making, baking, caking

Such an idiot!

Made a beautiful (or so I thought) cake for a bake sale my school was having for Japan.

It was fine except for two major problems…

1. I used the wrong flour (so it was like a bun, but y’know, massive)
2. I screwed up the icing big time (not enough icing sugar in the buttercream, AAND smudged the beautiful Japan flag I was making on top!)

I didn’t take it to school, but I did donate lots of money instead!

Tastes alright in the end…

(Victoria) Sponge Cake

I don’t think I’ve ever made this as a full Victoria Sponge with cream and jam etc, but the sponge recipe itself is amazing and has never let me down so far (touch wood), and it’s perfect for the baking tins I have as it divides between them both equally, probably just under half full (optimum level!)

Ingredients

175g butter or margarine

175g caster sugar

3 large eggs

175g self-raising flour

3tbls strawberry jam (for decorating)

225ml whipped cream (for decorating)

icing sugar to dust (I’ve put buttercream in the middle and on top most times)

butter, sugar, flour for greasing (isn’t essential for me, I usually just line the tins with baking parchment)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Grease and line two 18cm/7in sandwich tins (no point in measuring or anything, just make sure you don’t fill your tins too high/not fill them enough)
2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time (bits in bold are quite essential for making the cake just right).
3. Sift the flour and fold in (I don’t always sift, because quite frankly I’m too lazy, but it seem easier when it comes to folding in - which should be done thoroughly and slowly!)
4. Divide the mixture equally between the two tins (like I said earlier, just under half filled, not too deep, maybe an inch?) and bake for 15-25 minutes (check at 14/15!), or until the surface of the cake springs back when pressed (such a good tip, works every time). Decorate when cool.

Chocolate Truffles

I’ve not had the chance to make these yet, but they look AMAZING. I wouldn’t have thought it was so easy, except I don’t know if I have a food processor, everything I’ve done before I can do by hand… I’ll find a way.

Ingredients

250ml/9fl oz whipping cream

225g/8oz dark chocolate

55g/2oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes and left to soften

unsweetened cocoa powder, to dust

Method

1.        Chop the chocolate roughly. Then pulse in the food processor until it’s the consistency of breadcrumbs.
2.     Boil the cream. Turn on the food processor again and pour the cream very slowly onto the chocolate. It is a bit like making mayonnaise and you should soon have a perfectly smooth emulsion. If the mixture does split, process for a couple more minutes and it usually does the trick. Add the butter, bit by bit and beat until it has been incorporated. Pour the mixture into a bowl or tray and leave to cool for about 15 minutes in the fridge. When it has set to the consistency of butter icing, it is ready to be piped or spooned into truffle sized bits.
3.        If piping, put mixture into a piping bag, and pipe blobs of mixture about the size of a cherry onto a tray covered with greaseproof paper, or cling film. Cool for at least two hours, then finish by rolling in cocoa powder, coconut or chopped toasted nuts.

(Source: BBC)

Honeycomb

I know I’m not the only one watching Lorraine Pascale’s new show, Baking Made Easy (BBC2), and this is the first thing I’ve tried… I had to do it twice, the first time I think I burnt it a bit so it tasted quite bitter, but the second time was fabulous ;). Enjoy!

Ingredients

1tbsp vegetable oil, for oiling baking tray (I just used baking parchment)

80g/3oz butter

160g/5½oz caster sugar

80g/3oz golden syrup

2tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

1.       Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with vegetable oil (again, I just used baking parchment)

2.       Gently heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium heavy-based pan until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil rapidly, without stirring. If the mixture goes darker at one side of the mix, then gently swirl the pan to mix it all together. Keep boiling until the mixture goes a golden-brown colour. (If you’re unsure whether it’s right or not, act sooner rather than leaving it till later)

3.       Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir for a few seconds, which will make the mixture expand and fizz. Tip the honeycomb into the oiled baking tin and leave until cold and set.

4.       To serve, cut the honeycomb into pieces and stir into ice creams or decorate puddings. You can put the honeycomb in a food processor and sprinkle it over desserts. – I broke mine up then crushed it in a pestle and mortar to go on top of a sponge cake for my friend’s birthday, which worked really well.

(Source: BBC)

Buttercream Icing

In my humble opinion, half the recipes for buttercream icing that I come across are just bizarre - you shouldn’t need extra eggs and such, just butter and icing sugar, and vanilla extract to taste (the milk isn’t necessary half the time, either)

The amounts of each vary from time to time, they’re kind of approximate - I might start off with a set amount but usually I just tip in a load of icing sugar and some butter into a bowl and hope for the best - it’s easy to balance out, even if you end up with a little extra (which isn’t the end of the world, it handily tastes fantastic).

Ingredients

75g butter

300-600g sifted icing sugar

1-4 tablespoons milk

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

1. In a bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add approximately half the icing sugar, beating well.

2. Slowly beat in approximately half of the milk and the vanilla. Slowly beat in remaining sugar. Beat in additional milk, if needed, to make of spreading consistency.

Carrot and Cinnamon Buns

These were so amazing when I made them, especially with the peanut butter cream icing I made to go on top - which I swear I will eventually get round to writing down a recipe for.

See, I told you the bun recipe was easy to adapt.

Makes approx. 12 normal sized buns, or 24 mini buns.

Ingredients

110g butter

110g sugar

50g light brown sugar

2 eggs

80g (approx.) grated carrot

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon vanilla essence

140g plain flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Cream the butter until soft, add both sugars and beat again until light and fluffy.

2. Gradually add the beaten eggs, followed by the vanilla and grated carrot. Fold in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder.

3. Spoon the mixture into the bun cases on baking trays.

4. Bake for 7-11 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack, and ice if preferred.   

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

290g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

230g butter, softened

165-170g packed brown sugar

170g caster sugar

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

300g chocolate chips/chunks

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, mixing thoroughly.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.

4. (Optional) Beat in cinnamon and maple syrup.

5. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly and thoroughly after each addition.

6. Gradually stir in the flour mixture, slowly and thoroughly.

7. Stir in chocolate chips/chunks.

8. Spoon small mounds – not attempting to flatten – onto an ungreased baking sheet.

9. Bake for 8-11 minutes, or until golden brown.

10. Leave to cool; sometimes best to leave on tray until cooler before moving.

Basic Buns

So good, and has worked every time! Easy to adapt into more complex style things, just devising ideas that might work :)

Makes approx. 12 normal sized buns, or 24 mini buns.

Ingredients

110g butter

110g sugar

2 eggs

¼ teaspoon vanilla essence

140g plain flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Cream the butter until soft, add the sugar and beat again until light and fluffy.

2. Gradually add the beaten eggs, followed by the vanilla. Fold in the flour and baking powder.

3. Spoon the mixture into the bun cases on baking trays.

4. Bake for 7-11 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack, and ice if preferred.   

Chocolate Tart

Made this at least twice now, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Ingredients

For the filling:

2 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

200g dark chocolate

145g butter

45g caster sugar

For the pastry:

230g plain flour

170g butter

70g icing sugar

2 egg yolks

Method

1. Put the butter, icing sugar and 2 egg yolks in a bowl, and blend (or whiz in a food processor). Blend in the flour until you have a paste, then chill for about an hour in the freezer.

2. Preheat oven to 180c. Roll out the pastry to line a fluted 8 inch tart tin. Grease the tin, line with the pastry and blind bake for approximately 20 minutes until a golden biscuit brown. Remove and allow to cool.

3. Increase oven temperature to 190c. Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a barely simmering pan of water. Allow to melt and stir until smooth and glossy, then allow to cool off the pan for a few minutes.

4. In a separate bowl, put the 2 whole eggs, 3 egg yolks and caster sugar. Whisk until pale and thick. Gradually add the melted chocolate, stirring all the while. Blend thoroughly.

5. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pastry case and pop in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.