To make these cookies ‘eastery’ I put a mini egg on top of each dollop of mixture, not a total success as you can see some of these cracked.

Also included is a photo of some Easter cup cakes I made this week. They are iced to look (loosely) like nests complete with mini eggs, but here the piece de resistance(s) are the very kitsch wire chicks that I remembered from my childhood and couldn’t resist buying in a pound shop.

Choc Chip Cookies - makes 16-20

125g / 4oz Butter or Marg

50g / 2oz soft brown sugar or golden caster

1 egg beaten

150g / 5oz Self raising flour

175g / 6oz plain chocolate chopped or chocolate drops (I find that 100g of chocolate drops and 50g of nuts like hazel nuts is enough)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 180^oC and grease two baking sheets

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Beat in the egg

Sift in the flour and mix

Add the chocolate chips and nuts if using

Put teaspoons of the mixture well spaced on the baking sheets and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.

Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool, they are a little fragile warm but will firm up as they cool.

Hen Night Cupcakes

As Easter approaches it seemed like a good time to post these cupcakes. As the title suggests I made them for a hen night but I think they also look quite Easter-y. These are for a reasonably sophisticated hen night – if I get any requests I can post what I make for a more rowdy hen night...

The cupcakes are made from a devil’s food cake recipe and hens are made from chocolate plastic. I shaped them to have very thin beaks and then dipped them in a little bit of white chocolate*. I also coloured a small amount of white chocolate red and then piped little combs and wattles (yup, that’s what the red bits are called). I put the hens here with smartie eggs but that’s because it wasn’t near Easter and I couldn’t find any mini eggs, but they would obviously be better.

Note the comb and wattles!

* when I am only melting a very little bit  of chocolate I do this in a metal measuring spoon (like these ones pictured) over boiling water, I have some spoons for measuring cups and ½ and ¼ cups which are just the right size for this.

Savoury Cake (Ham, Parmesan and Olive)

I had an unexpected day at home this week and so decided it was time to make a savoury cake having come across a recipe in a weekend paper.  I suspect this idea may have been around for a while if it has made it into a Sunday paper and has just past me by so far, but it was new to me. The recipe is by Hugh F-W. As I wasn’t terrible confident I made half the amount suggested and put it in a small loaf tin – it didn’t rise much. I also had to modify the recipe because I had black olives instead of green and no thyme.

The result? Not bad,  like a less dense savoury scone.  It is nicely flavoured  I think enhanced by the use of some baked Christmas ham which I had in the freezer.  Good with bit of salad for lunch.



The Recipe
Liquid ingredients
150ml olive oil
150ml milk
4 eggs lightly beaten

Dry Ingredients

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp paprika
1tsp fresh thyme
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
100g parmesan – grated
180g cooked ham chopped
130g green olives stoned and chopped.

Directions

1.       Heat oven to 200^oc
2.       Grease a 1.5 litre loaf tin and line with paper
3.       Sift flour, baking powder and paprika. Add the remaining dry ingredients.
4.       Whisk the liquid ingredients together and combine with dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and put in the tin.
5.       Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
6.       Leave in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out to cool.

Chocolate Plastic and Roses

Chocolate plastic is just a more interesting (American) name for chocolate modelling icing. For my wedding cake I used ready-made ‘cocoform’ from Squires (http://www.squires-shop.com ) to make the roses. However it is possible to make your own using chocolate and glucose. I used to get the glucose from Boots but I discovered you can get it in a tube made by Silver Spoon from Sainsburys.

You can make it with white chocolate you and if you do this you can colour it (see right). Here is the recipe, you really need to make it the day before you want to use it, but as it is only made from chocolate and glucose you can keep it for ages in the fridge.

Ingredients:

8 oz white (or milk) chocolate, finely chopped

¼ cup (4 tbsp) glucose

For Dark chocolate you need more glucose, about 5 tablespoons

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. When it is fully melted add the glucose and stir the mixture will thicken and come away from the side of the bowl.

2. Then put the mixture in a re-sealable plastic bag and squash until it is a thin layer. Alternative wrap in cling film

3. Leave over night in the fridge or at a push put it in the freezer for an hour or so (but this isn’t so good).

4. Before use leave at room temperature for 30 minutes or blitz in the microwave for 10 sec or so. You will need to knead the mixture before you use it. I tend to knead little bits as I go. It does take a bit of kneading to get it smooth but when you have done this it will be like plasticine.

Below is a milk chocolate rose and leaf and here is a link to an American site which shows how to make more professional roses

Sunflowers and Icing

Today’s post is mainly about icing, specifically chocolate ganache, a versatile icing that can be poured on a cake while runny as a glossy covering (as I did for my wedding cake) or used when more solid as a piped icing. To illustrate its use here is a picture of some sunflower cupcakes I made the impressionists garden party I previously made gingerbread ladies for.

I dyed flaked almonds yellow with food colouring and left them to dry on greaseproof paper.

Then having put a dollop of chocolate ganache on the cupcakes I put the almonds around the edge.

The recipe

Chocolate Ganache -  Makes 250g mixture enough to fill and cover a 8 inch cake

175g / 6 oz           Plain Chocolate broken into pieces

4 tablespoons    Single Cream

50g / 2oz              Butter  in cubes

2                            Egg yolks

1 tablespoon      Rum

I adapt this as given my very fecund friends I don’t like to add the egg yolks in case I am feeding pregnant women ditto for the rum. Also if I haven’t got single cream in the fridge I milk instead but a bit less volume. Apart from that you can see I follow the recipe closely...

Instructions

1. Beat the chocolate with the cream in a small pan over a gentle heat
2. Cool slightly then beat in the butter bit by bit
3. Beat in the egg yolks and rum if using

Either use runny or wait for it to cool and beat for a thick pipe-able icing

Gingerbread Women

No, this isn't about redressing the gender balance but last time I made these I only made gingerbread woman. They were for the impressionist-themed garden party, and were designed to be Gauguin-style Tahitian beauties. While that objective may not have been met, the recipe is a good one I have used for many years.

                      
Ingredients

250g	Plain flour
100g	Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon	Ginger (powder)
100g	Butter or Marg,
2 tablespoons	Orange Juice
1 tablespoon	Golden Syrup
1 tablespoon	Treacle (or another of syrup)

Instructions

1.       Sieve the flour  and the sugar and ginger

2.       Add the butter/ marg. rub to bread crumbs

3.       Add orange juice, syrup and treacle

4.       Kneed to a dough

5.       Roll out, cut to design of your choice and gently move to a baking tray

6.       Cook at 180^oC for around 10 minute until golden

 Compare and contrast...

Devil’s Food Cake

This is my second favourite chocolate cake recipe.  It is less complicated than the "best ever" one, but still very chocolatey. There is quite a lot of cocoa powder in it which makes it a really dark earthy chocolate colour and the texture is quite springy. The lack of density means it is isn’t ideally suited for cutting into novelty cakes but it does make good cupcakes. I realised when I looked at my cook book that I have been making this recipe for 20 years so it must be a good one.

The original recipe

50g / 2 oz                            Cocoa Powder

200ml / 1/3 pint                 Boiling Water

175g / 6oz                           Plain Flour

¼ teaspoon                         Baking Powder

1 teaspoon                          Bicarbonate of Soda

125g / 4 oz                          Butter (or Marg at a push)

300g / 10 oz                        Caster Sugar (Golden is good)

2                                          Eggs, beaten

Makes one 20cm / 8 inch sandwich cake or 24 cupcakes (small paper cases not muffin cases)

Cook at 180 ^oC  45-50 mins for cake ~20-25 mins for cupcakes but check after 15 mins

Instructions

1.       Blend Cocoa with ½ the water then stir in the rest and leave to cool

2.       Sift flour, baking powder and Bicarb

3.       Cream butter, sugar and 3 tblesp of cocoa  & water until light and fluffy

4.       Beat in eggs to butter and sugar

5.       Fold in flour and cocoa alternately, don’t worry if it curdles

6.       Divide into 2 lined sandwich tins or 24 small paper cases

7.       It is done when a skewer comes out clean, but leave in the tins to cool for about 5 mins as it is a bit fragile when hot.

Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe

As an antidote to my favourite but slightly complicated cake recipe, I was sent this easy chocolate cake recipe. I tried it and it is easy (only 3 steps) and tastes nice. I made it into cupcakes and tried to put all the mixture into 12 cupcake cases which was too much, I estimate it will make 15-18 cupcakes.  My only objection is that I don’t often have crème fraiche in the fridge, but that is quite a small quibble. See what you think.

The decoration was for my brother-in-law who is addicted to tea and also likes this MoPed! song 

Ingredients:
    * 8 oz self-raising flour, sieved
    * 3 tbsp cocoa
    * ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
    * 6 oz caster sugar
    * 3 eggs
    * 150ml crème fraiche
    * 150ml sunflower oil
    * 3 tbsp golden syrup

Method:
Tip the dry ingredients into a bowl or food processor and mix to combine.

In a jug, whisk the eggs until pale, then add the crème fraiche, sunflower oil, and golden syrup. Whisk together thoroughly, then tip the mixture into the dry ingredients and beat or blend to combine.

Pour the batter into a 2 greased 8” round tin, and bake at 140 degrees C, for 40 mins-1 hour. Cool on a wire rack.

The Impressionist Cake

No not a Rory Bremner cake but a cake in the style of a Monet.  My dear and increasingly eccentric father has a thing about bridges (well before retiring to play golf he was an engineer) he also held an impressionist themed garden party last summer (more impressionist theme foodstuffs from that to follow...see here). So naturally the choice for his 65^th birthday was the Japanese bridge Monet style

I made the bridge from white chocolate (coloured green) and piped onto acetate.  I made it in three bits, two ‘c’ shaped edges and then tapped a piece of acetate into curve and piped a rectangle onto that to make the tread (with me so far?).  When all bits were solid I them glued them together with chocolate and voila a bridge, perched on blue icing.  And I very nearly didn’t have to explain to people what it was.

In the Night Garden

My two year old nephew was reported to be a fan of "in the night garden" and so I settled down to watch it with him in advance of making his birthday cake. For those of you that haven't seen it, it is wildly psychedelic with odd sequences of changing perspectives and a story line involving characters loosing their trousers on a mystery train tour. It must be one the reasons children can't buy mind altering drugs because they clearly don't need them with entertainment like this.

Anyhow based on the characters I made these cupcakes. The colours of the characters are rather muted which was due to me colouring the sugar paste with liquid food colouring. If there was a next time I'd buy ready-coloured icing to give a good bright colour, that way the figures would match the crazy story-lines.

The Best Ever Chocolate Cake Recipe

My Wedding Cake made from this recipe

This is genuinely the best chocolate cake recipe ever. In the search for a suitable chocolate wedding cake recipe I baked a lot of cakes and this is really chocolately, very moist, it freezes well and can be cut into shapes, making it perfect for shaped birthday cakes. I didn't create it, but found it on an america website and now it doesn't seem available. Here it is translated into english for you.


The instructions are long and I haven't worked out yet how strictly you have to stick to the order. I still haven't tried what happens if you just use self-raising flour - if you find out let me know.

The full recipe makes three  9x2inch or three 8x2inch rounds or 42 cupcakes

Cook at 160 degrees C / 325 degrees F

1.      Melt chocolate and let cool to room temp.

2.      Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then sift in cocoa powder

3.      Add vanilla extract to milk ( I use vanilla caster sugar)

4.      Beat butter until soft then add sugar beat for 2 min until light yellow and fluffy

5.      Add the eggs one at a time beating in between

6.      ‘temper’ the chocolate by adding a teaspoon of the butter/sugar/egg  to the chocolate a teaspoon at a time until about ½ cup has been added and then add all the chocolate to the butter/sugar/ egg mixture.

7.      Whisking at a low speed add the flour in 3 portions alternating with the milk in 2 equal portions. After adding the last bit of flour mix for 3o sec, don’t over mix

8.      Divide the batter into prepared tins (should be ½ full). The recipe says bake for 25-40min but I’ve always found it needs a bit longer. A skewer should come out with a few moist crumbs on it but not batter, a bit of cracking on the top is normal.

9.      Let the cakes sit for 10-15 mins before unmolding it is quite fragile when warm

If you freeze it then when defrosting make sure that you take the wrapping off before you leave it to thaw.

	American	Metric	(2/3rds)
Flour – plain	3 ½ cups	420g	280g
Cocoa	½ up	60g	40g
Baking powder	2 teaspoons	2 teaspoons	1 1/3 teaspoons
Baking soda	½ teaspoon	½ teaspoon	1/3 teaspoon
Salt	1 teaspoons	I teaspoon	2/3 teaspoon
Milk	2 cups	¾ pint	½ pint
Butter	1 ½ cups	336g	224g
Caster Sugar	2 ¾ cups	550g	360g
Eggs	6 large	6 large	4 large
Plain Chocolate	12 oz	12 oz	8 oz
Vanilla extract	1 tablespoon	1 tablespoons	2 teaspoons