Category Archives: cake

Chocolate birthday cake

Posted on November 24, 2010 by theordinarycook| 14 Comments

It was Mr OC’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Mr OC.

This cake is a really good chocolate cake.  My friend’s husband made it for her birthday back in March.  I think it ranks as one of the best chocolate cakes that I have ever tasted, so I pinched the recipe.  The recipe comes from Dorling Kindersleys’ Children’s  Baking Book. I think this may now become my standard birthday cake.

175g (6oz) softened butter
175g (6oz) dark soft brown sugar
150g (5oz) self raising flour
25g (1oz) cocoa
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
100ml soured cream (or you can use double cream with a squeeze of lemon juice)

Method

Grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Sieve over the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and add the eggs and soured cream and whisk again until well combined.  Divide between the two tins and spread the tops evenly.

Place in a preheated oven at 170°c, gas mark 3 or the baking oven of the Aga for 25-30 minutes until springy to the touch.  Leave to cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack and peel off the lining paper.  Allow to cool completely.

For the frosting:

175g (6oz) milk chocolate, or you could use white or plain depending on your preference
125g (4oz) butter
4 tbsp milk
200g (7oz) icing sugar

Method

Put the chocolate, butter and milk into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water until melted.  Take off the heat and sift the icing sugar over the top and whisk to combine.  Leave to cool slightly, then whisk again until the mixture forms soft peaks.

Use a quarter of the frosting on the bottom of one of the cakes and sandwich  the two cakes together.  Use the rest of the frosting to decorate the top and sides of the cake.  Then decorate to your heart’s content.  This is what happens when a three-year old is let loose.  I admire her restraint.

 

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Marathon slice

Posted on November 23, 2010 by theordinarycook| 19 Comments

I have actually got my act together this month and this is my entry into the We Should Cocoa Monthly Challenge that the wonderful Choclette and Chele host.  This month’s challenge is to create something that has both caramel and chocolate and Chele is hosting over at The Chocolate Teapot.

My automatic reaction to that is, of course, Millionaire Shortbread, but I thought I needed something a little more imaginative than that.  My second musing led me down the Snickers route.  Now being a child of the seventies and growing up in the UK the Snickers bar will never really be a Snickers bar, but instead will forever remain a Marathon (if you click on the link you will find that I am not alone). Why exactly do they have to change the name of things?  Don’t even get me started on a Starburst!  What, may I ask, ever happened that deemed Opal Fruit such a bad name?

Anyway, before something innocent gets kicked, this is my homage to the Marathon bar – long may it live.

It’s very similar to the lovely Millionaire Shortbread, except the for the base I used a peanut butter cookie dough.  If I had any unsalted peanuts in the house I would have added them to the caramel layer, but I hadn’t and it was cold so I couldn’t be bothered with going to the shops.

Be warned that this is very sweet and you will probably need to run a marathon afterwards to get rid of all the calories consumed.

For the base:

150g (5oz) butter, softened
75g (3oz) crunchy peanut butter
75g (3oz) caster sugar
75g (3oz) dark soft brown sugar
1 egg
150g (5oz) plain flour

Method

Cream the butter, peanut butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat well. Add the flour and mix to a sift dough.

Lightly grease a 20cm square cake tin and spoon the dough in, levelling off the top.

Cook in a preheated oven at 180°c, gas mark 4, or the baking oven of the Aga for 20- 25 minutes until lightly golden and fairly firm to the touch. Place the tin on a wire rack to cool completely.

(You could use this recipe to make peanut butter cookies instead, just drop spoonfuls onto a tray and bake at the same temperature for about 10-12 minutes.)

For the caramel layer:

150g (5oz) butter
150g (5oz) dark soft brown sugar
400g (14oz) tin of condensed milk

Method

Place the butter and sugar in a pan over a gentle heat and stir until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.  Add the condensed milk and stir until the mixture begins to boil.  Take it off the heat and allow to cool for a minute and then pour over the biscuit base.  Allow to cool completely.

For the chocolate layer:

150g (5oz) milk chocolate, melted
25g (1oz) plain chocolate, melted

Pour the milk chocolate all over the caramel layer and spread evenly with a palette knife.  Drizzle the plain chocolate over the top to create a marbling effect.  Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.  Cut into small squares and enjoy with a cup of tea and a happy memory of the Marathon bar.

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Fruit loaf bread pudding

Posted on November 17, 2010 by theordinarycook| 15 Comments

A bit unusual for us this, but this morning I found myself with about half of the Fruit Loaf left.  Now, I made this three days ago, so whilst I was happy to have one more slice toasted I feared that the rest might end up as chicken food.

My youngest loves bread pudding, so it seemed the obvious way of getting the rest of the loaf consumed.  Sorry chickens!

Actually this is the perfect way to use up this loaf, my normal bread pudding recipe requires dried fruit, mixed spice and the zest of an orange.  Well, all of this is already in there, with the marmalade taking the place of the orange zest.  So this was easy peasy to put together and tastes really lovely. I did add a little extra mixed spice and some nutmeg because I love aromatic bread pudding.

750 – 800 g (10-12 oz) leftover fruit loaf
50g (2oz) melted butter
300ml (½ pint) milk
1 egg
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
75g (3 oz) dark brown muscovado sugar

Method

Break the bread into a large bowl.  Traditionally you are supposed to remove the crusts but it would be a shame to remove the crust of this loaf as it is so tasty so I didn’t.  I just made sure the crusty bits were broken up quite small.  Combine the melted butter and the milk and pour over the bread.  Give the mixture a good stir and then set aside to soak for 30 minutes.

Beat the egg and add to the bready mixture, along with the spices and sugar and stir well to combine.

Butter a shallow dish, I used my ceramic flan dish with measures 23 cm.  Pour the mixture in and level the top.  Place in a preheated oven at 180°c, gas mark 4 or the Baking Oven of the Aga for about 1 hour.  It may take a little longer, depending on your oven.  It should be golden brown and firm to the touch. Allow to cool a little.  It’s good warm or cold.

 

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Boiled fruit cake

Posted on August 22, 2010 by theordinarycook| 29 Comments

With it being the summer holidays, the girls and I have done lots of picnics on our days out and this cake is excellent for picnics.  It’s easy to make, is very moist, lasts for ages and is absolutely delicious.  In fact Mr OC loves it so much he moans with joy when eating it!

I have adapted it from Jill Brand’s version in Best-kept Secrets of the Women’s Institute Cakes and Biscuits (ISBN 0 74322 111 7) and reading through her introduction for this cake now she also says it’s ideal for picnics, so I must be right.  Jill uses half and half wholemeal plain flour and self-raising flour.  I use half spelt flour, half plain flour and two teaspoons of baking powder instead.  The spelt flour gives it a lovely nutty flavour and texture.

Because I am lucky enough to have an Aga I make this cake in the evening and then leave it to cook slowly in the simmering oven all night and then check with a skewer when I get up and if I think it needs it I bake it for about 10 mins in the baking oven just to finish it off. It is deliciously moist this way and has the added bonus of filling the house with the scent of fruit cake with a generous dollop of mixed spice all night. But I have also cooked it the normal way and the way I will tell you about in the method below and it is almost as delicious.

For the mixed fruit I use whatever I have in the house, but it normally includes equal measures of raisins, sultanas and cranberries.  I have tried dates but I didn’t chop them finely enough and I found them a bit mealy.

450g (1lb) mixed dried fruit
200g (8oz) caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g  (4oz) butter
200ml (7 floz) water
2 eggs
100g (4oz) spelt flour
100g (4oz) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground mixed spice
50g (2oz) glace cherries, chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°c (gas mark 3) and line the base and sides of a 18 cm round cake tin.

In a large pan place the mixed fruit, sugar, butter, bicarbonate of soda and the water and bring to the boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes and then take off the heat and cool for 15 minutes.

Beat in the eggs.  Sieve the flours, baking powder and mixed spice into the bowl.  I add the cherries to the flour so that they get a good covering of flour in the process and this helps to stop them sinking to the bottom of the cake when cooking.  Add the cherries and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the tin and either cook in an Aga in the way described in the introduction or in the preheated oven for 1¾ – 2 hours until a skewer comes out clean.  Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

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Chocolate Nut Cake

Posted on August 9, 2010 by theordinarycook| 13 Comments

The name for this cake could indeed have a double meaning.  I get asked if we can make a chocolate cake at least once a week, and it is very often more regular than that.  Well, the request was sounded at about 6.30 am on Sunday morning, something along the lines of  ’Can we make a chocolate cake that we can ice and decorate’.  The request was, of course, answered with a bleary ‘Later, maybe’.  Well, I am afraid my children are determined little creatures and so after a trip to the garden centre and before making sunday lunch for my parents and our neighbours, this chocolate cake was made and iced.  It was then decorated after dinner and before pudding – very extravagantly I have to say, and there was no time to take pictures, it needed to be eaten. Needless to say it involved a lot of sugared orange and lemon slices, hundreds and thousands and silver balls.

Here is a slice I finished off about mid-morning today.

The recipe is based on Rachel Allen’s Italian Hazelnut Cake in her Bake book (ISBN 13 978 0 00 725970 0), with the added chocolate and the addition of ground almonds as I didn’t have 200g of hazelnuts in the house. Then it was iced with a fudge frosting, which is not entirely necessary but does make a very good addition.

If you use gluten-free baking powder, then this makes a delicious gluten-free cake.

For the cake:

100g whole shelled hazelnuts
100g almonds (ground or whole, depending on what you have available or go for 200g of hazelnuts should they be available to hand)
50g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
1 tsp baking powder
100g softened butter
5 eggs separated
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Butter and line the base and sides of a 20 cm springform tin.  Preheat the oven to 170°c (gas mark 3) or use the baking oven of a 3 or 4 oven Aga.

Whizz the hazelnuts, almonds, baking powder and chocolate in a food processor until they are fine crumbs.  Add the butter and pulse until just combined.

Beat the egg yolks and the sugar with an electric whisk until the mixture has a mousse-like texture. Add the nut and chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Whisk the egg whites in a very clean bowl until they are stiff.  Add one-third of the egg whites to the mixture and mix in well to loosen the mixture.  Add the rest of the egg whites in two batches, folding in very gently to retain as much air as possible.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 45-60 minutes.  I placed mine on the oven rack placed on the bottom rung of the baking oven of my Aga and it was cooked in 40 minutes, so do adjust according to your oven.  The cake is cooked when it is firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes, then take the side off, leave for another 15 minutes and then remove the base and then leave to cool completely.

For the icing:

25g good quality dark chocolate
100g icing sugar
25g butter
1 ½ tbsp milk
½ tbsp vanilla extract

Method
Place all of the ingredients into a heavy based saucepan and heat gently until melted and stir well to combine.  Beat for a minute or two until cooled and spread onto the top of the cake.

Decorate, or not, to your heart’s desire.

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Crispie or cornflake cakes

Posted on March 25, 2010 by theordinarycook| 12 Comments

I couldn’t decide what to call these little beauties –  Easter egg nests/ Crispie cakes/ Cornflake cakes?  Obviously the ones in the picture are crispie cakes (made with rice crispies), but they could just as easily be made with cornflakes and with it nearly being Easter they could be nests.  We made them (my three-year old and I) this afternoon, ready to take to school tomorrow so that they can be sold at the Easter Fayre.  I am not sure there will be many left though by that time, I keep noticing the box being opened and another sneaked away.  There are not many people that don’t love these cakes.  If I am making them for a party I make sure I make plenty as they are always the first cakes to go and are just as popular with adults as they are with children.

I sometimes make them more simply by melting a bar of Dairy Milk and then stirring in as many rice crispies or cornflakes as the chocolate will coat. However, I do have to plan ahead for this as I always have a cupboard full of 70% chocolate but have to purposefully buy Dairy Milk.  I am afraid that my children love 70% chocolate as much as I do, I think this may be a result of the amount I consumed when I was pregnant and feeding them.

They are very easy cakes to make and very easy to polish off!

I can’t really give you an indication of the weight of the rice crispies or cornflakes, as you will need more rice crispies than cornflakes and they will make more cakes than when you use cornflakes, which need more chocolate to coat them.   Strange but true.  Just pour in as many as you think the chocolate mixture will coat easily and then add more if you think you can get away with it.  You want a good coating on every grain or flake.

Method
50g unsalted butter
100g good quality dark chocolate
4 tbsp golden syrup
Rice crispies or cornflakes (as many as you need)
Sugar coated chocolate eggs or other decoration (optional)

Melt the butter, syrup and chocolate over a very gentle heat until melted and smooth.  Add the cereal and stir well and pour spoonfuls into cake cases. Decorate with the eggs or other decoration or leave them unadorned.  Allow to set, if you can bear to, and then enjoy.

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Eccles cakes

Posted on February 4, 2010 by theordinarycook| 8 Comments

My parents have an old friend who makes the most wonderful Eccles cakes.  Since I was little I have looked forward to the appearance of Joan’s old Roses tin with a batch of the most sublime cakes inside.  Her pastry is wonderful, so delicate, and that combined with the crunchy caramelised sugar topping and the sweet spicy bite of the currants and you are transported to cake heaven.

As a result of Joan’s marvellous cakes I have always been a bit put off from trying to make my own Eccles cakes in fear that they wouldn’t even come close to comparing to hers with her years of experience and pastry skills.

This weekend though I thought I would jump in at the deep-end and give it a go.  The girls were asking to make mince pies and the mincemeat from Christmas has all been used up.  I thought these may be an acceptable alternative.

I am really pleased with how they turned out and to my surprise they were nearly as good as Joan’s.  My youngest daughter, at three, surprised me with her pastry folding skills, some that she made were better than mine. It was a lovely way to spend an early Sunday morning.

I used Delia’s filling recipe as a basis for mine, but this did provide a little too much filling for the amount of pastry I had.  This isn’t too much of a problem though as I have just put the leftover filling in the fridge and I will make some more cakes with it, hopefully later today if I get a chance.  I have fetched it out of the fridge in anticipation.

Delia and Rachel Allen both use mixed peel, so you could substitute 50g (2oz) of the currants with mixed peel if you wanted to, but as I was trying to recreate Joan’s wonderful cakes and I have never discerned mixed peel in her filling I kept to a currants only filling.

500g (1lb 2oz) ready-made all-butter puff pastry (fully defrosted if frozen)

For the filling;

75g (3oz) butter
150g (5oz) soft brown sugar
200g (7oz) currants
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
grated rind of 1 orange (or of 2 clementines)

For the glaze:

2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp demerara sugar

Method

To make the filling, melt the butter and add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Leave to one side.

Roll the pastry to about 3 mm think and using a round cutter (mine is 8cm) cut out circles, re-rolling the dough as necessary.

Place a teaspoonful of filling on to each circle. Using a pastry brush, brush a little water all around the edge and fold one edge over to the other and seal well.  It should look like a little Cornish pasty at this stage.  Turn it over so that the seal is underneath and roll carefully with the rolling-pin to flatten it into a round.  Place on a baking sheet.  Repeat with all the other circles. Make three slashes in the top of each with a sharp knife and brush lightly with milk and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven at 220°c (gas mark 7, roasting oven of the Aga) for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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Chelsea buns

Posted on February 1, 2010 by theordinarycook| 9 Comments

These were last weekend’s breakfast baking.  As I have said in earlier posts, the girls get me up early, so at the weekends I have used the opportunity to try baking or cooking something new.  Chelsea buns make a very decadent breakfast, but a very delicious one too.   The recipe again comes from Daniel Stevens’ Bread book (River Cottage Handbook No. 3).  I think next time I will bake them a bit longer than I did this time, as they were a little bit doughy, but I was very pleased with them.  They were lovely and buttery and were still good the next day.  All you need to accompany these is a good cup of tea.

For the buns:

550g (1lb 6 oz) strong white bread flour
50g (2oz) caster sugar
7g (1 sachet) of easy bake yeast
10g (½oz) salt
150 ml (¼ pint) milk
225g (9 oz) butter
1 egg

For the filling:

25g (1oz) melted butter
100g (4oz) caster sugar
200g  (8oz) currants

For the glaze:

50 ml (2 fl oz) milk
50g (2 oz) caster sugar

Method

You will need a deep sided 30cm square baking tin, buttered and coated with a sprinkling of caster sugar.

Place the butter and the milk into a pan over a gentle heat until the butter melts and the milk gets to hand hot. In a large bowl, mix the flour, caster sugar, salt and yeast and then add the egg and the butter and milk.  Using your hands mix to a sticky dough.  Knead the dough, as described in the spelt bread recipe until the dough is silky and smooth. Rinse the bowl clean and dry well and place the dough into this bowl, cover with clingfilm or a plastic bag and leave to double in size.

Place the dough onto a floured surface and roll to a rectangle measuring 60cm x 40cm or as close as you can get to this. Brush with the melted butter, leaving a 2 cm border along one of the longest edges.  Sprinkle the sugar all over the butter, top with the currants and then press them lightly into the dough.  Roll up the dough like a swiss roll, starting with the edge opposite to the one on which you left the 2 cm border. Brush the border with water and seal the edge well.  Slice into 9 pieces, place each piece into the tin, leaving space for expansion between each bun and flatten slightly with your hand.

Preheat the oven to 200°c (gas mark 6, bottom of the roasting oven of the Aga ) whilst you cover the tin with the clingfilm again and leave to prove for about 30 minutes until doubled in size again. Sprinkle with a little caster sugar and bake for about 20-25 minutes (mine needed 25 minutes but I was a bit too eager) until golden brown.

Just before the end of the cooking time warm the remaining caster sugar and the milk together in a pan over a gentle heat and when the buns come out of the oven, brush them immediately with this mixture to give them a delicious sticky glaze.  Leave to cool a little but make sure you enjoy at least one whilst it’s still warm from the oven.

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Mocha cupcakes

Posted on January 29, 2010 by theordinarycook| 7 Comments

I have to share these cakes with you.  In my haul of cookbooks, recently purchased, was Rachel Allen’s Bake and on page 266 of this book there is a picture of  20 cupcakes all decorated differently with an assortment of pink, blue and yellow icing, topped with an array of goodies including orange and lemon slices, jelly diamonds, silver balls, sugar flowers, sugar sprinkles and hundreds and thousands. My girls were both captivated by this picture.  When I asked which one was their favourite they showed their true selves.  The five-year who will more often than not choose a piece of fruit over a slice of cake chose one pretty pink cake with jelly diamonds on top.  The three-year old who will eat fruit only occasionally if really pushed decided that to pick just one favourite was an impossible task and decided that she would eat them all.  In fact she carried the book open at page 266 for the rest of that evening and most of the next morning.  I took the hint and asked her if she would like to make some and the answer was an emphatic ‘yes’.  You can see from the picture that she couldn’t wait for Mummy to take the photograph before diving in.

The recipe is Rachel Allen’s Mocha Cake from the same book and the topping is her cream cheese icing, with the addition of pink and purple colouring obviously optional.  We used all the decorations we had available in the house.  We saved five cakes to be decorated by the five-year old when she came home from school and my parents bought the contents of the decoration shelf of the local supermarket for her to use, so we have plenty of decorations in stock for the next batch!

The recipe made 24 fairy cakes, which is perhaps one too many even for my three-year old so we took them with us to school when we picked up her sister to share with her friends and they seem to have been well received by all involved.

For the cakes:

175g (6oz) self-raising flour
50g (2oz) cocoa powder
175g (6oz) soft brown sugar
175g (6oz) melted butter
4 eggs, separated
60 ml (2 floz) espresso
3 tbsp water

24 paper cake cases, two patty tins (otherwise it will make 12 muffin-sized cakes)

For the cream cheese icing:
75g (3oz) cream cheese, cold from the fridge
25g (1oz) butter, softened
75g (3oz) icing sugar

Method

In a large bowl, sift the flour and the cocoa together and stir in the sugar. Beat in the melted butter, egg yolks, the cooled espresso and water until well combined.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then add this in three batches to the cake mixture, making sure it is all combined.

Spoon the mixture into the cake cases placed in the holes of the patty tin for support and bake in a preheated oven at 190°c (gas mark 5) for 10 minutes for fairy cake size and 15 minutes for muffin size. They should spring back when touched lightly with the tip of your finger when cooked. Leave to cool completely.

For the cream cheese icing, beat the softened butter until really soft and then beat in the cream cheese until well combined and smooth.  Sift the icing sugar into this mixture and mix well. Add flavourings (e.g.½ tsp vanilla extract) or food colouring as you please and decorate decadently or otherwise.

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Carrot cake

Posted on January 5, 2010 by theordinarycook| 5 Comments

This is my first attempt at carrot cake, I have often thought about making it but never got around to it.  My eldest daughter was asking for it on Sunday and we placated her with the bought version as we were out and about, but I thought I should give it a go and surprise her with it when I picked her up from school.  She was of course unimpressed, as five-year old’s are when the moment has passed for them.  Oh well, I was impressed with it and think it’s very tasty indeed, but I do hope someone will help me out with eating it or any good intentions for the New Year are straight out of the window.

My version is based on the recipe for Passion Cake in Best-kept Secrets of the Women’s Institute Cakes and Biscuits by Jill Brand, except I added cinnamon to the cake mix, used pecans instead of walnut and made my version of icing using a mix of icing sugar and soft light brown sugar.

I wonder why it used to be called Passion Cake?  You very rarely see it called that now, it sounds far more tempting than carrot cake.  In fact when I was young I wouldn’t entertain the idea of carrot cake – it sounded too weird. Then I braved it one day. I can still remember it, the trepidation, followed by the surprise that it was absolutely delicious and sweet.  I wasn’t expecting that!

For the cake:

225g (8oz) butter, softened
225g (8oz) soft light brown sugar
4 eggs, separated
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
175g (6oz) wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
50g (2oz) ground almonds
115g (4oz) pecans, chopped chunkily
350g (12oz) carrots, peeled and grated

For the icing:

40g (1½oz) softened butter
40g (1½oz) cream cheese
25g (1oz) icing sugar
50g (2oz) soft light brown sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon juice
pecan nuts to decorate

Method

Grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin and preheat the oven to 180°c (gas mark 4).

Whisk the softened butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and then add the lemon zest and juice. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into the bowl, making sure you add all the bran left in the sieve when you have finished. Fold this gently into the mixture. Stir in the ground almonds and the pecan nuts.

In a very clean bowl and using very clean whisks beat the egg whites until stiff.  Add one-third of the egg white to the cake mix and mix in well. Add the carrots and mix in well.  Fold in the remaining egg white very carefully to keep as much air as possible.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.  Bake on the middle shelf for 1 to 1½ hours until golden and firm to the touch.  I baked mine in the baking oven of my Aga and it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook, so do check at 1 hour and then keep checking.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for ten minutes and then remove to a cake rack and leave to cool completely.

To make the icing, mix the butter and the cream cheese until really well combined.  Add the icing sugar and the soft light brown sugar and beat well until smooth, stir in the grated lemon zest and the lemon juice.

Spread on top of the cake and decorate with pecan nuts.

Take a big slice, make a cup of tea and enjoy!

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